Absolutely Nothing

When all else fails, sleep.

Day Five. All the late nights of movies and procrastination caught up to me. After an 11-hour day on campus, I only lasted part of an hour on the living room couch before I was asleep. Sleep is good. It feels especially good when you know you have no real reason to get up other than to print off an assignment that has already been completed, and to shower.

My motivation level for the day dropped to zero once I hit that couch. Me and my flavor blasted Goldfish crackers enjoyed not moving. Eventually I woke up, looked around, and realized I have a super comfy bed about 5 feet away. Good-bye fishies, hello pillows!

Even with my extended nap of glory, I am still aching for some more sleep. Aching is a good word. I ache. My shoulder is tender as if it is bruised, but I don't even have a bruise to show for it. I just don't get to move my arm around very much. Awesome, right?

Well, tonight is pointless. It was a a catchup day. I am now aware of all my courses, and the fact that I will be swimming in homework. My printer works, and did not install drivers in Spanish this semester (yay!). I have a glass of milk to finish, and I'm turning in.

Let's hope the weekend brings pleasant surprises!

Fast Food Hopping: It's ALWAYS a Good Idea

There is no such thing as a short trip to Meijer.

Day four. Peace amongst the villagers.

Thankfully, today was nowhere as eventful as yesterday. I got to play Taxi, since Annie's car is a little... not working. But I got a stellar parking spot because so early to campus, so I guess everybody wins.

Today was not exciting. Karma decided she was going to go for the world's longest time spent "going outside." Now I'm  not one to stand and watch a dog do its business. I look away, wait a moment or two, then glance over to see if the deed is done. This dog is ridiculous. I have no idea where she is putting all of this water, well, except for on the lawn, of course. Not kidding, was on the lawn over a minute, just doing her thing. And twenty minutes later, she did it AGAIN. Iron bladder? Maybe, maybe not. I'm thinking more "hollow legs to hold all this darn water."

Onto less awkward conversation.

Our hallway smoke detector decided the battery was no longer useful, so it started chirping at us to let us know. Now, the basement detector has been chirping for days- nobody is going in that horror-flick-waiting-to-happen to replace a battery. It can chirp away all it wants. But the hallway is not communal territory. It is our territory, it is right between our bedrooms,and it is loud. So we set off to Meijer, list in mind, prepared for a SHORT TRIP to Meijer. SHORT. Minute to Win it short. Batteries, ream of paper (because I bought printer ink and adjusted the settings and cables and updated drivers but forgot paper- I rock.), band-aids for Annie's foot, nail clipper, done. If only it were that easy. Annie + Clearance = Good-Bye Record Meijer Time. I can't complain, I enjoyed it, and had it not all been left-behind summer lawn accessories and school supplies, I would have been just as bad, if not worse. Darn gnomes, taking all Annie's attention away from the task at hand.

So we finally made it out of Meijer, and I decided I wanted fast food, since apparently a bagel with peanut butter is not enough to sustain a day in the life of a college kid. I didn't just want fast food- I wanted ALL the fast food. This is where I introduced Annie to fast-food hopping.

Fast-Food Hopping: verb. The act of visiting several fast food restaurants in succession, selecting one delicious, bad-for-your-health-and-your-wallet item from each, and returning home to feast on the greasy, awful choices you just made.

Tonight was McDonald's, Taco Bell, and a consideration of Burger King that was dismissed due to the fact that we are ladies, for one, and also- we are poor.

Again, today was a day of peace. It was lovely. I hope your day was as luxuriously boring as mine.

Days of Turmoil

It's bad enough when you have to set a cap on how many injuries your housemate is allowed to get. It's even worse when she reaches it all in one day.

Day Three. And what a day it has been. Beginning with a rather late start, but nonetheless eventful. It all began- with a radiator. Thankfully not hot, seeing as it's averaging 80 degrees outside, there really is no need for the heat to be on. Still, the old-fashioned metal radiator serves function both as a place to store towels while using the shower, and something to trip over while trying to reach a hairbrush. Yep, crash! bang! and Injury #1 had reared its ugly, bruise-inducing head. And that's not all.

