Just Like a Happy Accident

I'm back in the Burgh. Christmas is over, the New Year is ready to begin, and I have been reunited with CLRG. I left Michigan yesterday, tearfully, but am very happy to be back in a place where I am not living out of a suitcase.

Christmas was relatively eventful. My grandmother was in a mood while we were there, so it made for some tense moments. I had a good time visiting with my parents and Pookie, though. We also got to see some cousins and my dad's younger sister and meet our first-ever cousin on that side of the family. Super cute. My dad reached a milestone birthday on the 25th. There were two cakes on two separate occasions, and lots of celebrating. Overall, it turned out well.

Tonight, I am going to CLRG's to ring in 2009. Elle is coming over and her friend is in town, so she will come as well. It should be a good time.

Classes start up next week. I didn't realize it was so soon. I hope that my books arrive in time. Yikes! I can't believe break is almost over. I go back to work on Saturday. Back to reality... Rawr.

I need to go get ready for tonight.

Happy New Year!

It's Our God-Forsaken Right to be Loved, Loved, Loved

We were supposed to go to my grandparents' house today, but there is... a blizzard. Rawr. So, the parents, Pookie and I are hunkered down at my godmother's house until morning. Joyful times. I can tell already that the family time is going to be an interesting one. Especially because my uncle, aunt and cousins are going to be there as well and my grandma doesn't seem to be super enthusiastic about anything. Oh boy.

I am having an issue coming up with a Christmas gift for CLRG. He has been scheming for weeks now. Consulting Elle, consulting Wifers. Now, he is consulting Pookie, too, and none of them will breathe a word of it to me. It's making me sort of crazy. I know that it will be something immeasurably more impressive than whatever I end up giving him. *sigh* AHH!! Pooks gave me a good idea, though, so maybe I will follow through with that and the one idea that he gave me a few weeks ago.

I got a tattoo on Friday! It didn't really hurt as much as I had been anticipating. I just have to keep lotion on it now until it totally heals, which will be in a couple of weeks. Here is a picture of the process:

I won't have the internet until the 26th, when we travel to Mt. P. to Pookie's apartment, so I hope everyone has a delightful holiday. Merry Christmas!!

But I Won't Hesitate No More, No More

Greetings from the Ville. I arrived here a few hours ago, after a long afternoon of travel. I am exhausted. I didn't get to leave when I wanted to, because of some snafus with the gas company and whatnot. Rawr. That stressed me out. I gave CLRG my key to my house so that he could check on things for me while we are absent. I walked down to his office to give him the key and say goodbye for real, and I felt so, so sad. I had been trying to prepare myself for this for a while, but it didn't work so well. I felt like I was going to cry. I don't know if he could tell, but looking at me with a sad face (puppy eyes and all) didn't really make it easier to contain myself. I think I have separation anxiety. It seems crazy to be feeling this way, given the length of time we've known one another, but I can't help it. I really, really like him. Several consecutive days apart are going to be so hard to handle. When I got here, I saw Pooks, as well as Oldface and JNH and Wifers, which was happy. Wifers was taking care of her evening responsibilities, so Oldface and JNH and I decorated D7. Paper snowflakes, Trey on a tree, ornaments hung with paper clips, etc. It's so festive.

Tomorrow, I am getting a tattoo. It is supposed to snow, but I'll be damned if that's going to stop me. Rawr! I will get it. I am also going to the doctor, getting my hair cut, and having a holiday shindig with the three listed above. There will be champagne, food, Love Actually and presents involved. I am very excited. These things make my absence from PGH seem not so sad.

There is so much snow here, FYI. I can't get over it. Pennsylvania is seriously lacking in the winter precipitation. Michigan could share. Ohio, too. Speaking of Ohio, today I was driving along I-80 and a thought occurred to me: over these next four days, my family is covering almost all of I-80. The parents are going West to East, and I just came East to West. Weird, right? Yes.

I should probably try to sleep...

It's a Marshmallow World in the Winter

I took my last exam tonight. I am officially done with the first quarter of my graduate school career. It's scary, but I am so glad I made it. I was seriously losing steam by the end of the semester. Whew. The exam tonight was actually pretty decent, especially when compared with the midterm. Yikes. I returned all of my library books, picked up a gift at the bookstore and was out of there an hour after I arrived. Woohoo!

I don't have very much to say tonight. CLRG is busy right now and, even though I want to see him, I may not. It makes me so sad. Thursday is coming too quickly.

