. . .you know I will obey, so please don't make me beg. For blood, sex, and booze you give me.

Part 2. If you haven’t read part 1, you should, because things might not make sense otherwise.

I’d like to point out that it’s fine and dandy to have a good time when you’re out with your family, but if these people sitting across the restaurant don’t stop laughing like donkeys, I might be forced to hit all of them.

So this morning. The trusty old alarm goes off at 6:45, but I was already awake, since I hadn’t taken the aforementioned sleeping pills. I stopped for Burger King coffee and then went to the fairgrounds. On the way, I saw this really horrific-looking accident. Turns out, this 17-year-old kid had fallen asleep at the wheel and had flipped over the guardrail. It really didn’t look like anyone could have possibly survived that accident, but he turned out OK, so that’s good. There were things scattered across the road, I’m assuming they were car parts, but at the time, I was just thinking, “Oh man. I hope those aren’t body parts.” Luckily, though, the kid was OK.

We did setup, I had a lot more coffee, and it started to drizzle.

Have I mentioned what the fundraiser was? I can’t remember. It was a motorcycle rally, which seems to be popular around here. So the fact that it was cold and drizzling and foggy had the potential to be a big problem.

It was touch and go there for a while, but eventually, we did have riders show up. I want to say there were 30 or so which, all things considered, wasn’t bad for the first time an event takes place.

(FYI: Parents who bring children into restaurants and allow them to run rampant, screaming, deserve to have bamboo shoved under their fingernails.)

So Dennis, playing event photographer, comes over and asks me if I have gas in my car. I say no and he suggests I get some, since I, apparently, will be driving him while he shoots the motorcycles. Cool, right?

I go get gas and when I come back, everyone’s getting ready to head out. Dennis tells me, oh, yeah, you’re going to be in the front of everyone, and I’m going to sit in the back of your car and shoot out the window.

Say what?

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I led the pack. It was kind of cool, actually. And I only had a couple moments of, “Sarah? Sarah, slow down.” It wasn’t too much of a stretch, though, because it was so foggy on the parkway, I had a slight fear of catapulting both myself and Dennis to our deaths over the side of a mountain, but it all worked out fine.

The ride lasted an hour-ish. We came back to the site, had barbecue and door prizes and an in-general good time was had by all. I stayed a while to help break down tables and stuff, and then headed out. I’ll need to find out the exact logistics of the event, such as how much was made, etc., so I can write a follow-up article, but I feel like it went well.

I met more cool people after the actual ride was over, and I talked to people I'd met the previous night. This one guy, I think it was Teri that said, "You remember Sarah, right? From last night?" And he said, "Yeah. You were wearing the pink tights." (There they are again!) That made me laugh a little.

After that, it was no rest for the wary, as I still had to shoot an event downtown for Carrie to use for her picture page. At least, I think that’s what that photographs were for. Anyway, I’m kicking myself a little bit right now, because the lens on the camera I had to use has trouble with its auto-focus, and I was shooting quickly, so I have a couple pictures that would have been really good, but they’re not entirely in focus. Sad.

I actually walked to the event, because parking is impossible when they have events downtown. Along the way, I took some “fall photos” for Carrie for next week (she said something about using one for the cover.) However, Dennis told me that next weekend on the parkway would be a good time to shoot fall stuff, so I may hold out for that. I got this one, though, and I thought it was pretty cool. Welcome to WNC in the fall:
I got back from that around 4 this afternoon and promptly fell asleep, waking up again at 7:30. And here I am. McHotpants said he was going to call me so we could hang out, but he hasn’t, and he does this all the time, saying he’ll call and not, so I’m not even going to bother. I don’t need to chase people down to hang out with me. This isn’t my junior year of high school where I had to ask 4 guys to prom before one finally said yes. I do have my pride.

It’s weird, though, how the last two days have been so jam-packed, I’m feeling. . .not let down right now, but like I don’t have anything important to do. I have to work tomorrow, and I’m contemplating church. I really should go, because I didn’t go last week and I was trying to make it a habit. I wish I knew what the sermon was going to be. The last one I attended, two weeks ago, was about being single, and it did nothing but depress me, seriously. Girl Scouts are going to meet tomorrow, but I don’t know that I’ll be finished at work in time. I could, in theory, go into work tonight and get more finished, but honestly? The longer I have away from that place, the better.

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for, I’m going to start answering the questions left by my awesome readers. Seriously, you all rock. Especially Nick, who gave me a variety.

