Larry

We have this policy at my work now where if there is no line only one cashier can be standing in the cluster at a time. The other people have to straighten things, or do go backs, or stand at the door and greet people. So today I had the privelage (sarcastic undertone) of being a greeter for a while. Well normally much of this involves talking to other people behind the registers and trying to tell as many people that come in as possible "Hi, how are you today?" Or leaving "Have a great rest of the day!" A couple of guys walked in and of course I said my little schpeel and one of the guys was like, "Oh hi! So what's going on here?" Well there was a booksigning, so I told him, and he proceeded to chat with me for a couple of more minutes. I just figured he was an extra friendly customer or something, and I was starting to feel a little odd. Well after he walked away Rosalie, the girl I was working with, was like, "Do you know who that is?" Ummm no. "That's Larry! The CEO!" I think it was actually a good thing that I didn't know this. This man has quite a reputation for being very anal about how the bookstore is run and that everyone must be busy at all times. I mean I don't blame him, he is after all the CEO. I just might have been a little nervous if I knew who I was actually talking to! Luckily Rosalie was looking busy and I was being a good little greeter!

Alterior Motive Weekend

My weekend was interesting enough. After driving through torrential rain to get home on Saturday I hung out with my family, and then hung out with Emma for a bit which was nice. Saturday night we took my dad out to Bubba Gump's at the Pike in downtown Long Beach for his birthday. Mmmm... fried shrimp is so good!

Of course half of the reason that I wanted to come home, well maybe even more than half, was to have the Apartment Talk.
I'll have to say my pros and cons list was way longer than my parents. And of course they had many more cons than pros, whereas I was the opposite. I think after this weekend I now know that one of my moms biggest fears is that I'm not going to finish school, even though there's no way I'd quit. Oh yes, and of course that some crazy man is going to follow me and rape me. I think that yes, as a parent, you are supposed to worry. But at some point you have to get over these fears, or at least realize that you can't protect your daughter from everything, you just have to trust that she is smart and will be safe and is in God's hands. Life happens sometimes. The crazy guy situation could happen ANYWHERE.
After much talking/arguing my mother started to warm up to the idea. If that's what you could call it. She started asking me all of these questions about the apartments that I've been looking at. Then at the end said "So are you going to work alot this summer so that you can pay for the furniture?" Of course I said yes. I told her all I am asking is that she pay for rent and my schooling, I will figure out how to pay for everything else. I am seriously considering getting a different job next year that pays more anyway. And that way I can afford having more to pay for next year. Of course she doesn't want me to get a different job because she doesn't understand why I feel the need to make more money, and that my parents will give me more money if I need it. Hmm, this conversation is making less and less sense to me. But they don't have a say in what job I have next year or how much I choose to work, or any of that, so whatever, they can be upset.
Basically not this weekend, but the next weekend we're going to try and get all of the parents to come down and check out the apartments that we are looking at and hopefully they will for sure make the final decision of yes. They haven't specifically said yes, but I don't think they can say no anymore.
At what point do I finally have to not ask permission for all of this stuff? At what point am I making my own decisions? Do they really think that me not living at home hasn't changed anything? I guess once I'm finally out of college, or get so frustrated that I just take out student loans and pay my own way.
So there we have it.

WHAT?? I CAN'T HEAR YOU!?

Tonight I went to a show headlining Matchbook Romance, and then with Motion City Soundtrack, the Matches, and From First To Last at a place called Soma. It was so awesome!
I went with my friend Danielle and her friend Anna.
It was so great, the blasting music, sweaty people jumping all around, moshes going on, eardrums throbbing, and entire body vibrating.
Oh, I love it. Listening to the bands live just makes the music so much better!
We ended the night with a Denny's run. Now I still can't hear very well. It's going to take a couple of days to wear off, a bit scary. But it was worth it!! Woohoo!

It's becoming one of those days...

I definitely got enough sleep last night. I went to bed at about 12:00 and woke up at 9:00 to Sophia's alarm. Well the only problem here is that I was supposed to be at work at 7:45! I'm not really sure what happened. But I raced to get ready and called my work. They said just come in as soon as I can. At least they were nice about it. I just felt crappy coming in so late because I've never been more than 5 minutes late, let alone an hour and 45 minutes late!
Of course in the rush to get ready I didn't remember that it was supposed to rain today. So I almost fell about 7 or 8 times since I was wearing flip flops. And also got nice and wet from no hood or umbrella!
It's Thursday, tomorrow should be a better day. I'm off to the gym in a few minutes. I don't really feel like going over there right now, but I'm going to anyway!

