I haven't blogged in a little while, but last week was busy and I was knackered! First: Monday was my birthday! I turned 25 -- a quarter of a century...I am now officially old. I understand how my friends feel -- 25 is a milestone in itself and when a good chunk of your friends are engaged/married/parents...yikes...you begin to feel like the old spinster from the small town you grew up in. : ) But, I still have some hope! ; )

Anyways, Tuesday was spent reading papers, and trying to get all of my field/lab equipment rounded up. Wednesday we went out to Natural Bridge again and hiked out to some hemlock plots in the National Park and it was a decent hike (lots of stone steps...but not too far a distance). So, that was alright. Thursday was again spent reading lots of papers, running miscellaneous errands on campus to the main agricultural building and breathing a huge sigh of relief because my beat-sheets finally came in! Friday we were back out at Natural Bridge and the first hemlock stand we went to was very damp, humid and with tons and I mean TONS of poision ivy. Thankfully, no one got any! (very surprising, considering it was unavoidable)...I'm just waiting for the day (preferably after I get my student health insurance card!!). The second stand we went to, was at least a 20-30 minute hike up a very, and i mean VERY STEEP incline....oh my gosh. I was huffing and puffing away and was at least 200 meters behind everyone else. Okay, i'll admit, it might have been more like 300 meters....But hey, I finally arrived and got to work. Needless to say, remained yucky and sticky all day long.

DISCLAIMER: Weak or faint of heart skip to the next paragraph. Those who are ready to be grossed out or just weirded out, read on!

I am worried that I have a tick imbedded in my head. See, on Thursday I felt this itchy little bump on my scalp and it was hard. So I thought it was a tick, but when I looked in the mirror, the only thing I see is an angry red bump and it is oozing a little (I know this is gross, but sorry, have to write about it...have no other outlet!). So, after having a large tick in me my first time out in the wood, I was nervous assuming this must be one that imbedded itself under my skin. So I took out tweezers and tried to 'pull' something out. Ended up taking out a bunch of hair and bleeding a bit. So, I just let it go. It sometimes itches, but I wondered if maybe I had scratched myself on a stick, because part of my job on Wednesday out at the woods was to do a small woody plant census and I had to crawl through a thick and tangled rhododendron patch. We'll see: I'll keep you posted. For now, the bump is little and hard and not getting any bigger and there's a scab. So let's wait and see. Maybe it is a cut and I'm just paranoid about ticks.....

Okay...So, what's up with loud and inconsiderate neighbours!? Last weekend, a large hispanic family moved into the apartment next to mine and for Sunday and Monday nights had loud get togethers outside on their patio (which means I heard every word, etc. and it was so distracting because I could understand a big portion of the conversation) until 2 - 2:30am both nights. I was kind of mad, but since I'm new, I didn't want to complain or anything. So I let it go. Well, for the rest of the week, the apartment was empty and no sounds were heard. (Back track: my first week in my apartment, the one next door was empty and then on the weekend I heard a woman's voice and someone doing dishes). So, I haven't noticed anyone going in or out of the apartment and assumed the family broke their lease. Okay, jump to last night: I was at this singles group at the new church I'm going to and we ended up going to IHOP (the International House of Pancakes -- awesome, incredible breakfast foods, one of my favorite places when i was little living in New England). So I didn't get home until 1am. I did a few dishes and went to bed. At 1:30 AM I hear someone trying to open the latch on the gate to my patio and I freaked out a little. So I put my leg on, ran downstairs with one of my crutches in hand to make sure that my patio door was locked tight. Then I noticed that a large group of kids (i guess kids is relative, definitely younger than me) entering the apartment next door through the patio door and all the lights suddenly coming on downstairs and outside to the patio. The next thing I know I hear low music and I think, alright, well, I can deal with that. So I go to bed again. 1:45AM comes around and suddenly the music is way loud and the bass is wicked high and my floors/walls are vibrating. Seriously, vibrating. I don't have a bed, so my air mattress is vibrating with the floor. I can't sleep. I go downstairs again and hear loud voices, sounds of drunk singing to the music and loud music. So I go upstairs and put my headphones on and try to sleep again. No such luck, the music overpowers my head phones and the bass just makes my headphones vibrate. I was pissed. So I look up the office number, because I remembered while signing my lease that they had made clear certain time limits for loud parties. (I think 1am on weekends). I also remembered they said the police do not handle noise disturbances, so I call the office phone and ofcourse get the machine. I press the number for reporting noise disturbances, and it is now 2:45am. I leave a slightly loopy message (being wicked tired and mad). The machine says that someone will handle it ASAP. (Whatever that means, it's so relative a term!). So nothing happens, the music gets even louder and I get even madder. At this point it's too late to fall asleep and I can't over the music and so I sit in the floor and play Sudoku for a while. At 3:30am I call the courtesy officer again and leave a message explaining exactly how the noise is bothering me and that the people had mistakenly tried to enter my residence through the back and that I wasn't sure if they were even supposed to be there. (Again it's all a message on a machine.) Finally 4 am rolls around and the music gets turned down a bit and I hear the older person (I say older, meaning like my age to early 30's supervising the kiddies) goes to bed, slamming the doors, etc. By 4:30 am I hear a car pull up and then I hear kids going out the back and car doors slamming and driving off. So, I assume the courtesy officer showed up. I mean this is just common courtesy people: If it had been like a party from 10-12 or even 1am that would have been fine, understandable as it was a Saturday night. But to start the party at 1:30am and have it go on til 4am and beyond is just irresponsible and annoying. So at 3:30am I had also called and left a voice mail to the manager's office with a complaint. I don't mean to be a complainer, but it was ridiculous and because I live alone and do not see or know my neighbours I was very uncomfortable going over there and knocking on the door at 3 am to ask them to turn it down. Anyways, we'll see how the next few nights go, but I will make a point of touching base with the manager. It seems like someone is living there now, as there's a dog out on the patio and a babygate, but I just don't know what's up. I'm just tired and mad.

