Madison Monroes

Last night I drove over to Amber’s apartment. It was just starting to snow and when I got there I want to retrieve my backpack out of the back seat. I opened the door but apparently not as far as I thought because as I leaned in to grab my bag I slammed my head on the top edge of the door. At first I thought it just hurt, but as I walked to the door of her apartment I realized I might be bleeding. As I stepped inside I pulled my hand away from my face and saw red on my fingers. Oops. By the time I got to a mirror there was blood running down left side of my face. I’d managed to make contact right on the ridge of my eye socket. After a few minutes of bleeding and several Kleenexes, Amber was able to help clean me up and things aren’t so bad. For the most part the cut is hidden in my eyebrow, but if you know it’s there it isn’t hard to spot. My head hurts a little bit today, but mostly just from pressure or contact in that area. I blame the snow and how dark it was last night. Which brings me to my next topic.

As much as I love to complain about how commercialized the holiday season has become (example: Christmas stuff in Walmart the day after Halloween), I really do love this time of year. It’s been snowing all night here and it will probably continue through most of the day. As annoying as it can be to travel in, I love how peaceful it makes the world seem. One of the best feelings ever is walking outside in the morning after a decent snowfall. Everything is so quiet and muffled, but the world is incredibly bright. More so than the weather, though, I love the spirit of the holidays.

I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have this time of year to spend with family. Every year we go get a live Christmas tree at Prairie Pines. We’ve been going since I was just a baby, and my parents were probably going before that. There was only one year that we didn’t go to PP and I actually remember exactly where we got our tree that year. And another thing…we’ve never had a fake tree. Something about that just doesn’t sit right with me.

In the next few weeks people will be putting up lights all over the place (if they haven’t already). A sort of informal tradition for us is to drive around and look at lights a day or two before Christmas. We usually put some up on our house too. I love driving through neighborhoods with the big houses (and small) that go all out. I’m a big fan of plain white lights or colored lights done tastefully. Sometimes it’s hard to find the balance between looking nice and being gaudy.

There’s another reason I love the holiday season. Except for the last minute rush of the semester and finals week, it is relaxing. I’ve been going nonstop all semester and my weekend breaks with Amber–while wonderful(thank you so much!)–just aren’t the same as a true break like you get between semesters.

I think the thing I like the most about this time of year is that it is one of the only seasons where people really unite. Where so many other things fail to bring people together, we can finally set aside our differences and enjoy the better things in life. It’s about family, friends, and fun. Everybody needs more fun in their lives.

Edit: Did I mention how hard it was for me to get out of bed this morning? With it still so dark, cold, and snowy outside I wanted to stay there all day.

Currently Playing: Ryan Cabrera – True

I’ve waited all my life to cross this line
To the only thing that’s true
So I will not hide
It’s time to try anything to be with you
All my life I’ve waited
This is true

Oh yeah, that would be tomorrow. I need it. I’ve been busy. But good. Typically lack of posting means I haven’t been at the computer much, but this time it’s kinda reversed. I’ve been on my computer way too much trying to pull together this programming project. It’s not really that close to being done, but it’s due for testing in a week. Somehow I’ve still managed to have some fun though. This weekend was the first in quite a while where I was able to just relax. Although I did miss my roommates antics…

So here’s a little bit of what’s been happening since I was last heard from. I’ve had three tests and gotten scores back on four. One was pushed back due to a “breach of trust” that sparked a class discussion on the day we were supposed to take the test. It’s kind of a strange/long story so ask me if you’re interested. Anyway, in systems design, quant management, database, and LAN my scores all improved and I finally pulled out my first two A’s of the semester. Apparently I know SQL queries better than I thought.

Anyone know how to set up an ASP .net server on their computer? I’ve been wanting to try it for a while to help with testing of this system we’re building, but haven’t had time to look into it.

Amber and I saw the movie National Treasure over the weekend. It was pretty good. Maybe not as funny as The Incredibles, but very entertaining. Certain aspects of it reminded me of The Da Vinci Code.

I finally made my Christmas list. If you’re feeling so inclined, check it out on the right. I change it all the time.

Then there’s Strong Bad. He got an email virus. How unfortunate.

Edit: I can’t believe I forgot the concert! I went and saw Incubus on Thursday in Wichita. I convinced Amber and Erica to go with, and it was pretty good. The band rocked (as expected) but the crowd pretty much sucked.

Currently Playing: Jay-Z & Linkin Park – Encore/Numb

Just got some free breadsticks from one of the residents!! Time for a Happy Dance! I think that made my night… Now on to doing my homework… This week is gonna be insane… Big homework due and test on Thursday a a program I have due on Friday (none of which I have started/studied for…) Plus the project class that has to be done in 2 weeks (and thanksgiving break isnt going to help it…) Let the races begin…
Phillipians 4:13

Currently Playing: Jupiter Sunrise – Arthur Nix

Did your arm heal faster than your heart did?

Yeah, it’s been a while, but no, I’m not dead. I’m back with excellent news! It looks like Tom Hanks will star as Robert Langdon in the film version of The Da Vinci Code. Considering how much I enjoyed the book, I’ve been anxiously waiting to hear anything about the movie adaptation. I can’t wait!

