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"Ever try rehearsing for a live TV show? Try changing the tires on a truck while it's going sixty miles an hour and you'll get the idea." - My Favorite Year

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I feel right now. Only a week to go before finals season is upon us, so all my teachers are flipping out and throwing all these papers and projects at us at once.

Oh, and since it's sorta nice out when it's not pouring buckets down, the biggest bee on the planet has decided to start buzzing around my window. Seriously. It's like a tiny helicopter buzzing around there. Kinda terrifying.

...I think I'll name him Clive.

So while Clive is doing his damnedest to find a way in between my screen and window (I love you Clive, but seriously, stay out) allow me to inform you as to my happenings.

Running is still going well and for the first time in a long time I'm actually SORE from running. Wow! I might have something to do with the fact that I've been really bad about stretching after I run, but even so, that's kinda cool.

Knitting has been going well. I'm starting work on a hat, another glove for Ashlyn, and a design for a scarf. I want to play around with cable knitting and fun things like that. Still need to finish Morgan's blanket and I will finish it eventually! I've been really bad about it since I get frustrated. But when I'm fed up with knitting I can always draw or write or lately I've been playing some Pokemon. That's right, I'm going back to my childhood and playing some Pokemon. Which is really funny, since I'm almost twenty. Hah. But I enjoy it. There's actually strategy involved that you don't understand until you're older.

Clive, what are you doing you crazy bee? I think he's stuck. Or going to sleep.

Reading for the semester has died down considerably. I'm mostly done with all my novels, just need to finish up Sexing the Cherry which is interesting, but I'm not quite sure what to do with it just yet.

I'm just tired right now. Homework, skype chat with Jimmy, and then bedtime for Erin. I cannot get sick with finals so close.

Weeks Till Summer: 2.5

Song of the Day: Can You Feel The Love Tonight by the Broadway Cast of The Lion King

<3 Erin

Greatness

"A great love is a lot like a good memory. When it's there...and you know it's there, but it's just out of your reach it can be all you think about. You can focus on it and try to force it but the more you do, the more you seem to push it away. But if you're patient and you hold still maybe...just maybe...it'll come to you." - Church, Red vs Blue

I adore this quote. The show itself is pretty hilarious, so this moment of seriousness really startled me at first. But it's true. When you try so hard to get something, it always seems JUST out of reach. But when you stop searching so hard for it and let it just come to you...it usually does.

Kind of like those stories you always hear about how a boy/girl goes through bad relationships and eventually swears off finding their significant other all together (I refrain from saying the opposite sex since it would be excluding homosexuals and I love all ya'lls). And of course, just as he/she does that, the perfect companion waltzes in and sweeps him/her off their feet. You just have to be patient and wait for it. It can be hard and frusterating and maddening and speaking as someone with little to no paitence I understand that.

Trust me, some things are worth the wait.

There are some KILLER thunderstorms happening outside right now. The sky was lighting up all purple and blue...so pretty. I don't know what it is about thunderstorms that I find fascinating, but they are. Nature is insane...she can produce more electricity in a single lightning bolt than humanity ever could. Just as long as I don't get hit, I'm more than content to watch it light up the sky. Fireworks have NOTHING on this.

This week is insane. I've got five papers to work on (two re-writes, three to turn in), although I turned in one today. One down, two to go. That and I finished one of Ashlyn's gloves. It's amazing, and I have to do one more for her. I think I'll need another skein of yarn though....maybe Amazon has something.

Running has been all right. Six miles last Saturday, three yesterday...although yesterday's run wasn't fantastic. What is it about running in Champana? It seems like no matter what direction I'm going, I'm always running INTO the wind. How is that even POSSIBLE?! It shouldn't be possible, but it is. And no, I'm not going that fast, nature just hates me.

Went on an insane reading kick this evening, which is why this post is late. I started (and finished) the graphic novel Fun Home, two chapters in my history text book, a chapter in the history source book, plus twenty pages in my geology textbook. But I really needed to knock this stuff out, so I feel better about it.

This evening I had a FANTASTIC skype chat with my friend Jimmy. I spent an hour talking to him about the story that I've been working on and we worked out ideas and bounced them off each other, ironing out all the little details that most people wouldn't think about. Then he spent an hour telling me about his projects, which I always love to hear about. It's rare that I can talk to someone about what I'm working on like this, so it's always a pleasure when we're both on at the same time and can talk. We both start talking so fast because we get excited...Although I start to get loud, which I felt bad for when I realized that yes, my roommate probably DOES want to do homework tonight.

I remember years ago I promised my seventh grade English teacher that when I got a book published I would send him the first copy. Don't worry Shea, I'll get that book out there one day. I'm going to be famous, just wait and see.

