Welllllll... My bags are packed. Mostly. A few last minute things that I still need will have to be stuffed in tomorrow morning, but the rest is packed! I have two bags that are containting clothes, and I carefully spread all of my clothes between them in case one gets lost. It was a very OCD moment for me -- one pair of jeans in bag A, one pair of jeans in bag B, dress up trousers [ :) ] in bag A, skirt in bag B, sweater in bag A, sweater in bag B... and so on. I even tried to make sure the bottoms and tops in each bag matched properly. It seemed ridiculous at the time, but if one bag gets lost forever I'm gonna be grateful I did it. If both bags get lost, I'm royally screwed.

Hmmm what else did I do today? My mom and I battled the crazies at Target... Yuck, remind me never to shop there on Labor Day again! I took care of random things like calling the bank to tell them I'm moving and printing out schedules for my parents to have. Then I went to dinner with my parents and it was very yummy. We came home and took a few pictures for the Christmas card (yes, we're aware that it's still Summer) and then my mom opened presents and we ate some cake. Next we watched a couple episodes of Spaced... including Daisy's birthday episode in honor of today being my mom's. And then the parents went to bed and I stayed up and packed and talked to Gary for about 40 minutes.

NEWS OF THE DAY FROM GARY: He and his roommates now have a snake named Optimus Prime... But they recently had to change its name to Optimus Prima because turned out to be female and gave birth to a bunch of baby snakes. This freaked me out because I had never thought about snakes breeding before, and I imagined the birth to be really weird looking. I'm still planning on doing some research on this. Later in our conversation, Gary walked into the room where the snake lives and found it EATING ITS BABY. Then his roommate walked in and the snake spat the baby out. I was really close to vomiting.

He also has a rat named after some video game character who likes to crawl down his pants.

And that's that... I took some time to finish putting all of the songs from the FotC show on my iPod. Did you know that there were 24 throughout the season, including a song by the Crazy Dogggz? I think that's a pretty nice number. And I'm excited to listen to all of them tomorrow on the plane. I'm also thinking about watching LOST, since I have seasons 2 & 3 on my iPod, but that might freak me out too much... Since I'll be in a plane and all.

Ooo! Speaking of the plane! When I checked in online this afternoon, they let me pick my seat. First I decided that I wanted and aisle seat because I don't want to have to crawl over people when I need to pee/take care of STUPID GIRLY THINGS THAT NO ONE SHOULD HAVE TO DEAL WITH WHEN SHE IS FLYING ON AN AIRPLANE. [TMI, maybe, but it's frustrating so I had to let it out.] Then I realized that I totally need to be in a LOST-numbered row! For some insane reason I remembered that Jack was sitting in 23C when the plane crashed, but I think row 23 is up in the first class section, so that was not an option. So my only other choice was to go with row 42... I picked seat 42C because it's an aisle seat... But then I started getting really paranoid that it was Ana Lucia's seat, because I know she was in row 42. Luckily, when I looked it up later I found that she was in 42F. So I think I have the perfect seat.

Now I'm going to go to bed. I am having a hard time knowing how much sleep I should get tonight... Because I'm going to have to try to sleep on the plane tomorrow, and we leave at 4:50 in the afternoon! So I want to be tired enough to fall asleep, but I don't want to be fumbling through everything tomorrow. Plus I might not be able to sleep on the plane no matter how tired I am, in which case I'm going to need some extra energy from tonight's slumber. So I think I'll aim for 7 or 8 hours. You're really glad you read that, aren't you? I GET RAMBLY WHEN I'M NERVOUS.

Goodnight my dear friends. I'll do one last post tomorrow before I depart! AAAHHH!

I think I pulled a muscle or something on my lower ass/upper thigh... It hurts. Is it from bowling yesterday? How sad... I went bowling with my family and I started feeling really really yucky about halfway through. As I sat there trying not to cry/fall asleep/pass out between turns of aimlessly hurling the ball in the direction of the pins without really looking (or hitting anything), I realized that it had been three days since my hepatitis A vaccine shot. The doctor gave me a sheet of paper that told me I might suffer from headaches, tiredness, soreness, and loss of appetite for 1-2 days starting 3-5 days after my shot was administered. The loud crack of balls on pins and the weird lighting probably didn't help with the headache problem either. And my bra kept doing weird things whenever I rolled the ball. And my thumb nail broke in a really painful fashion. AND I HAD TO WEAR SOMEONE ELSE'S SHOES! AAAHH!

