23

The last week has actually been one of the quieter weeks I've experienced since I've been in Boston. Although I did expect it to be the most fun. But things don't always work out as planned.

Tuesday afternoon, after a week of stressing out and procrastinating, I finally finished and turned in my Higher Ed in American Society midterm. That took a lot out of me and I was so glad to finish that thing.


Thursday morning I had an appointment to get my hair done at a place in Mission Hill. Luckily, getting there was easy enough. I passed Northeastern on the way...I hadn't seen the campus before, and now I'm even more glad I chose BC. Getting my hair done was pretty typical. She did a roller set, which was what I wanted. She didn't come check on me though, so I just sat there until the dryer turned off. I was miserable because the rollers were way too tight. So then after sitting under the dryer for an hour, she suggested that because it was raining she should wrap it. Really? I sat under the dryer for an hour for nothing. Plus I had to have the stupid white wrap thing on my head again. AND they charge separately for trims. So I ended up spending $75 for basically nothing. Way to go me.

Thursday night there was an outing for the Higher Ed people at a bar in Brighton Center. It was a pretty miserable night, but I had just gotten out of my stupid research class, so a few drinks were in order. I saw Brent on the way there, which was good because I had no idea where I was going. There was a small but good group. It was a good night...nice and chill. Toward the end of the night a cover band started playing. They weren't bad, just kind of random. So after a few songs we left. We stopped into another bar for a second, but then decided to leave. Getting home was interesting though. It was pouring and there wasn't going to be another bus for a while, so we got a cab to Christina's apartment, then I walked to the shuttle to head home.

Friday was my birthday. When I woke up and went into the kitchen, my roommates had put happy birthday signs for me on the refrigerator. It was so cute! I decided not to do any school work but I really needed to clean up my room a little and do laundry. I spent a lot of the day doing that until I had to get ready for the night. I spent forever trying to make my hair sort of curly, which mostly worked. I got dressed in this really cute lavender, white, and black faux wrap dress that I got at Target but hadn't worn yet. It looked really great on me but the wrap part in front doesn't overlap enough so I had to watch out for that. But I looked great. So, earlier that day, Meghan had told me that she and Devlin really needed to study and couldn't go out really late, but they wanted to take me out to dinner. I was disappointed, but I couldn't pass up free food. So we went to Bangkok Bistro in Cleveland Circle. The food is pretty good there and it was nice to do something social with my roommates for once. After dinner I called Brent to see if he wanted to meet me at my house before we went out. He said he was about to call me to say he was too tired to go out. I understood but I was starting to get upset because I had no idea who was going to show up. I went home to finish getting ready and called Amy. She was still going so I left a little while later. I went to a club called Gypsy, which I heard was pretty cool. When I got there, Amy wasn't there yet, so I sat at the bar and had a drink while watching the Sox game. Amy got there about 15 minutes after me and she had brought her husband Sean with her. We hung out at the bar for a while and chatted and watched the game. Amy also gave me a birthday card which was so sweet of her. Later that night a lot more people started showing up so we went to dance. The DJ played a lot of really random music but it wasn't that bad. I pretty much perked up after I started dancing. We were starting to get tired though so we sat down on one of the couches next to the dance floor. A waitress came up to us and asked if we wanted anything but we didn't. At that point she let us know that our table had a $250 minimum. Well, we were wondering why all the wine on the wine list was over $100 a glass... We danced a little bit longer but after a little bit we left. Despite almost everyone bailing on me I had a really great night, and I found out what a fun girl Amy is!

On Monday I went out to lunch with Rima and Liz, two really awesome women from my church. We went to a Brazilian buffet restaurant that had really good food. I will definitely have to go back there. And it was amazing to have a chance to get to know people from church outside of church. I found out about some of the other things that go on at church, which was good because I felt a little out of the loop. There wasn't much that interested me though. Anyway, I really appreciate how welcoming the people at my church have been and I love it so much!

