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Matrixchild06
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Name: Kari
Metro:
Gender: Female
Interests: Running, being with my fiancee Kevin, random public health trivia
Expertise: health care, music
Occupation: Student
Message: message me
Member Since:
11/10/2004
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| The Navy and Marine Corps celebrate 234 years on Oct. 13 and Nov. 10, respectively, so naturally, the NROTC unit here celebrated last night (they usually try to have it fall sometime in between the two). There are few things certain in life, but one of them is this; if you put a bunch of Marines in a building with multiple ATMs and open a well-stocked cash bar, hilarity will ensue. Kevin was late signing us up for a table, so unfortunately, the people whose tables we would've liked to be seated at were already full. There were empty seats with guys who prided themselves on being "the vulgarest guys in the battalion" (their words, not mine).
There's a new AMOI (Assistant Marine Officer Instructor) this year who is the complete opposite of the former one. The previous AMOI was a great guy: a well-spoken family man who brought his kids to Parents Night Out at the BCM. This new guy is a lot younger, and is in fact VERY young to be a GySgt. He's a lot crasser, a heavy partier, and has his speaking style described as "everything he says is the most intense thing ever."
Anyway, the guys at my table had wanted to each buy him a beer and take turns setting them down next to him until the table was absolutely covered. But since the GySgt was sticking to his whiskey and coke, beers didn't make a lot of sense. One of the guys suddenly said, "I know! We should all buy him the gayest drinks ever!" (again, his words, not mine). (And yes, I did encourage Kevin to do it too.) So they bought him, among other fruity cocktails, a Cosmopolitan, a Pink Lady, and an appletini. His and his date's (who rumor has it is also a GySgt) initial reaction to this prank is unprintable here, but he soon realized the humor in it (thank goodness).
But the fun didn't stop there; when the dancing got started, the DJ told the GySgt that a song was for him; the over-played Miley Cyrus number "Party in the USA", which of course culminated with a bunch of Marines dancing awkwardly close to the poor AMOI. I felt a little bad for him at this point, but he seemed to take it well.
All in all, it was a great evening, but I'm really dragging this morning. I shouldn't have had coffee after dinner! I can't sleep in late (just a thing; when the sun comes up, I'm up), so I'm just going to be sleep-deprived all day.
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| I went for a run yesterday in the rain. Well, it was more like a gentle jog with some walk breaks; my ribs are still very sore from my bronchitis, and I didn't want to aggravate my cough by running really hard and irritating my airways. Pretty pathetic, but what can I do? I saw some pretty hilarious Halloween decorations while I was out. My personal favorite was undoubtedly the "Spoiled Plots Cemetery," with tombstones for various literary and movie characters who get knocked off at some point. (I recognized Boromir, Buffy Summers, and Albus Dumbledore!)
The barn dance last night was going swimmingly; Kevin and I looked adorable in our plaid shirts and jeans; I put my hair in French braids with the majority of the hair unbraided, and twisted the bottom into a bun. Loved it!!! Square dancing involves a lot of inadvertent pushing and pulling at my arms (just because we're inexperienced), so my ribs started hurting like crazy. We ended up leaving after only about 3 hours  But it was still a great time.
This morning is sunny and gorgeous. I'm thinking about going out for a little exercise before we have to clean our shoes from last night, and do some laundry. Yay!
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| The local school corporation (mostly the theater department, I believe) puts on a truly fabulous show every year around this time in the form of a really knockout haunted house. Some friends and I went 2 years ago to their setup at the fairgrounds. They named it The Feargrounds; it was in the dairy barn, which ended up being a note-perfect setting. The county fairgrounds have some massive old trees, which at night with a good breeze and just a few dried leaves still clinging to the branches, look nerve-rackingly creepy. The final "scene" ended up being in an outdoor pavilion in the barn filled with huge bales of hay; as we wandered around, wondering when we would pee ourselves again, chainsaw-wielding Jason wannabes appeared from behind the piles and chased us out of the maze. All this is to say, they put on a wonderful show. I was terrified, and held onto Kevin's hoodie the ENTIRE time.