I'm going to start with Ashley's:

I would like to know your thoughts on why Friends is so addicting.

She's referring to the show, just so you're aware that she isn't using the improper subject-verb agreement. She's not asking why friends are addicting. She wants to know why Friends is addicting.

My thoughts on that are that, for one, most of the actors on that show are attractive. This because especially evident when Ashley and I played a Friends drinking game, and added our own twist to it, taking a drink every time we felt compelled to do any given character. I think, between the two of us, the only characters not done were Phoebe and Joey. Maybe she did Joey. I don't know.

Anyway, another reason is that I think, deep down, we all want our lives to be like that. I know that I, personally, don't have a group of five friends that I've known forever with whom I do everything. So It's an escapist-type thing. Not only do I not have five friends with whom I do everything, I don't have five friends that are as attractive as most of that particular group.

A third reason is that you don't really have to take the show too seriously. With a lot of the shows that are on now, you know, like the crime ones and whatnot, awful things happen to people. And while awful-ish things happen to characters on Friends (i.e., breakups, etc.), nothing like Law & Order: SVU happens. So it's a happy show.

Finally, that theme song is damn catchy. It always gets stuck in my head. It's not even that great of a song, but there you go.

I'll answer more questions in the coming entries.

I would like to, if anyone's at all curious, make a note that today, I was told by. . .someone important to me that they were fond of me. Normally, I don't get that told to me unless it's prompted, and it made me happy. Sometimes, I hate being so vague, and I hate not being able to go into detail about things, but, for one, you'd get really, really sick of hearing about it, especially if you know the circumstances behind it, and also, it's really just not a situation that I want to broadcast, you know? I'm sure you do.

Also, I don't know if people are aware of this, but I really, really hate when people I don't know use names like "baby" or "babe" in reference to me. It's like. . .dude, you don't know me. My first boyfriend used to call me baby because he knew I hated it, and my second boyfriend called me that, and I didn't mind it. Because he was allowed.

I learned recently that if you're called something along those lines, say, if someone calls you 'baby girl,' and it's someone of whom you are fond, it's cute. Even if they're not saying it in a "I want to make out with you" sort of way. Or maybe they are, I don't know. Regardless, the name was used in reference to me, and I liked it, even though I feel like I shouldn't have.

You know what else I like that I shouldn't? That stupid Katy Perry song, "I Kissed a Girl." Dear God, I hated that song so much when it first came out, first of all, because the song by the same name by Jill something came out in the 80's, and I felt like it was such a blatant ripoff. Another reason I didn't like it was because I feel like girls making out with girls, girls being "bisexual" is so overplayed these days, it's just irritating.

I've said this before, and I don't mean it to sound racist or whatever, but truly, whenever I hear the word "bisexual," I think of two Asian chicks making out with each other at a frat party with drunken football players cheering them on. I don't know why the girls are Asian in this picture in my head, but they always are. It's possible it's because I saw a lot of Asian "bisexuality" in college. Funny, they just liked the dudes when they were sober. I'm just sayin'.

So, when I was home last weekend, my sister was playing the song really loudly, and then she played it in the car on the way to the party, and it's so. catchy. I hate myself so hard for saying that, but it's true. Damn catchy stupid fake bisexual songs.

Anyway, here it is, if you really want to know:



If you watch it, you'll understand why I hate myself so much for this. But really? If it's not even a little stuck in your head, you're probably deaf.

Goodnight, everybody.

I'm in distress. Oh, mistress, I confess. So do it one more time. (These handcuffs are too tight.) Well. . .

How awesome am I? So awesome, in fact, that I’m sitting in Zaxby’s writing this, because my computer at home is fucked.

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen. My computer isn’t “out of service,” “messed up,” or “a little screwed up.” It’s fucked.

Apparently, this particular Zaxby’s is the only place in the entirety of the county that doesn’t pick up wireless Internet, so I’m putting it in a word document and I’ll sit, sketchily, in the parking lot of something or other later and put it online. Maybe I’ll sit there a while, because I’d like to get online to talk to people. . .you’d be amazed how cut off I feel, not able to get online at home. (Note, much later: I found a hotel parking lot with wireless. Not sketchy at. all.)

So the last couple of days have been. . .”a whirlwind” feels like a really cliche phrase, but it’s the only one that seems quite right. I’ll start from the beginning — Friday.

