You make want to say

Last weekend I had a great time visiting my friend Rachel in Boston. Rachel is leaving the east (like my good friends Anna and Thuan) and moving to the good old Midwestern city Chicago. When I first moved to Albany 2+ years ago I had several friends in the region to visit and one by one they have all left. I liked having them within driving distance but Chicago is always fun to visit.

In Boston we were able to watch the Pride Parade from the roof of Rach's apartment since it was right on her street. We had a great view for the hour plus long parade and got very excited whenever someone would see us and wave. Alexis Arquette was the parade marshal which I thought was awesome since her performance in The Wedding Singer is one of my favs (Do You Really Want to Hurt Me song! anyone else remember that?). Neither Rachel or her roommate knew who she was so I was alone in my excitement. During the parade it started to rain and near the end it was truly pouring. This was when we decided to head to a sports bar to watch the World Cup game. Before crossing the street I looked down and literally saw red glitter being washed away with the rain down the road.

My Spanish class only has four more classes. It went so fast. Awesome. Everything we do looks familiar from high school which is helpful. I also only need a passing grade to get credit at UA which is also helpful.

You know you want to be in a calendar

Obv I quit blogging for a bit there. When your stressing about 5 classes and your bf leaving again the blog is the last thing on your mind. But happily the classes are now over and Brian was unexpectedly reassigned to Saratoga for the summer. Having him around will make summer much less boring. We made another list of things to do this summer and have already crossed something off (hiking!).

On a bummer note, my summer six-week Spanish class started last week. The thing is 8 hours a week. Two nights from 6-9:50 p.m. Awful. The teacher is nice and the class isn't too hard. But after work, the last thing I want to do is drive over to the community college in my un-air-conditioned car and take this class. Its pretty hard to swallow since this isn't a class I wanted or a class I really need to graduate. Its a class I have to take since Michigan (and probably every other state) doesn't offer regent scores. Ughhhh. The class is full of 19 year-olds who look like they have laid by the pool all day.

I was able to go to full-time hours at work this summer. I would have found a second job if I had to stay part-time but this is much better. I avoid working in the mall at all costs plus now my nights and weekends are free.

I still feel like I am forgetting something all the time. After a two semesters of plugging away with 5 classes a term and work on the side, I was perpetually busy. I was making to-do lists like mad woman. I tried to make a to-do list last week and it only had 3 things on it...so I really need to embrace the relaxation.

Stop talking about Chatroulette

Well a snow storm has finally found Albany and another is soon to follow tomorrow. This is great news since it finally looks like winter outside. I hate it when everything is grey and brown and love it when it all gets covered up by pure white snow. The snow that fell yesterday and is still falling is the super heavy wet stuff. So if you get to park on the street like me, you will have a great time shoveling yourself out. I almost broke my back for about 15 minutes this morning doing just that. I felt very empowered once I got out. Finding a parking spot (also in the street) for work was more of a challenge since it seemed like everyone else who had left a spot didn't need to shovel out. I guess they have four-wheel drive or people to push them. I wasn't going to chance my little Ford Focus on a spot like that when I don't have a shovel in my trunk (grave mistake). Thankfully I found a mostly plowed spot and didn't have to pay $10 to park in the lot (knock on wood never have).

They canceled classes last night and today until 12:35 which is great if you have classes then but I don't so it was a total bummer.

I'm heading down to the city this weekend on my second megabus trip (only $20.50!). My good friend Thuan decided to take off for Vietnam until August so obv I need to pay my respects before she flies away. My mission this week is to achieve a comfortable level of work before Friday so I can enjoy the trip and not have a freak out.

Mostly I need to so some "Research Methods" i.e. statistics homework. That class makes me thank my lucky stars I took three math classes in college. That's about the only plus side to my bachelor of science degree. I thought I was really smart doing a B.S. instead of a B.A. to get out of a language course. Now, in a grad program in NY, they tell me its a language course is a requirement for any degree in the state.
"Oh you took it Spanish high school, did you get over 85 on your Regents?"
"No I'm from Michigan, where Regents don't exist, so even though I took 4 years of that stuff I guess it won't matter here huh?"
"Right, sorry."
Awesome. Don't get me wrong I'm very thankful I didn't have to deal with Regents, but seriously, there should be a way to get out of this course (other than a test which I would fail since it's been eight years since I thought about Spanish).

Last weekend we saw our friend Eric preach which was pretty cool. He was able to hold my attention and Brian's the whole time, which is no small feat.

Cooking with Brian

On Valentine's Day Brian decided it was time to make a new favorite meal - avacado bacon burgers. That's my guy.



Needless to say these bad boys were awesome and with it we drank a whole bottle of delicious Traverse City cherry wine.

Biblioburro!

I'd like to hear you read some words

School is up and running again which will result in a direct decrease of blog posts. This semester is going to be a rough one, particularly because I now have to split my time not just between school and work, but between school, work, and Brian. Just my luck he gets a rotation here during my busiest semester. When I'm bored this summer I'm going to be wishing I had the bf around.

I set the grade point average high last semester and want a repeat. I feel a lot of pressure to do well in school. The placement of this pressure comes entirely from my own brain and I need to take a chill pill for my own sanity. Making endless lists can only get you so far in the relaxation department.

Having taken my Young Adult literature class I have now moved on to the Children's literature class. I have to read 45 kids books. This might seem easy but believe me picking out a good picture book is harder than it looks. I know what ones I used to like, but twenty years later, those are out of date and the new ones look much different.

Lost is on again tonight. This is another problem for my productivity.