The Story of Mel

Questions There May or May Not Be Answers To

2009-09-13T22:46:00.003-04:00

1. Why are there albums by the BYU Marching Band on my computer?
2. Why am I having so much trouble typing up some econ notes?
3. Why did we drop so much in the polls, even though we won yesterday?
4. Why have I been drawing kitties on all my class notes lately?
5. Also, elephants?
6. Why can I never think of anything to update with?
7. Why did I pick an instrument that weighs 50 pounds?
8. Why do I have so many freaking shoes, yet still can't find some to match a majority of my outfits?
9. Why is the red dye already washing out of my hair when I only dyed it LESS THAN A WEEK ago?
10. Why do my stupid Russian exercises keep coming up on my itunes shuffle?
11. Why do people - especially band people - cut in front of me when I have my BIG SHINY tuba?
12. Why, when I send you a text that says "don't tell anybody," do you then proceed to show this text to people?
13. Why do you keep talking to me. That is not even a question. Just oh em gee. Stop.
14. Why do clouds look so delicious?
15. Why is Connecticut so dreary?
16. Why do we always perform better when the sky is Carolina blue?
17. Why do I have so many freaking questions?

Let's all cheer for a blog update!!!!

Question

2009-07-09T07:46:00.004-04:00

If you used a bathroom that other people use - let's say, in fact, that you share this bathroom, so it is in high demand in the morning - and you had to sit on the toilet, you would lock the door first, right?

Okay. Just checking.

Into the Wild

2009-06-17T09:02:00.004-04:00

So every morning, I have been going on a thirty-minute run/walk. My route is to run out of the neighborhood and up this really huge hill that leads to the golf course. Then, I run along the course on the cart path (slash, walk when I get really tired). So anyways, yesterday, I was running back along the golf course when I see an animal cross the path. At first, I just saw the size and color and thought it was a baby deer. Then, it looked at me and I thought, "no, not a baby deer. COYOTE!"

"Don't be fanciful," I immediately chided myself. "Let's be fair. It could be a fox. After all, it is by itself and you ARE in Alabama. Coyotes travel in packs. It's quite big to be a fox, though. And rust-colored, not red. And the ears are not fox-like, they are more dog-like. And the face is white and the nose is pointed. And the tail isn't bushy. And it's big."

As I thought all of this, the animal stopped looking at me, walked a ways, and looked at me again. Then, he wandered off into the woods and I continued my run. When I got home, I looked up pictures of foxes and coyotes. I found this picture and knew that it was EXACTLY what I had seen on the golf course:

COYOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Decisions and Ramblings

2009-06-08T21:48:00.003-04:00

After much deliberation (not really), I decided to not lock the blog. I'm not really planning on revealing too much about my inner life - it was just that with recent developments, I didn't comfortable with everyone reading my blog. But I'm over it.

So the big news of the summer is that I have a full-time, paid internship. Woo! It's in Alabama because that is where my parents live. I'm mostly working in a library.

I don't really feel like being funny tonight :( maybe tomorrow.

Also, if I defriended you on Facebook, please don't take it personally. I figured people only know me a certain way, and now that that link is gone, you wouldn't really care. If you still want to be Fbook friends, add me again & I will ashamedly add you back. :(

????

2009-06-05T15:12:00.004-04:00

Should I just discontinue that which was once this blog?

Locked

2009-06-02T12:06:00.003-04:00

I am locking my blog in one week. If you would like to be on it (and yes, I plan on updating more and not being quite as lame), send me an email or just comment on this post. You should know my email address but it is smellyxjelly [at] gmail [dot] com.

Tragedy

2009-04-18T23:49:00.004-04:00

Today, I went to Wal Mart so I could get crafts to make something for my little, who is being initiated tomorrow (woo hoo!). On the way back, I was getting hungry, so I decided to stop by Wendy's. Being by myself, I pulled up to the drive-through and ordered a Jr. Cheeseburger, Value Fries, a small Frosty, and a water. The total was $4.02, which seemed about right.

I kept driving up to the window, where I paid my $4.02. The lady handed me my frosty, I put it down. She handed me my water, I put it down. She handed me a bag, I put it down. She handed me a Coke. I told her I didn't order a Coke and gave it back to her, asking if I was charged for it. She said yes and gave me back a buck plus change. Content, I drove off.

Sometime later down the road, I was feeling hungry. I reached in the bag to grab some fries, but to my dismay, there were no fries! Instead, there was something hot!! "What the crap is this???" I wondered as I pulled it out.

CHILI!

CHILI INSTEAD OF FRIES!!!

:( :( :( :( :(

I want my value fries, Wendy's. And I'm coming for them.

National Champions!!!

2009-04-08T22:33:00.003-04:00

Go Heels!!! We watched the game in Linda's, a bar on Franklin Street (our main street north of campus). When we won, we raced to go jump over fires and watch people tear down the street signs and fun stuff like that.

Watch Franklin Street timelapse

Best day ever!!!

