I keep thinking today is Friday. But, sadly, it's not. There are still two more days of classes before the lovely, lovely weekend.

My parents just called. From the freaking Dominican Republic. Lucky. It got really cold here again. I naively thought that since the temperature had reached 70 degrees that it would stay warm here, but I was very wrong. I swear I'm just going to move to Florida or California, with or without a job.

Yesterday in Senior Seminar we critiqued my story, which is always hard. It's difficult to listen to your classmates tear apart something that you've worked a long time on, but in the end it's usually all beneficial. And everyone has to go through it. I always like to read everyone's comments when they hand their copies of my story back to me, with the exception of one person. Let's call her Noreen. Because that's her name. She's about 40 years old, and there have been several occasions where she's almost cried in the middle of class. That's fine, I mean, some people are really emotional. The thing I don't like is that whenever we're critiquing a story, she's so rude about her comments.

One of my english teachers in high school once told us that it takes 17 positive comments about a person's writing to make up for one negative comment. Almost all of us in the class realize this, and when we make negative comments about someone's story, we usually follow it with something good. It's just common courtesy. Not Noreen, though. She has no problem saying that there's no character development, the dialogue sucks, or that there's no plot. The only thing that keeps all of us sane, I think, is that we all realize that when she says something she's usually the only one on her side. So, we kind of listen to her comments, nod politely, and go on with the discussion.

Why do people drive like assholes just because it's raining? I know the road is wet, and it's a tiny bit harder to see, but that doesn't mean you have to drive 55 in the left lane. Here's a tip: when semis are passing you on the right, you're in the WRONG freaking lane. So move.

My parents left for their cruise on Saturday. They're in the Bahamas right now. It's 50 degrees here and it's raining. Sometimes I don't understand why anyone lives in places like this.

We saw Dawn of the Dead yesterday afternoon, which may have explained why I had trouble sleeping last night. I knew the movie was going to be kind of graphic, cause, you know . . . zombies and all. Zombies are messy. But DAMN! It was scary. And if you don't believe me, take a look at this picture. Just make sure you're not, you know, eating when you look at it.

Wow. I feel like crap. Who would have thought drinking wine, then rum, then beer wouldn't end well? Luckily, I'm done with class for the day so I can pretty much sit around for the rest of the night. And do homework, too, of course.

My senior seminar class today was really funny. We were talking about this story one guy wrote about these junior high boys, and two of the boys dare the other boy to take a crap on the girls bathroom floor. So, he does it, of course, because he's both a boy and in junior high. The teacher catches him after he does it and makes him pick the piece of crap up with his bare hands. So, the kid does it, then yells, "You're a real shithead!" and throws the piece of poop at the teacher and it hits him in the face.

You'd have thought we were all in elementary school, rather than seniors in college, because every time someone would say poop or turd or read the best line in the story, when the teacher says, "Holy shit, Morris, did you just take a crap on the floor," we'd all start giggling. Even now, when I think of that line, I want to laugh hysterically. Poop. Hee. I'm 5.

I think it's time to go lie down for a while. Last night was fun, but I'm paying for it today. After the Delt ceremony we went to their house for some wine and cheese. The wine, unfortunately, came out of a box. At some point we came back to our apartment to do a shot of the rum I brought back from Grand Cayman, and then we went back to the Delt house. We stayed there til pretty much everyone had left, and then we went to the bar for about an hour. It was kind of strange because we don't usually go on Wednesdays anymore, and there was a whole different group of people there. On the way back to the house later, I found a lighter sitting on a step and it says "McHurry's" on it. McHurry's is the McMurray's drive thru. I remember I kept saying it was my Holy Grail, whatever the hell that means. I'm such a tool. At the house, I ate chimichangas (chicken chime change! oh wait, no one gets that. Never mind) and I smeared sour cream all over them. Which is very odd, because I never eat sour cream. I thought I didn't like it. Apparently I was wrong. So, I learned something last night. Whoohoo!

Sorry if none of this makes sense. I'm really ADD right now. So I'm gonna go take a nap and maybe later -- oooh, something shiny!

So, we're getting ready to go to the Delt Initiation ceremony, which is followed by a wine and cheese party. The last time our sorority was invited was the fall of my sophomore year and let's just say I couldn't drink wine for a LONG time afterward. I don't think my parents would appreciate hearing the details of that night, so I'm going to leave them out.

