Wordless Wednesday

Thank God it's (Freaky) Friday

Fridays never go according to plan for me. Either my schedule gets all out of whack or something just really really weird happens. Today has already had a little bit of both.

Let me back up and explain my funky schedule: last night we had a voting meeting for my coed fraternity, PSP.

Let me back up and explain something about voting meetings. They are notorious for running into the wee hours of the morning.

Let me back THAT up and explain a little bit more about our fraternity. Like other fraternities and sororities, we have a rushing process as well as an initiate process every semester. This is an 8-week long period during which we are supposed to assess whether or not a given individual is a good fit for our organization. PSP is based on a tripod of scholarship, fellowship and leadership. An initiate must exemplify all three qualities and fulfill certain requirements in order to become a brother. And yes, even girls are brothers. That's how we roll.

So fast forward to last night. The 8-week long initiate process is over so it was time to vote on whether they should be brothers or not. We conduct our meetings according to Robert's Rules of Order so we undergo a pro/con debate on each individual. After spending so much time with these people, there is obviously a lot to say about them after the 8 weeks. And everyone wants to persuade the rest of the group in one direction or the other. Of course, this all part of a structured and productive debate, but it can take a really freaking long time! A recent voting began at 6:30 PM one Thursday night and ended at 5 AM Friday morning.

I kid you not.

We had 19 initiates by the last night. They were an eclectic pledge class to say the least but I loved getting to know them. I'm so fortunate to meet all of these awesome people that I normally wouldn't have in my day-to-day life. That's one really cool thing about the fraternity!

Like I was saying, 19 of 'em. We got out at 1 AM last night and people considered this a huge success compared to 5 AM. However, my bedtime is usually 10 to get up for my 7:30 AM classes.

Let me tell you, those 3 hours make a HUGE difference. I slept through 2 alarms but made it to class 15 minutes late. But I was all sorts of out of whack. My brain was so scattered from the frantic getting-ready process that it took me a good minute of searching to find my pen. Spoiler alert: it was in my hand. Just one of those days, ya know?

So there goes my schedule for today.

I'm done with class by 9:30 so I hopped on the bus to head home. I had an appointment with my toilet to kick it's clogged ass. (Don't get me started.) On the bus, everything was fine (besides my scatterbrainedness). About 1.5 miles from my stop, the female bus driver pulled off on the side of the road outside of a sketchy gas station.

Homegirl radioed in to the bus driver HQ to tell them she had to "take a dump".

WHAT?! What just happened?! I have never witnessed this in my life. Obvi everyone on the bus was in complete shock. But she just opened the bus doors and ran over to the gas station, leaving the bus running and the doors open. She returned about 10 minutes later with a mug of coffee, a bag of pretzels, and (hopefully) relieved.

Is there something about Fridays that make people act ridiculous? I know it's almost the weekend and all but I just can't figure this one out.

Have a great weekend and GO GATORS!

Wordless Wednesday

QT

PW


BJ

PW

MJ

Left vs. Right

Did you ever take one of those questionnaires back in middle school that were supposed to figure out if you were left- or right-brained? I remember doing one the first day of 6th grade. When we were finished, we were told to line up along the wall in descending order. 10 at one end, 1 at the other. I'm pretty sure my score was about a 9.97342, give or take. Needless to say, I was at one end of the line and my best friend was on the other. I was totally mortified as everyone looked from one polar end to the other. Who would want to draw unwanted attention to themselves on the first day of middle school? Isn't that place already awkward enough?!

After this awful display, our teacher explained what the scores meant and what they said about you. It turns out my score was indicative of left-brainedness. A left-brained person is logical, objective, and rational. Right-brained people, on the other hand, were supposed to be creative, intuitive, and holistic. Right, like I knew what that word meant.

I was so traumatized by that little experiment that I have been working on "getting in touch" with my right-brainedness ever since. I try to be artsy and fartsy but it's hard. Sometimes I just can't wrap my brain around those types of things.

