Sore Throat and Filling-less

So I am currently home on my Thanksgiving Break.  My brain is thanking me up and down--it isn't screaming at me in agony anymore.  Whoo hoo!!!  Friday night when I got back home, I went to go see New Moon.  LOVE THAT MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!!  2 Hours of pure Awesomeness.

Yesterday I went to go get my hair cut.  LOVE ITTT!!!  It's so much lighter and I can't wait to wash it myself to see what I can do with it on my own.  Yesterday I also went to the dentist thinking that I was supposed to be getting a filling.  Nope, not even.  Just a "First Time Patient Exam."  Sounds miraculous, right?  Yeah, NOT.  While doing the exam, they found about 3 MORE CAVATIES that need to be filled=4 in total. WTF?!  My previous dentist hadn't seen these, why are these people finding them all over the place.  And it's not like I don't brush my teeth....so what's up with this?

Anywho, $131 later for the exam and 2 mini- X-Rays they took ($30 a pop,) I went to work at Kinneys from 4-9.  I couldn't even do that right.  Ever since I've been home, I've had this sort of nasal drip into the back of my throat.  My nose isn't running or even that stuffed up, but my throat has been dry and scratchy since I got here.  Well I thought nothing of it until I was at work and it was getting to the point to which I couldn't swallow, talk, or smile.  Yeah, FML.

So now that I have just woken up from my 12 hour slumber, I feel extensively better, although my throat is still a bit sore.

Now that I'm home--all I want to do with my free time is sleep, relax, and do the things I want to do.  However, I am supposed to have an internship confirmed by next Friday.  I am terrified.  Meg and I worked on my Resume and a Cover letter for about 2.5 hours last Friday night which helped immensely, but I feel like I'm drowning in panic.  I don't know what to do!  I'm in Lyndonville, so it isn't like I can just skip right on over for an interview today.  :(  And now that my throat is sore, I don't think I could even do a phone interview.  Again, FML.

I also have homework that I have been working on interspersedly.  (The motivation comes and goes.)  All I really want to be doing is curling up in my bed with my Twilight series and re-reading all the Epic Adventures of Edward and Bella and Jason for the rest of my vacation.

ARGGGHHHHHHHH.  It's ok though.  Hopefully this time next year I will be on the beach, drinking Fuze and getting sun with Ryan. :)  TOES going to be awesome. :)

Wednesday night (now--only if I'm feeling better,) I was/(am?) planning to go down to B-town to pick Velvet up and have her spend the night at my house.  Why?  Because Thursday is Thanksgiving, silly!  She had to stay up here this week to work while everyone else got to go home on break.  And I felt awful that she wasn't going to be able to have a Turkey din din, SO I'm taking a little road trip after I get out of work at 9pm Wednesday evening and picking up my girl!  I have an entourage of people coming with me to do so, so this should be interesting. :)

I will end by saying how much I miss my roommates, Ryan & Velvet, and being at college in general.  Being home is nice to recoup, but I still miss being able to walk down to Champ Farms at 2am just to buy gummy bears. :)

Much Love.
~Megan

Dobra Tea, 40 Pages, and Rasputins

I have discovered something about myself.  Apparently, I do what I gotta do.  Like it or not.  I wrote an 8 page paper, a 17 page project, a 3 page paper amongst other various assignments all within this past week.  (The 17 pager was completed in 24 hours or less!)

To celebrate my success, Ryan took me to Dobra Tea on one of our many sibling dates.  Sooo0o0o0ooooooOOOOOOO good.  UGH! (In a good way.)  The atmosphere is AMAZING, and I am really excited to take Luke there some evening if he's able to come back up again. :)

After this, I went back to my hidey-hole to finish the rest of my assignments.  When I was truly finished everything, everyone decided to go out to Rasputin's.  (Rasputin's is one of the few clubs we have in Burlington--so much fun!)  Because I didn't have any cash, (I'm in college, what do you want?!),  Velvet paid my way in.  Unfortunately, Ryan couldn't come with us because A) He's not 18 yet....but soon!, and B) He had another performance for his play.

