Room décor, soccer, and remembering...

This weekend, I headed up to BG for my brother's soccer tournament. It was nice to be back there, even just for a day. I guiltily felt a little homesick for that place as I walked around campus with my mom. While I was there, though, I looked into a new opportunity that came upon me recently. One of the best dorms on campus is offering (for this year only) to allow three students to room together for a discounted rate, since there is a lot of incoming freshmen this year and the university is in the process of building two new residence halls. This was a great opportunity for me, because I have two really close friends up at BG (M. and L.), and it would be amazing if we could all live together, right? Well, we were worried about the size of the room, since we would all be in this space frequently. So I figured I would check it out while I was up there (the dorms were all open because of Orientation and stuff anyway). One of the girls who was working the front desk took us up to an empty room and let us have a look around. It was a bit bigger than my room last year, which M. and I shared, and seemed like it could reasonably house 3 close-knit girls. L. is already planning just about every detail of our room... it's making me a bit nervous, since we don't have a room assignment there yet. We do have room assignments in general, but not in that building and all that. I hope she doesn't get her hopes up for nothing....
Today, we drove back to C-bus and watched the final game of the 2010 World Cup. I was kinda pulling for the Netherlands, but I'm not a huge soccer fan (even though I've watched quite a few soccer games this weekend). Spain won... in case you didn't know already, haha. Also, this afternoon I listed all of my textbooks from this year on Half.com, so hopefully I make some decent money selling those (at least enough to pay for this semester's books).
This evening, my whole family went up to Indian Lake to sprinkle my late uncle's ashes over the lake. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this past fall, and quickly deteriorated... he died on January 15. His favorite place was Indian Lake, so he asked that we sprinkle his ashes there. We abided by his wishes, and also had a balloon release, during which we played one of his favorite songs: Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond. All of this was an emotional ordeal, but it was good for his kids to get some more closure, and to celebrate his life more than mourn his death. Afterward, we all went out to eat and reminisced.
It wasn't a typical weekend for me, but it ended up being pretty good: I got to hang out with family and friends, visit my school, and watch soccer (though the latter wasn't as enjoyable). Now I've got to get to bed so I can start this week out right-- maybe with a little work-out at Lifetime? ;)

Oh, I almost forgot! On Friday, my best friend C. came over and taught my how to knit! I'm no expert yet, but I'm well on my way to completing thing #1 on my summer to-do list! :)

Long time no see...

Okay, I have not been very constant with my posts at all, and for that, I apologize. I'm going to make it a goal to have at least one post per week, but we'll see how busy life gets this summer.

Today is the last day of school for my siblings: my brother, D, is finishing up his high school finals for the year; my sister, L, is graduating from middle school; and my brother, J, is graduating from elementary school. (My youngest sister, N, doesn't go to school yet, seeing as she is four.) I've been out of school for about a month now, but it hasn't been a particularly relaxing break. There were several times I would have gone back to BG and begged for a paper instead. I've been on the hunt for a job for the summer, and my search has been largely unsuccessful. It's hard to get a job if you don't have experience, apparently. I've applied to at least 30 places, and I don't have a job yet. I did think I was getting close when I talked to the manager of TJ Maxx, but after she said she would call me in two days, she didn't. Even a nannying job that I thought I was a shoo-in for didn't pan out. The woman I was supposed to talk to kept flaking on me. And, of course, I've gotten those awful rejection form-letters, in all shapes and sizes. I really wish I had a job... because then my parents would get off my back, among other things. They have been working me hard at home since I don't technically have a job. I've hardly had time for myself these past few weeks, even though I'm home alone at least 6 hours a day. I've been able to see a few of my friends, but most of my good friends are either A) working pretty much full-time, B) not out of school yet, or C) over an hour drive away. Besides, I've been too busy to even work on my novel (which I'm really excited about). It's occurred to me that this must be what my parents' lives are like all the time, but I'm not a parent! I'm just a college kid. And most college kids don't have the kinds of responsibilities I have at home. It's kind of ridiculous...

I miss the freedom I had at BG. And I miss the friends I made at BG. They all live so far away from where I do... It really sucks. I have seen my roommate, M, a couple times this summer, but we had to plan it all out, which was so weird, because I'm used to seeing her every day.

On a positive note, my friend S who moved to New York about a year ago is coming to visit in a few days! :) It's going to be so nice to see her, since I haven't seen her in 6 months. Last time I saw her, we met halfway and hung out in a mall for the day. It'll be better this time, since we can go wherever and do whatever we want to (at least, more so than the last time). Before then, of course, I'll have to clean the house, per my parents' request, since she is staying here. I'd better get busy if I want to get some stuff done today and go to my siblings' individual graduation ceremonies. Tchao for now!