Monday Musings.

This place is so empty. I can literally hear myself echoing when I talk, and that's even when I talk quietly.

I moved my stuff out of the dorm on Saturday, with the help of Mom and my Aunt Lynnie, and now there are boxes and baskets of stuff all over my bedroom at home. This place, on the other hand, is "blank" (in the words of my roommate Danielle) and way too white. I'm living out of a suitcase until Saturday, even though my finals are done Wednesday afternoon -- I still have work through Friday, and then a big ol' party with my California Jovi girls on Saturday night.

I left home last night after the Mother's Day/grandma's birthday party because I knew I had to work this morning. (I wanted to make up some hours since I can't stay for the last two weeks of May.) I got up, had breakfast, showered, got ready for work, and was just heading out the door when my co-worker texted me that I didn't need to come in.

Uhh, why the heck not?

Apparently, since this week the students are taking the California Standardized Test (CST), the hours are totally messed up. So in order to make our 15 hours, we have to come in from 9-12:30 Tuesday-Friday. And on top of that, we won't be paid for more than 15 hours, so I can't make up any hours today.

I was pretty annoyed, to tell the truth, because I don't have any classes or anything today, and I could have A) slept in this morning, or B) stayed at home and not battled traffic last night while I was exhausted!

Oh well. There's nothing I can do about it, so my coworker and I spent the morning texting each other our worries about whether we'll get our jobs back next year. We still don't know, and that makes me extremely nervous. Can California get its budget act together already?

So now with all this extra "free time," I can study more. I have a gnarly oral final tomorrow night in my Media Diversity class - the one with the hardcore Nazi professor -- and then a huge cumulative Psychology final covering 47 different psychological disorders and their symptoms, biological influences, and treatments. Diagnosis-style. That's a lot of flash cards to make...

So Danielle and I are heading to Starbucks as soon as she finishes drying her hair, and we'll study for a few hours until Happy Hour, when we'll get our Venti Frappuccinos for $2. :)

I can't wait for this week to go by -- I want to finish strongly and make good grades, but there's a small part of me that just wants to screw it and give up because I'm so tired. But I will prevail. I didn't work this hard all year for nothing!

Soon I'll be with friends, sightseeing New York, enjoying BON JOVI from a freaking fantastic seat at Giants Stadium, then relaxing with my boyfriend in Europe, and coming home to a JOB.

Already, this year is making up for last. :)

And I floated away on a unicorn, and he took me to the land of blueberries...

OMG you have to watch this. We watched it in my Media Analysis class today and I half died from laughing and half stared at the screen like I was watching a mental patient.

This poor girl was drugged up after getting her wisdom teeth removed, and her mom captured her insanity on film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS3Olh9DnaE

Oh, and it's legitimate --she was on the Ellen show about it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m99GDkDyQQ

I swear, it's the highlight of my day. JC is in da HOUSE.

Sunshine, palm readers, and iguanas on leashes.

In less than two weeks, I will be home! I'm counting down the days like Christmas is coming.

This past weekend was fun with Danielle -- she actually stayed at the dorms and we went out exploring Los Angeles since the weather was ridiculously beautiful. Friday afternoon we spontaneously took off for Malibu (and how the stretch of the 101 we were on wasn't a parking lot, I still don't know) and ended up driving down Pacific Coast Highway for a good 45 minutes (looking for parking and food) before we found ourselves in Santa Monica. We grabbed tacos at La Salsa, then drove around a bit and watched the sun disappear below the ocean horizon, and talked about everything from boys to school and everything in between. Then on the way back after Malibu Canyon Road, we passed through a DUI checkpoint...we were both excited as we had never seen one or been IN one, but when we were next to be checked with the breathalizer, they decided to switch and check the opposite traffic. We were actually disappointed, lol.

Saturday was lunch with Bailey, more beautiful sunshine, dorm cleaning, and a bit of homework while Danielle went to the 3rd Street Promenade with her family. When they came back, she informed me (wide-eyed) that she had some "crazy shit to tell me." She and her mom, friend, and brother sat down and told me they had stopped at a palm reader's stand on the Promenade and had their palms read...and were THOROUGHLY freaked by what she had told them.

Call me a cynic, but I always think that stuff is a bunch of BS. I was honestly surprised that Danielle and her mom paid money to go to some psychic with "magical powers" and hear their fortunes, but then when they told me what she said, I couldn't help but be skeptical of my cynicism. She hit the nail on the head with all FOUR of them, "guessing" things about each of them and their pasts that was just too accurate to be guessing.

So I decided I wanted to go and see what this woman was all about, and see if she could read my palm as accurately...or if she was just on a lucky streak that day. So Danielle and I left Sunday morning for the Promenade - surviving a VERY shady parking lot, creepy lawn mowers, a street performer with the voice of an angel, a performing monkey dressed in a jacket and hat, and a man walking an iguana on a leash (I kid you not, that thing was 10 feet long.)

