Vacations Are Exhausting!

I spent the first week of break at home in Oregon. It was nice and relatively calm. The weather at home was pretty gross-108 degrees when I left. That Monday we went to see the tiger sanctuary. I bottle fed a tiger!!! It was an impressive place with some majestic animals, but I'm not sure I'd want to live or work out there. Dad needed to get back to fire camp in Agness that Wednesday. So, Tuesday after I visited the dentist, we drove to Gold Beach. That's a three hour drive into California and back up the Oregon Coast. The weather was amazing! It was only about 70 degrees and sunny! No rain!!! My mom, sister, and I spent a couple days on the beach watching the sea lions rolling in the waves and looking for displaced starfish. It was a great way to spend a few days of the break. Friday the 19th I flew back to Provo and dropped some things off in the apartment. The next morning I took off again for Ohio via Chicago. We ended up spending about an hour in a 'holding' pattern before finally landing in Cleveland. Apparently the weather was a disaster and the roads and runways were are rather flooded. I imagine Steve had a little fun trying to get to airport, though he says it wasn't that bad. Ohio was great. We spent a lot of time in the lake or on the lake...depends on whether or not the canoe was sinking or floating. Monday we went to Anna and Michael's band show. I enjoyed it, but they seemed to think it was awful. I guess that's how all performances go...the audience likes it and the players see the mistakes. On Wednesday Steve and I went to Kirtland and visited the temple and historic village. I'd never seen an ashery before, so that was fascinating. The temple is beautiful and we had the opportunity to go up to the top floor and see the classrooms. Thursday Steve and I went up to Cedar Point to take pictures with roller coasters. Well, the pictures were just a bonus for Kayela. I'd have to say my favorites were Millenium Force, The Raptor, MaxAir, and Wicked Twister. Pretty much we had a blast! And I never got sick, fainted, or screamed. Well, not entirely true. We did begin to feel a little dizzy after the second trip on The Raptor at the end of the day. I suppose that's not uncommon after 8 hours of vestibular chaos! Oh! I saw fireflies for the first time!!! I can now check that off the list of things to see before I die. I also became the Fire Goddess. John and his little friend invented a game on the tramp that involved them jumping around while I threw a volleyball at them. The volleyball somehow became a ball of fire and I became the keeper of the fire and later the Fire Goddess. John's a funny guy. He created a shark out of sand that ate me while I was stuck/buried in the sand. And he never tires of swamping the canoe. It was all a blast. And it was great to get to know some of the Robisons. Steve is definitely not the quietest in the family...can you believe that? Well, I can because I know he talks, but there are a few of you who are still not convinced. If I failed to add any details, let me know. And Hayley, I'm sorry I didn't update this sooner so you'd know what's going on! Garrett comes home around February 14th!!!

Finals and Fiestas

This week is Finals Week at BYU. Which means that (during a Spring or Summer term) we have only one Reading Day in prep for two days of finals. I find it a bit silly that we even have a Reading Day during Spring/Summer. Don't they know that most of us will play that day because: a) the weather is too nice, b) we have a life, unlike Fall/Winter, c) we probably have at least one professor who has already given us our final, d) we don't care enough at this point due to nearly 12 months of classes in a row. As for my finals, I took Language Development in class last Thursday and my lab exam Monday morning. My Old Testament exam is take-home and is currently sitting on the coffee table in the living room. I have been to both 3-hour reviews for the lecture exam...which I can take anytime between now and tomorrow at 6pm. Last night I helped Superman get some things ready for his little Portuguese party tonight and then we went to Scott's for Brooke's "going away" party. It was nice to see everyone, but I wasn't feeling that socially motivated. I don't think Steve was either.

I REALLY need to get my cleaning done!!! And make room for Kim...she comes home this Friday!!! And I'm sure there are last minute errands I could run rather than merely waste "precious" study time. And pack...I'm going home for a week this Friday. And then I'll be back in Provo for about 12 hours before I fly to Ohio to visit Steve.

Yesterday was my last day working in the MARB. It was strange to hand over my keys at the end of the shift and walk out knowing I'd be back in the building an hour later for a review session. I may not work in the MARB anymore, but I'm sure I'll have classes in there and I still have church there.

Day 1 of Finals: Not going productively so far. Then again, it's only 9:30am. I plan to head up to the Bookstore around 11am and (hopefully) get some money for my Language Development book. I need to make a stop by the Widstoe around noon to pick up my lab exam. I'll need to drop off some books at the HBLL as well. Studying the first two sections of lecture material is also in order. And I'm sure Steve will call after his Portuguese exam and want to do something. And then Alvaro will call and want to cook things for the party tonight. Guess I ought to eat some breakfast in preparation for the "busy" day. And get dressed. I love procrastination!

