Madison Monroes

It’s 4:15 and mail isn’t here yet. So what am I doing? Dealing with ARH Committee funnness (yeah, I know it’s not a word), listening to bad ass music, and posting. Yeah, one of the things I didn’t really consider when I said I wanted to be Vice President was the fact that I would take over responsibility for both the Policy Review and Constitutional Review committees. For any of you who were around last year, you know what a nightmare it became.

At first I was a little apprehensive about taking over those responsibilities. And then I realized the upside: I am in control. I can dictate how things go down, and I can ensure that things don’t get out of hand like they did last year. Booya!

Seriously though, I’m going to do my best to make the process as efficient and as fair as possible without wasting people’s time. The first meeting is going to be next Monday night in a kind of open-forum-come-and-go-as-you-please format. Starts at 7pm and lasts a couple of hours. If you’re interested, I’ll see you there.

Currently Playing: TRUSTcompany – The Fear and Deeper Into You

Standing here
I’m cold inside with fear
And I can’t feel my soul
Take me in
I’m yours again
For awhile – just like the last time

I need you
To keep me here
I’m starting over again
—————————–
I feel it eating at me, while you still drown me.
And cross the line over and over again.
It’s all around me, now I’m here cause of you.

I’m not me when I dream; I’m not me when I dream, anymore.
Because of you.
Now I’m falling, I’m falling now cause of you.
Now I’m falling, deeper into you.

So far, so good for this semester. There’s been plenty of opportunity for the last few days to suck, but nothing has gone wrong yet. In fact, most things have gone surprisingly well. I’ve been able to spend a good portion of time with Amber. I found out that racquetball is a pretty good workout for me (and I’m not too terribly bad either). There was really not much reaction at all to the new mailroom policy and scheduling went surprisingly well. I ended up with one 6-8am shift and one shift on Friday. Neither of those things are great, but I’ll be around 26-28 hours every week after figuring in two days worth of mail delivery and forwarding. I can definitely handle that. I’ll never argue with more money. The best part is that most of my shifts come in blocks so they aren’t spaced out over the whole week.

The next few days should be a pretty good predictor of how the next few months are going to turn out. I’m about to get assigned a project and project team in one class and really get into most of my other classes. I’m almost looking forward to class the rest of the semester.

Currently Playing: A New Found Glory – The Story So Far

Did you notice I was afraid
I thought I’d run out of things to say
Two more hours until today burns this away
And it starts all over again

Due to some unfortunate circumstances, our ARH President was unable to return to his position for second semester. Our Vice President took over and decided he would remain in the position until our elections in approximately two months. Meanwhile, that left the position of Vice President open. When asked my thoughts I quickly said without thinking, “I wanna be Vice President.” Little did I know, the rest of the Executive Board apparently liked my spur of the moment idea, so I’m now the ARH Vice President and acting Information Coordinator. Woohoo! The new title is kinda cool, and I’ve pretty much increased my job responsibility 100%, but that’s ok. It should be fun and it’s only a few weeks when you get right down to it.

In other areas of my life, I’m still trying to get settled into the routine of this semester. It’s going to be hard until I have a normal week though. That won’t really happen until next week or the week after that because CAs haven’t scheduled for the semester yet. I’m still trying to figure out what I want my shifts to look like and I just can’t decide.

I think my classes are going to be good this semester except for Business and Government in Society (BGS). The title is misleading; what it really means is “Ethics.” It’s not that I think ethics is boring really, because there are some very complex situations that can arise when dealing with ethical issues. It’s just that so far my teacher has been incredibly boring. Boo.

I’m hoping to get back into a regular posting routine. We’ll see how it goes.

Currently Playing: Stargate SG-1 – Avatar

Monday night (Tuesday midnight) I worked a shift in Putnam. When I got to the desk and went to sit down, there was a small chunk of wood on the chair. I went to brush it off and quickly recoiled in pain. I looked, but couldn’t see any splinter or anything so I figured I just got a poke.

Yesterday morning I woke up and my finger hurt. There was kind of a purply mark on the edge of my finger, but I honestly couldn’t remember why it might have been there. As the day wore on, it continued to hurt and I was still confused. Finally, I remembered what happened the night before and decided to investigate.