stripper poles

Since I haven't had class since Tuesday afternoon, I've been sort of working on a midterm, but mostly slacking off. I really have been meaning to get caught up on school work. Really. Saturday, I had already decided, would be a fun day, since I was going to the game and then to a party that night. I woke up really early since the game was at noon. I got to campus around 10:30, but there wasn't much going on. So I just walked around until the game was about to start. I got some pictures and video of the marching band while they played Bowling Green's and our fight songs. The game was actually pretty exciting. Bowling Green isn't a bad football team. But I wasn't even the least bit concerned...I knew we would win pretty comfortably. Although we were a little sloppy in the first quarter... During halftime they inducted former athletes into the Varsity Club. One of the athletes who came back was Gerard Phelan. He is part of BC sports legend, but he is so overshadowed by Doug Flutie. And I think it's kind of unfair, since Gerard Phelan was the one who actually caught that pass. Well, needless to say, we won the game. The score was 55-24. Now we are ranked #4, and this weekend we go to South Bend to beat up on Notre Dame. Hopefully they won't give us too much trouble, but you never know with these historic rivalries.

Saturday night I went to a party at Isabella's apartment. I was trying to get Devlin and Greg to go with me, but they were tired, so I went by myself. When I got there not a lot of people had showed up yet, and I didn't know anyone other than Isabella, but I got a drink and met a few people. After a while people started coming, including Vincent and Charlotte. I hadn't seen them since the tailgate before the Wake Forest game. We all pretty much hung around drinking and talking. Vincent and I got into this long involved conversation about fraternities. He was telling me he wants to join one. That's pretty cool. Before long Isabella was asking me to dance, but they weren't playing any good music, so I just kept mingling and talking. Finally they started playing some stuff I could dance to. I dragged Vincent onto the dance floor and danced with him for a little while. Then I made this Swiss guy (whose name I don't remember) dance with me. Except that I told him he didn't have to do much, which to him meant he didn't have to do anything. So he just stood there and I danced around him. Halfway through he asked me "Do I make a good pole?" Then I danced with Arnaud, who wasn't half bad. After that I discovered that Vincent had gotten hold of my camera and taken pictures and video of me dancing. They were funny but a little bit scandalous. I tried to get them to dance more, but the French and Swiss guys just wanted to hang out, so I just went back out onto the dance floor. I danced with some of the girls, and then a few guys too. One of the guys I met was Keith. He had so much energy so I danced with him quite a bit. We didn't really talk but he seems like someone I'd want to get to know better. So I just danced until about 2 am, when things started to die down. Then I realized I wouldn't be able to get home, but Farooq and Isabella gave me a ride, which was nice of them. That night was so much more fun than any of the parties I went to in undergrad! Of course the next morning I had to get up for church. That was a challenge, but I made it...somehow.

wiser?

As if my upcoming birthday wasn't making me feel old, Kate IM'd me last night...

RavenChild14: How does it feel to be a great-great grandbig?

Wow. Now I feel ancient! However I am excited to see that my sorority family is adding a new member. It's sad though because I won't be able to meet this new addition (at least not any time soon.) But she looks like a very sweet girl. I love my butterflies!

This morning finds me looking for the motivation to write my first exam for Higher Ed in American Society. It's not due until Tuesday, but I would really like to finish it today or tomorrow, and also get caught up on some other work. But I also want to have some time to relax because I don't have class again until Wednesday. My Research and Higher Ed classes were cancelled, and last night I got an email saying Student Affairs was cancelled. Dr. Duffy wasn't feeling well. I can't say I was surprised...I figured it would probably happen at some point in the semester. Although I probably should stop saying that he is close to death. I also need to catch up on laundry and actually clean my room. So we'll see how much relaxation I manage to squeeze in by Wednesday.

sanctuary

School is seriously kicking my ass. I have soooo much reading every week. My Student Affairs Admin class has the most reading, closely followed by Higher Ed in American Society. Plus I also have a 4-6 page case study every week for Student Affairs, but that hasn't been quite as taxing as I thought originally. It's kind of daunting if I don't keep up, and I haven't been doing too well in that respect. Last week I was really starting to worry if I'll be able to handle it all. I think I was just frustrated, but I'm trying to find a good system.

