I don't really know why I was thinking about this today. It's a weird thing to randomly remember.... Maybe it's because we're going to my grandma's house on Sunday. The last family get-together before my cousin (Amy, who's 9 months older than me) heads off to Idaho for college. I don't know.

But anyway, today I was thinking about back when we made rabbit stew. When we were little whenever we were at Grandma's we made what we had dubbed rabbit stew. No, we were not out hunting rabbits and making dinner. Rabbit stew was made for the rabbits, in a way that only a group of little kids can do. We would take a pot, fill it with water, then proceed to throw in whatever we could find and somehow associate with something a rabbit would eat. It would start simple enough. Grass, of course. Then we might shred up some dandelions, and other plants we could find. When we ran out of the basics, we would start using our imagination. Finding rocks, dirt, etc. and pretend it was something else.
It's funny to think that we could do this EVERY time we went to Grandma's. For YEARS we would do this during every family gathering. And somehow, every single time it was fun. A pot, some water, grass, dirt, rocks... And over and over again, we'd have a blast.

Between rabbit stew and the litter of kittens that would be there without fail... Grandma's house was always a great place to be. Oh yeah, and can't forget visiting Snuffy! Getting one of the adults to take us down to The Finger.... Though we were allowed to go down to Snuffy by ourselves for about as long as I can remember. Oh, and back when the Old House was there we could sometimes get an adult to explore it with us..... And can't forget the barn! Whatever happened to those great haystacks?

I miss those simple times... Yeah, we still love going down to the pasture. And yeah, we'll go hang out in the barn, maybe feed the cows... But I don't think it has the same thrill it used to. What happened? And what ever happened to rabbit stew?

I was watching Ret play with his tennis ball today, when something occurred to me. Ret is somewhat of a tennis ball snob.
He seems to know the difference between a good tennis ball (the real deal), and ones bought from the pet store or Walmart. He prefers the real deal, and even seems to take better care of them. He's got a good tennis ball right now, and he hasn't even started chewing it apart, like he does the cheap ones.

My first year on campus I used to walk by the tennis courts to go back to my dorm, either from class (when I had a class in Peavy) or from eating at West. Sometimes I would walk that way from Nash, too. One day no one was at the tennis courts, and there was a lone ball in the middle of the field. I was always wary of picking up the balls when people were around (didn't know if they'd come claim them when they were done or not), but this one was abandoned, so I took it. I gave it to Ret the next time I went home. That was his favorite ball. Numerous times my mom thought it was lost for good, only to have Ret show up with it a day or two later. Even with other balls around (the cheap ones... Three packs you could buy at Walmart for 89 cents) he would track down this one ball.

A ball in Ret's collection has a lifespan of a week tops if he has constant access to it, and maybe a month or two if I only let him have it at the park.
The good ball he has now he has had for 10 days, and it shows no signs of wear or tear.

I know they make the good ones better, but I don't know... I don't think that's the whole story.
My dog is a tennis ball snob.

Tonight was eventful.
I don't think I've really said anywhere that this week Connie and I are at a training for surveying bats. Pretty neat stuff, actually. I've been having a blast.

Tonight we went up a BLM road to do some field work (we do field work every night). We were up at a pond, with lots of cow poop around it, and trees that have been dead longer than I've been alive (burned in 1990).
I started off helping set up acoustics stuff. I didn't expect to like it as much as playing with the bats, but it was pretty cool stuff. It wasn't long before I was dragged away to help at the nets though. Having only caught one bat before tonight, I was needing more practice at the nets. So I got to hang out down there. My first bat of the night, a Myotis evotis was a real stinker. I was doing OK until it decided it wasn't amused, and decided to chew on my finger. Didn't break skin or anything, and I've had my rabies shots, so not a big deal, but it spooked me enough to lose track of what I was doing, thus making my task that much more difficult.
We did get it out, though, and up to the processing table. The early rush was over, and we were left sitting by the nets waiting. I ended up grabbing some acoustics equipment and using it down by the pond. Got a couple of calls from a light-tagged bat, so hopefully those came out (we know the species of the light-tagged, and so they can potentially be used as references).
I ended up being called across the pond, since they were having more success. Of course, by the time I got there they had finished getting the bats out, and I wasn't needed. We stayed over there for a bit though, and while we were there, saw what I thought at the time was an orange light-tag. Connie informed me that she saw sparks, but I still thought it looked like a light-tag... Until Joe informed me there were no orange tags that night. So meteor it was. Big bright orange glowy meteor.

I ended up having two bat catches today (both evotis), for a total of three for the week (my first was an evotis as well). I have one more chance tomorrow, and handling the bats really is my favorite, so that's my plan for tomorrow. I'll probably start at the nets, then head to processing when things die down a bit at the nets. That's my plan, anyway. We'll see how that goes. Tomorrow is our last field day, so it'll be my last chance for a bit to play with these little guys. They really are fun, even when they are angry at you.

