The babies are getting friskier. They're into everything now - cords, food, shoes, paper, etc. and they're starting to develop separation anxiety. They miss me when I leave. Zoey wails when I don't hold her.

It's cute, but sad.

Lucy's getting fixed today. We dropped her off at the vet this morning. Poor baby had no idea what was in store for her. She'll be stayin' there overnight, so hopefully everything goes well.

Latin was very meh. Looks like this semester covers everything I already know. The teacher is nice, so I guess it'll be a good refresher.

Going out with Pat to get lunch. So, more later.

I skipped math this morning. Probably a bad idea considering this is only the third day of class, but yesterday sucked so...happy birthday to me. Anyway, if all goes well, I won't have to stay in this class for much longer anyway. I'm hoping to place out of it and get directly in to math 151, so it won't matter if I'm there or not.

I've got English and Latin later on today. Well, english in about two hours or so and latin at 7. Who the hell thinks it's a good idea to teach a latin class from 7:30 to 10:20 at night?

It ain't gonna be pretty, I think. I might end up falling asleep in the middle of class.

Blah.

More later, food now.

It's that time of the year again. Classes and grades and whatnot.

And birthdays. I turned 21 this morning.

I'm not sure what to make of it really. I don't feel any different, but it marks the passing of days and time and I'm not sure what to make of that, either. I can remember my 18th birthday like it was yesterday, when Dorothy and Carrie and I went to Williamsburg with my mom and dad for about a week. But that was three years ago now, and everything has changed. But ain't that the way of things?

Now for news since May.

Pi had another litter of puppies. Three gorgeous, troublesome, wonderful puppies. Two boys (Rodney and Alexander) and a girl (Zoey). We might only be keeping two of them, and hopefully the Kampas will adopt baby Zoey so I can go see her. If they can't, I think we might be keeping her. We'll see. Our vet is freaking out.

Eight dogs.

On the bright side, Shari had ten at one time and at least these guys are short and small.

Beh. I've got math class at 11, so I'm going to go poke the book in the hopes I might absorb something.

Well, I returned from LA (last week. Woo, I'm bad at updates!) with no problems. I only got a little sick on the flight from LA to Minnesota (dunno why..), but with four flights in five days, I'm done with planes for awhile.

And airports.

Pi went into heat again. Joy of joys! *sarcasm* I'm taking Bailey into the vet to get fixed tomorrow, so hopefully there will be no more little puppies. Pi might be pregnant again, though. My dad called me right after I left to tell me he found them stuck together. That was something I didn't need to hear >_>

Anyway ~ the trip was excellent. There were a few problems, but all in all, it was worth every penny. I have video and pictures I'll put up soon.

I've spent the past week being sick, mostly. We were going to go to Six Flags yesterday but I was feeling rather ill so we're aiming to try again for next monday.

Started my online summer course. I might actually switch from classroom to online in the fall cause my prof is quite excellent for this course. We'll see how it goes.

Started drafting my resume. I really need to finish that and send it off to Dr. Burgess at the Smithsonian. Hopefully it'll be alright. *is keeping her fingers crossed*

I started playing WoW again for the summer. It's actually saving me money by keeping me indoors and at home as opposed to what I want to do, which is go out and shop and stuff.

Ah, the gloriousness of depression.

Burr. More later, tea now. <3

So, I fly to Minnesota tomorrow to see Katie-chan before the two of us (along with her friend Sarah) fly out for Los Angeles on friday. I hate planes with a passion, so I'm sitting here fretting about dealing with flying alone for the first time tomorrow afternoon. I mean, I have to deal with security and all that jazz. Did I mention that I hate planes?

I hate planes.

Anyway, Dr. Ezell put up our grades for Collections Mgt. I got a B in that as well, but I expected that. She's a hard grader. Now I'm just waiting on Sprinkle to finish up his grading.

I ain't gonna be happy if I get a B in that, as well.

*grumbles*

Did I mention I hate planes? Cause I hate planes. Just thought you should, you know, know that.

Cause I hate planes. And I get to go on four of them over the next six days. Whee.

In other news ~ when the packaging on headphones says "One Size Fits All", they're lying. I bought a pair for the trip and they're too big for my poor little ears. Throne of lies, Sony! Throne of lies! I managed to mold them (even though you're not supposed to do that O_o) to kinda fit my ears. I am not a happy camper! *grumble*

Beh. More packing and sleep. I'll try to post while I'm gone if someone has a computer. If not, then I'll see ya'll when I get back!

