anne beaver thomsen

2005-11-25T23:14:00.001-07:00

good night, dear blogger, old friend.

hello, xanga:http://www.xanga.com/annelord

2005-11-23T06:06:00.000-07:00

so, yay it's my wedding day. i don't know if it's nerves or just god hating me, but i've been up since four this morning. i wish i could sleep. i kind of have a big day today.

2005-11-20T22:01:00.000-07:00

so the shower yesterday was fun. thanks to all who attended. i'm very excited for mom, dad, and c to get here. yay!

errol cleaned the house today while i was at work. ah, perfection.

not much more to say--everything's yet to happen.

2005-11-17T22:59:00.000-07:00

today the valley view kids took a field trip to asu, and it was very successful. i loved it! errol helped me give them the best 2 hour tour possible. he even played tag with them on the src fields. i took some pictures.

i'm starting to get very nervous for my interview. i want to do this so bad! stress.

2005-11-14T09:56:00.000-07:00

whatever happened to school buses? this morning 22 middle schoolers and their teacher were crammed into the city bus with us on their field trip to asu. one stepped on my toe. i wish i could donate 81A to scottsdale unified school district.

2005-11-13T23:02:00.000-07:00

you know, i thought today was going to suck. i had to work from 9-1.30 and then again from 6-10, but the day was much better than expected. i really do have a good life. sure, j.crew isn't the greatest most of the time, but it's also not the worst thing in the world. tonight after the "holiday meeting," a few of us went out for drinks to vent. it was fabulous. i felt a little like carrie bradshaw, having cocktails after work with my girlfriends. i think ian's really my only friend left outside of work, but that's ok. i'm lucky that i consider the people i work with my friends. then, when i got home, i found a clean house and errol reading aloud to himself. i'm so lucky to have him. ah, peaceful spirit.

2005-11-11T20:39:00.000-07:00

beginning of venting session:

buttless makes me so mad sometimes. she ran the dishwasher today while we were out. we have one of those on-peak/off-peak electricity plans so it costs so much more money to use high amounts of energy during the on-peak hours. i had purposely not run it and was waiting until this evening when we were in off-peak hours. i agree with errol that the worst of it is that she probably thinks she's helping out with housework by doing this. it would be much better if she just took out the trash once in awhile.

also, when we got back, there was a bunch of water on the kitchen floor. she won't answer my text about the origin of this. i'm hoping it's just a spill she didn't clean up and not the dishwasher leaking.

end of venting session.

2005-11-09T16:07:00.000-07:00

I GOT AN INTERVIEW!

2005-11-08T17:57:00.000-07:00

i've crumbled under pressure--i'm posting song lyrics. when i was cruising through the channels, i saw a corn field so had to stop. cmt was playing a video of shannon brown's song, corn fed. enjoy.

We don't flip the bird, we don't cuss an' scream,
When the cars don't move when the light turns green.
We don't lock our doors when we leave the house,
There ain't nobody here that we'd keep out.
That's the way we do it in our town, yeah.

You never hear me apologize,
For growin' up strong, growin' up right.
Livin' life by the Golden Rule.
Say: "Yes, Ma'am," "Thank You."
Green fields for miles an' miles,
Ain't nothin' but country on the radio dial.
I thank the good Lord I was born an' bred,
Corn fed.

Ain't no burnin' flags on our Court House Square.
You see Old Glory flyin' everywhere.
There ain't no Valley joint with five-star atmosphere.
Daddy's home-grown beet's what's for dinner here.
An we wash it down with a tall, cold beer, yeah.

You never hear me apologize,
For growin' up strong, growin' up right.
Livin' life by the Golden Rule.
Say: "Yes, Ma'am," "Thank You."
Green fields for miles an' miles,
Ain't nothin' but country on the radio dial.
I thank the good Lord I was born an' bred,
Corn fed.

Rooster crows, six a.m.;
John Deere pulling that plow again.
Spit on your face, hands in the dirt,
Ain't nothin' better on God's great earth.

You never hear me apologize,
For growin' up strong, growin' up right.
Livin' life by the Golden Rule.
Say: "Yes, Ma'am," "Thank You."
Green fields for miles an' miles,
Ain't nothin' but country on the radio dial.
I thank the good Lord I was born an' bred;
Well, I thank the good Lord I was born an' bred,
Corn fed.
Corn fed.
Corn fed.
Corn fed.

2005-11-08T16:43:00.000-07:00

wow, it looks like kate is actually coming to phoenix. although the visit isn't being made to see me, i'm still excited.

my knee continues to hurt. i went to the doctor today and was told i need x-rays and an orthopedic. hopefully, i'll be fully fuctional on november 23.

2005-11-06T23:44:00.000-07:00

it's so nice to have a man around the house. today errol screwed in the shelf in the living room and hung a new curtain rod and drapes in our room. he is fabulous.

2005-11-04T10:02:00.000-07:00

i really like jimmy carter. i heard an interview with him this morning, and i just wanted to give him a big hug. i kind of want to read his new book.......eventually.

yeah, so 19 days to go. we have our "walk-through" this afternoon at the wright house and have to commit to how many guests we will have. so many people didn't send in their cards so i really hope that means they won't be coming since there won't be food or a seat for them. we tried to make contact, but i've come to the conclusion that most people can't be bothered with things that aren't on their priority list. very discouraging.

yesterday i got a graduation invitation from the college of liberal arts and sciences. i'm glad everything went through. you never know what can happen at a megafauna university like asu.

speaking of, it looks like my students from science club will be taking a field trip to asu. i'm very excited and hope that the kids will want to come here after a little tour. i know after i went to volleyball camp at unk when i was a fifth grader, i wanted to go there. my, have times changed.

last night at j.crew i was a little sad because i realized i'm not the best folder. i mean, i'm perfectly fine, but i never can make the shirts into perfect board-folded stacks. also something very discouraging.

2005-11-01T23:26:00.000-07:00

i hate it when errol has to work. i hate it. i wish he were home. i don't know what to do with myself.

my knee hurts too.

2005-10-29T22:00:00.000-07:00

my dear friend nicole got her car broken into tonight at j.crew. i feel so bad for her. she's one of the most sincerely kind people i've ever known and this horrible thing happens to her. life is so unfair. it's deceiving how familiarity equates to safety to many of us.

i submitted my tfa application today. eek. i'm nervous.

i switched the day shift for the night shift today so we could enjoy the homecoming festivities at asu. we didn't go to the game but watched some of the parade and talked to dr brack and nilsen. they are both so wonderful. i'm lucky to have great professors. errol commented on the greatness, and i think it has a lot to do with the fact they're english teachers. they've read a lot and know how to treat people. my interaction with professors will be what i miss the most.

2005-10-27T13:15:00.000-07:00

i just finished taking my greek art test, and i think it went ok. the hardest part was identifying the kinds of vases the ancient greeks used. if anyone wants to know the difference between an amphora and a kylix, i'm your girl.

tonight i'm going to finish my teach for america application. i'm very excited/nervous. i'm kind of putting all my eggs in one basket with this, and i hope it turns out. although, i know if it doesn't, i'll find something else to do and we'll move a year sooner, but i really want to do it. everyone cross their fingers for me.

i had a good talk with mom last night. i miss her. watching gilmore girls with errol makes me miss her too. this morning errol make a really good observation, and i want to share it--

sometimes treating your kids differently is a good thing. for example, i think that mom and dad tried to treat all four of us the same while we were at college, but i think that was a bad move. i didn't have the same college experience my other siblings did. while they might have appreciated the distance mom and dad gave them because lincoln is so close to minden, i would have enjoyed some more nurturing like calls, care packages, and visits. i'm trying to store all this stuff up in my head to use with our kids.

i handed in my paper yesterday. yay! i was the first one in the class, and dr. brack said, "well, i was only going to give one 'a' and i guess this is it." that made me smile.

