My Precious Laptop, My Baby

Another busy day today. I hadn't anticipated such a busy first week. I'd thought it would be all syllabuses and introductions, but it's proved to be a lot of work so far. Yikes. I'd better work hard to stay on top of things and not fall far behind.

We had our second of two lessons on Joseph Smith in Institute today, and then I went up to my Research Methods class. We broke into groups and were told to search the Internet for the answer to the question, "Is Botox good for migraines?"

I was on the end of our group of three, and after a few minutes my teacher came over to scold me about "not including everyone in our group in the work", since I was the one using the laptop. I had to think about that for a second. I was leaning pretty far over so everyone could see the screen. But okay. Sure. I handed my personal Chromebook brimming with tabs that I was using and not ready to exit yet off to the girl who sat between me and the quiet guy on the other end. She took good care of it and didn't drop it over the edge of our thin, counter-like table to the floor, though, so that was great.

From there it was my measurements class, which seems to be a lot like a stats class. There are tons of formulas and strange concepts to learn, and we're supposed to write up a summary sheet at the end of every class about what we learned (and hand it in the next time we come in). Then the teacher collects them. He says he'll give them back to us for notes when we take our exam, which is great, but... you have to make sure you have another copy of your notes if you want to study.

We also haven't done any actual mathematical calculations. It's unclear as to whether we'll be expected to do such things on the test... or if our test is on SPSS... or why we're learning these things. It's a confusing class. I'm trying to keep up with it. There are six exams throughout the semester and the two lowest are dropped, so I'm just trying to do the best that I can and hoping I get the hang of things as we continue. Funny- I always thought I wasn't big on kinesthetic learning, since I hate working in groups and usually when you do hands-on projects, you get assigned to groups. But this class is very much a lecture class and I try hard to follow along with the oodles of formulas and strange new terms, even though it makes my head swim a bit. Eep.

I went to lunch, again at the Marketplace because it's just not worth it to go all the way back to my apartment with all the construction and stuff. Then I had my behavior class. Things are going well. I called up Mom again tonight, got some homework done, and just relaxed and enjoyed some alone time. College is certainly busy, but I do like having my own apartment and living by my own schedule.

Checking Out the Library

Since my apprenticeship class meets only on Mondays, and then only sometimes, I had no class at all until 2:30. I was able to catch a shuttle just before it left. Excellent. Saved me a long walk up the hill.

It was fiction writing class, and it looks like its emphasis is on short stories. Should be more interesting than the creative writing class from my high school days that focused much too much on poetry for my liking. 

One of our assignments is to visit the library, check out a book of short stories, read some of them, and then fill out a sheet comparing them. This seems a bit strange to me considering the fact that we all either rented or purchased books for this course that already contain lots of short stories, but nevertheless I am a woman of my word. So straight after class, I headed to the campus library to find a book of short stories. It was my first time checking a book out there. I've never actually been to the back area which has tons and tons of aisles and shelves. It was a lot bigger than I expected, and a bit difficult to navigate, but I managed.

Since I only needed to read a few short stories and answer a few questions about them, I considered just sitting on the floor while I finished the assignment and then putting it back on the shelf when I was done. However, I've heard that librarians get paid according to how much the library is used (aka, how many books are returned and that they then shelf), so that's why they like you to return the books in the return bin instead of putting the book back where you found it, even if you remember exactly where it goes. So, I decided I'd go through the checking out process and take the book home with me for a few days. Plus, if I ended up having a coughing fit, I wouldn't disturb anyone. It was a self check-out system, so I was able to scan the book and my student ID and go.

To my surprise, one of the shuttles outside the TSC said that it was traveling the 8th East route. That's the route Blue Square is on. Would this shuttle get me close to my apartment, construction notwithstanding? I decided to ride it and find out. It was quite the long ride. I guess it's the 8th East / Innovation Campus bus route for now. It took somewhere probably ten or fifteen minutes just to drop me off at the stop before Blue Square, which is decently far down the road. It's on the far side of the church, so it was another ten minute walk to reach Blue Square. I could have gotten back a lot sooner if I'd walked.

Well, now I know. Until this construction clears, I'll only ride the stadium shuttle. Someone riding with me mentioned that the construction had started only two weeks before fall semester began. What? Really? That seems dumb. I mean, I can see they'd want to do construction work before it starts to snow, but I hope they're doing something really important like repairing a stoplight, and not something that could have waited a few more years or decades. This construction is quite an inconvenience for people like me who live down at the bottom of the hill, though a lot of students live at the top and are blissfully unaware of what's going on down here, I imagine.

After coming home, I ran laundry for the first time since moving back, and talked to Mom on the phone. Just doing some catching up and settling in.

On the Second Day of Fall Semester

I woke up feeling lots better than yesterday. Not so much coughing. Dad had bought me bananas the other day when he brought me up. They were still green this morning, so I didn't have my usual protein shake for breakfast, which was a shame since that probably would have felt good on my throat.

Tuesday and Thursday are definitely my busier days of the week. After readying myself for the morning, I crossed the street to the stadium. I'd thought leaving twenty-five minutes early would give me plenty of time to get to Institute, but three buses passed me and the other kids present without stopping. All of them full. It normally takes give or take ten minutes to walk up the steep hill to campus in good conditions. With the construction, the normal sidewalks were blocked off, so I had to circle pretty far around before I could even start up the hill. But, I did eventually make it to Institute class. I guess I'll have to budget more time for myself to get to school in the mornings. Hopefully the drivers will add another bus to the route, or the construction finishes up soon.

My Institute teacher is a bit scattered, but he gets the point across. I'm taking a class about the prophets, so we talked today about Joseph Smith. Then I hiked across campus to just about the farthest possible building. It takes between ten and fifteen minutes to get there from the Institute, from 9:45 to 10:00, but the class doesn't start until 10:30, so it works out. Gives me a few minutes to relax.

My research methods teacher was actually a bit late today, though, because she thought class was supposed to start at 1:00. She was super embarrassed when she finally came in (the TA had arrived on time and let us know she was on her way), and she was able to laugh it off. She even let us go 40 minutes early. That's college for ya! Our real class final will be before Thanksgiving instead of during finals week. After Thanksgiving, we have PowerPoint presentations to work on instead. Hmm... I hope we work alone on those instead of in groups. That would just make my life easier.