Friday workday wasn’t particularly eventful in that I. . .don’t even really remember it. I mean, I’m sure I accomplished something, and I’m sure I went through the day with the usual sense of disconnect I feel at work, but other than that, it wasn’t anything special. Oh, except my outfit was kind of awesome. Black shirt, short khaki skirt, the black boots and bright pink tights. The tights are relevant later,

That reminds me. I’m not sure what Vi’s deal is at the moment, but she asks me. . .not daily, but at least two to three times a week about me going out on a date. Whenever I’m wearing anything relatively cute (which, if I may say so, is fairly often, in my opinion) she figures it’s because I have a date later. Maybe I just like to be cute. I hate almost every other aspect of that job, so why SHOULDN’T I look cute? I’ve mentioned picking out my outfit is a highlight of my day, so really? I don’t need a reason to look decent, I don’t think.

So the point of that is that I find myself in another one of those situations where I said something smart-assed, and she took it, grabbed on to it, and refuses to let go. I can’t remember if I talked about the guy that came into the office with the giant ego. Vi and I were talking about him after he left, and she said he was flirting with me. (Really, you can only take that with a grain of salt. I think she thinks everyone flirts with me.) And she said something like, well, what if he said he wanted to take you out to dinner? And I said something flippant like, “Well, I’d probably let him. I’m poor, man. All I have to eat in my fridge is eggs, apple juice and salad.” Which was only partially untrue at the time.

And now? She brings it up CONSTANTLY. “Well, you’re the one that said you’d let TheGuy take you out.” “You said you’d let TheGuy take you out, what about that?” On, and on and on and ON AND ON. My God. This is what I get for being a smart-ass. No, I would not go out with TheGuy. It was a joke. I was kidding. Please, please, PLEASE let it go.

So Friday, I was killing time after work because where I was going didn’t begin until 5:30. I was sitting in the newsroom, and NewJeff, Dennis, and Vi were still there. I said I was killing time, because I had somewhere to be at 5:30. For some reason, Vi takes this to mean I have a date. She asks me if I do, and I say, “Yeah. Hot date.” Because I’m SO TIRED of hearing about it. And she gets all excited, “You have a DATE?!” I hope she didn’t see me roll my eyes at her. But I said, “No, Vi. I do not have a date.”

Where I WAS going was to a little get-together prior to today’s Make-A-Wish event. They were just getting together people who’d had whatever to do with the event, and I was invited because I’d written that article. It was just a little finger food soiree and I was, honestly? A little apprehensive about it. I don’t do well in most social gatherings of that sort where I don’t know people that well. I was going to know people, but not well. The Make-A-Wish campaign coordinator, Dave, was going to be there, and the WNC regional director, Carolyn, was going to be there, and Rikki, the girl about whom I wrote the article, was going to be there, but other than that, I was going into this on my own. Another person from the paper was invited, but they weren’t able to make it due to prior commitments.

So I go, and it turns out to be AMAZING. Seriously? I have found people outside of work with whom I really connected. The Make-A-Wish people were amazing, and one woman in particular, Melanie, I talked to forever. We talked about all sorts of stuff, and I found myself actually telling her that I’m uncomfortable in settings like that, usually, because people often don’t take me seriously because of my age. She was just really, really cool. She told me throughout the conversation that she’d seen me across the porch, and she wanted to talk to me because she thought, “anyone who could rock pink tights had to be someone awesome.” (Told you the tights would come back. They’ll be back again, too.)

But I think I’ve found a new friend (outside of work!!) and I’m excited. I like my friends at work but, you know, you need some outside people, too.

I talked to Rikki for a while and really? It’s hard to believe she’s only 16. It’s kind of funny, because she’s got this elegance and poise about her that you don’t often see in people that age, but then she’ll say something that makes you go, “Wow. You’re so young.” She really is very cool, though.

I also found out that Carolyn wants to train me as a wish granter. Those are the people who actually meet with the kids that make the wishes and who make them happen. That? Kind of blew me away. I was expecting, you know, to help out with fundraisers or to do office stuff on the weekends, but no. For whatever reason, in the short time she’s known me, she’s decided that I’d be good at that. And I’m really excited about it. I’m excited about the entire thing, in case you haven’t noticed. I finally have something, as one of my friends put it, that’s “bigger than myself” with which to work. Because honestly? I can sit here and say, “Oh, poor me. I hate my job, I’m in debt up to my ears, and I can’t have the person I want the most,” but then you look at these kids having their wishes granted? And it’s a whole new ballgame. And I want to be a part of that.