It happened last year too, but still... I'm not used to this whole people leaving thing. I know it's a good thing, I know, but still... Things are changing, and I'm not very good at that. There are people I wont see around campus next year. Wont work with, wont sit down (or stand around) and talk with... It's a change.
And I can't deny being a bit nervous too. I've gotten quite comfortable with our leadership team, and how we do things, and now I'm going to have to get used to another team... Yeah, yeah, it's good for me. I know. But can I at least be nervous about it?

Here comes change. I'm going to miss a lot of people but... Here we go. Graduation is tomorrow, and Connie and I will probably be on our way to Burns. Good luck, everyone. Change is among us.

If I had gone to high school, or I guess stayed in high school, I would have graduated on the 30th.
Or... Actually I would have graduated today, since I would have been going to Cottage Grove High School.

If I had stayed in high school, today would have been graduation.

I wouldn't have been scootering down the hill with Ret, going to a BBQ.
I would not have my apartment.
I would not be on leadership.
I would not have had the two awesome years at OSU that I have had.
I would not be the "non-trad-non-trad" student that I am.
And there are so many people that I wouldn't have ever met...

Well, I guess I would still be starting at 17. I guess that sort of counts as "non-trad-non-trad".

So many things I would have missed out on, staying in high school. But then, what did I miss?
Does it matter? Apparently I've missed it. Oh well. I've gained from it too. I have my awesome apartment, great friends, and have had two awesome years at OSU!

There is one thing I can be sure of. If I had stayed in high school, I would be starting at OSU next fall. Either way, I have landed myself at OSU for the 2008-2009 school year.
I suppose you can argue that I can't know that. But there is not doubt in my mind that regardless of whether I graduated high school or not, OSU is where I belong.


So tonight I will ponder for a bit what my high school graduation would have been. I'll wonder what if.
And then I'll spend some time rocking to SCC's song "Miracle of the Moment".

"It's time for letting go of all of our "if only"s, 'cause we don't have a time machine. And even if we did, would we really want to use it, would we really want to change everything?" (Miracle of the Moment ~ Steven Curtis Chapman)

No, I don't think I'd want to use it. There are people I would never meet, things I would never do... Things I would lose. And not know I lost, I suppose, but still.... Sometimes I wish I could go back, and see "what if", but I think that's because of the mental block I have put up on high school (the whole depression thing really did freak me out). Yeah, what if. What if I had given CGHS a chance?
I don't know, but I don't have a time machine, so no use in dwelling on it.

Saturday was the worst. It's actually cooling now. It's supposed to rain again tomorrow. It'll be welcome for a bit. It's been a bit warm for me. I was at the coast most of Saturday, so I missed most of it, but when we got home, it was about 20º warmer inland, and that was brutal.

I'm really just typing this because I am bored.

Not really, but I may have seen one...
I know, that doesn't make sense, but I may have seen the ghost of Arnold Arms when I was taking my Math 111 final. I thought I saw another girl sitting next to me taking a test, but no one was there.
But at the same time I don't really believe in ghosts.

My apartment complex has a car wash area. Well, I don't have a car, so that's useless to me.
You know what I do have? A dog! I don't need a car wash area, but a dog wash area... That could be handy.

Well, I know where Ret is getting his baths for the rest of the summer!

... Never. I can't drive.

Boy, what a day. At work the amount of requests we had in our queue doubled (many of which were because I was the only one in the office for a while..). I got a headache again in invert bio. Third week in a row I got a headache in the afternoon! I'm on a roll! I took some advil during GEO though, so I didn't have to want to shoot myself in COMM 111, where listening to my professor is an almost guaranteed headache anyway.
After COMM I headed to Nash, since I had an evening midterm, and didn't feel the need to go home inbetween. And guess who was there??? My chemistry buddy! I haven't seen her since last school year! We always sat together in chem, talked with Nafshun afterwards, and walked in the same general direction afterwards together, so it was pretty cool to see her again.

Well, after that I just had... Multiple hours... To kill. So I did that. Had dinner at West. Mmm... Chicken strips. And then took a midterm. I actually feel alright about this one, too!

Coming up: quiz in invert bio lab tomorrow, speech on Wednesday. Next week has COMM 111 midterm on Monday and GEO midterm on Friday.
Yeah, there's a lot going on. It's a bit hectic, and I think my three weeks of headaches is a sign that I might be getting a bit stressed, but you know, I don't really feel it so much.... And my neck usually gets weird from stress long before my headaches start, so I'm really confused by the whole thing.
Well, it's been a long day and I'm beat. Time to crawl into bed, and sleep as late as I want, since I rarely sleep past 8:30 anymore! Comes from working at 8:00 three days a week. And I don't have to leave home until 12:30 tomorrow, so that's a really nice plus. Means I can work on my speech in the morning..... Uh, yeah. Still need to do that.

I'm not going to lie: I'm so confused.