2005-10-25T18:24:00.000-07:00

i was the teacher again today, and it went well. i didn't have as much fun as last time, but it was fine. the kids really liked looking their names up in the name books. some of the "macho" boys surprised me and wanted to share with the class the sentimental meanings of their names. for instance, fidel was very excited to tell everyone that his name meant "advocate for the poor." i had told him earlier what the word advocate meant, and he wanted to make sure the class knew too. it was cute.

tonight i'm determined to finish my paper that was due last monday. i was really stressing about it being so late, but i found out yesterday that i am farther than everyone else. i'll have to add another ten pages to this paper by december so in preparation, i started reading jane austen's mansfield park yesterday. if i read 33 pages a night, i'll have it done in three weeks. one day down. 20 to go.

ps--29 days till the big day.

2005-10-20T22:00:00.000-07:00

when i got off work tonight, i really wanted to run to four peaks for some delicious hummus and pita bread. i called ian, but he didn't answer. then i thought, "who else can i call?" thinking, thinking, thinking... i used to feel like i had too many friends and felt stressed to maintain the relationships. now it seems that most of those friendships have faded into acquaintances. it seems i have become a friendless loser with a lot of j.crew clothes.

2005-10-17T21:10:00.000-07:00

it rained a lot today. of course it had to come down the hardest when i was walking across campus. ironically, i was wearing the same skirt i was wearing when we were stuck in pouring rain in evanston a few months back. the pool closed early tonight due to lightning and thunder so that was nice. it started raining again on the way home, but the bus driver was nice enough to drop us off right in front of the apartment. first props to valley metro in awhile.

my good friend from sophomore year is coming to the wedding--all the way from wisconsin. some people love me after all.

2005-10-16T20:10:00.000-07:00

i don't think that i'll ever get over my middle child syndrome. lately, i've been feeling a bit neglected, and i keep wondering, "would people treat abby the same way?" i know it's stupid to even ask the question--we're pretty much grown up now and there are so few things to complain about in my life. i have my health, and i'm happy, excluding long shifts at j.crew or overwhelming readings, but still, why does the question still pop in my head once in awhile? are the details of my siblings' lives forgotten as easily as mine? i realized this week that my parents came to see me at school only once during my years at asu. of course, i wish i would have seen them more, and i don't hold it against them for not coming, but would they have visited kate, abby, or chris more if they went away for school? i know, it's a dumb question, but i can't help but ask it. a lot of our relatives travelled to nebraska for kate's wedding last summer. why aren't people coming to mine? sometimes it doesn't feel good at all being the different one.

i think right now i'm experiencing one of those not so happy moments.

2005-10-13T22:38:00.000-07:00

yesterday was a big day in anne world. i applied for graduation and received my diploma holders and my honors cords right there. it was pretty exciting.

i got to have supper with ian tonight. it was nice. i'm trying to remember if i appreciated how often i got to see him when we were ra's together... probably not. everyone, appreciate your friends when you get to see them as much as you can! also, do yourself a favor and just nix a wedding shower.

2005-10-11T11:50:00.000-07:00

i hate cox communications. i decided to hang out at home this morning to relax and watch the today show. the tv is broken! we have a fuzzy connection already, but now even the networks are all staticy with no color. the internet's been in and out for a few weeks now and the technician was supposed to come on saturday afternoon to fix it, but of course, he didn't show up. i was on the phone 25 minutes with cox today trying to receive the services i pay for. it's so strange. the tv repairman is free; but if the internet guy has to come into the house, it's fifty dollars. this is so discouraging. hopefully, someone will be around from 3-5 tomorrow afternoon, and they'll fix everything.

2005-10-08T16:40:00.000-07:00

ah, my huskers! they're such a stress in my life. last week with all the overtimes made the drive from j.crew to my apt more exciting than it should be, and today the same thing happens. i work from 8-4 and get in my car to hear the last two minutes of the game: 31-27 huskers. tech is in the red zone and blackshirts have to hold them--blackshirts make an interception. YAY! blackshirts then fumble it. boo. texas tech ended up winning on 4th down, and i was very sad. we hadn't lost a homecoming game in 37 years! errol's pretty bummed too. i hope next week's game is a little easier on the heart.

2005-10-06T22:29:00.000-07:00

i was really looking forward to our night off and seeing a movie, but it kind of put me in a bad mood. errol got one of those free movie passes from barnes and noble so we got to see prime for free. it's good, but it doesn't make one feel very confident in her relationship with a younger man. i told the screening people that i was disappointed in the ending--maybe they'll change it before it opens for the public. i heard they did that with my best friend's wedding. people were sad that julia roberts didn't end up with her gay friend so they redid it. viewers know best.

i have to work everyday this weekend again. boo. i hope it goes fast; it did yesterday anyway.

2005-10-02T23:35:00.000-07:00

i just got back from work, and i'm pretty tired. i worked from 1-10 today, and i'm beat. there has to be a better way for kids in college to earn their keep. i don't have as many school committments on fridays, saturdays, and sundays so i just end up working everyday over the weekend and start the next week off tired. i'm so excited to graduate.

2005-09-30T00:48:00.000-07:00

i was in a pretty bad mood when i came home from school yesterday. i was ordered off the bus at 3.22 p. because this crazy bus driver decided he wasn't going to go the full route this particular occasion. so, i had to wait at the stop on mill, in the heat, til after four when the next bus came. i try so hard to advocate for public transportation in this town, but they do such a horrible job that it is very hard. i got home about 4.25 and was very thankful that i only had to work at gammage at six and hadn't relied on the bus to get me home in a timely fashion to get to jcrew or something. needless to say, i wasn't the happiest climbing the stairs to 214.

Then!

I saw a box at the doorway with an AIRMAIL sticker on it. i got a package from yuka in tokyo. she sent me a congrats card for the wedding and made me a little pink bear. isn't that the greatest thing? nothing like a homemade teddy bear to get you out of a slump.

today was better yet. i got a 96 on my greek art test and getting fingerprinted for service learning only took fifteen minutes. then, i took a new bus route (still haven't given up total hope) to visit errol at barnes and noble. there, i was able to get a lot of work done that i would have just continued to avoid if i had stayed at home.

2005-09-27T10:44:00.000-07:00

today's a big day. i have my art history test in about an hour and a half, and i teach my first science club this afternoon. i'm more nervous about teaching than testing. we're doing a "voice" activity where i'm having the kids pick an object from the rio salado and write a paragraph in the voice of the chosen object. i hope they do ok, and they don't go too out of control.

i burned the tip of my middle finger taking banana bread out of the oven last night. i like to say, "i've got a hurt finger," in my gretel voice. ah, maria and the gang, how i miss them.

2005-09-25T19:28:00.000-07:00

what a fabulous year it's been. last night errol and i celebrated our one year anniversary. he gave me a gorgous tiffany's necklace, and i feel so lucky to have him. i feel like the appropriate sentece to follow should be, "i wonder where we'll be september 24, 2006." however, i don't wonder. i think this week we figured out that we're going to stay just where we are. i feel really good about this decision. i'm excited to make buttless's room an office. :)

2005-09-23T13:47:00.000-07:00

yesterady we went to flagstaff, and it was fabulous. I love it there so much. we should move. we went there because my dear friend from high school, miss audrey jensen, was playing volleyball with her fellow grizzlies against northern arizona university. i've gone to the montana v. nau game every year since i moved here. it's been nice everytime. we had supper with marc too, and that was fun. we went to the brewery in flag, and it was much better this time than before. last time we were there, i needed a root canal very badly and had to leave because i was in so much pain. not neat.

tomorrow's our one-year anniversary. pretty amazing. two months from today we're getting hitched. even better.

