I just got back from a weekend at Mike's.

First of all, I didn't end up going to the emergency room for that problem I had a few days ago, because when the symptoms went away it didn't seem like an emergency anymore. The walk-in center in Waterville is closed on the weekends, so my initial plan was to take today off work and go in to get my brain/eyes checked out. However, I had the problem again on Saturday - same visual symptoms, followed shortly by a mild headache. I decided to look up the symptoms online, and I think I've found the culprit. Christine, you were right...I'm fairly certain I've been getting migraines. Apparently some people end up seeing the *exact* same things I'm seeing for about an hour before they actually get a headache (which can be mild an still be a migraine I guess). It's called a migraine aura. In particular, a lot of people see a "V" on its side composed of flashing lights. Also, the reason I couldn't see my professor's face when I was looking right at him was because of a "central scotoma" - a bright spot right in the middle of your vision as if you'd been looking at a bright light. I'm so happy that there's probably not something horribly wrong with my brain.

Mike worked overtime on Saturday, so I did a lot of work (maybe why I ended up with that problem again?) and cleaned the house. When he came home, we went over to his Mom's to visit her new kitty! She took her in as a stray a few weeks ago. The kitty had been living outside for months and months over the summer, and she would hear her crying under the porch when it was raining. She asked around if anyone had lost a cat, but no one had, and she had no tags or microchip. She *was* someone's pet, though - she's spayed. She's missing almost all of her tail except a little inch-and-a-half stub that she wags all around. The vet says she wasn't born that way, that she most have lost it in an accident.
Anyway, Mike's Mom wasn't home, but we waited for her for a little while and played with the kitty. Her new name is Callie (she's a calico). She's probably one of the most beautiful cats I've ever seen. She likes to have her belly rubbed, but doesn't prefer to be picked up. While we were watching TV and waiting, she decided my lap would be a good place for a nap, and I didn't object.

Yesterday was nice and relaxed. We went out for chicken baskets from Belanger's for lunch, then watched the Patriots game which was great. Well, it wasn't a great game since it was pretty one-sided, but still fun to watch. : ) I did some more work in the afternoon (and didn't get a migraine) and then a friend came over with his 2-year-old (amazingly cute) daughter and wife, who I met for the first time yesterday. She's from Madagascar and she's pretty awesome. After their visit, we watched some Aqua Teen Hunger Force until the Red Sox game, and then obviously watched that. When the game was over, we took a blanket outside had watched the meteor shower. It's not very active, but we saw a few good ones.

I've decided to take this Friday off of work, since Mike has Friday, Saturday and Sunday off. It's the perfect situation and it doesn't roll around very often.

So I had an interesting episode today that I'm still a bit worried about. Toward the end of my last class, at around 4:15, I noticed that I was having vision problems in my right eye all of a sudden. It was almost as if I had been staring with that eye directly into a lightbulb for a couple minutes. When I tried to look at anything directly, my vision of that object would be obscured by a bright spot. I didn't think much of it immediately.

When I got back to my room, I was getting ready to go jogging when I noticed that the problem wasn't getting better, it was getting worse. I tried to read something on my computer and found that I couldn't see the letters unless I closed that eye. I also started to get a sharp headache on the left side of my head, right behind and slightly above my eye on that side. The distortion in my vision was no longer a bright spot, but sort of a "V" shape tilted on its side, composed of shimmering and moving lights.

Obviously freaked out, I decided I was going to walk to Cutler Health even though I didn't know where my insurance card was and they would probably charge me a million dollars. As I walked over, I noticed that my vision in that eye was also getting pretty foggy. I walked all the way across campus, scared to death, only to discover that Cutler had closed at 4. So I sat on the steps trying to figure out what to do. I just sat there for about 15 minutes, and thought that my vision was clearing up. Since Mike's coming tomorrow after he gets out of work to bring me to Waterville, I decided to wait for him.

I'm not sure though. My vision's pretty much back to normal, and the headache is still there but much, much better. If I could get to a doctor tonight,though, I definitely would want to.

God, what a few days. Ok - not exaggerating - I've read 542 pages over the last two and a half days. So that's what I spent my weekend doing. It's good though, I'm that much closer to actually being able to start real research for my thesis. I finished "The History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless" which was just great. Rather than making this a straightforward conduct book like Richardson's "Pamela", she really explored a separate women's society and all the issues they had to react to (I kept thinking that it read a lot like a Jane Austen novel). All her characters, but especially the women, were much more believable than in many things I've read from her time. It seems like a lot of guys writing then used female characters in only a handful of different ways in order to get their message across. The model of chastity and virtuosity, the rich old hag, the prostitute fallen from grace, etc. You can find most of these in any conduct-book for young ladies, but what makes Haywood so awesome is that she includes these roles, yet makes them far, far more multidimensional than anyone else I've read.