Someone else I met last night was Teri, who works for Kawasaki, which was one of the sponsors of the event. She flew in from California for the event. Her mother lives here, so it wasn’t just randomly, “Oh, I’m going to go to WNC just for funsies,” but it was cool meeting her, too. She is the editor-in-chief of a motorcycle magazine and you know I’m always excited to meet people in the publishing industry. I mean, I liked her as a person, she was cool, but I knew I wanted to talk to her before I knew she was cool because she’s the EIC, and even though I know nothing about motorcycles, people in publishing are people in publishing. Believe me, y’all. I’ve got bigger things in my future than a hometown newspaper. I’m glad to be getting a start here, but I’ve got much, much bigger things coming my way one day. I really believe that.

After the get-together, I decided to go to a football game, since the stadium is literally a 5-minute walk from my house, and I flashed my press pass to get in. I love that. It was the home team’s homecoming, so, of course, they played a team they could beat. For whatever reason, I love football games. I texted Jason while I was there, since I haven’t talked to him since. . .well, I haven’t physically spoken to him since before I moved here, and that’ll be a year next month. The football game reminded me of him, since we did marching band together.

There was also this guy standing beside me who looked like every stereotypical hillbilly EVER and who kept spitting every 15 to 30 seconds. I’m assuming he was chewing tobacco. It was really hideous. So gross. If you’re going to have bad habits, which everyone does, at least you could have a bad habit that doesn’t involve saliva and spitting.

It turned out that my ex was there as well (I SWEAR, I’ll come up with a name for him one of these days. “My Ex” encompasses at least two other people, so I need something more characteristic.) Anyway, he gave me half a funnel cake, which was a welcome thing, since I hadn’t eaten, really eaten, since lunch. I’d had a little cup of wine and some cheese and crackers at the get-together, but I was really too keyed up to eat. And at the game, I was still really, really jazzed. I was so excited about everything. It was a wonderful feeling. Dennis was there shooting the game so I talked to him for a bit as well.

After I got home, approximately 10:30, I was too keyed up to even try to sleep, despite needing to get up at 6:45, so I went to Wal-Mart and called Ashley. I finally got to bed around 2. I’m still having really bad sleep problems, so I probably slept a total of 3 hours. The thing about the sleep issues is that I can function just fine on the little sleep I get for a couple of weeks, but then it all hits me at once, and I still can’t sleep, despite how exhausted I am. It’s frustrating that I continually have to take pills to help me sleep, but I’d rather that than being a bitch because I’m so tired and then, ultimately, crashing.

Since this entry is so long here (3 word document pages!), I’m going to cut the weekend in half, and I’ll get to today in the second entry.

Why does it always rain on me? Even when the sun is shining, I can't avoid the lightning.

Raleigh! Oh my God, how I've missed this place. I finally left home at like 11:30 after running a few errands which included but were not limited to depositing a check, paying my electric bill and going to the library.

At the library, I picked up some books on tape, because I've found that the time passes so much more quickly on the road when I'm listening to books on tape, rather than listening to music. I don't know. There are days when I just want to drive around, blasting music and singing along, and then there are long, long, 4 1/2 hour trips that just warrant a book on tape. I got through John Grisham's "The Firm" and started on a book by that guy who did that documentary called "Supersize me." "The Firm" was ok. Nothing to write home about, but not a waste of three hours, either. I ended that one just as I got to Greensboro, and I put in the other one after I left the used bookstore at which I stopped in Greensboro, where I bought a Sweet Valley High book (for 50 cents!!), a book by an author that I like, and season 1 of 30 Rock on DVD because I love (LOVE!!) Tina Fey.

So, I finished this book that I started a few months ago and finally picked up again. "We Need To Talk About Kevin" is a book that Nick had highly recommended and that I had bought. . .I want to say over the summer. Maybe in July? Yeah, because it was last time I was in the Piedmont. I started it and didn't like it at all. It was slow and draggy and fairly boring. However, I picked it up again last week and couldn't put it down. It really picked up after a while and I got completely sucked into it. I spent the better part of quite a few evenings this week reading it, and when I finally got to the end, I was disappointed it was over. It was one of those books that. . .it kind of feels like it grabs you by the soul. You feel it. I felt every emotion that the woman narrating was feeling, and I was emotionally exhausted by the time the book ended. There was one moment (I won't say what happened, in case anyone wants to read it), but I actually said, "Oh no!" and then I re-read the passage, hoping that I'd read it wrong the first time.

