Today's rambling: 3 highs (ha ha)
Written on Friday, Nov. 28, 2003 at 6:14 p.m.
while feeling a bit

I've got my laptop back! Oh joyous rapture! And all the files are still intact, so I don't have to worry about re-downloading stuff. Apparently, there was a 'bad component' inside. Whatever. We'll see how long I can go without a problem this time!

Today, of course, was Black Friday. Pure insanity. I wouldn't have gone out at all if I hadn't wanted to get a few things at WalMart. See, I was going to be crafty and make some gifts for my Big, twin, and my adoptive Big. However, by the time we got to Walmart, and then got through all those people, I was in enough of a bad mood that I didn't even care anymore. Besides, there's no way I could get everything done by Monday. I'm not letting anyone down, since they didn't know I was going to get them anything, so I'm all good. :P

There were two--well, maybe three--high points to the day. The first one was when we stopped by the little VW place nearby. They've had this orange-ish VW bus out there for ages, but Mom and I weren't sure if it was going to be repaired and then sold, or if someone had just brought it in to be repaired. Actually, after a couple of months we decided it must be there to be fixed and then sold. But Mom decided to wait until they'd moved it before she checked up on it, because it might've just been one of those "parts only" vehicles (y'know, the ones that will never run again but can be used for some of the parts?). Well, as it turns out this guy just fixes VW's as a hobby, so who knows how long it'll take before the little orange bus gets repaired. However, he has our number now, just in case he fixes it soon (or another one comes in). He was saying that it's hard to drive one of them, since it's a stick shift and all that (and they don't get much by way of speed, either), but I need to at least try it. Just get it out of my system, y'know?

We went to lunch at this little bar and grill, and immediately sat at the bar. :P I hadn't really been thinking about alcohol, but I got a Smirnoff Triple Black. I was expecting the bartender to ask about my ID, but as usual I was able to go without getting carded. She commented later, with a laugh, that I didn't even look 21. "She's 22!" Mom told her, in that motherly tone of voice. The bartender made a comment about how I'd be thankful that I look so young when I get older (which I've realized before, hehe), and then a few minutes later she traipsed by singing something along the lines of "You've got the cutest baby face"...Yeah, my face was red. I remember when I was younger and I was all jealous that Mom's friend's daughter always got comments of "You look so much older than 16!" Ha ha ha. Now I'd rather look younger than my age than older!

Oooo, and then finally we went over to this craft store ostensibly to get scrapbooking supplies. My grandmother had a big bunch of photo albums that are now falling apart, and so Mom and I were going to make a project of putting them all into scrapbooks. I had mentioned that whenever she shows them to people, she always has little stories and anecdotes to go along with certain pictures, so it would be great to get those things jotted down because she won't always be there to tell those stories. A sombering thought, but yeah, obviously we all meet our end at some point. ANYway, we got two albums but ended up gravitating to another section of the store instead. Where there was a whole section devoted to soapmaking.

Oh yes, Diary, I am branching out in my craftiness. Sure, the 'melt and pour' style of soapmaking doesn't involve much talent, but it's still interesting! For at least a year now, I've been thinking about how neat it would be to start selling homemade soaps. Mom got really into the idea as well, and we ended up spending over $70 on soap-making stuff. I didn't really get all that much: two trays with four molds in each, a block of cucumber avocado soap and a block of clear glycerine soap, 3 little jars of pigment powder, one jar of glitter, 4 bottles of fragrance oil, 3 bags of herbs...Well, I guess technically it's a lot, but they're all little things so you wouldn't expect them to be so expensive.

I started around 3:20, and have made 5 bars of soap. :P I've finally stopped, but it was surprisingly addicting! Well, the girl I talked to online said it would be, hehehe...I should start coming up with ideas for scents and things, and sell them at college. Hee hee hee...

Thanksgiving yesterday was nice. We didn't get to eat until about 6:45, because Mom had to work until 2, but the food was definitely worth the wait. I ate more than I've eaten in a loooong time, lol! 'Course, I ate more of the side dishes than the turkey or ham (we always make ham too, hehe), but I've always liked side dishes better! After helping Mom to put everything away, I flopped down on the couch and watched "The Shawshank Redemption" on AMC. I've never seen that movie before, and never thought it would be the kind of movie I'd be into, but I really enjoyed it! At one point, the only reason I kept watching it was because I knew there'd have to be some kind of justice at the end (and not just because the word 'redemption' was in the title, hehe), and I wasn't disappointed. So anyway, if you've never seen it, go ahead and watch it. It's not so bad.

It's been nice here at home. I was getting quite sick of all the soap opera-like drama going on up at college. I swear, it's been worse than high school! No wonder I was such a loner in high school, LOL...I knew somewhere in my subconscious that the less I was noticed, the less involved I'd be in petty stuff! Unfortunately, I have to go back this Sunday. But then it's just one more week of classes, a leisurely week of Finals (yes, leisurely)...and then 4 weeks at home! WOOT! That should be sufficient time to just unwind and forget about this semester, right?

I got to hang out with Geoff on Wednesday. Oh, you knew the Geoff stories were going to show up eventually, right? He showed up around 11, and we spent an hour here while I made him watch a Queen video I'd popped in about 15 minutes before he arrived. Then we drove around, ate lunch, and eventually went back to his place. Where we watched TV. :P

By now, I think you know us well enough to know that when I say 'we watched TV', that's literally all we did!

I'm finally getting "brave" enough to rile him up, hehe...Usually, I seem to be able to do that without meaning to, but that man can be so obstinate sometimes that it's fun to argue with him just for the sake of disagreeing. So several times during the evening, he'd say something, and I'd pipe up with a contradiction.

"It sounded like they called him 'Idiot'!"

"No, it didn't."

One of those raised-eyebrow looks. "Um, yeah, it did."

"Um, no, it didn't. Just because you thought it sounded like 'Idiot' instead of 'Eliot' doesn't mean it did."

Here is where you could tell Geoff was getting a teensy bit irked. "Oh, so just because you heard 'Eliot' means it didn't sound like 'Idiot'?"

By this point, I'd collapsed into laughter. I usually get irritated by how stubborn he is, and how defensive he can get...but when I'm provoking him on purpose, that's an entirely different story. ;) We're both way too easily provoked, so I probably shouldn't poke fun at him like that!

Tuesday night on the phone, we were talking about something or other and at one point he responded to me with something like, "Get over it, hon." Meanwhile, he's never actually used terms of endearment with me before, so it was a rather pleasant surprise. Hehe...A couple seconds afterward, he made fun of himself for using that word. :P

Wheee! Miss Lola just called me! It was odd to hear her voice again, instead of just seeing text in an IM window, hehe! Anyhoo, she, Benj, and I are going to have Phun in Philly tomorrow, woo hoo! And yes, I realize that saying "Phun" was extremely retarded.

Anyway, I think that's about it. I've just been dubbed the Handmaiden of Procrastination by Lisa, so it can't get much better than that! Au revoir, my diary!