Home: Car accidents and shopping

Well, I've been home for almost six days and I have yet to have some free time. I guess it's a good thing because it means I have a lot of friends who want to spend time with me. I do hope it will slow down a little and that there will not be any more car accidents.

Yes, one of my friends was in a pretty bad car accident while on her way to hang out with another friend and I. She's doing okay now but we spent about four hours in the waiting room of the ER Friday night, making sure she was going to actually be able to see a doctor and be okay. Her car is totaled and she has six staples in the back of her head and her arm's in a sling, but she's alive.

Other than that there's been a lot of hanging out and talking and, of course, a lot of shopping. Yesterday we bought all of Mommy's Christmas presents, today will be for Daddy and there were a few mall trips before that.

Yesterday, Sasha and I got all crafty and went to Michael's and spent the afternoon making little bugs and flowers out of pipe cleaners and goggly eyes. We used the Hello Kitty Activity Book as our guide.

And then tomorrow is Christmas Eve! There are already so many presents under the tree and Mommy and I are going to start the baking today. It will be good times and I promise pictures!

Um...Everything

Hello negelected blog readers!

I apologize for my lack of posts since early this month. I promise football is not the only thing that has happened to me or that I've done since December 7. I just finished my last final on Sunday night (today being Wednesday) and yesterday I started my trek home with a visit to my Aundt DiDi and one of my most constant readers, Unkie Earl. (Hi Unkie Earl!) So I am now on their computer in sunny (and by sunny, I mean rainy) Arizona, getting ready to go to lunch with my aunt and counsins at Olive Garden. Then Daddy and I are going shopping this afternoon. He's going to take me to Bass Pro Shops. Ooooo... Should be good times. It will be nice since I haven't had a chance to relax since about, oh, December 7.

I did have a pretty nice finals schedule with all of them being essays or take homes. I was also able to do the photojournalism project I wanted. I photogrpahed a woman at Dominion Village, where my grandfather lived when he had Alzheimer's. She has undiagnosed dementia and was one of the sweetest ladies I have ever met. We had a good morning together, including lunch where she kept trying to get up to tell the nurses I needed some food. She's not suppose to get out of her wheelchair so it was quite a fun time that involved me walking away for a few minutes and coming back and telling her I had eaten so she would eat her lunch. And then at about 1:30 p.m. she began sundowning, which is where people with memory diseases get extremely anxious, nervous and agitated at the same time everyday. My grandfather did the same thing, but a little later in the day. According to the woman in charge of the center, the lady I was photographing always worried about her family and that's what she did. She kept asking where her son was and what we had done with her husband, who has been dead for a few years.

It was a very sad and yet very interesting thing. Sad because she was so worried and it was just heartbreaking to see someone so confused and scared and know you can't do anything to help. Yet, it was so interesting to see how dementia and Alzheimer's affect people. For instance, my grandfather forgot who my grandmother was at times and yet, he memorized the code to the place he was living by watching the nurses punch it in, and then he escaped! The woman I photographed would remember random things and then say something different 10 minutes later. It was definitely interesting and I'm glad I was able to do the project I wanted. Here's to hoping it got me a good grade.

I'm very excited about going home. I haven't seen Mommy or Melissa or anyone else at home since early June. It's great to see Daddy and be able to ang out with him and I so look forward to the holidays. I love Christmas and this year should be a great vacation and opportunity to spend timw with my family.

Until then Arizona is good times, being able to see family here I haven't seen in almost three years. I met my little cousin for the first time today and he is the cutest. Ah, family.

And an update on football: We are going to the championships! Friday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2 we will play Montana in our first championship game, ever. I will definitely be watching.

Fall Break!

Finally some time off to sleep and read something not assigned in a class.

