3M and the J Word

3Ms = Movies, Music, Moleskins

The benefit to having younger sisters is I can watch an obnoxious number of Disney and other animated movies with them and not feel too immature. My favorites include:

• The Lion King
• Tangled
• Beauty and the Beast
• Aladdin
• Mulan
• Finding Nemo
• The Incredibles
• Monsters, Inc
• Rataouille

I love to shop. When I'm in West Africa, I will miss shopping. Well, shopping the way they do it here. I know it's materialistic and such. But sometimes it is just fun to shop. Therapeutic really.

I don't usually think I'm a very jealous person. But recently that may not be so much the case. Long distance makes me a little nutty. I mean, in the end, how do you really know how much you can trust someone? You can trust them, but long distance sucks. And there is more than 1 example in my life of long distance plus cheating.  So in the end, how do you avoid it? Do you become a hermit and never socialize with other people? What if you meet someone that you click with, even when you didn't want to? Then do you tell your significant other about everyone you met? "I met this really cool guy/girl today. He/she was super adorable and worldy or whatever. Etc etc etc." OR "I knew this really cool guy/girl from before and he/she's nice, awesome, cute, what have you."

New like: Bossa nova music- I like it.

Moleskin notebooks, day planners are great. All Moleskin products are great.

Post Beacon Hill Time

I'm back from Boston. Surgery went well! I was all different levels of stressed, but it's done and everything can start going back to normal.

On Wednesday, we met his parents at the hospital. Now surgery is stressful enough, but adding divorced parents into the mix makes me a bit more stressed. I spent the whole time talking my face off, while internally, freaking out. I'm filling the empty silence with any story I can think of, as I completely panic internally. Probably one of the longest days of my life. Akin to the night I spent in the hospital sophomore year when I wasn't allowed to move an inch. I spent the week getting minimal sleep. Especially in the beginning. I was the one who would wake him up and throw drugs down his throat every 4 hours. Boyfriend's recovering. Yay. God help me if something else like this happens again. My heart and body can't handle it.

Now I'm back in Wisconsin and am in desperate need of sleep. So I'm going back to bed. Cheers!

Quick Trip

I moved back to Wisconsin less than 2 weeks ago. But now I'm heading back to Boston for a quick trip. My boyfriend is getting surgery. Let's not get into the details or else I may have a nervous breakdown. But let's just say it's not just appendicitis. I'm stressed out, scared, worried... you could list just about any other adjective with those same ideas. But anyway that's a slight update. Just send a prayer or a thought tomorrow that everything goes smoothly for him. And my sanity.

Some other thoughts-

I finally got a Kindle. Gift from the boyfriend- he's too sweet. I DO still love the feel of a book. Holding it in my hands. Turning the pages. However, I do understand the logic to the electronic version of a book. I've bought a few books so far and downloaded tons of free books. Let's see how fast I can fill up my Kindle. Tehehe

Moving to Africa again is rather stressful. I wish I had put all my Uganda stuff all together when I got home... turns out I'm not that smart. I have to hunt down my Africa pants again, etc etc etc.

My computer has been getting excessively hot recently. It's kind of annoying. I think there's something wrong with it but I don't really want to take it into Geek Squad. I will have to soon... sigh...

Life changer

I just accepted a fellowship position in West Africa. I cannot believe 1) I got offered a position, 2) I'm moving, 3) I'M GOING TO BE WORKING/LIVING IN WEST AFRICA for the next year. I am so excited and yet so panicked. The place I'm going isn't exactly the nicest places in the world to work- take for example the latest news of bombings just yesterday. Part of me is jumping for joy. This is a job. In public health. With a government institution. This year of international experience will add even more to my resume. It is INTERNATIONAL experience, living abroad, dealing with the hardships, etc. And then there's the stupid side of me that goes: OMG what did I just commit myself to?!

But yes, I have a job. I'm moving to Africa again. The words: "It's not a hardship, it's an adventure" have not echoed through my head louder.

Job Searching

It's like beating a dead horse. Or actually it's what I called beating a dead cat. Why I say cat, you ask? I have no idea. I DID see a dead bird on the street today. Which is probably why I thought of a cat, since cats like to attack birds... yes, don't worry, I haven't totally lost my mind yet. I don't think.

This is what I do:
Over and over. Look up jobs. Tweek cover letter. Submit resume. Rinse. Repeat. Until you want to commit suicide. Then rinse and repeat again.

... I need a job...

