So, things have been going fairly well with Josh.  Well, about as well as can be expected.  Massive amounts of awkward are still present when we spend more than a couple hours together, but hopefully that will fade with time.  If not, oh well.

I went to visit my friend Christian down in Westminster yesterday and went out with his mom, some of his mom's friends, his mom's boyfriend, and part of said boyfriend's family for the best Korean food I've ever had.  After four hours of straight eating, trading dirty jokes with Christian and making fun of Aiden (the most adorable 4-yr old I've ever seen), I was about ready to explode.  Good times.

I also retrieved 2 more seasons of Red vs. Blue from Christian, so I anticipate spending much of the rest of my weekend watching that (and other movies), drinking tea, and folding paper cranes.  Yeah, I'm kind of boring.

I'm moved back into the dorms now, which is kind of nice.  I still haven't moved quite all of the crap from my car to my room, though.  Ah well.  I did actually plug my fridge in today, though, and now it has food in it!  ....Well, all it actually has in it right now is juice and milk, but close enough. 

Tomorrow I think I can go pick up my books, and then Monday in vaccination day!  I need to get the last round of my HPV and Hep A vaccines.  Huzzah.

( Also, I enjoy memes. )

I am once again a free woman. 
Technically Josh broke up with me, like, 3 days ago, but I didn't actually acknowledge the fact until today.  Mmhmm, I am oblivious. 

I can't say this development is unexpected, though I thought we'd last until after Christmas break at least.  Ah well.  I just hope I don't suddenly lost a good 60% of my friends at CSU over this.  Most of them live in Josh's dorm. 

Anyway, that's all the news I have at this point other than my most recent binge at B&N.  I picked up the most recent A. Lee Martinez book and a the graphic novel adaptation of Metal Gear Solid 3.

First of all, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas was good, on the whole. 
I got woken up around 8 to go open presents (because Tom couldn't wait any longer). 
I mostly got a bunch of little things, but a couple of the bigger items are worth noting.

1. SEWING MACHINE
Apparently mum finally got sick of me stealing her machine all the time and got me one of my own.  I haven't taken it out of the box yet, but it's shiney. 

2. Docking station for my laptop
Now I can just plug all of the peripherals that come with using my laptop as a desktop (namely the monitor, keyboard, and mouse) into one thing and then plug that into my laptop.  It solves my USB port problem rather nicely.  I'm trying to decide whether or not I should name it--if I do, it'll be called Elda.  Oh wait, I did just name it.  Whatevs.

I also got a Joann's gift card and $25 for iTunes.  As soon as I get the player downloaded again I'll probably go on a music binge.  HOWEVER, the first thing I'm going to buy if definitely Doctor Horrible's Sing Along Blog.  Mum just reminded me today of how much I loved it and I don't know how much longer I'll be able to live without watching it again.  XD

Christmas dinner went alright despite the awkwards, what with Heidi bringing along her new manfriend and all.  Kwami (sp?) seems nice enough, definitely a massive step up from Ryan, but only time will tell. 
I'm pretty exhausted now, though, since I planned and cooked pretty much the entire meal.  Pounding the chicken flat for Chicken Paprika was pretty fun though, especially since I was using a mallet considerably larger than the average meat mallet. 
Anyway, I'm looking forward to scarfing the leftover stuffed mushrooms tomorrow for breakfast or something.  Mmmmm...mushrooms...

(also, I don't have a christmas icon, and that's a bit saddening.  ah well)

1. Party!  'nuff said
2. had lunch with Marla; and Beth, kristin, and marin all randomly showed up
3. part of my latest order from japan came in today, I'm hoping the rest comes tomorrow

Happy happy.
1. Josh is getting over his illness (puking is gross).
2. Did lots of baking.
3. Made plans with Marla tomorrow!


I hope you guys like scones, because that's what I made for the potluck.  XD
They're chocolate and cranberry....mmmm....
I might pick up some apples when I'm out.

Marla got back from California a couple days ago, so I harrassed her via facebook and we're meeting for lunch at Gohan Time.
I believe the first topic of conversation will be the boyfriend she COMPLETELY failed to tell me about.  Seriously, I found out from her father at a FLL tournament.  Not cool.

