Ugh!

I was asleep. Peacefully asleep after a long day of lab work. Asleep, I say, in case you haven't gotten the point.

However, I have just returned to my room after evacuating for a fire alarm. Ugh, I hate dorms.

Best Week(end) Ever

I had quite the eventful weekend. Lots and lots of fun.

On Saturday, I went to visit Tyler--my favoritest little guy ever! Well, big guy, he yelled at me once for calling him "little guy," which is my nickname for Stevie and sort of comes out by default with little boys. Oops. Anyways, since he's still in the hospital, I sat with him for the day while his parents took the baby to the zoo. I'm sure they enjoyed the break and time together and I definitely had fun with Ty!

We colored and painted and colored and painted, over and over and over again. And, of course, he ate and ate and ate, too. Gotta love the steroids, which have definitely caused him to get a little plump. I was not anticipating lifting an extra 15 lbs or so when I had to get him in/out of bed to go potty. Almost broke my back! But nonetheless, we had lots of fun! He was so cute when I got there. He and his mom were waiting in the PICU lobby for me and I walked out of the elevator and he got this big grin on his face and hopped right up out of his chair, which is pretty impressive for a kid whose brain is infected. And then we helped feed his sister (She is the cutest, happiest baby on the planet, btw!) before his parents left and we commenced our coloring and painting bonanza. All in all, a very good day.

The next day, Sunday, I went to Seneca Lake with Duane and his family. That is always an adventure. I was planning on being brave and riding the jet ski but they weren't out so oh darn, I got out of it. I did drive the golf cart and ride on the quad for quite a bit with Duane, though. The quad thing is quite impressive for me since, as Duane will probably quickly tell you, I am a HUGE pansy and terrified of the things. They're dangerous! They flip and kill you! Yep, death traps, I say! Now if only my allergies hadn't been so bad... Stupid pollen!

Luckily, the allergies had improved by Monday when we spent the afternoon at Duane's aunt's house. I ate way too much, but I think Duane's trampoline abuse (abuse, I say!) managed to undo most of that. -sigh- I wish my family didn't suck and we had impromptu cookouts. But anyways, then after his mom dropped us off at Pitt, I spent the rest of the evening there with him, which is just about the most perfect way to spend the evening, of course. :)

Q: So what exactly can you make with a hot pot and a microwave?

A: Quite a lot, actually.

Now that I've been at school for about a week, I'm starting to hone my hot pot and/or microwave skills. Why not just eat on campus? Well, colleges seem to think that while you can stay here and work or take classes (for a whole lot of money, I'm sure), you do not require food.

To be fair, though, I should mention that at least we do have dining fascilities open and you can purchase a meal plan. Duane cannot even do that. However, don't let this fool you: our options suck. First of all, there is only one place open at a time. The City View Cafe for breakfast and Off Ramp for lunch and dinner, so you don't get much variety. Then there are the hours. Or should I say lack of hours. Breakfast lasts 2.5 hrs, making it 1.5 hrs longer than any of the other meal times. What if I can't get out of my lab between 11:30 and 12:30? No lunch for me, although I did check out the offerings one day-- burgers, a salad or grilled cheese--gee, what a diet. Grr! The worst part, however, is definitely that while you can purchase a meal plan, it can only be the 19 meal option. That's 3 squares a day during the week and two each day of the weekend. Yeah right.

But back to my newly discovered cooking skills. I made Shrek mac & cheese in the hot pot today and it was scrumptious! The character noodle shapes make is much better, I think. Katie was impressed, too. Haha. I've also had a variety of Ready Rice things. They are surprisingly tastey. Next on the cooking agenda: pre-cooked Tyson's chicken pieces and some green beans, corn, etc. Yay, vegetables! Sadly, good vegetables are what I miss eating most at school. Now if only I could reliably open a can...

Relief

-whew- Big sigh o' relief. Katie, that is my roommate's name, does not hate me! Actually, she's pretty nice and we seem to be getting along quite well. And the not in English thing, she's Asian so that explains it, lol.