Sick Again

2009-03-30T18:51:00.003-04:00

So Steve and I have not really been having a good month or two in terms of sickness. We've had colds or stomachaches or other terrible things off and on and it's been a real pain in the butt. Last week, Steve went to the doctor only to be told that his sinus infection was (probably) coming back, making it 5 weeks of sinus infection for him. Poor Steve. So naturally, I called my mom and told her. She sounded kind of sick herself, but didn't mention feeling ill, so we said our good byes and hung up.

Sometime later, she called me back.

Mom: "Tell Steve he's in good company."
Me (thinking that she was sick, too): "Aw, too bad."
Mom: "Yeah... Coach [their puppy] is sick."
Me: "Wait. Steve is in good company because THE DOG is sick?!"
Mom: "Yeah, I'm going to pick him up right now."
Me: "What are you trying to say about Steve???"
Mom: "Well you know, another person close to our family is sick..."

So according to my mom, Steve is dog-like, but it's okay because he's close to the family.

Preggo Professor

2009-03-24T18:50:00.003-04:00

On the second day of class, I walked into Geography 460 - "The Geography of Economic Change" - at 1.50 p.m. not quite knowing what to expect. After all, I have never taken a geography class before, and besides, what the heck is the geography of economic change anyways?

At precisely 2:00, my professor walked in. She was cute, smiley, talkative, funny, and... pregnant. I mean, really pregnant. Like, really REALLY pregnant. You could tell. And I could see her belly button.

I just tried to do a google image search for pregnant people to compare sizes but that's not going to work out.

So of course, we're all wondering if she will finish out the semester, right? I mean she had to be due pretty darn soon... but she didn't mention it. And even I know that you Never Ask a woman when she's due. Unless she's talked about being pregnant. Then it's okay. Maybe.

Anyways, the semester went on. Sometime in January, she mentioned that her facebook relationship status was, "It's Complicated." I was surprised, especially because she had already mentioned having one boy. But in February, she mentioned "husband" somewhere in there - I know because I wrote it down with glee. "She said 'husband'!" But that has nothing to do with the story.

So here she is, getting bigger and bigger, and walking around class less and less. I found out shortly before spring break that she was, in fact, having twins, which was Not Surprising. And she was due in May. May?!?!?! Why didn't she just take the semester off????

The best part is what comes next, though.

Today, I walked into class and sat down as always. Fifteen minutes after 2, she walked in.... smaller. Smaller?!?! My professor started to teach, then very casually mentioned that yes, in fact, SHE HAD GIVEN BIRTH OVER THE WEEKEND AND WAS BACK. TEACHING. Because the twin boys were still in the hospital and it would be awhile before they could take them home.

SHE STILL HAD THE HOSPITAL BRACELETS ON.

AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO THINKS THIS IS CRAZY!?!?!?!?!?!?!

To anyone worried about the babies: she says that they are really cute and perfect, just small. They're four pounds each, which when combined is less than her first baby. Their names are Jeremiah (his dad's name) and Jorge (her dad's name - except with the Brazilian spelling). And it was very "Handmaid's Tale," but she didn't elaborate, which has left me very confused.

And that's all.

Spring Break woooo!!

2009-03-15T21:26:00.003-04:00

Last week was spring break, which was exciting in that it was a break and depressing in that it is now over.

After hanging out until Sunday to see the Duke game (which we won!), Steve and I flew to Texas to visit his sister. It was very fun! Unfortunately, I have zero pictures because my camera died on me.

We arrived to see that everyone came to greet us, which was fun. Steve's nephew was pretty shy at first, but he started to warm up to us in the car and then was happy when we got to their home and he could show us his toys.

We gave everybody hats, and James was VERY cute with his. He kept adjusting it every time someone touched it.

I feel kind of pointless detailing what we did since the only person who reads this is Steve's sister, but whatever. I'll want to remember later. So here's what we did:

Friday: SCHOOL'S OUT WOOOOO! We celebrated by watching a movie and hanging out.

Saturday: LAZY SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday: DUKE GAME!!!! I already said that.

Monday: We got up early and took the bus to the airport. Our flight arrived late in the afternoon and then we ate some Mexican food. Then we went to the apartment, talked, and eventually went to bed.

Tuesday: We hung out in the morning for awhile, then went shopping and to the park. James was very cute on the swing, especially when Uncle Steve was pushing him. Then we went home and played some video games. When Mat got home, we went into the city so that we could see the Riverwalk, eat some real cow (Steve) SLASH Salisbury Steak (me), and see the Alamo. It was all very glorious. I think it's the only day anybody took any pictures.

Wednesday: The weather started to turn bad. We hung out in the morning and then tried to go to Six Flags, which turned into an epic fail, so we went to see Gran Tarino instead. Then, Mat took a half day, but the weather was still pretty bad so we went to Red Robin and then hung out and watched movies.

