Athens, Weddings and Funerals

This past week was both good and stressful. I spent Monday with Heather down in Loganville. It was great to see her again–I really miss having her around. She had a good trip to Hawaii and we got to catch up on lots of things. I drove home late that night but made it alright.

I ran errands on Tuesday. On Wednesday, I went down to Loganville again to help my grandmother with her computer and to visit her. Then, I drove over to Athens to look at apartments. I’m going back with Jeremy this coming Tuesday evening. Hopefully, I’ll have something definite lined up by the end of this week. 

Thursday, I went to look for a dress to wear to Darren’s wedding. Found some really good deals on clothes. Jeremy and I went over to my folk’s house to cook out with them–it was really good to see Stephen and Mark, too. The food was great, too!

Friday, Jeremy and I got up and left for Macon, but not before seeing a huge bear in his yard (we’ve got a few that come around now). I’ll post pictures soon. We made it through the traffic down I-75 and got to our hotel. We went over to the 1842 Inn for the rehearsal and then out to eat with the whole gang. We met some really great folks and had a great time. The next morning, I went to the nail place with Darren’s sister, Amy, and the girls. It was hilarious. They are such nuts. The wedding was beautiful, though I did find myself having extremely mixed feelings about the whole ordeal. Well, not so much about Darren and Shell–I am so very happy for them. But just about weddings in general. Well…lately I’ve had a lot of mixed feelings about marriage in general. I’ll leave that for its own entry.

We got back late last night and this morning Bobby called Jeremy to tell us that his dad had passed away. It’s really sad. We thought he’d be better by now. We’re going over to the funeral home tomorrow to show him some support. We’re thinking about him. R.I.P. Bob Valentine.

It’s a beautiful day and I want to go be outside.

Housing?

I am still alive–just really busy lately. I have been searching for housing in Athens. I put an ad on craigslist.com and I’m probably going down to see apartments tomorrow and Thursday. I hope I can find a decent place to stay.

More later. Gotta get on it.

The Science Picnic and Grades

Let’s just say that the past week has been both really tough and really good all at the same time. I survived my finals and I have officially moved out of the dorms (a chore in and of itself). I have quite a few things to get done in the next few weeks, but I think that I will take the next few days to chill out a little. I haven’t seen much of my family lately, so I am really looking forward to being able to hang out with them now. The Stockbridge Johnsons have moved up here now, so I’ll be seeing more of them!

Today was our annual Honors Science Picnic in Demorest Park. It was fun–Dad was able to come. Good thing, too, since he would have missed some good barbecue. Haha. It smelled good, anyways. We got to see Dr. Elrod, Dr. Carrigan, and the rest of the wacky, but loveable, science faculty. Rob was there WITHOUT his labcoat! It was odd to see him without it. I think everyone had a good time, and it was nice to talk to Dave and Wally since I probably won’t get to on Saturday at graduation. I’m gonna miss those guys! I know they’re off to bigger and better things, though, so I’m happy for them both.

Also, more good news. I went by the registrar’s office out of curiousity to see if all of my grades had posted yet…and here they be.

Instrumental Analysis - A
Organic Chemistry II – A
Biochemistry - A
Calculus III - B

I’m really happy with those! Not so much on the B, but it’s better than the C I thought I’d make!  And besides, my core classes are definitely most important to me. Still, not bad for such a grueling semester. I’m just glad I made it through. I really enjoyed biochem in a sick, nerdy way and I know that it will really help me out for my summer experience. I enjoyed Rob’s teaching, too. Always amusing AND informative.

I have been really weirded out the past few months. Partly because I’m a senior now and it’s beginning to dawn on me that I have to start thinking about my post-grad plans and partly because everyone and their brother’s cousin’s turtle’s sister’s best friend is getting married or pregnant or whatever. I talked with Wally today about his engagement and they’re waiting until she gets done with school and he gets a bit of his grad work done–about two years. And suddenly, I began to feel alright about things. It was as if something had clicked in my mind. It’s OKAY to want all of these things–it’s great to want these things–but it’s also perfectly fine to want to wait to finish school (or at least part of grad school in Wally’s case). I felt much better after hearing him talk about it–not just because he’s a good friend, but because he’s someone else who’s caught up in that particular dilemma like myself. It’s so nice to be in a group of people that are supportive about waiting–most of my other friends are not in that mindset.

It just felt good this afternoon to be a geek and for it to be okay. I had a good time. And tomorrow I get to see my family.

On that, I leave you with my quote of the day…

“Great spirits have always encountered opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly.”
Albert Einstein, quoted in New York Times, March 13, 1940

BLARGH

So, evidently I’ve relinquished my stressing/venting rights since I don’t have a “real” full-time job and a house and “real” bills. I despise being talked down to, and I can’t stand veiled comments. Just because I am going to school and don’t have a nine-to-five does not mean I don’t stress…

Grrrr… I know I don’t have TONS to worry about like a lot of people, but even I need some time to let go. I’ve been really stressed the past few days. All I needed was someone to vent to…but so much for that. I feel like I need a metaphorical drink.

I’ve got one more final tomorrow morning at 8AM, and then Dad’s helping me move my stuff out of the dorm. I am so looking forward to being out of this place. It will be so refreshing to have a few days to take a breather. Granted, I still have a lot to get done in the next month or so, but I will have some time off. This is much needed for my sanity.

I meant to go to the memorial service for Amanda’s father, but I got tied up helping some other people with a study group. I called her to tell her that I was thinking about them and for her to call if she needed anything. She’s become a good friend and I really feel for her. I hope that maybe we can get together sometime this month. It’d be great to have some girlfriends that lived close by to do “girl” stuff with..

I am leaving for Athens June 2nd. It should be an exciting adventure, and some great work experience. I’ve borrowed a few books from some of my professors in order to prep myself for the research. I also need to retake the GRE within the next two months so I can go ahead and apply to grad programs in early fall. I want to get everything in early so that I can focus more on my senior research.

I talked with Dr. Carrigan today between my biochem final and my organic chem final–he said that Andrew and I had both made A’s in our Instrumental Analysis class! Andrew and I had quite a time working on that final exam. I knew we’d both do fairly well, but it was nice to know that I have at least one A to my name for this semester. The others I am not so sure about. I know I’ll probably make a B or C in calculus just because I haven’t applied myself as much in that class as I would like. Not proud of it, but I wanted to keep my grades up in my core classes, so that one had to suffer. It’s a shame that I didn’t even need to take it, but maybe it will help with physics next semester. Biochem and organic can swing either A or B, though I’ve worked pretty hard in both. We’ll see in a week or two, I guess.

Our Honors Science lunch is Thursday at noon. I signed up as bringing at least one guest, but I doubt that anyone will come with me. Dad will probably be working in Dahlonega and Mom and Jeremy are both busy at the courthouse. I know they’re all working hard, but it kinda bums me out that everyone else there will have their parents, etc, with them. Ah, well. More barbecue for me, right? Heh. I hope Andrew will be there so I have someone to talk to other than Elrod, Carrigan, and Wainberg. He’s become a good friend, too. I have really enjoyed having class with him. Hopefully, we’ll get to hang out on the third floor next semester to drive Carrigan crazy. That’d be great. “May the Nernst be with you!” Haha. Good time

In other random thoughts, I miss going to Edisto beach. I just wish I had the money/accomplices to go. It’d be so nice to get away and enjoy a few days of walking on the beach and watching the pelicans fly across the sunset. Eh…maybe someday later.

I need to get back to studying…BLECK. (Seriously, I haven’t ever been THIS disgusted by studying. I guess this semester’s just gone on too long.)