Ew stop complaining.

Anyway, after my grumpy bowling adventure, I came home and eventually felt a little better and had a nice delicious dinner with my lovely family. They are cool.

Tonight I hung out with Karen for a bit. We bought iron-on transfer paper and printed out big DHARMA symbols to put on scrub pants that Karen bought and some tote bags we got at Michaels. They came out really well. My small white tote has the generic non-station-specific DHARMA logo on it. It's really good and I think I'll find it useful. Then we watched some Spaced and drank Smirnoff Ices. She went home and I hung out downstairs with Mandy and Frankie. It was a good day.

Tomorrow I'm going to see The Ten with Mandy and my mom and then after that I don't really know. I want to hang out with Leah REALLY REALLY BAAAADDDDD but we haven't made ANY plans yet. Aaaahhhh! On Wednesday I am going to see Once with Sam and on Thursday I'm having dinner with my lovely friend Missy. It's set up to be a very social week, especially in contrast with last week's hermitness. This weekend we are moving Mandy to Sonoma State and it's going to be really exciting but also sad. After that, I won't see her again until December. :( :( :( Oh noes, I might cry. Time to change the subject.

Uhhhhmmm... OH! To the Awesome Department: I haven't forgotten about making those DVDs I promised you guys. And now that I have pretty much settled into my new computer, I am prepared to finish that project for you all. So as of now I have the stuff from our freshman year DVD, the Joel DVD, the LOST Halloween video, and the Disneyland video. I'm not gonna have time to make videos for everything I have on tape, so I was wondering if you guys had any specific requests. I'm going to see if I can find some good videos from each year and do a little collection of random funny moments. I will definitely put Shoe-Hand Man on there when I find it, and I'll try to do a little video for each of the other two Halloweens. More requests? Please let me know if you have any ideas at all (for events that need to be remembered, songs to use... anything), because inspiration is half the battle! I'm excited to go through all this stuff because it makes me so happy to think back on the three years I spent with you wonderful people. <3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yikes, it's much later than I thought it was. I have to get up fairly early so I better get to bed! I LOOOVE YOU AAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!

I appear to be ill. It may simply be a cold, but it is no fun. It began with a scratchy throat in the car on my way home on Friday and has only gotten worse. Last night's slumber was straight out of hell. I woke up and wanted to quote my main man Bear Grylls by saying: "It's 5 A.M. and I feel like death," but unfortunately it was only 2 A.M. The good news is that I may feel really crappy, but I'm still in a good mood because it's nice to not be stressing about school.

On Friday night I went out to dinner with my family, my aunt, my grandma (dad's mom), and my grandparents (mom's parents). We were celebrating my grandma's 90th birthday and my sister's high school graduation. Then yesterday everybody came back over, along with my aunt, uncle, and cousins from Danville. More graduation celebrations. But most of the day was spent watching a Man vs. Wild marathon with my sister & cousins and assorted other family members that were quite fascinated by the glorious Bear. It turns out that my cousin Kyle is just about as obsessed as I am, so it was a day well spent. I felt really shitty though, and I feel bad about being a little anti-social. I really wanted to spend more time with all my family, but I was also wishing I could be asleep.

My major plans for the rest of the week include: becoming not sick; forcing my mom and/or sister to watch awesome shows like Spaced, Black Books, Big Train, and Shameless (series 1 only, of course!); making little clay people modeled after my favorite characters from my favorite shows -- especially LOST (Lawl, it's gonna be silly fun); sorting through all the pictures I have in iPhoto and making some decent old school Awesome Department albums on facebook. I'm counting on a nice, relaxed week. I'm in great need of one.

I got an A- in Latin. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Diet Coke Plus is amazing. I can't tell if it tastes even a tiny bit *better* than normal Diet Coke? Maybe it's just because I know it's good for me, so that makes my taste buds happy.