I'm so looking forward to this. Mwaahaahaaahaa. Ok, I'm going now.

I just found this website called the Friday Five, and even though it's not Friday I'm going to answer some of the questions anyway. Cause I'm bored and my homework is just not enticing enough.

1. You've just won a complete collection of movies starring one actor - what actor would you pick?

Hmm, this is a tough one. Should I pick an actor I really like who hasn't been many movies that I like, or should I pick an actor who I'm so-so about but who has been in a lot of movies that I really like. I think I'll take the middle road and pick Colin Firth, because I know for a fact I could watch Bridget Jones's Diary and Pride and Prejudice over and over for the rest of my life and never tire of them. Of course, I already own these movies. Ooh, but I almost forgot Love Actually. How could I?

Another choice (I know I'm only supposed to get one, but this is my game so I can make up my own rules) would be Will Ferrell, because Elf? So funny.

2. What was the last movie you saw in a theater?

I saw 50 First Dates with my sister, Stiffie, and Nicole on Friday. I highly recommend it. It's definately one of Adam Sandler's better movies; but more like The Wedding Singer than Billy Madison. I loved the Happy Gilmore and Tommy Boy references, too.

3. What was the last video or DVD that you bought?

I bought School of Rock and Orange County on Saturday. Yay, Jack Black!

4. What movie could you watch over and over again and not get sick of?

Bridget Jones's Diary, which I've already mentioned. In fact, if I remember correctly, when I first bought the movie Liz and I kept it in the DVD player and watched it continuously for about a month.

5. How do you plan to spend your weekend?

On Friday I'm going to family dinner/drinks, which is always a good time. Then we have a party at McMurray's with the Phi Psis. That should be interesting. My friend Stephanie is coming to visit on Saturday and I'm so excited because her 21st birthday was two weeks ago and now I get to celebrate it with her. We'll probably go to McMurray's because American Cherry is playing. Hee.

Ok, I'm done. That was fun. Maybe if I get bored again later (which, let's face it, will probably happen) I'll do some more.

Yikes. I've been trying so hard not to think about graduation. I think I thought that if I just pretended it was still really far away, then the day would never come. I don't really know if I feel ready to graduate. I don't really know what I want to do after graduation. I have different ideas, but nothing that I feel really excited about anymore. I'm tired of the whole "college schedule," and I'm ready to start doing something new, but I just don't know what that something is. Honestly, my dream job would be doing something like this. I'd love to write a column in a newspaper or something like that, as long as I didn't have to be all serious and write about politics and world issues.

Sometimes I want to stay in the Witt bubble forever. I'm not talking about the classes. I'm talking about the friends and the nights at the bar and hanging out at the Gamma Phi house. Everything is so safe here. Nothing too unexpected happens, and if it does there's a huge support system here for you. When I move away, get a real job, my boss isn't going to care that I'm having a bad day and all my friends will be spread around the country. It's going to be hard not being able to just walk across the street, or next door, or even downstairs, and know that there will be someone there to talk to.

I guess everything seems so uncertain right now. Juniors, sophomores, and freshmen are all scheduling their classes for next year. They know they'll be back here, with their friends, and I guess I'm just trying to come to terms with not knowing where I'll be at this time next year.

Well, I think I've depressed myself enough for today. I think I'm gonna go walk across the street, or next door, or downstairs, because I know there's going to be someone there going through the exact same thing I am right now, and hopefully we can repress it, continue living in denial, and pretend that we'll be back here next year and everything will always be this good.

I just found out we're going to watch West Side Story in my Latino Lit class. I'm very excited. I heart that movie. I just hope Stiffie can keep a straight face during the "Tony! Tony! Tony!" parts. Hee.

It's quite cold outside. I saw icicles on one of the buildings. Icicles (which I was spelling icecicles before I got out the dictionary . . . English major, what?) in March are just plain wrong. It's getting to the point where I'm about to start wearing t-shirts and sandals out of spite, even if it's only 30 degrees and my toes start turning blue and falling off.

Since it's so cold, I've been thinking about the beach a lot. I have a free plane ticket from all of our airline mishaps before break and I really want to use it to go somewhere nice, but I'd like to go somewhere I've never gone before. Anyone have any ideas?

