Hello, fellow Beagle-lovers!

This weekend, Mothers Against Drunk Driving is hosting a charity walk. It's taking place across the US (and Canada!) and also virtually, but the only the Philadelphia walk will feature a team led by my very own Fat Hound Dog!

He's very excited, of course, and is really quite full of himself due to this new leadership position. His team, the Rocketeers, is currently short of its fundraising goal and I know he'd be crushed if we didn't raise enough money.

To learn more about the cause and our team, visit Fat Hound Dog (click on "blog"). 

(Note: I know it's pretty tacky to be asking for money, and believe me - I do it all in good fun! Of course any amount, no matter how small, is an amazing gift and for a great cause. If you're totally insulted by the thought of being solicited like this, please just ignore me, I mean no harm by it and of course neither I nor the Hound will be upset. It's all in good fun!)

(Note again: It's also a shameless plug for our website, so I hope you'll at least check out FHD and see what the Hound has been up to!)

(Note a third time: the Hound will not actually be at the walk. He gets terribly carsick. It's too close to home to sedate him, but too far for him to make the trip comfortably. It's more a metaphorical "leading" anyway. :P )

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Today is my Dad's birthday. (Happy birthday, Dad!)

School is winding down. Sort of. I've finished three classes (except, of course, the final exam/paper portion of them), and I'll finish another this afternoon and conclude my spring 2006 classes tomorrow morning. Finals start Friday. By this time next week, I'll be heading for home. Still have plenty of work to keep me busy until then, but I made myself a schedule of work to be broken up by day (I am slightly anal, you could say) and it's not looking overwhelming at all.

But it still seems odd, somehow. Like the semester never really started at all, or went by especially quickly, or something. It's hard to put into words, but it doesn't feel like the end of the semester. Very surreal.

I had a big discussion with Erica today about grad school. She's highly suspicious of going into any program that doesn't guarantee a job when you get out. She doesn't understand the concept of pursuing a degree because it's something I love, something that inspires me, without giving thought to a job afterward. I finally had to explain it in terms of what it could potentially bring me with regard to work - a teaching position, a job with a magazine or publishing house, freelance writing - before she would grudgingly admit that it wasn't (quite) worthless.

But how could it be worthless, employment notwithstanding? It's what I want, it's the direction I want my life to take. That's not worthless. If I can't pursue my passions now, when am I going to do it?

Jobs will come, or they won't. I'm done worrying about it. Erica fears for me and my parents fear for me, and I understand where they're coming from, but I don't share that fear.

There's always work to be found, doing something, somewhere. It's a non-issue, as far as I'm concerned. I'll be poor for a while - I'll be poor forever - but I'm not going to give up before I've even started. Life is too short and I have too much I want to do in the meantime.

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One week left. And then...home.

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It's a beautiful spring day today, made even more beautiful by the fact that my semester is rapidly coming to a close. I have very few assignments standing between me and my summer vacation.

Thank goodness!

Let's see, Easter break was wonderful. I saw a lot of my family and a little of my friends, but for only four days at home it wasn't bad at all. Spent a lot of time with Rocky, taking walks and snuggling. It was muy wonderful. My brother and I bonded over our mutual geekdom and had a lot of fun together. It was really nice to get to spend that kind of time with him, makes me a little sad to be spending the summer away from home. But, of course, I'll go back and see him and the rest of my family and friends.

It's going to be a great summer.

I'm home for most of May, working for my Mom and EQA. And in that time, I'll have the Garden State Horse Show and Devon to go to.

Then around Memorial Day I'll head back to Pittsburgh for Erica's birthday and to move in and all that. Outside of work - for EQA, the stained-glass artist and whatever on-campus job I find on the side - I'll have the apartment and Erica and a bunch of other Duq friends around to keep me company and get into trouble with.

Plus trips home. I'd like to get home for my bro's birthday, the rodeo and the Jumper Derby, but that's a lot, so I may have to narrow it down. And fourth of July, too. Hmm.

Then at the end of July I move out again and come home again. And sometime after that we go to the cottage for at least 2 weeks. Trying to get Erica to come with me, but we'll see. Then back home - or maybe straight back to school, dunno.

Lots of stuff going on, gonna be busy, but going to be so much fun, too.

I just wish all my work was done so I could get started already!

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School-year Countdown:
4 Physics classes + 1 final exam
2 Fiction classes + 1 final portfolio (I'm so sad to see this class end!)
2 Event Planning classes + 1 project + 1 final exam + the event
1 Seminar class + final draft of final paper
0 Comm Ethics classes (YES!!!!!!) + 1 final exam

13 days to go!