Like photography. I'm way too analytical about it. I catch myself asking questions like I'm following the freaking scientific method. What defines a good picture? Is it off-centered? Is it a portrait? Is it black-and-white? Is it in focus? I'm always looking for a way to simplify the process and create one universal rule for a great picture.

But this is what I've figured out: it doesn't exist! The more and more photography I look at, the more things I like. I could never incorporate them all into a single photo. How would a sepia and black-and-white picture with boosted colors of an off-centered profile shot, an athlete mid-run, and a baby's big, shiny eyes all against a sunset with silhouettes look? Ridiculous.

Lately, I've been working on my photography. Well, more editing pictures through picnik.com. Whenever I have some spare time (read: procrastinate doing homework), I picnik. I've already edited some of my favorite pictures to try to enhance them. I'm really diggin' the Cross-Process and 1960's effects. They look super awesome if you layer them, too! Here are a couple of my faves so far.

"I swear it must've been THIS big!"

Can't you just see this guy regaling his son with a story of his proudest fishing moment?
"Sure, Pops..."

To a guy in Kentucky, I'm Mister Unlucky

How 'bout dem Gators? I think it's safe to say that the game on Saturday was a complete annihilation of the Bulldogs. It seems like the Tebows have gotten their stuff together and are back on track for the high hopes of the season. And that 56-yard field goal - what a kick! That could have been good from 65 easily. Let's just not give up any more clutch turnovers, k?

To everyone outside of Gator Nation, Saturday was also Halloween. PDubbs took me to a pumpkin patch along the side of the road where I picked out a rotund one. I have never carved a pumpkin before by myself so I had no idea all of the work that goes into cleaning out the innards. It's pretty disgusting. PDubbs helped me separate the seeds from the gunk so we toasted them up. They were delish. They tasted like buttery, yummy, salty popcorn. I don't know if this is normal but they were good! Notice the past tense - they are all in my belly.

I carved it up and voila! It's Jack Skellington from Nightmare Before Christmas.

Hope everyone had a great weekend :)

Long Time, No Blog

Like I said yesterday, I have fallen off the blogging horse. I was doing so well at the beginning of the semester but things just start to pile up as the weeks go by. Here is my first step toward getting back on that horse.

Geez, I have so much to tell you all! I'll spend the next couple of entries catching up on whatever the heck I've been up to. Then I promise it's back to the random blurbs. :)

I'll begin with biggest news in my life right now...

I'm studying abroad in SPAIN next semester!

I didn't want to get ahead of myself by mentioning it earlier. But the trip is officially on! And here are a few details about the program:

-It's in Malaga, which is in the Costa del Sol region. It is also where Picasso was born so they have a bunch of really cool cultural and artsy museums. The weather should be absolutely gorgeous in the spring.
-I'll be taking 12 credits in Spanish-related courses such as Spanish Language, Spanish Culture, Spanish Literature, and Spanish Art History: Greco to Picasso. Seriously, how cool does that sound?!
-It's a relatively short program, which is awesome for two reasons. First, I don't need a visa which is A LOT of work. Second, I will be back in time to see J's high school graduation in May!
-I will be living with a Spanish family who will provide 3 meals a day and laundry once a week (score!). They are also supposed to help us assimilate by speaking only in Spanish, preparing typical Spanish food, and just being Spanish in general.
-We get out of classes for one whole week for La Semana Santa, or Holy Week. Malaga is known for its week of festivities including parades, dances, and overall celebration. I can't wait!
-The program includes a ton of excursions all over Spain such as Madrid, Sevilla, and even Morocco.

I will obvi be blogging about the whole thing while I'm there. I plan to take a kajillion pictures and buy a million knickknacks for you all. So holler if you have any requests.

I can't believe it's all finally happening. I always thought it would be nice to study abroad but I never thought I would actually do something about it. And I never thought it would involve this much freaking paper work! Seriously, this whole process has really opened my eyes to the lack of communication between the different departments at our school. With technology today, everything has the potential to be streamlined by working electronically between departments. I had to hike all over campus with a billion forms to complete for just the preliminary applications. The thing that keeps it going is knowing the end result of all of this work will be an AMAZING time in another country.

