I love my sunny day, dream of far away, dreaming on my pillow in the morning...

The rant I had planned might need to wait.

Because I'm in a pretty good mood right now.

And also, despite all of the crappy "friends" I've had in the past, I have some amazing ones right now.

And Call of Duty is awesome. :)

(Pilot, "Magic")

:) :) :)

Tonight was the worst basketball game I've ever seen played at Mac Court. Something needs to change, or we're in for a really, REALLY frustrating season.

However, it wasn't a bad night otherwise. I sort of fixed a situation I was having with someone, and Pit Crew was a blast as usual.

I am loving the happy right now. :)

Fun with friends!

One of my best friends, Alitia, came up to Eugene from Central Point for the weekend. She hadn't seen us since FOB -- a weekend when both Ashley and I were super busy with OMB stuff -- and there wasn't a football game this weekend because the Ducks had beaten the Beavers in the Civil War the previous Thursday. It ended up being really good timing too; she and her boyfriend for almost two years had broken up recently, and Saturday would have been their two-year anniversary (aka a day she really didn't want to spend alone, or near him...) So, she came up Friday night, and merriment ensued.

Friday, she joined me and a bunch of friends (both people she knew from OMB last year and some amazing new friends) for tailgating. Traditionally we do this the night before home football games, but Thursday's game would have put tailgating on the Wednesday night of dead week -- very few people would have been out and about at the bars and stuff, and we would have angered more people than we would have entertained. So...we rallied on Friday to celebrate the Ducks' victory over the Beavers and the trip to the Rose Bowl! Also, Brian got to come finally because he didn't have to work until the next day, and he borrowed some of my 'gating attire.

After tailgating, we got a yummy late-night dinner at Dough Co. and then went to the Walmart parking lot to eat and then walk around for a bit in the store. We finished eating, Alitia reminded me to lock the front door, we walked about 10 feet from the car, and...Alitia realized that she had left her keys in the ignition. So, our casual stroll through Walmart ended up turning into a frantic search for wire coat hangers and duct tape. About 45 minutes of freezing cold weather and hard work later, we had successfully broken into Alitia's car and were on our way back to my apartment.

Saturday was a nice, relaxed day. We both slept in because we were so tired from the night before, then hung out in my warm apartment while we waited for Ashley to get off work, retrieve her boyfriend Danny and come over. Once we met up, we went to Goodwill, where we managed to find some cheap Duck game attire for Alitia, who until that point had been limited to OMB gear. Then, we went to Jamba Juice and Taco Bell (two of our favorite foody places to go) and then to Valley River Center to kill time until 9:30ish when we had planned to pick up Chase and Adam. We found some good sales, I managed to get a few more people checked off my Christmas list and we took some funny pictures in the photo booth.

Then the craziness started.

We picked up Chase and Adam and went to Strike City for cosmic bowling. Alitia took a bunch of pictures to document the occasion, and as it got later and later we got more and more silly...
After bowling we went to Shari's, where we continued to decline as far as self-control goes.



All in all, the weekend was a huge success. I got to see people I hadn't seen in a long time and Alitia said that she couldn't have asked for a better day. :)

Hey! Pachuco!

Finally, things seem to be falling into place.

The people who I call my friends have been and continue to be the most amazing people I've ever known. And I find new friends where I least expect them to be.

With the exception of a few people who will probably always rub me the wrong way, marching band is a truly awesome experience. Even during band camp, I was wondering if I had made a mistake by wanting to switch from clarinet to euphonium -- prior to this year I had never played a brass instrument in my life -- and as a result, I contemplated quitting band because I knew there was no way I could ever feel comfortable in the clarinet section again. However, as the season progresses, I continue to get better and more confident on my horn, and even though I will probably never reach the level of most of the rest of my section, I've finally found something about marching band that I genuinely enjoy, and to me that's enough.

Things are becoming more stable on the friendship front. I've fixed friendships with most of the people I hurt last year, and those who still hold a grudge against me for whatever reason are not central to my life anymore; they've moved to the outer fringe where I can push them out of my mind a lot more easily. I've also met several new people, as well as some others who I wish I would have known earlier, and they've quickly become trusted friends.

Work, although fun, was initially stressful. I continue to get criticism and direction almost every day. However, I'm learning to look at such things as a desire on the part of the more experienced workers to help me do my job better. And I think I'm doing better as time goes on, so yay for improvement! Another plus: I feel a lot more connected to the kids than I did even a month ago. While at first they didn't even remember my name, now they hug me, draw me pictures and want me to sit by them in the circle. :)

So yeah. That's just a snippet of what's been going on lately. This is also an attempt to try and revive my poor blog that has been ignored a bit as of late...