Best Summer Countdown: Number 5

#5 Summer 2001: SKY Ranch

I'm not sure that this summer classifies as one of the "best," but it certainly was significant. I think the summer between middle school and high school always deserves some recognition. It's less about the actual events of this summer (although this is when I discovered that I had acne on my forehead) and more about the overall attitude of entitlement and utter social anxiety.

Christian summer camp as a post-middle, pre-high schooler is ripe with Christian tense - it involves a lot of bandeau swimsuits (mostly because they make your boobs look bigger) and wearing jewelry to the pool - Why? And in case you forgot - swim suit cover ups are NOT cool. Dark eyeliner is a necessity ESPECIALLY when you'll be sweating all day and, please, pull down two little strands of hair in front of your forehead. Why? To this day I have no idea.

Anyway, this is the summer I experienced my first "real" break-up. I mean, we dated for 3 whole weeks, never mind the fact that I was at camp for one of those. KS and I wrote both of our boyfriends extremely lengthy letters while sitting in the soda shoppe at the ranch (probably skipping some outdoor activity). We both included pictures in our letters - you know, lest they forget what we looked like in the week we were gone. Upon my return home, I received an E-MAIL informing me of the disintegration of our relationship. Curses. My serious 8th grade relationship ended because he met some other trampy post-8th, pre-9th grader. I spent the next year ignoring his presence all together.

Best Summer Countdown: Number 6

#6 Summer 1992-2000

Summer as a little kid is great because you're totally left to your own defenses. I know it seems odd that I would lump nearly a decade of summers together, but let's face it, they're all basically the same. You can't drive so you're a prisoner in your own home, left to obey your parents every whim which mostly includes shipping you off to summer camp. I, of course, was terrified of summer camp. I don't like sports or the outdoors so that rules out quite a bit of "summer fun." I've been told that I was sent to one or two sports camps - I've obviously repressed those memories. The only vague memory I have of sports camp is lying on the pavement of a tennis court struggling to find air because I had the wind knocked out of me. Never again.

What I remember most from my younger years is the desperation to create a neighborhood gang that resembled the cast of Now and Then. As the chubby one in the neighborhood, I probably most resemble Rosie O'Donnell's character. You're welcome for that mental image.

A common pastime was talking on the phone with KS every morning while we watched Franklin, Kipper, and Little Bear (all of which we were too old to be watching). Most of the time, KS was instructing me (via teleconference) on how to draw the head of Fred Flinstone. She usually figure out that I wasn't actually drawing the head of Fred Flinstone and instead just feeding her minimal encouragers like I was listening - as punishment she'd ask me to bring my drawing over and show it to her as proof. Don't worry, she's in law school now - I pity any opposition that has to endure her punitive justice.

As I got older (and KT moved to our neighborhood - thus completing our Now and Then lifestyle), I remember a defined increase in competition. I only blame KT indirectly for the increase in competition. I blame KS directly. The arrival of KT meant that KS had found someone good enough (mentally tough enough) to compete with KS for ring diving competitions of speed and breath-holding competitions of endurance. Naturally, I was the first to toss my white flag and surrender. Tangentially related is my memory of KT's glow-in-the-dark retainer and terrifying ventriloquism doll.

Summertime, Pt. 1

After nearly 3 months ... I have returned. I've been tossing around the idea of blogging for about 2 weeks, but when I woke up at 7 a.m. for the third (and notably worst) day in a row - I knew today was the day.

The great thing about summertime is that its very existence is nostalgic. That's why there are "summer blockbusters" at the movie theater and "great summer hits" on the radio. The terrible thing about summertime is that one morning you will wake up and realize it will never really be summertime again. Instead it will be "adulthood" every day for the rest of your life. I fear this destination is looming.

Every summer I reflect on what summer "used to be like." Summers take on different meanings as you grow up; as a little kid it meant summer camp or swim lessons; as a 'tween it meant pool parties and sleepovers with your best friends and SKY Ranch; as an adolescent it meant swearing to never eat a hot dog in front of a boy and absolutely DEMANDING that you wear your hot, new bikini (not the tankini that was SO 7th grade); as a teenager it meant a part-time job, lake houses, making out in the backseat of your car (sorry, parents), and laying out by the pool to work on your tan. As a college student, it means internships, frequent stops at QuickTrip, putting a lot of mileage on your car, and most likely at least one trip to Las Vegas.

I can tell you now that summertime as a graduate student means recovery and shelter-seeking.

Tune in tomorrow when I reflect on MY best summers.

happiness is ...

eating a mystery flavored Airhead and realizing it's cotton candy flavored.

Things I've thought about today:

-OU closing Jenkins Ave. for 2 months is one of the more ridiculous things this university has ever done.
-I found a lone Blistex under a chair at work today. At what point will its previous owner think "Where did I .... damnit"?
-"Don't pity a shelter animal. Adopt one." - YEAH!
- Wow. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAxOtp4vDJQ
-The View had a mutt dog show today. Why didn't I know about this? Trigger would have won.
-I wish I could adopt all of the dogs in the world.

Facebook fortunate

I just got on Facebook to try and purge some Facebook friends. I think I'm feeling burdened by my responsibilities and weighed down by material obligations - so clearly my solution is to switch personal emails over to gmail and delete some friends on Facebook. Anyway, I TRIED to delete some Facebook friends but I found myself justifying people I don't even know!