Ok, I'm out of thesis mode now. Mike's visit was awesome. We went out to eat at Chili's, and I got Chicken Tacos as usual. Then we went and looked around the mall, and to Borders, where I spent nearly $60 on two GRE prep books (well, $30..Mike payed for one, but I'm going to pay him back when I get paid again). Books are so friggin' expensive. Anyways, I got one for the general test, and one for the Literature in English test. So I'll be taking those before the end of the semester, in all probability. We also saw Harry Potter, finally. :)
After we got back, we drank some wine and watched "Donnie Darko" for the second time this month. I didn't have any wine glasses up here, so we had to drink out of red plastic cups. He's bringing some of ours up from home next time he comes, so we don't have drink our wine from plastic anymore. The next day we pretty much just drove around Bangor, went to Cosmic Charlie's and TJ Maxx, where I got some Halloween decorations.
Hopefully, I will see him again Wednesday, but he's been trying to get some overtime on his days off, so I'm not sure yet.

What else...eh I don't know. I'll update later.

I'm so excited that Mike's coming over tonight! We're going to watch my recorded "Dr. Who" episodes, and go to a movie, and go shopping at Target, and eat pizza, and practice driving in my newly fixed car, and cuddle. And it shall be a good time.

In other news, I skipped my first two classes of the semester this morning, because I woke up feeling horrible. Not sick, just generally bad - I don't know how to describe it. It's a good thing I discovered Odwalla soy protein drinks yesterday. I drank the half bottle I had left over and I swear I felt much better within minutes. Maybe it's psychological, but I find that drinking just half a bottle gives me enough energy to really get things done, and be happy about doing those things. I actually went to their website to see if they make them in bigger containers, but they don't so I'll just have to buy out the market's supply. I thought it was just soymilk at first, but upon further inspection, it's got tons of potassium and b vitamins in there too. I'm a fan.

Well I should probably go to work. I'm too poor to skip that, and I don't really have an excuse anymore anyway.

Seeing as how it's been ages since I wrote in here, it would probably be stupid to try to recount everything that's happened since. So have a music survey! :D

( Behind Here )

*Perhaps* a real entry will ensue later, haha.

First day at my parents' and I can already feel the old lethargy setting in. I have to go start looking for a job today and I can't even bring myself to take a shower. I don't know what it is about being here that does this to me. I've spent the whole morning looking at Cat Macros and installing Ragnarok: an anime-esque online game which promises to be my summer '07 addiction.

I'll update later if I can pull myself away from this seat.

I had a good but strenuous weekend. Saturday and Sunday we spent most of each day raking the lawn. By lawn I mean most of the land around the house with the exception of the big field out back. It looks really great now, though. Now when people drive by they notice the daffodils and not the fact that the grass looks like a swamp. Tomorrow I plan on putting the Morning Glories that we started last week in the ground, because they're getting so tall they're going to just start flopping over if they don't have something to climb. They're going to be climbing up some of the trees in the front.

Now if only the inside of the house looked so amazing...:)

I was already really sore from all that work yesterday, but we decided to go play tennis anyway. Apparently there are these really good public courts in Waterville that I never even knew about. I'm getting better gradually - at least now I don't pop the ball up 40 feet in the air every time I hit it. After we played for a while (and both achieved sunburns) we walked on a path that follows the river. Then we went to the antiques mall and looked for Mother's Day presents, but I decided that my Mom has enough nick-nacks. I want to get her something she can actually use or wear.

*sigh* Ok, I should probably be studying Portuguese or something. My only exam is today - a 20 minute coversation in Portuguese with a person I don't know. If only I could speak it.

I'm obsessed with this dress. Haalp.

http://www.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=5733&pid=488326

I wish my subwoofer would turn down all the way to off. It turns down, but even when it's totally "off," the bass is still pretty heavy in my opinion. So my choices are essentially bassy or really, really freaking bassy. I've been fooling around with the equalizer on my computer, and find that the "Ska" preset in Winamp puts it at a really reasonable level. Sounds good with the Scissor Sisters, too.

I paid three of my bills today, leaving me $70 poorer. There goes the state refund check I was so excited about. Oh well, at least I still have $100 in the bank now instead of $30...and I get paid tomorrow (I think)! So I'm ahead of the game for the first time all year. However, I'm almost completely out of food and have no way of getting to Hannafords. My only option has been to walk to Thriftway for the essentials...the other day I spent almost $20 on bread, soda, three apples, a bottle of vinegar to clean the coffeepot and cheese. Yeah. I just walked back this afternoon to get some more soda and some instant rice for dinner tonight, but I hate being this low on food. Oh well, I'm more than capable of self-sufficiency until Mike comes to my rescue again this weekend and takes me to the supermarket. :)

Looks like I'm going to be working (hopefully) in one of the shops near my parents house in Ayer for the first half of the summer, and just taking the other half off here in Maine. This the last summer of my life when not working is actually going to be anywhere close to an option. School expenses for next semester are already accounted for; I just want to take care of my credit card debt and maybe put a little aside for a car. Should be no problem in six or seven weeks of work.

