Crazy Days of Autumn

Life has been crazy lately... thus leaving me little time to update this blog, unfortunately. :[

With Jon in China for the semester, things have been rough. This is the longest we've been apart, and it definitely shows. I'm sure my parents are ready to strangle me, because I can't help but say "Damn, I miss Jon!" out loud at least 5 times a day. The 12-hour time difference doesn't help either. We try to keep in touch through email and Skype, but it's tough because his evenings clash with my classes, as well as my evenings with his. Needless to say, we can't wait for winter break!

I've been taking Biology and Public Speaking this semester at my local community college, and as easy as it may sound... it's not. My Bio teacher is a former teacher of embryological development at another college, and definitely knows her stuff. The class is twice a week, includes a lab, and runs from 11:30am - 2:20am with a 15 minute break in the middle. We have a lab quiz every week, an exam about every three weeks, and two lab practicals (basically my midterm and final, which includes questions about stations with microscopes and models). It's pretty hardcore, but I've managed to keep an A average. Public Speaking has been pretty crazy as well, seeing that public speaking in general is an unpleasant task... I have to say though, running a YouTube channel has actually made me better at it. I'm also sitting on an A average in that class, but heck... If I can't keep an A when I'm only taking two classes at a community college, then I must be doing something very wrong!

In addition to being heartsick and having my head buried in Biology notes, I've been taking on quite a few projects.

1.) My YouTube channel! If you haven't noticed yet, I've been making a boatload of Rage of Bahamut videos for the past couple months. Incredibly, people like them and I've actually managed to waste 1500 hours of peoples' lives. I've never been so proud to do something so horrible! But that aside, it has netted me $40 from ads, and as an unemployed college student living with her parents, any money is good money. I've been trying to upload a new video weekly, which can be kind of tiring because I no longer enjoy RoB as much as I used to. Ah well, it's cash in my pocket.

2.) SHRIMP. TONS OF THEM. Okay, not REAL shrimp, but clay shrimp! I've been in talks for months about doing an order for someone with a restaurant in Costa Rica, and finally we worked all the details out about two weeks ago. I was working like a madwoman to fulfill the order, because I had a deadline to meet: Oct, 20. This wouldn't be that tough, but it was because this wasn't a dozen shrimp... two dozen shrimp... This was an order for 100 CLAY SHRIMP, not only of different sizes, but different ring positions for hanging. I had to hand-sculpt 100 shrimp, put ring pins in 50 of them, head pins in 50 of them, bake them, cut and ring the head pins, and then glaze all of them before packing them away and shipping them off.

25 of the stylized shrimp, glazed and ready to be packed.

Needless to say, it was the most difficult, yet rewarding experience in my crafting career thus far! I have to admit, I did bite off a bit more than I could chew... but after sacrificing all of my free time, some sleep, and a little bit of my sanity, I was able to finish and get them to their destination on time.

3.) My room. Oh my gawd, my room is a disaster. You see, I haven't even been sleeping in my room for months... I sleep on the couch in the basement. Yes, I officially live in my parents' basement... embarrassing to a point, but I don't really feel ashamed of it. Losing 6 years of my life to depression really put me behind schedule in just about everything, which includes cleaning up my room. It's a mess of binders, notebooks, papers, books, and everything else I've amassed since middle school. I've started cleaning it up starting with my bookcase, and after two shelves I'm terrified at the task before me... I already have filled a giant plastic tub with all of my books, half a box with stuff I want to sell, and a box of things I want to keep. There is just so much stuff to sift through, but I keep thinking about the goal of this cleanup: essentially packing up everything for my future life, having a room that only has the things I need now in it, and making some cash. I've already found a vintage 1981 Garfield candle, some jewelry, and discontinued toys among the clutter, along with junk that I can sell at a tag sale for a buck or two.

Not to mention I still need to get onto working on Jon's and my scrapbook of our years together at UNH, get my driver's permit, and various other things....
I swear, sometimes it seems like there's not enough time in the world.

So that's basically my current autumn insanity. I can hardly wait for winter break, where I can just relax!

Tweeter, Twitter, Twatter, FRO-YO!

I'll start by saying that I have added my Twitter feed to the top of the page, so you guys can be updated on the latest events that happen in my crazy, yet still generally uneventful life! Aren't you all so lucky?
I'll also take this time to tell you all that the reason why I have been inactive in updating the blog lately is because...
-drumroll-....
....
I GOT A JOB!!!

Yes, I am now an employee of a new self-serve frozen yogurt chain!
Minimum wage and a 35 hour workweek, but the tips you get for working the PM shift can sometimes bring in an extra two hours of wages.
I cashier, clean the store, and slice up fruit.

Cashiering is fun because it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside when you see people enjoying themselves. Some people are extremely nice and even joke around with you while they pay. I've only had one grumpy customer, a guy who brought his cup to the register not saying a thing, shook his head angrily when I told him the price, (he filled up the giant cup to the top, what the heck did he expect?) and then left without a word. He was fat and had a mustache though, so I wasn't offended.

Cleaning is for lack of a better word, a bitch. There are so many things to clean.
There's the feature wall, which is basically one wall that is carved to look like waves... dozens of waves that kids can't resist rubbing their greasy, sticky fingers all over.
You have to keep the front room swept and mopped.
The toppings bar needs to be neat and constantly filled with each topping.
One of the machines needs to be cleaned each morning, which means that you need to pour six buckets of water through it, one sanitized bucket of water, disassemble the front, and scrub the heck out of all the components. Then you have to refill it.
The windows need to be cleaned, the tables and chairs need to be wiped down, the doors, the window, the door's window...
IT ALL MUST BE CLEANED. AGAIN. AND AGAIN.

And slicing fruit makes me feel like a ninja.
Especially cutting pineapples.
I take out a big, sharp knife, and slice that thing up like a warm, not-so-sharp-knife through butter.
And then I put it in a bin and put it in the toppings bar, and go back to being a cashier/janitor.

It's really a lot of work for minimum wage, but when you see how much the money adds up at the end of the week, it's all worthwhile... especially in this economy, where 9% of people are unemployed... crazy stuff.
Plus you get a free cup each shift, with no weight limit.

And THAT, is sweet. Pun totally intended.