A Not So Debilitating Disability

I was born with slightly different bone structure than most people. My mother's first reaction (well, perhaps not first) at my birth was, 'oh no, she has her father's fingers.' You see, my father and I share something (whose scientific word I don't know) called stiff fingers, which means six of my fingers bend only at the top joint. This 'disability' has made sure that I: 1) will stay out of the military 2) will never be able to climb ropes 3) won't live a normal life because everywhere I go someone will say, 'what happened to your fingers?' and 4) will not be able to play stringed instruments...or will I?!? Up until today, I was thoroughly convinced that I would never be able to play guitar to any extent. Then today happened, and I picked up my brother's guitar, found an old Chord chart and began manipulating my fingers to fit the little dots on the 6 vertical lines. And low and behold, I could do it!! Some chords are harder than others, and some I am not physically able to do, but most of them are mine!!! Most of them can be played by me, the one who should never have been able to play guitar at all! Sure, I will probably never be the best guitarist in the world, but the fact that I can do even one song on the guitar is amazing. Like whoa, and thank you God.

PS-My fingers hurt, but for once, I DON'T CARE!!!!!!

The Gang's All Home

This evening was the first reunion of 'the gang,' my rather small group of high school and now college friends, since school began. We had all seen one another from time to time, but nothing compares to having everyone under the same roof again, even the [un]fortunate few who attend school out-of-state. We once again segregated ourselves into the guys and girls. The boys chose to huddle around the (3) television[s] watching "Randy the Reindeer" (it is Christmas after all), and playing two different games. The girls played cards at the kitchen table and talked between frantic rounds of Nerts. I actually won a couple of times too. After several rounds of Nerts, most of the girls adjourned to the living room where we discussed boys and our periods (well what else is there to talk about?), for which we were duly mocked by our male friends. Then someone decided to whip out this balance board thing. I took it upon myself to entertain everyone by wobbling around on this thing then shooting it out from under myself and falling (rather hard) on my butt/side. After that initial ouch...and what am I doing on the floor, I found it quite funny, as did my good friend who was doing her best not to explode in a burst of laughter whilst I writhed with pain on the floor. Actually the writhing didn't really happen, it looked more like lying in a big heap moaning, but writhing is such a nice word, no? I have many times fallen before, but never so hard, and never on concrete covered in carpet. Needless to say, I remained relatively inactive for the remainder of the evening. So now I'm lying in bed a few hours later, wondering if I'm going to get a nice shiny bruise for my trouble.

Weekly Updates and Random Thoughts

When I got my trusty computer this summer, I discovered something call Sound Recorder among the programs that come in the Windows XP default package, and I had a blast recording things on it. When I departed for college, I decided that I wanted to maintain more than just e-mail communication with my two best friends (who just happen to be roommates) at the other Florida school, so I have used that medium to let them hear my voice every once in a while. It's actually kind of fun, I highly recommend it.

I hung out with Ruth and Amanda tonight, it was fun, and something I haven't done in years...literally. We baked cookies and talked about stuff, the cookies weren't so great, but talking was fun.

This afternoon I didn't get up until really late, cause I went to Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King last night. It was awesome.

I love Christmas vacation, especially since it means that I don't have to be in school.

Being a doctor is a hard enough profession as is without having to worry about law suits all the time....hence, people need to back off and cut them some slack, they are people too who make mistakes. PS-my BP is down now that I'm off that medication that my doctor prescribed.

I have horrible posture, maybe I should work on that.

I really like butterscotch.

That's all for now, maybe write more later.

A Moment Of Disbelief

This morning as I awoke (about 3 hours after I had intended), the first thing to cross my mind was inevitably what where my grades like this semester? I acted upon this thought by going downstairs (I'm home again, BTW) and getting online to the FSU website and checking my grades. Much to my surprise (and joy) I discovered that I had all 'A's except for one A- in my British Literature class, in which I had expected to get a C. You can imagine how extatic I was to discover this. After a full semester of moaning and groaning about my professor, I have finally come to the end, and I have an A to boot. Ok, A-....but does it really matter that much? I certainly hope not.

On A Totally Different Subject
If you're like me you know that the final installment of "Lord Of The Rings" premiered today. And if you are like me you probably went and saw it, just like I did, at midnight. If you're not like me, you really missed out, cause it was great. Orlando Bloom was incredibly sexy as he took down an Oliphant single handedly, and Karl Urban looked awesome riding around on his horse and spearing this badguy. In short, it was awesome. I already said that, but it is no less true.

Ok, well, it's really late (or early, whichever you prefer) so I think I'm gonna go hit the sack, because I'm tired, and have been awake for far far too long.