Thursday: Sadly, Mat had to go out of town, so it was just us and Dani and James (that's not the sad part). We slash only Steve tried to convince Dani to take us to Six Flags in the morning, but it was pouring down rain. The weather got better during the day, though, so during their nap we pulled The Great Car Heist '09 and drove to Six Flags. It was awesome because there was nobody there, so we just sat in the front of the rollercoasters and rode them multiple times. Then we went back and Steve cooked some fried rice. We enjoyed the classic movie "Transformers," known for being written by a thirteen year old boy. Okay, not really, but it could have been.

Friday: We had a nice day in (Steve and I slept in late) and we finally got Steve and Dani some Arby's. We watched our game, which we BARELY won. Then, Dani went to pick up Mat from the airport, so Steve and I cleaned up our mess and watched James. When they got home, we watched lots of sports and went out for barbeque. We ended our trip by just hanging out and talking, which was nice.

Saturday: We got up ridiculously early and went to the airport... then we didn't return home until 12 hours later. A different Matt (two t's) picked us up in his newish car. Yay for friends!

Sunday: LAZY SUNDAY! Kind of. I collected Steve in the afternoon and we went to the mall for dinner and to return some stuff, but it closed at seven, which was quite tragic. We did some shopping and returned home.

All in all, it was a great trip. I really enjoyed meeting everyone and Steve's sister and her family were all very nice people. James is ridiculously cute.

And now spring break is over and I want to cry. I have so much to do now. :( Is it summer yet?

Haircuts

2009-01-17T15:31:00.006-05:00

Mel before:

(plus an inch, no pictures from right before)

Mel after:

Steve before:

Steve after:

A little loose in the Heel

2009-01-14T10:56:00.003-05:00

Long time, no post.

So I am making my daily commute to campus when I pass by one of our many newspaper stands. As I do every day, I pick one up. As I do every day, I start to read it. As I do every day, I laugh at what our editors decide is front-page worthy. Today, it happened to be this:
If The Shoe Fits

Let me quote: “Wearing the shoe has two purposes,” Leighton said. “It’s to say that we are sorry and to let the man go.” (emphasis mine)

I'm sorry, what? We're protesting for what now? The man who threw a shoe at the President of the United States. Let's back up here. The man threw a shoe. At the President. Of the United States.

Let's pause and realize some things about me first:
1. I don't really like Bush
2. I know that Bush is not Al-Zaidi's president
3. I would not throw a shoe at a foreign president/minister/queen/etc
4. I do think that being in jail for 2 years is a little harsh - I would have gone for a heavy fine, myself

Given those statements, let me reiterate: I'm sorry, what? Why should we protest in favor of this man? He just threw a shoe at YOUR president. Like it or not, this man is (and was, at the time of his visit) the current face of America. Yes, it will be someone else shortly. HE STILL THREW A SHOE AT THE PRESIDENT.

Not everybody has to like their president. Not everybody has to respect his decisions. And yes, everybody has the right to protest and I realize that.

You know what? I'll even say that not everybody has to respect their president.

But everybody has to respect that office. And when a man throws a shoe at your president, you don't protest in favor of that man.

Belatedly Thanksgiving.... pictures post!

2008-12-08T11:03:00.008-05:00

The weekend before Thanksgiving, it was senior day. Both my and Steve's parents came up for the game, so we had fun introducing them. Unfortunately, my camera died during the game (naturally, it came back to life after Thanksgiving), so I didn't get any great pictures of Steve with his parents. The best one came from my mom's iPhone:

Here's one from my camera before the game:

Steve has a pretty flower because he is a senior. And those hats are the bane of my existence. I hate them with a raw, firey passion.

Moving right along... after a (terrible) game that we won't talk about, we brought our parents together on Sunday morning for brunch at Elmo's. They got along quite well - it turns out that David and my dad have a lot of shared experiences due to their military backgrounds.

Actually, it was funny because they were across the table from each other, but ended up conversing with each other the whole meal. Steve's mom was left to talk to my sister, Stephanie.

Then on Tuesday afternoon, we headed for the beach, where my dad's side of the family always celebrates Thanksgiving. This is what greeted us on Thursday:

Yum! My dad made the turkey. Steve didn't like it, though.

What a loser.

I guess you can't blame the man. He WAS a vegetarian only a year ago.

I love our Thanksgiving. Our traditions include: turkey, ham, corn, deviled eggs, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, strawberry gelatin salad, stuffing, cranberry slices ( my opinion is solidly :( on that one), carrots, other beans (usually butter), rolls/bread, and...

...pumpkin pie, chocolate cream pie, rum cake, chocolate pound cake, vanilla pound cake, ice cream, and new this year, an apple tart thing that my uncle made. What are your traditions?

This year was a little disappointing because one of my uncles (my dad has 2 brothers) and his family did not come to the meal. They are tradition-breakers (and criminals if you listen to my grandma), and I didn't get to see my cutest cousin ever. So bah on them.