This week has gone much better than the nightmare I was predicting on Friday. Lab has been pretty good. I was surprised she had me start working right away. Just a small scale transcription reaction, but I was still rather jealous of all the people who got a paper to read and then the day off. Of course, the reaction didn't freaking work but I started the large one anyways and oh joy of joys! I had a pretty big amount of precipitate this morning when I went to stop it. And I'm not on the bottom of the totem pole in the lab anymore, so that is nice!

Anyways, back to Kaite. She's a little unusual in that she's a pharmacy student but also doing URP... and taking a summer class, which is why she was here for a few weeks already. But I was happy that I got to pass on my Ochem thoughts to her, especially the lack of lab notebook... lack of lab notebook = four greatest words ever spoken. She is also REALLY happy that I brought a TV. Poor girl had nothing to do! And hmm, what else? Oh yes, she wants me to learn to play tennis and we've had lots of long giggly chats, well as giggly as my lack of girliness will allow. I think we're going to be friends!

Meltdown!

I am a little emotionally fragile at the moment. -sob-

I just finished moving back in to Duq for the summer, which is not entirely upsetting on its own. In fact, nothing makes me want to move out more than the actual process of moving out. Serious parental frustration there. Despite what she thinks, my mother is not helpful and her suggestions are not productive. But no, no, that is not what I am emotionally fragile, having just had a massive meltdown. Oh no, I am distraught because of my housing dibacle.

Housing for URP (the research program) is free, so staying on campus is a fairly easy decision to make. Well, that was before I knew how completely uninformed I would be and how unorganized the whole summer housing system is. Duane just got to show up and get a room, a single room... lucky Duane. I just got to show up and ask for my key. Do I have a roommate? Nobody knows. What room am I in or at least what floor am I on? Nope, its a secret. So all of that uncertainty had me feeling quite anxious as we rolled the dolly up the hill to Towers...

It appeared to go smoothly at first, they did have my room key at the desk, which was a little shocking since I moved in a few days early. Then there were lots of bad surprises. I have a roommate. But she has gone home for the weekend, and even better, does not seem to know that I am here since her stuff is all over and we had to move it so I could unpack. But wait, unpack?! Nope, the bar in my closet is broke, I spent about 3 hours waiting for someone to come fix it before I could hang clothes up. Rawr.

Now I am fairly certain this girl is going to hate me. I know it is not her fault that I got placed with her or anything, especially that they failed to inform her that I was coming, but still! I represent what she will probably be very pissed at and I moved all of her stuff. That cannot start you off well.

But for now, I will take a two day cry break until she comes back on Sunday. -gulp- And I am off to spend some time with Duane in his pie shaped room.

Oh yeah, CDs on the desk. Definitely not in English...

You've got to be kidding me... Part 2.

No, the police department isn't out of handcuffs or anything this time. Although, I think that would be more enjoyable news...

-ahem- TONY WRECKED THE CAR... THE NEW CAR! Now it was already in fairly crappy condition, extra crappy when you consider we've only had it for a year and a half and its a 2005, so ya know, fairly new as cars go. He, however, took care of that new car condition nicely: making the insides reek of cigar smoke and boy, scratching all of the hub caps and denting various small locations, and knocking off the passenger side mirror, which my mom ever-so-skillfully reattached with some electrical and duct tape magic. Nothing big, just some minor repairs and a fun day of painting for Duane's dad.

Then we walked outside this afternoon. On the replacement list: One passenger side. My mom just got home from work and I was putting some laundry in the washer when she opened the door, enraged, and asked if I knew the car was smashed. I, of course, said no and went out to inspect. There is this triangle of distruction around the front wheel and then a very deep... as in down to the metal... scrape about door handle height and 4" thick that extends the entire length of the car.

What happened? Good question; Tony's answer: Oh, uh, I don't know, it was just like that when I picked it up in the ENP parking lot after we left Vince's. Uh huh. Yeah right. The more compelling question, you see, is WHY DO MY PARENTS LET HIM DRIVE?!?!?!

Cotton Mouth

I was pleasantly surprised when I went out to get the mail this afternoon. Not only have the wasps that have decided to build a nest in the mailbox despite about 20 cans of RAID finally moved on, I got my marrow donor kit! Hurrah.