I suck at blogging

Be back soon :)

Small Things

I'm sorry I've been MIA for the past week. A lot of stuff is happening in Gainesvegas right now. But I promise I will be back up and running after my 3 exams this week. :)

Here are a few links to keep you occupied until then. I hope everyone has a fabulous week and GO GATORS!

Fab Footwear

19th Century Color Motion Picture

Nothing says love like...

Awesome vandalism

Harmonica? If you appreciate Sandra Bullock's talent in Miss Congeniality, you will appreciate this guy.

Experiment

Maybe a new layout will remind Mother Nature that it is in fact fall and not the middle of summer.

My B

I take back what I said about October.

Not all of it. It's still my favorite month. It still possesses all of those wonderful qualities, such as lovely weather and awesome athletics.

But, like most things in life, the month of October is flawed. From my perspective at least. Some people might disagree completely and argue that this unfortunate coincidence makes October better, if you can even imagine such a thing.

Let me preface my argument with a little history. To do so, we will need to go back in time.

It was around 1998. As you know, JJ and I used to watch LOTS of Nickelodeon back in the day. During this Golden Age, there was a show called "Are You Scared of the Dark?" It involved a group a tweens getting together at twilight in the middle of the woods, sitting around, throwing magic glitter into the campfire and telling quasi-scary stories. No matter how corny or poorly depicted, it still kept me up at night. JJ actually enjoyed the show so she was pissed when our parents banned us from watching it for the rest of forever. And so began my repulsion for scary things.

Fast forward to 2002. The Sixth Sense was all the rage with my 6th-grade friends and I was not about to be left out After much begging and pleading and promising to clean our rooms, our parents reluctantly rented it and agreed to watch it as a family.

Big mistake. I couldn't sleep alone for a good 6 months after watching that friggin' movie.

I know, I know. It's really not scary at all. But I'm a big baby and anything remotely abnormal scares me.

Fast forward to 2008. PDubbs makes me watch Saw IVXM. I don't know exactly which one it was. But I do know that a) there are far too many of them and b) they are all exactly the same anyways.

As you can see, I am terribly frightened but scary/ gory/ psychological movies. And, as you can imagine, October is not the best month to be a scaredy cat considering all of the scary movies coming out around Halloween. Even the previews for Halloween Horror Nights give me the heebie-jeebies.

Now if you'll excuse me, a preview for Zombieland just came on. I love you. You love me. We're a happy family...

Small Things 2

Just some cool links. Hope everyone has a lovely weekend :)

Hair Hat

Awesome Playgrounds

Museum of Bad Art

Paper Cities

October

A couple of years ago I had an intense convo with a good friend of mine. After much discussion, we concluded that October is the best month of the year. Think about it for a sec.

First of all, the weather is not just "tolerable" like it is in September. The weather is actually freaking gorgeous. It's the kind of weather that makes you want to do something spontaneous. It's the kind of weather that makes you want to drive around with the windows down and the sunroof open. It's the kind of weather that makes you want to lay out in the sun and soak up all of the world's beauty. It's the kind of weather that puts a smile on your face.

Secondly, October has sports galore. It means weekends full of football. Bandstands blaring on a balmy Friday night. Crowded college campuses celebrating Saturday's big win. Sundays spent sitting around the television set yelling at the refs. Exploring every expanse to encourage any soccer team.

(Maybe the last one is just my family.)

October is also beautifully simple. Kids are back in school and routines have been established. There are no holidays to clutter the weeks (Halloween is basically the first night of November). Christmas is close enough to get excited about, but it's far enough away where it's not at the forefront of your thoughts. It is a time of stability in an otherwise crazy life.

Hair stays calm in the less humid weather.

It sounds cool in Spanish: octubre.

An end to summer movies as Oscar season begins.

I could go on all day about the pros of October. And I really can't think of any cons. Believe me, I've tried.

