I have never liked tomato juice, V8, or anything like that.  Bloody Marys?  Gross.  I mean who drinks tabasco and tomato, yuck.  So last night Mike offers me a Bud Light Clamato Chelada, I’m pretty sure that I’m not going to like it.  I’m not a fan of beer, I’m not a fan of tomato juice and to be honest, I have no idea what’s in clamato juice and am slightly scared of the concept.  But I figure I’ll try it. . . it’s good. . . like really good.  It’s like really good gazpacho, in a convenient can, with some alcohol to make things interesting.  It will definitely become a beer that I might actually keep in fridge.  You know, right next to the liquor that’s been in there since before Christmas.  Well, maybe next to the wine that only stays in the fridge for a week.  Anyway, I recommend it, everyone should try it once anyway.

Yesterday my poor little computer had just had it with IU’s internet.  Which means that I had just had it with my poor little computer.  So we made an emergency date with our computer guru.  After school I headed to the east side.  After a brief shopping excursion I decided to get started on homework and grab something to eat.  In an effort to make my life easier, I headed to the one place I knew had free wifi, food, and unlimited refills on the coke I was craving. . . wait for it. . . that’s right, I went to a bar.  Not just any bar, my little hole-in-the-wall pub that I like to frequent.  They had sports on the TVs and no one I knew was there.  I got more homework done in an hour than I get done in two hours at home.  It seems that sports make excellent white noise.  It was wonderful.

After the bar I went to the “frat” house and continued to do homework while listening to the boys play that wierd band video game.  God love them, they actually played some songs I knew.  I finished most of Wednesday’s homework and we maybe got my computer fixed and I head home around 11.  Unfortunately for me, no flipping parking again.  But wait. . . I have the card of the guy that tows non-stickered cars out of the lots; and he told me to call anytime, so, I called.  Unfortunately for me, when he got there, all the cars had stickers.  Fortunately for me, he seems to like me and didn’t want me to walk around downtown, so he created a parking spot for me, good until 8am, inside the gates.

This morning i popped out of bed went to school and did 2 miles in the blissfully cool weather.  My ankle didn’t start popping until the last little stretch of running, which was pretty exciting.  I then went into the locker room to prepare for my ice-y cold shower.  But instead was welcomed with an almost too hot shower.  I don’t know why, I’m hoping previously something was broken and is now fixed, but that hot shower might have made my morning!  I’m feeling pretty energized and awake today.  This weather could stick around for a bit and I would be a happy camper.

I elected not to swim this morning and instead took a nap in my truck.  It was wonderful.  I slept for a solid hour and feel much better this morning than I did when I got here.  I have however decided that I miss having a car to sleep in.  There is something to be said for being able to lay the seat back.  I woke up with a sore neck from the akward angle I was sleeping in.  But I won’t complain, sleep is sleep and I’ll take it when I can get it!

On a side note, here is a picture of my poor tired puppy trying to pull an all-nighter with me.  Poor thing was just too tired and he has no problem sleeping!

Tuesday:  leave even earlier to park.  Doesn’t help, miss a class again because every single lot is full.  I follow the people with the parking signs and attempt to park on the opposite side of campus.  It’s all a cruel trick, they just lead you around in circles into park:ing lots that still have no parking spots.  I see a sign for the AM radio station that has parking info.  Unfortunately, it’s just a loop that tells me to do exactly what I’m doing.  After about 10 minutes of driving around in circles in the parade of students-that-follow-directions, I get pissed off and leave campus.  On a side note- Homeslice, if you’re reading this, I swear I saw you walking by the student center, if it wasn’t you, it was you’re twin.  I was going to yell out the window, but the parade would have rear-ended me, sorry.

Wednesday:  After the previous two days, I have learned that one must get to campus sometime before 9:30am in order to park.  I checked the schedule the night before and see that the first class is at 8:30, so I figure, if I leave my house at 8, I’ll be able to park.  I pack up my workout gear and shower stuff, my backpack is busting at the seams because with four classes, this is my longest day at school, pack my lunch (in a cooler since it’s going to sit in my car for 6 hours), and walk out the door at 8:05.  I was like a pack mule, that is way too much crap to carry.  I got one of the last parking spots and hightailed my butt to the gym.  I rented myself a locker and went for a run.  This worked out well until I realized that although I had no pain, I could hear my ankle popping.  I decided to walk the rest of the workout.  When I get done, I check my watch, time is looking pretty good, I have time to shower and walk back to the law school.  I hop in the shower only turn around and race for my towel.  The showers are ice cold, like no heat whatsoever cold, like I don’t think they have water heaters cold.  Unfortunately, I’m a sweaty mess and have to shower, so I grit my teeth and take the quickest shower ever.  On the walk back to my car to swap bags I decide that my life is going to seriously suck this semester.  I have to get up by 7 or 7:30 every morning, even though my classes don’t start until 11-ish.  I will be taking cold showers 5 days a week.  I will be a walking bad hair day.  And in a couple of months, I’ll be doing all this in snow.  Yay me.  Oh, and I spent another hour in the IT department, still no internet.

