book-age

I just finished reading 2 books: Bridget Jones's Diary and One Fifth Avenue.

Bridget Jones's Diary was a lot like the movie, which I loved: cheeky and cute.


I liked it, and it made me want to watch the movie again to see how they differed. I also loved the term "fuckwittage." Perfect. On a slightly related note, I love the word "snog." That's also a perfect word for what it describes.

One Fifth Avenue was a little different.


I struggled through the first half of the book, which introduced the characters and set the scene. Then about the halfway point, some sex was introduced and it got more interesting. I know, I AM my mother's daughter. But besides the sex, the second half had some twists and it was rather enjoyable.

Two more books down. I love this no-school thing.

scientist-ness

My friends and family are too amazing for me to even describe.

First of all, I GRADUATED!!!
The ceremony was long and boring except for when I walked, and I was hungry.

At the party the next day, I was greeted with surprise T-shirts:

For me:
My siblings:

My parents:

and even my sister's fiance:
Then Missy was a total badass and ordered these:

and everyone sported these t-shirts all day.
I was floored!! How cool.

The party was great, with scientist-y themed decorations:




Although it was hot and sweaty, we bashed the pinata,


made much merry with champagne, wine, and jello shots, (and a keg for the gluten-drinkers)


and I had a GREAT time.



My dad (CA) flew in for the weekend and I drove him to the airport today. I wish he could have stayed longer.

For now, I'm super-tired and a nap needs to happen.

what what

Ahhhhhh. That's the sound of a newly ASCP certified Medical Laboratory Scientist.

The test was crazy hard. The way it works is if you miss a micro question, they give you more micro questions. If you miss chemistry, they give you more chemistry, etc. Apparently I missed some instrumentation and troubleshooting questions early on because I had a TON of those and no one really focuses on those when they study. I honestly did not think I was going to pass. When the screen came up and it did say PASS, I was shocked and literally started at it for a few minutes to make sure that's what it really said.

It hasn't sunk in yet; like I said I think it will once I get a job. In the meantime I get to clear away all of the notes that are laying around. I can have a coffee table again!

Gotta figure out what real clothes to wear for the luncheon and rehearsal today, and go get my makeup done by Smash at the Chanel counter at Dillard's.

But first, lots of coffee.

books!

My mom came into my room last night and started going through the stack of books on my coffee table. I picked up several from the library, and borrowed a few from Missy. I'm in the process of reading several of them, but none have really grabbed me.

Yesterday while in the library studying for the certification exam this evening (GAH!), a book on a nearby shelf caught my eye so I picked it up and checked it out.

But back to my mom. She was sitting on my couch in her flowered mom nightgown and while we were chatting she read the summary of each book. Then she said, "None of these books start with sex. You need to start a book with a really raunchy sex scene to pull people in, so they'll keep reading wondering if there's more raunchy sex." I can't make this stuff up.

The book I picked up randomly was The Tea House on Mulberry Street. And it was just the thing I was looking to read. No, it didn't start with raunchy sex. Everything I've read in the past few years (ie textbooks) has required thought, and I'm tired of thinking so hard when I read. This book was not too heavy, didn't require a lot of thinking, had some humor and scandal, and was just a fun, simple read. I didn't want to put it down, and finished it in one sitting last night.


Now maybe that the seal is broken (the first novel I've read in a long time!) I can get into the other books.

I just want to get this test over and done with!

changes

Last night after even more wine I decided I needed a change in scenery. Rearranging the furniture again was NOT happening, but as I was sitting at my desk I realized that I've been looking at the same cluttered wall and the same dark, cluttered bulletin board for years. So, down came the bulletin board, and I started a project at 10pm.

This bulletin board has been re-done several times. Once it had a kelly green background with white trim and hot pink ribbon, and the fabric that was currently covering it was pretty, but much too dark for what I was looking for.

Half of the pictures uploaded sideways, and I can't fix them. The other half came out fine. Blogger, you suck.

Anyway, I picked out a new fabric, something light:

I do love yellow.

I rummaged through my ribbon scraps and came across a shiny peach-colored one that happened to JUST be long enough to border the edges. It was a sign.

The project was pretty simple. I dug through my acrylic paints to settle on a light purple color. After easily ripping off the existing fabric, I painted several coats on the wooden border. It took a few to cover the black paint already there.

While it was drying, I noticed the crazy-ness that had taken over my bookshelf this past year. Papers falling out everywhere, binders crammed into tight spaces... That was cleaned out as well.

After it dried, I hot-glued the fabric to the board, and edged it with the peach ribbon.

I put the bulletin board back up, went outside and clipped a few sprigs of greenery from the yard, moved some other things around, and now it looks much cleaner, brighter, and organized. That particular corner of the room doesn't get much light, and I never noticed how the dark colors made it look so dreary. The yellow and the slightly reflective ribbon made such a huge difference.


I should have taken Before pictures. It was so bad!

Now I'm going to work out and get a good start to this day. Then- to the library- certification exam tomorrow!

no more meh.

I graduate from college with a Bachelor's degree in Clinical Laboratory Science on Friday. Four short days to go, after years of work.

I went to Party City with mom today and got party decorations, supplies, and even a fun Spongebob pinata.

Countless late nights spend studying, too many answers bubbled in on scantrons to count, literally hundreds of days and miles driving back and forth to class.

It's all over.

My existence as I've known it for the better part of a decade has finally changed. So many times I've imagined that day with infinite amounts of jubilee; up to this point, the greatest day of my life.

I should be elated.

Instead I feel tired, sluggish, and meh. Today, there is a distinct lack of happiness.

The suspected reason for melancholy isn't really worth getting into. I'd rather try and push past this and find the place in my mind where I can be ecstatic and not let outside worries interfere with my mood.

I deserve to be fucking ecstatic about this.

And yes, a job offer that I actually want to accept sure wouldn't hurt the mood.

*update*

A couple glasses of wine later, I feel much better.
Oh, GOD. I AM my mother!

:o/

A few days was not enough.
Back to reality.
Another start of another unknown.

Had a lot of those "hm, this is new and I have no idea what to expect" moments in the past few months, and there will be a lot of those moments to come in the near future.

People in general do not respond well to change. Not that I'm a huge fan of monotony, but I've had to constantly roll with the punches on so many levels. My natural optimism has been seriously challenged this past year, and many times I've had to force a smile and I've found myself saying, "We'll see what happens" a whole lot.

Because everything happens for a reason, and everything does turn out ok in the end. If it's not ok, it's not the end. I truly do believe that.

I feel like I'm going to have to make "we'll see what happens" my new motto. Not that that's a bad thing, just seems to be the theme of my life lately.

Fuck, I just wish so many things.

I just have to keep telling myself that GOOD THINGS WILL HAPPEN.

*update*

Oh yeah, and why is Chelsea Clinton's marriage considered big news?? It's everywhere and I don't care!