2005-09-18T20:05:00.000-07:00

i didn't have to work at j.crew today. that was nice. it's hard to even convince myself that school is my real job when it has taken second priority to all my other jobs everyday this week. no, i had a good sunday: grocery shopping, football, and homework. i also did my home workout pilates video tonight because i didn't want to drive to the gym. it reminded me of last fall and how i used to do it in cholla. ah, i love my apartment so much better than cholla.

i had another blast from the past yesterday. after errol and i had a dinner out with the palmers and good time at broken flowers, we went to anjali's and shon's birthday party. i had to force errol to go because he was afraid he'd run into someone he really didn't want to see. luckily, she wasn't there, and we got a good dose of what we don't miss. it's hard to believe that only a year ago i would have looked forward to a party like that, and last night i felt so out of place. it wasn't like it wasn't a good party. i'm just at a different place in my life than most of the people there.

movin' out closed tonight. i like working at gammage, but i'm glad i'll have some nights at home this week. the water and cable are finally fixed. for now...

2005-09-14T22:33:00.000-07:00

we just got back from a lovely evening with my aunt joyce from missouri. out of nowhere she left me a voicemail saying she was in phoenix for a conference and wanted to get together tonight. bazaarly, i was able to get my shift at gammage covered and hung out will aunt joyce for a long time. she wanted to see where we were getting married, and we took her out to oreganos and showed her the beauty of pizzacookie. i realized this was the first time i had a real conversation with one of my aunts or uncles. by real, i mean longer than five minutes. i see my other family a lot on holidays and such, but i felt like i really got to know aunt joyce tonight. this realization lead me to conclude that i don't really know my other aunts and uncles at all.

2005-09-13T23:33:00.000-07:00

does everyone know that oprah is on at 11.30 at night? strange. anyway, i just saw a few minutes of it, and the subject of the day was teenagers' irresponsibility with money. the video they showed was disgusting. the parents had given their 16 and 18 year olds credit cards, and the kids just bought whatever they wanted. the expert oprah had on said that parents have two responsibilities to pass down to their kids before they leave the house: know where babies come from and know where a dollar comes from. this got me thinking of my own upbringing as far as money is concerned. i definitely learned where a dollar came from, but i don't think that lesson came from my parents. my parents never encouraged me to detassel or work at subway. i worked when i was young because it gave me my own money, and money brought independence--something i couldn't get enough of. everyone has their own definition of how much money is enough for them. i can't stomach the wealthy and upper-middle classers complaining about how poor they feel. at gammage, we've been holding baskets for donations for katrina victims at the end of the show. tonight, a man saw the basket and said, "enough already!" i really wanted to punch him. he was leaving a $75 ticketed broadway show to probably drive home to suburbia in his bmw, and he's so annoyed with people asking for donations for people who have lost everything. i really wanted to punch him.

2005-09-12T16:27:00.000-07:00

i had a rough night yesterday so i'm trying to concentrate on the positives today. one, errol. i love how he loves the cookies and brownies i make for him. two, my service learning project. we had 50 children show up for science club on thursday. it was a little out of control, but i was looking forward to getting to know some of the kids. i already have a favorite. her name is nataly, and she's amazing. however, i got an email today from my facilitator and her boss informed her that 50 kids is way too many and we have to have a drawing to see who gets to stay. so sad. i hope nataly gets her name drawn. three, and very surprising, was how exercising made me feel better yesterday. after my feelings of awfulness, i went to the src and actually felt better after i worked out. i never thought this would happen to me. i like playing sports but have pretty much consistently dreaded the idea of exercising for really no point but burning calories. yet, yesterday it really helped. yay.

off to mopac.

2005-09-10T22:58:00.000-07:00

i'm sitting in bed watching love actually and feeling so lucky that i have actually found love. i could only feel better if he were here instead of barnes and noble. errol's so adorable. last night he was singing the wrong words to a certain little song most people know. this is how it went down:

"beans, beans, the wonderful fruit, the more you eat the more you toot. the more you toot, the happier you are...how does it go?"

he's so cute. almost as cute as colin firth learning portuguese.

2005-09-09T08:33:00.000-07:00

i woke up to rain this morning. i really need to get an umbrella. the good news is that the water is back on. the bad news is that movin' out is a very loud show, and it's difficult to read eighteenth-century literature with billy joel blaring in the background. that reminds me, i've a new attitude on work. keep in mind, i am currently reading moll flanders.

a long time ago, the only way women could become financially secure was to marry someone with money. if that someone dies, they are left with a sum that has no opportunity to grow besides a little interest. i've realized that i just take the opportunity to work for granted. when i need money, i just pick up some more hours. i don't have to toss and turn about finding a husband or a benfactor fast. that's a nice feeling. yay for free women in the workplace! j.crew really isn't that bad. i just got a $98 skirt half off.

2005-09-07T22:53:00.000-07:00

we have no water. apparently, our water heater was leaking into our neighbor's unit downstairs, and she shut off our water last night. after a call to the landlord this morning and a visit from the plumber this afternoon, i thought we were golden. hello shower!

i head to j.crew looking forward to having the water on when i come home, but there's a glitch. i checked my voicemail during my break. the landlord has left a message and says the water will be off again until tomorrow morning. sadness! this takes me back to prairie days when we lived in the dugout before dad built the house. having no water definitely suxin'.

2005-09-06T23:34:00.000-07:00

although today's been long, it's been good. i had my first meeting with the students at valley view school today. we had 35 kids show up for science club! they had been expecting 20 max. most of the kids were great. i made a lot of new friends. i'm excited to get to know them better throughout the semester.

errol and i were little celebrities today. i didn't get any comments about it til i went to work at gammage. i'm not surprised my fellow floor managers are state press readers. i was very disappointed that i and when harry met sally was misquoted. the shame of it all. you may read the article below but keep in mind what should have been written, "When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, youwant the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."

http://asuwebdevil.com/issues/2005/09/06/news/693683

2005-09-03T13:23:00.000-07:00

errol and i concluded that yesterday was a strange day.

it started by missing the bus or not really missing it but getting sick of waiting for a very late bus and driving to school. errol finds out that his french class from rio salado was canceled and now he'll have to take summer classes to be able to start grad school in the fall. advice: get your langauge requirement done asap. we pulled a cher horowitz and went to the mall to feel better. we bought some fabulously cheap j.crew sandals and updated our wedding registeries. i can't wait til pottery barn and crate and barrel get their holiday merchandise in! there were more things in the day that made it strange... i can't really remember them now. oh, we went to sarah hayden and lisa's party. errol thinks honors kids look out of their element when they drink. i tend to agree. we saw the aristocrats too. i think chris would like it a lot.

