Tuesday, September 7, 2010

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times


Here I am, now starting my 3rd year in college. Where did summer go? May and June got lost in constant rainy cloudyness and trying to get in hours at my work. I celebrated my xth birthday, went through y number of boyfriends (who's counting, right?) and tried to not lose my sanity in many lonely hours home alone at McSketch.
July flew by in a myriad of trips. I started by driving to Tucson and back for the 4th with Megan, then a family reunion up at Bear Lake right on its heels, followed by a week of theater with my mom, sister, and brother-in-law in Southern Utah. Needless to say, I was happy to have any reason to get out of the house, and was glad to get a little travel bug out of my system.
August was infinitely too short. The sun came out, the fun started happening, while work started really getting busy (16-hour work day--good thing it was a day out sampling the Great Salt Lake, and this is really what I love doing, no matter how much I complain about it at times). I also started dating a boy named Matt.



I had the craziest first week of school--starting with the day I moved out of McSketch. It was a smooth move, and I was just so happy to be leaving that hole. As a parting gift, I found (no joke) the biggest spider I ever encountered in my time there under one of my purses as I was packing up. I was so relieved to be moved into Garden Court. Unfortunately we had no hot water, thanks to previous tenants who got the gas turned off. Luckily Megan is next door, so I borrowed her shower until Wednesday.

Sunday brought about a huge change in my plans. We had an area meeting for all LDS single adults, where they rearranged boundaries/organization for young single adults. I wasn't too concerned, and knew that this kind of change was coming. I was also prepared for some ward level boundary changes, but had been told that Garden Court would still be in the same ward as before. When I got to our Stake meeting, I learned that that was very much not so. Garden Court had been moved back into the ward it had been in when I lived here last summer, but then moved out of and into the ward I ended up staying in--even though I moved to Pineview and therefore technically back into this ward's jurisdiction. I was totally unprepared for this blow, and it hit me HARD. Little did I know at the time, stress of the impending school year+a missed birth control pill (normally not a problem)+hormones of 5 new girls in an apartment had combined to = Erin being jumped ahead to the end of her cycle 2 weeks early and was emotional even beyond normal levels. It literally broke my heart. Thankfully I had Matt there, and Megan who knew exactly (or at least very close to) what I felt and all of the reasons why this just wasn't right. Unfortunately, my contact dried out from crying, and I realized it was the last of my contacts for my right eye. Which would mean I'd be wearing glasses in the morning, and for every morning until I could get into an eye doctor and get contacts ordered. And with all of this hanging over my head, I took a dose of nyquil and headed to bed before the very first day of school.

Monday morning was cold, and skies that looked promising for sunshine quickly changed back into gray clouds, pouring out rain and even snow in the hills above campus. Halfway through my day, when it was almost time to go to my honors spanish class, I realized that I did not want to go to my honors spanish class. And, that if I dropped it, I could take a class at another time (water quality and pollution) that would fit better in my schedule, be fewer credits, is taught by a fellow limnology lab member, would take care of more credits so that graduating on time would be more feasible, etc. etc. I emailed my advisor and the teacher, to see if it would even be possible, and they said yes, so I excitedly told them I was going for it. I left campus for GC, and once I arrived home, logged on to make the changes only to realize that I had forgotten about a lab that was blocking the time for the water quality course. The only lab time that would work with my new schedule was on Friday--and was full. Frantically, I tried to email the teacher for the lab, to see if there was anything I could do, but anyone who had lived at Garden court knows that internet reception is hit and miss at best. I got the email sent, and then knew I would have to sit and wait, hoping that he would be able to sign me in, and that I could have the schedule I needed! I looked around at back-up choices only to learn that there was no real back-up choice. I felt frustrated, stressed out, tired/sick, not to mention hormonally emotional. I agreed to go to the ward FHE with Matt, only to feel worse in the cold, and even more sick because of uncooked roll dough in the form of poorly cooked scones. I had zero desire to socialize or participate in any of the activities, so I stubbornly stood there being cold and growing more and more unhappy and sick. Matt convinced me to go country swing dancing, even though I felt so miserable, and it possibly just made things worse--I danced with one boy the whole time, and I was the one who asked him to dance. I went over to Megan's to shower, and grew so nauseated that I threw up while still at her place. Completely worn out, and still no word back from my lab teacher, I went to bed Monday night praying that Tuesday would have something better in store for me.

Tuesday was uneventful, other than getting an email from my teacher Tuesday night saying that I could meet with him after class Wednesday to talk about switching labs, but that if it was full... so not very promising. Wednesday was day on the quad, and so as a member of the Country Swing Dancing presidency, I was there to help set-up at 8:30, then went to the 9:30 class where miraculously I checked online for an opening in the Friday lab and there was a spot! I quickly rearranged my schedule, got onto the website for the water quality class, and hustled my way through an assignment that was due in 10 minutes for the class. After the two morning classes, I went back out to the quad, missed an afternoon class while working out there, and helped lots of kids sign up for the club. Then I started working typing all the names up, but had to leave to go to a departmental seminar, and then to a dinner with the seminar speaker. It was three professors, one graduate student, and myself at the dinner with the speaker, and I was proud that I could hold my own in a much older, more educated crowd. After that I hurried over to Country Swing dancing, and then after a very long, tiring day, finally got to bed.

Thursday started out quite smoothly, until I got home from school, with a slight headache from wearing my glasses, and decided to take a nap. When I woke up, some of my roommates were arriving home and remarked on entering the living room how warm it was in our apartment. "Odd," I thought to myself, "I was just thinking how chilly it was in here..." Well needless to say I ended up in a delirious fever before very long, but luckily my roommates made some ramen for me, and my sweet boyfriend Matt sat with me and made sure I was tucked into my blankets and didn't keep kicking them off.

Friday I missed my morning class because I was still sick, but was feeling well enough to make it to my next 3 classes. I came home after school and was very very excited to leave for Midway to spend some time with Matt's family. He even brought me over a fancy mylar balloon that said "Get Well Soon!" as I was packing. :) So we drove to Midway, and just hung out because I started getting a little warm again so I didn't want to go hang out at Swiss days.

Saturday, Sunday and Monday were amazing days. I still wasn't feeling very well, but Matt was patient with me, and we had lots and lots of fun at the parade, exploring the stands, and just sitting around hanging out with his family and then some of my family in UT county Sunday night and then his family again for a Labor Day barbecue back in Midway. I got some contacts from my mom so I could stop wearing those pesky glasses. My mom got me some drugs for my throat too, so I could breathe better at night and actually get some sleep. I am so glad I was able to just run away with Matt and regain some sanity. I talked with Bishop Reed, and began to feel okay about moving forward with the new ward. (Which is good, since I just got called to be the Relief Society Music Coordinator... anybody have suggestions for 5 minute music moments??)

Luckily the second and now third weeks of school have been much nicer on me, and I'm actually getting back into the whole "school" and "having homework" mode. My room still isn't totally unpacked, and I'm still pretty dang busy, but I'm healthy and happy and strong again. I'm pretty sure that I completely owe my sanity to Matt, because he honestly carried me through that first week and I don't know how I could have done it without him. And of course, Megan was there for me as always, even though I know her first week must have been at least as crazy if not crazier than my own!!

Well, this post is now uber long, and I should probably just post it so that Missy will have something to read finally. And then I will start on some of that homework I've been procrastinating this week.

Some pictures from the black and white party the Saturday before school started.






PS- I am in love with this boy.

1 comment:

  1. So...I really need to put you on my blog updater so that I read this more than once every 4 months. :/
    I'm glad everything is running better for you now. :) love you!

    ReplyDelete