I leave for Beijing on Saturday. I am incredibly nervous that I will forget some key piece of travel documentation and be stranded away from home. I confirmed all of my flights today and everything seems to be in order. I have my passport and my visa. I opened a new checking account with a debit card so that I can withdraw RMB when I arrive (exchanging money is such a hassle, especially when you don't speak the native language). I've read about three hundred travel blogs about what to pack, what to eat, and where to visit. I took a peak at the new TSA recommendations for getting through security and customs.
Any thoughts on what I am forgetting?
I plan to pack lightly. I am hoping to only check one suitcase. I want to put all of my clothing and things into my carry-on bag and reserve the checked bag for presents for Smash and Britt. I am very excited to see them both.
China is sure to be an adventure.
All for now.
Tuesday, December 22
Friday, November 27
I'm a Pro and Procrastinating.
When I left school on Tuesday afternoon, I was completely ready to spend my entire break cranking out two ten page research papers. I had been to the library, compiled a list of resources, and created two theses. I was set.
It is now Friday evening, and I am on page three of the first paper. I have done just about everything imaginable to avoid working on my homework. I at first turned to hulu to catch up on the episodes of House and Glee that I have missed in the recent weeks. Then I moved onto Bones in avoidance. I am two loads into the mountain of laundry that I brought home to wash, another strategy to shirk my academic responsibilities for a few hours. I spent time with my family, got a manicure, and even attempted a short shopping trip on Black Friday. I am beginning to run low on ideas, and time.
I give in. It is time to really get down to work... even if it only lasts an hour.
It is now Friday evening, and I am on page three of the first paper. I have done just about everything imaginable to avoid working on my homework. I at first turned to hulu to catch up on the episodes of House and Glee that I have missed in the recent weeks. Then I moved onto Bones in avoidance. I am two loads into the mountain of laundry that I brought home to wash, another strategy to shirk my academic responsibilities for a few hours. I spent time with my family, got a manicure, and even attempted a short shopping trip on Black Friday. I am beginning to run low on ideas, and time.
I give in. It is time to really get down to work... even if it only lasts an hour.
Monday, November 23
The long road home
Thursday is Thanksgiving.
For me, this means spending time with my mom and dad, catching up with my best friends, reflecting on and refreshing myself. Getting home means spending hours alone in the car. It may sound like a boring way to spend an afternoon, but for me it is almost therapeutic. I sing and laugh and cry and shout. I can do whatever I like when I am driving in my car without having to worry about disturbing anyone else (as long as I stay in my lane of course).
I look forward to the long road home.
For me, this means spending time with my mom and dad, catching up with my best friends, reflecting on and refreshing myself. Getting home means spending hours alone in the car. It may sound like a boring way to spend an afternoon, but for me it is almost therapeutic. I sing and laugh and cry and shout. I can do whatever I like when I am driving in my car without having to worry about disturbing anyone else (as long as I stay in my lane of course).
I look forward to the long road home.
Tuesday, November 10
A Day of Gray
If I could describe the day so far in one word, it would be "gray." The weather is mild, but the sky is so overcast. Instead of waking up to a feeling of a fresh start, the world outside seems simply gloomy. From my window I can see the flagpole on the front lawn. The flag is still at half-mast. Seeing this certainly didn't raise my spirits any. I crawled out from beneath the covers and headed to wash my face. By the time I made it to the bathroom, I felt dizzy and congested. It was at this point that I decided... I am taking the day off. I snuggled back into my bed and slept for a few more hours.
I feel slightly better now, having rested. I still have quite a bit of homework to do for tomorrow and Thursday. I plan on getting lost in the library all afternoon. Hopefully, the rest of my day will be a bit more productive than my morning.
All for now.
AO
I feel slightly better now, having rested. I still have quite a bit of homework to do for tomorrow and Thursday. I plan on getting lost in the library all afternoon. Hopefully, the rest of my day will be a bit more productive than my morning.
All for now.
AO
Sunday, November 1
Always a Macon woman
I have the best internship ever. Period.
Friday night was a ton of fun. After a long day of finishing up last minute details, the party turned out to be a success. The decorations looked fantastic. The guests seemed to be having a good time. They were a bit grumpy that the food took so long, but it takes a bit of time to serve 400 people a sit-down dinner. Once they were able to take full advantage of the open bar though, everyone settled down and started having fun.
