Sorry So Long

It has been brought to my attention that I've apparently dropped off the face of the earth...wow, where'd I go??

Hehe. Sorry to anyone that missed me. I've been so caught up in doing absolutely nothing that I've done, well, nothing. I didn't wake up before noon for about two weeks, which was great, except for the part where I could no longer go to sleep when I went to bed again at midnight. I wish I could store up sleep in advance.

Anyway, trip to New York was fine, pretty quiet. Like all families, they're wonderful for the first 24 to 48 hours, and then you want to get the hell out. Fortunately we were only there about four days. After we came home, Craig and I spent a couple of days doing basically nothing at all, and then two more days madly cleaning the entire house top to bottom. I thought I was going to die afterwards of the resulting allergy attack, even though I was smart enough to wear a dust mask, but damn does the house look nice. We have a kitchen table again! And a kitchen! And an entire sofa!

Since Alex was home from Virginia on winter break, I convinced her to come down for a visit. She bargained with her brother to borrow his Jeep and came down Saturday night. Original plans were to go snowboarding on Sunday, but she couldn't find her boots and I was still suffering the deathly allergy attack, so we decided on option B: go to the shooting range. Smith & Wesson is never a bad choice.

Alex did pretty well for having never shot a gun before. Okay, we probably shouldn't have started her with the .40....but she survived to make friends with the .22, which has now become known as the "happy dance gun." I seem to remember that the .45 was my HDG the first time Craig took me shooting. The .38, however, is going to be mine when I get my license, so that's the one I practiced with the most.

On Friday, since we missed snowboarding the first time, we actually went. The Jeep was in the shop, so I drove up to New Hampshire and we went to Pat's Peak. It's a small place, but perfect for beginners and for getting back on your feet. It was my first boarding adventure in three years or so, and had been longer for Alex, but we did pretty well. Craig didn't go, since he had to work, but he wasn't too jealous of the boarding...until he heard we were having dinner at my mom's house. That resulted in pouty puppy eyes and a request for a doggy bag.

This weekend was quiet, because Craig's been really sick for a week now, although we did have a low-key pizza party on Saturday night. Marie was there, along with Craig's friends Larry and April, Josh and Mary, and Ed. Snaric couldn't make it, so I went up to Keene yesterday to visit him. We had brunch and then pretty much spent the day, between the craft store and his house, talking chainmaille. It's a craft that I learned because I got paid to do it, then forgot about it when I quit the job, and have now picked up again because it's enormous fun. When I have a chance I'll post some pictures of the stuff I've been doing lately.

Today was probably the busiest day I've had in a month or so: the New Student Orientation at UMass. Check-in was at 8:30am (why??). That was followed by an overview of the day, some basic information, some more overview, some shuttling us around to different rooms, asking about various intended majors, more shuttling around, and finally being told that my advising appointment was at 1:00pm, and there was nothing for me to do. This was at 10:20am. I got my picture taken for my ID, then found a sofa and did some chainmailling for an hour or so. I took a wander through the resources fair when it was put up, found nothing of interest, had a slice of pizza in the Blue Wall, then went to advising.

After two and a half years of school, I've gotten pretty good at picking out a schedule that includes all required courses and doesn't necessitate that I get up obscenely early - and I can generally do it fast. But UMass has this clever little thing that they call "discussions." This means that you choose a class, fit it into your schedule, sign up for it...and then realize that it's got a fourth session on a random day at a random time that interferes with another class. So you start over. Repeat. And repeat.

When you get tired of this, you finally call over one of the helpers, who has you signed up for macroeconomics in three minutes, and you settle for it because even though that's not a class you wanted, it fits in the time block sheet. Then you remember that you have no honors courses, so you go to honors advising, and have to find a place in that wonderful block sheet for an honors course. All this time you're trying to keep your number of credits down to avoid total panic when the semester actually begins...

I hate SPIRE. I hate discussions and I haven't even been to one yet. Somehow I'm still looking forward to this. I must be nuts.

Oh yeah, and I officially have a job! I pretty much backed into a job as a waitress at Buffalo Wild Wings, a chain in the south that's starting to come up north. The place doesn't open until February 16th, but at least I know I'll have work when they do.