After dancing until 2am, and getting to bed at 3am, I had to get up at 7am for my 8am class.  I was up and running from 7-5 that day.  THEN I was able to pack and go home.  YAYY!!!

Dunkin' Donuts did not schedule me to work at all this week which I am kind of upset with, however, Kinneys has me working about 15 hrs.  I am going to let my boss know that because I did not get scheduled with DD's, she can feel free to call me if someone doesn't show up for their shift.  I NEED THE $$$$$$$$!!

Speaking of $$$$$$$$!!!!!  Camp Champ finally has the textbook listings on their website.  I bought two of mine today.  The rest aren't going to cost that much.  I am sooo excited.  Because I'm taking 4 actual classes, and my 5th class/3rd job is a required intenrship of 12 hrs/wk, and because I'm taking part II of a course, the textbooks for those two classes are minimal--or ones I already have.  YAY!

My brain feels better now that it has been rested for a night.  I can only hope that it will continue to get better while I am home over Thanksgiving Break. 

I am going to get back to finishing up my Scary Movie-fest.  (I'm on the 3rd one right now, and then I am going to bed.)

Love you all--stay out of trouble.  In the timeless words of Velvet, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"  (FYI--That doesn't narrow it down-----at all...)

X.o.X.o.
Love,
Megan

2010 Turkey Break

So, in a previous post, I think I had slightly touched on 2010 Thanksgiving Break, and my plans for this particular holiday.

FLOOOOORRRRIIIDDDDAAAAAA, here we come!!!!

SOOO excited.  Don't know where the $500 is coming from, BUT we shall see.  Perhaps I should ask simply for money for my birthday this year...and save everything for that.  Hahaha.  Yes, good plan actually.

So, how did this all start?

Well, earlier this year I had determined that my junior year of college was going to be a laid-back, take-your-time kind of year.  I wanted to take an acutal, stereotypical college Spring Break with Ryan, but seeing as how UVM, St. Michael's, and Champlain all stagger their spring breaks, that wouldn't have worked out so well.
Solution?  Thanksgiving Break!!!!  They CAN'T stagger that break because it all falls on the same week.  HA! Beat that logic, Plato!

SO, my Spring Break is going to be my Thanksgiving break for the 2010 year, and I'm spending it ON THE BEACH. 

Basically (we still have to ask Ryan's grandparents if they'll be ok with it, but more likely than not it'll be a yes.) 

Again, re-cap of the hilights of this trip: we get to travel and make the plans by ourselves, BEACH, we get to travel and make the plans by ourselves, TURKEY ON THE BEACH, and awesome tan after Turkey Break is over.   Yeah, pretty much.

I'm really pumped.  Cannn't wait!!!!  I just had to devote a full blog post to this particular subject matter because I am JUST. THAT. EXCITED.

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Ahem, ((regain my composure.))  Yes, the awesomeness is abundant.

I shall keep you posted!

Love Always,
Megan

Happiness Is....

Seeing your boyfriend for the first time in about two months.  :)

I love that I can take a step back from the constant, neverending grindstone of college, and BREATHE.  Granted, I still have two 6-8 page papers coming due in about 5 days....(Wednesday night is going to be AMAZING!)

That being said, as of Wednesday night, I feel that the projects/papers/CRAP that comes along with taking 5 courses will have come to a slow.  Glee and Eastwick can be enjoyed to the fullest extent, and we can all finally take a breather. WHOOOOT!!!

Ryan in the mean time is breaking 80 toes with each performence.  (The equivalent of breaking a leg...but we've combined Ashley's favorite number with 'toes', and breaking 80 toes=break a leg.)

Awesome.  Envy us.

Life is good and I am going to sleep...forever.  Hahahaha.

Love as Always,
Megan
(or Magan as Ashley would say.)

2 Hours/9 Mins

Ok, so I hav 9 minutes before my group meeting to tell you all what the 2 hours is all about.