2005-08-30T21:43:00.000-07:00

errol discovered this list, and i found it very interesting. i'd just like to boast that j.crew and barnes and noble both give 100% of their political donations to democrats. check the rest of the list out. you'll be surprised.

http://www.buyblue.org/rankedlist.php

2005-08-28T22:37:00.000-07:00

so, that party was super-fun. we played apples to apples, catchphrase, and cranium, and some great people showed up too. yay for friends!

tonight at work i unloaded new merchandise for a couple hours then helped rearrange the store and move in the fall line. i don't think people know how much work goes into the look of a clothing store--i certainly didn't.

this afternoon on the way back from panda, errol spotted the teddy bear lady. this time she had all her friends in a grocery cart. genius.

i really haven't done any work for school this week. i think i'm in need of a schedule. yes!

2005-08-27T19:26:00.000-07:00

i'm excited for the game party! there is a big bowl of swedish fish in the kitchen calling my name. i hope people have a good time. too bad errol's not here.

i spent last night and today at j.crew. it wasn't too bad. we have a gorgeous fall line. i think i'm going to buy some boots.

2005-08-25T08:19:00.000-07:00

yesterday was a really nice day. not weather-wise of course, but a lot of nice things happened. first, a saw one of my old residents from center in the mu bathroom, and we had a nice exchange. it was 30 seconds of genuine interest from both sides, and that was it. perfect. then, i decided to take the flash to the bus stop instead of walking there because i had an extra bag, and it was hot. on the flash, was a girl who lived on my floor freshman year and was an ra with me at center for a semester. we had a nice chat, and then she got out at lot 59. five minutes later, i was standing in the sun waiting for my bus to come on mill across from monti's. all of a sudden i heard my name being called across the street. julie had driven by, seen me, and pulled over to ask if i needed a ride. wasn't that nice? a short bus ride home (also nice) let me take a long shower and relax on the couch reading richard peck's the river between us until errol called. sue and killian were in town, and he was golfing with his brother. sue took us out for a delicious meal at red lobster, and it was really fun.

didn't i have a nice day?

2005-08-23T23:09:00.000-07:00

the first days of school have been fine. i'm saving money, gas, and the environment by taking the city bus to campus everyday. it's been ok. yesterday there was a lady with one teddy bear in her lap that she talked to most of the ride and four others lined up right beside her. twas a bit strange. tonight the bus didn't have air-conditioning. boo. however, i think i'll survive, and it will be a lot better once it cools down a bit.

tonight i went to barnes and noble to visit errol and got a copy of the awakening for a dollar. score! i'll pull a kate: "shout out to barnes and noble clearance table!"

2005-08-22T08:32:00.000-07:00

ok, i'll try this again. a few days ago i had written about half a post and the stupid computer restarted, and i lost it.

chicago was fabulous. when we arrived on wednesday, we managed to successfully haul all our suitcases and golf clubs across the city to our hostel that was very close to loyola. we wandered around campus a bit then headed on a redline train toward the loop. big cities are wonderful. i know that technically, we live in a big city now, but phoenix just doesn't have that cosmopolitan feel. we walked to millenium park and heard a good bit of a concert. they have this huge outdoor amphitheater set up, and hundred of people were lounging on the lawn with the picnics and families enjoying the music. i really liked it. that night we boarded a free trolley to navy pier to watch some fireworks. the show was the best i had ever seen (kearney county's hard to beat, i know). we did a lot of people-watching there made friends with some Hasidic jews.

we woke up thursday a bit toasty--more like, sticky. our hostel didn't have air-conditioning so we were in for some very warm nights. to cool off, we traveled north to evanston to check out northwestern. not really knowing what stop on the purple line gets us there, we randomly chose davis. we looked at the map in the station and figured we weren't that far--just a short walk a way. hours later, drenched by the rain, we flagged a cta bus down to take us back to a train station where we could start over and take more care in what direction we turned. we finally got to northwestern and spent a lot of time in the bathroom under the hand dryers. our shirts simply would not dry so we made a quick trip to the bookstore and now have some styling northwestern apparel. the rain finally let up while we breaked for a slice of sbarro pizza and got to walk around a gorgeous campus. that night we walked the magnificent mile and enjoyed a delicious ghiradelli's sundae. it was a domingo. yum!

friday involved a long train ride to hyde park where we toured university of chicago. this was definitely a self-guided tour. the place must have something against building signs and readable maps. although we never found a union or the current philosophy department, we had a nice time admiring all the buildings. u of c is pretty much the opposite of asu campus-wise. the buildings there reminded me a lot of the ones at cambridge. after stuffed pizza at edwardo's and a visit to the 59th st bookstore, we headed north to see UIC. public schools just have a different feel to them. everything was well-marked and people were there to give you maps and tell you where to go. thumbs up for uic info desk people. we spent friday night in lincoln park and enjoyed the tastes of la creperie. i had a nutella crepe. it was heaven.

we dreaded saturday because we were having such a good time and did not want to go through dragging around all our stuff again, but it came regardless of our opinion. we spent a good amount of time in the chicago public library. that place is amazing. i would feel so honored if i had a library card there. next, errol really wanted to find a hamburger joint called mister j's. so we walked up state and enjoyed some very scrumptious burgers and shakes. by that time, it was time to go back to the hostel, get our stuff, and ride trains for a long time to get to the airport. crying babies aside, it wasn't that bad, and we made it. at this point, i feel totally confident in saying that i would like to move to chicago, and i think errol feels good about the schools there. we'll see what the future has in store for us.

2005-08-14T19:59:00.000-07:00

i've gotten a little sicker the past few days so the franklin plans were dashed for today. hopefully, the golf trip to gothenburg will happen. i feel bad for errol that he doesn't seem to do much. i think the cats are keeping him entertained for the most part.

speaking of cats, tonight errol said, "look! that one has a mouse in its mouth!" after closer examination, we realized that it was a newborn kitten. ah, the circle of life. socks dead but another alive today. i hope the mama cat doesn't do a great job of hiding them. i want to see them before we leave on tuesday.

2005-08-12T19:38:00.000-07:00

apparently, i killed a kitten today. i backed over it on the way to a dentist appointment. i'm very sad. it had little white feet, and, fittingly, we called it socks.

2005-08-12T07:58:00.000-07:00

yesterday we went to lincoln to have lunch with katie or, for kate's enjoyment, katie elizabeth kerr. we went to lazlo's on abby's recommendation, and besides having trouble finding the place (blasted lincoln one-ways), i give it two enthusiastic thumbs up.

i took errol to one of my favorite bookstores, a novel idea. it's incredibly neat and has cats randomly lying about the books. when we checked out, the lady asked where we were from. i thought it to be an interesting question. i wonder why she didn't suspect we were lincolnites.

i got a little gift for shea's little one. i'm excited to show it to ian.

bad news: i have a cold.

2005-08-09T21:45:00.000-07:00

today was my bridal shower. it was neat. i got a lot of nice stuff and more dish towels than one could ever want. the trip to the dentist was not as successful. i'm thinking of taking a british stance on dental hygiene.

we had a little extended family bbq with our relatives from minnesota. the food was delicious, but the overall effect was rather depressing. i hope being helpless and old is not in the cards for me.

2005-08-08T23:08:00.000-07:00

today's my half birthday. it doesn't seem like it's been six months since my very uneventful 21st bash. i guess life does really fly by when you get older. does anyone else remember months barely creeping by when they were little? half birthdays were major events: "i'm 8 and a half!" i don't know how many times "a half" was included in kids' answers to an age inquiry.

tomorrow's my mindy bridal shower. i wish errol could come. i'm planning (with kate's approval of course) to have the arizona shower be coed. also, instead of kitchen equipment, i want books as gifts--preferrably adolescent lit. :)

2005-08-07T21:18:00.000-07:00

just got back from a fun outing with errol and chris and had another golf lesson at craneview links course on the way to kearney. this time, we focused on putting. it's kind of tricky, but i might practice more at pitch 'n putt later this week.

we went to perkins for supper because chris wanted to get dad's birthday present a few days late. our food was also late so we got 20% off, and chris and i had a great time remembering high school and the fun classes. actually, we had such a good time at the restaurant and the ride back; when we got home, we realized chris had forgotten to get dad's present. whoops.