Overall, Thanksgiving was fun (and delicious) and I got to see my family. Steve got to meet everyone, which I'm sure was an adventure for him. Even my mom's parents came this year,

We make an annual pilgrimage on Thanksgiving to the movie theater. This year, half of us saw Quantum of Solace and half of us saw Role Models. Steve and I had already seen Role Models, so we went to Quantum of Solace, which we were almost late to so we ended up sitting in the front row.

It was kind of late when we got home, so the kids (me, my siblings, my cousin [her sister is in France, and the other cousins didn't come....], Steve) decided that we were going to participate in Black Friday shopping at midnight.

Ugh.

It was my first Black Friday everrrr and I didn't even buy anything. There were only boring clothes, blech. Steve did get a present for his mom, though, as well as a nice windbreaker from Reebok. The other kids didn't fare much better.

But my sister and I did get jackets the next day after my mom went shopping.

Too hot

2008-11-18T23:13:00.001-05:00

Steve, Kitty and I thought we'd put you in the holiday mood.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

New President

2008-11-05T13:21:00.003-05:00

Okay. So election day happened. We have a new president, change is coming, blah blah blah. I could let you all know my opinion, or we could discuss more important things.

I mean, come on, Michelle. You really introduced yourself as the next first lady dressed in that? REALLY???

And you, innocent blogger reading this, don't pretend like you don't know what I'm talking about. Oh, you know. You saw. And you wept. America, what have we come to?

I don't want to hear any more of this "striking" business. I don't care if the Queen of England designed it. Simply put, the criminal dual reds make her look fat. Maybe if there was just one splash, but I'm not sold - it looks like blood and frankly, do you really want that on your chest OR WORSE, your crotch? NO! No, Michelle, you really, REALLY don't.

She is an attractive woman. She can do so much BETTER.

SO WHY!?!?!??!?!

Election Day

2008-11-04T08:32:00.001-05:00

I already voted.

And I'd be lying if I said I'm not nervous.

How to Know When You've Studied Too Much Russian

2008-10-22T16:22:00.002-04:00

I am a Russian minor. For those of you who aren't, the Cyrillic alphabet (what Russian uses) is very similar to our alphabet. However, it is Greek-based, so a lot of the letters that are similar to our letters are actually DIFFERENT letters. You following? Okay here, I'll show you the Cyrillic alphabet:

а б в г д е ё ж з и й к л м н о п р с т у ф х ц ч ш щ ъ ы ь э ю я

(You'll notice that it is a little bit longer, too.)

See that thing that looks like this: Н? Yeah, that's not an "H (h)." That's an "N (n)." And the thing that looks like a backwards N? You say it "ee." The "X" is said "hah" and so on and so on.

So they've got this alphabet, which is in print, and then a separate alphabet for writing, which is in cursive. And the letters mostly look the same, but some are different. (We're getting to the point of this post soon.) So do you see the "П" (the pi)? That is actually a "P." and the "Р" is actually "R." But anyways, the "п," in cursive, looks a lot like "n."

And now the point: I was typing up a comment for a blog entry. This particular blog required a de-spamming word verification, which so happened to be "njht8q." I stared at the first letter, typed "p," and was confused as to why they didn't look the same. And I kid you not, I stared at that word verification for a good two minutes trying to figure out what the letter "n" is in English.

so awesome

2008-10-22T14:31:00.000-04:00

I am posting this from my iPod. Seriously. Awesome.

Man

2008-10-21T10:16:00.001-04:00

I haven't really updated it over two weeks. Not that it really matters, but whatever. What we've been up to:

-my birthday happened
-terrible midterms
-went to Steve's mom's place in Virginia
-Steve's teeth started hurting
-came back

That's a basic summary.

Poor Steve can't catch a break this semester :(

I want to make a real post... no time :(

Later

2008-10-13T08:25:00.001-04:00

So much happened this past week! And this coming week is FALL BREAK and we're going to go see Steve's mommy!

I feel like I should update, but I have to leave for class in 4 minutes. So update will probably come later, probably in the form of bullets.

Groceries

2008-10-04T11:30:00.002-04:00

WE HAVE GROCERIES!!!!!!!!!

I got up early this morning and went to Steve's (my car is at his place) and we GOT GAS AND GROCERIES! Yay! Then I took him to pay his rent and we registered for classes. In about an hour, my dad will be here and then we'll go to the game (Steve and I will play tuba, Dad will watch) and all will be lovely.

This weekend is shaping up nicely!

A Question

2008-10-03T12:27:00.002-04:00

We need a preamble to this post. My boyfriend and I are both college students and cook most of our meals at his place. These meals are usually:
-potatoes
-pasta
-rice
-stir-fry vegetables
-sandwiches

...I think that's about it.

So Steve's sister was awesome awhile ago and sent us a cookbook, we just haven't gone grocery shopping since then.

THE QUESTION:

Is getting flour/sugar/stuff like that worth it?

Car Trouble

2008-10-02T09:12:00.003-04:00

I have no gas in my car. Well, okay, some. A little less than 1/8 of a tank.

The problem is, there's not enough gas anywhere to fill up the empty 7/8.

