EVERYONE LISTEN.

so. after living for about 8 months with no main source of light in my bedroom i finally stacked a chair on top of table and risked my neck to get a new light bulb in my light fixture. i forgot how pink it was. it's kind of psychedelic.

i cannot get an acceptable picture with le macbook so you will just have to take my word for it. 

i should sleep but im feeling giddy. im excited for paula to get here and to travel. im excited to go home and hang out with my cooky family for a few weeks. im excited to get my very first apartment. im excited to decorate that apartment. from here, everything is looking shiny and fun.

i have big plans for when i get home and i need to promise myself right now to follow through. 

pinky swear.

back?

wow, having a busted computer really puts a damper on the whole blogging thing. i was going to give it up for good but then my advisor sent me an email reminding me that if im not going to come back to school i should at least be blogging about my non scholarly misadventures. 

which brings me to my first point:

i am  not going back to school next year.

i am going to be working with city year new york. you can read all about it here. i think it's a good idea and i think it will really help me get my head sorted once and for all about the whole future thing. except that i just watched three seasons of house in a little over a week and now i want to be a doctor. so maybe it's not as simple as all that, but either way i think it is a good opportunity. 

i do miss school though. i get my fill now with 16 hours per week of german class but there are no grades, no papers, no reading assignments and im starting to miss that kind of stuff. its been years since ive gotten a good grade on something and i am really starting to miss it. i think this is good. when i go back to columbia maybe ill finally have learned not to waste the precious opportunity that attending that fine institution of higher learning is supposed to be. 

nitschkes & co. are in egypt so i have free reign of the computer. its deliciously sunny though so hopefully i wont be spending all my time at this desk typing away at my sad little attempt at blogging that is apparently going to secure me a job in the future (that is, according to my rather loony academic advisor).

tomorrow i turn 21. i dont know how i feel about it. maybe ill blog about it later. 

Finally finished Twilight...

...and while I still think the book as a terrible overall message and the plot isn't innovative by any means and if one more person compares it to Harry Potter I'll snap there neck, but all that aside, I kind of really liked the last book! Her writing, while still mediocre, actually did improve tons (I laughed out loud at least every few chapters) and I don't know, it must have been alright as I read all 750 pages of it in like 6 hours. I think it was mostly due to the fact that a good chunk of the book is from Jacob's perspective and he is by far the most interesting character in the series. He was very funny and I really enjoyed his bickering with Rosalie.

...

ENOUGH PRAISE. I'M DONE.

TO DO LISTS.

I haven't made a to do list in like 2 years. I am just not that kind of person anymore, which is crazy because to do lists were kind of what got me through life a little bit. I am making one now because yelling at myself about the reading thing on my blog really worked out for me as I am actually ahead of schedule for book reading this week! So, let's give a try:

1. Locate the library, attempt to register. I am so lazy about studying my German and I have decided it is because I have absolutely no where to study. Ok, there is an office with a desk about 3 feet from my room but it is SO. COLD. I simply can't study in there. Everywhere in the house I would feel weird spreading all my books and things and kind of taking over, plus I find libraries very motivating.

2. Go to the gym. I need to get back in the habit with this, I've gotten very lazy.

3. Buy shampoo and hand lotion!

4. Finish Brave New World.

5. Purchase my next German text book (hooray for being on level A2!) and Breaking Dawn.

That is all!

Things To Do Before I Die

Have an argument with someone in another language: CHECK.

TRIUMPH.

5 months, 21 Days and like 5 hours.

Max: "Okay, you are like the best Au Pair we've ever had."

Mike: "Yeah, you and Kelsi. I mean Crystal. Actually, no you. You never gave me a time out."

SUCCESS.

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I want to leave it at that but I am going to bore you with details, because I am particularly jubilant. They have said I am the best Au Pair before but it was usually in the context of them wanting something, this was totally out of the blue. We were just chatting at dinner and suddenly Max stopped the conversation to announce 100 percent sincerely that I was his favorite Au Pair. I WIN.

It was kind of bittersweet, though, because now that I'm through the halfway mark and they have their next Au Pair and the date I'm leaving is getting more and more definite I can just feel the end looming. I'm such a weirdo but these two kids were my favorite part of coming here. I hope they come and visit me.

Sigh, I am feeling emotionally raw right now. I love it here, yet I am feeling anxious for home. Blahblah blah blahblahblah BLAH. I need to conclude this as my thoughts are just going all over the place. This was supposed to be a happy entry!

Goodbye!

Argh!

I am so behind on my 100 books mission. I think I'd need to read 3 books a week to finish on time. That, in my head, is doable but considering I wasn't able to keep up with two a week, going for three week will probably prove impossible. I'm going to give it a shot though. I figure it would help if I chose the three books in advance, otherwise I can't make up my mind and end up getting 50 pages into a million (like I am right now) and that just isn't helpful at all.

So, this week I need to:

finish Brave New World

finish Life of Pi

buy and read Breaking Dawn so I can finally be DONE with this god awful series!

I know I should just STOP with the Twilight series but, ugh, I guess I've already invested 1500 pages and I do thoroughly enjoy mocking people who like it and being able to support my mockery with quotes of purple prose and enormous plot holes. IT'S SO BAD THOUGH. I am probably dumber for having read it.