Time on my hands...

Oh the wondrous things I can do with seemingly endless time on my hands. Yesterday, the weather was AMAZING! so I rode to the Hastings just before sunset (the store is actually on Sunset...but...whatever). The ride was beautiful, but I realized about two blocks away that all I ate that day was a PB&J at lunch. Everyone and their brother was taking the chance to BBQ in 80 degree weather. I nearly died of Burger Envy, so back at home I mixed up a prize-deserving Turkey Burger and settled down for a good beer and cookie movie night.

Today I did not venture out. The weather is sub-freezing, and I am wearing two layers of socks. Luckily, I was prepared for this unexpected shift. With comfort food. After an excellent (as always) episode of Big Bang Theory, I settled in with a bowl of turkey/spinach/tomato stew, a giant hunk of toasted french bread, and another beer. *totally ladylike burp*

The week ahead is busy (what? its Monday, you say? I call bullshit), with blood donation, my final Gardasil shot (one less one less), and hopefully my name change on Friday. First, I must waste tomorrow sorting through my totally disorganized stack of useless and/or very important papers. Ugh. More beer please!

Hey! You know what would be fun and time-wasting?!?!? A survey!

Why are you single?
Until now, I've been way too busy with school. Now, of course, I have a little extra time on my hands...

If a stranger looked in your closet, what would they think?
Heh, my friends aren't allowed to see the unorganized parts of my house. You think I'd let a stranger see that?

What's bothering you right now?
Not too damn much, I'm a happy camper.

Do people underestimate you?
On occasion, probably.

Did you sing at all today?
*ponders....* no I don't think so

Do you miss anyone?
Yes I miss all my friends!

Do you wear a lot of black?
I look damn good in black.

Do you have a tan?
I do not tan. I burn, cry, peel, and return to pale. Unless tanning would be inconvenient, like when I'm wearing a t-shirt. Isn't that nice? Yeah, that's nice.

Can you sleep with no blankets covering you??
Nope, I need to at least be covered in a sheet, to feel surrounded, or I can't sleep.

How many hours of sleep do you need to function?
I need more than 4.

Did you wake up happy today?
yup

Whats the first thing you did when you woke up this morning?
Called my lil brother and wished him a happy burfday! Happy Burfday Matty Tom!!!!! (he hates that, I'm eevil big sis)

How old do you look?
I have no clue. I know I tend to act older than people my age, but I don't know about looks.

Whats the last thing you ate?
turkey spinach tomato stew and crusty french bread

Are you waiting for something?
Waiting for the World to Change

What were you doing at ten last night?
I think I was still watching a movie with Troy.

Did you cry today?
Nope

Last song you listened to?
All Along the Watchtower (BSG remix)

Do you hate the last person you had a conversation with?
Well no, it was widdle Matty Tom, my widdle brother!

Did you have a dream last night?
I tend to not remember my dreams very often.

Who do you go to when you need someone to talk to?
It depends on the subject; my friends are good listeners.

What language do you want to learn?
Korean is a fun, fairly easy language, and I wish I could remember some of what I learned back in high school. Russian would be nice to learn. I'm horrible with languages though :(

Any upcoming vacations?
I might visit FL for my birthday.

Are you afraid of falling in love?
afraid? no. disbelieving? yes.

How many windows are open on your computer?
Who uses multiple windows anymore? I have five tabs open in Firefox.

What are you doing after this?
I might get another ladle of soup, curl up with a book.

Where did get the shirt you are wearing?
Wow, this sweater I so old that I don't remember. I've had it since high school.

Do you enjoy late night phone conversations?
Not really, I don't hold phone conversations very well. IM me, okay?

Do you like to cuddle?
Why yes i do indeed.

When was the last time you saw number 3 on your top friends?
My #3 is Brandy, who I have not seen since Bridge Summer: 2001
Oh hey I lie! I saw Brandy last summer, when the UB folks got together in Krug Park. I'm a dork.

How tall are you?
5'2.5376 exactly

Which one of your cousins is closest in age?
We come in pairs, so my semi-twin cousin is Benjamin.