So Retnuh desperately needed to go out this morning. He woke me up at 6:30 to let him out. So of course I did.
AND IT IS SNOWING

It is April, and there is snow ON THE GROUND

What's up with that?

I'm OCD about things on my computer being organized. And in my various file storage locations, and web space, and stuff like that.
When I redid the FW Club site everything was pretty much in one directory. It drove me nuts. So I redid the site...

Kento and I are bringing Uglorable back! :)
I'm excited.

I'm not one of those people who hates Valentines Day because they're single. I couldn't care less about that. I just consider Valentines Day one of the most boring holidays ever. A day where you're supposed to give someone you love something, and feel guilty if you don't. Woohoo.
So here I am, sitting at the table for our Valentines Day fundraiser. And I'm bored out of my mind. And all the pink and purple is nauseating.

Save me.

Today, I did something a bit nutty. And as it turned out, unnecessary. But hey, I had a good time.

I got up early today. I didn't have class until 11:00, but I had a goal: get a Wii. Game Crazy said that they would possibly have a couple Wiis on sale in the morning. They would be sold to the first people there. So I knew I had to be there. I got there at 8:00.
I was the only one there until 9:00, but that guy didn't want a Wii... So it was completely unnecessary. It was a good time though. And I did it! I got my very own Wii!!! :)

I bought DDR on Amazon, it'll probably ship tomorrow. And I'll probably order Mario or something.
It's so cool! I played Wii Sports for a while today. Awesome!

Today was a sandwich kind of day. I came home craving PB&J, so I made PB&J. Then I wanted grilled cheese for dinner, so I made grilled cheese. Tuna sandwich sure sounded good, but I do have some self control... So I limited myself to two kinds of sandwiches (especially since I probably used 2/3 of a loaf of bread already).

I think I may have some OCD tendencies or something. Or maybe I just cling to my past sometimes. But there's something about sandwiches.... Let me explain.

Grilled cheese sandwiches need to be eaten in strips. Four strips. And you eat the outside (crust) ones first. Then you eat the crust off the inside ones. Then you can eat the excessively cheesy inside strips; the good stuff.
I don't know why that is. It just is. That's how it's been for, well, ever. Four strips, eaten in that order. Grilled cheese is just weird not in strips.

PB&J on the other hand... PB&J requires one slice of bread. It is meant to be a folded over sandwich. Half jam, half peanut butter. Fold it over. Eat the crust, then the gooey inside.
There have been times I've eaten a grilled cheese not in strips, but I honestly can't remember a time my PB&J wasn't a fold-over sandwich. I can't explain why, but that just sounds... Well, kind of gross to be honest. I know it's absolutely no different, but PB&J must be a fold-over sandwich! There is no logical reason to this. It just is.
I did have to step out of my comfort zone with PB&J today, but not to the point of it being a non-fold-over. I just didn't use raspberry jam, which is all I've ever used before on my PB&J.

Other than that... Well, tuna seems like it should be either whole or in triangles, but I'm not really strict about that one.

So I guess I'm OCD... About sandwiches. There is no logical explanation here. It just is. I'm weird about my grilled cheese, and my PB&J. Especially my PB&J. It really does sound gross to me to eat it as a whole sandwich. It's stupid, I recognize that, but it really does.

History 101 Tour!
Matt is an amazing artist, but he's also awesome in person! He's a great guy, he loves talking with us crazy Westies, and he's so much fun in concert!

I miss Matt... I want to see him in concert again! :p

Tonight was awesome. Several of us on leadership went out to dinner, and I for one had a great time! We need to hang out more. It was for my birthday, and it was so cool that they went out to dinner with me.... That meant a lot, and they may not even know it.

Another thing that was kind of cool.... Delayed midterm! BIO midterm is next week now. And not only that.... Labs this week are canceled! Woohoo!
I still have to go in tomorrow morning to turn in my take-home test, but after that I'm going to head over to Nash and just hang out for a while. I get three hours where I can just chill out. Do you know how great that sounds??? I work in the afternoon, but before that I don't have to do anything!
I'm getting caught up on things, and it feels so good.... I'm all caught up in English 104 (and we have no class for the rest of the week! Yes!), I'm almost all caught up in BIO... Now I just need to do the reading for GEO, and I'm set!
And once I'm caught up I can start getting into more of a rhythm. I can stop rushing around, doing my best to catch up. I can be caught up, and keep caught up, and... Man, that's exciting! I still have a lot going on this term, but it's OK. I feel good about it now. I'm at a pace that I feel like I can keep up with, and that's a good thing!

It snowed, maybe about an inch, last night. :)
I didn't get the full package: snowing and closing campus. That's what I really asked for.
But it snowed, so I'm happy.

Campus is on "yellow alert". That's their "it's not really a good idea for you to travel, but we want you to anyway because we aren't liable for that decision" stage.
I might skip my morning classes. I resent the yellow alert (I almost fell down 4-5 times when we were in "yellow alert" last week).