That night we created a great playlist that elicits happy feelings that remind us of October. Here is a sample:

• "Joy to the World" by Three Dog Night
• "Cabron" by Red Hot Chili Peppers
• "Mexico" by James Taylor
• "Suddenly I See" by KT Tunstall

Just to name a few. I can listen to these songs anytime if I need a little pick-me-up. And the best part is that they are infinitely better when listened to during October.

So Happy October!

What is your favorite month?

Rabbit! Rabbit!

I don't remember spending hours upon hours of watching TV when I was a kid. My sister and I were pretty creative with the plethora of Barbies, stuffed animals, games, and characters our parents and grandparents showered us with. Since I didn't watch much TV, I remember what little we did watch very well.

Nickelodeon was our fave. Fortunately, the Golden Age of Nickelodeon coincided with our childhood. Rugrats, Aaahh!! Real Monsters, Global Guts, Doug, Stick Stickly's Nick in the Afternoon, The Adventures of Pete & Pete, All That, Clarissa Explains it All, Legends of the Hidden Temple... Geez, maybe we did watch a lot of television.

In the early 1990's, Nickelodeon had a program called Nick Days, which had an event for everyday of the year. During the commercial breaks, it would announce some fun fact or another that coincided with that day. The first of every month was "Rabbit Rabbit Day." The commercial said that saying "rabbit rabbit" when you wake up on the first day of the month would bring you good luck for the rest of the month.

This tradition has stuck with our family ever since. We used to get notes in our lunches with pictures of rabbits on the first of the month. I've also shared this superstition with most of my friends throughout my life.

So tomorrow morning, just say "rabbit rabbit" before you groan about the alarm.

SHOCK

Gator Nation was touched by an angel this past weekend. As the Gators were dominating the UK Wildcats late in the third quarter, the revered Timothy Richard Tebow was sacked by a UK defensive end. The sack was bad enough as he was hit square in the chest. He obvi didn't see the 250-lb dude running at him at full speed. But the scariest part came as he was falling from the blow. His neck snapped forward as he collided with another UK player's knee. As the Wildcats celebrated their sack on one of the greatest athletes in college history, Tebow remained motionless on the ground.

We had just finished dinner Saturday night when this all went down. We were only midly paying attention to the game while we were cleaning up when the announcer utters the scariest words in the history of Gator football.

"Tebow is down. Tebow is down. Tebow is down."

*silence*

All 5 of us stopped what we were doing to see an idol laying on the ground. All of the articles, interviews, and conversations I've witnessed since last season were immediately on rerun in my mind as they replayed the clip of his fall. All of the predictions of Tebow leading the Gators to an SEC championship, national championship, and possibly picking up an undefeated season along the way. Another Heisman was not out of question. The dedication to his team he demonstrated as he ogranized and ran a grueling summer training schedule. Even the (in)famous speech after the shocking loss to Ole Miss.

Both teams were on the field, waiting for him to sit up, move his arm, wiggle a finger. Any movement to allay their worst fears. UK and UF fans alike began chanting "Te-bow, Te-bow, Te-bow" as he lay there.

That minute stretched on forever to what seemed like an eternity. But someone was looking out for this guy as he got up moments later with the help of Urban Meyers and the UF medical staff. He looked dazed and confused but managed to come out of it with only a concussion. He stayed a night in a Kentucky hospital with Meyers monitoring him throughout the night and flew home the next day.

I'm not usually religious but I definitely think something is definitely looking out for him and this team. Freak accidents like that have prematurely halted tons of peoples' atheletic careers and lives. I'm not saying that a concussion is a minor injury; it's not. But it is so much better than the worse-case scenarios that were racing through everybody's minds. The fact that we also have a bye week this weekend is also a huge blessing. This team recently has been plagued with "respiratory illnesses" and "stomach problems". Tebow and some other players even had to take a quarantined plane this weekend to Kentucky to decrease the rest of the team's exposure.

Or maybe it was all just good Karma for his work circumsizing babies.

Today in History

September 27, 1777 - Lancaster, PA is the capital of the United States for one day

September 27, 1905 - Albert Einstein introduces the world to E=mc²

September 27, 1908 - First production of the Ford Model T

September 27, 1928 - The United States recognizes the Republic of China

September 27, 1982 - Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. is born

September 27, 2008 - Breski, Jana, and I witness the Gators lose to Ole Miss at the Swamp. I am told my a (giggly) Jana that I should go back to my dorm.