When was the last time you were disappointed?
Well i just found out my final grade in Instruments. I guess I deserved that B, but I'm still disappointed.

Do you like hugs?
I do, but I come from a family of not big huggers, so its awkward for me when people just HUG! HI HOW ARE YOU!?!?!? For example: everyone in Janae's family hugged me the first time we met, and it was weird, but nice, but weird.

Are you a loud person?
Only when I'm making an ass out of myself, I'm sure.

What color is your tooth brush?
It is probably blue, I bought a new one the other day.
(green, Sarah, really? You might want to replace that!)

Does it matter to you if your bf/gf smokes cigs?
It does! I will absolutely never kiss a man who has tobacco on his breath. The very thought makes me gag.

Showing Off My Crazy

I've been to the library three times this week. That's 33 miles total by bike, for those of you not keeping track. In conclusion: I give up, for now.

Because the divorce petition states that I want my name changed back, it is now a gigantic pain in my ass to change it to something else. It would have just been a minor pain in the ass if I had kept it as Jones, and then filed the name change to something else. The thing is, I have to get the Petition for Change of Name notarized, and this requires a current/valid photo ID with the old name on it. I do not have this, at all.

Changing my name for the divorce means getting new a driver's license, SS card, school ID, debit card, checkbook, and my Inactive Reserve ID card. Also, I have to update my name with the GI Bill, VA Life Insurance, and everything else I can't think of right now. *head asplodes*

When/If I change my name, I will have to do all those things again. Plus, I have to pay $217 to file the petition, and $34 to have a fingerprint card made. At least if I wait until January, when my IRR time is up, I will have one less ID to change. I will, however, confuse the shit out of everyone I know, by changing my name twice in 6 months. Piss.

So, how is my crazy showing? I worked off my frustration by switching my living room and bedroom. Yes, I got my sofa through the door, by sheer determination alone. I suffer from an extreme form of the hereditary disorder known as Rearrangus Furnituritis, just ask my mom.

Family History

I thought I would mine my family history for some surname ideas. I started at the geneology page that my mom put together a few years ago. It goes back to my ggg-grandmother, Charles Ann Boggs.

A Google search for Charles Ann Boggs got me to her on someone else's geneology page. Here are her ancestors and siblings. Funny how all of her siblings returned to (died in) France, where their grandmother Ann Scobee was born in 1783. She's the only one who stayed in the states.

Anyway, since Charles Ann's gg-grandparents (if i'm counting right), Charles Clandenin and Mary Ann Patterson, were both born in Scotland but married in 1735 in Pennsylvania, they must have come over before then.

So I can trace back all the way to William and Margaret (Clandenin), born in Scotland, 1650.

How cool is all that?

Also, isn't Sophronia a neat name? Well I found her in another person's database, and holy cow, that one goes pretty far back into England. Seriously, I haven't found the end of it yet. Woah.

I'm still digging into Lawson.
To keep things straight:
Edward William Lawson
Edward William Lawson on RootsWeb
son of Thomas Sebner Lawson and Sarah Ellen Stanley
Tomas Lawson was the son of Lewis LAWSON and Celia Ellen TRIMBLE

And now I give up, because it seems all piecemeal.

The Name Thing (Again)

I'm still unsure about what to name myself after the divorce. I never really wanted to change to Jones. Its a dumb name, a dumb tradition, and yet another reason I should have known getting married was dumb.

Of course, my birth name might be what I'm stuck with, since I already file the papers. I might try to change it at the final hearing, though. People, I don't know who Niel is, but I'm certainly not his son. The only people I shared this name with, after age 3, was my uncle and some cousins. Not my brothers, or my grandmother, or either of my parents. Lets just say I'm not attached. I still feel bad for my brothers, though, going through life with the name of a bodily function. Ew.

This brings us to made-up, Science Fiction, strong words, and nature names. I would like something short and simple that doesn't end in the letter or sound "A". I'm thinking 3-5 letters and one or two syllables. I don't have any ties to religions or interesting cultures, so nothing that would strongly signify that. I don't want it to seem like I'm trying to pretend that I'm some nationality or heritage that I'm not, because that seems rude.