Injuries notwithstanding, we planned our day, with emphasis on the University bookstore, Meijer for "a quick stop," and then adventures in laundry-land. The bookstore was surprisingly quick, even with bad in-store directions given by the initial greeter. From there we headed upstairs to replace Annie's window cling, so she has one from her NEW University. It was fantabulous (so awesome I had to make up a word). Our "quick stop" at Meijer lasted much longer than planned, as all our Meijer adventures do. I managed to get a pair of Skeletoes on clearance, which is pretty sweet, seeing as I've been eyeing them all summer. We also spent way too much money on food, but at least now there's more than Ramen in the cupboard! Once we got home, we sorted our laundry into "Clothes I Need to Wash Now" and "Clothes that can Wait a Few More Days." OK, so only I did that, but Annie is much better at this than I am, even if all her clothes are still covered in bubbles. (note: see the post about the shampoo fiasco from yesterday.)

While we were shopping, I decided I was going to set a cap for how many injuries Annie is allowed to get, seeing as she is rather accident-prone these days. (OK, so maybe she's accident-prone all days, but hey, who's keeping track!?) I think we finally settled on no more than one injury in a 72-hour period, and no more than three injuries in one week. Yeah, about that.

That's where the trouble began. We tossed our laundry baskets and soap into the back of the car, and headed through East Campus to get to the laundromat, rather than the main roads, to get some perspective on where the parking and buildings reside. Leaving campus, we misjudged the timing on a light, and ended up in a bit of a fender bender. A fender bender that left both of us rattled, bruised, and sore from the impact. Injury number two. The police officers who responded (ridiculously quickly, at that) were very kind, and understood about being in a new town. Since the car is not in drivable order, seeing as the wheel was locked and there were several fluids pouring from beneath the vehicle, we were offered rides back to our house from both the tow-truck and the police officer. I have to stop and admit- I was actually kind of geeked to get to ride in a police car. I'm pretty much your milkfed, mid-western, suburban, middle-class female, so the chances of me riding in a police car are pretty much 0. The police officer was very kind, and even ran the lights and siren to perk us up. She offered to take our pictures in the back of the squad car, which I was pretty jazzed for, but Annie wasn't having any of it. Oh well, memories last a lifetime.

Moving along. Injury #2 wasn't terrible, though the circumstance was. We have some bumps, some bruises, and some rug burn from upholstery and seatbelts from the force of impact. We made it home safely, to Karma, our X-box, and some romantic comedies to take our minds off our troubles. Until Annie started hollering for me from her room. Enter: Injury #3

Somehow a piece of glass worked its way into her sandal, and from there into her foot. I walked into her room and was met by a pool of blood on the floor, and a frantic Annie asking for some paper toweling. Ugh. Blood. I have no idea how one cut, less than a quarter-inch long can produce so much blood. We dodged advice from both our mothers advising us to go to the hospital, to treat Annie's foot and to check our damage from the car incident.

So in less than an 8-hour span, Annie has fulfilled her quota. Tomorrow is the first day of classes, and I fear for our safety. There isn't much I can do- she won't let me wrap her in bubble wrap, and I don't even have a phone to text her incessantly and check on her. Oh well, it looks like we're going to have to leave it to the Fates.

Wish us well!

The Fine Art of Impulse Buying

They say you should never shop hungry. I think it should also be added not to shop while back-to-school sales are in effect.

Day Two- A boring, yet bank-breaking day that didn't begin until I put my book down and rolled off my brand new and oh-so-comfortable bed. It was getting unpleasant to read while only wearing one contact lens. Also, it was after noon.

The majority of the day was spent with Annie, either deciding what we wanted to do, or driving around in the car to go there. We were on an epic hunt for a Laserjet printer, and sadly, neither the holiday sales nor the back to school sales had prices competitive enough for Annie's budget. I, however, managed to walk away with a new wireless computer mouse for my laptop (which I have affectionately dubbed "Senior Lappy"), some external storage for my X-Box, ink for my printer- that is NOT laserjet, and a pre-owned copy of Elderscrolls: Oblivion. We also splurged on some Chinese food delivery, which is more than a little sloth-like, seeing as the Chinese restaurant is one-tenth of a mile from our house. In our defence, we took Karma on a walk, and we are invoking our rights to be lazy before we overwhelm ourselves fighting for the ever important "A" in our courses.

