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Well, I must say that it's been a very fun, relaxing 4th of July weekend. On Saturday, I went to my Grandma's, and was surprised to see more than five people there. ;) I spent most of the day hanging outside reading, listening to music, and chatting with my Dad's cousins. We even had Smores later that night. Yesterday morning I woke up for early Mass. I didn't really like him at first, but as time passes, I'm really starting to like our newly ordained priest that spent a year with us as a deacon. There's still a bit of nervous about him, especially in the confessional, but it's really something to watch him week after week. You can tell just by talking to him, or watching during Mass, that he's growing more confident. There's also a real sense of awe to him that I don't usually see. It's very refreshing. I'm curious to see what he develops into. After I got home, my aunt had a barbecue and had almost all of Mom's side over. It was so good seeing all of my cousins and their kids--it's a rare thing to have all of us, plus all the little ones and Mom-Mom in the same place anymore; the family has simply grown too large. I went kayaking on the Batsto river with my Dad, and it was beautiful--the weather couldn't have been better, and once we got out past the houses and under the bridge, there was no sound but the birds a our paddles. We might have gotten a little wet and dirty in the process, but I do love being out on the water. Later, I was online and watching Jackie and Ryan while the others sat outside. After a while, Jackie said, "Melissa, when you're done with the 'puter, will you watch Sleeping Beauty with me?" After nearly falling out of my chair that she finally managed to pronounce the "Me" on my name (Jackie is five and has been calling me Lissa since she could talk), I went and curled up on the couch with her and Ryan. Did I mention I love those kids? Tomorrow, my aunt and uncle from London are finally coming back to their home in Maryland. My uncle is going to get his citizenship this time, so they'll be here for three years! Originally they were going to fly here in September, after I left for Rowan, but they managed to sell their house early. We're going to give them a call later this week; there's a pretty good chance we'll be heading down there to spend a few days with them. I am SO ready to get out of this town. I love staying home and relaxing, but not having a job means that I'm more or less stuck here until I get my license. That's the other thing on the agenda. I'm getting back on the road. \o/ Last, one more small thing:
KRAWK ISLAND TAKES THE ALTADOR CUP, BABY!!!! PIRATES FOR THE WIN!!!!
Tags: catholicism, driving, family
Current Mood:  good
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Yesterday, Rowan called me with my housing assignment. They put me in an apartment complex called Edgewood, which is quite literally on the edge of campus, very far away from anything of value. It was almost as if they all sat down and said to themselves, "Hmmm...how far can we make the handicapped girl walk?" I looked up my roommates on Facebook and, just my luck, they were all party animals. I had a mini-meltdown, gave myself a few minutes to cool off, and got on the phone with disability services. It took me about an hour, but I did get a hold of someone who had the sense to look at the campus map and see how much of a haul it would have been walking to my classes. Her response: "You know, that's really dumb. Let's change that." Awesome. I'm now in a townhouse which is barely 5 minutes from most of my classes, and 10 minutes to the cafeteria. There are six of us living there, but we all have our own rooms. I know it won't fix everything--I remember very well listening to Phil's suitemate having sex while we were on the phone--but it helps. I looked up 4 of the 5 on Facebook, and there are one or two I can see myself getting along with just from the interests, music, etc. This might work. Went to my doctor today and was vaccinated for everything under the sun...I guess now the only thing left to do is wait for August 30th. :) I might go up tomorrow to take care of some housekeeping: ~ Pick up ID ~ find house ~ financial aid/scholarships ~ computer literacy exam I am relieved. At least now I know. Tags: cp, rowan, teh winz, todo
Current Mood:  surprised
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First, sorry that I've been particularly quiet lately. My Mom-Mom was taken to the hospital on Monday and ended up being admitted with pneumonia, tachycardia, and some other stuff related to emphysema. It's been a very weird roller coaster of a week, but for the moment she seems to be doing pretty well, possibly well enough to go home tomorrow. We were at this point more than once last week, but I'm crossing my fingers that this time it's for real. :) On to the real subject of this entry. You might remember last week that I mentioned being worried about only taking 12 credits next semester, that it might keep me from graduating on schedule. I was in Batsto yesterday visiting my aunt and uncle (Sam and Pat were over with the not-so-little ones, too), and they all asked me if taking just four classes was the right thing to do. The more I mulled over it, the more it bugged me. So, this afternoon, I fooled with the search engine until it gave me all the open classes from 8 a.m. to 12 noon. Up until the very end of the list I didn't think I was going to have any luck; most of the classes are full at this point, and the ones that are open are either awful and/or at 8:00. At the bottom of the list, though, I found a perfect match: Experiencing Acting. And, as if it were calling to me, it was at 9:25 (the earliest I can function in an academic setting), not too far from where I will (PLEASE GOD) be housed, and with one empty seat left. HECK. YES. You better believe I was all over that. :D I'm really excited--even though it's been two years since I've done anything in drama, the desire has never gone away. I still love it as much as I always have; it's just that I never had the time at CCC because of night classes. It looks like a lot of character work, improv stuff, and scene building, plus the professor got straight fives at Rate My Professors. I don't think I could have gotten a better deal if I wanted to! The best part is I'm now carrying 15 credits. I did the math, and if I carry this load for the next 4 semesters, I'll be just fine to graduate. No problem. For the moment, life is good. I'm hoping it stays that way. Also, I think it's safe to start the Official Countdown TM: 13 days until my other half gets here!!! Tags: happiness, rowan