In other news…three tests last week. I also spent the weekend in Kearney, Nebraska for the 2004 Midwest Affiliate of Collegiate and University Residence Halls (MACURH) Conference. Apparently, Life is a Game. The drive was fun for the most part, the conference was interesting. I wouldn’t say it was a lot of fun, but it wasn’t bad either. Somewhere in the middle. It did kind of give me a sense of being involved with something bigger though. That was cool. Anyway, one of the things on my (long) to do list is to write up a little report about what I learned at the conference so I can present it to our NRHH chapter.

I’ve got LAN lab in about 30 minutes and plenty of other stuff to do today. My group has right around half the time left to finish our Systems Design project and I can safely say we are not even close to being halfway done. Posts may be slow. We’ll just have to see. Have a great week.

Currently Playing: Relient K – High of 75

And now I’m sunny with a High of 75
Since You took my heavy heart
And made it light

And its funny how you find
You enjoy your life
When you’re happy to be alive

Kidd Kraddick has been really funny this morning. Props to them. Yeah, random. I’m putting off studying for my Quantitative Management test and/or my LAN test. Then there’s Database on Thursday so I’ve got my work cut out for me.

The weekend turned out to be pretty good. Saturday morning my dad and I started working on my car to replace some belts. It sounds simple enough and it really should have been. But even though my car is by no means small, things are pretty crammed in there and it makes it hard to get around and loosen stuff up. We spent several hours messing with it and getting nowhere. Meanwhile, some other stuff is going on including Amber getting physically sick and things are not going at all as I’d hoped. We finally gave up on the second belt and just left things as they were for the day. I showered then took Amber some Sprite and crackers. This is where things started to turn around. We talked about some stuff, tried to put away the beginning of the day and finish it well. I convinced my parents we should go to Kobe’s Steak House and then we saw The Incredibles at the Warren Old Towne in Wichita. Good food + funny movie = much better end to the day.

Yesterday was spent running around Wichita passing by places from our past. It was surprising how much some things had changed. We headed back to Manhattan a little later than I thought we would, but we weren’t in a big hurry. I had to be back by 9 for an extreme programming session with my project group. It was incredibly exciting. I think this post might be boring. Something more exciting later.

It’s been a while since I’ve had a really shitty day. Life must have known I was overdue. Here it is!

It’s times like this I wish you could create private posts with Blogger. I might elaborate later, but don’t count on it.

Edit: Now almost 1am, things got much better after about 4pm and the day was salvaged. Still not one of the greatest, but I’m sure you all were(n’t) worried.

Guy: Is she drying off her lettuce? K______, what are you doing?

Girl: It’s too wet!

Guy: I’ve never heard that from a woman before…

Later…

Girl 2: It’s OK, K______, I like your wet lettuce.

Currently Playing: Gavin Degraw – More Than Anyone

I’m going to love you more than anyone
I’m going to hold you closer than before
And when I kiss your soul, your body’ll be free
I’ll be free for you anytime
I’m going to love you more than anyone

I’m sitting at the Boyd desk in suit pants, nice shoes, and a white t-shirt. Why? Because I realized this morning in the middle of shaving that I haven’t done laundry in about 2 weeks and, as such, have no clean dress shirts to wear to my two interviews today. Well that’s just great. Throw a shirt in the washing machine approximately 7:40. Ask Erica if she can retrieve my stuff from the dryer when it’s finished, luckily she agrees. Finish getting ready and head to the laundry room to wait for the washer to finish. Finally get things moved to the dryer around 8:05 and run across the complex to work on Boyd. Apologize profusely to Amy who’s waiting patiently for me to arrive.

Here’s the outlook for the rest of my day. When I get off work I’ve gotta go finish getting dressed, and then I’ve got my first interview with Cerner. I’m not sure when I’ll get to eat lunch because after that I go straight to class. My middle class of the day was cancelled because my teacher will be out of town, but my group decided to go ahead and use the time to work on coding. Next comes LAN where we’re reviewing for a test on Tuesday. Then I’ve got my second interview with Cerner. Around 4pm I should finally be done with the bulk of my day, but it doesn’t end there. I’ve got something else I want to finish up tonight. Maybe I’ll go out, but Amber won’t be there, so we’ll see. Don’t wanna get too hammered for the drive home tomorrow. Oh yeah, my Amazon package should come today. New music (Gavin Degraw, Everwood Soundtrack) and books (America the Book by Jon Stewart)

Well, this shift has been totally worthless. I seriously had good intentions of getting stuff done, it just didn’t happen. Maybe next time. I’ve listened to this song way too much lately. Not tired of it yet though

Currently Playing: Dashboard Confessional – Hands Down

My hopes are so high that your kiss might kill me
So won’t you kill me, so I die happy
My heart is yours to fill or burst,
to break or bury, or wear as jewelry,
which ever you prefer

Hands down this is the best day I can ever remember,
I’ll always remember the sound of the stereo,
the dim of the soft lights,
the scent of your hair that you twirled in your fingers
and the time on the clock when we realized it’s so late
and this walk that we shared together
The streets were wet
and the gate was locked so I jumped it,
and I let you in
And you stood at your door with your hands on my waist
and you kissed me like you meant it
And I knew that you meant it,
that you meant it,
that you meant it,
and I knew,
that you meant it,
that you meant it