Actually, screw flying. Who wants to jump in the car and drive down to Florida right now? We don't need a hotel, we can just sleep on the beach and shower in those little hose thingies they have next to the beach so you can wash the sand and salt off of yourself.

I think this plan makes perfect sense.

One week later, and I've finished unpacking from spring break.

Well, if by unpacking you mean taking everything out of the suitcase and throwing it all on my bed.

In that case . . . I'm totally unpacked.

Yep.

It's St. Patrick's Day! Whoohoo!! I'm very excited to celebrate tonight, because I haven't celebrated St. Patrick's Day since freshman year, and all we did then was go to a frat house and drink some questionable green punch.

So, yay! Wear some green, drink green beer, say "top o' the morning to ya," because everyone is Irish today.

I want to be back on the cruise ship right now. If I were on the ship right now, Nikola would have already put my napkin in my lap for me, he'd have advised us on what bottle of wine to get, and we'd probably be on our starter. I am sad.

Not to mention, we weren't back in Ohio 48 hours and it snowed 6 freaking inches last night! We walked all the way up Hollenbeck today, and when we tried to open two of the doors they were locked. We were hoping this meant that classes were cancelled, but apparently Wittenberg just wanted us frollicking in all the snow on the way to different doors into the building so we could freeze during our classes. If Springfield is Hell (and I'm thinking it is) then Hell froze over today.

Get me out of here.

Mother Nature is a bitch.

Ok, I just saw this commercial for PT Cruisers, and got really mad because I thought they weren't showing it anymore because it's been a long time since I've seen it. I have nothing against PT Cruisers, but this particular commercial Celine Dion is singing in the background. I don't really have anything against Celine Dion (other than her odd gestulating while she sings) but in this song she sings the line "don't you find it ironical?"

Ironical. Is not. A WORD! I HATE that word. It's ironic or it's nothing, Celine, you got it?

I'm watching that new MTV show, I Want a Famous Face. These people are messed up. These two brothers want to look like Brad Pitt, but they end up looking more like skinny Val Kilmers than Brad Pitts. And they still have really bad skin. And really? I don't think the plastic surgery helped that much. They're still not all that attractive.

Whatever, MTV.

I have a rough draft of a story due tomorrow, so obviously I'm writing this instead. But, I'm probably writing the story about something that happened on Spring Break, so honestly, this is just brainstorming.

We left last Friday for Dayton airport, and we actually got there pretty early. Unfortunately, our flight had been cancelled because of weather in Chicago. Great. Fifty minutes later, we're in a taxi on our way to Cincinnati. Our new plan was to fly from Cincy to Boston at 11 PM, arrive in Boston at 1 AM, and fly from Boston to Miami (in first class!) at 6 AM. We waited around in Cincinnati for about 3 hours, and right before we got on our flight we found out we'd been bumped and that there were no flights to Miami until 9 AM the next day. This is the point we start freaking out, because we need to be in Miami by noon because we had to be on the boat by 3:30. So, Delta put us up in a Holiday Inn for the night and gave us each a 200 dollar ticket voucher. So if anyone wants to go on vacation sometime, let me know, because I already have my ticket.

The next morning (Saturday) we got to the airport at 5:30. In the MORNING. We sat around the airport for a few hours, and luckily our plane left on time, we got to Miami around noon, and we were on the boat by 2 PM. Thank god. As it turns out, though, the ship ended up leaving three hours later than it was supposed to because so many people's flights had been delayed by bad weather.

The boat, by the way, was awesome. We were on the Carnival Triumph (like the Insult Comic Dog). We dropped our luggage in our room, and went to the Lido deck for lunch. Food at lunch was free. Dinners were in a formal dining room. These were also free. Midnight buffets . . . every night . . . free. The best by far, however, was the 24 hour pizzaria. Also, of course, free.

We finally left the dock around 7, and Miami at night looked amazing. There was a full moon and it was reflecting on the water . . . wow.

Sunday was a day at sea, so we spent most of the day on the deck lying in the sun. Haha, sun on Sunday. Ok, never mind. We had our first dinner in the formal dining room on this night. Our waiter. Wow. His name was Nikola, from Croatia. He smelled SO good and he called us all "my lady." Which I think all guys should start doing, so take note. We sat at a table with other people. Three other girls, who we called Jersey Trash, because . . . well, they were trashy and we thought they were from Jersey. There were four guys, too, all named either Jorge or Juan. I don't know.