The best SF name suggestion yet has been Dax. But really, am I that much of a geek? Maybe.

Other options include: Kes, Delenn, Kosh (hahaha), Thrace (Ok, I am not that hard-core geek)

Sadly, with Doctor Who, my options are: Smith, Jones, and maybe for fun: Who.
Do you know any awesome and not goofy matrinomic or nature names out there that fit my loose criteria?

Sad

So, the last couple of days have been dramatically bad in my family.

Some argument between Mom and Aunt Kay over some other thing spilled over into an arguing over the car I was trying to sell to one of them. I'm getting drunken calls in the middle of the night, and I'm trying to mediate the argument and make sure that my interests (getting the car out of my name) are covered. I thought it was more of the same when I got a call from Mom last night. Not even close.

The call I got from my Mom is that Aunt Kay called her, told her my cousin's boyfriend died, and hung up. Mom called my brother, no answer. Mom called my other cousin, got an angry response and hung up on. I have no idea what that is about, but then she called me and asked me to find out what was going on. She was worried that my brother might not be okay. She is like me (or I am like her, whatever) in that a tiny bit of bad information rolls around in my brain and snowballs until I panic over all the possibilities. This put me in the position of calling my aunt, who was in the middle of a tragedy, in the middle of trying to calm my distraught cousin, and try to get information. I felt like a piece of shit.

My cousin, her boyfriend, and my baby brother are all about 17/18 and good friends. I am assuming the three of them were together last night when the boyfriend drowned in the river. Apparently, the thing to do is wade out to the sandbars and hang out. He stepped into a hole, I guess on the way out.

It could have been any of them, it could have been all of them...

I keep picturing the two kids, napping together on the couch while I was visiting. I have never seen two people so in love, so comfortable with one another.

Mom asked me if they had found him yet. I stammered, I choked. There was no way I could have asked that question, even if I had thought about the possibility. No way on Earth I would have found the words.

Video from KQ2 News

From StJoesNews.net

River conditions blamed in drowning

by St. Joseph News-Press
Wednesday, July 23, 2008

NODAWAY, Mo. — Authorities believe swift river currents contributed to the drowning of a Skidmore teen Monday in the Nodaway River.

The drowning occurred near the intersection of Andrew County roads 400 and 459 just west Nodaway, Mo.

Savannah Volunteer Fire Department personnel recovered the body of Eli Stiens, 19, at 7:19 p.m. Monday, said Bryan Atkins, the chief deputy for the Andrew County Sheriff’s Department.

According to a Missouri State Water Patrol report, the victim went camping with friends on a sandbar. He went swimming in the river, which had a depth of about 7 feet to 10 feet. The report stated that friends said he was approximately 25 feet from the sandbar when he began having problems. His friends attempted a rescue but had to let him go because he was pulling them under at about 4:30 p.m. Monday. Mr. Stiens went under and didn’t resurface.

The fire department launched two boats shortly after 5 p.m. Monday to drag the river, Mr. Atkins said. It was too late for a rescue, he said.

Don't mind the twitching...

I'm still here, just hanging out. Mostly, there's been much eating, and much chatting with family. The stories usually begin with: "Man, this one time, and I was fucked up, we...."

I had fun baking cakes with Becky's mom for her birthday.

I watched an old downtown St. Joe building blaze, and a train carrying radioactive material derailed a few blocks from Becky's house in Atchison.

Mom had an absolute blast at the Fire Museum the other day. We just happened to show up at the end of a retirement party for the Fire Chief, so we got to meet a couple old guys who worked with her stepdad way back when he worked with the Snorkel.

I've spent alot of time at the park while everyone I know is at work (losers). Yesterday at sunset, I was taking pictures of trees (who's the loser now?), when I noticed a branch full of berries that looked very familiar. We had a mulberry tree at the end of our driveway when we lived in Troy, and I loved staining my fingers with sweet ripe berries. I ate a handful off the tree at the park, and they were perfect. Of course, you never know what pesticides they used, so don't mind me if I start twitching or something...It was totally worth it.