It was pretty much the quickest think ever, although I did have to take extra time rinsing my mouth out. It doesn't specifically say to do so, however, I had just eaten a tuna sandwich and didn't need any cross-species contamination, lol. I definitely had serious cotton mouth afterwards though. Nothing like rolling q-tips around your cheeks for a few minutes to suck up all your spit! Also, I'm mildly retarded and had a slight problem sliding my swabs into their little foam holders. Oopsies.

Whatever. It's a great thing to do and now hopefully I will match someone!

You've got to be kidding me...

Its been a rollercoaster past day or so. Last night, the plan was still "yes, come ride bikes for the weekend!" But by today, the plan had changed to "Ty in the hospital for sleep studies and surgery..." So no visit this week. That's alright though, I'm going to go the first weekend he is home after surgery. That will be more fun anyways, he'll be feeling much better and hopefully relieve the pressure will fix all of his issues (no balance, droopy eye and lip, etc).

Since I was bored and didn't have any packing or kid-prepping to do, I figured I would head down to the police station to get my fingerprints for my camp background check. Simple, no? Oh no, let the adventure begin...

Before even leaving, I decided I should call the station to make sure they don't have weird, limited printing hours. So I looked up the police station phone number on the City of Weirton website. -ahem- The City of Weirton website. I dial the number and some woman at a county dispatch center answers and has no idea, so she transfers me to someone who will. Strike one. Person #2 similarly had no idea but gave me a number to call (the real police station number) for someone who would definitely know. Yeah, too bad no one wanted to answer the phone at that number. Strike two.

Strike three was a glorious, theatrical miss of a swing. Spun around a few times before losing balance and falling over... that is how ridiculous the final nail in my fingerprinting coffin was.

I walked into the police station and just managed to catch a glimpse of the secretary walking out of her little bullet proof bunker. She won't be back anytime soon. So I rang the little service bell once and waited. Twice and waited some more. Nothing. Finally, someone starts coming out of the door back into the rest of the station, sees me and asks if she can help me with anything. I then request to be fingerprinted and am told... wait for it, wait for it... that the police are currently out of ink for fingerprinting and since its "special ink, ya know, honey," they will not be able to ship it out until at least Tuesday. Strike 3. I'm out.

Now seriously, how--HOW?!?!?!--can a police station be out of fingerprinting ink... I'm no law enforcement expert or anything but I would place ink right below gun and handcuffs on the list of police necessities. Heck, it can even go above gun since Weirton isn't really known for its shootouts. But, no, apparently ink is not such a necessity. I would just like to know what happens when they arrest someone in the next few days... Let those prints slide?

Drill On

Its been a rough couple of days. My little buddy, Ty, hasn't been doing so hot. He started out having headaches this past weekend, and by yesterday, they were very bad and his face was starting to droop. So off to the doctor's office he went and while hoping for a clogged shunt, they found out that the tumor is still growing... while on chemo. Yeah, that sucks.

Luckily, he's home from the hospital now and the headaches are fixed, albeit with steroids. Roid rage, baby! He's going to need surgery, probably next week, though so they can relieve some of the pressure in his head and re-biopsy the tumor to make sure its not transforming into something more agressive. Ugh. Oh well, at least he's home for the time being and I'm going to visit this weekend! I can't wait to see my Ty-guy!

And now is probably where you're all thinking, "WTH, why is this post titled 'Drill On'?" Well, I decided to be a little proactive with the cancer thing.

I just signed up for the bone marrow registry . Its usually $52, which is why I hadn't done it yet, but they sometimes waive the fee, and I figured I'd wait it out until I could do it for free. Unlike donating blood, which I suck at (right, Joe? Almost puking on you and all. -blushy-), you don't have to be at least 110 lbs or anything like that. Just sign up, spit on some q-tips that they send you and wait until you match someone.