In other news, I have a boyfriend. He's great. I'll spare you the morbid, gross details, but he's way too sweet for me. I'm all scary and messed up. He's all happy with hugs or at least when it comes to dealing with me. I have problems... 

Also, here's the thing. If you're going to cheat on your boyfriend (not saying I AM, just general advice), HAVE SEX. If you're going to cheat emotionally, that's just boring and stupid. If you're GOING to cheat, just go all out. It's easier for everyone. You don't have do the whole talk about how you didn't do anything but yet you had feelings for some other boy. Blah blah blah.

But if you're going to cheat, always remember: karma has a nasty way of sneaking back up and biting you in the rear end. Really really hard.

That's all.

Gym

I'm trying to focus on going to the gym more often, getting in shape and such. I have signed up to run the 5k that is the day before the Boston Marathon. I may not be able to run a marathon, but I may be able to survive a 5k. Though, this now means I have to work out.

Today I was at the gym and I'm on a stationary bike, happily biking along. This man sits down next to me and BAM! I was hit with one of the worst wafts of BO I have ever smelled. And I've been in a full matatu in the middle of Uganda, people! So here's the lesson. You may sweat a lot at the gym. I encourage it. But please, PLEASE, I beg of you, slap on some deodorant. Lots of it. Before you start working out. Thank you.  Your fellow gym members and I thank you.

Do the stressed, pouty dance

So... it's another late night here in Boston. I manage to procrastinate just enough on the right things that lead me to stress, panic, and start chewing on my own hair. Last spring, I pulled an all-nighter. This spring, I do late nights, not enough sleep... on a rather regular basis. Healthy? I think not. But now let me do my stressed, pouty dance. (Why it's pouty? Who knows. I just feel like pouting, sulking, what have you. Let's just chalk up the pouting to: I'm tired and shouldn't have procrastinated so long.) Btw my boyfriend is sweet and delivered pretzels, Diet Coke, and Chex Mix to me as I freaked, whined, and pouted. I wonder why he puts up with my insanity, cuz it must be like dating a 4 year old sometimes.

I'm taking this biostatistic computer programming class. Learn biostats while you learn how to speak computer-speak. OMG. The best thing ever. NOT. I am the Asian that is incompetent when it comes to technology. I missed the boat on that gene... Thanks parents.

Oh right, I sprained my ankle last Monday. Now you might ask: how'd you do that? Well, you see, it's a funny story:

• I'm walking home (I made a quick trip home to see my mom- sorry I didn't see any of my Midwest lovers, but I spent my time with the fam) from the airport, pulling my luggage behind me. I'm thinking: I'm hungry, I need to work out this week, I'm REALLY going to start working out regularly. Then BAM. I'm on the ground. Rolled the ankle. I'm in so much pain I can't catch my breath. I sit down on the concrete sidewalk. Whimper. Cry. No one's around to see me. I can see my apartment building door like 20 feet away. Then a guy in a wheelchair rolls up. "Are you okay? Do you need me to get help?" I manage a I'm okay, I'm okay. He goes: I would help you myself... but I can't. I don't know about you but now looking back, I giggle a little. The one person who sees me is the one person who can't physically help me. Anyway, eventually he rolls away and I grit my teeth and hobble to my apartment. I then proceed to 1) call my mom and cry, 2) sit on the floor until my boyfriend arrives to help me, 3) stare at my other leg which is bleeding excessively from the knee. So yes, I'm the most graceful creature out there.
• And if you're concerned about me (which you probably aren't but that's okay, I understand): I'm doing better these days but I still have a bit of a hobble.

I have discovered the wonders of Sephora. It's fun. It's like a playground. I can't afford anything but looking and touching is still wonderful. It's drawing me in. It has put its spell on me. Too bad I'm still disabled and don't know how to put makeup on like all the pretty girls do.

Jobs. I need to find a job after graduation. Sigh. What if I can't find one and become a homeless person? Will you let me live with you?

Baby shoes are the cutest things ever. Teeny! But also the most impractical things. Actually baby socks are probably the most impractical. Shoes are next. Because: a baby is in the stroller. Kicks off sock or shoe. Has now lost one! There is no longer a pair. All that money you just spent on a pair of shoes. Gone. Just a thought.

I have nothing more to say at the moment since it is closing in on 3:30am and I desperately need sleep in order to make words become coherent sentences tomorrow in class. So I will close with this: I want to go back to Uganda because the weather here in New England is just not not not NOT okay.