Thursday:  So this morning I got myself together, squeezed into the swimsuit that I bought earlier this week amid tears and contortions in the fitting room, and drove to school at 8am.  I again got one of the last parking spots.  I went to the pool and jumped into the icey shower to get my hair wet (you know, so it won’t turn green) and pick a lane.  I get all tensed up, ready for the shock of the cold the water, and jump in.  Would you believe, it’s warmer than the shower?  It’s not warm by any means, but a definite improvement on the showers!  I start swimming and realize that since I have not actually done laps in over 12 years, I’m worn out after 50 meters.  I decide 300 meters is good for my first time, mostly because I don’t want to drown myself and head back to the icey showers.  I’m never going to be a morning person.

Friday:  after staying up too late last night (stupid, stupid, stupid idea) I did not want to get up this morning, and I still had homework.  My domestic violence class posted our assignment yesterday- read chapter 2.  Sounds good until you realize that chapter 2 has about 95 pages.  I did not get it all read.  The alarm went off for about an hour this morning.  I decided that I could shower after school and befoe work, so just headed to school to search for a parking spot.  Turns out that on Fridays, I can sleep in.  I sat in my car for an hour reading and walked in about 10 minutes before my first class is scheduled to start.  I checked and there were still plenty of parking spaces.  Leave it to a bunch of college kids to take Fridays off.  Anyway, I’m still tired and have to cram showering and lunch and driving back and forth into the hour and fifteen minutes that I have between class and work.  I can’t wait until sunday! 

So, my classes are actually really really cool, I like all of them.  I’m going to get worked to death this year with the papers and the research and that memorization.  My evidence class is very cool, but very hard!  I’m already making flashcards, I will apparently have to memorize about 60 rules by the end of the semester.  So anyone that thinks this sounds interesting, I’m taking applications for flashcard operator.  The hours are crap, the pay is non-existant, but hey, it might be amusing to see me flounder and get angry at the card-writer (which happens to be me).  Other than that, I’m settling into a routine.  Up at the crack of dawn, workout, go to class, start housework, do homework, make dinner, more homework, go to bed before midnight if possible.  On top of all that, I also have work for the atty that I’m supposed to be doing; I’m pretty excited about that too, it’s an interesting case.

he·don·ist  /ˈhidnɪst/heed-n-ist]

–noun

1.	a person whose life is devoted to the pursuit of pleasure and self-gratification.

–adjective

2.	Also, he·don·is·tic. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a hedonist or hedonism.

I think I’m going to let “that girl” be free for a while.  I think that as long as she can continue to behave (I know, it sounds like an oxymoron, but believe me, it’s not) and doesn’t do something that would derail the life plan we have going right now; she can be allowed out.  Pleasures will not be guilty.  There will be no shame in being selfish.  Maybe we’ll even run with scissors.  I’m going to practice hedonism and get back to real life later.  I guess what I’m saying is, you might want to duck and cover until August, there’s no telling what kind of adventures are about to ensue. 

I’ve picked up some hours at work which is happy for the bank account and necessary in order to continue living the life I lead (it seems landlords like it when you pay rent) but not so happy for my stress-o-meter.  Work itself isn’t really stressful, it’s not like I’m an air traffic controller or anything, but keeping myself sane in the soap opera world that my fellow employees enjoy is enough to make anyone want to beat their head against a wall!

Had interviews for internships, all is well in that arena.  Apparently people want me to work for them, so I found one that is acceptable.  Let’s all hope I made the right choice!

I have this boy that runs through the background of my life that is putting me in this nice hazy rose colored world.  I’m starting to think I might not really be the burned out cynic that I was playing so well, my old innocent romantic is exercising eminent domain anyway.  This makes me happy for so many reasons.

I’m just an all around happy person now.  The minute the last final was over and I walked out of the building, I felt the stress just drain right out.  I’ve been out partying a bit just to celebrate, but I’ve also been sitting outside soaking up the spring warmth and checking out the flowers.  The weather has been perfect and I’ve been walking around my neighborhood checking out the old buildings and picking up iced chai.  I love this time of year, everything looks pretty, the silver lining is easy to find, and I feel comfy in my skin. 

I used to never understand why my mom would come home from work, tired, and go outside and immediately start weeding and watering her numerous flowers and plants.  If you know my mother, you know she has gorgeous flowers all around the house.  Weeding and watering all of them, takes a long time, but mom would be out there every afternoon, getting dirt under her nails and happy as a clam about it.

Well, it turns out that playing in the dirt is kind of relaxing.  By the time I got my plants in pots and had everything watered, I was completely calmed down and relaxed and ready for bed.  It was nice.  The best part of all of it though, is seeing it later.  I love coming home to my own personal jungle.  The flowers are brightly colored and cheerful and my whole little “patio” just looks like a happy place to sit and spend some time.  So tonight, I’m going to have a glass of wine and be at one with my little corner of nature.