World's best bumper sticker

"The only constant is change."

That says it all.

Carbohydrates, please

I came home from class today, ate a bowl of pasta, and passed out. Then I woke up, ate more pasta, and passed out again. Carbs and naps are the only reason I'm not in hibernation right now. I think my body is putting so much energy into staying warm that I have none left for anything else.

The most interesting part of having a roommate is awkward interaction with their significant other. Christine was still at work tonight when her boyfriend showed up "sloshed" and yakked my ear off for an hour. On the other hand... as adamant as I was about living by myself, I think I'll stick with the roommate scenario. It gets lonely when she's not around.

My buddy Andrew is coming up from Joplin tomorrow! It's going to be nice to see a familiar face. We're going line dancing with a friend of mine. Trepidation is a good word to describe my feelings. Andrew is a "social butterfly" (his words, not mine) so I'm hoping to triple the amount of people I know by the end of the weekend.

It's a small world after all

The other day in sociology, a girl sat next to me and I stepped out of my comfort zone and said hi. Well, I actually complimented her purse. That's always a good ice breaker. We had the typical "Where are you from? What's your major?" conversation, and I was shocked that she actually knew what a child life specialist is--my future career--because she's worked with one for the last sixteen years. She has a blood disorder and is at the children's hospital every three weeks for transfusions. She instantly struck me as genuine, which is just about the best quality a person can possess in my book.

We met up for coffee yesterday, and I started to tell her about my childhood friend Aiyah, who I lost touch with years ago when she moved to Libya. Lo and behold, my new friend Afnon KNOWS Aiyah! Then we started noticing how familiar we looked to each other, and realized: Aiyah introduced us to each other ten years ago.

It's a very small world. Or maybe Missouri is just a small state.

Either way, kudos to God for putting us next to each other. And as we'll both be spending a lot of time in the children's hospital over the next few years, I think we'll make great friends.

In other news... I dragged myself out of bed at 6 a.m. to go to a fancy shmancy Chamber of Commerce breakfast with my bosses. We were the only people in jeans, and we sat on the outskirts eating our scrambled eggs and nodding off during all the presentations before skipping out early. (I of course left my cell phone at the table and ruined our smooth exit. Typical.)

I am absolutely, 100% exhausted.

One week down, a billion to go

Today wraps up the first week of my adventure. It seems like much more time has passed... I'm trying to decide if that's a good sign. I feel so at home that it's like I've been here all along? Sure. Sounds good.

I've only been lost on campus once. I've met dozens of new people, two of which I had an instant connection with, and credit God with putting right beside me. I've had lots of laughs with my roommate. Our clan of cats are officially best friends. I recovered from my shin splints. I made history by going a week of classes without dropping one. And I don't think I've gained any weight (yet), despite my college student diet, consisting of frozen burritos, cheese pizza, mac and cheese, and ramen noodles. I even faced my fears and used the meat slicer of death at work. Look at that thing... it's pretty intense.


No breakdowns, no crying. (Although if I'm being honest I have to admit to venting my frustration at my mom a time or two. Sorry about that.)

One week down and I'm starting to feel a little invinceable.

The last first day

Today was the epic first day of school. I was a little disappointed that I didn't have my mom around to take my traditional first day of school picture, which has been carried through since kindergarten. Then I had the sudden realization that this could very well be my LAST first day at a new school. (Although it's more likely that I'll be that 70 year-old lady going to college just for the fun of it.)

Thanks to the tour my roommate gave me on Monday, I managed to make it to my building unscathed and with time to spare. (I did have a mishap crossing the street because there aren't any crosswalk lights so you just run across when you see fit, and hope no one runs over you). I only had the one class, and I sat in the third row and thought, "Hey, this isn't so bad." Then I stood up afterwards and had to wait for 150-plus people to file out, and felt a little queasy.

From there it was straight to work, and when I dragged myself home in the evening, my roommate was waiting in her gym clothes to whip me into shape. She's on her third knee surgery and still bikes faster than me. Impressive.

Hawaiian punch + UFO's

Just made my third trip to Walmart in three days. Is this normal? The good news is that my new Walmart does not make me want to scream and rip out my hair (not yet, at least). I think it's because the aisles are three times wider, so I can stay in my bubble undisturbed.

Today's run was for those miscellaneous things I'm always making mental notes of--hair spray, an alarm clock (because mine is not nearly persistent enough), Hawaiian punch, etc. As it's the Sunday before a new semester, there were several groups of friends perusing the notebook and energy drink aisles together, and I had my first "Crap, I'm lonely" moment. So what do I do? The obvious: call my mother.

I'm still on the phone with her while I'm lugging my loot to the check-out aisle, discussing how much weight I'm going to gain because Hawaiian Punch is so cheap. ($1.87 for that huge jug!! I'm still in shock.) A nice older gentleman is ringing me up, and I start to feel rude for being on the phone while he's trying to wait on me, so I put my mom on hold and launch into a very heartfelt, very long winded explanation/apology about how I've just moved away from home so I've been on the phone with my mother a lot, so on and so forth. I guess I got a little carried away with the details because the look he gave me clearly said, "I preferred you when you were on the phone." My mistake.

I was still feeling a little melancholy when I got home, but then my roommate stopped by between outings and we constructed the cat tower (it looks a little bit like the Leaning Tower of Pisa)... and then I went out with my new friend whom I serendipitously met on New Year's, and spotted what I am convinced to be a UFO.

So all in all, I think I survived my first "Crap, I'm lonely" moment quite well. Cheers.