Christmas Break, and the New Semester
So it's a new year now, and I start the new semester tomorrow morning when I have an alarm set to go off at 8:30. We survived the Mayan Apocalypse! I got straight As last semester (first time none of them were A minuses). Christmas break seemed to go by fast, though not quite as fast as last semester, possibly because we did so much traveling over the holidays and I wasn't able to spend as much time at home as usual getting bored and ready to go back to school.
My sister and I both had three weeks off, except that I got off a week before she did and went back a week before she did. She doesn't start school til the 14th. Because of this, my first week back was pretty chill. She was at school and my parents were mostly working so I watched all the current episodes of Teen Wolf (getting through the first season in a day) and wrote and read. I was going to start re-watching Being Human UK but I only got through one episode before we had to kick it into high gear on shopping and wrapping and then leave. When we got back, I caught up on Doctor Who with my mom and watched the first ten episodes of Once Upon a Time with my sister and eventually my mom (she sat down around and joined us around the third episode, also, we watched all these episodes in one night). I saw the Hobbit before we left for Christmas (we went to the 11 pm showing while our tipsy parents saw Skyfall, and we got out of the theater at like 2 in the morning) and Les Mis the day before I went back to school. Both were excellent movies.
Once again, my sister and I did most of the shopping. We'd gotten a head start on Black Friday so we only had to do about half as much, but we still had a couple extended shopping trips. My parents, on the other hand, were procrastinating last minute shoppers who joined the rush shopping on Christmas Eve. My sister and I also did most of the wrapping. I wrapped and she put awkward-shaped things in bags, and our living room was covered in presents by the time we were done. We actually didn't have a tree this year, because we knew we weren't spending Christmas at our house and expected to be out of the state a few days beforehand (we did have decorations and lights, though, which was nice). Our plans changed when my cousin threw a fit about wanting to spend Christmas morning at his house and so we ended up doing Christmas in Colorado a couple days after actual Christmas. Initially we had planned to drive there with my grandparents, but they got a later start than we would have liked (plus an additional day's delay due to snow) so we spent Christmas Eve and morning with family in Nevada. It was pretty nice, especially because we had a delicious breakfast (eggs benedict) and stayed for Christmas dinner. The only thing was that we'd split our presents in half for our two Christmases so we didn't get as much stuff as usual.
It started snowing Christmas afternoon and we left after dinner, driving through the snow for about six hours to get to a hotel on the other end of Nevada. We made it to Colorado the next day, arriving at about 10 or 11:30 at night. Based on the amount of time it took driving there (in the snow) versus back (with clear roads), it seems that snow on the roads adds about an hour or two each day. Our first day there we mostly hung around the house and my little cousins attacked mine and my sister's faces with makeup and our hair with random accessories and food. My grandparents arrived the next day, and everyone hurried to finish up wrapping so we could have our second Christmas the next day. This one was more satisfying, because we got significantly more presents. I got unbelievable amounts of tea. I am never putting tea on my Christmas list again because I got eight boxes from my aunt and uncle and a collection of six smaller boxes from my sister (not to mention tea I'd gotten from my grandma at Thanksgiving). When we got home I made a pyramid and took a picture. I also got bulk numbers of mittens and socks, and some really cool Joker converse. With the gift cards I got, I went shopping after Christmas for clothes, mostly adding to my sweater collection. My cousin Patrick was absolutely thrilled to get a phone, and my other cousins got an xbox (with Kinect, which their parents will probably actually let them play because it involves moving around).