When we FINALLY saw the palm reader (her stand had been sitting there empty and folded up since 1pm and she didn't show up until 4), I was excited to hear what she had to say...but still a bit skeptical by nature.

Ten minutes later, I was shaking and my fingers were nearly numb with cold because I had never been more freaked out in my LIFE. This woman - named Eda - was the nicest, most down-to-earth and normal person you could ever expect to be psychic. She didn't put on a show, there was nothing mystifying or black magic-y, no crystal ball or tarot cards, not even a turban or huge magnified glasses. She wore a sweater and jeans, and brown sunglasses, and looked maybe 40ish. She had a soft voice, but spoke with conviction and a natural calm that kept it from being creepy.

And she knew things. I swear to God above, she knew things about me...and I don't care if you read this and think I'm a nutcase, but I know there was a spiritual connection of some sort while I sat on that stool and stared at her. And this is why:

• She told me I'm creative and intelligent, but that I don't let my emotions guide me as much as I should - that I think with my head (that I'm very logical) too much and should let my heart have a little more say in matters that concern it. She went a step further to explain that the REASON why I am this way is I was hurt before ("by...two different people, I think?" Yes...) and am now scared of being hurt again, so I turn down the notches and bring my emotions down a few levels when I befriend new people or make new relationships. And I still feel as if I have to prove myself.

Okay, I know that could be a pretty broad issue with a lot of people, but it was true for me. VERY true for me.

• She said that I have a lot of creative energy and I channel it through music. That I used to be a very musical person, very involved with it - I performed it, and it was a main focus in my life when I was younger, but not so much anymore. That now it's more of a de-stresser -- but a strong passion nonetheless.

HELLO?! If I were to be defined by one thing, it would be music. That has remained the same my entire life - and I was in chorus for five years, plus two theatrical productions, performances and competitions, etc. But I haven't had much time for it since I left middle school because of academics and such in high school and college.

• She said I had been really concerned about money for awhile, but she noticed it wasn't as big of a worry anymore (though still there).

I fell into three-digit debt last semester, but with a windfall of money for my birthday, was able to pay off about 80% of it. AND I finally have a job this semester with a steady income.

• Now, the part that really freaked me out: she said my love line was very prominent and long, and that I was in a very happy and strong relationship. She said it was a learning experience, "this man" and I were teaching and learning from each other and this was "something new" for both of us. But "there's distance....I see quite a big distance."

WHAT. THE. HELL. Okay, you can't just say that to anyone...first off, what if I wasn't in a relationship? What if I was gay? What if this wasn't my first boyfriend? She couldn't have bs'ed that. All the things she said about that was accurate, for one thing, but the distance thing...I think that's when I was convinced that she knows things beyond the surface realm of this crazy world. That's the one thing that sets me apart from ALL my friends and family, and probably about 99% of the people I know at all.

• In addition to that, she said she saw that the distance between us would diminish in about a year's time. But that I would have to be the one to make "the decision" -- it would be up to me to decide what was going to happen and where the relationship would go.

I think this is where my mouth was actually open and I stared at Danielle. You all know that I'm moving to the Netherlands to be with Bjorn next summer, and I've known (or at least assumed) for a long time now that I would have a big decision after that year -- move home, or stay with him? Will he really want to move here like he says he will? Trust me, these questions plague me almost daily. And when Eda said that...she looked at me kind of pointedly, as if she couldn't say anything in front of Danielle, like you know what I'm talking about.

She asked me afterward if I had any questions, and I decided to test her one last time, so I asked if the distance she mentioned in my love life was physical or emotional. "Physical," she said. "It's a big physical distance."

Color me FREAKED!

She said more - my life line is long and healthy, she sees me as a mother of three, marriage is in my future but "not soon," and that I won't have to worry about money - in fact, I might not even have to work, but I'm going to want to in order to prove I'm independent.

I don't know...you don't have to believe me, you can call me crazy, you can think I'm a sucker for believing her, but I know without a doubt there was something there, something beneath the surface where we all live our daily lives. She has a gift and something special, that's for sure.

So needless to say, it was a crazy weekend!

New Jersey adventure!

In case you've been living under a rock lately, you might not know that I'm journeying to New York THIS MONTH (I can finally say that!) to see the band at Giants Stadium (now known as "New Meadowlands Stadium").

Many of you have followed my travel blogs in the past (thank you!), and I finally put up a page to keep them all in order:

My Adventures Series

So I suggest you bookmark that central page, follow it (using the followers tool), and subscribe if you have a Blogger, Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo, or Google account. Then you don't necessarily have to do so for each and every travel blog. :)

Have fun!