"Who can say I have been changed for the better?"

"I have been changed for good."

So other than the sheer fun that was this weekend, I saw two things that have completely changed my life.

The first: Imagine this as an ENTIRE car! Yeah. A troll car. Right outside the Mall of America. Don't think I didn't take pictures on my camera phone...'cause I did!

The second: A billboard proclaiming "Education Now, Babies Later." After some research, I found that this is a huge campaign across Minnesota. But really, all it made me do was laugh. And take a picture, once again, with my phone.

These two sitings made the 6.5 hours I spent in a car today worthwhile. Additionally, I feel more complete having seen a car covered (completely) with troll-wallpapery-crap and proof of the ENABL campaign. Yes.

"For...

...once in my life"

Plans for the weekend:

Saturday...
~Work from 8:45 to 5ish (for money)
~Drive from Brookings to Sherburn (for getting from Point A to Point B)
~Drink to celebrate a quasi-graduation party (for fun)
~Camp (for rest)

Sunday...
~Drive to Pine Island (for again, Point A-->B)
~Play with a puppy (for a non-fish pet-play session)
~Take advantage of Chipotle (for nourishment)

Monday...
~Take advantage of Caribou (for caffeine)
~Drive to Minneapolis ([for] see Saturday part 2 and Sunday part 1)
~Shop at IKEA (for end tables, coffee table, other fun things)
~Drive back to Brookings (for the sheer fun of it)

Man, I love weekends that are pretty much planned yet are filled with nothingness!! FOR sure.

"Burning glances, turning heads...

...Masquerade! Stop and stareat the sea of smiles around you!"

I have become a person I don't like.

A head-flipper.

That is right. I have been flipping my hair for the last half-hour. I feel so ditzy; I honestly may be losing brain cells with each shift from left to right! How did I let this happen!?

I got 4-5 inches of hair taken off my head. Yup, a simple haircut has changed (at least temporarily) my persona. 4-5 inches is a decent change, and I am really excited for it. I was getting sick of long hair and decided today was the day. It still hangs below my shoulders, so it is by no means short...just shorter.

And I love the feeling of my hair moving when I move my head; less weight = more movement! Additionally, I have to work at a gala event tomorrow, so the new haircut will fit right in!

No I am going to go turn a few heads...mostly my own!

"And the sun's coming up...

...in the morning."

It is bright in my apartment. This would be because it is 6:10am. I just got home from a party. On most Sundays this would not be a problem...but I have to work today.

Blech.

"I can take a few tears now and then and just let 'em out...

"What hurts the most was being so close, and having so much to say, and watching you walk away."

What makes people grow apart?

How do some people wake up in the morning and decide, "Hey, I don't want to have anything to do with such-and-such anymore"?

And how is such-and-such supposed to deal with this?

I am such-and-such. I am coming to terms that one of my best friends woke up and decided that I wasn't worth his time anymore. I am coming to terms with the fact that 2 of my other "friends" have had the ability to talk behind my back to get him to dislike me as much as they apparently do. I am coming to terms with the fact that I can't talk to him every night, share things that make me happy with him, and rely on him when I have a problem. And now I don't know who to share these things with.

I have been really out of it lately. Really out of it. I have only been awake for about 3 hours today. I just don't want to deal with all the crap that is going on, so sleeping allows me to avoid it. I thought I had been doing a decent job of hiding my feelings, but people are noticing...I guess when the bubbly, perky one changes their nature, people can't help but take note. Now I feel like I am letting people down because I am supposed to be the strong one that people come to with their problems.

All because a couple of popularity-seeking, elementary-minded girls are incapable of holding a friendship for more than 6 months, so they moved in and took one of my best friends away from me. Now I sound like an elementary-schooler, but that is the best way to put the situation. It is ridiculous, yet inescapable. This blows.

"I've lived in this place, and I know all the faces..."

...Im moving on."

I signed a lease today. This is really exciting for me, but bittersweet at the same time.