We spent Monday at Cozumel. In the morning and early afternoon we went to Passion Island, which is where they filmed the latest Corona commercials. It was beautiful. Blue water, soft sand, perfection. After that, we went back to the ship to lie on the deck for a while. Then, we had dinner and got ready to go back into Cozumel. We went to Senor Frogs in downtown Cozumel. We bought yard Margaritas, made from 158 proof Scorpion tequila. We had two of those and a couple of shots and . . . we were good. After that we took a taxi back to the pier and went to Fat Tuesdays. They had swings instead of benches that faced the water. Kate kept dropping her yard Margarita glass down close to the water, and so she would climb under the swings and down this little hill to get it.

Somehow we made it back onto the boat, got more drinks, and went to the 24 hour pizza place. At some point, I slipped and fell, and magically a glass disappeared over the side of the boat. Needless to say, we spent most of Tuesday in our room, trying to recover.

We were in Grand Cayman on Wednesday, and we went snorkeling with stingrays. I'd done it before, but it was still amazing. I took pictures, and if I can get a scanner and figure out how to put them online, I'll post them here.

We went to Jamaica on Thursday. We were on the Jamaican Queen Party Boat, which took us to climb Dunn's River falls (900 feet!), and then we cruised around Jamaica on the boat for a while. The water was really choppy so the boat was rocking a lot. Plus, they were serving liquid sunshine (lots of rum, a teeny bit of fruit juice) so it was definately a fun ride. We did a little shopping in Jamaica, and while were shopping we saw the weirdest duck I've ever seen.

Friday was our last day at sea (sad face), so we spent it in the sun, of course.

I forget what day most other stuff happened on, though. Here's some other random stuff:

The assistant cruise director was really short, stout and from Scotland, so people called him Wee Jimmy. We found out later his name was really Ralph Valente.

There was a 70 year old guy on board named Willy Banger.

Our waiter was hot. And smelled good. Oh, did I mention that already?

One of the movies they played during the week was From Justin to Kelly, which, if you're wondering, is not worth seeing. Trust me on this.

I tried to call people from all the ports, because I promised I'd try to call from faraway lands (heehee, it sounds like I'm talking about China or Pluto or something). My phone never worked, though. I got a signal in Cozumel, but when I tried to call people the Verizon lady came on and yelled at me in Spanish, so I got scared and hung up.

When we'd get back to our room after dinner, they'd have already turned down our beds. They'd also make animals out of our bath towels, and one night they made a swan. Which I thought was a cobra. Yeah.

That's all I can think of for now. This is quite possibly the longest entry ever.

I was just walking back from class, and I passed this girl talking on a cell phone, and all I heard her say was, "Yeah, and I can't leave the state for a year."

Interesting.

So, I decided to try and write about my spring break right now instead of unpacking. Right now there are clothes all over my bed and floor, two bottles of Tortuga rum sitting next to my open suitcase (which is still full of shoes, books, magazines, and underwear), and my yard margarita glass from Senor Frogs is sitting on my desk, still disgustingly sticky from tequila.

Keep in mind that I've been up since 4 AM this morning, and I got approximately 3 hours of sleep last night, so I'm not sure how much sense any of this makes. I slept a little on the plane earlier, but it was really turbulent, so I kept waking up when the plane shook or when someone puked. No really. People puked. Or so I was told.

Actually, now that I think about it, a lot happened last week. Even trying to describe what happened to us on the way down to Miami would take me about 20 minutes to type. So, I think I'll leave everyone (all 3 of you) in suspense and write about it tomorrow, when my brain is functioning a little better. Here's hoping I sleep through my alarm tomorrow!

We're leaving for the airport in about half an hour. Once we get there, we don't officially arrive in Miami til about 11. Loooooooong day. It's been about two years since I've flown, too. I just hope the security stuff doesn't take too long. Such a pain in the ass.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a great spring break! Those of you who have spring break a week after me, think of us while you're on the beach and we're stuck back in gloomy Ohio.

Adios!