This is waiting for me on my laptop:


Of course I say "YESSSSS!!!!" And so begins the best year of my life.


Happy one-year anniversary, PDubbs. Thank you for being you: caring, loving, funny, loving, smart, patient, and loving. I can't wait to see what the future holds for us next year.

I love you!

Surprise!

I'm not a very impulsive person. I have used a planner religiously since 9th grade. I like having a plan. I get anxious when I'm late. I thrive off to-do lists.

But last night I had an impulse. Well, an impulse by my definitions. You see, PDubb's dad was recently transferred to Louisiana for work. This weekend was his first weekend back home in a couple of months so PDubbs decided to go home to spend some quality time with him. PDubbs had been asking if I wanted to go home all week but I declined all week.

Friday rolled around and PDubbs was going to give me a ride from campus to my condo on his way out of town. He asked me one last time if I wanted to go home. You can imagine how surprised we both were when a resounding "yes" escaped my lips. I really had no reason to stay in Gainesville other than the fact that I went home last weekend, too.

Just like it was a surprise for me, I decided to make it a surprise visit for the fam. I was already in the middle of a texting conversation with JJ so I let her in on it. We didn't get on the road until 8:30 at night so I knew we wouldn't be getting back until after 10. So JJ kindly left a key under the doormat for us before she went to bed (do NOT try this at home, kiddos). We figured everyone would be asleep by the time we got home.

Boy, were we right. Needless to say, they were a little freaked out when they saw us come in. But in the best possibly way. Dr. Brother and Dad were awake long enough to recognize me, say hello, and passed out again. Mom stayed up while I ate dinner and showed me her new project from the past week: converting my old bedroom into an office for my dad. It looks fabulous! She left some of my stuff in there so it still feels like my room only with a new paint job.

After she went to bed, Dr. Brother was left sitting on the couch while I bonded with the DVR. All of a sudden he sat up wide awake. He turned to me, gave me a disdainful look, and began shaking his head at me

Me: "Dr. Brother, what's up?"

*head shake*

Me: "Hey man, whatcha doin'?"

*head shake*

This proceeded for a good minute before he slumped back to the couch fast asleep. I asked him about the incident this morning and homeboy doesn't remember one bit of it. After all that work, I guess I wasn't such a memorable surprise.

Small Things

The internet is a cool place. There are so many interesting sites, videos, and photos floating around. Here are a few cool links to start your weekend off right.

Paintball Art

TV Buildings

Sumo Suit Olympics (and a video)

Christmas gift ideas?

TGIF and have a fab weekend :)

Wordless Wednesday

Let the Countdowns Begin

Mondays are always rough. Here are a few things that kept me going yesterday.

Days until...
my 20th birthday: 149
I hopefully leave for España: 128
Timmy and the boys win another national championship: 109
Christmas: 95
end of classes: 84
UF vs. FSU: 68
Campout: 33
Teach for America 5K: 13
October: 9
Fall: 0

Happy Autumn :)

Every Time I Look Around

Today I witnessed one of the most bizarre incidents of my natural-born life. (As opposed to my unnatural-born life?)

After my 2 classes, I was waiting at a bus stop on campus that just happens to be outside one of the dorms. As I walked up, a Domino's delivery truck pulls up. I was already wary of the situation considering it was only 10 AM.

A few minutes later, a kid with fiery orange hair and a full-on beard walked by me. The hair was obviously the first thing I noticed but something else was different that I just couldn't place...

Oh wait. Homeboy was still wearing his pajamas. I'm not talking boxers and a t-shirt. No way, this guy went all out. Flannel pants with a matching top. Every square inch covered in images of Superman. He was even wearing slippers. I kid you not.

The ginger manboy walked up to the delivery truck, exchanged some greenbacks for a box of breadsticks and a personal pizza, and retreated to his dormitory.

Only in college would you see such a spectacle.