To Do Update

I've been at this "summer" thing for 20 days now. How is it going? Oh, its going allright...

1. Clean my house.
I keep cleaning the kitchen, only to turn around and cook dinner. I've tackled the living room, but that's about it.

2. Mega-Organizing.
Which means, of course, this is not even started. I guess the yard sale sort of counts, but not really.

3. Bird Training
videos and toys still have not arrived. Reducing the lighting from 7 hours to 5 hours has helped with the attitude and biting ALOT! Thank you internet people.

4. SCRAPBOOKING!!!!!!!
is daunting. I finally did two pages yesterday, but my printer is out of ink and all the extra stuff i bought is expired and dried out. Frick! Also, 3 billion cute pictures of my baby brother, where to start?!?!?

5. I plan to read this summer. Books. Novels. Space-Operas. The kind you read for fun, with no homework-related guilt. Lots of books.
nope.

6. I'll leave for the Great State of Misery probably on the 26th of June, or maybe the 20th...or something. I haven't really nailed it down yet. I'll be scrapbooking with my mom on the 29th and 30th at least, though.

Editing with Picnik

Before


After

Mommy's Day

Our Matriarchy

To Do List: Summer

This past week, I joined my classmates in ritualistic self-torture. We shoved the knowledge of 4 months into our poor brains, and then yesterday we sat down and turned our heads, so that the knowledge would oooozzzeee out of our ears and onto the Sacred Final. Some of it ended up on the floor.

And then I slept for 14 hours.

The results are partially in, and I have a B in Calculus 3. Physics is still pending, but I woke up this morning with my right hand representing magnetic field, current, and force, and then I realized that I mentally had the field going out of the page on the final. Fucks.

I have plans, and half a summer to get around to them.

1. Clean my house.
For real, people, this place is a general pigsty, and I have no clean socks.

2. Mega-Organizing.
Now that the cleaning is done, I'm all into giving shit away and discovering stuff I've been looking for (like socks) and re-discovering sentimental items (like underwear). That box of cables and that pile of cables and that device over there, they need to find each other. The closets aren't exactly overflowing, but its not like I can find anything in there.

3. Bird Training
Since I'm out of school for a few months, it is time to give a certain unrestrained parrot a few lessons. He's got "be adorable" and "bite me" down already. I think we'll start with "stop shitting on me" and move up to "do not chew on the laptop power cord." We'll see.

4. SCRAPBOOKING!!!!!!!
I am very excited. This will be a scrapbook for my mom, sort of a Mother's Day/Birthday gift that she has to help me with. I got this pretty paisley paper (btw I HATE paisley and this stuff is gorgeous, so there you go) and punch-out set. I still need to find a book, but I'll place the pictures and leave room for Mom to do the journaling. FUN!!

5. Speaking of books.
I plan to read this summer. Books. Novels. Space-Operas. The kind you read for fun, with no homework-related guilt. Lots of books.

6. HOoooommmmeee Home on The Range...
I'll leave for the Great State of Misery probably on the 26th of June, and return to Big Texass on the 6th or 7th of July. Becky wants to go bowling in KC for her birthday, and after that the whole trip is up in the air. Mostly there will be food, coffee, alcohol, and blowing shit up. Probably in that order.

There goes half the summer....bye-bye fun...

7. Back to School
I registered for Technical Writing in the second summer term, and then it is back to school full-time in the Fall. Four courses, two with labs....no time for sleep.

Oops.

We got our last physics test back today. I totally forgot to do the second half of one problem, didn't read one correctly, and really messed up another. 70% ... Outch!

I talked to my advisor about my schedule. She says I should CLEP the Biology course and go ahead with the English minor over the summer. Sweet. Now I just have to talk to the GI Bill office to make sure its okay with them, the base Education Office to see if I can take the CLEP for cheap as a military dependent, and chat with the English department. *sigh* So much work.

Oh, Mommy, if you're reading this: Sorry I didn't call you on Saturday. I'll call you back this weekend, promise. :D

Mood

I've been quite busy, for quite awhile I guess. Avoiding the internet, at least. It sucks up so much of my time. I'm trying to spend more time with the bird I guess. I also had a difficult test on Friday, and baked a couple cakes for Pi Day. Fun.