The rest of my life however is amazing. I was really needing to get out of the house and enjoy myself, and luckily Thursday night there was a grad night out. I had class that night and I was going to rush home to get ready and head over there. Research was particularly rough that night. I was hoping he would let us out early but he kept talking. And talking. And talking even more. You could tell on people's faces that they were so over that class. And I'm sure he lectured past 6:50. As soon as he was done I bolted for the door. I had to wait forever for the shuttle (as usual), but finally I made it home, got ready, and headed out. Then, of course, I had to wait forever for the shuttle to head over to Reservoir. But finally I made it over there and got on the train to Newton Center. As I was getting off the train I ran into a girl in Higher Ed and a friend of hers, which was good because I had no idea where the bar was. We ended up walking the wrong way, then asking someone where it was. It was really weird because you have to walk down this little alley to get to the door. Inside I saw Ashley and Paula, then walked around a little and saw Brent, Mongkol, and Christina. I talked to them for a second before getting some food and sitting with Ashley and Paula. But then I went to the bar, which is what I really wanted. I got a long island and went over and sat next to Brent. He made some comment about my drink choice being unique, which I thought was random. But that's just Brent I guess. Most of the night was just us hanging out, me drinking a lot, and people playing grad student bingo. People were walking around trying to find people who fit certain characteristics listed on the sheet. A few of them applied to me, like being a first year grad student and a master's student. But at some point in the night we decided I had a 'special talent' for dancing, so I delighted in informing people of that all night. Sadly, I didn't get too much of a chance to display that talent. No one was really dancing, but I danced by myself a little bit. It was a good night though because I got a chance to destress a little bit which was great.

I got home that night expecting to stumble in (because I'd had quite a bit to drink) and see my roommates studying. I knew they were going out with other econ people that night, but I was very surprised that they weren't home when I got there. I decided to stay up until they got home. Finally Meghan came home. She informed me that she had made out with a guy in her program. I was shocked but definitely amused. That made me feel like I need to let my wild side out some more because I've been pretty tame lately.

Friday I ventured over to Watertown to pick up a few things at Target. Not too eventful until I was getting my watch battery replaced and another girl behind the jewelry counter asked me if I was in ASA (I happened to be wearing letters.) I said yes and she told me that she was from the Alaska chapter. I told her she should get involved with the alumnae chapter, which she didn't know existed. It's always so fun to randomly run into sisters!

The best part of the last week though had to be Sunday when I went to church. I sat next to Nick and Steve, who are the sweetest guys, and they have been so warm and welcoming to me. When they did candles of joy and concern, I went up to light 2 candles. One was for Cathy, my junior year roommate. Her dad has been really sick, and the doctors only recently figured out what was wrong with him. They put him on a high dose of medicine but they have to reduce the dose, and her dad has been getting sick again. I was so sad to hear that because her dad is such a sweet old man. I lit the other candle for Yvonne and Matt because Matt was being deployed to Iraq for the second time. (But then I talked to Yvonne today and found out he actually isn't going out and might not for a year or so, which is amazing.) A couple people came up to me afterward and expressed their sympathy which was very comforting. The sermon was called How We Are Universalists, and Rev. Jim, who I love, was speaking about love and acceptance and started talking about his brother. His brother was gay and died of AIDS back in the early 80s. Rev. Jim almost started crying, and in that moment I felt like I connected with him on a very deep level. It was an amazing feeling. After the service I talked to Nick, Steve, and Ann for a little while. They were talking about being gay back in the olden days. I told them how I always thought it was interesting to hear stories like that because I went to high school with so many gay people.

After coffee hour there was an orientation for newcomers to the church. We went around the room and talked about the faith traditions we grew up with and how we came to Unitarian Universalism. I talked about growing up in a Baptist family, then ended up entertaining the group with how I became aware of Unitarians through the Simpsons. It was really cool to meet 2 other people from Virginia in the meeting, as well as someone who works at BC. So now I have some more connections at church. I feel so much more strongly about this faith then I ever thought I would, and everyone has been so welcoming. It's also nice to have a couple hours each week to put schoolwork aside and become centered. I'm definitely ready to join.

I can't believe I've been in Boston almost 2 months. My life here has come together so nicely and I'm so much happier than I ever was in Virginia. So I figure whatever craziness grad school has to throw at me, I'm ready. Bring it, grad school!