While this guy may be having the best Friday ever (?), I'm pretty excited this week is over for several reasons.

1. My to-do list is significantly smaller on the weekends.
2. All the academic planets aligned this week for one heck of an examfest. But now it's over!
3. The Gators are going to pummel Layla- I mean, Lanie Kiffin and the Volunteers tomorrow on their journey to another BCS Championship
4. I'm going home! The whole fam is coming to Gainesville tonight to watch the UF vs. FSU soccer game and then taking me home for a glorious 2 days.

TGIF and hope everyone has a great weekend!

GO GATORS!

Wordless Wednesday

Lesson Learned

My phone accidentally gave me my second consecutive 4-day weekend.

Friday morning I woke up at 3:43 AM wide awake. Since I couldn't fall back to sleep right away, I checked my backpack for the morning, set out clothes for the next day, and made sure my phone alarm was set for 5:30 AM. I only have class from 7:30-9:30 AM Friday mornings so I planned to come back home and nap after class. With happy thoughts of naps swimming through my noggin, I finally fell asleep soundly.

I woke up to my phone going off. Groggily, I sat up in bed and noticed light streaming through my window. Now, at 5:30 AM the sun is not even thinking about getting up, let alone streaming through my window. I turned to my phone to read the text and check the time.

9:03.

There went my education for the day. By the time I pulled a t-shirt and shorts on and walked to the bus stop, my last class of the day would be over. And since I don't have class Thursdays, it turned out to be a 4-day weekend. I hope I can remember what a full 5 days of classes feels like this week.

In other news: I bought a new alarm clock this weekend.

Pit Stains are Not Cute

Apparently I am terrified of public speaking.

I learned of this attribute Tuesday night as I was standing in front of a room full of people. Monday evening I was asked if I would speak at a Meet Night for our fraternity the next evening. They wanted one of the newer brothers to speak about why s/he joined and what the fraternity means to them. I was happy to help and I thought I could provide some valuable insight about what I love so much about the organization.

I asked around to see what others had said when they were in my shoes. I reflected on my own answers to the questions. I even prepared a note card with points I wanted to cover.

I didn't think much of the meeting that day. I was more nervous/ excited to meet new people. But I was relaxed as I "flirted" with the 30+ prospective pledges in attendance as I got to know more about them. I was totally chill during the power point presentations about what the frat is all about.

Then it was my turn.

Now, I've had plenty of experience with public speaking over the years. I've given numerous presentations in school, pep talks to rally our soccer team before matches, even directed an entire marching band. I prepared to the best of my ability and felt confident about the things I had to say.

But when the president called my name, I immediately began sweating bullets. I don't know how my legs didn't give out as I made my way to the front of the room. As I began my spiel, I could hear my voice shaking like a vibrato. I had to kung-fu grip the podium to keep my hands from shaking out of my shoulder sockets.

I've never experienced anything like that before! And, based on brothers' reactions, I guess it went alright because I don't really remember. For the next 30 minutes my heart continued to race and my voice remained shaky.

Maybe it's that I'm out of practice since I haven't had to talk in front of large groups of people since high school. But I'm guessing it had to do with the fact that I didn't know most of the people in the room. Which is so silly because you would think that it would make things easier. These students were there to learn from people already in the frat to learn more. Compared to them, I was an expert on the subject. That should give you more confidence, right?

Oh well. I suppose it was a good experience. But I could have done without the sweating.

1 Down

13 more games to go! The Boys of Ol' Florida absolutely crushed the Charleston Southern Buccaneers Saturday night 62-3.

I don't know if I can go back to sitting in any other row BUT the 2nd row. It was absolutely amazing.

I think their faces say it all. This is actually a picture of our frat's block. I'm there holding up my camera behind one of those big guys.

It was beautiful. I can't wait to beat Troy next week :)

Dun dun dun dundundun

GATOR BAIT!

It's finally here! UF season opener against Charleston Southern University in The Swamp.

It doesn't get much better than that.

Except it does because I'm on the 40-yard line.

Oh, and in the 2nd row.

GO GATORS! BEAT THE BUCS!