Weeks Till Summer: 3

Song of the Day: F**king Perfect by P!nk

<3 Erin

Speak

"A hero need not speak. When he is gone, the world will speak for him." - Unknown

I love this quote. I don't know where I heard it, who said it, or why I like it, but I do.

The weather is getting to be SO nice. Not quite warm enough for shorts just yet, but it's getting there. Soon though. Lots to read, lots of papers to write and re-write. I'm really enjoying most all my classes except for History. It's not that the material couldn't be interesting, it's just that my TA is really opinionated. If our opinion doesn't match hers, it's wrong. It frustrates me to no end. But I'm doing my best.

It's so hard to keep focused now. All I want to do is go outside, run, knit on the lawn, read, and write stories. Which is puzzling since all I do now is go to class, run, read, and write essays. Not too much different. I guess I'm just ready to be home. Summer is coming and I'm so close I can taste it! Not literally though, that would be funky. I suspect it would taste like sunscreen and lemonade. There's so much I want to do...spend time outside, run, for sure go to Michigan, maybe go on a road trip (that would be awesome!), go to karate, go to Boston for Karate...

And hey, even though my gloves were screwed up for a while there I fixed it! Thank you Christy, for helping so much! Now I can continue as usual. For a while there I was afraid I'd have to tear out the whole thing and start over. Crisis averted.

Running has been all right. I'm trying to set a race pace, but I keep going faster than I intend to. Which I guess is all right for now, but on long runs it's going to really suck. I did a five mile run on Saturday that was really terrible. I kept cramping up and ended up walking a decent amount. Well, I'm doing another five tomorrow. Hopefully I can redeem myself then.

I've been on such a writing kick lately. Nothing for class (of course.) but just for fun. It's really nice, but I want to focus on these papers for class and all I have bouncing around in my head are character ideas and plot twists I want to toy with. When I get home for summer I plan on spending the days outside doing awesome things and the evenings writing. Huzzah.

Summer has been on my brain all the time. Blue skies, warm weather, flowers, and the smell of the beach. There's something I really love; the smell of summer. To me, summer smells like the lake or ocean, sunscreen, bug spray, humidity, and fresh cut grass. Smell is the sense most closely tied to memory, which is pretty cool. I don't know why smell is so fascinating to me lately. I've noticed that people have a certain smell to them and everyone's smell is unique (not in a bad way!). I mean, sure, you don't think you smell but you do on a subtle level. I read somewhere that humans can subconsciously detect these smells and by using that we're attracted or not attracted to people. Wild, huh?

Weeks Till Summer: 4.5

Song of the Day: Don't Stop Believin' by Journey (And you will now have this stuck in your head for the rest of the day. You're welcome.)

<3 Erin

Wilde

Moving from flowers, I'm now on quotes.

"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars" ~ Oscar Wilde

We've just finished covering Wilde in our British Literature class, and I've always thought Wilde was tremendously funny. Very witty too. Hooray for the Irish!

But it's true. In a sense, we're all in a similar spot on the planet, and most of the time we scurry about looking at the ground or the things around us. But there are some who turn their gaze upwards, looking for better things.

Well, I've got about six weeks left of school and it's not getting any easier. I'm working hard with plenty of books to read and papers to write. Got a Spanish exam tomorrow, so I've been prepping for that as best I can.

My last run was kinda blah. I started feeling bad about halfway through, but I still finished about an 8 minute mile pace, which is good. Got a four mile run tomorrow, then a five mile on Saturday. Slowly, oh so slowly the mileage is moving up. I'm really enjoying running, which is good. I never thought that I would.

This week is tech week for Arsenic and Old Lace! This show has a special place in my heart since it was the first show I ever stage managed on my own. But it's funny. Really funny! If you ever get the chance to see it onstage or the movie version, I highly recommend doing so. The movie version has pretty much the entire Broadway cast, so no complaints there. If you're going to be hanging around U of I this weekend, we'll be in the Channing - Murray Foundation, 5$ to get in. Worth every penny. I'll be the one off to the side with the light board.

Warm weather again! I'm so happy. This means running outside, not wearing ten thousand layers to and from class, and of course, summer. I will almost inevitably complain about the heat/humidity once it's here, but I really do love summer. I guess I'm just a summertime kind of person!

I wish I could write more for ya'll, but I've got studying to do and it's getting late. Much love and I can't wait to see ya'll soon!

Weeks Till Summer: 5.5

Song of the Day: F**K YOU by Cee Lo Green

<3 Erin

P.S. I'm looking for beta readers for a project of mine! Any takers?