This weekend was really good, especially Friday night. I love my family so so so so much. I'm going to miss them like crazy when I'm in Scotland. I'm working on convincing them that we all need to move there permanently (this is me assuming I'm going to love it, since I've never even been there). Also, they gave me a digital camera and some other cool things for my birthday, so I've been enjoying myself breaking everything in since they've left. Here are some neato pictures I've taken with my camera:

( Your eyes are big when they're so close. )

Speaking of LOST! I had a really insane LOST dream last night, but you shouldn't read about it if you have not yet seen "Man Behind the Curtain." ( So I was Jack... )

Oh my God, speaking of TV shows, I missed SNL on Saturday because I was severely sleep deprived and ended up crashing at about 9:30. I thought I was taping it, but I forgot to rewind the tape and therefore only got the first 30 minutes. So I downloaded the episode from iTunes, but there is still some stuff missing. I'm not sure if I've seen all of it yet (I'm working on downloading the torrent now), but I do know that it was what I consider to be the best episode in years! Oh Molly, you will always be my all-time favorite cast member. Or, to borrow a line from my second favorite, Will Ferrell, "Molly Shannon, you are a delight." MKG, Sally O'Malley, Jeannie Darcy... Those have to be my three favorite characters of hers. (I feel like Mary Katherine is a part of me, I love her so much.) And then other amazing characters like Kaitlin and Charli Coffee (FINAAAALLLYYY!!!) and my new favorite Penelope... And a long conversation about LOST. And a mention of Blake Lewis (which could have been better only if someone had actually played him... like Andy?)... Gawd, everything was so good. The audience was like roaring with laughter the whole time. I probably would have passed out if I had been there. I can't wait to have the entire episode downloaded. Awwwww Molly...

And speaking of SNL, Zach Braff posted a blog that mentions stuff about him being in NYC to prepare for this weeks awesome episode. It makes me smile. He is cool.

The damn kids next door are driving me batty today.

I guess I don't really have much more to say. I could write about how much Prof. Erickson irritated me the other day, but I am in a good mood and I don't feel like thinking aobut it. Plus sometimes I still love him, so I am very conflicted. He's just a huge pain-in-the-ass flake. Boo!!!

Oh gosh.

I can't believe we had to spring forward today. I totally forgot. I went to bed at 11:30 last night, thinking I would get up early. But no, I didn't open my eyes again until 10:30... Which, I found out a few minutes later, was actually 11:30. What a waste of 12 hours. I had stupid/bad dreams too... But one of them was very smart of me. I was trying to finish a play before I fell asleep, but got too tired. So I made up my own ending for it! The daughter ended up dying, bringing the rest of her crazy family closer together. I'm about to go finish it now... How creepy would it be if I were right? I won't be.

Yesterday was really fun, but it shouldn't have been. It was only fun because I didn't do the things I was supposed to do. I had lots of Brittny & Mitzi time. First we played a really cool new game involving stairs and small objects. Then we went to dinner at Outback and ate waaay too much delicious food. Finally, we watched Shaun of the Dead with all the lights off.

Today I have to write two papers and study for a quiz. Balls!

My aunts Lynn and Sue just stopped by to check out my house. I think they were impressed. We talked about me wanting to go abroad next year and now I am really stressed out. Within the next two weeks, I should know what my next year will be like. Oh God, please just tell me!

I'm going to go read my play now. It's going to be a bad day. I will probably eat a lot to make up for this. Eating a lot is a bad idea. Oh well.

Studio 60 was really good last night. I hate not knowing when/if they will be bringing it back. Stupidddd... I don't know why everyone gives that show such a hard time. The cast is brilliant and the writing is pretty good too (although it's the cast that made me fall in love). Baaaahhh... Why do all my favorite shows leave me?

I am really happy that it's only a four day week. I am also happy that tomorrow is Wednesday. And I'm even more happy that my family is coming to visit on Friday, which is only two days after Wednesday. Hopefully this week will go by fast and the weekend will last for a very long time.

Oh my god. I am way too obsessed with LOST. I can't even tell you what I spent two hours doing yesterday. It's too embarrassing. But maybe I'll take a picture sometime.

I have nothing interesting to say because I was totally lazy all weekend and barely did anything. How sad for me.

Here goes Tuesday...

Omigod today is just RIDICULOUS.