Open My Eyes, I See Sky

You know how it is when you have a friend that you love dearly but you never, ever get to see them even though they may live in the same metropolis in which you reside? Yeah... My friend, Cupcake, lives like 20 minutes away from me and I haven't seen her since August. AUGUST!! I call her almost once a week and leave a voicemail to say that I love and miss her and hope that she is well. She never calls me back. We had two dinner dates scheduled for Septemberish and, both times, work forced her to cancel at the last minute. I know she's alive, at least, because she occasionally makes contact with Kins and I got a reply to a text a few weeks ago. I know that work is pretty much solely to blame for us not seeing or talking to each other, but is really starting to frustrate me. I want my Cupcake back!

You Always Dress in Yellow When You Wanna Dress in Gold

So I am supposed to be writing a 15 page paper for my African-American History class right now and I am more unmotivated than I can even express. Thank goodness I had to write a rough draft a couple of weeks ago, otherwise I would have nothing to build on. Oh man. I will be so happy when it's just turned in and I can concentrate on decimating my Archives final. :o)

On my way to or from work today or yesterday, I noticed that the dress shop had new dresses up. I was displeased to notice that they recycled a dress! They totally had that green one up a few weeks ago. I feel hurt. Don't put expensive dresses that I have already seen in the window. Put up new ones. I need to imagine I could afford one. Rawr.

Last night, Elle and I went to CLRG's. I worked on my paper a little bit and Elle and I played guitar hero with his roommate. There was a Pens game on, so CLRG had some work people over and we all wore jerseys and it was festive. Haha. There is one jersey in particular that I am required to wear because it was from his middle school days or something and I am small enough for it. I can always tell when he is going to get them when we are sitting there, hockey has just started and he leaps up without warning and runs into his bedroom. It kills me.

I suspect I should not avoid this paper anymore. Rawr.

Skip All the Drinks, Head to the Floor

Last night, my Intro class had its last meeting. It was, perhaps, the best session of that class we've had all semester. Dr. R was really funny and kept saying crazy things (even more than normal) and almost swore once or twice. We were going through one of the books we were assigned and it pretty much turned into a lecture about how much the author sucked at describing what was happening in photographs. I got a kick out of it. After class, we went to the bar and I had a larger beer than I normally do, so I was feeling it a little bit by the time I made it to the bowling alley, where I had another beer. Then, I was missing CLRG and, even though we hadn't planned on seeing each other, he came and picked me up and we went to his place. All in all, it was a good evening. Thank goodness I do not work today. :o)

I am very hungry.

I Glimpsed a Bat With Butterfly Wings; Oh, What Marvelous Things

We got a Christmas tree! Though only about as tall as Elle, it is beautiful and perfect for our corner. We went out yesterday, on a roommate date, to see Four Christmases. Following the movie, we rejoiced in the snow that was (finally!) accumulating and went to Target to get the perfect decorations for our tree. Then, we went to Lowe's, found the tree, put it in my car, and drove it home. Elle and I spent some time throwing tinsel on, and placing the ornaments. It looks fabulous.

Later in the evening, I went ice skating with CLRG. I was really nervous about it, but I didn't fall down once! He explained a few things about it and I ended up going pretty fast. He used to play hockey, you see, and he knows things. In fact, I believe that his journey onto the ice yesterday inspired him to play again. I would go watch the games. I may have also promised a sign. Haha.

Speaking of CLRG... on Friday night, he set this song by The Postal Service as the ringtone for when I call. It made me smile. He usually does, though, so I shouldn't be surprised.

I Can't Remember When the Earth Turned Slowly

Christmas is going to be so complicated. Half of me will be super excited to get out of here and see my family (Mom! Dad! Pooks! Jack!) and friends, but the other half will be super sad to leave CLRG behind for two weeks.

And Quarterlife (especially Elle!).

And the Factory (yes, I just admitted that).

And school (yes, I know).

*sigh*

It will be really interesting. I do so wish that CLRG and I could work something out so that he could come visit when I am there. I want him to meet my friends and my family and see more of Michigan than Livonia or wherever he went with his band a zillion years ago. I want to not be apart for so long. I'm having separation anxiety already and we still have like 2.5 weeks until I leave. Oh man.

On the bright side, I am getting my haircut when I am in the Ville. I am getting a tattoo! I will get to see some of my dearest friends. We'll go to Bert's. We'll go to Jack's. We will go to the beach, even if it's cold. I will get to see my parents and my puppy. We will visit my grandparents and will snuggle in pajamas. We will watch movies and sit around and I can sleep a lot and maybe detox myself of this caffeine business for a while.

See? It's going to be really, really complicated.