Every year we have a Fall Break at UR that is really only a four day weekend but it comes at the same time as mid-terms. Everyone seems to be at the point of exploding right about now making a four day weekend appreciated more than summer it seems. And I actually get five days because both of my classes for today were canceled! And because of the break there will be no Collegian next week. While that makes me sad because I love The Collegian, it will be nice to have a week with some actual free time. The timing is perfect as well because next Wednesday is Josh's and my sixth month anniversary.

I do love less work and more time.

Especially since this week was pretty crazy at The Collegian. There was a very large breaking news story this week which you can read here. It is pretty disgusting (not in a gross, icky bug sense but a I-can't-believe-people-behave-that-way sense) but unfortunately not surprising. When you read the article you will understand.

Anyway, it was a big deal that took a lot of time and arguing but eventually came out OK. Now everyone is ready for a break.

On a happier note, I wrote two briefs for this week. I am also doing pretty well in my Copy Editing class which makes for good times. I've started looking for internships, which is fun and exciting and scary all at the same time. And the speech I thought I was going to have to give last Thursday I don't have to give until Oct. 23.

So life is pretty good. If you'll excuse me, I have to get ready for a fancy dinner with my boyfriend.

The Beach House

I do love vacation and the beach so having them both at the same time is pretty sweet.

Grandmama, Charlotte, Leslie, Curry, Josh and I started driving down to Oak Island, North Carolina on Tuesday. We were having a pleasant drive but weren't exactly sure where we were, thank you Map Quest (not!). When we reached Wilson, NC Grandmama smelled burning rubber and realized she didn't have much control over the van so she pulled over. Josh, Curry and I were following in Josh's car so we pulled over behind her and got out. That's when Josh spotted the black smoke coming out of the van's front driver side wheel. So we called the fire department and about 10 minutes later there were two fire trucks there and a bunch of firemen with their water squirter to put out the not-so-flaming flames.

About half an hour later a tow truck came and picked up the van and we followed it the Dodge dealer in Wilson. They told us it was the caliper and that they would need to keep it for a few days. So we rented a newer version of Grandmama's van and headed for the beach house!

We got their just fine but a lot later than we intended. The rest of the week we spent on the beach sunbathing, swimming, reading, watching movies and various other vacation-y type things. Grandmama's sister and her husband, Aunt Winn and Uncle Eddy, were already there.

Josh stayed until Thursday morning and drove back to Richmond to get back to his house sitting job. While he was there we all watched "The Princess Bride" he bought just before coming. When he left Curry kept it and watched it three more times until Uncle Eddy told him he wasn't allowed to watch it any more. I think it's time to buy him his own copy and get the kid into some fencing lessons. His new goal is to be just like Wesley which won't be too hard, except for the fact, as Curry pointed out, that Wesley had blond hair.

We also took a trip to Surf Cinema and watched "Mamma Mia!" and it was awesome. It had all the right elements: comedy, romance, drama and lots and lots of singing and colors. Good times.

The day after that we took a trip to the Leaky Tiki where we had homemade ice cream and sang a little karaoke. The girls and I made Curry get up with us once and sing "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". Poor kid...

It was a great relaxing trip and I wish we could have stayed longer but it was time to get back to the real world. I definitely look forward to going again.

See the rest of the pictures here.

Spring Break-Day 3

Honestly, we did absolutely nothing. We woke up around 2pm (going to bed at 5am will do that to you), had a little breakfast and headed to the fitness center. After walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes, Elizabeth and I went in the hot tub while Steph L. and Lex headed back to the condo to start dinner. The hot tub was very, very nice and relaxing and then it was back to the condo. Elizabeth and I laid out on the dock and read for a bit and headed back inside. Lex made us some awesome spaghetti and fruit and yogurt pie for dessert. Go Lexie Homemaker! I also made my Paula Deen Spinach Artichoke Dip. Good times.

Then there was a lot of laying around doing nothing until we decided we were tired and wanted to go to sleep.

The end.

Reading on the dock. It got too cold eventually...

Lex making pie

Sitting around doing nothing. Ignore Steph L. She's choking on a Twizzler.