Thats how much sleep I got last night.  Ryan and I stayed up till 5 AM talking about the world in general, our plans for next year's Thanksgiving (FLA anyone???), and fresh and old friendships.

We miss certain people in particular, but that is now the past.  We've decided that we're just going to be the most awesome friend/family system that anybody has ever seen.  Velvet is going to be our next door neighbor, Jess and Ashley will also live in the neighborhood.  And Luke and I can have our own bedroom in a house shared with Ryan and his adopted children.  YES! Hahaha.  (Yeah, I imagine most of the people mentioned would have some objections to this.)  Hey, I can dream, right?

Next Thanksgiving is going to be SO awesome.  Hilights include: travelling by ourselves, place to stay for free, tanning on the beach, travelling by ourselves, $500 gone forever, and travelling by ourselves!!!

Yeah, I'm kind of pumped.  Too bad I only have 12-13 more hours before I can sleep again.

Hmph, well I have to get downstairs.  Group members are going to start showing up. :)

Love you all,
Megan

In Honor or Janet Bird

A spunky lady I once knew ruled her roost in Danville.  NOBODY could tell her otherwise, regardless of what it was.  If you would say left, she, of course, would go right.  This woman had a mind of her own, and enriched the lives of many around her. 

Many of you probably remember me as a shy little girl who wouldn't speak unless spoken to.  (And even then it was "iffy!")  I loved watching people that were so sure of themselves, so absolutely positive that they knew exactly where they were in this world, and where they planned to go.  Janet was one of these people.

Janet had a way of using this particular hard-headedness of hers to coerce you into a meal.  98% of the time if you were to visit her house, there would be some sort of food that she would offer up.  Whether it was leftovers from a meal just cooked that day, or something fresh-baked out of the oven, Janet was ALL about her food.  Nobody ever left hungry, that's for sure!

Recently, I have discovered a TV show that I am in love with.  Perhaps many of you have heard of it.  Glee.  A show with songs that describe every emotion you encounter within your life.  The chorus of a particular song, "Keep Holding On" is one that is applicable here.

 "Keep holding on

'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through

Just stay strong

'Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you

There's nothing you could say

Nothing you could do

There's no other way when it comes to the truth

So keep holding on

'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through."

Janet was an amazing woman.  I am proud to be related to her.  I find I get many things from my grandfather, but with regards to being a woman, she one type I want to be.  Someone who has her head on straight, knows what she wants from life, and goes out there to make sure she gets it.  My mom is, of course, my first and foremost role model, but Janet is a very close second!
 
Remember Janet with peace and love.  Keep her close to your heart always, and remind those still left in this world how much they mean to you, as often as you can.  Life is short, and sometimes people we love are taken from us far too quickly.  Cherish them.   Love them.
 
Always and Forever,
Megan

Death

Wow.  That's all I really have to say.  Within the span of 3 days, 1/3 of my famliy members have died.  (Granted that's only 2...but I don't have very many family members that I am/have been close to in my life.)  I consider the family members I do have left to be very precious, and should be "handled with care." 

I recently re-connected with Uncle Mike.  He's been basicly everywhere in the world.  Guess thats a benefit of being with the military.  I would LOVE to get the chance to travel the world, but considering all the factors and limitations in my environment and surrounding community, I doubt very much if that will ever happen.  Especially with the line of work I am going into.  Social Workers are lucky if they make 30k/yr.  Yeah, not going to be fun.  Why couldn't I have been better acquainted with numbers?  Then I could be an Accounting major and get a STARTING rate of like 60-80k/yr.

Ughh.  FML--over and over again.

Right now, I'm just looking forward to spending the weekend with my boyfriend.  I just need to clear my head, screw it back on straight, and buckle back down.  I feel like a cat that is trying desperately to cling to a curtain with her claws, while the owner is trying to free her nails of the curtain.  I don't WANT to be moved from the curtain.  I LIKE THE CURTAIN!!!!!!! STOP IT!!