Ok, Here is THE LIST

If you can think of anything more, please feel free to tell me! Especially cons. I think I'm just so excited about the situation that I can't think of too many bad things about living in an apartment!

Pros:
• It is less expensive than the dorms.
• Apartment Estimated cost per month, plus some extras that I don’t have to pay for every month (see chart): $730
• Dorm Estimated Cost per month (see chart) $1,129
• I will learn to live on my own, which includes: managing my money, making my own food, learning how to pay for bills. I have to do all of these things eventually, and it is good for me to learn to do them now.
• I will have a quiet place to study. Dorm life is never quiet. School is very important to me, and I want to do well. Having this quieter place to study will help.
• When I go home at the end at the end of the day I am off of campus, I won’t feel so stuck here.
• Privacy.
• I will have more space to live in, my own bathroom, and kitchen and living room.
• I won’t have to be on the meal plan, which means I can eat healthier.
• I can choose my roommates, and they are good people. If I live in the Cuicacalli sweets next year I might not be with good people. I have heard horror stories.
• It is right by the trolley station, so I don’t have to deal with traffic, and the trolley pass is very inexpensive. I can either walk or drive to the trolley, which will also be right on campus starting this summer.
• They are right next to Mission Valley, which means Target, Borders, lots of food. Grocery stores.
• The apartments that I am looking at come with a security system.
• They also come with a washer and dryer.
• The neighborhood of these apartments is much nicer and safer than the ones right off campus.
• They are the same price as the ones around campus, even though they are nicer.
• I have had the chance to get to know many people and make friends, part of which is due to the fact that I am in the dorms. But I have now been in the dorms for a year and that was enough. There are very few people living in the dorms after their freshman year.
• If for some reason I am not able to get into Cuicacalli, then I won’t have a chance to get an apartment because it will be too late. Everyone will have roommates and everyone will already have their living situations.
• I will have a parking spot, which the apartments right off of campus do not guarantee.
• Sophia is going to take a RAD (Rape Aggression Defense) class this semester and I am going to take it with her. That way I will be safe and prepared, if for some reason anything would ever happen, which it won’t.
• These apartments have a gym, a pool, a movie theatre, a workstation, and a clubroom.
• I will be 20 years old next year.
• I feel like I am very ready for this move. You have raised me to be a responsible young adult and instilled in me values that I will take with me the rest of my life. You can trust me to be safe and make the right decisions because that is the kind of person that I am.
• I have already been mostly on my own since September. In that time I have had the chance to grow a lot and learn about what it takes to be on my own.
• The apartment is the next step, and I am ready for that step.

Cons:
• I will have to buy some furniture and bathroom and kitchen things.
• Not as convenient as living on campus.
• I won’t have an RA.
• I will have to drive or take the trolley, not just walk.
• I will have to buy food and make it, which includes paying for food.
• I will have gas and electric, which is still going to make it cheaper than the dorms though.
• Social life may be harder to come by
• I will have to clean.
• Pay for internet
• Not everyone around me will be a college student, although the majority will be.

Pop Quiz?!

50 multiple choice questions is not a pop quiz! It's a test. It really stinks. Today in my Art History class we had a "pop quiz" of this size and it was so frustrating because if I would have studied for it I know I would have done well. There are 2 of these in the year and together they make up 25% of our grade. Man, that's so much for a pop quiz!! I hope he curves it :( I guess I'm studying more from now on!

Happy Single Awareness Day

As far as Valentine's goes, today was a pretty uneventful day. I guess not having a Valentine makes the day easier. My favorite part of the day was when I saw a couple of guys who decided to dress up as cupid and hand out Valentine's cards to all of the girls that walked by them. Yes, that means diapers and a bow and arrow and wings... and nothing else.
I ALMOST had a somewhat fun spontaneous night, and a Valentine, but sadly it didn't happen. I was talking to my friend Matt online (we had a small something going on for a week in the summer, but nothing really happened or went anywhere), and he asked me what I was doing tonight. Well nothing. So he asked me if I wanted to go to dinner with him. I was like, ummm... aren't you still in Long Beach?? Yes, but he asked if I wanted to meet him halfway. I thought that could be fun, although I'm not sure if it was like, oh I have nothing better to do, want to go to dinner with me? Or if he really wanted to. Anyway, he was figuring it out when his mom told him he couldn't go. Gotta love the parents, he's still living at home. So no Valentine for Laura.
No worries though I got a little bit of homework done, and now Sophia, Cerise and I are going to watch the Notebook! I know I know, I already saw it 2 days ago! But it's a good girly Valentine's movie, so there!