Apparently my cousin Tim took the thank you email my sister sent his family after Christmas and sent it back to my whole family, but changed things to make it apply to him. He even italicized all the things he altered. It says things like: "I also love the Super Troopers DVD and Pig Coin Holder, they both smell so good!" HAHAHAHAHA! His dad's name is John but we call him Uncle Johnny... And my dad's name is Jon and Tim usually calls him Uncle Jon. But in this email he just took out the h. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. Jesus. What a frickin genius. He is soooo incredibly funny, and just gets funnier as he gets older (he's a high school senior). I wish I got to see him more often. Also, he probably thinks I'm lame.

I asked my mom which one of her daughters she loved most and her response was: "I can't say."

HAHAHAHA. That is horrible. I told her the correct answer would have been: "I love you both equally." Hopefully she'll do better the next time someone asks that questions.

MY HAIR SMELLS SOOOO GOOD. [Go back and read that again. Think Fred Armisen in the Mayan chocolate sketch.]

I feel crazy today. My mom asked me if I was drinking, but I am not! I am sandwiched between two midterms! No hump day drinkie! NO! I'm just craaaazy. I think someone poisoned my banana pancakes.

I didn't eat any banana pancakes.

LOL apparently everyone is dying on All My Children. Now Dixie is dead, after all the hubbub of bringing the old turd back. All the ladies are leaving us. Waaaait a minute... Are they on a mysterious island or something? Because that's the only place I know where all the ladies die all the time. No? Just Pine Valley? Oh, okay then. Well maybe Zarf should think twice about that sex change, because being a woman means dying now.

Boopoopedoop, boopoopedoop. Everybody plays the foool someti-i-i-i-imes.

Gonna fail Latin tomorrow. For sure. It's a definite thing.

Kbye.

Today was amazing. The best parts:

--> Getting out of the car at my house.

--> An impromptu candle blowing out battle between all the members of my family (excluding Frankie), where the unspoken rule was that we all had to be really far away. I think we all almost passed out -- except my dad, who cheated.

--> When Mandy said, "My hamper runneth over."

--> "Practicing" Taboo with Mandy and my mom. Specifically when I was trying to get Mandy to guess the word "flaccid"...

ME: Oh no! I can't seem to get it up! That mean's it must be...
MANDY: Scared?

It also took her waaay too long to guess "continent."

ME: Australia may only be an island, but it's also considered one of these.
MANDY: A country?
ME: No. Asia is one too.
MANDY: A country!
ME: And Antarctica.
MANDY: An island?
ME: NO! We are living on one right now.
MANDY: A state? A country?
ME: What's my lucky number?
MANDY: Seventeen!
ME: Okay, take the first part of that.
MANDY: Sev.
ME: Well, plus the second part.
MANDY: Teen?
ME: No! Without that!
MANDY: SEVEN!
ME: Yeah! That's how many of these there are!
MANDY: Countries!

Saaaaad, sad times... We are REALLY tired.

Goodnight. :)

^ That is my new Facebook away message. Why? 'Cause it's true.

I am currently downloading one of my favorite LOST episodes of all time: TONIGHT'S.

( Why? )

In short, I couldn't have asked for a better ending to this mini season. I am so pleased!

In other happy news, I finally got the nerve to send emails to two former professors asking them to write letters of recommendation for the Education Abroad Program. One already replied, and she said yes! I'm meeting with her on Tuesday! Now all I need is Michael Morgan to agree, and I'm set. I'm counting on you, buddy. You are amazing and I love you, but I'll love you even more if you write this letter for me!

Here is my plan for the weekend:

THURSDAY NIGHT: Bri will come over (assuming this is okay with all my housemates) and we will partayyyy. Y'all are welcome to join in.
FRIDAY: No school! I will spend the morning sleeping, the day time cleaning, and the night time being awesome (in other words, I have no plans yet).
SATURDAY MORNING: IHOP with Brittny
LATER SATURDAY MORNING: My family arrives!
SATURDAY NIGHT: Some kinda fancy dinner and then a hotel sleepover!
SUNDAY MORNING: More family.
SUNDAY AFTERNOON: My family will leave and I will study hard for Tuesday's Latin test.

So yes.

Oh yes! My Paolo Nutini CD arrived today! IT IS SHAT-TASTIC!

Lolz @ me.

But seriously, it's amazing. Shat-mazing.

DOWNLOAD FASTER, "I DO!" DOWNLOAD FASTERRRRRR!!!