I was talking with my mother on Yahoo Messenger and I asked her to please not die, at least for a little while.  Because this spurt is really rather depressing, and I have too much to deal with already just trying to make it through school.  I don't need to be worrying about whether or not my family is making it through day-to-day life at home as well.  Grr.

I believe things happen for a reason though.  Perhaps I'll be able to get closer to "that" side of the family again.  (If they all don't decide to hold grudges...)  We shall see.

Right now I should be writing/finding examples for a paper I have to write that's due Monday...buuuuuuut I feel blogging is more important for right now.  My head hurts, I just want to go back to sleep (actually, to the gym would be nice too.)
But nope, can't do that.  I have class at 11-12:15, working 1:30-4:30, PA Meeting from 4:45-6:15, get my Music Makers folder back from Ryan, Music Makers from 7-9, and then--THEN maybe I can take care of myself.

Is it Friday yet?  This is my last stressful night for a while I hope.  Tomorrow night is Glee/Eastwick (and they're soon to cancel Eastwick.....FML--again and again), Thursday night is Kickboxing (which I will desperately need), and Friday night is Kickboxing/catch the bus to Luke's.    I need a weekend of pampering.  Perhaps a day at the spa?  Psh, yeah right.  Not with my budget.  Not hardly.  But thats where boyfriends come in??? ;) Haha.

Well, the best I can do is hang in there.  I hope both my gramps are doing ok.  One lost a sister and the other lost his spouse.  Not a good time on any side of the fam.  Hang in there everyone, things'll get easier soon, I hope!

Ok, I should probably get ready for class now. 

Love you all, and stick with it.  The semester is almost over!!!
x.o.x.o.
~Megan

...And I'm Back!!!

I apologize deeply for my leave of absence.  Things have indeed been intense here at 308 Maple.  (If you read Ryan's blog at http://www.ryhowland.blogspot.com/ you'll get some of the full story.)  Drama, miscommunications, alcohol-induced sickness, yeah, we've had the works.

Anywho, so I'm not sure if I've talked about this yet on my blog or not, but Ryan and I should basicly be related.  He's my twin.  We say the same thing, think the same thing, and tend to do the same thing at the exact same time or within minutes of each other.  For instance, my sneakers have been acting up with me since Halloween-ish.  The soles keep slipping up and around the back of my ankle while I'm trying to walk.  NOT fun.  So I had to go get new sneakers, which I accomplished yesterday.

Yesterday, Ryan's dad came up to have him go get the H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccination.  (Ick.)  And Ryan's sneakers are actually ripping apart.  Can you guess the rest of the story???  Yeah, he now has a brand new pair of converse sneakers that look AWESOME on him.  Seriously, he's hot.  Hahaha.  My baby brother is growing up!!! Awww.

Anywho, I am furious now that I have found out EASTWICK is being cancelled because ABC doesn't think the ratings have been good enough.  WTF.  I LIKE THAT SHOW.  STOP THAT!   ABC, you CAN'T just take something off the air when it has as complicated and interesting a plotline as Eastwick.  WTF?!!!?!?!

On a lighter note, Glee will be back on this Wednesday, so that's good.

My butt, thighs, abs and shoulders hurt.  Kickboxing 2 nights in a row (Thursday and Friday) is INTENSE.  I asked Luke if he maybe had punching pads at his house, because the origional plan was for me to go see him this weekend.  (More about the origional plan later.)  But he didn't...soooo I can't work on anything this weekend.  I really just want a partner to come with me to the gym to hold punching pads so i can keep working on that (my favorite part.)  Velvet would be the ideal person since she's about my height and stature, but she has to work. I TOES understand that.  So, yeah.  I'm kind of tempted to just ask a random guy in the gym to work with me.  I find I like punching things, it's an excellent stress reliever.  I'm not generally a violent person, but that kind of exercise makes me feel good.  Sometimes I like being my weight and height, it allows me to withstand more things than if I were 145.  :D