The bartenders were very strict in the beginning, refusing to cooperate with anyone but Tabitha. They knocked over a cooler of beers which made a HUGE mess. There were multiple mops involved in the clean-up. Katie Jo and I had to make two trips to the store during the party. Thirty pounds of ice and ten bottles of tonic water later, the bar was finally fully prepared to indulge Lynchburg's alcoholic tendencies.
The life of the party, as always, was a Macon woman. Ms. Dixon is pretty much my hero. She is wild.
It was nice to be able to finally relax and enjoy the product of two months of planning. Tabitha and Katie Jo were wonderful to work with, and even more fun to party with. The staff at the Square definitely know how to have a good time.
That is all.
AO
Friday night was a ton of fun. After a long day of finishing up last minute details, the party turned out to be a success. The decorations looked fantastic. The guests seemed to be having a good time. They were a bit grumpy that the food took so long, but it takes a bit of time to serve 400 people a sit-down dinner. Once they were able to take full advantage of the open bar though, everyone settled down and started having fun.
The bartenders were very strict in the beginning, refusing to cooperate with anyone but Tabitha. They knocked over a cooler of beers which made a HUGE mess. There were multiple mops involved in the clean-up. Katie Jo and I had to make two trips to the store during the party. Thirty pounds of ice and ten bottles of tonic water later, the bar was finally fully prepared to indulge Lynchburg's alcoholic tendencies.
The life of the party, as always, was a Macon woman. Ms. Dixon is pretty much my hero. She is wild.
It was nice to be able to finally relax and enjoy the product of two months of planning. Tabitha and Katie Jo were wonderful to work with, and even more fun to party with. The staff at the Square definitely know how to have a good time.
That is all.
AO
Wednesday, October 28
Hospital Visits
So much for my plan to post regularly. Here's to renewed diligence and a passing grade in COMM204.
Let's start with what is going on in volleyball. It's been a LONG season, with our record currently 2-23 or so. We have had injury after injury, averaging about 8 out of our 10 players actually being able to participate at once. Between shin splints, infected scrapes, chest pains, and sick children, our team is literally falling apart. Brooke was forced to go to the hospital so that the baby can be monitored while she battles swine flu. To complete the list of hospital visits, Spinner added herself to the list at #4 with a dislocated finger. During a blocking drill, the ball literally took her little finger right out of the joint and through the skin. After emergency surgery, she spent the night in the hospital on an IV attempting to avoid infection. No news today on her condition, but I assume that means she is doing just fine.
Next. This Friday night is the culminating event for my internship, Ugly Bug Ball. Everything seems to be coming together, but I am still nervous about the finished production. Hopefully all goes well. I am looking forward to next week though. With volleyball and my internship both ending on the same day, I am going to have hours of free time each day with nothing to do. It will be glorious.
Finally. I really need to start lifting and doing yoga again. I miss how toned i looked about two months ago. Maybe that's what I can do with all of that free time.
All for now.
AO
Let's start with what is going on in volleyball. It's been a LONG season, with our record currently 2-23 or so. We have had injury after injury, averaging about 8 out of our 10 players actually being able to participate at once. Between shin splints, infected scrapes, chest pains, and sick children, our team is literally falling apart. Brooke was forced to go to the hospital so that the baby can be monitored while she battles swine flu. To complete the list of hospital visits, Spinner added herself to the list at #4 with a dislocated finger. During a blocking drill, the ball literally took her little finger right out of the joint and through the skin. After emergency surgery, she spent the night in the hospital on an IV attempting to avoid infection. No news today on her condition, but I assume that means she is doing just fine.
Next. This Friday night is the culminating event for my internship, Ugly Bug Ball. Everything seems to be coming together, but I am still nervous about the finished production. Hopefully all goes well. I am looking forward to next week though. With volleyball and my internship both ending on the same day, I am going to have hours of free time each day with nothing to do. It will be glorious.
Finally. I really need to start lifting and doing yoga again. I miss how toned i looked about two months ago. Maybe that's what I can do with all of that free time.
All for now.
AO
Sunday, August 9
Downward Facing... Spider?
So this morning, I woke up early for Panera and a skype date with Britt. I had the most delicious spinach and artichoke quiche and some apple juice. I sat down with my freshly-repaired computer ready to flip on my webcam for our video chat, only to discover that my laptop is not aware that it has one built in. After consulting the HP website for some troubleshooting tips and coming up with no solution, I resigned myself to the fact that I would yet again be sending my computer off for repairs. I had a wonderful chat with Britt and Smash though. They sent photos of their bathroom... they are having quite a rustic adventure in downtown Beijing.