When I got home last night I went to work with tweezers and a fingernail clipper. I could feel a little something that didn’t feel quite right. So I finally spotted some discoloration that looked like a splinter, but I couldn’t get to it. I had apparently jabbed this thing so deep into my finger that it was barely visible at all. I ended up cutting off the top layer of skin and going after it with tweezers. I couldn’t grab on to the damn thing and so I started pushing hoping to get a better edge to grab. Instead, the thing shot out of my finger like I was popping a pimple. (And the readers all wish I had been less specific.)

Definitely one of the strangest things that has happened to me in a while. I’m sure you’re all thrilled that I chose to share.

Currently Playing: Maroon 5 – Sunday Morning

Sunday morning rain is falling
Steal some covers share some skin
Clouds are shrouding us in moments unforgettable
You twist to fit the mold that I am in

Since I last posted, a ton of stuff has happened. I’m sure I’ll never remember it all, but I’ll try and hit the highlights.

• Celebrated my sisters 20th birthday with bowling, Phantom of the Opera, and dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant called Kababji (ka-botch-ee).
• Drove 6 hours to Nebraska to see Amber’s family and meet her brother and his wife for the first time.
• Bowled again at the bowling alley in Albion and won one of three games. (Who knew Albion had a website?)
• Made a good impression with her brother and his wife. (I think. I hope.)
• Drove 6 hours back to Wichita, while talking to Amber via two-way radios and trying to share music from my iPod using the iTrip.
• Entertained kids at my parents New Year’s Party. (Exhausting)
• Bowled again for the 3rd time in a week.
• Went to a movie in the balcony at the East Warren in Wichita. (Very nice)
• Played Trivial Pursuit 90′s Edition and felt really stupid. I bought it for my sister for her birthday because I thought we might actually know some of the questions. Ha.
• Went ice skating and wiped out big time.
• Came back to Manhattan, only to find that after hitting 70 a few days earlier, Winter was finally ready to show up.
• Decided to head to KC a day early due to crappy, icy, nasty weather to avoid being late for flight to Las Vegas with other MIS Club members for the Consumer Electronics Show.
• Took 3 hours to get to KC.
• Left for Las Vegas basically on time despite the weather!
• Missed Amber.
• Was amazed by some of the stuff in Vegas (like the sheer size of everything).
• Went into the majority of the casinos on the strip.
• Saw a bunch of cool electronics stuff.
• Saw a lot of the same kind of electronics stuff.
• Got sick of looking at electronics stuff.
• Walked everywhere in Vegas.
• Got sick of walking.
• Lost $50 between slots, video poker, and Blackjack.
• Won $120 (for the trip) playing Blackjack.
• Wished Amber could have come with.
• Was less than impressed with some things in Vegas. Like the same stuff over and over at CES, and the quality of our rooms at the Luxor for $180 a night.
• Went the entire Vegas trip without being able to use my cell phone without big charges. You don’t realize how nice it is until you don’t have the option.
• Made it back to KC right on time, but baggage and shuttle took forever.
• Bawled my eyes out to stupid songs in the car.
• Got to eat with Amber at Olive Garden.
• Had some CA “training” and scheduling. 6-8am shifts here I come. For two weeks anyway.
• Worked my first shift of the semester and checked in a bunch of new people to Putnam.
• Played Texas Hold ‘Em with Hannah, Noel, and Patrick.
• Lost.

Here’s some things I haven’t done in that time:

• Unpacked all of my stuff or set up my room in Putnam.
• Appreciated Amber enough. (This will be fixed.)
• Laundry.
• Bought my books or supplies for classes that start Wednesday.
• Deposited the money I won. (It’s burning a whole in my pocket.)
• Slept enough.
• Really slept well.
• Had one very important conversation with someone. (This one is coming soon I hope.)
• Made enough money.

So yeah. I’ve been busy. It’s been a lot of fun, but I’m pretty much ready for the quasi-routine that the start of the semester will bring. And I need to get crackin’ on those things I’ve missed recently. Oh yeah, pics coming soon.