Normally, I will only have ten minutes between the end of research methods class and the start of (deep breath) Principles of Psychological Measurements and Test Theory class. But those bonus 40 minutes gave me the chance to catch up on my blog. My measurements teacher is all right. It's kind of amusing to look at him, because he has a high foreign accent that you would never expect just by looking at his white skin, beard, and glasses. He'll give us a five-minute class break in the middle of our lecture every day, which isn't a lot but will be welcome considering that classes are longer on Tuesdays and Thursdays than on the other days of the week. He really likes flowers and during his PowerPoints, he'll sometimes stick random slides of flowers he likes.

I ate spaghetti at the Marketplace for lunch today, and was able to relax for a bit before my final class of the day: Behavior Assessment and Intervention. When I introduced myself, I mentioned that I wanted to study animal behavior. My teacher asked if I had any pets, so I told her I have two frogs. She was disappointed when she heard I hadn't trained them in any way, and I told her that they couldn't be trained. She gave me a triumphant look and explained how she could totally train them. Everyone laughed. A little embarrassed, I explained that my frogs are tiny water frogs who seem to absorb their nutrition through the food pellet that' dropped in their water, and I've never seen them use their mouths to eat. Everyone laughed again. I'm not sure they believed me, and my teacher looked a little stunned and just the tiniest bit annoyed. I sort of fidgeted until the conversation finally moved on. Food wouldn't be a reinforcer to these tiny aquarium frogs. There would be no contingency between their behaviors and the receiving of food. Well.

On my way out of the room after class was over, a guy stopped me and asked if I still lived at Blue Square. I had no idea who he was, and he seemed a bit hurt that I didn't remember him. Apparently we had a talk about Pokemon in the laundry room once. I vaguely remember that, but it would have only lasted for a few minutes, and it was probably an entire year ago with the new Sun and Moon games on the horizon. Sorry, dude.

His name is Daniel. I chatted with him a bit, but he seemed in a hurry to get away when he realized I didn't know him. Oh well. I tried. One thing I'd like to do this semester, now that freshman year is under my belt, is be more social and get to know more people. Hopefully I can see him again, and hopefully he isn't embarrassed that I didn't recognize him.

First Day of the Semester

My first day of school started with a class at 12:30. Still no sign of my roommate. I left my apartment and hurried across the street to catch the stadium bus, but I underestimated how much time it would take to get up to campus. With the construction blocking the way, we had to take a winding route, and I was a few minutes late to my first class. Oops. Oh well- now I know, and I can be better. Luckily my apprenticeship teacher is super nice, and I already like her a lot. Shame I'll only be seeing her a couple of times, since most of the time we won't meet in class.

I checked my email after class was over. My lab results were supposed to be back, so I heard back from the doctor about my thyroids. I tried to call mom to let her know the results were in, but she didn't answer. I found out later that Jorja's phone was out of commission, so she was letting Jorja borrow it. For now, I simply sent her the email and hoped she would get it soon enough.

For lunch, I stopped by the Marketplace and grabbed some grilled cheese. I was quite pleased to see the chocolate milk machine still in place. I thought it would be, but after the Chuck-a-Rama experience, it was good to know it was readily available.

As I was sitting down, I was surprised to bump into Dallin. We chatted for a bit- he had said he was going to teach a class on Sunday, so I asked him how that had gone. He laughed and said that he had planned for a lot fewer people than had shown up. But, it went well. He was leaving as I was arriving, but it was nice to see him again for just a minute.

After lunch, I headed out to my fiction writing class. I think this teacher is a bit less engaging than my apprenticeship one. Shame; you'd almost wish they were switched. But then again, my apprenticeship teacher is enthusiastic, and even offered to regularly send us notifications about different opportunities for us to do our apprenticeship when she hears of them. She's cheerful and wants to be involved and help us to succeed. Not that my fiction writing teacher doesn't, per se, but she feels a bit more distant to me.

I rode the shuttle back to the stadium and called Mom to let her know about my day. I had a huge coughing fit in the middle of it, though. Just me, alone, sliding down the wall behind my bedroom door, coughing horribly while Mom could do nothing but listen. I hope this bronchitis passes soon enough. I'll be able to get by, but it would be nice if I didn't have to deal with this sort of thing with school starting up again.

The Last Sacrament

I have 1:00 church this year, instead of 9:30.  That meant I had a morning for myself, to simply orient myself to the place again and enjoy my last day before school. Last year, Demetria and I had been able to walk to church together. Today, since my roommate has yet to move in, I went by myself. All the bishopric recognized me, which was amusing. I'd given the very first talk of fall semester last year, and apparently I left a good impression, because throughout the year they'd all greeted me by name every time they saw me in the halls. I'd joked with Demetria, "I may not be able to remember people in the ward, but at least the old men all like me."

To my surprise, the chapel was completely empty when I came in. I checked the time again on my phone and confirmed that yes, we had 1:00 church, and I had arrived several minutes early. Stepping back into the hall, I realized two members of the bishopric were standing outside the relief society room. When I asked them, they said that this year, we're doing relief society first, then our combined Sunday school hour with the young men, and Sacrament meeting last. Oh. I've heard Mom mention that she'd attended a late sacrament meeting a few times ages ago, I think, but this was my first time ever having sacrament meeting last. At least my ward still uses plastic cups instead of paper ones.

The RA for my floor (the same RA from last year) had insisted we have a mandatory meeting at 4:00 so she could discuss all the policies. I guess the day makes sense, because it's the day before school starts and you'd expect everyone to have moved in, but it still struck me as odd that she'd chosen a time when she knew many of us would still be at church. I nervously watched the clock during sacrament meeting, a bit annoyed that I'd have to duck out of that and not relief society, but the bishop made it less awkward. When he got up to be the last speaker, he mentioned that he understood several of us had "a mandatory meeting at Blue Square to attend", and that he understood if a few of us needed to sneak away. That made it easier.