Well, I didn't do nearly as well in Western Civ as I had initially hoped. I ended up with a B in the course. B's aren't bad, I know, but I pride myself with my A-average. I guess I didn't do as well on the final as I had thought. I had an A average in the course, so I must have done horribly on the final exam.

I don't see how, though. I know most of my answers were correct. *gripes*

Eh...this is going to bug me all summer.

I turn in Sprinkle's final this evening. It was a take home that I've been working on for a week. I know I'm not making an A in Lin's Collections Mgt. course (my profs last semester weren't kidding when they said she was crazy hard)...hopefully I'll get an A in Sprinkle's class. If I don't, I am not going to be a happy camper.

Geh. All Bs wouldn't be bad, but if it drops my GPA below 3.6 again, I'm going to be pissed.

Very, very pissed.

Anyway...went to the grad party for Sam yesterday. It was alright, I guess. I ended up coming home depressed though. It really seemed to hit home that I don't fit in with that group anymore. I mean, archeology! Egyptology! Everyone I talked to (aside from the wonderful Kampas and the Falcons ~ <3s to them both) frowned a lot when they found out what I was doing. It's hard feeling like I'm letting people like Mrs. Phillips down, but this is something I want to do with my life. The gathering also slammed home the fact that my mother is gone. Again. I'm getting really sick of wanting to burst into tears and throw up during public gatherings. When people were toasting Sam and Katie, all I could think about was "My mom would have been thrilled to be here. But she won't be at my wedding when I eventually get married." I felt horrible about feeling so selfish, but I couldn't shake it.

I miss her, damnit. And I feel miserable.

I don't need this shit, I really don't.

So, my friend Sam (a guy who I went to highschool with) has just graduated from college.

That!

And he's totally getting married to another friend of mine.

I'm not really sure what to think, here. I mean, I'm thrilled for them, sure, but at the same time...it's like, woah. Marriage. I mean, it only really feels like yesterday when we were in highschool together.

Anyway ~ His grad party is today and Pat and I are going for a little while.

Bleh. :x We'll see how it goes. I'm not going to know most of the people there.

So, I just finished my first AMV. Ever.

Whee? *grins* I was mucking about in iMovie on my desktop and this was the result: a rather amusing/horrifying/angsty Fullmetal Alchemist AMV to Samantha Murphy's I Wanna Go Home.

Watch, enjoy, comment!



*glee!*

Happy 20th Bryan! :D

*gives cookie*

Two decades old, and still as childish as ever! *grins* I hope your birthday brings you much joy and happiness for you on this landmark occasion.

So, by now you've noticed the new banner, right? *grin*

The image is of three original characters from a novella I'm writing (a novella that doesn't have a name yet, sadly).

From the left:

Karven - a thief and treasure hunter who goes to Egypt hoping to discover something of extreme value in order to earn some cash. A rebel and a loner, Karven is brash and rude and ill-tempered - traits that have all but ensured his almost complete solitude. He is smug and sure of himself and his abilities.

Heba - Karven's younger brother. Heba is smart and streetwise for a child of only thirteen years, but beyond the front he puts on for his brother and those he does not trust, he is kind and innocent. He sees the world as simple, nothing more than a puzzle to solve. He is tricky and clever, and has managed to fool his brother into believing he is just as brash as he is.

Sekhmet - the main character of the story, Sekhmet has a long history that spans many lifetimes. He is not entirely human, the creation and child of one of the goddesses of old. Because of his ties to her as her vessel on earth due to the destruction Ra wished the goddess to create in the land of the living, he is immortal. For all his years as the Destroyers embodiment, he has maintained this simplistic outlook on humanity: that life is to be cherished, no matter what the darkness that bore him may say. He gives Heba his nickname (the Ancient word for game) upon meeting the boy and his brother and witnessing the games the child plays to manipulate Karven to do what is right, instead of what always pays.

This probably doesn't make much sense to you (tis't supposed to, yet xD), but there is a grand sweeping plot that I'm currently developing, and I have a draft of the prologue written that introduces Sekhmet's character. He's confusing and very complex, but he's a character I've had for a long time thanks to RPs with Katie-chan.

*grin*

Scott pestered me into posting the prologue, so I'll do that later.


Ciao for now. *bows*

I took my final for Porter today. Thankfully. Finally.