I know I usually write about nonsensical, nonserious stuff in here, but I just found out my great uncle died. I don't think it's really sunk in yet. When I woke up this morning, my mom had left a voicemail. I was hoping it was something she'd forgotten to tell me about spring break, but I could tell by the tone of her voice in the message that it wasn't.

I guess I just can't believe how quickly it happened. Usually with cancer you have some time to prepare. But through just this week we went from thinking he was in remission, to learning the cancer was back and getting worse, and now this.

He wasn't someone I saw very often; he and my great aunt live in California. But when I was younger they visited a lot. He gave the best "bear" hugs and he always made me laugh. I'll miss him. Goodbye, Uncle Al.

I can't sleep! It's like the night before Christmas, only better, because instead of one Christmas day, I get 7 spring break days.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Ok, I need to try to sleep now. I can't. I'm not tired at all. I want to leave right now. Aieeeeeeeeeee! No, I don't know what that noise is. Ok, sleeping now. For real.

I went to the coolest 5th/3rd bank the other day. Ok, I know I sound like a huge dork, but since I was a freshmen the only 5th/3rd banks have been inside of Kroger. Figures they'd wait til my senior year to build a proper one. Anyway, I went to the drive up ATM, and it's so fancy. It's like, the coolest ATM I've ever been to. You should see how fast it spits the money and the card out. Ok, I'm stopping now.

We're leaving for spring break tomorrow! Yay! I'm almost completely packed. Well, I have to take everything out and repack it, because I think I'm taking too much and I want to make sure I have room for souvenirs (i.e. Jamaican rum).

You know that Britney Spear's song, "Toxic?" I think it's funny change the word "toxic" to "chocolate." Try it . . . "I'm addicted to you, don't you know that you're chocolate."

Ok, maybe it's just me.

I just took this test. It's really fun, you should take it. Basically, you go through a bunch of pictures and find out what type you're most attracted to. According to the test, I'm most attracted to "Boys Next Door" (after that, it was "Pretty Boys") with green/hazel eyes and dark hair. I do have to say, though, the picture of the guy I found most attractive (according to the very extensive, I'm sure very scientific test) is definately cute.

I don't know how accurate the test is, but it's fun to see the results. I guess I'd say mine was fairly close, for a 10 minute internet survey. If anyone else takes it, let me know, cause it's fun to hear other people's "type."

How many sandals are too many to take on vacation? I feel like, if I take all the shoes that I want to, my shoes will be taking up more room than clothing. Isn't that backwards?

I want to leave now, please. Ok? Great. I have all these tedious, little things (such as class) to do before we leave, and I just want it to be time to go now. That would be fun times.

I got some bad news yesterday. Basically, my great uncle's cancer has gotten a lot worse. He was diagnosed only a few months ago, and what made this news shocking was that we thought that the chemo had gotten everything and the doctors said he was in remission. They're sending him home from the hospital today, and hospice is coming to his house to set up a bed. Not good.

I feel bad getting excited about other things, namely spring break, while all this is going on. Does that make me a bad person?

Oooh, one more thing. Johnny Depp. Looked. Hot.

I just wanted to add . . . the bit with Jack Black and Will Ferrell? Awesome.

Ok, so Mondays are usually bad enough, but does it have to be all cloudy and rainy today? I don't think so.

So. The Oscars. As much as I loved Return of the King and thought they deserved lots of awards and everything, it gets kind of boring watching the same people go up to the stage and talk for a long time. Especially that lady with the birdnest hair. And Peter Jackson, DUDE, get a freaking haircut. You have like 5 gazillion dollars. I think you can afford it.

I thought it was really funny that all the hobbits sat together and didn't have dates. And when everyone went up to accept the Best Picture Oscar, they all stood together and they were so tiny. They're adorable. I want to adopt them. One question, though . . . where the hell were Orlando and Viggo? Are they having a secret love affair? Maybe they were watching the show from some hotel room in New Zealand because they were mad that they weren't nominated for anything, so instead they ordered a lot of chocolate and champagne, and they took bubble baths, and then they passed out in fluffy bathrobes watching their special directors cut Lord of the Rings DVD.

Do you see what goes on inside my head? Just be glad I don't share more often.

We leave for Spring Break in 5 days. I'm too excited. Sometimes, when I think about it, I start to hyperventilate a little. Is that normal?