Several days ago, I saw where they are having their new show. Instead of the fairgrounds, they are doing it much closer to our apartment, on the north side of town. I must admit that I'm disappointed in their venue choice; they are using a storefront in a shopping center that is teetering on the edge of depression. (I currently get all my prescriptions from the drug store in the shopping center, which is why I was there in the first place.) They gave it a new name; The Crypt. They have a new TV ad that I've seen several times, which is well-done for amateurs. I bet they've put a lot of work into it, like they always do, and I'm sure that all of the community volunteers are going to have a lot of fun (which I suspect they do).
But you know the scariest part about the new haunted house? The $12 admission fee. Yikes.
Haunted houses are over-rated anyway.
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| Such is life right now; I want to let myself get caught up in post-graduation plans, but all of them seem a little useless if, you know, I don't manage to graduate! I have to force myself to focus on all my schoolwork, which is almost mentally painful right now. I have just a few small assignments left that I have to complete; I even got myself to work ahead on most of them so I can minimize breaking my stride on final projects, which are going to take the majority of my time. If I keep my current schedule, things should be much calmer by Thanksgiving.
In the category of distractions and plans, I met with my English professor yesterday to discuss the story I wrote for the midterm project. She complimented me on my voicing and had some suggestions to improve the work, which were all dead-on. I was really flattered that she thought the overall work was good, not to mention she pointed out a lot of little details that she also really liked. I think after graduation, I'm going to take some time to really edit the story and get it polished so I can submit it for publication. Erin and I went to Greyhouse yesterday, and we discussed me possibly pursuing freelance writing. After all, with moving around so much, it's hard (if not impossible) to really get a good career going. Nobody wants to hire someone for a great position if they can only commit to working at it in a fully-trained capacity for 1 year. But writing is a career that is not location-dependent, with a low overhead. It's an entertaining notion. However, like I mentioned above, I'm trying to not let myself get too distracted with post-graduation plans; they will all come to naught if I don't graduate at all.
Finally, went to the grad fair today; got free tickets, ordered my gown, fended off banks wanting me to open a $5,000 line of credit. Yikes; like that's what Kevin and I need, more credit! We just need 1 credit card to keep track of, thankyewverymuch.
Time to start dinner; baked chili with cornbread! I made posole and cornbread last night (posole in the slow cooker; I love the slow cooker!! Thanks, Gamaw and Gapaw!), and got rave reviews from Kevin (and me).
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| As of today, I am 0-for-2 in terms of getting something done at the BMV the first time I go. The last fracas was my attempt to get a new driver's license. I showed up with lots of documentation, but the very nice lady insisted that I needed a bill of some kind. This ensured a nearly month-long wait while I got my address changed through my old bank and made them start sending me paper bills. (I also changed my name, but sure enough, when I got my first bill, it was in my maiden name. Luckily, the BMV still took it. Stupid bank; way to not pay attention!!) Today, I wanted to change the vehicle registration. As I sat in the office gathering paperwork, I realized that the insurance card had expired...yesterday. CRAP. The very nice lady told me that there was nothing she could do if I didn't have proof of up-to-date insurance, so I left. I'll try again next week. (I have apparently good luck the second time around, so hopefully this will be my last attempt at this particular task.)
It is clear it is fall in this particular old Midwestern town. You see, I am a fall fanatic. I love all the trappings of fall; sweaters, cute boots with jeans, bowls of steaming chili paired with a good piece of cornbread, football games, and the contrast of a brilliantly blue sky against bright red and yellow leaves. Ah, yes, that last one about the blue sky; I always forget that I live in the Midwest, where fall is announced by a monochromatic layer of gray in the sky and a perpetual drizzle. Yesterday, I peeked out the window before my run, and I noticed puddles. Oh well, it wasn't raining now, and surely it wouldn't in the time I would be out. I had a nice run in a gorgeous historic neighborhood, but on my way back, it started to sprinkle. I told the weather it was strictly forbidden to rain, but by the time I reached Main Street, the rain was starting to become more emphatic, and it was definitely raining by the time I got home. I didn't melt.
Today, I left my watch at home and went for a wandering, laid-back run, complete with unplanned walk breaks, through the same neighborhood as yesterday, so I could enjoy the architecture. I ran by the Bishop's House for the hundredth time and wondered, for the hundredth time, exactly what the bishop is the bishop OF. I took a detour near the end of my run to peer into a shop window where they sell locally made clothing. It was great; so relaxing. I am really enjoying leaving the watch at home; it is freeing. This may be how I do most of my runs during this stressful semester!
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