Sad times, regular times...

So this week has been interesting. Surprisingly I've been worse, but it's still sucked. Tonight our shark died. It's kind of amazing none of our fish have died up to this point (Butch doesn't really count because we only had him a few days and he was so tiny and unliked by the other fish), what with us not knowing the slightest thing about keeping fish alive. Walsh is still going strong, even though we bought Butch in anticipation of Walsh dying. That shark really was my favorite though, and he will be missed.



In Loving Memory of Our Lil' Guy:

sometime many months ago-2/28/2008


"We gave you a name, but forgot it because we never used it, and always just called you 'Shark' instead. You will be missed."

So that happened, I have 4 major tests next week, one comprehensive I need to do well in or else, I have a meeting with my professor/advisor tomorrow, I sat in the middle of two (very nice) couples cuddling on a couch today (I mean it, they're lovely people, but I'm going to kill Eric for this, because it was not my idea of not being awkward, even though did I mention they were very nice?), and I work tomorrow for the better Melissa, which means I'm stuck working with Stevie Boy and Serg instead of Brockley and Jon (Don't get me wrong, I love Stevie Boy as a big brother, and I'll get to work with Cole as well, but neither of them sing like Brock, and neither of them are as randomly funny and quiet but liberal all the while fibbing as though it were just breathing like Jon). Also it's one in the morning and I have yet to go to bed because the movie got started late, so I hope I have a desire to get up tomorrow morning.

On the bright side, in between the two couples tonight, I was able to watch one of AFI's Greatest 100 Movies of All Time, "Bringing Up Baby." I felt like watching an old classic, but something that was happy because of our loss tonight. It was black and white, had Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, and was very amusing indead. I would recommend it to all. Also, I only have school till 10 am tomorrow, I'm going to a baby shower for Stevey Boy's baby Saturday, and I get to see most of my nieces and nephews on Sunday because my youngest is getting blessed. All of those are good things. Also, before Sharky died, and ironically, I went to the pet store to get a brush to clean our fish tank. I got that and a fish tank scraper (which worked beautifully), some water conditioner, more filters bags, a small algae eater (I've decided to name him Axel), and some plants. All good things with the health of our fishies in mind, but ultimately it was just too late. Randomly I had not my home teachers over tonight, but my ward missionaries? They weren't missionaries, but I think that's their calling. They just popped up on our doorstep looking for Meg, which is weird conisdering she's not even active, yet I am and they had no idea who I even was. Of course it makes since that given their calling they would come for her, but if she goes to church it will be up to her and theirs is a lost cause anyway. I'm not making any sense at this point, but they came in, chatted, and shared a message with me since she wasn't home and I'm all they had to work with. And even though I am active, they couldn't have known that since I used to work every other Sunday, and even when I didn't I rarely went to my ward. For all they knew, I could have been inactive. Oh well. It was a nice visit, now I know 2 more people in my ward, and hopefully I can make more friends now that all of mine are away, or might as well be.

I did get to hang out with Paige and Emmy yesterday, which was lovely, and it reminded me how much I've missed them. They really are two of the best, most uplifting to me, people I know, and it was fun to see them again. We watched Hairspray, because I hadn't, and I was surprised with how amusing it was. A lot of subtly dirty jokes--which I of course enjoyed, but which made me wonder if my 12 year old niece should be watching such things. It's too bad they live so far from me (relatively speaking), and that my life is so full of work and school now. Hopefully switching up my work schedule as I'm about to do will help things out. Here's to that.

Though it may not seem like it, I'm still sticking with my resolve to be more positive. I think I can do it, though it will take more time to be perfectly (or as much as possible) achieved. And with that I'm going to bed.

Just Thinking.

So I have a post already written from my recent trip, which should satiate both Berta and Kristen (the latter of which really shouldn't have been complaining to me at all considering she's been back from Greece for months and I still have yet to see/hear of any pictures or specific stories/experiences), but there were a lot of points during my trip where I didn't feel like taking pictures (pretty much a first for me, I know), and I just resolved to get copies from Becca and Heidi. Anyway, I figured I'd get all the trip pictures together before I posted anything, and that way I could post some of them too.
Today is day 5 of my "try to be more positive and happy" resolve. I actually had an excellent lesson at church today on just that, which I found to be pretty awesome given that I had made many of the same realizations we talked about at church a week ago, and am currently trying to implement them. We talked about how you have the agency to react to the situations around you in a positive way, and it doesn't matter what's happening as long as you're in the right spiritual mindset. With school and work I've lately let myself get sucked into a vortex of bad feelings and not too positive vibes, but even if things aren't perfectly the way I'd like them to currently be, I can at least choose to be happy--which is closer to the ideal way I'd like things to be than they would otherwise be. All in all I started out the day rather chipper, and it wasn't until the boredom of the weekend hit that the good mood faltered in any way. Sadly I failed at the no gossip part of my resolve (in regards to a guy and girl I work with who had a falling out), which never was a problem for me before this year, but that I've become quite good at. Not to justify the situation, but I didn't really GOSSIP so much as I happened to just COMMENT on truths told to me, but which were nevertheless not very nice things to say. I'm not saying they weren't necessarily true things, but after said "gossiping" me and Austen (the kid telling me the what's the what) started to talk about how we always feel bad AFTER gossiping, and that it really is better to try to see things from the perspectives of those you're talking about. When you think about it, most people are inately good--at least a little to some degree--and unless you're a serial killer or Hitler, in most cases that goodness is closer to the surface than others might expect.

So that's really all I have to say, but having written all of this I think there's a better chance of me now sticking to my guns, or at least my metaphorical guns as I don't own any real ones. I'm not particularly psyched about my test tomorrow, but I was able to study a decent amount this week, I socialized more at church today than I normally do--which was a nice change, and there was a cheesecake Mingle after church. I think someone up there must love me.

Jam tomorrow and yesterday, but today...packing.

So I'm supposed to be packing for my trip to California/Mexico tonight. Of course I have school tomorrow, which means I can't put it off for too long because I have to sleep sometime tonight and our flight is tomorrow night. Man, I don't feel like packing yet though. It seems weird to me that everything just kind of snuck up on me. I was so busy with work and studying for tests this week that I forgot until Monday night that I was even going anywhere this weekend. I was super excited last week, but I think my crappy testing experiences this week and work being so boring yet frustrating might have sucked any good feelings out of me. I know I'll have fun, but I'll also have a week long practical starting Tuesday when I get back, a blood bank test that same day I believe, and a Micro exam that Friday. I hope I can get some relaxation in on this trip. And some motivation to do what I need to do, because right now I'm sure devoid of that. I think it's time for some tunes while I clean my room, pack, and do laundry.

In the meantime...me and friends discovered this at school this past week. Actually, it was already discovered by Sumie, but the rest of us finally understood where the crazy renditions of dancing and singing came from upon seeing this. I'm not sure which is worse/most amusing--the singing or the dancing, but it just gets funnier the more we watch it. It's from a movie rendition of Through The Looking Glass, and they really let Carol Channing have free reign as the White Queen. Spasmodic dancing: check. Crazy fake wig with a mind of it's own: check. Lips the size of Minneapolis: double check. A voice that changes in unpredictable and altogether unexpected ways: check, check, and CHECK.



I've concluded that she must have been drunk. We were in tears, and the 7 of us (Sumie, Jason, Jacob, Devin, Noelle, me and Steven) have had it in our heads all week. Of course the child actress doesn't need to be able to act in the magnificent shadow of the White Queen--we decided that they must have chosen Alice because she was the only child that didn't run away during the audition with Ms. Channing.