Day...what is this?  Five?
1.  this is the first time I've had almost complete silence in forever, except for the dogs.  it's nice, but also a bit eerie.
2. took a shower in my parents' bathroom.  Their shower is so nice! 

Today was hella boring, otherwise.  I spent most of it staring off into space, randomly surfing the net, or trying to guess what my christmas presents are by their size and shape.  So far, I'm guessing that I'm getting at least three books (two paperbacks, one hardcover).  The large box is still puzzling me, however.
I don't normally do that sort of thing but, hell, I'm bored.

At least tomorrow should be somewhat more interesting, since Josh is using me as a convenient excuse to avoid interacting with his family.

I forgot to post yesterday!

Whoops, anyway....

Day IV (belated):
1. got all my crap moved home
2. finally opened my birthday presents from my parents
3. ate real food!

I got a really awesome fantasy art book!  It's shiney, I love it.  Though, I couldn't help thinking of Tegan when I flipped to one of the first illustrations, since it's from the cover of Sabriel.

I also got my very own gps!  I'll (hopefully) never be lost again!

Actual conversation with my father:
Dad- "And it even has the 'help me' feature."
Elena- "Is that anything like the 'oh god, oh god, where the heck am I?!' feature?"
Dad- "I dunno, but it probably has that too."

thefridayfive 

1. What decade did you attend/are you attending high school or college?
2000's

2. What clothing fashion from that time are you glad/do you wish went out of style?
Ugg boots and sweat pants.  They are fugly.  Very very fugly.

3. Do you still listen to the music from your high school/college years on a regular basis?
Pretty much.  There's some stuff I haven't listened to in a while, but my taste in music hasn't changed much since high school.

4. What hairstyle/hair color did/do you wear during high school/college?
Varying lengths of boring.  It was red once, though.

5. What was/is "the cool thing to do" while in high school/college?
Drink?  I dunno, I'm not one of the cool kids.

Day III:
1. FINALS ARE OVER
2. Mildly pathetic though it is that I still play neopets, I've found that making astute sounding economic observations is really quite entertaining. 
3. I'm almost done cleaning so that I can move out for the holidays (I just have to vacuum and unplug everything).

Microeconomics final went pretty well.
PHILOSOPHY FINAL OF ULTIMATE DOOM went not so well.  I don't think I failed outright, though, so I should be okay.

Today was really boring.  Seriously.

By the by, I got a 55/90 on my geo test, which is, err, a D.  But that's WITHOUT the curve, so I should be fine.  Apparently the average was somewhere in the 40's range.

So far, so good on the finals.  *crosses fingers*

There are two reasons that my 19th birthday has been slightly boring.
1. There is nothing I can do now that I couldn't do once I turned 18.
2. I managed to forget it was my birthday (again) right up until my mother called me at 11:20.  It's sad, I know.

On the other hand, things that made me happy!
1. I doubled my collection of novelty animal mugs, thanks to josh's present.
2. It's also Zach's birthday, and he promised me dutch chocolate in return for my gift of hello panda cookies.  Also, he gives good hugs.
3. Saw Smailes. 

Today pretty much consisted of turning in paperwork, visiting rocky, buying mum's christmas present (socks, of all things), and then hanging out at Ingy playing Resident Evil 4.  Surprisingly, I'm am doing considerably better than I thought I would, though I still have periods of asking either josh or craig "oh fuck, oh fuck, what do I DO?!" 
Lucky for me, Ashlely makes a good meat shield.

Also, I'm apparenlty going to learn how to play Left 4 Dead and DotA over the break whether I like it or not.  Should be interesting.

Tagged by the Tegan.
1. Post about something that made you happy today even if it's just a small thing.
2. Do this everyday for a week without fail.
3. Tag 8 of your friends to do the same (do I have 8 friends?  I don't think so)

Erste Tag:
-Got the paperwork for double-as-a-single next semester.  Hellz yeah, I'm not living with a complete stranger ever again.
-Discovered that all the tea my parents/grandparents sent me in my "finals survival pack" is good.  I like tea.


Woo, so, my birthday is tomorrow.  At 11:25 am I will officially be 19. 
Huzzah!
Shame my birthday is half-way through finals week, but whatever.