2005-08-06T21:26:00.000-07:00

i'm in nebraska using my brother's laptop, and i realize i've been sitting in front of it checking email and such with headphones on but nothing coming out of them. i go to itunes to listen to some of chris's neil diamond but soon find out that little beaver has his music under a password. i proceed to rilokiley.com and listen to their free music.

yes, nebraska is this exciting.

seriously, it's so nice to be here and not have much to worry about. errol and i just came in from looking at the stars and playing with the cats on the deck. this afternoon errol gave me my first golf lesson at minden country club's driving range. after my little hands finished a severe beating, we drove down to the square and bought some pretty delicious sno-cones. also, watched the sequel to sarah, plain and tall. it made me glad that we have irrigation now, but it really blows my mind how hard my dad works. he's so tired and the work never ends. the corn needs more and more water and it never rains.

2005-08-02T22:33:00.000-07:00

my life is just so exciting i can hardly stand it.

chris, kate, ian, and i had a great time dining at fuddruckers tonight. chris and i realized that neither of us had been there since our respective trips to nebraska's state geography bee, but that's not the exciting part. after supper, we opened the restaurant door and felt the horrific wind and rain. it was really bad. i'd like to think it was similar to the storm of july 8, 1993. well, i'm sure that is a bit of an exagerration, but it was awfully stormy. chris and i were able to make our way on the flooded freeways, trying to stay close behind ian's little volkswagon. although we lost ian in about the first fifteen minutes, we managed to creep home at a very fast 35 mph forty minutes later.

another piece of excitement is that i got my haircut. my "stylist" made it super straight with a flat-iron. it looked fabulous. of course, all the rain and wind returned it to its natural state of medusa-esque curls, but it was good while it lasted.

2005-08-01T03:54:00.000-07:00

i woke up about twenty minutes ago feeling really sick. it's strange to be ill again after such a long stint over wellness. i was just commending my health a few days ago since i've been basically ailment-free since my kidney infection this winter. meh, hopefully it's just a touch of the flu.

errol took me to see must love dogs--he has a thing for john cusack. :) we had a good time, and the movie was funny in a lot of parts, but we decided that it wasn't very plot-driven. it fit more in the "we should rent that sometime" category. we saw a lot of previews that looked good though. hello, holiday season. will be here soon!

after the drama with my college best friend this summer, i've concluded that for the most part (ian excluded), old friends really are the best friends. katie kerr, who i went to preschool with, is doing me a huge favor and picking up errol, chris, and me at the omaha airport at 11.40 thursday night, and she's letting all of us stay in her apartment too. isn't that incredibly sweet? i only get to see her twice a year, and she shows me unbelievable kindness.

making this post in the middle of the night reminds me of horrible desk shifts that would screw up my circadian rhythm, leaving me nothing to do but make random blog postings instead of getting much-needed sleep. man, am i glad it's not then. the desk pays less than j.crew. hanna, i really hope you haven't decided to take any night shifts next year. they're deadly.

2005-07-31T00:45:00.000-07:00

four peaks tonight was fun. it's weird how i feel like i know the philosophy faculty a lot better than the english/humanities.

j.crew today was fine. the sandals that i thought were lost were found.

also, it seems that i won't be carless after all. (!)

2005-07-29T21:32:00.000-07:00

so yesterday:

i had the great idea to go tubing down the salt river when chris was here. i had heard that it was a lot of fun as long as plenty of sunscreen was applied. however, apparently, more than suncreen was needed to make our trip a success.

first, mapquest gave us the wrong directions. a trip that was supposed to take 30 minutes took 90, and that was thanks to ian, my knight in shining armour, once again saving me with correct directions.

second, once we got our tubes and bussed to the river, errol's tube decided to deflate. we then had to wait another 15 minutes in the heat for a replacement.

third, chris lost a sandal to the river. he had to wrap his shirt around his foot because the ground was so hot on the walk back to the bus stop.

fourth, the lunchbox that i put our day's supplies in was not waterproof. our lunch was a soggy mess.

fifth and most horrible, errol's pocket on his swim trunks was not as secure as thought. my car keys, house key, and credit card were lost to the river.

another 90 minutes and $175 later, we were on our way back home with a freshly made car key.

this just in--

more bad news. errol was supposed to pick me up at the pool when i called him. apparently, his phone had died, and when no one answered the pool doors when he knocked at 7.55 (they always lock up early), he stopped at the src looking for me and then went home. sadly, i was inside watching the straggling rec swimmers til 8. i then waited outside the pool for 30 minutes. then, when everyone left and the lights dimmed, i decided that wasn't the place for me. i ventured to the computing commons, mu, and src trying to find an open place with people--all while calling errol. ian was going to save me yet again, but then errol decided to turn on his newly charged phone. he's on his way to pick me up now at 9.38. thanks.

2005-07-28T23:47:00.000-07:00

today was a very, very long day. i'll give details tomorrow. right now i want to go to sleep and dream happy dreams.

what i don't want to do is drive a stick shift. it's very scary. what's with rolling backwards on an incline? i really don't want to give up my beautiful automatic.

2005-07-26T22:58:00.000-07:00

all the tension that has built up over the summer in our apartment exploded tonight. it's very confusing and sad. everyone please send me wisdom.

in better news, chris is coming tomorrow! yay!

2005-07-25T21:22:00.000-07:00

being uncomfortable in your own home is about the worst thing in the world.

2005-07-25T00:52:00.000-07:00

back from the mini-break in tucson and very happy to be home. i knew this little vacation was going to be centered around the free golf that came with the hotel room, but i guess i didn't realize how much time golf consumes. on friday errol golfs 18 holes. saturday 36. sunday 18. that's a lot of golf for one weekend. i drove the golf cart for him 54 of those 72 holes, and that was more than enough for me. next time, i'm going to make sure i bring another golf widow (kate) to keep me company.

a nice outcome of the weekend was time with brad. he and errol golfed 18 on saturday, and he decided to ride back with us today and spend the night with errol. the three of us saw the movie murderball, and i highly recommend it.

the trouble with mini-breaks is feeling like you need time off once you get home and realizing you have to go back to school/work the next day.

2005-07-21T09:49:00.000-07:00

DONE WITH MATH!

i'm so excited that i never have to drive to mesa at 8.45 a.m. ever again. the math requirement that i avoided through college is now fulfilled. yay! the final was relatively easy too. i was rather stupid and didn't even look over the first chapter though. i thought, "logic? i liked that section. i know how to do that." then, on the last page of the test, i totally blanked on what symbol stood for "and" and what symbol stood for "or". luckily, i picked the right one, but it was a very close call. changed the answers then changed them back....you know the story.

now, all i have to do today is finish geography and learn everything about africa. it sucks that in all the horridness of guiliana's class last semester, we never learned all the countries and their locations. stinking guiliana. i knew she would come back to haunt me.