One of Those Days

"Hello, my name is Megan. And I'm a facebookaholic."

"Hi, Megan."

It's nothing too serious. The doctors say, "It's just a phase. She'll grow out of it. We see this all the time."

During one of my facebook sessions today, I noticed a trend in everyone's facebook statuses. Everyone seemed to be either having a really super great day or a really sucky awful day. Some samples?

Really Super Great Day:

• M had a amazing day and it's just getting better.

• R is ecstatic that this week is finally over and that she's going home today! :)

• Tonight is gonna be a good night :)

Really Sucky Awful Day:

• J hates it when the people who built his apartment complex suck at life and are more concerned about the front of the apartment flooding instead of his actual room. He has no room to sleep in until Monday. [Freaking] awesome.

• My nap in the Reitz was rudely interrupted by the fire alarm. Uncool.

• W needs a ticket to the game. Anyone have an extra?

That last one might have been the worst. Because...

24 HOURS UNTIL GATOR FOOTBALL!!!

50

hours until GATOR FOOTBALL starts :)

Wordless Wednesday

It is a far, far better thing that I do

The goodies do not stop...

-------------------------------------------------

Way back when in 8th grade, I checked a little box next to King High School, a local International Baccalaureate school. It was completely 100% my own decision. I was a diligent worker. A smart cookie. I knew I needed a challenge and I knew this school was my ticket to Duke Univer- er, I mean UF.

I replayed my first day of high school in my head for weeks leading up to it. I envisioned all of the friends I would make. I daydreamed about the hot senior drum major, Brent. I packed my backpack and laid out my cutest outfit. And I didn't stop there; I imagined celebrating with all of my new best friends in walking across the stage, grabbing that diploma and tossing our caps up in the air at graduation.

That last one never happened because some kid poked an eye out with his own cap. Big whoop.

The faithful day finally comes. I was way too excited to sleep very much the night before. I woke up in earnest before the alarm even went off. We took our obligatory First-Day-of-School pictures and made the 30-minute trek to our new institution of learning. Prepared with a school map and schedule in hand, I set off to find my classes.

The first half of the day goes off without a hitch. A loony Biology teacher first period and a Vulcan saluting Algebra teacher. It was also the first day I laid eyes on this cutie.

Third period was English with Ms. White. She was well-spoken, friendly, and encouraging. She was unlike other English teachers I had met. Or so I thought.

After making her introductions and going over the course syllabus, she begins the class. From behind her desk she whips out a book. At first glance it looks like your typical American classic novel. Kinda like this.

But, on closer inspection, it looked more like this.

And on even closer inspection...


It gets better.

It's like those tabs are marking the places where I cried as all of my hopes and dreams came crashing down around me. I had never even written in a book, let alone dissected it.

What's worse is that we destroyed two perfectly good works of literature this way.

It looks like a rainbow threw up all over this book.

Needless to say, I was a bit intimidated by the whole ordeal. These annotated books were the band of my existence the first semester of that year. Thankfully we never had to dissect a book to this degree again. Now, they're like trophies, proudly on display on my bookshelf. And to this day, I still feel a bit of shame and guilt when I write in a book.

Happy Monday

Here's another jewel I found while purging the annals of my childhood before the big move to Gainesville.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Like a lot of kids growing up, we used to brown bag our lunches. It was usually comprised of a PB&J sandwich (creamy and strawberry preserves, thank you), some fruit or veggies, Cheezits, an Oatmeal Creme Pie and a Capri-Sun.

But there was something a little special about our lunches. Inside was a seemingly plain folded piece of paper with just single letter inscribed on it.

And inside this little white piece of paper...

...was a picture and a note signed "Love, Mom."

I love these notes.

Come rain or shine.

These notes began my first day of high school.

And I kept every. Single. One.

Even the ones that got thrown into the spin cycle.

Since I'm in college, she can't really send me a note in my lunch everyday. So instead, my mom sends me an email with a cute picture attached. I woke up Friday to find this guy in my inbox.

Sorry, Dr. Brother.

Love,
Megan