So here is my official plug for this: Basically, I cannot understand how someone could not want to do this. Same goes for donating blood and being an organ donor. Blood: I passed out.. twice.. and puked all over the place while feeling like I was seriously about to die, but ya know what, I would totally do it again. All that "your donation saves several people!" stuff the blood bank spouts to get donors is definitely the truth. And organs, well, let's just say I don't know why you care who has your kidneys when YOU'RE DEAD! But enough about that... Bone marrow transplants are honestly the only shot a lot of people, especially kids, have at life. It's not just cancer either. A lot of weird blood and immune system diseases (think bubble boy) can be cured with a BMT, and in these cases, an unrelated donor is probably the only option since those diseases run in families and siblings, the most likely matches, are often affected as well. And finally, the procedure itself isn't so bad. Sure, you might be hobbling around for a few days, but they put you to sleep for the procedure itself, so you won't even know what they're doing.

So there it is, blog readers. Do with it what you will.

I wanna see Mickey!

I had a horrible childhood--I never got to go to Disney World! Ok, ok. That's not that bad, but seriously, everyone goes to Disney. What's worse, we've even gone to Orlando for vacation but my mother, in her infinite wisdom, was like oh no, they don't want to go to Disney, who'd like that? Pft, Tony and I are still a little upset. Granted we were 14 and 16 at the time but still, you're never too old to see Mickey!

Well, don't ya know, I might just get my chance to see Mickey....because my dad is awesome. Eckerd raises money for Children's Miracle Network every year and there's always a competition to see who raises the most in the district. He wins every year. I repeat: HE WINS EVERY YEAR! There's also always a prize... I think that's how we got our little flat screen TV last year... but its never anything spectacular. This year, however, Eckerd is feeling extra generous or something because the prize is a trip to Disney World. Now if he wins every year, we should have this sucker in the bag, right?

No. Since the stakes have been raised, the other managers now have an organized "Beat Walter" campaign going. Raise money for the children--what children? We gotta beat him! Luckily, he's still kicking their butts. He's done/is doing lots of ridiculous fund raising:

• Marathon Walk: He took our treadmill to the store, had people pledge him per mile and attempted to walk at least 20 miles or whatever money he raised would be split up among the other stores in the district. He was up to about $200/mile. Final distance: 32 miles.
• Car Cruise: The day after his toe-nail-peeling walk (turf toe supreme right there), they had a car cruise at the store. There was food and all that but also a dunking booth with the district manager on it. Ca-ching!
• Food, food and more food: They've been selling hot dogs, burgers and pepperoni rolls every weekend. Apparently people in Baden really like cookout food because they usually make about a hundred dollars a day.
• Car Washes: While all of the rest of this is going on, they've also been having car washes. Who knew that you could make $500 washing people's cars?
• Bowling: The final event is a whole-district thing, but your store got money based on how many people showed up. We had about 30, oh yeah! And, even better, we had matching "Team BAD ASSt." shirts. Note the small t in there for "assistant." The assistant managers were in charge of getting the shirts. How creative...

So basically, the result of all of this is about $8,500 and there are still a few weeks left! Not only is he leading the district -dramatic pause- he is tops in the whole company!!!!!

I'll see ya soon, Mickey!

P.S. ITS A CRUISE!

Drumroll please...

-ahem-

IT IS A CRUISE!

Yes, that's right: a cruise. I'm sure you all recall the great mystery of April 25, 2008. Well, Duane finally, finally told me what he's been planning.

So yep, we're going on a cruise. Just the two of us. To the Caribbean. w00t! Except it obviously won't be on April 25, 2008 since well, that's smack in the middle of finals week. It can be a week later though.

Bahamas, here we come!

D.O.N.E.

Done, done, I say! After taking a final at 8:45 this morning and doing some serious hauling and very cramped driving, I am done with school for the summer. Hurrah!

I think this semester turned out pretty well. I got an A with plenty of room to spare in Ochem. No more A- here, oh yeah! And I only had to pass Genetics to get an A, so I think that fared well. I'm still a little concerned about Honors Seminar, aka genocide class, though. HE NEVER FREAKING TOLD US OUR GRADES! WE HAVE NO IDEA! -whew- All better, I think he just gives everyone A's.

So now if you'll excuse me, I have about 12 loads of laundry to do...