2005-07-20T15:55:00.000-07:00

i'm so sad right now.

j.crew is forcing me to come in again tonight from 5-11. some stupid corporate conference is at the biltmore this week so our inconsiderate managers are extending our hours to fold and refold the over-priced merchandise so they can look good for the big-wigs. it's so disgusting. i would be mad just for those reasons, but to make matters worse, i already had a full night's work ahead for school: finish a long and hard geography assignment, study for tomorrow's math final, and somehow memorize all the countries, rivers, and mountain ranges of africa. now, i will have to begin all that at eleven--hopefully. on monday they pulled the same crap, but this time they didn't let me know i was staying til 11 until 8, and we ended up not leaving until 11.15 anyway. it's so frustrating!

more awfulness to add: i don't get to see errol at all today, and i'm blaming it on him. i drive to barnes and noble everytime i can to sit with you on your break, and you choose to go golfing instead of see me? tear.

as stated above, i am very sad.

2005-07-18T23:31:00.000-07:00

so, a positive of staying in arizona this summer was going to be experiencing the monsoon season. well friends, it's not that great. according to my geography professor, the monsoon season is getting shorter and shorter here because of the large pollution bubble over the phoenix metro area. it's july 18 and still no weather to speak of. tonight driving home from j.crew (three nights in a row...eek!), i thought i might see some action. alas, it was a lot of lightening but no moisture to speak of.

three more days of math left!

chris called me tonight from the kearney county fair. :)

2005-07-16T15:29:00.000-07:00

i've gotten a taste of what life will be like in a month or so when i am carless. i took my car in thursday morning for some work, and it's very nice to have it back with me where it belongs. riding the bus and bumming rides off errol wasn't bad, but you notice the heat a lot more when you have to wait in it.

yesterday at mopac i had a flash back to my axtell pool rats. the coach of one of the club swim teams decided to have a fun day at practice so they played sharks and minnows in the dive well. it was a little different watching adult swimmers play, but it made me miss the axtell kids a lot. i hope they're having a good summer.

i just got back from barnes and noble to see errol on his break, and it is insane over there. talk about harry potter mania.

i have to work at j.crew today and tomorrow. boo!

2005-07-14T18:01:00.000-07:00

hanna, this post is really for you. i caught the last few minutes of paula zahn on cnn, and they had a story on "god squads." apparently, some arkansas high schools are sending their cheerleaders to "impact camps" that have evangelical christian motives. they focused on this girl katie who said she would cheer to a crowd that wasn't all christian, but that didn't mean she would support them.

?!?!?!?

these intolerant people who "glorify god" in everything they do...

dearest, hanna, how are you surviving down there? please don't bring back any facist ideas; i'm afraid they're approaching fast as is.

2005-07-12T22:02:00.000-07:00

so, i'm very, very disappointed in target. errol and i went there tonight to register for club wedd, but we met a large obstacle in the fact that they didn't charge the batteries on the guns you go around and scan things with. this is one piece of evidence that has led me to believe that Target is severely overrated. i guess we will just go back tomorrow and try and do it again.

in other news, i would like to wish my dear cousin susan a very happy birthday.

2005-07-11T11:42:00.000-07:00

prescott yesterday was fabulous. we had good food, company, and most fabulous of all, the weather was beautiful. the breeze was actually cool, and i almost got goosebumps at night. ahh....the memory.

my horrible sunburn i acquired friday has started to itch. ticks and fleas, ticks and fleas.

2005-07-10T10:24:00.000-07:00

errol is stuck in front of the tv watching gettysburg. am finding out he is obsessed with the civil war. am now planning a gone with the wind extravaganza.

we're leaving for prescott soon. yay!

2005-07-07T11:17:00.000-07:00

7 people passed the math test. the professor was very disappointed....

good news: i was one of the 7.
sad news: being congratulated for getting a 75.

shea (ian's sister) had her baby! yay!

2005-07-06T10:37:00.000-07:00

very, very angry. yesterday the horrible math teacher "drew a blank" on how to do several of the review problems. we inquired how we're supposed to take the test the next day when she cannot teach us the material. she responded that we'd discuss keeping the test scheduled for the following day. since the whole period went by without her remembering how to do the problems, we assumed that her inabilities meant that there'd be no test the next day.

wrong.

i got to class at exactly 9.10 this morning (stupid accident on the 101 and broadway...), and she was quickly writing the problems on the board that she couldn't tackle the day before. she was trying to explain them in the five minutes before class and then handed out the test! we had the test! i am so mad. she can't even do the material herself and expects her students to just automatically know everything? a few other people in the class are as outraged as i am, but i'm afraid most don't care at all. they're shooting for a c, and that's it. i am in awe of this lady's incompetence, and it makes me worry about the teachers my children will have.

in better news, maria taylor last night was fun. i got a beautiful new tote to replace my very-used and rather gross cursive bag. it was also very good to see errol and killian bonding. can't wait to see my brother.

2005-07-04T12:28:00.000-07:00

this morning i made errol pancakes, and they looked beautiful if i do say so. we're trying to have a good fourth of july alone here in balming az. we wanted to go to prescott or flagstaff to beat the heat and see family, but errol said the traffic is horrendous because everyone goes north for the fourth. i am sure he's right. so, we're having a little celebration in scottsdale. of course we don't have a grill or our own pool to sip lemonades by, but we're doing our best--there's a west wing marathon on today.... i am determined to see fireworks tonight though.

i worked the last shows of phantom yesterday. i'll hopefully pick up more hours at the pool to bring in some more cash this summer. have i mentioned how much i hate having to depend on hourly labor to survive?

2005-06-30T10:57:00.000-07:00

i just printed my final anthropology project: a day in the life of an ancient minoan rebel. i hope the professor likes it. when i reread it a few minutes ago, i thought, "did i really write this?" i must have been in a strange state last night at mustang library. we also have a final quiz today then anthropology is over. it's pretty insane that it's already been five weeks. i have a feeling that i'm not going to like geography and its lab next session... but i'll take the positive outlook: maybe he'll let us out early a lot!

2005-06-27T21:33:00.000-07:00

just finished making another of my mother's dishes: tater tot casserole. i hope errol likes it. sometimes i don't understand that boy. he claims he's hungry all the time but never seems to eat. hopefully, having prepared meals will help.

i'm listening to christmas carols right now. i love christmas. this year's will be the best yet.

2005-06-25T17:29:00.000-07:00

bewitched is a hilarious movie! errol and i went to it last night after work, and it's really, really good. it had a preview for rent too which was also very exciting.

when i got back from j.crew this afternoon, errol had a dozen roses waiting for me. isn't he the greatest?

going to work phantom again tonight. on thursday i watched it for the first time since it got here, and it was excellent. i think i liked the production i saw at kansas city best, but all of them have been good. the same actress who played christine in omaha a few summers ago is the one i saw on thursday. crazy, huh? wouldn't you be sick of playing the same role year after year? i would.

2005-06-23T10:59:00.000-07:00

i just spent the last hour browsing the internet for wedding dresses. i really would like to find one--not because i am nervous i won't find it in time or anything, but because i am so sick of going to j.crew and hearing from my 32 year-old, cat-loving, wishes she were married already manager, "have you ordered your gown yet?" ick. enough already! bud out!

2005-06-22T10:18:00.000-07:00

i just got out of my math class, and i am so angry. our professor is seriously the worst teacher in the world. whenever one of us asks a question off the homework that isn't exactly like a example in the book, the teacher responds: "i'll have to get back to you on that one" or "this won't be on the test." ahh! it's driving me crazy. i understand that most bad math teachers don't know how to teach the math, but at least they know how to do it. this one can't do either. can't wait til july 21.

in better news, i had lots of fun driving the golf cart yesterday. errol golfed an amazing 27 holes, and i know that i would have died if it hadn't been for that fabulous little cart. it makes me want to get one of those jobs on campus where you zoom around honking at all the pedestrians to make way. after golf i took errol out to red lobster for a birthday supper that was just the two of us. it was pretty delicious--no crab-crackin' mondays but the flounder was good. i couldn't help but think i was eating ariel's little friend though.