I still don't like my RA. She dropped out of the church some years ago and it shows. We met in her room for the meeting and I, along with many people, were obviously in church clothes and had hurried over as quickly as we could. Yet she bashed on missionaries, made no effort to censor her swears, and I suspect she even went out of her way to insult our religion indirectly. Maybe I'm just looking into it too much since I already don't like her- she probably wouldn't really want to make any of us uncomfortable, right?

Still, it was awkward, and she did her whole, "You can have alcohol and I won't go out of my way to get you on trouble; I was a young student once and I know how horrible it is to get busted" speech from last year again. Need I remind anyone that the vast majority of us are under legal drinking age in this country?

She also mentioned her emotional support cat, and enthusiastically told us that she's a huge supporter of emotional support animals, and if any of us felt we needed one, she could hook us up. I was... stunned. Slightly horrified, in fact. I understand that there are tons of people who don't know the difference between emotional support animals and service animals and what you are and aren't allowed to have where, when, and why, but I didn't even know what to say. Emotional support animals vs. service ones and the moral debate about people illegally insisting that their untrained emotional support animal is qualified to all the rights of a service animal trained intensely from birth is one of few... "not super political or well-known but it exists nonetheless" issues that I feel very strongly about. Frankly, I just wanted to curl in a ball and groan about how little I was looking forward to having her as my RA again. Not that she's ever been rude to me, exactly, but I just always get a really bad vibe from her when I'm around.

But then again, if I were an RA, what would I do? You have to accept that some people are going to drink, do drugs, get into trouble, etc. Being an RA, I think, would be extremely difficult for me physically and emotionally. I'm sure having housing paid for would be awesome. But I think I would loathe having that kind of job.

We signed contracts and things while we were at the meeting, agreeing to abide by the proper rules while at Blue Square and stuff. At the bottom of one of the papers was a suggestion area. I thought for a minute, and then wrote that I would like the billboards (or whatever they're called) in the hallway to be decorated appropriately for all ages. Specifically, the ones near the elevator. Last year, one of the other floors had a particularly embarrassing design around Halloween involving condoms meant to look like ghosts. It happened to be immediately outside the elevator, so everyone in the elevator saw it when people got on or off at that floor. I guess that's college student humor? Weird. I mean, even if consdoms are something you use, do you really think it's funny to create a design that will last for three months that revolves around them?

But I requested the RA think about her elevator board designs thoroughly, because I for one have my parents and sometimes my siblings visit me on occasion. Personally, I was able to survive last year's infamous ghost board with little but an eyeroll and an avoided gaze. But I thought that since the RA was asking for suggestions, I would be upfront with her from the start. Now I'm going to be keeping an eye on our hallway boards, just out of curiosity to see if she respects my request, or decides to decorate inappropriately out of spite. Guess we'll wait.

Antibiotics

Apart from the doctor's appointment, there were two reasons I had come down from Logan this weekend. First, part of the agreement from me receiving my Smith Family Scholarship was that I would come back a year later and give a short presentation about the content of my essay, who my ancestors are, and what I spent the money on.

I think I did pretty well. I'd actually planned to read my entire essay, but the previous speaker went on about ten minutes long, so I kept it short. My full essay was available for people to read if they decided they wanted to buy the little book that had been printed, anyway. When he took me back to USU later, Dad and I joked about how we actually like public speaking. It's nice to have full control of the conversation and a captive audience. You get to say whatever you want without someone cutting you off or the conversation veering until finishing your sentence would have been pointless.

Afterwards, Mom, Dad, and I went to a place called Freddy's. Mom had mentioned it to me the other day, and said she thought I'd like it a lot because they have a special shake style called a "concrete". I like thick shakes, so I tried one out. It was really good. Another interesting thing about Freddy's is that the fries they gave us were super thin. There were tons of them, but they were small and Dad called them "frustrating fries".

I gathered up any items I wanted to take back up to college. Specifically, I'd cooked a mini pizza yesterday, and only after I'd put it in did I realize I didn't have an oven mitt. I managed to make do with a rag and a plate, but it's something I'd forgotten to get earlier.

While I was gathering things and just passing time, Mom waited anxiously for the BYU game to come on. She was sure it started at 3:00, which is also when my laser hair removal appointment was. As we were pulling into the parking lot, she turned on the radio and was shocked to hear that it sounded like they were in half time. She said, "I waited all day for this, and it's almost over?"

So she hung out in the car to listen to it while I went in to have my laser appointment. Unfortunately, as I walked down the hallway, I realized that I couldn't have the appointment because I was supposed to be off antibiotics for ten days. Yesterday, I'd gotten that inhaler at the doctor's. Anxiously I texted Mom, and she texted Dad, who sent a picture of the label. Yep. Antibiotics. We'd need to reschedule the appointment.

That was pretty embarrassing for me, because I felt like I should have remembered such a thing earlier. I've gone there several times, and they always ask me if I've been "taking any medication". I never have been, and I hadn't even thought about the inhaler. Oh well. At least if this were going to happen, it was a weekend when I already needed to be down in Sandy anyway- to visit the doctor, and give my presentation. Much better than coming down for no reason except to attend the laser appointment at all.

Dad brought me up to Utah State. It took a lot longer than we'd expected. We kept getting redirected to different ways to get into Logan, waited in long lines of traffic, only to find out that there was a policeman at the end forcing people to turn around. I kept Mom up to date, and she sent me a screenshot of an article that claimed there had been an avalanche at the entrance to Logan where two roads intersect. Oh. I didn't even realize you could get avalanches without snow.

We got a few groceries, and Dad helped me move in some things. I was amused as I watched him fiddle with my set of white drawers. He seemed convinced that he could take everything we'd brought up in only two loads. We'd already taken one up, and he didn't want to go any more than he had to. He piled some boxes and things on top of the drawers. The set has wheels, but all four of them had been taken off. I seemed to remember that when they'd moved me out, one of the wheels had fallen off and not stayed on, so we'd ended up carrying the thing out drawer by drawer. As I watched, he screwed the wheels back on, but one of them promptly fell off. I reminded Dad about our last experience a few times, but he was determined to make this work.