Fast Forward to Yoga Class
About fifteen minutes into class, after centering my thoughts on the goings-on within the room and focusing on breathing and body movements, the instructor guides us through a series of sun salutations. We begin in mountain pose, and step back into a forward lunge, then its both beet back and into downward facing dog. At this point, I notice a small black and red circle moving swiftly across my mat towards my hands. My concentration is gone as this large spider makes the great journey across my stickymat and onto the hardwood floor towards my neighbors mat. For the next five minutes, I continue to follow along with the movements, but my concentration is on this spider wandering nearby. I was really at a loss as to what I should do about it. I felt like I couldn't possible KILL something during a yoga class. It seemed intrinsically opposite to the purpose of yoga. Was I really ready to soil the atmosphere of the studio by introducing death to the room? Luckily, another woman spotted the intruder and quickly grabbed a flip flop. She smushed the little crawler and swept him over towards the wall. It was too late though... the spider had sufficiently captured my concentration, leaving me lost for the rest of the class.
On my way home from the gym, I decided to stop by the computer store. I need my computer fixed quickly, since I leave for school in one week. I was more than a little upset that my computer still was not fixed, after almost three weeks of not having it. I expressed my frustration to the wonderful service associate (Jason) who told me about this special clause in my warranty that will hopefully get me a new computer. Its a very complicated story, but the end is the important part. I might get a store credit which i can use toward buying a new Macbook Pro, which is what I would really like. I am soooooo excited.
That is all... for now.
Fast Forward to Yoga Class
About fifteen minutes into class, after centering my thoughts on the goings-on within the room and focusing on breathing and body movements, the instructor guides us through a series of sun salutations. We begin in mountain pose, and step back into a forward lunge, then its both beet back and into downward facing dog. At this point, I notice a small black and red circle moving swiftly across my mat towards my hands. My concentration is gone as this large spider makes the great journey across my stickymat and onto the hardwood floor towards my neighbors mat. For the next five minutes, I continue to follow along with the movements, but my concentration is on this spider wandering nearby. I was really at a loss as to what I should do about it. I felt like I couldn't possible KILL something during a yoga class. It seemed intrinsically opposite to the purpose of yoga. Was I really ready to soil the atmosphere of the studio by introducing death to the room? Luckily, another woman spotted the intruder and quickly grabbed a flip flop. She smushed the little crawler and swept him over towards the wall. It was too late though... the spider had sufficiently captured my concentration, leaving me lost for the rest of the class.
On my way home from the gym, I decided to stop by the computer store. I need my computer fixed quickly, since I leave for school in one week. I was more than a little upset that my computer still was not fixed, after almost three weeks of not having it. I expressed my frustration to the wonderful service associate (Jason) who told me about this special clause in my warranty that will hopefully get me a new computer. Its a very complicated story, but the end is the important part. I might get a store credit which i can use toward buying a new Macbook Pro, which is what I would really like. I am soooooo excited.
That is all... for now.
Friday, July 24
Easy Come... Easy Go
Well. This is my first blog post, so bear with me while I get used to the whole idea.
My day was pretty wonderful actually. I woke up early and went to see my grandmother. We ran a few errands around town, then had lunch at The Charred Rib in Timonium. The food was pretty good, but what I really enjoyed was the company. My grandmother is absolutely fascinating. She is definitely my hero. She is so independent and knowledgeable about life. I feel like I can't spend enough time with her. Every time I am around her, I learn something new. I always look forward to seeing her each week.
My day was pretty wonderful actually. I woke up early and went to see my grandmother. We ran a few errands around town, then had lunch at The Charred Rib in Timonium. The food was pretty good, but what I really enjoyed was the company. My grandmother is absolutely fascinating. She is definitely my hero. She is so independent and knowledgeable about life. I feel like I can't spend enough time with her. Every time I am around her, I learn something new. I always look forward to seeing her each week.
After leaving my grandmother's house, I came home and took a nap for about an hour. I had a doctor's appointment in the afternoon to get a physical for volleyball. Same boring stuff as always...$20 later, the doctor concluded that I was fit to play and sent me on my way. These kinds of little charges are starting to add up; they are definitely not helping to grow my travel savings account. It's really frustrating how long it takes to earn a significant amount of money and how quickly it seems to flow out of my bank account.
Speaking of money, work was easy... the thunderstorms brought everyone in early, and a lot of the couples didn't stay for dinner after golf. I waited on 10 people total. I basically got paid to chat with the bartender and eat. I might have the easiest job in the world. I suppose in this case, the money really is "easy come, easy go".
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