Home For The Holidays

As a child I never quite realized how great the holidays are...And frankly, I don't think anyone realizes how great they are until they have moved away from home, whether to college or otherwise. When you're little, Thanksgiving and Christmas just happen; nothing changes in your life except there's less space to draw on the walls cause of the decorations your mother insists in putting up every year (not that that's a bad thing). But when you don't live there anymore it's great to come home and see that stuff up already, as opposed to your rather monotonous dorm or apartment. And the whole 5 day weekend is always good. I don't think I've ever been this excited at the prospect of consuming too much food. I just feels sorry for the people who don't have families to come home to like mine...my Korean roommate for example. She doesn't get to go home (not that they have Thanksgiving in Korea). I can't imagine not being excited to go home for Thanksgiving.

This year, I know what I'm thankful for: Thanksgiving itself, a family to come home to, and friends to bake pies with.

The Joys of the Holidays

This evening 4 of my house mates and I decided to carve pumpkins in celebration of Halloween. I carved a bat (not of my own design, we had this kit thing) and Kerry carved ADK into one side of hers and a face into the other. It was her first time. She was excited. After we were done carving, we thought it would be a good idea to make a pumpkin pie from the flesh we had cut away. We didn't realize that this would take several hours. Try 3 hours. And I missed ER. Dang it. But anyway, that is why I'm still awake at 2 in the morning, and I have a class in 7 hours, and I need my beauty sleep. We ended up not having enough pumpkin, so we added sugar. We were only 1/4th of a cup short, but still. On the other hand, more sugar isn't necessarily bad.

The great thing about cooking in college is you never have all of the ingredients that you need. For example, we don't have any shortening/lard, so we substituted butter. Thankfully we have a nutrition major in our house, so she can tells us if we can sub something like that. The crust isn't as fluffy and light, but it works and tastes good.

5 minutes later.....
ok, we just pulled it out of the oven and it looks GREAT!!!!! The baking crew has succeeded again!!!! It's AWESOME. And it was even Kerry's first pie. It's amazing how well things turn out when you follow directions. yay, that makes me happy. Anyway, now that that's over, I think I'm gonna go enjoy some pie!

What's the greatest thing about college campuses? Wireless networks.

Yes folks, that's right, wireless networks. Why? Because that allows me to get on the internet with my laptop on campus, and in fact at all, since I don't have an internet connection at my house. Ahhhh.......

Well, I took another extended sumbatical from writing in this blog, not that anyone has noticed, because the last time I checked, no one reads this thing. But oh well, I suppose it's not really important, just some ductwork through which I vent my feelings irritiations, blah blah blah, and all that jazz.

Since the last time I wrote so many things have happened, after all, some 4 months have passed, right? If you probably have noticed, I saw Chicago, the movie, it was great, by the way. I went through a referee's hell on earth, ODP Soccer camp with an incredibly boring old man with 6 teeth and a badge that says he's allowed to tell other people how to referee. It was boring, physically taxing, and well, really bad for the feet...I still have scars from the blisters. My feet blistered so bad, they could have gone into the record books for the worlds worst blisters or something.

I bided the rest of my summer dreding the return of SCHOOL, except this time I was going to Florida State University, not the same crappy high school I had attended for the last 4 years. I was extatic at Orientation, because I learned the night before that I had achieve my goal for high school, obtaining the International Baccalaureate diploma. Yeah, I did it. It felt great, so great that I jumped up and down in my hotel room, my parents smiling, and my little brother wishing I would make less noise...yeah, dude, just wait until your turn comes.

I moved up to Tallahassee, Florida on August 16, 2003, into an awesome house right off campus, and it totally ROCKS. I love everyone I live with, even though they get on my nerves some times, ok, lots of times, but none the less, it's a sweet deal. I started classes August 25 and I've only skipped twice since then. Once unintentionally, the other very intentionally. And I'm proud of myself that I have successfully buried the desire to not go to class several times.

I still have no boyfriend, all though there is this really hot guy in my Bible Study. I've gotten used to this whole responcible for my own actions thing, and I'm kind of liking it, it's not like I do stupid stuff all the time anyway. So yeah, I'm still the goodie-two-shoes that I was in high school, but I would rather not get arrested or anything.

So, I guess that's a good enough update, and it might be the last for a long time, so get used to it.

