Being an adult ain't no joke

Look, they all told me. Everybody had lists of lists of reasons why I should hold on to being a kid until I absolutely had to let go. They said, "Live at home until you're 33! Being an adult is hard!" Man, were they right. Before you go feeling sorry for me (Ha! I'm feeling quite a few "I told you so!"s coming my way). let me say that being an adult is fun and that I wouldn't want to be a kid again even if it meant I could eat ice cream every single day because kids do that sort of thing. I really love doing what I want and making my own decisions (this was actually something I really loved as a kid, too, especially when I was a teenager, which really never boded well for me, come to think of it.) But no need to dwell on that, right? I mean, I've felt my remorse and taken my parents out to dinner and put off having children for 15 years. So back to being an adult.

If there's one thing that I've heard adults cry about that I never really understood it was bills. The bills! They're always either about to clean you out or just cleaned you out and left you eating peanut butter sandwiches. Every single month. It's killer, I tell you, and Mom and Dad, I am sorry that I never did something to alleviate the stress of Bills. I mean, really, if I had known it was this stressful, I would have cleaned the kitchen a heck of a lot more. Promise.

And it's not just the Bills (but seriously! the bills!). It's the Responsiblity, too. People depend on me. It's almost overwhelming at times. There are people depending on me to cook dinner (which, honestly, is their first mistake.) Some weeks, the church floor won't get vacuumed or the babies won't get watched unless I show up. Freshmen won't get mentored unless I impart my wisdom (I've been looking for places to impart it, anyway.) It's pretty breathtaking, though, to think that I have become a (mostly) beneficial, functioning part of society. And also, I pay my bills on time.

Whew. I just needed to share about the insanity that is Growing Up. Is it this dumbfounding for everyone, or is it just me? How do you guys feel about bills?

This week was, apart from the Bills, legitimately stress-free, unlike the week coming up, which boasts a midterm and a biology test and busy mornings, all topped off with a visit home. Just what I like in my first ten days of October :) But, really, I am very optimistic about all of it. I started this morning off with a bright bible study with my best friends while simultaneously eating oatmeal and drinking coffee- very worth waking up at 6:30 for! And then I was productive in the coffee shop like it was my job (which it is, actually, though it doesn't pay. Which doesn't help much as far as the Bills are concerned, but we're past that.) October looks happy, and I'm embracing it, even though every time I think about it being October I almost fall down. School is chugging right along, but at the end of this month I get to go to TEXAS! I've never been to Dallas/surrounding areas, and I'm very excited because I get to road trip there and back in three and a half days with all of my best friends. Maybe we've lost all of our marbles, but that's what makes us fun, or at least that's what we're believing.

I've got zero new pictures, and I can't even find a semi-recent one that's got everyone in it. So I give you this:

Lost our marbles? Maybe.

We are, however, lots of fun.

Tell me about your week/October plans/ how much you hate Bills!



Return

Sorry about that.

I took a blog hiatus because it seemed more appropriate than, say, taking a sleeping hiatus. Though actually, i sort of took one of those, too. This week was monstrous. And so, blogging fell by the wayside. But I'm back!

Let me give you a brief overview, mostly because I'm proud that I made it through: two tests, an entire Photoshop book, 352 points of French homework online, a PS skills evaluation + a PS test, a French test, nursery duty, volunteer duty, small group, dinner with friends, coffee with friends, a party at my house, thrown by me, etc. It's been busy in ways that I don't like to be busy (i.e., I didn't get to watch a stinking minute of TLC, read a page of a book that wasn't school-related, or take any naps.) And I'm actually not finished yet, but I think that I'm through the worst of it, and I aced those tests, by the way. And while I kept my spirits up and my sense of humor handy, thus eliminating any panic attacks, I'm still really, really looking forward to the calm of next week.  

Anyway, a recap of all things me in the last few weeks via photos:

I know what you're thinking: What a sweet life! You're so right, friend! I mean, there are downsides to being me, certainly. I have to walk about six miles to get to class every day. I am taking lots of class and therefore my stress levels are usually up and my free time levels are way down. Additionally, I only have six freckles, something that's always kind of torn me up inside. But I have crazy awesome friends who do crazy awesome things like invite me to be dragged behind a boat and brave a thunderstorm to watch my football team beat the pants off other football teams and cram 200 people in a three bedroom apartment for a dance party (needless to say, a lot of sweating ensued, if you were dancing at least. And c'mon, there's no question about whether or not I was dancing.) (See above photos for illustrations.)

So it was a long, stressful, exhausting, demanding week, but I'd had all these great things the week before to push me through, and lots of great things waiting this weekend to pull me along, and, as it turns out, those days went by and I took those tests, and suddenly, I'm finished and I did it and I'm proud and I'm back.

Hallelujah!

School 101

Whoa whoa whoa. I'd forgotten everything. I'd forgotten about buying books, how it feels to actually go to class, how much sweating is involved with walking around in Alabama August heat all day long, how to grab lunch in 20 minutes and run off somewhere else, how your shoulders feel after lugging around a back pack for three hours. Moreover, I'd forgotten how wonderful it feels to "get it," how gorgeous our campus is no matter what time of year, how incredible it is to be able to hang out with your friends any old time you want.

I started school on Wednesday and whoa: I'd forgotten. It took me a few days to adjust. I'm allergic to change, and August always, always forces me to do tons of it, but this has been welcome, happy (albeit occasionally stressful) change. Still, I had to learn how to work commuter parking, which involves stalking walkers to their cars and then edging forward as they reverse so the guy on the other side knows I STALKED THIS WALKER, IT'S MINE, BUCK-O. I had to spend approximately $73,409 on books, which means I'll never, ever eat again. I got lost! (I found it, but really, isn't that more of a 2009 sort of thing?)

But people, I fell back in love. I get to learn, see. That sounds cheesy, sure, but I'm a first generation student, and when they asked me in an interview for a FG scholarship what it meant to be able to go to college, I said, "I feel really, really privileged to be the one who gets to keep learning." And I still feel that way. I'm still getting used to walking down the street and running into people who spent the last three months light years away from me, but isn't that a splendid change? Uh, yeah!

It's been a week packed full of new routines and old friends, carefree lunches and stressful parking lot circling, feeling at home and...loving it.