My mother used to ask me this question when I was upset over my grades "What do people with A's get? A degree. What do people with C's get? The same degree." Granted, my mother NEVER had this attitude in my years of lower learning. I remember many mornings where I was driven to school at 5:30 in the morning to go in the custodians' door to retrieve a forgotten assignment so it would be completed on time.

But I digress.

We gorged on Chinese food and Coldstone, where we both regretted not getting smaller sizes. We played laptop games and watched long-forgotten movies on the X-Box. So far Clue has been my favorite. To save your opinions of us, Annie has been faithfully studying for classes that haven't even started yet (overachiever) while I have been filling out job applications and hounding friends to help me work on my resume and cover letters. Karma has claimed my new purple memory foam rug. It has thus been removed from my bedroom and placed directly in the path of the box fan in the middle of the living room.  Note: flash-inhibited picture below. Photo credit to Annie and her phone.

I met two of the neighbors today. They were sitting on their porch enjoying tobacco and their beverages of choice. I happened to notice a party box that once contained said beverages matches the box of beverages that Annie keeps teasing me about. So I have more beverages than food. I EAT food. I don't consume those beverages very often at all. I hope they don't have an expiration date.

Nevertheless, it is my turn to choose a movie, and my goal it to make Annie protest or roll her eyes at least three times before settling on a movie. Challenge accepted.

New House Adventures: Day One

A brand-new bottle of shampoo empties itself in Annie's luggage. Peril, pandemonium, and pretty darn funny.

Day one. Finally, we've both moved in, more or less, and we're here to stay. Ah, but who is this "we"?? Well, first of all there is me- your trusty blogger extraordinaire, along with housemate Annie, and a stir-crazed boxer-pitt mix named Karma, who I'm fairly certain thinks she is a 20-pound purse dog who wants nothing more than belly rubs while she lounges, sprawled on a suede chaise lounger.

Our house is a historic 1930's charmer, the kind that was gutted 20 years ago and converted into student housing. We are in one of four houses within a house. We have our own front door, our own storage unit, and our very own pile of dog vomit, left behind on the front stoop. The ceilings are high, the doorways are arched, and there are cabinets installed whose bottoms are eight feet above the floor. Even standing on the kitchen counter tops, it is impossible for us to reach the top shelves- they are destined to remain empty, save for the dust that penetrates the off-center, squeaky wooden cabinet door.

All houses have their quirks, destined to be dubbed as "charm" as the building ages, and the most charming aspect in this house is the flooring. Solid wood, aged and polished to a golden hue, the floors are beautiful. The kitchen as tile that could be hard linoleum, or soft ceramic. The bathroom is similar to the kitchen. Nonetheless- the best part of our floors is this: they are all tilted. It's as if you walked into one of those fun-houses at a fair or haunted house and the walls and floor slant to throw you off course. My bedroom, for instance, tilts towards the middle of the house, which sends my rolling office chair eerily creeping backward at completely random moments in time. The living room is fairly solid, or so it seems. The bathroom tilts toward the tub, and makes rivers of water that pool in to lakes and puddles whenever the steam condenses.

This effect also happens when your roommate has a bottle of shampoo explode in her suitcase and you jump in like a superhero to start rinsing the soap out of her clothes before the situation can get worse. Shell-shocked (bubble-shocked?) housemates are not happy housemates. In the course of rinsing jeans and tops and sweaters I also was rinsing an entire brand-spanking new bottle of Dove shampoo into the tub. Our house is small, our tub is even smaller. I was wading in bubbles up to my knees. It was hilarious, for me at any rate. (If you ever have the time and money to spare, it's worth seeing. Shampoo bubbles are a lot more fun to play around in then bubble bath bubbles- but I'd skip the clothes and luggage part.) Annie was grateful for the help, and Karma was just glad not to be the one covered in bubbles.

And now, with mostly soap-free clothes flapping in the breeze as they dry over the porch railing, or dripping lazily over the shower curtain rod into the tub, where tiny soap bubbles are still circling the drain, I close of my first post. For Day One it hasn't been too bad. No fire, no plague of locusts- I am content. So good-night. Annie is buying pizza, and I, for one, am hungry.