I would highly recommend it. Nick, I take back saying it was really boring. It gets so much better.

I've been reading a lot of things recently that I've felt. I read the autobiography of one of the women that was one of the founding members of the Make-A-Wish foundation. I cried while reading that book. I didn't like the woman's writing so much, but when she was talking about her son that died of cancer? It was so, so sad. And it made me more anxious to work for them as a volunteer. The regional director of the WNC Make-A-Wish branch is going to bring me papers so I can sign up next weekend. Next weekend is the motorcycle rally for Make-A-Wish, and the night before, there's going to be a meet and greet for people involved, where they'll meet Rikki, because she's the ride ambassador, and Carolyn (the director) invited me to come. Not as a reporter, but just to go. I'll be reporting on the rally that Saturday, and I'm pretty excited about it. I'm jumping into this Make-A-Wish stuff headfirst, because while I knew what Make-A-Wish was, I'd never met anyone involved with them or who had benefited from them, but now that I have, I realize that it's a really, really great organization.

The new guy at work, NewJeff, is, as it turns out, a welcome addition to the office. He's very cool, and his kid is an absolute doll. She's the same age as Dennis' kid, and it seems very, very odd that I've found two four-year-old kids that I don't disdain. Vera (NewJeff's kid) is ridiculously polite and she's just adorable.

I feel like I might not hate kids as much as I used to. Maybe it's just that I've run into a couple that aren't tragic and are relatively well-behaved, so I'm forgetting why exactly it is I don't like kids.

I think I'm going to end up that person that, one day, someone's going to say, "I love you," and I'm going to say, "Thank you." I find that when someone says something complimentary to me that normally would illicit some kind of response, I end up saying "thank you." And that, one of these days, is going to end up awkward.

I meant to take pictures of Dennis' desk to put them up here. I have a little ritual of putting balloons and streamers in people's desks and offices for their birthdays, and his birthday is Sunday, so I did the balloon thing Thursday before I left. It was pretty cool, because, thanks to my OCD, it was very symmetrical. Vi's birthday is next, so I'll have to figure out a color scheme for her. When it was Chuck's birthday, I did black balloons and streamers, because he turned 50. For Carrie's birthday, I did green and white, because I remembered that green was either her favorite or one of her favorite colors, and also because I felt that the white offset the green nicely. For Dennis, it was red and black. Black because it's going to be his 40th, and red because. . .well, a couple of reasons. I've never actually asked him which high school football team he prefers, but between the one with red and black for their colors and the one with gold and black for their colors, he seems to prefer the red and black one. Plus, he often wears red. So it seemed like a safe color combination.

I actually asked him, a month or so ago, what his favorite color was, for the purpose of picking balloons, but he never told me. I think it was a good guess, though. Carrie told me his wife brought in a lot of balloons, too, so that would have been an interesting thing to see. Balloonapalooza.

Also, I'll be really happy when this election is over, because I am sick. to. death. of these political commercials. I think I'm going to vote for myself. Truth be told, as far as experience goes, McCain and Biden need to get together. Because we'd have a president with experience, and then when he (inevitably) keels over, we'd still have someone with experience, and we could maybe get everything back on track.

Sarah Palin's "oh-gee-dontcha-know" hometown girl schtick is already getting old. I don't want to get too political right here right now, but she needs to get it together if McCain wins this thing. Because when he (inevitably) keels over, it's a scary, scary thought that someone who thinks that foreign policy has anything to do with being able to see Russia from her home state could potentially be in charge of everything.

I don't love you, I'm just passing the time. You could love me if I knew how to lie. But who could love me? I am out of my mind.

So it’s October. In 29 days, I will be one year away from being old enough to rent a car without extra fees. Thus begins the birthday countdown. I don’t actually ever make a big thing of my birthday, but for some reason, I'm feeling like an attention whore these days, so I'm making people, at least those who come to this site, aware.

I really hate when people blog about things and are vague and when they don’t say exactly what it is they’re talking about, but in this case, since I’m not entirely certain who all reads this even on a semi-regular basis, I have to be careful, because I’m not in the business of ruining surprises, and if I were to talk about the situation directly, not only would I be a bitch surprise-ruiner, but I’d also have to delve more into my personal life than I care to in a public setting. Some people know, some people don’t, and I don’t need the ones who don’t to become the ones who do. Dig?