Speaking of finals, I think I pretty thoroughly fucked up my geo final.  I think even Craig may have failed, and he studied like a madman.  Heh, oh well.  I'm pretty sure I still passed the class anyway, which is really all I need.  It's just a core requirement.

I still have microeconomics and philosophy to go, back-to-back on thursday.  That'll be fun, let me tell you.  At least my micro final isn't cumulative. 

Let's see...tomorrow I'm going with Rinny to harrass people at Rocky (and by "people" I mean JCC and Smailes).  Should be a good time.

And...that's pretty much it for now.

I got a haircut today!

Like the dork I am, I got it cut like the wig I got for Victoria, though it's a bit weird because my hair is curly.
My head feels really light again.  I've forgotten what it's like to have short hair.

SNOW!  I love snow, even if everyone in Fort Collins forgets how to drive.  I expect I won't be going out much for the next couple of days.

Watched the new X-Files movie, finally.  The guy at blockbuster said it was pretty bad, but I liked it.  Then again, I'm a rabid x-files fan, so it sort of makes sense.  The movie was pretty much an extra long episode, so I can see why anyone who wasn't a fan would think it was a pretty shitty movie. 

...I seem to be bleeding money lately.  After an extended (and somewhat joking) conversation with Joshy, I bought a hugging pillow off of J-list.  I wanted the Space Yoko/Yomako one, but they sold out, so I bought the Nia pillow instead.  XD
Josh bought the Yoko pillow. 
I feel kind of like a freak.  But in a good way.

So...anime day at the mall was interesting.  Josh, Albert and I went together and were all like "is anyone actually going to show up?  I fee like such a moron doing this."  Turns out there were a bunch of people there, which was probably a good thing.  We got a ton of weird looks from the more normal patrons of the mall (and from some people when we were driving).

I'll spare you the details of the cosplay contest, but I won 3rd (resulting in an Inu Yasha wall scroll I'll probably never hang).  It wasn't exactly a challenge, but I suspect I did as well as I did because Zoe (aka AJ, this kid I used to go to school with) was one of the judges.  He adores me and I don't know why.

In other awkardness, my mother showed up just before the contest started.  Tom thought I had gotten my hair cut (because of my wig).  XD

I NEED to build a Harkonnen for next year, dang it.

And...yeah.

I have a busy day ahead of wandering around with the fencing club dressed as a pirate, yelling loud and obscene things, and the Ramnime party...and picking up my mother's contact lenses.

Should be a good day.  XD

It's official.  I've resolved to commit literary suicide.

How do I plan on doing this, you may ask?  NaNoWriMo, of course!

50,000 words in 30 days doesn't sound too hard...right? 

ELENA HAS NO ROOMMATE NOW!!!!!1
THIS CALLS FOR CAPSLOCK AND CELEBRATION!

(ahem....yes, my roommate moved out yesterday when I wasn't around, so I was rather surprised to come back and find her gone.  Also, I put in my request for the paperwork required to live alone for at least the rest of semester, which is pretty exciting.)

Life is so weird for me right now.  Allow me to give you a recap of my last couple days.

So I have this venus fly trap--or rather HAD--named Audrey after the Audrey II in "The Little Shop of Horrors."  Anyway, I put it on the heater so that it could get decent sunlight.  As far as I was concerned it was fine, even though I'm terrible with plants and Audrey was dying a slow and painful death.  But I liked that plant, dammit, and yesterday el roomie knocked it off the heater while opening the blinds.  Here is a basic reconstruction of the conversation following the incident.  My thoughts at the moment are indicated by *these*.

Me (annoyed): Did you knock over my plant?
Emily: You don't have to sound so angry.  I just knocked it over.
Me (getting up, still annoyed): Let me do that.  *are you retarded?  of course I'm angry.*
Emily: I'm not an invalid, I can do it.
Me (really annoyed now): It's my bloody plant.  *do you even fucking know what "invalid" means?*
Emily: Fine.  It was a dead piece of shit anyway.

She mauled Audrey pretty badly, so much so that I ended up having to throw it away.  And then she had the nerve to insult my freaking plant.  I had to leave a lot of the dirt too.  I think it's dry now, though, so I can borrow the vaccum cleaner tomorrow and clean it up properly.