And Steve and I need groceries. BADLY. We have:
-eggs
-green beans
-black beans
-baked beans
-lettuce
-some cheese
-rice

....and that is it.

Miami and Ramblings

2008-09-26T07:52:00.003-04:00

Steve is off for Miami! It will be his first time to Florida and I am happy for him, but also a little jeal because :( he left. What will I do with myself for a whole weekend?

Answer - LOTS OF SAI!! It's a little-known rule that when The Boy is gone, you need to distract yourself with the girls. Friends, I mean. So tonight we're getting together for a fun activity, tomorrow we're having a sleepover (so cute), and on Sunday night there's a reception.

You don't know about receptions, do you? Well, receptions are how SAI (my fraternity) makes money. We set up some crackers, fruit, desserts, punch, etc. during a concert/recital (because we're a music fraternity) and then serve it after. It is delish and we get lots of money, which we then donate to philanthropies! Yay!

Also, tomorrow I will hopefully be meeting up or talking with Raphael, one of my favorite people in the whole wide world, who is supposed to help me decide things about my up-and-coming twenty first birthday.

Speaking of that particular event, I'm really excited! It's now just over a week away. My daddy is coming up the weekend before (we think) and we've had this thing since I was really little where on my 21st birthday, he is going to buy me my first drink. So that should be really sweet, even if Steve does think it's weird. Whatever, he's just jealous because he wants to be the purchaser. I am in high demand!

Oh no! I have class in an hour... I need to go shower :(

Mormons

2008-09-22T11:53:00.001-04:00

Those Mormons have something right, anyways.

Coffee Increases Infertility

WTF

2008-09-17T19:12:00.001-04:00

WE JUST GOT HIT BY A CAR.

Granted, it was only going roughly one mile per hour, but STILL.

What the heck?!?!?!?!?

Oh noes

2008-09-16T09:01:00.001-04:00

A mystery is developing.

So I'm in a fraternity. A women's fraternity. With only women. And it's a professional fraternity (music). And it's a service fraternity.

Or so I thought.

Yesterday, I was fooling around on Wiki (I know, I know) and discovered something that started a trail of confusion. I looked up "SAI" (my fraternity) and on the little sidebar, where it says "Type," it was followed by "Social." I said, "hm what?" and changed it to Service. I then noticed that on the bottom of the page, there was a link to all "Social Fraternities and Sororities." I clicked, and found that SAI was on the list. When I returned to SAI's page, "Service" had been changed back to "Social."

Horrors upon horrors! I was determined to get to the bottom of this, and started navigating the national website. While I found useful information, none of it pertained to this issue - I couldn't find the words "Service Fraternity" (or even "Service Sorority" - and yes, there were some links with that terrible word) anywhere!

I emailed my President and Fraternity Education chair, and neither of them knew what was going on.

IT'S A MYSTERY!

School Again :(

2008-09-15T11:26:00.006-04:00

As was probably expected, none of us died over the course of the weekend. However, I almost did... out of BOREDOM. ALL OF SATURDAY was spent watching football. ALL OF IT! Now don't get me wrong, I love me some Tar Heels and I will support them and watch them whenever, come hell or high water. And out of the interests of Steve, I'll entertain the notion of watching BYU dominate UCLA.

BUT ALL DAY?!!?!?! Why does he even care about these other teams???

I spent the majority of that time uploading pictures to Facebook. It turns out that I haven't added any since Spring Break last year... so I have a lot of uploading to do still... MAYBE I'll catch up to Labor Day by the end of this week.

Sigh. Sunday was good though; we went to a Japanese steakhouse for lunch. Yum! The chef didn't make us catch the bits in our mouth, which was probably for the best because I'm really bad at that. Then, we went shopping - I bought Steve some plug-ins for his room/bathroom (yesssss) and we got some groceries. Steve is happy about his plug-ins - every time he walks in to his room he says, "It smells so good in here! Like cookies!" And meanwhile, I am just glad that the funky smell (I
blame the ACUs and PTs...) is being masked.

Chelsea finally sent me an email and the bad news is that she's in a lot of pain. The good news is that she's home resting, which is exactly where she needs to be.

Hmmm... I think that brings us up to speed!

Quick Update

2008-09-12T08:06:00.003-04:00

Just a quick update because I have class soon...

WE ARE STILL ALIVE!

Chelsea is officially gone :( this is tragic. Steve is officially maybe staying an extra semester. Mel is officially moved minus posters.

That game last night was amazing! From our side, anyways. We won out of state! Ahhhh!!!! This might have been just what we needed! ...or we might just blow it in the next game. But still! But still!

Steve really likes football. A lot. And we definitely spent all of last Saturday watching it. And sometimes I wonder why I picked such a manly man, but then I look at his cute little baby face and remember :)

:) of the day

2008-09-11T07:34:00.003-04:00

Me, Steve, and Chelsea over Labor Day Weekend.... more pictures on Facebook soon

Good News

2008-09-10T22:46:00.003-04:00

....and the good news of the day is that all three of us are still alive.