2005-06-21T10:35:00.000-07:00

well, yesterday was a busy day at our humble abode. how strange is it that errol and buttless have the same birthday? very. hopefully, they both had good days. i made cakes, bought presents, and took them to bamboo club. this afternoon errol and i are going golfing (errol golfs; i watch), and i'm excited to see him in his new digs. i'll have my own personal j.crew model.

have yet to hear from the family about dad's reaction to our father's day present and am very eager for communication. i need reassurance that my gifts are perfection.

have an anthropology test in 40 minutes and must review.

2005-06-18T16:10:00.000-07:00

heaven smiled down on me today when jcrew called to say they had to cut hours, and i'm working only 5-10. ahh... this afternoon was nice. errol took me to get a pedicure. it was wonderful.

i forgot buttless's parents would be stopping by today. i think the house looked rather good for company. i only felt bad that my stuff was all over the kitchen table. whoops.

errol had to work today from 3.30 til midnight. isn't that insane? and he only gets a half-hour break. don't get me started on the injustices of the service industry. sounds like a job for the caped crusader! (that's batman, right?)

2005-06-18T11:13:00.000-07:00

had a good time at batman begins last night. it's definitely the best batman i've ever seen. the only downside was that we had to go to the late show so i was very sleepy.

we were looking at pictures earlier, and it made me excited for christmas. i love christmas, fa la la la la. i wonder how dec'd out the apartment can get...

it looks like we're not going to flagstaff tomorrow for father's day. i'm a bit disappointed because of course it's a zillion degrees here and in the 70s there, and i had hoped errol and killian could spend some quality time together, but alas, it appears errol and i will continue our working lives down in the valley tomorrow.

speaking of working lives, i have to go to j.crew for 8 hours today. yuck. stomachache. hopefully it will go fast.

2005-06-16T23:09:00.000-07:00

i don't like coming home at a time when the neighbor lady downstairs thinks it's late enough to water her garden. the water sprays up on the stairs making it impossible for me to walk up to our door without getting wet. i also don't like that my refridgerated bread is getting moldy.

i'm planning on heading to campus early tomorrow to see one of my old teachers from last semester. she's wonderful, and i enjoyed her class a lot, but i'm nervous about our one on one. i think i'm not too good one on one--too much pressure to carry the conversation and be charming. does anyone know what i mean? i think this feeling is totally foreign to errol. he feels no responsibility in filling the silence. is he or am i part of the majority?

2005-06-15T17:07:00.000-07:00

i finished my anthropology project of finding ten websites that talked about old world archaeology and writing summaries. let me tell you, fun, fun, fun. at least i'm done, but now i have to go to gammage. hopefully, my coworkers won't be chatty kathys and let me do my math. summer school. boo.

errol's golfing. i don't know how he does it. it's a zillion degrees out. why would anyone want to be outside for three hours walking and swinging (is that the best verb to describe golf?)? it really boggles my mind.

must go. the phantom beckons.

2005-06-14T20:52:00.000-07:00

we just got back from seeing the movie crash. i think that i grew up with the sense that all movies should be feel-good and entertaining for the most part, but once errol entered the scene, i was introduced to "films." i've noticed that people who go to the theater to see the informative, artsy movies call them "films." well, crash is definitely a film. it's very sad and moving and made me want to run away.

i have a headache. errol's making me soup.

2005-06-13T22:14:00.000-07:00

i just made my mother's barbequed meatballs. i think i did ok. my favorite part was smelling the liquid smoke. did you know there is such a thing? it really smells like a fire. i'm thinking of splashing some on tomorrow--liquid smoke, my new fragrance.

2005-06-10T20:46:00.000-07:00

i was in a bad mood when i woke up this morning. first, the bright eyes and the faint show last night wasn't all that great. i don't think that i am made for that kind of entertainment. admittedly, the faint was amazing--the best live show i've seen, but i was definitely ready to go home after one set. this is insane. i love bright eyes's music but really hate being surrounded with sweaty people in a swealtering room. what makes it worse is that i know errol loves going to shows. it would kill him if i didn't go with him. yet, the whole time i was thinking, i like the music just as much listening to it in my nice cool apartment with plenty of personal space. so, i wasn't in the best of mindsets to begin with. now on fridays i don't usually have to leave the house til 10.10 compared to the 8.40 monday-thursday, but today was different. i shelled out $53 to recertify my red cross cpr for the professional rescuer. sadly, the class was at 8.30 in the morning in east mesa hell. there was an accident on the 101 so the long drive took even longer. as you can expect, i was in a really bad mood by the time i got there.

BUT

there is a glimmer of happiness in this post. when we went around the table for introductions, my new favorite fireman told us to say if this was our first time and if not, how many times you've taken the class. "hi, i'm anne. I'm taking this class for lifeguarding, and it will be my seventh recertification." due to my amazing red cross past, tom the fireman let me do a "cpr challenge." i showed him my skills, took the test, and was out of east mesa hell in 45 minutes. much better than the 8-hours the class would have taken.

and the day just got better. errol's class was canceled so we got to hang out the whole live long day til we had to go to our jobs at five. we even picked out the fabric for bridesmaid dresses. yay! i hope it works out.

2005-06-08T12:02:00.000-07:00

i forgot to talk about our "vendor night" at the wright house yesterday. sadly, it was disappointing. the caterer is mean and didn't give us that much food to try. errol says he's going to complain. i hope he does. the cake lady was really nice though. she is going to make us a spectacular cake. errol picked it out, and it is not only going to be beautiful but delicious as well. yum. yum. can't wait til november 23. actually, i can't wait til 1.20 this afternoon. i'm very tired of going to class everyday. am looking forward to august vacation a lot.

2005-06-08T11:57:00.000-07:00

i'm in anthropology right now doing something i shouldn't be doing on the computers. bad me. seriously, though, how can any intelligent teacher expect students not to have a thousand windows up when we use the internet for an in-class activity?

we went to see cinderella man last night. it was fabulous. i really, really liked it. i wish we still wore the clothes people wore in the 30s. even though most people were poor and had no food, i think they dressed better than all the over-fed people do today.

i'm working the opening night show of phantom of the opera tonight. can't wait!

2005-06-07T13:56:00.000-07:00

i almost got hit in the parking lot of our complex. very scary. seriously, the last thing i need right now is to be carless. speaking of, i really hate commuting. i can't believe people do this everyday their whole lives. one summer is going to be way too much for me. it's not the freeway driving but driving in general. i just don't like having lots of cars around. i miss my daily journey to a-town.

today during anthropology i was scanning the room, hoping that something would be more interesting than the slide i was supposed to be looking at. a girl a couple tables down from me was wearing a t-shirt that said cozad on the front. i thought, "that's weird. i've never heard of any other cozads besides the one in nebraska and a fellow member of the southwest conference." as the class period progressed, the girl in the cozad shirt stood up, and across the chest of the shirt was written "haymakers." it was the cozad of southwest conference! how many homecoming parades had i seen with floats finding some way or another to convey the message that the whippets were going to beat the haymakers (although the floats were much more entertaining when we played ogallala or broken bow--"scalp the indians!"). after class i approached the girl and asked if she were from cozad. she just stared back at me totally confused. "your shirt," i said, "cozad, nebraska?" it wasn't her shirt; she had no idea what it meant. after our encounter i'm confident that she learned at least one thing in class today.

