HELLO
I don't even know where to start, it's been so long since I updated. I can't believe I didn't update last month at all. :O Part of this is because my life has been really hectic and has undergone some serious changes in such a short amount of time, part of it is because I spend a great amount of time in places with no Internet access (and the Internet at my apartment that I moved into - yes, I have my own place now :D - isn't working again, so I'm writing this at my mom's), and part of it is that I've been using Facebook and the longer you go without updating a journal, the less you want to update it because there's so much more to say.
In a month and a half:
- I got my own apartment downtown after my dad had a craaazy meltdown at 4 in the morning and kicked Ben out of our house, even though we were sleeping in separate rooms. I just went on Craigslist and found these girls who needed someone to take over a lease that ends in August. My roommate (apartment mate?) is extremely nice, loves cats and books, and works with Americorps. My landlady is the most scatterbrained person ever and needs to fix one of our windows and a couple leaking ceilings. D: It's in a big, old house, and we live on the second floor. Somebody lives above us on the third floor. The fact that the lease ends in August is very important because...
- I've been applying to writing MFA programs for fall 2010 at Texas University at Austin, Louisiana State, and University of Florida. Only recently did I discover how ridiculously hard it is to get into these schools (Texas accepts 7 out of 750 applicants, and LSU and U of F accept about 3% of the applicants), so I think I need to find a safety school. Only there really aren't safety schools. The highest acceptance rate I've seen is 30%. Most MFA programs have an acceptance rate of 6%. The application process is brutal, and I would feel like a rock star if I actually got accepted.
- So I actually studied for the GRE. I never study for anything, either, but I tried. I even made flash cards! Got a 630 in verbal and a 540 (I think?) in the math stuff. In math, I only did better than 34% or so of the other test takers. In verbal, I did better than 88-89%. I was like HELL YES because the verbal is what matters, but I'm still waiting to receive my scores for the writing part. And I guess my GRE scores and the letters of recommendation and all that only account for 10% of whether or not I get accepted. The really huge part of my application is my writing sample that I still have to send to the programs. I'm crapping myself in anxiety and think I need to produce something a genius would write. Last time I checked, I wasn't a genius. This is a problem.
- My dad started drinking again. Living with an alcoholic is always waiting for the other shoe to drop, so I saw this coming from a mile away. My mom told him she wants a divorce and kicked him out because he's verbally and emotionally abusive when drunk. He's drunk every single day now, even in the morning, and literally called me about 18 times the other day. My mom decided to shut off his phone after he called her and Kaity, yelling about how I was suicidal...maybe because my phone died when I was talking to him and I stopped returning his calls? I don't know where he got that from, but it freaked them out. When I talked to him on the phone, he begged for me to help him over and over again and said this is it, he's going to change now, he promises. I've heard that so many times. I told him I'd come see him if he actually checked himself into rehab.
- Buddy got very sick and lost four pounds. I though it was because he was stressed out living in the apartment with my roommate's cat, so I took him back to my mom's place and he ate a little. Then he stopped again. My mom, who is amazing, took him to the vet today. They did blood work, gave him an x-ray, and discovered that part of his jawbone was dead. That part got removed, and he's on four different medications now, one of which makes him EAT like crazy. I had to order another one online. All of this costs almost $200, which I guess isn't bad, considering. I won't even spend a dime on my own health, but when it comes to Buddy... He's my baby. ♥ I'm so, so relieved. He just ate half a can of food. HOORAY~
- I'm working two jobs, sort of. One of them is babysitting my mom's friend's kids overnight and getting them off to school in the morning when she works. Justice and Zander are ten and five, respectively, so it's not really too hard of a job - hence the "sort of." I get paid $80/week, though, so the money makes it feel more like a real job. The real job is working at The Exchange, which is a buy/sell/trade place for video games, movies, music, etc. It's the first retail job I've had where I actually look forward to going to work sometimes. The other employees and my bosses really like me. :3
- I survived a Supernatural addiction. Frack, this show is awesome. (I need at least one Supernatural icon, I really do.) I really want to get season 4 but am trying to save my money. I also want to get the new Kingdom Hearts game for the DS but won't for that reason. Instead, I went back and played The World Ends With You. It annoyed me at first, but it's really grown on me. I've also been reading a lot more and started reading Slapstick by Kurt Vonnegut last night.
- Ben and I reached our one year anniversary. This is a first for me. I've never dated anybody that long. I made chocolate pecan bourbon pie, and he made white chocolate chip cherry cookies. I ate waaaay too much of both of those things.