So, I left him to it and carried my frog tank to the lobby area. Then I came back and took the boxes.  He'd almost managed to get the drawers from the car to the curb. I took the boxes into the lobby, then came back again. Every time Dad pushed the drawers, the loose wheel fell off. He seemed a bit embarrassed that I had caught him struggling, but we did, in fact, manage to get everything up to my room in two loads. It should be interesting to see what happens when we move those drawers out.

My roommate still hasn't moved in yet. I guess I'm alone tonight.

Inhale

Mom met up with me this morning. She brought my keys, which was great. I was able to return the rental keys and get my lanyard back. Then we walked around campus for a bit, identifying some of my classrooms for the year.

We drove away from Logan after that. She dropped me off at Dad's work, and we ate lunch there. Then Mom went home and left me to hang out with Dad. I worked on some writing, and got some soft serve ice cream with him and one of his friends.

Today I met with the doctor who works right next to the Overstock building. They were supposed to check my iron levels at my dentist's request, and I took the opportunity to ask about my cough as well. As it turns out, apparently that horrible cough I've been suffering from for a month is bronchitis. The doctor gave me an inhaler to use. Lovely. As she showed me how it worked, I comforted myself with the fact that, "Well, it looks like I'm going to have to use this several times a day for a couple of weeks, so getting a little poke when they draw my blood will be nothing."

Silly me- I'd been expecting a little shot. But as a certified veterinary assistant, I should know better. I squeezed a pink ball to make the vein in my arm enlarge, and got poked there. It stayed in while they drew three centrifuge tubes' worth of my blood. At least I only had to get poked once. I was trying to figure out how that worked, and the lady who drew my blood tried to explain how she had switched between the three different tubes without removing the needle from my arm, but I didn't really get it.

I get to hear the lab results on Monday. I guess we'll find out then if I'm having any thyroid issues. Good to know.

So Long, Neuroscience

Today I met with my psychology adviser. Last night, I'd received an email from someone at the Willow Park Zoo, asking if I would be interested in volunteering with them this fall. I'd planned to do so when I could use the hours towards my apprenticeship class at USU. However, I wasn't in that apprenticeship class anymore. The Willow Park people had requested I contact them again in winter, and so I'd planned to take the class in spring.

Anyway, I went up to campus today, which was, again, another long walk. I guess the buses won't start actually running until next week, and with all that construction outside my door, it doesn't look like they'll be stopping in front of Blue Square for a long time. Oh well.

I caught my adviser at the perfect time, and explained the situation to her. She agreed that if I had someone offering me a position, I should probably take it. We studied my schedule and ended up dropping my neuroscience class. This will leave me with nothing to do on Wednesdays and Fridays until my Fiction Writing class at 2:30. That gives me all morning for volunteering. Hopefully that works out great!

Sometime soon, I'll need to ride the bus down to Willow Park again, so I can figure out how long it takes me to get there. Last time I went, I rode the bus and was able to walk to Wendy's and make it to an earlier stop before the bus came. So, maybe I'll plan on that sort of excursion. The problem will be getting to a bus when they don't run on my road because, again, construction. I suppose if I get up to campus, I could take a city bus to the transit center. I'm sure they'll still run their Willow Park route as normal, and perhaps I could even grab a few groceries from the Smith's at the center while I'm out.

Alone at Campus

Today was a day of settling. With no roommate around and no big plans, I just hung out by myself, made a mini pizza, and worked on lots of story planning and writing. Just taking advantage of my last few free summer days.

Doritos and Fruit Snacks

Stockton and I paid a visit to the dentist today. My teeth usually have a weird gray sheen to them. They've been that way for years. Usually it's at the bottoms or tops, against the gums. Anyway, the dentist suggested I get checked out by the doctor for potential thyroid problems, because it's possibly I could have too much iron in my blood. Which is curious, considering how little meat I eat.

Mom was also nice enough to take me by OHOP so I could get the Nutella crepes I like and had really wanted to taste again before college. As she drove, I read the last chapter of Gone With the Wind and talked to her about it.

A few minutes away from my apartment, Mom asked me if I had my keys. I was surprised. I remembered taking the keys into Angie's, because I couldn't remember if they offered discounts to students who showed their IDs or anything like that. I couldn't find them in my backpack. So, I called Stockton up and asked him to check the motorhome. He found the lanyard on my bunk. Oops.

The second-floor RA, Ethan Hammer, brought me rental keys and said that they would normally be $45 or something, but as long as I returned them before September, the office wouldn't charge me. That was great. Otherwise, I would have been confined to my apartment, unable to lock my door behind me should I go anywhere. My roommate hasn't moved in yet. While I waited for Ethan to return with the keys, Mom brought me some groceries. I switched on the TV to find the third "Jimmy Timmy Power Hour" playing. This was the last of three huge crossover episodes that were supposed to be the combined series finales for both "Jimmy Neutron" and "The Fairly OddParents".

"Jimmy" did in fact end after this, but apparently FOP fans back then were kind of upset with the way things went down. So, FOP returned and is still going on today. Though, they just recently finished airing Season 10 in America, and I have suspicions that it will be their last. The show has been moved to poor time slots, and and lots of people are frustrated with Chloe's existence. Admittedly, even I haven't liked the way many of the recent episodes have been written, though I would still rather have them than have no episodes. My assumption is that ratings have gone down, so the series will probably end at last. Shame if it has to go out on such a bad note. A special series closure where Timmy officially says good-bye to his godparents and releases them to help another child seems like it would have been the appropriate way to end this twenty-year-old show. Maybe we'll still get a finale movie.

So, I watched the special episode on and off as I worked to figure out the problems with my my computer WiFi, and why my computer had randomly started acting up this last week. It wouldn't always exit Internet pages when I clicked, and when I would click and dragged, it would deselect and freak. Still, I cleared old school files off my desktop to make way for new ones when I realized that the problem seemed to be with my mouse's left button. The right seemed to work fine. I played around with it, managed to clean it out, and it seems to be working just fine now. Awesome! I'd worried that my computer was having issues because it was old and dying, and I might have to surrender it - and all my access to art files - completely.