I was planning a big update post, but I don't know, I'm in a bit of a mood tonight. I haven't talked to my Mom since before I left St. Joe back in December. I'm not sure if her boyfriend didn't give her my message because he doesn't like my opinion on drinking and driving and pot, or if she decided she just didn't want to say goodbye that day. Its a bit depressing either way. I guess I'm thinking more about Mom now since my birthday is this week. My first quarter century is about to close. I feel old, but also as if I haven't lived much of what I want yet. I feel like I've done so much, but it isn't worth much. Contemplating the future, bemoaning the past, the usual for me.

Eh. I think I'll start a new post.

Who?

Who?
Originally uploaded by TJ Relic

I'm trying to figure out who is in this photo. My first guess is Aunt Kay. I'd love an indication of year and location as well.

Hopefully someone in my family will get around to visiting my flickr page. There's lots there, and more every day that I don't have details for. I'd also like to see others in my family uploading what they have at home, if they can.

Updated Flickr Profile

I inherited an overactive camera finger, but luckily I developed a small sense of quality over quantity all by myself. Yeah, most of my family's photos are random, an entire box of pictures of clouds taken from a moving vehicle.

Anyway, my big project right now is uploading old (mostly good) photos that I got from my Mom. They were stored in a giant plastic tub, bent up, stuck together, mixed in with a bunch that were inside our van when it caught fire about 12 years ago. I sorted the burned from the not, and then sorted by family member or scenery. When I get done uploading and tagging those that are on my computer, I need to get the rest scanned. Its alot, so if anyone knows where I can send them off (safely) to be scanned in high-quality, please send me a link or something. I sold my old crappy scanner last year, and really don't want to buy a new one.


I've been "Favoriting" alot of photos lately, too. Go check them out!

Dreams

Here's a synopsis of my last few nights of weird-ass dreams. Its strange that I remember them, but I feel like I have weird dreams all the time.

_________________________________________

Tornadoes, not an uncommon theme, but I'm not mad at my Mom, so what gives? Anyway, I'm in the dream version of the Emporia dorms we used to stay in. I saw a tornado rip through a building across the street and run through the halls to find Duane, who doesn't give a shit. First he doesn't believe me, then I tell him It. Was. Right. There! and he says well then it was across the street and we don't have to worry about it.

At some later point I'm here at ASU, walking across the parking lot at night, when I see a bright object in the sky. I realize its Saturn, but way too large and bright to be real. Then Saturn zooms across the night sky over my head.

_________________________________________

I'm in a cabin, during some training exercise. There are a couple of guys, me, and the woman whose in charge. All the sudden we are overrun by a team of people with nicer weapons than us, not part of the exercise. They shoot the guys, snap the other woman's neck and find me inside the cabin. The woman in charge of the newcomers pats me on the shoulder and says that I had better make it seem like an accident. I go all freaked out and throw a couple bodies off the balcony until I realize that's pretty shitty. An officer passes by in a vehicle and I flag her down and tell her the whole freaky story, and I'm all paranoid because I think the bad guys put a tracker or something on me when they patted by shoulder.

_________________________________________
(same night as previous one)
I'm there for the first meeting with aliens. At first everyone is happy. Then I'm with a group hiding underground somewhere but I'm contacted by the aliens and invited to go with them. I hug my mom and others and pack up my stuff to go, making sure to bring my homework (I'm a total loser, yes) and its about that time we realize they are out to take what they want and destroy the rest. Guiltily, I still go with the aliens. On the way out, though, I hear noise from below in our hideout. I pound on the floor a few times...and Chief Tyrol peeks out of a drain in the street. I tell him they better shut the hell up and maybe someone will live. (I'm officially a complete losergeek for that last, and I'm okay with that).

There was some stuff with dragons and fire, but I'm not sure how it fits.