Roommate Chelsea's parents came today. After her doctor's appointment tomorrow, her parents are taking her home for around two weeks. :( we will miss her, but hopefully it will give her a chance to rest and just take a break from all this stress here.

Since her parents were here, we went ahead and moved. They moved all of her stuff up as I moved all of mine up. Then, after they were gone, I went to the Armory to get Steve and he came and got all the big stuff (futon, fridge, etc). We spent a few hours feng-shui-ing the room (as Chelsea calls it) and I am pretty satisfied with its cuteness. It's bigger than our last room so yay!

Steve's issue is slowly (emphasis on that) resolving...

So we're all still alive, barely, and things are getting VERY SLIGHTLY better but today was a really bad day.

Maybe the real good news is that we're learning how to prepare for utter disaster.

Stress!

2008-09-09T21:25:00.003-04:00

I am so way beyond the point of things I can handle right now. And the crazy thing, so is my roommate and my boyfriend. And we're all the type of person to take on other people's stress, AND all of this has unfolded in just the past two weeks, so I don't know how even one of us is left alive right now, let alone all three of us. Don't be surprised if all three of us drop dead in the next week.

And now for the elaboration...

Roommate Chelsea
Chelsea is an Astrophysics major (yes, in her free time, Chelsea is a genius). Last year, this was fine. This year, she finds out that the classes she needs for her major haven't been offered in two years and aren't going to be offered in the next two years. She discovers that she might have to transfer to NC State (blech) to get the major she needs, which she does need to do what she wants to do. Then, after we return from Labor Day, Chelsea's hip starts to hurt. She goes to the campus doctor, who tells her that she has bursitis (my friend Google reveals that this is when the fluid cushioning your joints move). She gets crutches and starts to move around painfully. Then, she goes to the real doctor, who tells her that it is not in fact bursitis, but a slipped disk. And that it is a chronic problem. And that she might have to get surgery. And if she gets surgery, she has to take the rest of the semester off; either way, she is sentenced to bed rest.

Summary: No major, slipped disk, can't march

Steve The Boy
Steve is a transfer from BYU. UNC is not the best with transferring academic hours, and he only got 59 for the two years he was there (he should have gotten about ten more). Last year, his adviser told him that this was fine. This year (today, actually), his adviser says, "whoops!" and that he cannot, in fact, graduate on time. Panic ensues. We scramble to find a way for Steve to graduate on time, only to discover that this is possible if he takes a 24-hour semester this semester and a 21-hour semester. Keep in mind, this is the same boy who is in both Army ROTC and band. He's in charge of supply for ROTC, so he has to go to the Armory more or less every day. Band is no small commitment either. To top this off, his parents are getting kicked out of their house because the people (to clarify: NOT HIS PARENTS) that own the mortgage decided not to pay it.

Summary: might not graduate, too many hours for one semester, Army, band, parents

Mel
I still don't think it's completely safe to talk about this here because people really will use anything you say against you, but suffice to say that one day Steve had my keys and my RA yelled at him for it (and that is ALL THAT HAPPENED). The next thing I know, I get a Contact Report. I meet with the Community Director, who doesn't believe me at all, then tells me I have to meet with the Dean (yes, over KEYS). She basically says it's a harassment case (WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!) and tells me that I have to move. Oh yeah, and on top of this? The RA and I basically have the university's version of restraining orders on each other.

Summary: kicked out of room, restraining order

On top of this, we are all poor college kids and can barely afford our food and shelter.

So yeah! I'll try to update more often if only to let you know if we are all three still living or not.

Politics

2008-09-03T11:46:00.007-04:00

So. I have gotten into the habit of avoiding writing about politics. I think that this is not a bad habit to get into. In fact, I've come to realize that I like listening to what people think about politics more than politics themselves - partly because our politics are supposed to reflect "the people" and generally don't.

I happen to find the recent choice of Palin REALLY interesting for several reasons. I happen to think it is a good choice, but I found a blog (we'll not mention how or why) that voiced some concerns that, while I might not agree with, are certainly very interesting.

So, dear readers, I'd like for you to check out this link and tell me what you think (in a civilized manner). Keep in mind that it doesn't necessarily reflect what I think, but like I said, it does raise some interesting concerns.

Blog If you have time, read the comments as well. They're very interesting.

Now, as to what I think:

First of all, I am not a mom. I'm not really planning on being a mom in the near future. So a certain part of me can't really identify with this blog entry at all. However, that doesn't make me less capable of thought, so I could definitely see her points. They make sense to me. I'm not sure that I agree with the "would I want someone who dedicates more time to job than family" thing because I do think that that line of thought, well, IS inherently sexist. As the writer admits, she would not pause as long if it was a man. But it is an interesting thing to be voiced, certainly.