Mom headed home again, and I settled in. Earlier I had texted Dallin, letting him know that I was back at USU (as opposed to being at the cabin), and I'd caught him up with the key situation. He asked if I wanted to meet up tonight, since we haven't seen each other face to face in two years, though we'd emailed back and forth several times while he was on his mission in South Korea, and I sent him occasional packages. We agreed to meet in the International Lounge at the TSC. Appropriate place, with all its flags, and I thought of him every time I saw South Korea's.

It was a long walk up. The shuttles weren't running, and the direct path up the hill was blocked off by construction. I had to circle around and, well, walk. But eventually I did get to see Dallin again. He suggested we check out Aggie Ice Cream. We walked and talked on the way there. He shares an apartment with five other people, and mentioned that the only one who seems a bit sketchy is his own roommate. I'm not sure what he meant by "sketchy", only that the guy stayed up late playing video or computer games or something. Dallin described him vaguely as "A punk", which I thought was amusing. I'd told Mom that I thought I could get along with many roommates, but I didn't think I'd deal well with the punk type. Namely, I just want a roommate who won't walk all over me.

We passed some missionaries on our way and chatted with them a bit. Dallin pointed out which building he lives in, Bullen Hall, which is right next to our destination and about as far away from me as possible.

Aggie Ice Cream, however, was pretty crowded when we got there. So, Dallin suggested we head back and maybe try the Marketplace in the TSC. I was a little concerned about this plan, because I was pretty sure the place was about to close. Nevertheless, we walked back anyway. We arrived at 7:58, and they close at 8:00. So, no go there. We went down a floor to the first level of the TSC and studied the taco and quesadilla place, and the pastry shop, or whatever you call it. Everything looked closed. So, we bought snacks from the vending machine- Cool Ranch Doritos for him, and some fruit snacks for me.

We hung out and talked for awhile, about majors and the eclipse and stuff. I walked him to the recreation center, which is where he said he was meeting some friends later. It was on the way back to my place, and I wanted to get home before it got too dark and cold anyway. So it was a lot of walking for me today, but the weather was actually really great. It was nice to see Dallin in person again, and it'll be interesting to see if we ever bump into one another while around the campus this year.

Total Solar Eclipse 2017

So. That eclipse today, huh? I'll let these pictures, taken just minutes apart, speak for themselves:

It's crazy how dark it became so quickly. Cold too. Even before the moon fully passed in front of the sun, the crickets started chirping. I guess they thought it was night, and I don't blame them.

At totality, we were able to take our eclipse glasses off for about thirty seconds and look up with bare eyes. Mom screamed and babbled about how cool it was. In pictures you see of solar eclipses in textbooks or news articles or whatever, it always looks like there's a black circle with a yellow ring around it. But when I saw the eclipse at totality, the ring was bright white. I wonder if all eclipses are like that and the yellow ring is a trick of the cameras that take pictures, or if the pictures I've seen have all been artists' interpretations.

We left when the eclipse was over. This was why we had brought the motorhome- so we could brave the crazy traffic in comfort on our way home. It's normally a five minute drive from the cabin to the grocery store, but today it took more like fifty. That was fine. I got a lot of writing done. About 9,500 words today, working on a scene I set aside a long time ago. Nice way to spend the day- family, a cool eclipse experience, and lots of enjoyable writing.

Day Before Eclipse

We attended a random sacrament meeting at 9:00 this morning. It was pretty crowded. We walked through the chapel, down a hall, to a separate gym-like room with tons of chairs and a projector. I wonder if it's always like that, or if there are just tons of tourists this time of year, especially with the eclipse happening tomorrow.

I was not enthusiastic when I saw one of hymns was 185, "Reverently and Meekly Now". This was the same hymn we sung at the singles' ward last week, and it was SO SLOW. Seriously, we were probably singing for ten minutes then, and I felt awkward the whole time because my cough has left me unable to sing very well. Hopefully that clears up. That would be weird to lose my singing ability permanently. I whispered to Dad as we searched for the page that this was the slow when from the week before, and after we had sung, he noted, "That wasn't so bad- these people sang at a normal speed."

We hung out at the cabin with cousins, mostly. I did I read Gone With the Wind and got a lot of writing done, so that was pretty nice.

Sink Is Cleaned

We all took the motorhome up to Utah State so I could get most of my stuff moved in (like sheets, dishes, my computer, etc.) on our way up to the cabin.

Afterwards, we went to eat at Angie's. Preston had wanted to "clean the sink" (order a lot of ice cream to share between us) when these guys visited me over Thanksgiving. I also hoped to go so we could have one last family meal before I return to college. What could be better than food at the local restaurant and tons of yummy ice cream too?

Stockton, the sink, me

Stockton bowed our earlier, turned off by the strawberries. He kept saying, "I warned you the strawberries would get everywhere." Mom had been insistent that they would be confined to just one side of the sink. When it arrived, Stockton was not impressed. Still, he was a good sport. Mom, Preston, and I ate a lot of it, with Preston hunched over the sink by the end scooping everything up with his spoon. Draw drank the liquid that was left.

Jorja, Stockton

Preston

After that was done, we drove up to the cabin and got to see several happy cousins. Anne in particular was excited to show off her "Heart of Te Fiti" necklace. In fact, we watched "Moana" tonight. I'd spent a lot of time playing with Jeff, who had found a tiny rubbery red ball that came apart and together again like an Easter egg. He had great fun endlessly putting the two halves together and trying to get them apart again, and asking me for help when needed. Eventually, he figured out if he threw the ball on the floor, sometimes it would come apart, and then, again, it would click back good as new. Oh boy. 

Anyway, he liked hanging around me, and let me tuck him into a chair next to mine so we could watch "Moana" too. He's such a quiet, still boy and watched almost the entire thing before he climbed down to cuddle with his dad on the floor and fell asleep. Pretty nice way to spend a day.

Hidden Chocolate Milk

Today, Mom and I went school shopping. I picked up a small spiral notebook I plan to sketch in sometimes. I filled up a notebook with sketches last year, most of them done in pen. It's annoying to sharpen pencils now that I'll be saying good-bye to the electric sharpener, but I hate using pens on copy paper. Having a sketching notebook makes a good compromise, and there are lines in it so I can use it for notes if I wish.