As the aliens are packing up my stuff, I ask them how much of it I will ever see again. They say take a good look now, because never. I talk with them about how horrible it will be to be the only human left. One girl says its no big deal, asks another where she's from and says "Never heard of it." She says to me "See, you won't stick out, nobody notices" Of course they all look human and I realize they all are from planets that were destroyed by the evil aliens and took the same opportunity I did.

As we fly away, there's weirdness with liquor accidentally falling out of the cargo hold, so its in orbit. And then something vague that I'm sure is from last week's episode of Atlantis.

So they leave me in the cargo hold with all the Earth stuff they collected. There's a tv, and I begin flipping through channels that I guess they are piping through to me. I watch how shallow US television dealt with the situation as it unraveled. The signal gives out/is cut before I can see things get really bad. I demand to see the actual destruction, but it looks like a bad movie clip of exploding Earth. I insist that its fake. I hold out hope that the planet wasn't totally destroyed, that some may have survived.

_________________________________________

I'm repairing some light/vent thing, with someone supposed to be helping me. She insists that I have to hold this thing for an hour or else it will break. I'm stuck there holding it while she wanders off. This pisses me off much. Next part is vague.

Then I'm in some sort of meeting place with hunters and other people. I can't remember the purpose but there was one. I'm sitting on a wood floor across from my Mom when some newcomers arrive and pick up a deck of cards. Mom gets pissed, takes the cards, and says they have to earn the right to use them. She invites me to play a game of rummy, but its some weird version that I don't remember playing. She says I played the game as a team with her once and we kicked ass. For some reason she says this is how people used to decide who pays the rent this month. For some reason all the players have to kiss at the beginning of each round. Something about Mom likes kissing guys with nice teeth.

My dreams are very strange, yes?

Thanks, More Hope

Thanks for the words, everyone. Its good to know I can talk to you guys.

The way things are right now:

We finally talked on Thursday, and there was much crying by me, and much real talking that we should have done before. I was making him unhappy in a lot of ways I didn't realize, which is why he accepted the idea of divorce so readily. It boiled down to me asking, "Don't we all get one big mistake? Don't I deserve a chance to make it up to you?" So we agreed to wait on filing for divorce for a month, and to spend time together but still live apart during that time. I asked him to find us a marriage counselor, but I'm not sure if he wants to do that.

So I'm not planning on moving anything more out of "our/his" apartment for the time being, and I put the curtains back up because "my" apartment is too dark to hang curtains anyway, and we watched SF Friday together. Maybe...such a big maybe, but like I said I'm holding onto hope. I didn't cry at all on Friday.

Anyway, I'd love to be able to chat with you guys, but I have no internet connection so I'm at the computer lab, and I need to get back to studying for my Physics midterm. On an up note(kinda), my Physics prof told me to not let this interfere too badly with my term, because she thinks I have a good grasp on the physics concepts. I don't know what TJ she's been seeing in class, but she does give a good pep talk. Man I was a wreck that day.

ALSO! I'm going to be an Aunt! Matt's girlfriend is preggers.

What's in a Name?

Okay internet-people, I really need your help. I have to put my new legal name on our divorce paperwork, and we're filing it next week. I'm considering several options:

1. Quit being stupid, just go back to the birth name and be done with it.
--Or keep it, but shorten it to Niel or Niels....interesting....

2. An anagram of first/middle initials of my Mom, Grandma, and Great-Grandma.
Demla
Dale

3. Maybe I need to know my Great-Great Grandmother's name?

3. Ibbott
Usage: English
Ibbott is a matronymic derived from the old feminine name Ibota, which in turn was derived from Isabel, the oldest form of Elizabeth to be introduced into England. And my Mom's name, Lisa, is derived from Elizabeth.

Dreaming of Asia

My older cousin is moving to Japan for a teaching job, and he asked me where I was stationed. I decided to give him some unsolicited advice.

I was on the island of Okinawa, south of the main island. It was fun but its way different from the rest of Japan. I got used to being taller than most men there, but somehow their fashions and pop culture are freakish clones of whatever was 15-20 years ago. Its weird.

Shop the 100yen stores, enjoy the food, don't forget to see the tourist destinations. Nothing is more lame than living in a cool foreign country and not seeing the sights. No excuses! Oh, 100 yen is about $1, so don't feel all rich with a 1,000 note in your pocket.