With much thanks to Christine!

Wow, I've never wanted to leave here more than I do right now. Well, I guess that's why I'm dropping a class to take driver's ed. I love Michael more than I can express with words. If I had a vehicle and the ability to drive it right now, I'd be at home with him, where I belong.

The Sims, The Sims, The Sims! I just made Kim and Mike version 2.0. I technically already put us both through college and we're doing really well, but I've since downloaded some really cool new eyes. Yes, I started a family over from scratch just so that I could give them the eyes I wanted.

So now we're back in college and having somewhat of a crazy year. I had a fight with this one girl who randomly started picking on me for no reason...and decided to try and kill her. I barricaded her inside one tile with couches, but she didn't die. I guess it's impossible to kill npc sims at college. Oh well, I sold all her stuff while she was stuck out there.
I also got really sick of that cow person that always runs around doing stupid things for no reason. ( Mike ) doesn't now what to think about this feud. After I had a pretty heated argument with the cow, Mike and I ( danced ) a little bit to "Cocaine Blues" by Johnny Cash. Then we shared a kiss - but what's ( this )? Some dude was watching us from outside! It's that creepy dude that's always trying to hug me! Mike's not pleased with this, he's going to have to set this guy straight.

Um, yes. Can you tell I'm a little bored this evening?

I had an awesome weekend at Christine's! I got there Saturday at 1, and stayed until about 1 today. We made vegan chocolate chip cookies (1 of the sheets was burned, but the rest were great), and watched Office Space on Saturday. Christine also gave me a tour of Umass, which was amazing. Their library has about 20 floors - that's not an exaggeration, it's an honest estimate. Amherst is a much more interesting town than Orono is. We went to a non-profit bookstore called Food for Thought that sold really great political books and the like. I got a bumper sticker that says "Member of the Ladies Sewing Circle and Terrorist Society". LOL. We also went to Target for some stuff, and to Trader Joe's for some pizza and cookie supplies. It sucks that we don't have those in Maine.
Her roommate is also really cool, and has an Airedale terrier named Kali. She's extremely intelligent, and I've never seen a dog with more energy. If she wants your attention she just kind of put her side against your legs and leans into you with all her weight. She knows all her toys by name, and will bring you whatever one you ask her to. She also has an adorable cat named Azabel.
Today we ate brunch at the Lone Wolf, which was really good. I couldn't finish all my breakfast because I'd already had an appetizer of salt and vinegar chips, but it was really good. I had a Tuscany omelet, which contains red peppers, asiago cheese, mushrooms, and onions (I think). It was very good. They get their bread from the bakery right next door, and that was good too. After we ate, we went to Newbury Comics. I hadn't been in almost a year. I bought two buttons; one that says "Wicked" and ones that says "I <3 Pirates."
We still had some time to kill after we got out of there before my bus came, so we went to the mall down the street to look for a docking station for Christine's new mp3 player. It's apparently impossible to find docking stations for anything other than iPods. We just kind of wandered around looking at stuff there for a little while, and then went back downtown so I could get my bus.
Also, Christine gave me her old camera since she bought a new one! Now I can take pictures in places other than directly in front of the computer! :D
I forgot my watch, my earrings, and the cds she made for me. Oh well, nothing I can't live without I guess. Although I was very excited about the Dears and wanted to listen to them when I got back to my parents'. : (

So now I am going to watch the New Year's Eve Twilight Zone marathon with my little sister. Wish I had some champagne or something.

Yay, I'm going to Christine's tomorrow!! :D

That was a harrowing hour. The sound on my computer decided to stop working for no good reason all of a sudden. After unsuccessfully fiddling with drivers and other stuff I don't understand, it inexplicably decided to start working again. Maybe I fixed it. Maybe it just has a mind of it's own. Anyways, all is good now.