We toured the new MTC this morning. They had some really cool murals which were lit from behind with lights so they glowed.

Dad, Preston, Me, Jorja, Stockton

As I said, Mom and I shopped today. Mostly for clothes. I own a lot of clothes that are knitted sweaters with holes, or jacket-like covers and things, but I never have enough undershirts to wear beneath them. We picked some up and found some cool new things too. Normally I hate clothes shopping, but today it wasn't so bad. Mostly because I had the authority to pick out what I wanted, I guess. Shopping was a bit less fun when I was little and couldn't see what was on the racks and shelves too well.

I thought I'd try out one of my new shirts when we all went out to eat tonight. Jorja even did my make-up before we went, since she's become a lot better at it than me, and then we went to Chuck-A-Rama. Dad had come from work, so he drove there separately. Our goal was to get in before 4:00, dinner is more expensive than lunch. Preston and I got out of the car and were hurrying towards the door when we saw Dad jump out of his car and sprint past us. We got in at 3:59, I think. Nice save.

Me, Jorja

I piled macaroni and corn on my plate, along with a large scone and a giant roll. I even had a bowl of clam chowder, which I'm pretty sure I ate at the Skyroom with Alison once, and kind of liked. To my disappointment, though, there were no fountains with chocolate milk. I mused about it to Stockton and Jorja when I dropped my food off at the booth. Then I went to prowl the room again (partly to find that corn I wanted). 

While I was mentioning the lack of chocolate milk to Mom, an employee approached me to confirm that I wanted it. Apparently, she'd come by the table, and Stockton had asked her about it. She said they kept the chocolate milk in the back, but she would get me some. She continued offering us refills throughout the rest of the night. Huh.

Tonight, we stopped by the cemetery to visit Mom's mom's grave, since Grandma Millburn would have been 70 if she were still alive. I never knew her, and it's weird sometimes to think that my life could be different if I had. I hope that she is happy, and that when I cross paths with her again in heaven, she'll be kind and loving and proud of me just the way Mom always says she'll be.

Milkshakes

I drew a quick reference for a new character that was introduced during that party scene. Otherwise, I did more writing and research today. Trying to figure things out. I've set that 22,500 word scene aside and am ready to dive back into writing The Worth of Ink soon.

I got some nice comments about my writing from my online friends today, which was a pleasant pick-me-up. For dinner, Mom and Stockton called and asked if we wanted anything to eat. Jorja had been sick all day and requested a milkshake, much to my surprise. Dad started to tell Mom I had asked if we could have spaghetti for dinner, but I quickly intervened and asked for a milkshake too. I thought, "If Mom gets Jorja a milkshake when she's been sick for one day when I've been suffering with my horrible cough for weeks, I will not be a happy camper."

The milkshake was good, and Mom was amused when I told her my thought process after she got back, so it all worked out.

Bureaucracy Is Inescapable

I read through that piece I "finished" yesterday again today, editing and tweaking things. Most importantly, I reviewed the scene where my traveling party crosses an international border. The narrator's friends live in a different country than he does, so I did some research on what borders look like around the world. One of the pages I was viewing had pictures of borders, labeled with which side belonged to which country. Some of them were pretty interesting, because countries have different policies on how they take care of the environment. There would be full, lush forests next to land that was bare, or next to dead trees that had been torn apart by beetles. The picture of what Australia's borders look like was literally just a snapshot of the ocean. Ha.

After thoroughly researching ports of entry and how to legally cross international borders (and trying to phrase my Google searches correctly so I didn't send off any alerts with questions like "What is stopping me from just walking into another country?" and "Are the borders between countries watched all the way across?"), I worked to convert that to the politics and magic system of my world. 

It was really fun, and added another 1,500 words to the piece, so now it's 22,500 words. Ah, well. I'm very happy with the result. I joked with a friend that "I write about magical tax evasion and border control policies". I get much more excited by the bureaucracy of my magical worlds than about the adventures you would normally expect characters to be going on. That's why the narrators of the stories I actually enjoy writing are all major political figureheads, princes, CEOs, and ambassadors. Is good fun.

21,000

I finished the huge party scene! It came out to be 21,000 words. I... Wow.

I think the real reason it's difficult for me to write a 50,000 word novel is because writing scenes this long is easy, and then my work ends up too long. Oh well. This is one of my favorite pieces I've ever written- it's about a new father who thinks his wife has had a miscarriage because she isn't showing many signs of pregnancy yet. His friends, unaware that he's given the baby up for dead, surprise him by picking him up for a "diaper party", and take him out to a huge party at a nightclub another one of their friends owns. While reluctant to go since he's hardly in the mood for celebrating, he doesn't want to ruin their excitement. So he goes and bumps into old familiar faces, and struggles to keep his happy face even though his world seems to be falling apart. It was interesting and very fun to write.

I've been in a writing slump the last month, but my passion is all coming back now. I'm pretty happy about that. I've decided that I like writing about adults a lot more than writing about kids. Mostly adults who have kids. It's way more fun to watch characters trip over their feet and make mistakes when raising their children than watching teenagers fall in love in the middle of their quest to save the world.

Black Globe

I spent today writing, mostly. I started this particular scene months ago, and I decided I wanted to see it finished. It's a huge party scene, so today was a day of work and research. I love those kinds of days.

Dad and I spray-painted that paper-mache globe I made awhile back. It's black so far, and colors will be added on it later to indicate the countries of the planet of The Worth of Ink. I have a flat map, but a globe will be nice too- particularly since my world is tidally locked. That will be a nice reference to have on hand.

Wait Until Dark

Today we packed up the cabin and headed for home. On our way, we stopped by a church for sacrament meeting, and realized as we sat down that it was a singles ward. Oh well. The talks were pretty interesting, and we had a nice trip back. I alternated between writing and playing another Mario Party 6 board with my siblings.

We watched another weird episode of "Doctor Who" tonight. I do not like this Doctor at all. He's super mean and very rude. And, it's still hard to understand what the characters are saying most of the time. Dad turned on the subtitles, which was kind of amusing. It did make it easier to understand what was going on.