Mom and Dad

Here's the difference between my mom and my dad.

Conversation between me and my mom:
Me: Next week I'm going to come home on Saturday afternoon for dad's birthday instead of Friday. I made a new friend and I'm going to a show with her on Friday night with her and some of her friends. It's with a few bands that I like.
Mom: Ok, well you need to be careful.
Me: Yes mom, I know.
Mom: Well I'm your mother, I have to tell you things like that
Me: I'm 19!!!

Conversation between me and my dad, 10 minutes later:
Me: Next week I'm going to come home on Saturday afternoon for your birthday instead of Friday. I made a new friend and I'm going to a show with her on Friday night with her and some of her friends. It's with a few bands that I like.
Dad: That's cool! That should be fun!
Me: Yeah, I think so, I'm pretty excited, it should be fun.
Dad: I think so, who is playing?
Me: Matchbook Romance, Motion City Soundtrack, The Matches, From First to Last.
Dad: Well cool, have a good time! We'll see you Saturday then!

Pros and Cons

I talked to my mom on Friday night and she said that when I come home next week for my dad's birthday that she wants me to bring a pros and cons list of why I should be in an apartment next year. Especially one that's 10 minutes away from campus. Umm, hello?? 10 min? That's less time than it takes for me to walk to my classes in the morning!
Well, I already have a bunch of ideas, some of which I wrote about a little while ago. But I need your guys help. I really want to also be prepared with the cons, not necessarily for me to write them down, but for me to know what to say when my parents bring them up.
So... what pros and cons can you think of???

Fun and Craziness!

Thursday night ended up being more fun than boring after Cerise and I decided to procrastinate on the paper and hang out with Sophia and some of my dorm mates instead.

Friday I drove to Corrie's in the rain. We had way much fun on Friday night. Corrie kept not being able to talk right so we were both cracking up over and over again.
Some Corrieisms:
Saraca Jessica Parker
What did you ask the coffee?
Emma: Corrie can I borrow a shirt? Corrie: Sure look in my fridge in my room.
It was way too much fun. Oh yes, and I can't leave myself out, I was having a weird night too. Soo...
Lauraisms:
My shoes go woosh kush kush. So then Corrie ended up walking around her apartment going woosh kush kush, woosh kush kush with every step.
I guess that's another dorky Corrie thing.
We just have too much fun being dorky girls I think!

Saturday we walked on the pier in Huntington, very nice to get out and move a bit and enjoy almost being blown off of the pier. Then we went and picked Emma up and the 3 of us hung out and called a few people and ended up going bowling at night with a bunch of friends. It was so much fun! Nice to mix it up for one night and do something different and fun. When we came back Corrie, Emma, Vanessa and I all watched The Notebook. Oh. That is one of the best movies of all time. They were all crying afterwards, I think because I had seen it before and knew the outcome it wasn't quite as emotional for me. But I love it anyway! Finally made it to sleep around 4:00AM after Vanessa gave Emma and I facials. She's so cute, she was so excited about this new Sensaria stuff she had gotten that she wanted us to try it.

Today was more relaxing after we went to Gourmet Pie at about 2:00 for "breakfast" and then Emma and Corrie took a nap while I did a little bit of homework. Then off to church! It was nice to see all of those friends again and get the chance to hang out afterwards and talk for a little bit.

And now I'm back in San Diego! Preparing for a busy week, trying to get a little more done before tomorrow.

Almost Done...

Thursday nights are no fun because everyone in the dorms has managed to plan their schedules so that they don't have Friday classes. Except for Laura that is, sadly I couldn't make it happen. So while everyone else goes out tonight, I will be doing homework. Whoop di doo. Cerise and I are going to do a write up for our interview probably tonight since it's due on Tuesday and neither one of us is going to be here this weekend.

Oh yes, which reminds me, I haven't written about this yet. Tuesday morning I went to an elementary school to interview a first grader. Basically I had a lot of math problems to ask them to try and see how they were thinking. Cerise and I interviewed a kid named Armando. He was so cute! Of course, you can't write stuff like that in the interview write up, so I'll write it here. At first he was all shy, but then he started to get really into it. Especially because he was allowed to use and play with the Unifex cubes to figure out answers. We weren't supposed to tell him that he was getting anything wrong, because the whole point was to figure out how he was thinking about the problems. So Cerise and I kept saying "Good Job!" or "I see how you got that." every time, meaning he thought he was getting everything right. By the time we had to be done he wanted to keep going so that he could be "really smart". So cute.
Now that all of the fun stuff is over, and it's all recorded, Cerise and I have to type up this long report about the experience. Blah.