Back to the "origional plan" of this weekend.  I was supposed to go see Luke this weekend because we haven't been able to get together in a while.  However, my Great Aunt Janet passed away Friday night at midnight, and I really want to be at her funeral.  She was one of the few family members I got along with and liked outside of my immediate family, so I want to be there to say my goodbyes.  I'm worried about my grandfather.  I inherited a lot of things from him.  The tendency to bottle things up until the bottle explodes and shatters EVERYWHERE is one of them.  I really want to be home with him so I can talk with him and have him get some of his feelings out, but since I have class and work that won't work out too well.  :(  I have Janet as a friend on Facebook, and the last comment that had been posted on her wall was a "Happy Birthday" comment, because her b-day had come on Oct. 22nd of this year.  I added a fresh comment of (mind you this is paraphrasing), "RIP Aunt Janet, you will be dearly missed.  I'll help take care of your baby brother, no worries."  It's hard to imagine that she's really gone.  If you wanted to have some excellent food, you just went to Janet.  She had the BEST baking skills I've ever seen, and that woman knew how to whip up a meal for people.  I hope that she's happy, wherever she has moved on to.

And on my grandmother's side, her brother is in the hospital.  He's having a hard time breathing on his own and getting oxygen into his system, and he's a very sick man all around.  Darthmouth is doing what they can to care for him, but nobody knows how well this is all going to work out.  He doesn't have Swine Flu, but because he has black mold all over the trailer he lives in (that he's been breathing in for years), nobody is too sure how this is going to come out in the end. 

Life is full of unexpected surprises.  The best you can do is to just try to roll with the punches.  People you love could be gone in an instant.  Make sure the last time you talk to someone isn't a talk full of anger and hate.  Nobody wants to part with dischord, especially with someone you love.  Look out for one another, take care of one another, and make sure you have some sort of support system to help get you through things like this.  No one should have to go through a death alone.  Be a team, do it together.

With that, I will go.  I'm a little hungry and I want to do an hour at the gym before I eat real food.  Hahaha. 

x.o.x.o.
Love,
Megan

This Weekend...was Awesome.

Where do I start in telling you about this weekend????  My goodness!  Well, first off, I took Ashley home with me for Friday night.  We ended up driving around St. J, Lyndonville, stopping @ P-chops for food & a Redbox movie, going to Cumby's for more food, and staying up till 3-3:30 am reading all the magazines that had come in the mail for me as well as trying to watch The Shortcut. 

We had planned to go to the big St. J/LI Football Game (the 105th one mind you), and actually that didn't happen.  But LI won 14-0!!!!!  Kind of a little bit of domination there. :) 

Then, after scrambling back to Burlington, we got ready for HALLOWEEN.  What a blast!  After Ryan and I put on all our makeup, we made a pretty kick-ass Sweeney Todd and Ms. Lovett.

Why is Ryan's hair SO not awesome?  :)  Love it!  We had fun trying to get Joe's hair to do the same thing essentially.  Good times. :)

So, after our failed attempt at Trick-or-Treating (no one wants to give candy to college students....what's with that?)  we dropped everything back off at the dorm.  We are people just like anyone else, are we not?  We deserve a night to get candy that we don't have to pay for seeing as how we're more broke than you most of the time.  Psh. Whatev.

Anywho, after that, we decided to go walk around Church St. & City Park to take pictures.

And then other than the drunk people asking "Where the F#@! is my F*$R&#g Pirate Cup?" and Ashley totally dominating one conversation with random people, it was pretty uneventful.

We ended up walking to Winooski, and decided to walk down under the bridge.

Yes, it was a good time.  After all this, we walked back to Ryan & Joe's dorm (after me sprinting for about 3 minutes straight because Joe somehow walked really fast and got really far ahead of us without realizing it,) we took a pee-break, and came back to my dorm for the night. 

We ordered Wings, I stared and couldn't breathe after eating, then we went to bed. 

I LOVE my friends so much!  In conclusion, this weekend was AWESOME.  One of the best I've had I think!  It was my first spent with Ryan, my first spent "out on the town" with friends, not being followed around my family.  Pretty exciting stuff!

Lots of Love,

Megan