- In general, I'm getting along better with my sister and my cousins. Kaity did make me have one sobbypants moment on the phone, but other than that, I feel like we've grown closer.
- I gained like fifteen pounds. Everyone says I look better. I think I went just a little bit overboard and could stand to lose maybe five.
Longest entry ever? YARP.
In a month and a half:
- I got my own apartment downtown after my dad had a craaazy meltdown at 4 in the morning and kicked Ben out of our house, even though we were sleeping in separate rooms. I just went on Craigslist and found these girls who needed someone to take over a lease that ends in August. My roommate (apartment mate?) is extremely nice, loves cats and books, and works with Americorps. My landlady is the most scatterbrained person ever and needs to fix one of our windows and a couple leaking ceilings. D: It's in a big, old house, and we live on the second floor. Somebody lives above us on the third floor. The fact that the lease ends in August is very important because...
- I've been applying to writing MFA programs for fall 2010 at Texas University at Austin, Louisiana State, and University of Florida. Only recently did I discover how ridiculously hard it is to get into these schools (Texas accepts 7 out of 750 applicants, and LSU and U of F accept about 3% of the applicants), so I think I need to find a safety school. Only there really aren't safety schools. The highest acceptance rate I've seen is 30%. Most MFA programs have an acceptance rate of 6%. The application process is brutal, and I would feel like a rock star if I actually got accepted.
- So I actually studied for the GRE. I never study for anything, either, but I tried. I even made flash cards! Got a 630 in verbal and a 540 (I think?) in the math stuff. In math, I only did better than 34% or so of the other test takers. In verbal, I did better than 88-89%. I was like HELL YES because the verbal is what matters, but I'm still waiting to receive my scores for the writing part. And I guess my GRE scores and the letters of recommendation and all that only account for 10% of whether or not I get accepted. The really huge part of my application is my writing sample that I still have to send to the programs. I'm crapping myself in anxiety and think I need to produce something a genius would write. Last time I checked, I wasn't a genius. This is a problem.
- My dad started drinking again. Living with an alcoholic is always waiting for the other shoe to drop, so I saw this coming from a mile away. My mom told him she wants a divorce and kicked him out because he's verbally and emotionally abusive when drunk. He's drunk every single day now, even in the morning, and literally called me about 18 times the other day. My mom decided to shut off his phone after he called her and Kaity, yelling about how I was suicidal...maybe because my phone died when I was talking to him and I stopped returning his calls? I don't know where he got that from, but it freaked them out. When I talked to him on the phone, he begged for me to help him over and over again and said this is it, he's going to change now, he promises. I've heard that so many times. I told him I'd come see him if he actually checked himself into rehab.
- Buddy got very sick and lost four pounds. I though it was because he was stressed out living in the apartment with my roommate's cat, so I took him back to my mom's place and he ate a little. Then he stopped again. My mom, who is amazing, took him to the vet today. They did blood work, gave him an x-ray, and discovered that part of his jawbone was dead. That part got removed, and he's on four different medications now, one of which makes him EAT like crazy. I had to order another one online. All of this costs almost $200, which I guess isn't bad, considering. I won't even spend a dime on my own health, but when it comes to Buddy... He's my baby. ♥ I'm so, so relieved. He just ate half a can of food. HOORAY~
- I'm working two jobs, sort of. One of them is babysitting my mom's friend's kids overnight and getting them off to school in the morning when she works. Justice and Zander are ten and five, respectively, so it's not really too hard of a job - hence the "sort of." I get paid $80/week, though, so the money makes it feel more like a real job. The real job is working at The Exchange, which is a buy/sell/trade place for video games, movies, music, etc. It's the first retail job I've had where I actually look forward to going to work sometimes. The other employees and my bosses really like me. :3
- I survived a Supernatural addiction. Frack, this show is awesome. (I need at least one Supernatural icon, I really do.) I really want to get season 4 but am trying to save my money. I also want to get the new Kingdom Hearts game for the DS but won't for that reason. Instead, I went back and played The World Ends With You. It annoyed me at first, but it's really grown on me. I've also been reading a lot more and started reading Slapstick by Kurt Vonnegut last night.
- Ben and I reached our one year anniversary. This is a first for me. I've never dated anybody that long. I made chocolate pecan bourbon pie, and he made white chocolate chip cherry cookies. I ate waaaay too much of both of those things.
- In general, I'm getting along better with my sister and my cousins. Kaity did make me have one sobbypants moment on the phone, but other than that, I feel like we've grown closer.
- I gained like fifteen pounds. Everyone says I look better. I think I went just a little bit overboard and could stand to lose maybe five.
Longest entry ever? YARP.