Current Mood:  pleased
Current Music: Rush of Fools- Wonder of the World
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Let me start off by saying that the more I visit Rowan, the more I feel comfortable and at home. I got across 322 in the middle of the day without getting hit by a car. This is a very good start. The presentations in the beginning were massively boring, but having ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) noctustigris and our friend Cathy there made things a lot more fun. Then they split us up by major and we walked over to advisement. I got lost with a group of girls trying to find our room, and eventually someone had to take us there. It was no wonder that we couldn't find it, though--it was at the end of a hallway in a large office area with the professors' offices. Met with the department chair, who I took a liking to immediately--very sharp and funny. We talked about the future of journalism and she told us all to ignore any of the cynics who are crying that this is the end of news reporting. It's not ending, only changing forms; it's exciting to know that I am going to be right in the thick of facilitating these changes in the years to come. There are only 200 of us in the department, so things are a lot more personal and tight-knit. I love that--it will be nice to know that I will be known as more than just a nameless face. She also said that all of the full-time professors are awesome and very student-oriented. Rowan is known for its Communications programs, and what I saw yesterday was definitely promising. The fact that she baked homemade chocolate chip cookies for all of us certainly didn't hurt, either. ;) I've got four classes, giving me a 12-credit load for this semester, the lightest I've ever taken. It's hard not to get a little bit anxious about that, considering I take 16 or 17 credits on average and I'm aiming to graduate in May of 2011. Most people take five classes, but if I had, I would have had three classes back to back from 10:50 until 3:30. When you include the fact that I'll be walking all over, that's a long time to go without food or a break. Considering living on my own is going to be such a big adjustment for me, I went with my gut and decided to take it easy. I know that I can always take my "usual" heavier load in the spring to catch up if there's need. So, the four are: ~ Journalism Principles and Practices ~ News Reporting II ~ Online Journalism I ~ Magazine Article Writing I'll post the schedule once September gets a little closer. The food was surprisingly good, but there's always a chance that they pulled out the good stuff because they knew that new students and parents would be eating there. However, equusdraco tells me that it's pretty decent during the regular semester. Plus there's ice cream and iced mocha lattes! Can't go wrong there. The only issue I had was getting online. Note to self, print out the instructions and relevant help phone numbers and bring it when moving in, along with an Ethernet cable, just in case! One of my classes is actually not in the Journalism hall because of space, but rather out in the middle of nowhere. I have no idea how I'm going to get there in time for class, but I'm not going to kill myself trying. I know I'll work it out. :) I did fine when I was walking with my parents or a group, but ended up getting pretty confused on my way back from advisement heading to the Marketplace. I seriously need more exposure, so I don't end up lost as hell my first week. XD All in all, a very successful and exciting day. Some girls from the Newman Center have already requested me on Facebook, and while it makes my mom raise her eyebrows at their eagerness, I think it'll be nice to know faces when I get there. Every little bit helps! Tags: rowan
Current Mood:  chipper
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Happy Memorial Day. Don't forget why we celebrate it! That said, I can say with a great deal of satisfaction that today was a Very Good Day, indeed. I slept in, and then went over to my grandma's for a while to visit with her and my dad's cousins. Kurt got a yellow lab about three weeks ago now, two years old and probably close to 100 lbs. His sister found a 6-week old kitten in a warehouse last week and brought him home...the two are comical to watch. Rex (the lab) is very gentle with Walker (the kitten), but gets so excited whenever he's around that he nearly drowns the little guy with licks. He literally had cowlicks when Rex was done with him today! Precious. Afterward, I came home and finished off a book I've been reading since before midterms--Diane Duane's Wizards at War, the eighth in her Young Wizards series. It was GOOD. If you never finished the series--LIEREN--or if you've not heard of it, go find the books; the first is So You Want to Be a Wizard. It's YA high fantasy/sci fi, but I think they'd be satisfying regardless of age. There's my first summer rec for you. Go get it! That is not a suggestion. ;) Yesterday was my graduation party, and it was just good to have most of my family around, especially the little ones. There were maybe about 20 of us, but I really enjoyed myself. I am now a little richer, and a little happier. So after a nice dinner, some more reading, and now chatting with my boy and a good friend of mine from college who's doing mission work in Costa Rica, I am feeling more at ease than I have since my break started. I'm going to make it a point to have as many of these days as I possibly can this summer. :) Tags: family, happiness
Current Mood:  calm
Current Music: just philip <3
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Previous 
hopeful
giddy
determined
tired
crappy. lol.
accomplished