Today at work I FINALLY was trained on refunds. Only one group of registers does the refunds and they have slowly been training people that have been there for a semester. For the past couple of weeks the supervisors keep saying "Oh, you haven't been trained on refunds yet?" Which is probably the reason that I still hadn't because everyone thought that I had. Well now I finally have! Moving up just a little more...

Definitely glad that the weekend is almost here. I'll be driving up to Westminster tomorrow to hang out with Corrie and Emma this weekend right after I get off of work. Meaning traffic, because it will be about 4:30 that I leave, and rain, maybe thunderstorms. It will be nice to see friends though!

Week 2

So, after 2 weeks of exercising, and about a week of eating healthier, I have lost 2 pounds! Yah! I'm sure it could have been a little more, but I did have a couple of "off" days, as I'm still trying to get into the healthy eating habit. Working out has been so great though, and it's nice to see it paying off a little! Can't wait for next week!

A Small Peek Into Dorm Life

Setting: First semester, first few weeks, elevator, desperate new college students.
(2 people enter the elevator)
"Hi! What's your name?"
"Oh yeah? My names Debra Desperate. Where are you from?"
"Cool, I'm from someplace. What floor are you on??"
"I'm on the 7th floor! Room.... You should come and visit!"
"Ok cool, sounds good, what's your phone number?"
(One person exits elevator)
"Alright, well nice to meet you!"
And... instant friend.
Setting: Second semester, first few weeks, elevator, cool college students.
(2 people enter the elevator)
Awkward silence
Awkward silence, glance at each other, slight smile maybe.
"Oh, I see the permits on the elevator are still expired since September."
"Yeah"
(Exit elevator and quickly get as far away from each other as possible)

Taken from a conversation with my friend Clark.

Prepare yourselves. This is a long one!

This morning my mom and sister drove to San Diego to take me out to lunch and a movie. (Again my dad was working, tomorrow's his first day off in a month and a half! Woohoo!) It was so much easier that they came to visit me because I didn't have to worry about leaving for the whole weekend and not getting anything done. We went to see The Wedding Date, which was allright, I hadn't especially wanted to see it before, and it basically met my expectations. Then we went to Mimi's Cafe. Mmmm. So good. I was trying to talk to my mom about a place to live next year. I just casually mentioned that people are looking into apartments right now and that for the dorms the applications are sometime in March. She said something like, well you know how I feel about that, and then changed the subject. See I don't think I've mentioned before, but there's this continuing struggle going on right now between me being in the dorms or living in an apartment next year. I want to be in an apartment, but my mother is so against it for some reason. I think part of the whole not wanting me to really grow up. So after a little more small talk I told her that I wanted to at least have this conversation. And then we did. I was explaining things to her like, it will help me to learn to manage my money. I want to be able to make my own food. It will help me to become more responsible. It's cheaper. I will have a good room mate (Cerise). I will finally have a quiet place to study so I can focus better in school. I WILL BE 20 YEARS OLD NEXT YEAR. Many of the apartments are right off campus. There are even apartments that are run by the school. I will be taking this step eventually, and I am ready for it now. And finally, really I just very much want to do this, and thinking about it is so exciting to me!
Well, I think she will at least consider it more. The thing is, it's just like most other things with my mother. If she knows that I am persistent enough, then she will eventually say yes, even if she moans and groans about it. But by avoiding the subject, she never has to say no because it will be too late to find a place.
I know that I am an adult now, and at some point will have to break away from my parents and not appeal to them for these decisions. But in doing so would require me to find another higher paying job. Or a job with more hours. And for now, I don't want to add more stress to my life. My parents are still willing to pay for school, and my housing for now, so I am not going to try to break away from that because I don't think I could do it on my own.

Ok. Take a quick breather, maybe a bathroom break. There's still more to this days story, if you want to keep reading about it!