My my my my my...has it really been that long? Well, I guess it's sort of understandable, I have been-well-busy, sort of, ina not really kind of way. Since my last Blog I graduated from High school, big accomplishment now-a-days right? That was an interesting experience, but more annoying than anything. you know how there is ALWAYS someone who insists on trying to start "the wave" in commencement, and can never get it in his or her blocky head that this is for their parents who are probably at that moment hanging their head in shame that their child has made a complete ass of his or herself in front of the entire graduating class, as well as the thousand or so people that are watching them. Gosh, as fate would have it, I was forced to sit a seat away from one such person. The majority of the ceremony he spent trying to stand up on his chair without being caught by the lady that was standing next to our row the whole time because the crapweasel kept standing up!!! Is he really that stupid, or does he just act like that? Commencement is a pig giant piece of poop.

A WHAT Kind of Journal?

It was one of those days in English class when you just kind of do a double-take at the assignment projected on the screen. This assignment is due on the 10th of March and it has something to do with Beloved and writing, and it's something called a Dialectic Journal. I have earthly idea what the construction of a "Dialectic Journal" entails. Probably reading the book, and writing something about what I read in the book, and something to do with analysis and response. It doesn't seem that hard...right? Famous last words. There is only so much crap you can pull out of your butt. (But if it's organized crap it's okay!) So here I sit, slaving away (again) on something I have no idea about. Wish me luck.

P.S.
-Why do they always give the weird books the Nobel Prizes. Why not Anne of Green Gables, or The Lord of the Rings? Why the boring and confusing ones?

So you have a problem? Well, so do I, and so does everyone else on this planet. But to tell you the truth. At this point in time I really don't care. I'm serious. I don't. Today is a Wednesday. Usually I would have attended my church's youth group, Thirst. On this particular Wednesday I did not, I had homework, but c'est la vie. My good friend informed me that we had student testimony night, and instead of having one or two people talk a whole bunch of random people got up and talked. Now, no offence to any of these people, but really I don't care about their lives and about their problems (which is what those kind of things always turn out to be, especially in my youth group). Everyone gets up there and groans and complains about their own petty problems (don't get me wrong, I do it too, in fact, I'm know as one of the biggest whiners in my (rather limited) circle of friends) and struggles to find some hidden meaning in it all. But we all do it, there must be a release for all of the pent up nonsense that floats in the human brain. So, here's to venting (even if it is into a microphone in front of 50 people you don't know).

The Depressing Reality that is MY INBOX!!

Upon Checking my e-mail this evening I was surprised to find that I had nine messages in my inbox, a shockingly high number for me. I excitedly clicked on the Okay button and began to view the treasure that had entered my computer via telephone lines. The first message was from my youth pastor who had forgotten to attach a document to a previous e-mail. Since the document purtained to tonights Thirst (the name of my youth group), and also since I was not in attendance this evening, I did not care about this e-mail. The next message came from my friend, Desiree. She had sent me a list of the best dorms at Florida State University to aid me in my Housing Application process since I hope to attend FSU next school year. The following 5 messages were from United Airlines, telling me what special deals were available for today for their Frequent Flier Members. The last 2 messages were from Juno, my service provider, informing me that they have some GREAT DEALS available for Juno members, like getting Juno Platinum for just $9.99 (plus tax).

So after this depressing journey into my e-mail I decide that I really don't care about e-mail, I see all of my friends at school anyway (except of course for all of my friends/relatives that live in different states/countries).

Autumn has arrived in central Florida! As I sit here at my computer I take frequent glances over my left shoulder and out the sliding glass door at the beauty that nature has to offer. It's January and some leaves have fallen off the trees. Others still hang by a twig blowing gently in the frigid breeze. Out the door I can see my mom's dead tomato plants in our brown garden, and a tree full of red leaves in the distance. I love fall, it was always my favorite season when I was little, even if I vowed that it was summer because I got to wear shorts. We lived in Virginia where fall lasts for a month, and winter follows slowly on its heals. My brothers and I used to make forts out of the red, yellow, orange and brown leaves that would fall every second week of September. We called them forts, but really they were just leaves raked into lines to make an outer wall that wouldn't stop a strong wind. When we got sick of that we would rake all of our hard work back into a pile and jump into the mountain of leaves, roll around, then fall out of it covered from head to toe with leaves. We would tramp inside, making a trail of crumpled leaves through my mom's kitchen and up the stairs. Sometimes our dog would follow us into the house which always gave us great joy because he would hit the linoleum floor in the kitchen and go sliding across it into the cast iron radiator on the far side, at which point he would make an "ooph" sound, turn and run the other way, skidding around corners as he followed us wherever we went. He never was a very bright dog, but he was good...he always knew what I was feeling. If I was sad he'd lick my face and and make me smile, if I was happy he would bounce around me wagging his tail, and if I was just fine he would run all over the place, cause he knew I didn't need him. He's dead now, we had to put him to sleep a couple of years ago, but he's in a better place.