After that, we watched "Wait Until Dark", with Audrey Hepburn. I watched this in my high school film class a few years ago. The kids seemed to like it, so that was nice.

Nice Try, Nacho Hog

We had planned to go on the boat again today. I got in my swimsuit and everything! But, the sky kept threatening to rain, and finally did later in the afternoon. We stayed inside and played games like Bananagrams instead.

Dad made some nachos for lunch. I had a lot of them, and then Steve declared he was going to make more. He took the plate and was in the kitchen for a bit, and after awhile I realized he hadn't come back to the table. When I turned around, he was at the other table with the nachos. I went and sat next to him and said, "You betrayed me". He was amused, and let me have some of the chips. Nice.

Mom also heard from Uncle Brett that he won't be going to Kuwait. He's going to the United Arab Emirates. Should be interesting. It's near Dubai, and maybe that will be fun. I was amused when Mom told me how his girls didn't know he was leaving until a few days ago. We adults have known for a long time, so it never occurred to me that they might not. Good thing I didn't slip and spill the secret early.

The cousins left in the afternoon. My family broke out The Farming Game, but I turned down the invitation to play it. I remember playing that game several years ago, and it was very, very long. Not really the way I wanted to spend my time at the cabin. Stockton was pretty frustrated with one of the spaces on the board- apparently he landed on it five times in a row, and each time had to go back to start. This prevented him from selling his twenty pregnant cows. Something like that. The game was long as predicted, and everyone went to bed with it still on the table, just in case they want to finish tomorrow. They probably won't, but at least it's an option.

Boating at the Cabin

We were up at the cabin all day today! Pancakes for breakfast and pizza for lunch. Nice.

In the afternoon we went on the boat again. I rode the knee board. It's been a couple of years, so it was nice to try it again. I finally fell off when I went over the wake and landed crookedly. Preston gave the board a try after that, and I gave him some tips.

He really enjoyed it. Dad tied a piece of licorice to the rope and tried sending it down to Preston on his second try. Preston bounced the rope up and down a lot, but couldn't shake it all the way down and crashed before long.

Mom went out next, and she was able to get the licorice. I bundled Preston up in towels and fed him crackers and candy while we watched from the front of the boat.

We went tubing after that- Preston, Stockton, and me again. This trip, Steve has driven the craziest I've ever seen him! We were lashed back and forth. It was quite amusing, considering that Preston was on board. I never got tube rides quite like this when I was his age.

At one point, the rope between the tube and the boat slackened as Steve made a sharp turn. The tube bobbed in the opposite direction the boat was turning. It was obvious that we were about to get whipped hard, but I tried to cling on anyway. No use. We felt a huge snap and I flew over, backwards and on my head. Again, I was grateful for the life jacket.

We rode for awhile longer, and I was glad that I'd gone out on the tube with the boys again. It started to rain. We hurried for the shore and packed up. I hope Jorja, Brandon, and Weston weren't too disappointed that they didn't get another turn. But I think they were glad to be back at the cabin. The rain poured down pretty hard.

I got in pajamas and read Gone With the Wind while Dad made spaghetti, and then we had ice cream. It was a pretty nice way to end a fun day with family.

Tenth

We drove up to the cabin today! Dad set the Wii up in the car so the four of us kids could play Mario Party 6 together. We stopped at Gamestop to pick up a new controller for it, since before now we've only had three.

We made it to the cabin shortly before Steve and Shannon arrived with Brandon and Weston. Even though it was late afternoon, we took their boat out into the reservoir to scout the scene.

I didn't ride my usual knee board today, but we did tube at the end, and that was fun. It was Preston, Stockton, and me, and we bounced pretty hard at the end as we were swinging to the right. That's the side that I was sitting on. Preston was on the opposite side and didn't weigh too much, so we tipped all the way over and crashed hard. Stockton bumped into me as we were going over, I think.

I went in the water face-first. I'm grateful for life jackets. It's scary to think of what I would have done without one.

Ninth

I talked to my parents today, and wrote, and drew. I drew a reference for a character I've had in my mind for awhile but never got around to drawing before, and polished up that cultural dancing scene.

Eighth

Did some writing today, mostly. Been working on a scene about some characters teaching two other characters one of their cultural dances. I really like the way it's coming out.

Peer Advisor

Last night, I told Mom about an email I'd received for an on-campus job opportunity as a Peer Advisor for the psychology department (And yes, you read that correctly- the official job title is "advisor" with an "o", not an "e").

I met all the listed requirements (3.0 or higher GPA, able to work 5-7 hours a week, and be at least a sophomore- not a freshman). It would pay $8.25 an hour. Sounds good, though I don't know what the actual hours are. I THINK I might be able to set my own, which would be great. We'll have to see. 

I was supposed to apply via some online program called Aggie Handshake. I spent the morning setting up my profile and then rewrote my resume (which was more veterinary-oriented) so that it had a stronger focus on teamwork and working with clients. Setting it up was a bit of a pain since there were so many hoops to jump through and things to write and upload, but I'm sure it's a lot easier to do this sort of thing in this modern age than when my parents were kids. Plus, I'll only have to do that part once. I uploaded my resume, made sure my contact information was there and correct, and applied to the peer advising position. We'll see how that goes.

Partway through the day, some guys came over to fix the air conditioning. It's up and running for now, but they warned that if it shuts off, it may not have the strength to come back on. They're coming back tomorrow with a new part which should fix that.

I made the last box of macaroni and cheese and got a lot of writing done today. Dad, Stockton, and Preston played Mario Party 5. Mom called and we talked about Gone With the Wind. Jorja made some sort of cookie concoction with a ton of dough stuffed in a small bowl in the oven. Shame these nice summer days are quickly coming to an end.

84 Degrees

I decided not to fast this week. I'm still recovering from being sick and have been coughing horribly, and drinking fluids is supposed to help. Additionally, the air conditioning going out yesterday left my bedroom at 84 degrees. It seems borderline dangerous to cut water out of my life right now.

