First Week of Third Year

So the first week of classes has gone by and already I can see long nights in my future.

This term I couldn’t sign up for classes to take just for fun, it just wouldn’t fit into my schedule. Instead I’m taking my three core classes plus two classes that fulfill graduation requirements.

Let’s start at the beginning shall we?

First class that I go to is Animation 3 which is being taught by a teacher named Dante. He’s really fun and easy to learn from. He also loves Christmas music and Disney in general! Anyway, in his class we’re going to be learning how to use the compositing program Nuke. We’ve only done a small exploration and I already love it a thousand times more than After Effects.

Next on my schedule is History of Modern Architecture. I need to take 3 advanced Art Histories to graduate with completing my minor and this one sounded interesting. The class is okay. I’ve only had it once so far and we watched a documentary about a modern bridge being built... The teacher is old and likes her order in her classroom. Other than that I can’t say much, I need a few more classes.

Up next is Design 3 with Dorian again, he’s still as easy going as before. So far we have started on one of our first projects about branding and just finished up presentations about the companies we created to design for. My company is called Artillery Squid. I’ve changed my mind a few times so it is either a cookware company or a jewelry company that makes it’s stuff from shrapnel. I’m still debating.

After that comes Concept 3 and no Jill in sight! We have a newly hired teacher named Nora who is very organized. Again, we haven’t done much since it has only been one week but it does seem like the term will be spent more on finding new concepts rather than getting a style frame to look right.

Finally I have Phycology of the Arts with a teacher named Poppy. So far we have built small lego statue to introduce ourselves. It was really fun and a good way to remember who is in the class. We didn’t really get into what we will be doing for the term but it seems like it will be interesting.

Other things have been happening to as it was the first week back.

Everything with the Anime Club had to be signed and turned in to the new Organization Director. We have already met a few times since our club is so different and doesn’t want funding. We have a meeting this week to discuss it since she doesn’t really understand how we could be considered a club if we don’t fill out financial records, do fundraisers, go to leadership meetings, and attend SGA meetings ... all things you have to do to keep you club recognition up.

We have meet once so far though. On Saturday, after the club’s fair the night before, we had our first meeting and actually had 6 new people show up. I don’t know if they will all come back, but I hope at least one does.

We have also started Sunday Night Dinners again, though this year it will be at 6 pm instead of 7. For the first cooked meal I made a 3 cheese sauce from scratch witch was then combined with pasta an bits of ham and baked. I also made a quick tomato mozzarella salad and chocolate almond buttercream cupcakes (again from scratch). It was fun cooking again but the hours on my feet were long and painful.

Oh, my feet.

So you might remember the set back I had before with the stitch abscess. Well that area finally closed up and I just finished my antibiotics when another area got troublesome.

A bit further down the incision was a spot that early in the week was squeezing out some fluids. I kept a bandaid on it but on the day I got off my medicine it started squeezing out a thicker fluid that was no longer fairly clear. After pinching it to get it all out I found another stitch come out too.

Great.

I had to make sure that that was everything from the new hole before calling home. Needless to say that the next few hours were spent going back and forth between my Mom, Grandpa, and even my doctors father (who works with Grandpa).

In the end it was decided that these stitches were the ones that are left in to be absorbed. My foot didn’t like s few of them so decided to push them out rather than dissolve them. I now have to keep it bandaged as it heals over and have been put back on antibiotics again.

Fun.

Well, I think that’s about it. Not much else here is that interesting. 

Last Two Weeks of Summer

Sorry again for the 2 week update but a lot has happened.

These were the last 2 weeks in my summer and because of that everything was going on. 

Michael, Katie and Amanda all went tubing in the Delaware River. They said it was just like a lazy river ride at a water park but with paddles.

I went with Dad to drop of a Grease car in North Jersey and saw my old baby sitter, Lea. She was at Union High School when my dad was working there and we lived with my grandparents. She did stage crew and was one of the people Dad taught everything to and brought to help him when he had work at other places. I was maybe 6 last time I saw her.

This past Wednesday was my last doctors appointment and we finally figured out the trick. On the occasions where we got there early the office was over an hour behind so that day we got there just on time. I didn’t even have enough time to get out of the bathroom after checking in before we were called.

To bad it couldn’t be that simple for the whole appointment.

They took the bandages off and I noticed that a small area had blood stains. I told the doctor and after he removed the remaining stero-strips we found the problem. A stitch was still in the incision and created a stitch abscess. Basically he had to find it, remove it, clean the wound, and bandage it. He used some silver nitrate - felt really weird - and another stero-strip with a band-aid that I have to change every day.