We were reminded pretty often that if you're arrested, make sure someone you know is aware. Otherwise you don't get food or blankets in jail. Also, if you drive, remember just by being a driver you assume a certain percent of responsibiltiy in an accident, even if it is shown to not be your fault. Don't run over Japanese kids, nobody likes an international incident on their record :D

Hi(sharply) means yes, short for Ohio Gozaimas. But if you say hi, they might understand you mean hello. Mizu is water, miso is a paste. I think... Domo between friends, Domo Arigato to the waiter, Domo Arigato Gozaimas to your boss or your girlfriend's dad ;). Tipping is considered rude. If you're not sure how to say something on the menu, just point to the picture and kinda grunt. They all think(know) we're stupid anyway, so its okay.

I don't recommend Orion beer. Don't marry a local, or a philipino. Especially if neither of you speak the other's language. Especially one you meet at a bar, ever.

Have fun. Take lots of pictures.

4 days left in MO

I woke up this morning with a call from my brother's parole officer, saying I needed to come pick him up and bring him back to the parole office. I was confused. So she said I needed to pick him up from the parole office, take him to pack his stuff, and bring him back because he had done too much stuff since he's been on parole. I really thought they meant I had to drop him off at prison. I was freaked out. How on Earth did they expect me to keep him from running off? Don't they have cops or something for this stuff. I was still confused. I picked him up at the McDonald's, because I wasn't sure where the parole office was so he met me there. I was even more confused that they were letting him wander around, and I was a little worried that he had run off already. Turns out they are having him live at the parole house, not prison but he can only leave for 4 hours a day, to find work. It has been a stressful morning. Mom is understandably upset. At this point I'm not exactly tired, just weary and over-aware of why I haven't been home in 2 1/2 years. I love my family, but dealing with how they live their lives is tough. Its tough to know that throwing them every dollar I have will not solve their problems.

And now I've just read a glob from my husband saying he's going to go to Catholic Mass to get inspiration for a story he wants to write. I do NOT have it in me to deal with that, for crying out loud. *giant sigh*

Ok, lets get a bit more upbeat. Yesterday I played mini-golf at Cool Crest with Traci, her kids, Tammy and her man-thing. It was pretty fun. The course looks so much nicer than the last time I played there, of course that's probably been 5 years ago. I took a few pictures, which I'll post when I get home, promise. Then I had dinner at Cheddars with Lydia, Traci, Sarah and her muchkin, Tammy and her man-thing. I have missed Lydia and Sarah sooo much, and it was great to see them again. *big hugs* Then I went out with Traci, Tammy, Brynn, and Amanda, for a couple drinks. We had a good time together, although somehow we stayed on some depressing topics.

Is today Wednesday? I think so. Becky invited me to dinner at her house. Sounds good to me. Tomorrow should be Long Island Night, and Friday we're trying the Japanese steak/sushi place. MMMmm my favorite. Pirates3 on Saturday, leaving Sunday Afternoon. Oh! I need to order books. Can't go to class Tuesday without books. *Argh*

Final-ly

I feel like I turned my head to the side and let my brains flow out onto the paper.

I'll be leaving for Traci's on Monday and Michael's leaving for TN on Sunday. We dropped off my car at Tom's Tire World for a checkup. I have no desire at all to be stranded on the side of the road with two small-uns. Hopefully the weather will be calm on the way up.

To Do Before Departing:
Print directions, clean out car.
Order books for the summer term and have them delivered by mail.
Buy new notebooks, pencils, etc.
Tell the office we'll both be gone for 2 weeks, possibly pay June's rent early.
Make sure the Cable bill is paid. It's the only one that isn't automatic. Or is it?
Clean the house. I won't have time when I get back.
Pack as little as possible, due to pending shopping spree!

To Do While Home:
New Hairdoooo!
Wardrobe Therapy
Party, have fun, etc. with family and friends
See Shrek3, Pirates3, 28 Weeks Later (maybe)

To Do back in Texass:
I actually had something to put here, but now I've forgotten...