Another notable moment of the trip was getting family pictures taken for my grandparents' 50th anniversary. Deciding which pictures to buy in which combinations took about 2 hours longer than it took to actually take the pictures. Afterward we went to a cool pub-ish restaurant called Coopersmith's that people thought we had gone to for their 40th anniversary but which no one really recognized. We played a cool card game I got called Gloom (the goal is to make your characters as miserable as possible and then kill them off), tried to make a ghost baby on the Sims, and rang in the New Year playing the Stock Market Game (my sister and I won). We left on New Year's Day so my sister could get back in time to sign up for her sign language class on the 3rd. Despite the clearer weather, it was colder this time around and got below zero at several points (my grandparents apparently went to 19 below when they came back a day after us) so that when we got home to 40 degrees it felt really warm. Highlights of the trip back include getting Hobbit food (and trading cards) at a truck stop Denny's, watching Doctor Who most of the day one day, and getting my sister to play more hidden object games with me. We also had to deal with the flat tire on the truck we'd left at my cousin's house (we used it to bring them a couch and left it there when we drove to Colorado), which was a pain but at least we didn't have to come back over the weekend and got my keys back. I don't have the truck so far this semester, because now my sister has her license and my dad thought it would be more useful for her to drive it to school each day instead of me only occasionally using it to drive home.
I got back to school Saturday for a Pride/Gender Umbrella exec board meeting planning out events for the new semester. It also involved creating a superhero of yourself based on qualities or what you're good at or whatever. My superhero persona is named Sir Jonathan Redford Bombast Lewis Figglesworth III, my power is getting really enthusiastic about random things (and shooting enthusiasm beams), I fight my enemies by talking at them until they get bored and leave me alone, and my costume is a Victorian suit, possibly with a cape and/or mask. After the meeting, I hung out with my friends again for the first time in three weeks, and we made too much pasta, played Gloom, and had fun. Also, we now have an apartment Snape (he's a life-size cardboard cut-out and last night I kissed him on the cheek because we hung mistletoe above his head).
I think that at this point I've decided to change my major to history (swapping around my history and international studies major/minor situations) because it sounds like more fun, gives me more time on campus since I won't have to be abroad for a whole year (I'll still go for a semester, probably next spring, still thinking Ireland), and makes more sense with my current career plans. I don't even have to change my schedule for next semester. So I'll probably be getting on that in the first week of school, in addition to checking around to see if there's a job I might want. This semester my classes are Native American History, French Cinema (in French), People's History of Mexico, band, and the honors seminar. Although I'm sad about the addition of morning classes this semester, I'm still looking forward to my first day. Hopefully it'll be a good semester!
My sister and I both had three weeks off, except that I got off a week before she did and went back a week before she did. She doesn't start school til the 14th. Because of this, my first week back was pretty chill. She was at school and my parents were mostly working so I watched all the current episodes of Teen Wolf (getting through the first season in a day) and wrote and read. I was going to start re-watching Being Human UK but I only got through one episode before we had to kick it into high gear on shopping and wrapping and then leave. When we got back, I caught up on Doctor Who with my mom and watched the first ten episodes of Once Upon a Time with my sister and eventually my mom (she sat down around and joined us around the third episode, also, we watched all these episodes in one night). I saw the Hobbit before we left for Christmas (we went to the 11 pm showing while our tipsy parents saw Skyfall, and we got out of the theater at like 2 in the morning) and Les Mis the day before I went back to school. Both were excellent movies.
Once again, my sister and I did most of the shopping. We'd gotten a head start on Black Friday so we only had to do about half as much, but we still had a couple extended shopping trips. My parents, on the other hand, were procrastinating last minute shoppers who joined the rush shopping on Christmas Eve. My sister and I also did most of the wrapping. I wrapped and she put awkward-shaped things in bags, and our living room was covered in presents by the time we were done. We actually didn't have a tree this year, because we knew we weren't spending Christmas at our house and expected to be out of the state a few days beforehand (we did have decorations and lights, though, which was nice). Our plans changed when my cousin threw a fit about wanting to spend Christmas morning at his house and so we ended up doing Christmas in Colorado a couple days after actual Christmas. Initially we had planned to drive there with my grandparents, but they got a later start than we would have liked (plus an additional day's delay due to snow) so we spent Christmas Eve and morning with family in Nevada. It was pretty nice, especially because we had a delicious breakfast (eggs benedict) and stayed for Christmas dinner. The only thing was that we'd split our presents in half for our two Christmases so we didn't get as much stuff as usual.
