Bit of Ivory

I have good news! But first:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JEN!!!

Happy Birthday to the best friend a girl could have. 11 years and counting, girl! I hope your day was (and is) great.

In my news, I have a job! Apparently I needn’t have worried about that editing test, because I did well enough on it that I was offered the job on the spot. I didn’t accept it right away, because I was waiting to hear on another job, but since I didn’t hear, I just e-mailed and accepted.

I’m now a student editorial assistant for the Foundation of Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS). Pay is mediocre ($7.50 an hour), but it’s more than I’m making right now (which is NOTHING) and will look good on my c.v. and Ph.D applications. Not to mention getting me some good connections. So yeah. I’m excited.

Yay, money!

Tagged by Rachel:

List five songs that you are currently digging – it doesn’t matter what genre they are from, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying right now.

Post these instructions and the five songs (with artist) in your blog. Then tag five people to see what they’re listening to.

1. I Have You, The Carpenters
2. Everybody’s Changing, Keane
3. Opus 17 (Don’t You Worry ‘Bout Me), Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons
4. A Perfect Life, The Real Group
5. The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo), Manfred Mann

I’ve applied for about 87 jobs. Hopefully I’ll get one of them. Going down to campus tomorrow to take an editing test, which I’m sure I’ll do very bad at, as I’m woefully out of practice.

School starts Tuesday. GAH!

I went to the doctor yesterday and came home with a myriad of prescriptions. Two are for allergies– Flonase and Zyrtec– and two are for sleep– Lunesta and Restoril. I’m to try the Lunesta first, at different dosages, and keep a record of how much I took, at what time, how much I slept, how I felt the next day, etc. Then I’m supposed to do the same thing with the Restoril. Then go back to see him in a month.

Afterward, we piled my sisters’ bicycles in the back of our van and took them in a for a tune-up, as the doctor recommended exercise for my sister as well. At the bike shop, I looked around. You see, my bike is not only ancient, it’s not even really mine. It’s a hand-me down from my brother, and therefore it’s a boys bike, not suited to my frame. The brakes were going out, the frame was rusting– in short, it was quite past time to replace it. So I did.

My new bike is a shiny blue Raleigh M20. It’s a 21-speed, and is soo much nicer than my old one. It has shocks on the front wheels! My parents are paying for half, since my mom is as anxious about my losing weight as I am. I plan to go for a nice ride this evening. Luckily my helmet is a shiny blue, so I’ll match.

School starts on the 29th. I’m not nearly ready.

The time of year we’ve all been waiting for. . .

It’s almost FOOTBALL SEASON!!!

For those of you who haven’t been around my journal long, I feel the need to warn you: this is the time of year when I turn into a raving BYU Football maniac. My family has had season tickets (which arrived today!) since 1987– we started out with two, we’re now at seven (one for each of us, including my sister-in-law), with an eighth one right next to us for my uncle. Since I was 7, fall has meant school and football. And after 3 losing seasons, I’m rarin’ for a good season with lots of wins, lots of points, and lots of fun.

We started the anticipation out right– and by “we” I mean my sisters and my sister-in-law. We hopped into the car last night, drove down to BYU Campus, and participated in BYU’s First Annual Women’s Football Clinic. It was awesome. We walked in, gave our names, recieved our free t-shirt (a nice blue one!), and were immediately greeted by Brandon Doman, former BYU quarterback and Heisman Trophy candidate (and, umm, hottie), grabbed a bit of food, and proceeded on a tour of the facilities (including the locker room, weight room, and equipment room) before heading to one of the team conference rooms. Once there, were were introduced to the coaches, got to grill a referee about the new instant replay rule and why they call celebration penalties, had a question and answer session with 6 of the players (including the starting quarterback, John Beck, who is *also* a hottie), an intensive explanation of defensive and offensive tactics and (and this, strangely, was the funnest part) drills with the coaches out on the practice field. I went from being a wide receiver to a defensive lineman (left tackle, specifically) to a runningback to an offensive lineman to a safety. We had to break after each station, and at the very end we took a knee while the head coach said how much fun he had watching us (yeah, I’m sure it was hilarious). We left with a fold-out guide to college football, a 2005 season schedule poster, and a copy of the media guide.

I had a blast, and I want to go next year. And since we had 4 family members there, we got a special gift– $50 in gift certificates to a salon and day spa. We’re all going to go and get our nails done. Kinda funny– we go to football camp, then get a manicure.

I’ve spent the last few days at Trial Lake in the high Uintas. All of my possessions that I took with me smell like a campfire; it even lingers a bit in my hair, even after three washings. I was cold at night, the bugs were annoying, I got a bit sunburned, and I’m dead tired from all the work of packing, unpacking, hauling, packing, and unpacking.

In other words, I had a blast.

It occurs to me that in the space of two weeks, I went from sea level (in Houston) to 9,500 feet above sea level (actually, including our hike to Wall Lake, I made it to 10,010 feet above sea level). I don’t, of course, count the airplane ride.

I think I’ve finally caught up with everything I’ve missed, which, considering my flist was at skip=200, is quite an accomplishment. Nice to know the fandom didn’t blow up in my absence, although it looks like it came close.

I’ve got about a month left until school starts again, and SO MUCH TO DO. I have to get my prospectus written and submitted so I can register for thesis hours; I have to apply to be a substitute teacher so I can earn some money in the fall; I have to apply for a student loan to pay my tuition since I’m pretty much flat broke; and I have to plot out my Albus fanfic so I can have an outlet with all the hard work I’m going to be doing.

Nope, not a busy month at all.

Tomorrow, I’ll finally write up my in-depth reaction to HBP. I finished my second read-through right before I left, but was too busy getting ready to leave to type it up, and was just too tired to do it today. So, tomorrow.

Or, more appropriately, what is internet to rocks and mountains?

In other words, I’m going camping with the family this week. We’re leaving in a few hours, and won’t be back until late Thursday. So I’ll be internetless until Friday.

I forsee withdrawal symptoms.

Keep an eye on the fandom for me, will ya?

Well, after a canceled flight that was rescheduled for early this morning, I finally made it home.

Now I’m exhausted, and feel unable to form a coherent sentence.

So in-depth reaction to HBP will have to wait until tomorrow.

HBP has replaced CoS as my favorite, though. *loves HBP*

So. Totally. AWESOME.

I. . . So great.

More coherent thoughts later.

I’m on my way to an HBP summit, and I’m so. darn. excited. I’ll be bringing Ginevra, so I’ll be able to get online, but since most of the people I interact with on here are going to be *there*, I don’t know how much I actually *will* be online.

Have a great HBP!! I’ll be back Monday evening.

*loves*

My thoughts, sympathies, and prayers to all in the UK.

(Thanks to publiuspundit.com for the graphic.)