While I don't feel pandered to (I would not vote for a woman simply because she's a woman), I can understand where it comes from. She fills a role that was needed by the GOP. The question is, is that really something to be upset about? I find it interesting that many people who complain about this sort of thing are also the people who hate politicians and how fake they are. Somehow, partly because of her family, Palin seems less fake. I don't think this is a bad thing, experience or no. And I think that the world we live in is changing, and having more experience isn't necessarily the best thing - being able to adapt might be a better quality to look for.

Well, anyways. I'm really more interested in knowing what everyone else thinks...

Ling Thing

2008-09-02T23:26:00.002-04:00

So Roommate Chelsea, Steve The Boy, and I have kind of created our own language. It's pretty amazing and simple. Basically, we shorten adjectives and most adverbs, but other things get shortened as well. Sometimes you have to change the spelling to reflect the way things are said...

Some examples:
-amazing = amahz
-stupid = stoop
-ridiculous = ridic
-negative = neg
-positive = pos
-uber = ube
-adorable = adorb

This is only a small percentage of things that we shorten - it is something that happens just in conversation. The problem is, I have begun incorporating (incorp'ing) this language into my daily life. So I'll be around one of my friends, and I'll go, "oh my gosh that sweater is ridic adorb" and they are all like, "wtf are you on, woman?" Or I'll call someone and it'll go straight to voicemail and I'll be all, "I tried to call you.... neg result."

Another problem with it is that it makes my boyfriend, well, kind of sound like a girl.

I'm fairly convinced that we are the odd couple plus one.....

The Most Ridiculous Thing

2008-09-02T10:02:00.002-04:00

So the most ridiculous thing has been going on in my life lately. I don't think it's safe to blog about it - let's face it, the world is filled with evil, evil people - but it is ridiculous, wasting my time, and making me angry.

On the flip side, Labor Day Weekend, yay! Saturday was terrible. So was Friday. Too much band... but then late Sunday, my roommate, Steve and I went to the beach! It was fun.

More details later, I have a quiz in 50 minutes :( :( :(

Things That Make Mel Angry - The Truck

2008-08-26T21:43:00.004-04:00

There are a few - okay, let's face it, more than a few - things in this world that Make Mel Angry. So this series is dedicated to these things, and we're going to dedicate the first episode to The Truck.

The Truck is what we bigger-instrumented band kids use in place of lugging around our instruments. It's a big, white moving truck, and in it are the tubas, mellophones, baritones, drumline equipment, and the occasional ladder (for the drum majors.... non-music nerds, those are the people that wave their arms around).

There are precious few rules to The Truck, but they are meant to be followed. And they really aren't difficult rules to follow, either, considering that you don't have to keep a sousaphone/bass drum/baritone in your room. These rules are:
1. A.J. and Paul are in charge of the truck. Do what they say.
2. You don't drive the truck.
3. EVERYONE WHO USES THE TRUCK LOADS AND UNLOADS THE TRUCK.
4. EVERYONE WHO USES THE TRUCK UNLOADS ALL THE INSTRUMENTS.
5. EVERYONE WHO USES THE TRUCK STAYS UNTIL AT LEAST THEIR ENTIRE SECTION IS LOADED.
6. Typical unload go-time is thirty minutes prior; typical load time lasts twenty minutes.

Like I said, not hard rules to understand or follow.

Now answer me, WHY does nobody understand this? I'll cut the freshmen some slack. In fact, I'm embarrassed to say, even the tuba freshmen are waaaaaaaaaaay sub-par on this one. In their (and that of other freshmen) defense, however, the "official A.J. and Paul rules" have not been laid out yet. But honestly? Sophomores and above, you should understand these rules.

Today was the worst day I have ever seen in my entire Truck-using experience. Meghan, Steve, Bass Drum Girl, Other Drum Kid, and I were the only ones (besides Paul and A.J.) unloading. Granted, some baritones were there... watching us UNLOAD THEIR INSTRUMENTS. About halfway through, they decided to help. And then after rehearsal - after rehearsal! Don't get me started! I saw a Truck-using couple walk off hand in hand before practically anything was loaded! And they were not freshmen, or even sophomores! You should know better.

It might feel like I'm calling people out here, but honestly. It's really freaking rude to just WATCH me unload YOUR instrument. It's rude to not help me with my instrument, but to a lesser degree. It's rude to walk off while the rest of your section loads their instruments, even if your personal instrument is already on the truck. Tell me, what would happen if each tuba player walked off after her instrument was on the truck? Who would load the last person's? It takes two people to lift those things.

Yes, it does suck. Yes, we have to be there earlier than anyone else, and later than anyone else. We also don't have to carry our instruments around like everyone else does. And right now, it's not even "we." It's some of the tubas and about half the drumline and nobody else.

So yeah, it makes me angry when people don't use Truck etiquette. Because honestly, it's just rude, people. And I'm sorry if it seems like I'm being bitchy, but at that point you stop being my friend/fellow player/what have you and you start being someone who is being rude to me on a personal level. Because I am unloading your instrument, and you're sitting there watching me.

