Update

• You know the amazing thing about dishwashers?  They wash dishes! I used to think I lived in the wrong decade, but oh no!  I could not, I will not ever live without a dishwasher.
• Going back to Chicago for the week.  I’m claiming family reasons as the official party line.
• Registered to Hustle Up the Hancock Building February.
• Now watching a documentary on Hollywood Musicals before I go to sleep.

I know what I’m getting for Christmas…

This!

Texts from last night

“I fuckin’ hate immature people.”

Let’s talk about the irony of my sister texting that to me at 5 am.

Just want to be understood

It took me the four-hour car ride back to the STL to figure out why I felt so awesome after my few days at home.  And I finally got it.  I felt 100 percent understood.  Like I was with people who I knew got me, and I got them.  Sure time has passes, life changes, etc.  But it was so utterly comforting to not have to explain myself.

Sometimes I feel like a minority here.  Like I have to explain why I don’t want to buy a house right now, why I’m in no rush to get married, why I loved journalism, why I have certain hangups in life. It wasn’t like that this weekend.  I didn’t have to explain anything because most of them were in the same boat.  And it felt wonderful.

Meanwhile, I’m back in the STL, and life is good.  I need to remember to be thankful for what I have.

Homecoming

Let’s count the ways this weekend was awesome:

1. Baxter.  He has taken a lover as his relationship with his bed has blossomed into something new and exciting.
2. NU guys have apparently grown a pair.  I never meet guys at bars. Imagine my surprise when I did. And it all started with a simple “Hi.  My name is …”  That simple.  As a fellow NU alum put it when giving advice to his fraternity boys, “it’s a simple choice between her lips and your hand. So go up to her.”  Crass but it gets the point across.
3. Cardiac Cats indeed.  NU football turns me into a crazy drunken sailor.  Indiana was up 28 to 13 at the end of the first half.  NU took forever closing the deal.  They won at the last second by one point.
4. Chicago is the greatest city in the whole world.  I’ve traveled around the country and globe.  I’ve lived all over America.  And I love Chicago so much.
5. Great friends.  The most incredible thing about this weekend.  I’ve made a lot of great friends over the years, but there is something about my college friends that makes me feel completely like myself and at home.  Maybe it’s because they knew me during a pivotal point in my life.  It felt really awesome to pick up where we left off and enjoy the day on campus.
6. Amazing what long hair and losing weight does.  I ran into two kids (kids, they are like 24 now) who were in a summer program that RA’d in 2003.  The girl said that she’s glad I came over to say hi because she wouldn’t have recognized me.  She meant that in a good way.  While I miss college, I don’t miss being lazy about my looks.  Vain yes.  True yes.  Evidence is in the pictures.
7. Polish food.  I went to dinner with my childhood friend, who got married back in August.  She took me to a Polish buffet on the north side.  The feather in what is the cap of a great weekend.

M.I.A. due to midterms, etc.

I have a midterm, two papers and some cataloging homework to do before Friday.  I’ve been absorbed in that, work, and other stuff.

I had my first therapist appointment.  Good news: I’m not depressed.  Bad news: I’m grieving.  Grieving my dad, my journalism career, the changes in my life.  So progress will be made.

Other events of this week:

• Built my IKEA bookcase for the 30-lb typerwriter.  Ignore the quasi-uneven top.
• Got my haircut.  I’m about three to four months away from having Blake Lively’s Gossip Girl hair.  I need to suck up this time in between.
• On the way home from work yesterday, a guy in a motorcycle gang asked if I wanted a ride.  I declined, and as he rode off, he popped a wheelie.  A compliment is a compliment.

I apologize for the lack of material, but look at this picture of Baxter.

I know I have lots of typos on this blog…

But check out this ad on Sephora:

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This set contains:
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- Slim Eyeliner in Black
- Mini Nail Polish in Black

Today I…

• Fell asleep on the couch and woke up in Jackie’s bedroom.  Still trying to figure that one out.
• Raked leaves.
• Crawled under the house for a milk crate.  Mom doesn’t think she has enough fall decorations up.  But she does.  Fall vomited on our house.
• Looked for something fallish to do tonight.

Sister sitting

Al is sick so my weekend will be spent watching her and Baxter, who apparently has taken to humping his stuffed gingerbread man named Cecil.  So Al has had to stop saying “Get your man.”

Currently on the couch watching Battlestar.  Sigh.  Home sweet home.

Didn’t need that

When I called my mom to tell her that I’m going for a mental tune-up, I didn’t need the five-minute rant on “why you’re stupid for not doing COBRA.”  I signed up for student health insurance.  It’s better than nothing, and I couldn’t justify paying four times that amount to keep my work insurance.

Didn’t help my mindframe.  Didn’t held my cold.  Bah.