Not long after that I fled to Josh's room to hide and watch more than two hours of Black Lagoon.  I didn't leave until about midnight when I decided that Puni Puni Poemi was rotting my brain and causing it to ooze out of my ears.

Today was the last day of my Business 100 class, which means that from now until the end of the semester I don't have class on mondays until 2pm, which is cool.  I even got to leave early because I had to walk down past the Hilton on Center to go to my Geology Lab.  Half the class didn't even bother showing up, which was fine.  It was pretty easy, on the whole, though I'm not looking forward to having to do the calculations later.  They look annoying. 
I decided to skip Microeconomics in favor of finally going to get the second round of my HPV vaccine and going home to do laundry.  I watched a lot of House and NCIS, which was fun, and ate dinner with Mum since I hadn't actually seen her in a while.  I also showed her the "Hey Sarah Palin" video.  Haha...random mother/daughter bonding moment.  It was kind of awkward. 

Meh, anyway, came back to the dorms only to find that I couldn't open up our fucking door because Emily and Courtney had blocked the gap underneath it with towels.  Emily got all offended that I was annoyed about the towels and told me that I was "a big girl" and I could "use my words."  I want to choke that whore with her own pipe, I swear to god.  Things got even better when I was putting my laundry away and apparently ignored Courtney.

Emily: You can talk to my friend.
Me: I'm sorry, I wasn't actually paying attention.

Then she tried to have some sort of heart-to-heart by telling me that she didn't like living with tension.  My reply was that I wasn't comfortable talking to her until she spoken with Joe (the assistant residence director).  This is only partially true.  I really don't want to talk to her until she's had her conduct hearing, but it's because I'm afraid I'd tear her head off and feed it to her (how badly my hands were shaking after the conversation ended is a fairly good indication of how pissed off I was, I was in the middle on an adrenaline rush).  Even better, she was SUPPOSED to meet with Joe on monday, but because she never checks her mail she didn't get the letter.  She's being really bitchy about it too, making excuses and shit.  We're pretty much just completely ignoring the existence of the other...sort of.  I'm still making fun of her behind her back. 
I present to you a direct quote from not too long ago: "I'll probably smoke a bowl...I dunno, I'm eating cookies...I hid them from myself, but I found them. They're animal cookies."

I mean, really...she has no brain.

ANYWAY.

My schedule for the rest of this week is kinda crazy.

Thursday:
-go to rocky to buy tickets for musical
-hide from cropp and schlup
-ramnime

Friday:
-meet Evan for lunch to discuss map
-math stuff (I should be done this week)

Saturday:
- 9AM Geology field trip to Lory state park
-get back, take a shower, drive down to Westminister to visit Christian
-drag Christian back to FoCo after dinner
-INSANITY

Sunday:
-breakfast somewhere?  it all depends on whether or not Christian spent the night
-drive christian back to westminister
-be back to the dorms in time to get josh's keys so I can make sure he wakes up in time for the trainwreck
-TRAINWRECK INSANITY
-sleep?  I have no class monday morning...

Wow, that's longer than I expected it to be.
Ah well.

Oh, and I've recently become addicted to an online radio station called "technobase," which is basically a constantly streaming channel of german techno.  It's HIGHLY entertaining, partially for the music, but mostly because the DJ's crack me up. 
It's also very good for tuning out Emily, since it can cover up just about anything if I wear headphones. 

Geh, so I'm meeting with some guy named Joe (I forget his title, but he's pretty high up in the hierarchy of Braiden Hall) on Friday so that I can give my side of the story regarding the events of Sunday morning before they have a talk with Emily.  I'm sort of wondering if I should bring the notes I prepared regarding all the prior incidents...or if that'll look too much like I'm setting myself up for some sort of unofficial court.

I dunno.  They seem to be stressing, above all else, in the emails that I'm not in any sort of trouble.  I'm not sure if I actually believe them or not (I have a very low opinion of bureaucracy, despite my aspirations to become part of it) since it may just be some sort of ploy to get me to talk openly, but I remain optimistic.  I'll just have to choose my words carefully.  

Eh, it's late and I'm tired.  And I don't even know what I'm saying anymore.

The melodrama is killing me...