Summer is Over :(

2008-08-24T15:21:00.012-04:00

Steve and I had a very busy summer! After Army camp, he came to see me (see the last post). Then, we drove up to the beach! We spent about a week at my Grandma's and did all sorts of things.

We played in the ocean....
(Steve refuses to let me post a picture of this.)

Watched the sunrise...
Played mini-golf...
(note that uggo BYU shirt :( )

Had adventures on the beach at night (neither of us are drunk, I swear)....

....and, Steve's favorite, went to Planet Hollywood!

Yay!

There are a lot more pictures where those came from, too.

After that, we drove up to Virginia to go to Steve's stepbrother's wedding. It was a very lovely wedding and everything was simply gorgeous. Driving back, we stopped by a little place called Lover's Leap. Steve had to convince me not to end it all...

Then we went back to school. Now we are one week in and everything is going swimmingly. We're trying to decide what we want to do for breaks (and how many we want to spend together). Football games start up next weekend, and my first SAI meeting is tonight, so we're already in the thick of things. We hope everyone can come for a game or two!

Cookies!

2008-07-30T18:42:00.011-04:00

As previously mentioned, Steve (aka The Boy) is here with me in Suburbia, Georgia. Tomorrow, we leave for the beach. We have had a grand old time here and today, we made and decorated cookies!

Cookies make Steve very happy.

We made all sorts of shapes. There were two hippos (I made mine a ballerina, a la Fantasia), a kitty, a couple of bears (one Steve bear and one Mel bear), lots of hearts, a few butterflies, a flower, an egg, some circles, a triangle, a few stars....

And, oh yes, Steve made a penis.

He made a big pink penis with chocolate sprinkles.

And this inspired me to make boobs.
I apologize for the obscenity of the following picture.

We had a lot of fun! The cookies were very delicious and all is well
with the world. We'll be sure to send you some on request. :)

Although I am wondering who is going to eat that penis cookie.

In Which We Discover a Hidden Talent

2008-07-25T16:58:00.005-04:00

Two Mondays ago, I arrived home from a month-long camp.

Two Mondays ago (let me remind the readers that today is Friday), my mom asked me to go through everything in my room, as she will be moving whilst I am away at college.

Allow me to take a brief interlude to describe The Home Situation. My parents, let me say first, are very much not divorced, and as such, are very much married. Indeed, I have a very, well, typical family - a mom, a dad, and two younger siblings, one boy and one girl. All the kids are two school years apart and grew up as a nice, normal, typical Suburban Family. Now last year, my father quit his job in good old Suburbia, Georgia and decided to get a new job in good old Suburbia, Alabama. My brother, however, was about to enter his senior year at Suburbia High School; he could hardly leave his Friends-for-Life-or-at-least-the-next-year at such a critical point in his young life. So my mother agreed to live with him for one year in Suburbia, Georgia while my father and my sister (a mere sophomore and thus not worth keeping in Georgia) moved to Suburbia, Alabama. Key element to the story? The house we grew up in is, in fact, a house. The house my father and sister live in is, sadly, a ~~three~~ two-bedroom, one office-room townhouse.

And now the time has come to reunite the family, or at least, my parents and sister. As soon as the two oldest move out to college, Mom is moving in. And that means that our stuff is moving with her.

Or rather, it would be. Remember the whole thing about the tiny townhouse? Yeah, well, apparently in Mom's mind, "tiny townhouse" translates to "get rid of all of Mel's stuff."

And so two Mondays ago, my mom asked me to go through everything in my room. I was to separate things into three piles: Things I Will Be Taking to College, Things I Can Fit in an Itty Bitty Box Which Will Occupy the Attic, and Things to Throw Away. Greatly implied is that the Things to Throw Away pile should be the largest. "Only save things with sentimental value," she informed me.

Two weeks later, I have yet to perform this task. Yes, dear readers, you did in fact read that correctly. No more can you blame yourselves, your significant others, your children, what have you for being procrastinators, for you have indeed met the queen of them all. I amaze myself with the sheer amount of procrastination I have managed - I have read every piece of news I missed in the past month, caught up with several webcomics, discovered what everyone has been doing via facebook, watched two Olsen movies on YouTube, baked one cake, baked many cupcakes, read one and a half books, lazed around, hung out with friends, and discovered things you would never care to learn about on Wikipedia - just to mention a few activities. It is a skill.

The problem, of course, is that my boyfriend is coming to visit and will be here in three - yes, three - hours. And this task was actually supposed to be completed by the time he got here.

Oops?

Blah

2008-07-23T20:41:00.002-04:00

What to say?

Ta-Da

2008-07-22T18:13:00.000-04:00

Hello, world! Albeit delayed, Mel has joined the force that is Blogspot. Why? I think that even she does not really know...

...that is to say, she is really bad at updating. But hopefully, having this will force her to update regularly! I have no idea how. And now that I have chosen the first person, hopefully I can stick with that too.

What is there to say in a first post, really? I don't have any blogspot friends to read it... and so I don't really know what to talk about. On the off chance that someone does read this, any suggestions?