Anyways, tomorrow I go through some spiders/bugs I caught and will classify them to species if possible. I'm off to the grocery store, as I have no food! I got my first paycheck deposited into my account and for two weeks of work it was $311.70 -- almost twice that was myt gross income, but that was the net after taxes and social security were deducted. So, my budget just downsized dramatically!! I'm paid every two weeks. And those two paychecks combined aren't enough to cover my rent/utilities for a month! yikes!

Well, enough of my complaining...usually not like this: lack of sleep! I'm excitied about the new people I'm meeting and looking forward to making new friends. We'll see what happens! : ) Missing all my old friends too!

Ms. Brightside: girl, thanks so much for your posts. I am missing you a lot. I just read your email today and I think you're right: we're getting older (and that explains a lot). The PhD will take 4 years. I'll be thinking of you and what you do post Sol's, but remember: as long as your intentions are right and your actions are for the good of the people you are trying to help, then you are making a difference. Even when the field you are in is rife with corruption and cynacism. Man, Jul, I miss being able to stick my head outside my window and look up and carry on a conversation with you! Lots of memories and you're also right, I miss the place, Oxford, too -- mostly because of the people there! Kentucky is close to the middle-east of the country and sort of in between the south and the mid-West. It's below Chicago. If you do come Stateside, I'd love to host you!!! Then, I think we should go out to California and visit Saranya there and drive through Napa Valley and do some wine tasting! I had some Stella the other day and thought of you!! : ) Julia, please do take care and keep me posted on your plans. If you need anything or need me to read over any applications or essays, let me know. I'm here for whatever I can do or give you! : ) I remember us cooking dinner together so often while you were writing up! : ) Well, here's a hug for you: >--0--< (Okay, that might not have worked!) But am giving you a hug right now : ) Caitlin asks after you all the time and says hello! She's so busy in med school now, but I'm really proud of her.

I'm going to leave Panera's...I haven't been all week long and I think they might have thought something was wrong, because they were like, "You're back!!" etc. See, before this week I was in here almost every night. With work and church activities, my week is really full (which is a good thing) and I'm just too tired to come to Panera's to use the internet. They can pretty much guess what I'll get when I come in....so I realize that I might be developing an addiction to Panera's Mocha Almond drink and the cookies...my goodness those wonderful, glorious, moist, lovely, flavourful cookies!!!! Okay, Rach, enough, girl you are going to gain back your chocolate paunch and then some if you don't start rationing sweeties! : ) (I tend to talk to myself now too in my apartment, since I don't have a roomate and there are no dogs around to hang out with!!). (Caitlin says that's a sign of insanity....that remains to be seen: stay tuned!) : )

Missing everyone a lot and extending a future invitation to come and stay with me in Lexington -- i promise that eventually I will get furniture, including a real table, real chairs and a real bed maybe. : )