The other day, Dad hooked up the Wii in the living room. Today, I joined Stockton and Preston in playing Mario Party 6, which I haven't had a go at in a long time. We played E Gadd's Garage. Despite the fact that his controller didn't work too well and would always force him to move up automatically (to the point where I actually won the Minigame Bonus Star), Stockton won the board. I came in second. Oh well. Six stars isn't too bad.

We started our game before church and finished it afterward. Then I retired from playing to spend some time working on character designs and story planning. Mom and I talked about Gone With the Wind and my college life over the phone tonight. It sounds like she's enjoying her time in Florida. A nice, relaxing Sunday with family.

Avocado Oil

I spent the day writing and reading, alternating between sitting on the beanbag in the computer room or being on my bed with my laptop. Dad and Jorja made homemade lasagna for dinner tonight. I think they had fun with that.

Jorja and Stockton made brownies later too. I was in the kitchen with my laptop while Stockton and Jorja debated whether or not avocado oil could be substituted for vegetable oil (avocados, after all, are not vegetables). I looked it up and found that yes, it can be substituted, but apparently not for baked goods. It's an expensive sort of oil, said the Internet, and shouldn't be used in large quantities like that. I don't know what they substituted for the vegetable oil - I think it might have been applesauce - but they did eventually get their brownies made.

In other news, the house's air conditioning stopped working today. I've spent the last two months thinking the house was ridiculously cold and how I shouldn't be freezing underneath three layers of blankets in my bedroom, so I enjoyed it. Hopefully the temperatures stay livable, though. It's funny how hot the inside of a closed house can get even with the roof and curtains blocking out the sun.

Helping a Pal

More writing today... later my own, but first that of an online friend. He's been working on a piece for a long time and showed me his first four rough chapters. He wanted some advice, so I spent the morning talking things over with him. It's nice to talk with fellow writers from time to time.

Dallin In Utah

It was a relaxing day today. I did some writing, and lots of planning my writing.

I also received a text from Dallin today. I'd thought about sending him an email to welcome him back to the states, but then just decided to wait so he could decompress from his mission, since I'll be seeing him up at Utah State soon. Anyway, since Mom has been going East with Rachel, she was nearby their home.

I guess she called up Dallin's mom, and long story short, she got my contact information, and Dallin did after. He sent me a text to say hi and confirm that he's coming up to USU. Right now he's in Utah doing things like orientation and getting settled, or something of the sort. Should be fun to see him out and about around campus on year.

Game Guy

Woke up to find this taped to the fridge door:

It would seem a nearly-full gallon of milk was left out all night. I did hear Stockton and Jorja laughing downstairs late into the night, and Jorja usually comes upstairs to get midnight snacks and drinks. Lovely.

But in other news, my throat has cleared up a lot! I might be all better by tomorrow. That would be great. Stockton and I reminisced about our childhood for a bit this morning, so Preston and I played some Mario Party 3. That's one of my favorites of the Mario Party series, along with 8 and DS. We played Waluigi Island, and I scored a nice come-from-behind victory by gaining the Coin Star and Happening Star bonuses. I landed on a lot of Happening spaces that game and frequently lost huge amounts of coins, all the way down to zero. I guess the ends justify the means.

I also played Preston on two Dual maps. Mario Party 3 is unique with its special dualing style, because you don't battle for stars. Instead, you get partners (such as Koopa, Boo, Chain Chomp) who stand either in front or behind you and attack your opponent depending on the direction you're moving. You pay them a salary of coins each turn, and if you can't afford them, they disappear and leave you vulnerable to your opponent, and unable to attack. This was a little before Preston's time and he doesn't have old memories of it, but he loved it. Stockton worked on a homework assignment about The Lorax while he watched us, and read us some of the sillier questions.

One thing that stood out about the first Dual map we played, Blowhard, was how many Game Guy spaces there were. I remember when we were little, we thought Game Guy was awesome because we usually came away with so many coins. Now that we're older, we can more clearly see the risks associated with his space. He drains you of all your coins and forces you to play one of his minigames- the majority of which are based entirely on luck. Scary. But the payout can be huge when you win. I had my 92 coins doubled to 184, and then those were later doubled to 368. It was quite hilarious to see Game Guy present me with this prize all at once with a +368 floating over my head. Preston was amazed. We had fun, but the sheer amount of Game Guys was exhausting.

We played Pipesqueak next. Fewer Game Guys there, and lots of warp pipes and reverse tiles. I won again. In both games, I landed on a Happening space that turned all of Preston's spaces into mine. Mine filled the board. Every time Preston moved, about seven turns in a row, he landed on my spaces and had to pay me between 8 and 10 coins. It was pretty funny. For me. Not so much for him. He's a good sport.

Jorja went to a movie with a friend tonight, and Dad and Stockton went bowling. I'd planned to go with them, but elected to stay behind and catch up on my blog instead. And, I called Mom and we talked about our Gone With the Wind chapter for the day. It was a busy day... but a fun one for sure!

Writing the Zodiac Dance

Mom left with Rachel and the girls on a Florida-bound trip. She'll be staying with them for a week and a half. Hopefully we function well enough without her around. She and I have been reading a chapter of Gone With the Wind every day, and we're going to keep up and talk about it over the phone while she's gone- Gone with the wind, we could say. Of course, my voice is so raspy now that everything squeaks and I'm constantly coughing. Mom seemed to be able to understand me, at least.

Dad took the van in to get its air conditioning fixed, Preston attended a friend's birthday party and played laser tag, and I got a lot of writing done today. I was inspired to write about a tutor storming to a snowbound cabin in search of his flaky student who's due to perform a final dance for his ballroom class, but has been procrastinating. I pored over dance videos for a long time. Many... many different dance videos. Dad made some spaghetti while I was working in the kitchen, which was nice of him.

My passion for writing is swelling up again, and I'm grateful to reign it in and get it back! This scene turned out to be around 8,700 words. I wrote it in two days. Just. Wow. When I get into something, I can work fast and hard and love the result. But when I force it, it's like pushing two ends of a paper inward- everything wrinkles and becomes distasteful. Honestly, motivation is such a fickle mistress.