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My momma came out last weekend and we had a totally awesome time. Went to the Tartan Day celebration, oogled a lot of men in kilts, made plans to go to the Highland Games in September - more men in kilts, more excellent fun. Ima find me a boy toy! OK, maybe not, but I'm going to have such excellent fodder for fantasies.

I should totally go to grad school in Scotland. How awesome would that be? I'd get nothing done, but I'd have a great time...um...studying the local menfolk. Wink wink, nudge nudge.

I recently discovered a new band. New to me anyway, they've been around a while. They're called E Nomine and I love them, I can't get enough. I've even got Erica hooked. It's like techno-German...like Rammstein, only better. (I have a song of theirs playing on my MySpace page, if you're curious. I also have a bunch on my computer, if you want to sample the goodness.)

This time tomorrow I will be AT HOME. That makes me so happy I could cry, seriously.

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9 Class Days til the end of the Semester:
-1 Physics class + 5 days of review for the final + the final
-2 Fiction classes + final portfolio
-3 Event Planning classes + our event + the final
-2 Seminar classes + final draft of final paper
-1 Comm Ethics class + easy final paper + easy final exam

THREE WEEKS TIL MY SUMMER VACATION BEGINS!

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The past two weeks, I haven't had my night class and because of that they've probably been the greatest two weeks of my semester (skipped one week, class was canceled the next, lucky me). I only have two more of them to get through before the final, and I think I can survive that, but...it makes me want to stab myself in the face. Literally, Erica and I fantasize about breaking limbs and spending the night in the hospital to avoid the class. That's an awful thing to "fantasize" about, but next to that fuckinghorriblewasteoftime class, it really is like a fantasy.

My big paper is due on Tuesday. I really should take the whole weekend and buckle down and work on it, but I'm not going to. More likely, I'll take Monday to start and finish it.

I'm not taking the weekend to work because...dun dun dun...my mommy's coming into the city! Yay! I'm so freaking excited. It's been so long since I've gotten to spend time with her. We didn't get any time together over winter break and hardly any during spring break, so this weekend is OUR weekend! (Well, Erica will be coming along, too, but that's okay.)

I'll be spending a weekend ignoring work, with my mom, oogling men in kilts. Hot damn!

Some interesting news for next year. I might end up the president of Sigma Tau Delta (the English major honors society). No one else wants it and I really do, so...we'll see. It's been totally dormant this year so whatever I do with it will be some sort of improvement. I'm excited at the prospect, I think it would be awesome.

My life outside of school...well...doesn't really exist. That's not entirely true. Erica and I (and whoever else we can attract) make a point of doing fun things. Plus I've been writing a bit, which makes my heart happy. But my poor camera has been grossly ignored for most of the year. I keep meaning to take it out and play, but there's always something else to do (or the stupid weather to contend with).

All in all, school and other assorted unsavory issues included, I have to say I'm really liking where I'm at right now. I wouldn't mind having a hot Scotsman to keep me warm at night, but...the fantasy is always better, isn't it?

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1 day til Mom arrives!
2 days til the TARTAN DAY CELEBRATION!
26 days til my semester is OVER!

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Today a tornado warning was issued for much of eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania, including Pittsburgh. We didn't get any tornadoes, but we did get a lot of rain and thunder and wind. Now, Duquesne sits up on the Bluff and so is generally fairly windy. Today it was insane. Umbrellas were useless, even if they didn't buckle in on themselves the rain just got blown sideways.

My umbrella - which did buckle in on itself and kept me not at all dry - is fired.

I got to class soaked. Dried to "damp" during class, then had to go back out into the wet to get to my next class. And me, idiot that I am, thought that since it was 64 degrees out I could get away with a t-shirt and flipflops.

"Cold" does not quite begin to describe it.

There is a silver lining to my day, though. My Communications Ethics class (ie, "the worst class ever") is cancelled tomorrow. This makes two weeks in a row without that horrible class in my life, since I skipped it last week. Ignoring for the moment the ethics of skipping an ethics class, not having to be there makes me ridiculously happy.

Today I also saw the Clerks 2 trailer for the first time. It's being released in theaters on August 18th. I'm so excited I could wet myself. (But I won't.)

I finished my latest book last night (James Patterson's Honeymoon). It was a little slow to start, but once I got past page 45 or so I couldn't put it down. Actually, I ended up reading p. 45 to the end last night. Something like 300 pages, took me about two hours. That's what I love about Patterson. The stories are interesting but they don't take any great thought or effort to get through. Kind of like literary candy.

Can't decide what to read next. Maybe I'll go back to Gabaldon, get my Scots fix.

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5 days til TARTAN DAY
24 days til finals.
15 days of classes left in the semester.

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It's been a good weekend.