And then it hit me, I think we (our generation, class of 2004 and beyond) take Facebook for granted. While I felt the impulse to delete some high school friends that I have little to no interest in, it occurred to me that it's really miraculous that I have the opportunity to keep up with them in the first place.

Thursdays and Fridays are my days in the office for my GA position. Being "in the office" means I work in the new University College building, which means I'm across the street from the union, which means I'm 100 yards away from CrossRoads, Chick-fil-a, Sbarro, Wendy's, and Starbucks. So this begs the question: What will I have for lunch? It's like the university experience I always wanted - eating lunch in the student union everyday (2 days a week). Except now I go there and look around and still feel like a freshman, but dressed better.

In other news, the Office and Modern Family were both especially funny this week.

Waiting for work to be over. Hungry dog at home. Lots of IQ reading waiting for me.

Please please please let class be cancelled tomorrow.

Old job, new tricks.

Two things just happened to me at work today.

Number 1.
They want me to move cubicles because I’m the only one who works on this side of the office [literally. see below]. In theory, this is nice. For a semester, these people (who have kindly adopted to Risk Center) have seen me come to the office four days a week and sit in solitude. They must think I’m really lonely. False. If people are around me that means I can’t:

1) Read the school newspaper
2) Write in my blog
3) Facebook
4) Do homework
5) Upload pictures

And if I can’t do these things – what will I do? And I don’t mean that in the “I’m so dependent on these things, how will I survive?” kind of way. I’m actually wondering how will I occupy my time.
Number 2.
I tried to connect to the wireless internet. I had two options: OUWIFI and OUGuest. I selected OUGuest thinking it would require the least hoop-jumping, which is true except that you can’t access learn.ou.edu, ozone, exchange.ou.edu, or any OU affiliated site. Oh, so they actually mean it’s for guests of the university to use? Okay.
So I select OUWIFI – and a screen comes up telling me that access will be granted upon login. Oh, so this is only for students to use? I get it. Then I click through a few screens about some yackity yack regarding copywriting. AND THEN THERE IS A QUIZ ABOUT ALL OF THE SCREENS THAT I JUST IGNORED!!!!! What?! Luckily, I have a brain, so I passed the quiz. And then I had to register my computer in order to log on.
First of all, what kind of communist society is this???? Secondly, if I had actual work to do, that would have been a real time suck.

With a parking pass, all things are possible.

Last night, I spent an hour picking a new blog background and color scheme only to discover that Elyse had the exact same one. I've been out of the blogging circuit for a while and apparently that was a key nugget of information that I missed out on. Therefore, I went in a completely different direction for loganstaysthecourse.
Another new addition is my blog subtitle. I saw that phrase in a book that I'm reading (and can't put down except to write this blog) and thought it was one of the more profound things I had ever read. "In those that entertain us, there is much we forgive." Isn't that the truth? No one is perfect by any stretch of the imagination - and yet there are people we choose to tolerate and people we choose not to. It seems to me that the people I choose to tolerate are the ones that keep me laughing (both at them and with them).
There are a few exciting developments in my life:
1) I received a graduate assistantship with University College. Basically, I get some outrageous stipend per month and tuition waiver (though that doesn't include fees). I'll also be keeping 10 hr/wk at the center (where I've been blogging for the last few months). So my semester breaks down into: 13 hours of class, 30 hours of work, and seeing clients. I'm excited for the challenge!
1a) I BOUGHT AN OU PARKING PERMIT. That is a big deal for me. Imagine all the places I can park!
2) I have a new roommate. The Jessicas moved out (for the respective adult reasons like job and law school) which is a bummer. However, Casey (classmate) is moving in! Probably won't see her much for reasons listed in #1, though.
3) They have added new food options to the snack shop at the clinic including diet dr. pepper and licorice. I CAN'T WAIT.
4) I'm totally enamoured with the book American Wife. It's delicious - for lack of a better word. I'd like to finish the book before school cranks up (that's not possible) but at the same time I don't want it to end! It's loosely based on the life events of Laura Bush; if George Bush is anything like the character in this book he would have wooed me as well. So smooth.
5) I am creating a "vision board" for 2010. Mostly I'd just like to collage something, but also Oprah says it works. Elyse, perhaps you could advise me? More on this later.
6) Staying the course. will now be posted on my facebook. As much I don't like the idea of people reading my blog without my knowledge, I also don't write anything noteworthy.

Today, I need to eat lunch (the options are endless), walk the Trigger, print things at Bizzell (I will get there via use of my parking pass), go to CVS, make my grocery list, and think about my Valentine's Day card.

Moment of zen:

Retroactive Christmas Blog

I meant to post this before Christmas and then it didn't happen. Do you know why it didn't happen? Because I wasn't working. That is time theft at its finest.

Below are pictures of my Christmas decorations at my Norman house. All of these pictures are pre-Christmas sale, so be aware that next year will be out of control.

Red curled wood wreath. As a side note, red candles were placed in the sconces after this picture was taken. If uploading photos didn't exhaust me, I would have taken another picture.

Ornament centerpiece. Thank you, ULTA, for your free gift with $50 purchase because that is where the vases are from.

Charlie Brown and Snoopy Christmas tree. It suites my needs. Low maintenance. Just like I like 'em. Pretty sure Trigger wished there had been lights on it but it's not possible. Too skinny.

Mantelscape. The mantel is exactly the same as it is year around (except for those candles)- this will change next year. Below are three trees of varying height, one gold reindeer complete with bow and ornament, and three gold metal angel figures also of varying height. It is a work in progress.