2005-06-06T15:06:00.000-07:00

errol will be over any second now to take me to the wright house to pick out invitations. this is so exciting! i'm worried that plane tickets will be insanely expensive and no one will fly out here for the wedding or will complain about how much it cost. boo airline industry and their obsession with making money over the holidays.

errol just called and now we will be late for our appt. i really hate when he pulls this kind of thing. i'm sorry you thought it was at five, but it's at 3.30. arg. and i'm guessing that i'll be the one who will have to make our excuses to the wedding coordinator that we're late even though it's your fault. double arg.

2005-06-05T21:32:00.000-07:00

i spent the last few hours on the phone with mom talking about all things wedding. gee whiz. there is a lot to think about, and i'm afraid i'm not very good at it. tomorrow we're picking out invitations. i think i can handle that, and i definitely will survive tasting food and cake tuesday. :) bridesmaid dresses, on the other hand, is a whole different thing. i just want everyone to look beautiful, is that so hard? apparently it is. i wish katie and ab lived nearby so i could shop with them. i'm glad those two are excited about being in my wedding; it's refreshing.

2005-06-04T18:44:00.000-07:00

prescott was fun yesterday. i think brad should definitely come to asu. it would be so amazing if errol had someone he actually liked and wanted to socialize with here. plus, who wouldn't pick asu over byu? please.

i'm making a cd for my aunt right now. i hope she loves these songs as much as we do.

c bought his plane ticket today! he's coming for sure next month. have i mentioned how much i love my brother? i do. he' s the best.

2005-06-02T18:49:00.000-07:00

libraries make me feel better. i was kind of bummed that errol had to work again tonight, but once i got to the library, i felt extremely better. i got right to work and finished my math homework already. abby would be so proud to see me doing homework before the weekend. i am going to check out the book kissing kate and hopefully it will help with thesis work. i am beginning to feel rather overwhelmed with all things thesis. i don't know if i can get it done in one semester.

2005-05-31T23:00:00.000-07:00

so you're not going to believe it--my newly bonded crown fell of again tonight! seriously, what is my problem?

first day of school was fine. my anthropology class went the whole two hours. boo, but i was able to test into the math class i needed (yay!) and am finally registered for all of my needed classes. it stinks being on an unfamiliar campus though. i feel like a freshman, checking my map every five seconds. some of the kids in my classes just graduated high school. this really annoying girl went on and on about how excited she was to be living in PV Main next year--that she heard it's a really big party dorm. puke.

i accompanied errol for the first nine holes of golf this afternoon. it was very hot. i don't know how he did 18 plus carrying that huge bag. he's so strong.

2005-05-28T22:40:00.000-07:00

j.crew today was somewhat refreshing. can you believe it? instead of being on "the floor" trying to make as much profit as possible for corperate, i was put in the back room to take merchandise from boxes and unwrapping each piece and putting them in a pile. i did this for six out of the nine hour shift, and i loved it! well love could be exaggerating, but it was way better than what i usually do. the strangest thing was that all my coworkers felt sorry for me being the back all day... hopefully, i will get assigned this job again.

errol's at barnes & noble. arg.

2005-05-28T00:34:00.000-07:00

tonight i watched the last few inning of an asu baseball game with ian. it was surprisingly cool and beautiful. after the game we went to four peaks. i got to see my friend from detective fiction class and catch up with ian. also, my former philosophy ta joined us, and although his news from princeton was lacking, it was a very good time. i realized after a sip of beer and some of a jack and diet coke, i really don't like alcohol at all. i don't think i'm going to drink it. it tastes gross. i wish errol would have been able to join us. i don' t know if that ever will happen.

2005-05-26T22:47:00.000-07:00

when errol and i canceled our trip east, we decided to do some vacation-esque things here in phoenix. we've yet to see a baseball game, but this afternoon we visited the phoenix art museum and had a great time. fyi, the phoenix art museum is free on thursdays.

i worked another last-chance high school graduation again tonight. it was really trying because the majority of patrons didn't understand english. i'm so shy when it comes to speaking spanish. even when i was taking it, i never attempted speaking to a native. bad me.

i start working at j.crew again tomorrow. hate that place. hate the service industry in general. want to become a self-sufficient hippie. not really.

2005-05-24T22:28:00.000-07:00

so, we were bad children and didn't go to prescott. apparently, mama lord didn't want a big deal made out of her birthday. got me. i love my birthday. presents, cake, what's not to love?

we did get to see traveling pants though. it was fabulous--not as good as the book of course but still fabulous. errol even wants to read the book now. yay! go see it.

2005-05-24T10:02:00.000-07:00

finally got internet and tv at the apartment today. yay! young and the restless here i come!

i can't believe the things one has to do for love. errol got a pass for an advanced screening of sisterhood of the traveling pants, and we're not going because i think we should go to prescott for his mother's birthday. i suppose i can wait until june 1 like everyone else. tear. tear.

we did see the third star wars on saturday. i thought it was better than the last but no where near as good as return of the jedi.

last night i was working a graduation ceremony at gammage, and this high school read a personal thanks and future plans for every graduate. it sounded more like elementary career day than a high school graduation. some more humorous examples were:

"After graduation Pedro plans on ruling the world."
"Celeste plans on either being an administrative assistant or a pediatrician."

I weep for the future.

2005-05-19T10:42:00.000-07:00

couple nights ago we went to kingdom of heaven. it's good. made me proud to be a christian. err...

2005-05-19T10:32:00.000-07:00

ian's dentist is amazing. he fixed my fallen crown and didn't charge anything. yay dr buckley!

since i had to get up at the crack of dawn to get my teeth fixed, it wasn't all that hot when we left the office. errol decided to employ the temperate weather and shoot balls and putt at dobson ranch. it was fun. i like watching him golf. i think he should turn pro. money problems would go away.

2005-05-16T15:11:00.000-07:00

moved out of cholla! unbelievable. as much as i hated it there, i got quite sad leaving. i think it will always hold a special place in my heart.

we're trying to get some errands run today. sometimes it stinks being grown-up and having to deal with installing cable, internet, buying groceries, and all that.

the good news is that i don't have to work at j.crew much this week. yay! bad news is the store manager said they might have some "mandatory fun" on sunday at 8 or 9 in the morning. arg.

my entire crown that dr bob just put on last monday fell off this morning. hate all dentists.

2005-05-13T21:51:00.000-07:00

moving sucks. errol packed some stuff up earlier today, but the room is far from empty. i really don't want to go through cholla at nine in the morning tomorrow. i want to sleep as late as i can before i have to work at horrible j.crew.

i miss errol. hate barnes and noble.

at least all the residents are gone. finally got a good parking space.

2005-05-12T21:53:00.000-07:00

So, a whole semester's gone by, and I've decided I missed this.

I just emailed a paper to my professor that was due last Tuesday. Everyone cross their fingers for me. It was for my detective fiction class, seriously, one of the best classes I have taken at ASU, and it was taught by a grad student.

Errol and I went to Prescott this afternoon. He had a dentist appointment, and I was hoping I could steal ten minutes of the dentist's time so he could fix my crown that was put on Monday and already broken. Arg. Of course, he didn't have time for me. So it goes.

I am done with Res Life for good on Saturday. It seriously can't come any sooner. I got a call from one of the hall directors this afternoon saying she was concerned about me... blah, blah, blah. Really, she thought I was doing a bad job and was threatening me in a very higher ed, "I'm worried about you" kind of way. Puke.