What I Really Do at Work

I bet you didn't know that I'm actually paid to clear the 4th floor of the MARB...clear the ghosts out, that is. Every morning at about 6:15, I strap on my handy Supersuction unit and attack the 4 rooms on the 4th floor. Unfortunately the unit has to be plugged in, so I can't chase any ghosts. I have to make sure the cord is long enough to reach all the corners...of the chalkboards! Okay, so I don't actually hunt ghosts. But, I do wear the Supersuction unit and clean the chalkboards...which blows chalk dust into the air...creating ghost-like clouds. And the 4th floor is actually haunted...the air ducts make a strange whistling sound. It's not creepy during sacrament meeting or classes, but it can be a little unnerving at 5am when the lights aren't turned on yet and you're all alone unlocking the doors. Only one more day of work! Man...now the Ghostbusters theme song is stuck in my head. It could be a long day.

Harry Potter

I finally finished it!!! I am rather apathetic about the plot...the end wasn't nearly as "dramatic" as it was made out to be. In fact, it almost seemed a bit abrupt. Too bad. Not my favorite book of the year. However, if I don't read anything better before December 25, it will have to do. Book Five made it on my list of favorites...so I guess that's good enough for Harry Potter.

My Weekend...and Tiger Updates

Thursday the 28th: I didn’t go to work because I was exhausted. I’m not getting much more than 4 or 5 hours of sleep a night. And it’s been that way for three months straight. I went to my lecture and spent most of the time not paying attention to the visiting professor. Lisa (lives in my old apartment) had broken her wrist Tuesday night and came to class on Vicadin and Loritab. Wow. That was a fun conversation and it made the class go by fairly quickly. I then walked home with Steve to have lunch. And then we both went back to campus for class and he went to the lab to work on steroids or something. I didn’t have my evening class and spent the afternoon doing laundry and hanging out with Jon. At 6pm Steve and I went to Café Rio with his dad. Alvaro had an ELC choir concert and we went after dinner. It was so much fun! They did about 16 songs from Broadway musicals. And they were GOOD! Alvaro and Samantha (from France) had a duet/spotlight at the end. Very good. We then went to The Creamery to get some ice cream. Steve’s dad seems to enjoy chocolate quite a bit. Well, maybe not more than Steve, but it’s still pretty funny to watch a grown man put a TON of chocolate syrup on his Chocolate Devastation ice cream. And then we all decided to try it. Wow. Too much chocolate!
Friday the 29th: No work and no class. Not sure what I did all day. Honestly, I can’t remember. I think I watched Arrested Development, cleaned the apartment, took a long nap, read Harry Potter, and waited for Steve to come home. We walked to the Provo Library to check out The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe again. We had to take it back on Wednesday, but we hadn’t finished it. We then proceeded to finish it less than an hour later. I convinced Steve to watch Ocean’s Twelve with me. It’s better than Ocean’s Eleven and I guess now he understands why it’s so funny.
Saturday the 30th: I went to the lab to help Lisa learn all the veins and endocrine system details she missed while she was in the hospital. I then went home and worked on my blog and generally wasted more time until Steve called and wanted to play. We went to Jon’s to return the first disc of the first season of Arrested Development that I had borrowed. Jon came back with us (he lives less than one minute away) and we watched Intolerable Cruelty. I thought I would hate it, but it was hilarious! Steve can’t stop quoting random lines. It’s been a great source of amusement for several hours. Steve’s dad called on his way back from his hiking trip in Nevada and wanted us to have dinner with him, Steve's uncle and cousin. So, we all went to Chuck-A-Rama for dinner and ate too much. After dinner Steve and I watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone with Alvaro. He has a test over the book in one of his classes tomorrow. He had preciously decided he hated the book and couldn’t stand anything Harry Potter related. We convinced him that it wasn’t so bad and that he might like it if he gave it a chance. I think watching the movie helped because now he understands the plot and even borrowed the second movie. Our work there is done.
Monday/Today: I've been to work...cleaned the 2nd and 4th floors of the MARB...so lonely. I went to lab and managed a 10 on the quiz. Bravo! And now I'm home cleaning the jucky lab smell off myself. I plan to actually get around to taking a nap and finishing Harry Potter. Both are absolute must-completes. Hopefully Old Testament will be less confusing that last Thursday. Although, it's always fascinating. FHE tonight...going swimming...seemed like a good warm-weather activity. I need to come up with something fabulous for next week...any ideas?
Tiger Updates: Dad spent yesterday morning "talking" to tigers as they encouraged the tigers to co-operate. How can you convince a huge cranky feline that the smoke, tankers, and sirens aren't a threat? Purr at them! Of course. Why didn't I think of that? Mom's afraid Dad's having too much fun with this fire...I'd agree. Wish I were there!