Anyway, the rest of the day really was pretty good. Minus the other conversation about me changing my major. Basically my mom doesn't understand. But what was funny is I felt like we were having two different conversations at the same time. After I mentioned to her the fact that I love kids, and working with them, but maybe that just means that I want to be a mom, not a teacher. She said something like, well you know if you quit school it's really hard to get a job and make money. Umm... wait a minute. Who said anything about quitting school?? I'm just talking about changing what I want to do in life. Or figuring it out better.
The day really wasn't bad, it was just these couple of conversations that frustrated me, because I am still a kid in my mom's eyes.
Anyway, then they dropped me back off at the dorms and I went to work. I was working at the mens basketball game tonight. Selling t-shirts and foam fingers and pom poms and the like. It was actually really fun because it was so laid back. It just felt like I was hanging out with friends for 6 hours. Plus we were able to watch parts of the game, which was cool. Although we lost to Utah, but that's ok.
Whew! So that was my way long day! And now I will be doing homework all day tomorrow, because I got nothing done today or yesterday!
Oh yeah. Cerise and Tricia and I baked a cake yesterday. Chocolate and chocolate and chocolate. Way fun. I love doing random things like this on a Friday. Last Friday was making cards, and yesterday a cake! So fun.
Ok, love you all! Night.

Soreness

Wow. Has it been a long time since I've worked out! Man. I'm so sore right now! But that's a good thing really. At least it means the working out is, well, working. Yesterday I had so much energy that I kind of overdid it. But it was so nice to exercise! I rode the bikes for an hour, then did a bunch of stomach work. Still when I got back I had energy. So I took the stairs back up to my room (7 flights). And then went up and down the stairs 3 more times while I was helping Jackie with laundry, running part of it. Well after going to the ARC (Aztec Recreation Center... gym) again today and again doing the bikes my legs are really sore. And from the ab roller my stomach hurts too! But just have to keep telling myself, this is good!
It's funny how working out makes me WANT to eat healthier. I guess because I don't want to see all of the pain go to waste! So basically I have been snacking alot less. And actually going to the dining hall. I don't like it there because the food has gotten slowly worse and worse. But there is always salad and fruit. And usually one other good thing I can get, or make work, which is plenty of food. And one way to counter the fact that most of the food is not healthy is to just not eat as much of it. I'm trying NOT to finish my meal. And whether I eat it or not, the money on my meal plan goes away, so oh well. I'd rather be getting thinner than feeling obligated to use it all and continuing this trend of getting fatter!
Anyway, we'll see. Maybe, just maybe, I'll stick with this for longer than 2 weeks. Which seems to be the longest I stick with most "diet" or "healthy" things. Sophia and I are trying to help eachother. She is ridiculously skinny already, but still wants to be healthy, so it works. Hopefully I'll stick with it! If I do it should at least help a little! I'm optimistic!

Gym Time!

Sophia and I have started a contest. We made a little chart for the next few weeks with little boxes for Sunday through Saturday. Every time one of us goes to the gym we put a our color star in the box of that day. Whoever goes the most times, the other one has to buy them dinner one night (probably Rubio's since it's not too expensive, hehe). And then we'll go do something else fun together. It's great because now we're both more motivated to go. Plus the fact that we've both now gained weight since coming to school!
Right now she's winning since she's gone 3 times and I've only gone twice! But don't worry, I'll win because I am the best!!

Timmy

Yesterday my friend Tim was in San Diego visiting some of his friends and he got a chance to stop by SDSU and visit me as well! He had to wait for me to get off work, but that wasn't too long. Then I gave him a random tour of the campus. We didn't really see all that much since he was complaining that he was walking too much. Wimp ;) So then he had a chance to see my tiny dorm room and meet a couple of my dorm mates while we just hung out and chatted! It was alot of fun! Great to see friends from home on a Tuesday night!
By the way, this means that now Corrie, Emma, Nicole, and Tim R. have all visited me. The rest of you are welcome any time! Really!

Ahhh!!!

Aristotle...
I am reminded of the reason why I don't put homework off until the last minute. Here's the first sentence of 10 pages I have to read for philosophy 101 (aka moral philosophy).
"Every craft and every investigation, and likewise every action and decision, seems to aim at some good; hence the good has been well described as that at which everything aims."
Oh my goodness. Did Aristotle just talk himself in a circle? Or is that just me? Couldn't he have just said that everything that is done is aiming at some good? Or probably something even simpler? I had to read this sentence 3 times before I got it. And it's only going to get worse...

Tape Recorder

"A device for recording information on strips of plastic tape (usually polyester) that are coated with fine particles of a magnetic substance, usually an oxide of iron, cobalt, or chromium" (Encyclopedia.com).

For my math 212 class we go to an elementary school 3 times out of half of the semester. Then we're supposed to interview children, asking them math questions and how they came up with their answers. Basically we're trying to figure out how children think about math. Well for this class we're supposed to have a tape recorder to tape our interview with the kids. Who has a tape recorder anymore?? Not me or my partner Cerise. I'm trying to figure out how to either buy a cheap one, or figure out if there's some way to rent one. Does anyone know?? I need to find one by next week! My search online so far has been pretty fruitless.