The past two days have been crazy between Lin's term paper and this final I didn't feel prepared for. I didn't sleep at all last night trying (and failing, sadly) to cram. Luckily, I know I pulled through the exam with at least an 80. I'm hoping for an A, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but I know of at least a few questions I missed so I'm not deluding myself into expecting one.

In other news, the space bar on my keyboard popped out when a cat knocked the thing off my desk. Really annoying. I fixed it, but I have to slam my thumb onto the key when I want to add a space. I may throttle that cat.

I still have the National Register Form to fill out for Dr. Sprinkle and Lin's final in about a week.

Whee.

I'm not worried. Lin's first exam was simple guesswork, and I've been told her final is more of the same.

*yawns* More later. I need to fix myself some tea or something. I just woke up from a nap.

Just for the record: I hate term papers. I hate them. With a passion.

I have a nine page paper due for my Collections Management course this coming Wednesday. It's actually not a hard topic (the ethical considerations for deaccessioning objects from museum collections) for me has I have a few excellent sources, but pounding out papers that are that long are kinda annoying. Granted! I can do it double spaced, but still. Bleh. I got most of it done this afternoon and I will probably be through with it by tonight. I still hate term papers. Luckly, Katie-chan and Patrick both agreed to read over it for me to see if it makes any sense to the common reader. It's mildly technical. I may post it here later for your perusal. Ethical considerations are quite interesting to me.

Anyway, in other news.

I took some adorable pictures of puppies on Saturday. The weather was nice, so I went out with Pat and puppies and snapped some shots before my camera died. I'll take more later, and hopefully get a short video to send to relatives and Shari before the babies get any bigger.

I only have two weeks left of classes. Kinda surreal that's it's already been a year, but there you have it. My online math class starts on the 19th, so I will still be working on school over the summer, but not as much. Granted, I've no idea how much work is gonna be involved...hopefully not a lot. *twitches*

Murr. More later. Gonna try to finish my paper now. *le sigh*

Busy, busy.

I've had a zillion and twelve assignments due these past two weeks, and before that...well, a lot has happened. Life has kinda gone bonkers since my last post. In short: my best friend got booted out of his house because his mother thought he was a good-for-nothing lowlife (an untrue statement, he's been working VERY hard to boost his grades and improve his lifestyle with very little familial support), my dad hates his job, and apparently I'm a sought-after almost-certifided archeologist (shovel bum, essentially).

I've been doing a LOT of work within the historical museum/collections management commuinity. Between the two classes I've been taking to complete my Historic Preservation Certificate and the various volunter positions I've accepted for the summer, I'm a little swamped.

Keep your fingers crossed for me. If I get luckly, Dr. Ezell (my Collections Mgt. professor) will help me secure an internship at the National Museum of Natural History. I'm excited about it :D

I'm also getting the chance, thanks to Katie-chan, to go to LA in a couple of weeks to see a DBSK (Dong Bang Shin Ki, a Korean band)appearance at the Korean Music Festival. I've never been to Hollywood, so we get the chance to walk around for about a day before we have to catch our flight back to Minnesota. *is thrilled*

Anyway ~ I have one massive term paper due in about a week and a half, the Section 8/9 form from the National Register of Historic Landmarks Form due in about two weeks (already submitted the half done rough draft to get help on it. it's confusing O_o), and three finals - two in two and a half weeks and one next week.

Yay for business! O_o;;

I'm only taking one math course this summer, so it shouldn't be too bad. I'll volunter at Colvin Run Mill on Fridays and hopefully at NMNH on a few weekdays and weekends. Once again, keep your fingers crossed! *happy*

What kind of world do we live in, if events like this start becoming common place? More and more shootings are occurring around the country at various campuses across the nation.

What happened? Why are teens (who appear to be happy or content) killing themselves and others? Why must we live in fear of 'will my campus be next?'

When, and why, did it come to this?

So, I took a hiatus again (wasn't it painfully obvious?).

It was a break I needed to pull myself back together, to try and push forward again. It worked, and I have returned (not stronger, but perhaps wiser in the long run).

A lot has happened in the months I've been away. We burried Wylie the afternoon I last posted. It was a sad thing, and it tore me up for weeks after that (I've never dealt well with failure, and I felt it strongly with her passing because I thought that if I'd just paid more attention, given her a little more time, I would have noticed that all was not as well as it seemed) but in the end everything turned out okay.

Pi gave birth to babies in November. Little Amy and Lucy, to delightful little girls that bring as much joy into my life as their parents do (and as much destruction).