It’s amazing to me how five foot, one-ish inch of haircut I don’t understand can, without even speaking to me, remind me exactly of where my place is in the grand scheme of things. How, one day, you can feel like you’re cycling again, right back to the place you know you shouldn’t be in, but rather enjoy being in, and the next day, you understand that, you’re not welcome there.

How can I explain this better?

Ok, here we go. Say there’s a puppy. A puppy that you don’t own, but that you see every now and again and for which you throw a stick or a ball occasionally. You like the puppy, because the puppy’s fun, and the puppy gets you. But you’re well aware that the puppy isn’t yours and that at no point in your life will you ever own the puppy. You don’t actually WANT to own the puppy, because taking care of a puppy is something for which you don’t have the time or patience. You enjoy the time you have with the puppy, but you know that at the end of the day, the puppy’s going to go home with the owner who feeds it and takes care of it. And although you like to play with the puppy, you understand that it’s not. yours.

So the owner of the puppy is not a fan of yours. The owner feels that you’re trying to take the puppy away from its rightful home. You’re not, but if you tried to tell the owner that, the owner wouldn’t believe you, because of the period of time you've spent playing with the puppy. The owner probably is aware of how much you like the puppy. Your guess is that the puppy likes you just as much as you like it, but it wouldn’t tell its owner that, because, for one, puppies don’t talk, and for another, the owner would probably make it sleep out in the yard on cold nights or something. You don’t actually know what kind of relationship the puppy has with its owner, because while it seems to be a not-so-happy kind of relationship, the owner has said things that lead you to believe that maybe things aren't as they seem.

Anyway, now the owner has decided to buy the puppy a brand new, huge doghouse and is taking great pains to make sure that all of the puppy's little friends are aware that the owner is giving the puppy this house. And because of that, you feel a little discombobulated, and it's giving you a weird pain in your stomach that says, "Hey. Stay away from that puppy at all costs. You're going to get your ass kicked otherwise."

So starting today, you just need to tell yourself that no matter what, you need to stay far, far away from that puppy. You need to tell yourself that that puppies has rabies, and if you even get within a foot of it, it could bite you. And then you will die.

All I can really say is that I'm supremely glad that I'm going to be out of town this weekend. Because then, I don't have to make excuses.

Moving on.

Ok, there was a break of about half an hour, I'm back, and you know what? All of the bullshit in my life right now, involving dogs and their owners and past mistakes that you're never allowed to live down? It. Doesn't. Matter. There are bigger things in the world, and if a dog's owner wants to snipe at me, they can. I'll just know that I have a greater purpose in my life than to put up with whatever people who can't let the past be the past can dish out.

I should explain.

I've mentioned, more than once, the girl I interviewed for the Make-A-Wish article. Here's the YouTube video she's in, which I keep meaning to post:



So, the guy that was with her, another Make-A-Wish volunteer, came by to thank me again for the article I wrote. He's told Dennis that he was happy about the article and he told me over the phone the other day how much he liked it, but he stopped by again to tell me again how grateful he was and how much he liked it, and the Make-A-Wish people liked it, and the girl I interviewed liked it (he called her little Rikki, which made me laugh, actually.) He was so incredibly grateful that I really almost cried. Recently, there has been an influx of instances that have almost made me cry, and they haven't all been sad things. I've never been a happy crier, but for some reason, I've been more emotional than usual recently, and several things that are happy have made me tear up, if not just outright cry. While he was here, the guy told me that he's been passing out papers to all these people, to people within Make-A-Wish, to family, friends, and everything.

And I almost cried when he was telling me this. I'm such a putz.

So the point of all this is this: this is going to sound really weird, but I feel like there's a REASON I was the one Vi made do this story. I don't know why, but I have this really strong feeling that there's a reason, and I'd like to know what that reason is.

I've applied for a job at a non-profit in Asheville, and they're supposed to be getting with the "qualified" people by the end of this week, beginning of next. I need this to go through for me. I can't take much more of this. I just can't. I had this whole plan to be out by November, but that's not going to work out for me. I need something. Anything.

I've also been going to church. And it hasn't been struck by lightning. I'll talk more about that later, I guess.

Oh, and Girl Scouts started again, and I'm excited about all the stuff we're going to be doing this season. Good times.