In the end about an inch of the incision was still open that day.

Before I forget, here are some before and after shots of my foot. Look how straight it got!

(The left foot is still swollen but you can see the difference.)

Friday, my last day at home, was crazy.

Amanda had been at band camp all week - 13 hours a day - so Friday was the ‘End of Band Camp’ party at 3:00 after their early dismissal. I was allowed in the pool and actually went down the slide (that was a stupid move since I hurt my foot) but I spent the whole time on a floaty since I couldn’t kick.

Lost of people came. Three of my friends and about 50 people from the band. The food was good, the day was nice, the only problem was that the people wouldn’t leave. It finally got to be 11 pm when we went down to the pool (my friends and I had gone inside) and more or less told everyone to go home. 

Regardless, it was nice to be able to go in the water.

So Saturday comes and my mom and I have this plan: get on the plane, get the rental car, pick up my car from the storage unit (most likely jump it), check into school, pay the tuition, and move into the room.

Basically everything went wrong.

The plane was an hour late, a guy ahead of us for the rental cars was an ideate who took almost half an hour, my car was dead but after using the rental car and a guys big pick up truck we still couldn’t jump it and had to move on. At the school I could check in but couldn’t pay for the term since the offices were closed. AAA came to the car, got it working but found that my battery was at 0 charge so got to the car shop to re-charge it fully. There they tried to save it but it was beyond dead so I needed a new one. We finally get to the room, get help with the boxes, and I only have an hour before my feet feel like they would fall off. I went with mom to the hotel for the night, took off my shoes and saw that my left foot was nearly twice its normal size.

Yeah, not a fun day.

Today was better though. After breakfast we went to Target and BJ’s to get everything for the ‘apartment.’ Then we went back and mom worked on the kitchen while I did my room. A break for Panera and 2 more hours before everything was done. We even had half an hour to relax before Mom had to leave to get to her flight home.

As it is Sunday we had Sunday Night Dinner. Just pizza since we were all still settling in, but it was great. We also had a cake from BJ’s to celebrate Paige’s Birthday. 

Everyone hung out for 2 hours and it was nice to see everyone again. While I do have to start classes tomorrow I don’t start until after lunch. I’ll tell you all about it next week!

Week at the Beach

Okay, really sorry about the late post...2 weeks late I think.

Not much happened the first week. Doctors appointment, a few more walks, hanging out with mom and Dad. Same old stuff.

Now the following week is where it got interesting and in order to make this post less than 6 pages long I’m going to take a page out of my sister’s book and tell you with the pictures.

First off let me say that the beach is beautiful especially when the sun is rising. I say it nearly every day last week with the number of early risers we had there.

Every morning from about 10 am to 1 pm or so nearly everyone would go down to the beach. I unfortunately couldn’t join them with my foot still wrapped but I just did other things with them. Amanda got back from her 3 week camp and joined us at the beach on Tuesday. She says she had fun.

One morning a mini golf course was having a tournament so Michael, Katie, Uncle Patric, and my cousin Caitlyn went. Mike and Kate got the worst scores and actually got a prize for it - a golf ball.

My Aunt Jenny had been trying to have a kid for 8 years and after something like 6 miscarriages gave up with news that her body couldn’t do it and went for adoption. My cousin Oliver was adopted little over 3 years ago on the day of his birth and everyone thought that was is. Then a month ago she tells us she’s pregnant and during the week she found out the gender and told us with a cake. Oliver is still convinced its a boy though.

My brother’s girlfriend, Tatiana, stopped by on Thursday since it was there 1 year anniversary. Of course it was the one rainy day so they couldn’t even go on the beach, something the little girls weren’t thrilled about. We had to find another way to entertain them so bracelet making and Disney movies it was.

Victoria’s birthday is actually today but we celebrated it early so it would be with the family. It’s weird to think that she is 15 now, I was there to see her the day she was born.

My Grandma, who won’t even go onto the sand let alone in the water, went parasailing. Needless to say we needed to get some photographic evidence.

Long Beach Island, Beach Haven. Seriously if you’re ever there during season you have to stop by the Show Place. The ice cream place that makes you sing. And make sure you ask them “What flavors of ice cream do you have?” No, I don’t care if it’s on the menu, ask it if you want to smile.

And what beach week isn’t complete with a few books read.

So there it is a week at the beach.