We ended up not taking the usual tour to Texas for the holidays as I felt I couldn't deal with family pressures so soon after mom. My dad, however, flew to visit my grandmother in January to make up for our absence.

Katie-chan came in January to visit over the winter break. Had a great time (dyed her hair, too), and played a lot of rock band. Oh yes. Blew some money on a PS3 for reasons unknown. I enjoy it, though.

Classes have started again. I'm still strugling to keep up given the amount of pressure in my life, but I make do. Patrick has been a God-send, as have Katie and Mike, in keeping me sane during this time. I <3 them all.

Anyhoo and a half. I have a project to work on for art, so I must flee!

More later. *grin*

It's good to be back.

Wylie passed away this afternoon.

While I was aware that this was a long time in coming, I know that it could have been prevented for awhile longer if I had just paid attention. She was infested with worms (I'm not sure what kind, but after she died and the worms began leaving her body to find another host, I cleaned up the mess and researched it on the internet. They closely resemble tapeworms, but not quite), and if I had researched her symptoms before - she could have been saved.

I wasn't paying attention, and I didn't look up the signs, and because of that she's gone.

Another grim reminder of the frailty of life, and how short our time here on this earth really is. I miss her terribly, even though she's only been gone for a few short hours.

God is trying to teach me a lesson, I'm sure, but as blind as I am I cannot see it - I only hope He takes mercy before I loose anyone else. I don't know how much more of this I can take before something breaks, and I cease to function in even the small ways I am now.

Okay, so...

I think I'm in the midst of a breakdown. I can't be sure, but the evidence points in that direction so I'm forced to conclude that I am, in fact, having a breakdown.

I'm not handling things very well. It's very difficult to focus, and NOVA has gone from being a semi-pleasant experience to being an almost unbearable reminder of everything that's happened. I had originally thought that I could handle this, that I could deal with my loss and move on, but it's becoming more and more apparent with each passing day that that isn't the case.

I feel disconnected, like I'm not completely here. I know that someday I'll find a way to cope and continue on with my life, but as it stands right now that day seems very far off. Maybe it's normal, maybe it really is okay, and maybe it's alright to feel as though I'm drifting from one day to another. All I know is that, here and now, I feel like I'm not really here, like I don't truly exist.

I'm drifting, and maybe that's okay for now, but in truth I'm not sure. It's getting harder and harder to face the coming days, and I think that maybe I'm a little afraid that one day I won't be able to.

Well.

Omgmymostawesomeoftheawesomenessmacgothereyesterday! *pants* *falls over* *ded*

Eh. I mean, my brand spanking new and shiny iMac got here. One of the new ones, with a 24 inch screen and the new Intel Core Duo Extreme processor. *swoons* ...Anyway! It is the ultimate of awesomeness.

Moving on. *shifty eyes*

I went to the Udvar-Hazy Center yesterday with Patrick and Mike yesterday for a project for Museum Practice. Basically, we were to go to the museum and try to find things that could use improving. In short, there was a lot. I like the Udvar-Hazy Center, but really - if you're going to have displays, please label them. Kthnxbai.

I'm leaving for math in a few minutes, so more later. The first Archeology class is tonight. :9~

Well, yesterday didn't turn out to be all that bad after all. I got a lovely banner/cake/present from the Kampas, and my dad and Mike went all out in the gift department.

I gots an iCat! *glee*

Anyway, Bryan, Pat, and I had bowling (all ten minutes of it *sweatdrop*) today, and Pat and I have Museum Practice at seven. Forty minutes and counting. *le sigh*

Katie is in Japan, and Keenan is in Russia!


Laa. Going to lunch with Mrs. Phillips tomorrow (which will prove to be interesting, I'm sure), and I have to complete the evil math homework before class on Thursday. It's not completely necessary, but my math instructor hinted that the questions on the homework are the same as the questions on the quizzes. Which kind of makes my life easier, but not really though. I would rather that he grade the homework, but whatever.

Meh. More later. I should probably keep Pat entertained before he sets fire to the lounge or something.

And so it goes.

Another day becomes another year.

Birthdays suck, don't they? Anyway. So it's my birthday. Joy. Going out to dinner with Mike and Patrick and my dad (Well, if Patrick bothers to show up that is. I'm having my doubts).

Went to Math class earlier. It's official, my teacher is nuts. The guy I'm sitting next to is pretty nice, though, so it's not all bad. I'm just glad I know most of this material already, otherwise I'd be royally screwed.

Yarr.

More later.