I got my hair cut today. It doesn't look as good now as it did a little while ago, but here's a ( picture ) for your approval. I'm envisioning some really cute spikey pigtails at this length. Actually, I just noticed that my hair is now very similar to ( Professor Snape's )...hm. That wasn't a conscious decision, I swear. The shampoo she used smells really good, and made my hair super soft. I bought some with the money my grandma gave me for Christmas. : )

So here I am at my parent's house. I sort of feel like the worst person alive right now, reflecting on this Christmas. I got more this year than I've ever gotten - ever. In my life. For any occaision. I also was in no position financially to get anyone things that they would have actually wanted (except Mike, but that's to be discussed later). I mean, I'm sure no one hated their gifts, but I had to impose a $5-6 limit per person while buying gifts. What I received was vastly disproportionate to what I gave this year, and feel very guilty about it. To illustrate, here's a list of this year's booty from my parents:

- ( Black Nintendo DS lite )
- Brain Age, Super Mario, and Harvest Moon for said DS
- Carrying case for DS and games
- Peridot and gold stud earrings
- 2 pairs of pajama pants from Target (sparkly green stripes and maroon skulls!)
- 4 bandanas
- Pedometer
- Bath set that comes in nice felt snowflake handbag
- Memnoch the Devil, Blackwood Farm, Merrick, Violin, and Vittorio the Vampire by Anne Rice
- Green umbrella
- Big box of cashews
- Tin of caramel popcorn
- $25 gift card to the Olive Garden
- Lucky You perfume
- Harry Potter jewelery box
- Cashmere beret
- 2 jars of gourmet jam
- cookie cutters
- silicone cupcake liners

They're doing much better financially than they have been in a while, but I didn't expect them to get me quite that much. However, what makes me feel like a total asshole is Mike's present to me.

Mike got me (drumroll).....the laptop that I'm typing this on. It's an HP Pavillion dv9030us. Apparently, it's just about the best entertainment laptop you can get. I got him a leather jacket. A little disproportionate, no? Granted, I couldn't have afforded to get him anything more. I don't feel like I deserve a gift this gigantic. He probably could have bought me a used car with the money he spent on this. I simply don't know how to deal with these feelings. I tried to have him bring it back to the store, but he refuses. So, yeah. That's where I'm at right now Christmas-wise.

For the past few nights I've been staying up almost all night fooling around but not actually getting anything done. Playing with my webcam (built into the laptop), playing the sims, trying to design skins for them, organizing and re-organizing my music, playing DS, etc. I thought I was going to do a lot of reading over break, but I guess I'm too dazzled by this electronic overabundance. I have read one, but it really sucked. I heard a lot of good things about Lynne Truss's "Talk to the Hand," but it was just horrible in my opinion. I've written livejournal posts that had more of a point. The book was just basically "People piss me off, they don't say thank you, kids ride skateboards on the sidewalk, cellphones suck!" At the same time she doesn't offer any kind of actual advice to make the situation better, she actually kind of make the argument that manners are outdated throughout most of the book. Then she tacks on "oh, manners are actually useful, we should try to use them" at the end. Eh. It was the worst book I've read in quite some time and I needed to get that off my chest.

So, I guess I'll be getting on with my intensive hanging-around for the evening.

POST!!!

(I do exist.)

Aaaand that was great. Finally conk out into a dead sleep and the fire alarm goes off a half hour later. Silly people who don't know how to cook. Now my socks and slippers are all wet. : (

So incredibly sick. It's been a long time since I've physically felt this bad. I had what I thought was just a bad cold yesterday, and was sure when I went to bed last night that I'd be fine when I woke up in the morning. I was wrong, it's twice as bad. I don't have a thermometer but I'm pretty sure I have a fever, so I guess it's the flu. Despite feeling like shit, I went in to work at 11 because I really need the money, and got sent home within 10 minutes. Grr. So I just went and dropped off the paper I did for my performance theory class and came back here, to my beautiful, God-sent bed. Eating ice cream and goldfish, watching what not to wear - it'd be heaven if I didn't feel so bad.

I hope I'm better tomorrow, Mike's supposed to be picking me up and taking me back to Waterville for a day. I sort of have a lot of work I need to get done before that happens, so I should really suck it up and get to work soon.

So I finally got on D shift, and it looks like they got the idea that if there's a spot for a summer help on that shift, I want to be put there. I'm #1 in terms of seniority among the summer help, so I have the right to bump those under me around. : ) So now I'm just going to wait about two weeks until I officially move all my crap to Mike's house, since I've already paid my rent.
Last Wednsday Mike and I went to Portland and Cape Elizabeth and had an amazing time. There are tons of pictures, but I didn't want to stick all of them in here. Here's a few:
( Good times. )
We also hung around the Old Port and ate at DiMillo's, the floating restaurant. I got a fish that grows when you put it in water and a shot glass for Mike that has a skull and crossbones on it and says "The beatings will continue until morale improves," and he bought me a pirate hat.
Today we went to Augusta to get a new vanity and sink for the bathroom (they have a much better Home Depot than Waterville). He's installing it right now, but I wasn't much help so I'm not even trying anymore. And I got a bike! It's a dual-suspension mountain bike, and it was $80 at Walmart. I figured that I was definitely going to need one when I got back to school in the fall, so I might as well have it for the summer as well.
Oh man, I just remembered that I have to pay my credit card bill. I shall do that tomorrow. Man, money just runs through my hands like water.