I have lived in the same place for 2 years and, besides rearranging my stuff 4 times within my room, nothing has changed. I have lived with the same 3 people for the past 22 months, 1 of them for the entire year previous to moving into this apartment and another for 3 months previous. It hasn't been a cake-walk by any means...in fact it has been downright hard a lot of the time. But we made it through.

I have learned a lot about myself in finding this apartment. I am not a gambler--I do not take risks. However, the method to get this apartment was a huge risk; most of the 1-bedroom apartments in town are taken by this time. I had no guarantee that I could get into this building, but I had to wait until June to find out if I could so I sat and watched other people get apartments, biding my time because I knew where I wanted to live. But this gamble worked--my new apartment is fantastic. And I get a deck!

Now I officially have a 1 bedroom apartment all to myself. I have never lived alone. I love people; I thrive on people interaction. I get lonely after being alone for a weekend. Now I will constantly be alone unless I make a concerted effort to spend time with others. I won't have a built-in social life. Privacy is a good thing, yes; being a loner is quite another. Still, I am ready for a change.

Bring on the moving boxes!

"I want my life to be something more than long...

...got to find my corner of the sky."

What I accomplished today:

~Drove to Sioux Falls to have my stitches removed.
~Stopped at Caribou.
~Absentee voted since I can't make it to the precinct tomorrow.
~Fielded 3 calls as to why I was late to work, including one from my boss whom I had reminded on Friday as to my tardiness for work this morning.
~Got to work late, but made up an hour's worth of work in 5 minutes.

~In my 20 minute lunch break:
~lost apartment keys
~found apartment keys
~found place to live for next year!!!!!!!!!
~paid credit card bills
~made food
~picked up a package from Post Office and bought new stamps

~Returned to work.
~Finished out work day.
~Re-potted little plants.
~Laughed uproariously at the comment: "My poop is more interesting, and a lot less expensive" regarding the Fun Fact on Deal or No Deal.

Five Ike-points for the person who can identify the musical associated with the title and blue text without looking it up...2 points if you look it up.

"I'm seeing my father in me"

...or at least my grandmother....

I am my grandmother's granddaughter; but generally only one at a time.

I went rummage saling today. I was on the search for a recliner and the first weekend in June is the big Rummage Sale extravaganza in these here parts. At the 3rd sale I found a recliner for $30...not bad by any means. However, I wanted to see what else was available, so Kimmy and I hit up some more sales--she got a solid oak table for $5 plus the guy delivered it to her house after we realized it didn't fit in the B-Lazer. After a few more stops (plus a stop at my boss's boss's place who was having a joint sale with my boss's boss's boss [yeah, it is not as confusing as it looks]) we went back to get my recliner.

Or not. It was gone. G-O-N-E. This made me sad, but my non-aggressive nature had caused me to lose out on a recliner, but it also helped me to realize that there are "more fish in the sea." Meh.

However, this whole ordeal got me thinking about my grandmothers. My paternal grandmother has an inordinant amount of sheer "stuff." She is a die-hard rummage saler and would have never left without that recliner in the first place (along with 3 boxes of other things I am sure). She would be highly disappointed in my wishy-washiness about buying the chair in the first place and would have just bought it without looking at other options. My maternal grandmother is the complete opposite...she loathes rummage sales and putting on the estate sale when her father died was a horrendous undertaking for the whole family. She, after hearing my tale, would most likely send me the money to buy a completely new chair and throw in a little for a coffee table and end tables. The differences between these women astonish me, and I love the fact that I have qualities of both of them within my personality. I also love the fact that a few hours of rummage saling can cause me to draw these parallels and distinctions.

"Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun...

...please shine down on me!"

First sunburn of the season! For future reference, an entire day spent outside (okay, so 11 hours) tends to lead a girl to match her pink tee-shirt. If I were wearing a red tee-shirt that would probably match too. Ow.

However, playing sand volleyball, disk golf, and random other fun along with a AA baseball game was totally worth the pain I will feel for the next few days. Plus, I totally got to sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" on top of the home dugout and went out on the field to lead the "YMCA." Yeah, totally worth it.

Now I am off to find aloe.