It started snowing Christmas afternoon and we left after dinner, driving through the snow for about six hours to get to a hotel on the other end of Nevada. We made it to Colorado the next day, arriving at about 10 or 11:30 at night. Based on the amount of time it took driving there (in the snow) versus back (with clear roads), it seems that snow on the roads adds about an hour or two each day. Our first day there we mostly hung around the house and my little cousins attacked mine and my sister's faces with makeup and our hair with random accessories and food. My grandparents arrived the next day, and everyone hurried to finish up wrapping so we could have our second Christmas the next day. This one was more satisfying, because we got significantly more presents. I got unbelievable amounts of tea. I am never putting tea on my Christmas list again because I got eight boxes from my aunt and uncle and a collection of six smaller boxes from my sister (not to mention tea I'd gotten from my grandma at Thanksgiving). When we got home I made a pyramid and took a picture. I also got bulk numbers of mittens and socks, and some really cool Joker converse. With the gift cards I got, I went shopping after Christmas for clothes, mostly adding to my sweater collection. My cousin Patrick was absolutely thrilled to get a phone, and my other cousins got an xbox (with Kinect, which their parents will probably actually let them play because it involves moving around).
Another notable moment of the trip was getting family pictures taken for my grandparents' 50th anniversary. Deciding which pictures to buy in which combinations took about 2 hours longer than it took to actually take the pictures. Afterward we went to a cool pub-ish restaurant called Coopersmith's that people thought we had gone to for their 40th anniversary but which no one really recognized. We played a cool card game I got called Gloom (the goal is to make your characters as miserable as possible and then kill them off), tried to make a ghost baby on the Sims, and rang in the New Year playing the Stock Market Game (my sister and I won). We left on New Year's Day so my sister could get back in time to sign up for her sign language class on the 3rd. Despite the clearer weather, it was colder this time around and got below zero at several points (my grandparents apparently went to 19 below when they came back a day after us) so that when we got home to 40 degrees it felt really warm. Highlights of the trip back include getting Hobbit food (and trading cards) at a truck stop Denny's, watching Doctor Who most of the day one day, and getting my sister to play more hidden object games with me. We also had to deal with the flat tire on the truck we'd left at my cousin's house (we used it to bring them a couch and left it there when we drove to Colorado), which was a pain but at least we didn't have to come back over the weekend and got my keys back. I don't have the truck so far this semester, because now my sister has her license and my dad thought it would be more useful for her to drive it to school each day instead of me only occasionally using it to drive home.
I got back to school Saturday for a Pride/Gender Umbrella exec board meeting planning out events for the new semester. It also involved creating a superhero of yourself based on qualities or what you're good at or whatever. My superhero persona is named Sir Jonathan Redford Bombast Lewis Figglesworth III, my power is getting really enthusiastic about random things (and shooting enthusiasm beams), I fight my enemies by talking at them until they get bored and leave me alone, and my costume is a Victorian suit, possibly with a cape and/or mask. After the meeting, I hung out with my friends again for the first time in three weeks, and we made too much pasta, played Gloom, and had fun. Also, we now have an apartment Snape (he's a life-size cardboard cut-out and last night I kissed him on the cheek because we hung mistletoe above his head).
I think that at this point I've decided to change my major to history (swapping around my history and international studies major/minor situations) because it sounds like more fun, gives me more time on campus since I won't have to be abroad for a whole year (I'll still go for a semester, probably next spring, still thinking Ireland), and makes more sense with my current career plans. I don't even have to change my schedule for next semester. So I'll probably be getting on that in the first week of school, in addition to checking around to see if there's a job I might want. This semester my classes are Native American History, French Cinema (in French), People's History of Mexico, band, and the honors seminar. Although I'm sad about the addition of morning classes this semester, I'm still looking forward to my first day. Hopefully it'll be a good semester!