Saw Local Hero, Howl's Moving Castle and the Chronicles of Narnia, all of them good movies. (Howl we watched twice because we liked it so much!) Plus I got a lot of homework done, plus I managed to squeeze in two epiodes of Dr. Quinn.

The food situation is not so good. We each have one meal left for the week, I'm out of flex and I have no money in the bank. We're saving our meal for dinner tonight. So yesterday we ate what we had in the room - namely, pretzels, Doritos, twizzlers and cookies. My tummy was not so happy with me, but what can you do?

I have a big assignment due in one of my English classes on April 11th - supposed to be a paper about something having to do with ethics, culture and writing that I'm then supposed to submit for publication somewhere. The problem is, I don't like my original idea and I think I have a new one, but I don't know if I like that one, either. I'm hoping after I do some basic research something will get jump-started in my brain. If not...well. I'm screwed.

My boss at EQA decided to pay me for my work this summer. SCORE! Plus he just gave me a company email address. How cool is that? I feel all professional now. I love this job. I love it so much.

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(25 days / 16 class days til finals)

Your First Name of: Cate

As Cate you are rather serious-minded, responsible, and stable.

You have the gift of tact and diplomacy, and possess a charming, easy-going nature which endears you to others.

You have a serious desire to understand the heart and mind of everyone, and could be very effective in a career or in volunteer work where you are handling people and serving in a humanitarian way.

This name also gives you a love of home and family, and as a parent you would likely be fair and understanding.

Although the name Cate creates the urge to be reliable and responsible, we emphasize that it causes procrastination, lack of confidence, and the inability to realize your goals and ambitions.

This name, when combined with the last name, can frustrate happiness, contentment, and success, as well as cause health weaknesses in the fluid systems, and worry or mental tension.

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Well...yeah. I'd say that's me.

I deleted all my old entries. All the stupid surveys and the memes and whining, disgusting entries about Mike. I've moved on from that point in my life, no need for my LJ to still reflect it - however neglected it has become.

So, an update is in order.

School
Getting close to the end of my junior year. How crazy is that? Still between me and my summer vacation I have...

-Physics: 10 classes, a test and a final exam
-Fiction: 7 classes, 14 story workshops and a final portfolio
-Event planning: 5 classes, a "paper," work on our event and a final exam
-English seminar: 5 classes, an article and a workshop on said article
-Comm ethics: 3 classes, a final paper and a final exam

Easter break is April 13th to 18th, and I'm going home, thank goodness. I think I might even fly so I can have as much time at home as possible.

My semester will be completely over on May 2nd; fall classes don't start up til August 28th. It's the longest summer break I've ever had and I couldn't be more overjoyed.

Work + Summer
I've got a fabulous internship with an online equestrian travel directory, Equestrian Adventurer. I have a great boss, I love the work I do, and I think I will stay with this company long after my summer internship has been completed. Who knows, there may even be a job for me after graduation. I'm also working right now for a local woman who has her own communications firm and that's pretty cool, too.

During June and July I'll be living out here in Pittsburgh, working for a local stained-glass artist as an apprentice/intern. She's really cool and I'm excited about helping her out.

Of course, nothing is paid, so I'm going to get a job on campus, too, to pay the rent and pay for having fun and such like that.

And, after all that, it's off to Michigan and Torch Lake and a wonderful, relaxing vacation with my family.

Not to mention, of course, going to Garden State and the Devon Horse Show and the Jumper Derby and any other horsey thing I can get myself involved with.

Life in General
Ignoring for the moment the situation with Erica and some crazy guy (in which I got to lay some shit down), life is good. I'm only the tiniest bit stressed about school. I'm broke, but what else is new? I get to go home and see family and friends soon. I'm a happy camper, all around.

Next weekend, my mom is coming out to Pittsburgh and we're going to go to the Tartan Day Festival and oogle all the Scotsmen in their kilts. It's going to be a ton of fun and I'm really excited to get to spend it with my mom. And Erica too now, even better.

The famed "diet that starts tomorrow" started on Tuesday and it's going famously. I'm not having trouble keeping it up at all, which I thought I would. My only goal right now is to be healthy, make sure my body gets all the good stuff it needs with a minimum of crap. Aside from that, I want to get down to a "riding weight," so when I get to the point in my life (hopefully right after graduation) when I can welcome horses back into it, I'm ready. Plus - what's the point of working for a travel site if I'm too self-conscious to go on any of the vacations?

I'm taking care of me. I'm making decisions based on what I want, I'm not letting some self-involved asshole dictate my life anymore. I'm not basing my self worth on what anyone else thinks about me. I'm learning how to do it all myself.

It's been a long time coming, but I'm loving every second of it.