Third Last Day

So today is my last day at work. Well, actually it’s my third last day of work. I’ve said bye to them last summer, and last winter, and now today.

I’ve been really lucky to be able to go right back to work when I come home on a break. I’m not sure what I would do if I had to find a job for only 4 months—or even 1 month in winter. And it really works out for everyone. I get to make some money for school and I relieve the other cashiers who haven’t gotten a real break or vacation in a while.

But for my “last” day, I’ve made the favorite dessert I love to bake: apple crisp. I figured it will be fun to enjoy a little treat before I go.

So now I’ve got to go get ready and leave for my last day. I always pretend that it’s really my last day, and think of all the “last” things I do. Like the last customer I help, or the last time I have to take down the chairs.

But let’s hope that I’ll be back in December, because I’ll miss my customers and my coworkers—on most days!

Update On Our Adventure

First off, I like to call our cross-country trip an adventure because it just sounds more riveting. I mean, honestly, driving across states like Wyoming and Minnesota are just not going to be as cool as it sounds. And it really doesn’t sound that cool to begin with. So to make me feel better, it will be known as an adventure from here on out.

Second, we leave in 6 days! I can’t believe it. This summer went so fast—and at the same time dragged on. What’s even more exciting is that in 2 weeks I’ll be moving in to my new room!! I have bought so much pink stuff it’s ridiculous. It’s my fave color—if you couldn’t tell, just look at my blog.

Anyway, my mom and I have bought some fun little books of activities to do along the way. One of them is a “girly” personality quiz book filled with tons of little quizzes to find out who we are. So it’ll be silly and fun and hopefully we’ll get a few laughs out of it. We also have this 2-minute mystery book, where on each page there’s a new mystery that can be quickly solved. That should entertain us for a while.

On another trip to Barnes and Noble, we got this set of CDs that teaches French to those “on-the-go”. Perfect for us. I already know a lot of French—ehh well some French. But I want to brush up on it before school starts because I’m taking it this semester for the first time in two years—yikes! But my mom on the other hand, isn’t as familiar with French as I am, so it will be fun to do that together.

We also have Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on audiobook. Thank goodness for JK Rowling (and Jim Dale—he’s who reads it)! 20 hours of pure entertainment will definitely come in handy when we hit South Dakota.

If you have any other good ideas for us to keep ourselves busy on our 7-day adventure, leave a comment! I’d love a new game or a great distraction.

Life Gets In The Way

When wrapping up the spring semester and leaving campus with teary goodbyes, I made promises to a ton of people that we’d “Skype all the time” and definitely “stay in touch over Facebook”. But, life just gets in the way.

I’m not trying to make excuses. Ok…maybe I am because I’ve been so bad at Skyping—yes it’s a verb—people this summer. (And oh, for those of you who don’t know, Skype is a video chat messenger. If you don’t have it, get it!)


But it’s hard with the 3-hour time difference and with everyone working. By the time I get home from work it’s 10 o’clock here, which means it’s 1 o’clock there. Maybe if we were still in the dorms, 1 in the morning wouldn’t be so bad, but at home there’s reasons to keep quiet—like parents sleeping a few doors down. So obviously talking and laughing with your friend who’s all the way across the country is a little out of the question.

Plus, it seems like I’m always working when my friends are always free—and vice versa. It’s very frustrating. So instead, I’ve spent the entire summer dreaming of the upcoming fall when I’m finally reunited with my friends. Then we can Skype each other from down the hall, rather than 3,000 miles down the highway.

Hopefully next summer though I’ll be better with staying in touch. Facebook status updates and wall posts can only get you so far. Face-to-face is ten times better—and usually leads to more laughs.

If you have any tips on how to organize your summer time better or a fun way to keep in touch, leave a comment!

A Face in the Crowd

All last year as I was walking around campus, I would see people that looked so familiar. But I knew that I had never met them before, because I was so new to the school. Then, I started to put a name to the face. I kept seeing people who looked like those I went to high school with. It was as if I was trying to make something familiar out of a totally different environment.

Too often I saw someone that really resembled that one kid that I took biology with my freshman year in high school. Or like the one girl I worked with on an English project. It was weird that most of the people who I thought I saw were not even close friends of mine. I probably only talked to them maybe once or twice.

But now that I’m home, I’ve noticed that I’ve started to see people from college when I’m walking through the mall or waiting in line at a store. And, just like before, these are only mild acquaintances. I’m not quite sure what it means exactly, but I’m starting to think that something in my brain is making it seem like I’m surrounded my familiarity wherever I am.

I’ll be curious to see what happens when I return to school for my second year. Maybe I’ll stop recognizing people from home because I haven’t been in high school for a while; haven’t seen those faces in a while. Maybe I’ll finally be able to call my college the familiar.