sit down son

I haven't, really, since I got back. Which I SHOULD have because lo! I'm in a different country and it's noteworthy but MOST PEOPLE KNEW THIS.

Yes, I'm currently in Georgia and have been since the 13th. AND YOU KNOW WHAT THE BEST PART IS? It's the thing that everyone's been ranting about since I got here: The completely unseasonable WARMTH. It was slightly cold for like, 3 of the days I've been here. Otherwise it's been in the 60's/70's which means I have been BASKING and going around in t-shirts and tank tops and on one occasion, my gaucho pants that are, you know, not full pants. We went to Midnight Mass last night and I wore a sleeveless dress with no jacket and was just fine (though I noticed I was the only one in the church to make that decision and was questioned a few times by my parents as to whether I'd be warm enough). I have been DE-FROSTING and really, I hadn't noticed how cold I'd REALLY BEEN for the last 3 months. Acclimating is a wonderful thing and I've been wearing the summeriest clothing I can to avoid doing it here. My GOAL is to keep that slight chill now, which is counterintuitive, but still a bit logical, I think.

That said about the weather, my Christmas haul was largely composed of Winter Clothing. Which is awesome because of the aforementioned tendency to freeze. I also got a rain coat, which I may or may not remember to wear on account of the fact that I lived through those three months without either a raincoat OR an umbrella. Though this is a coat designed to go over OTHER coats which should help. If I remember it.

And speaking of clothing, I brought mostly dirty clothes back with me from Dublin because laundry is SO expensive and I just outright did not have time to do it before I left. So I unpacked my bag, washed my clothing, and for some reason figured the most logical place to keep it to prevent the cat from peeing on it (this does happen, he peed on my two warmest sweaters the day before I packed to leave in the first place and I didn't get them until HALLOWEEN. Oh the cold!) is right back in the suitcase. Most of my drawers are packed tight with god-knows-what and my closet has ALL SORTS of stuff in it and I'll have to pack again eventually anyhow, so it works.

And speaking of that suitcase, at the point I got on the plane to come home I hadn't slept in almost 3 days. It was AWFUL. I was so tired! Combination of packing, writing an essay, Christmas shopping, dinner, one last night out and the fact that we left halls at 5:30 am just weren't conductive to a night's sleep. I got a few naps of 2ish hours over the course of that period, but still. I was existing by the grace of strong tea by the time the opened my gate (at which point I was on my third cup). Goooood times, rofl. Being home has been nice though, it's good to see everyone!! Though I am looking forward to going back. Because, well. It's Dublin!

I spent Sunday through Tuesday this week in Statesboro hanging out with people and having a generally good time. Spent lots of time with Steph which was super awesome in lots of ways, though her love of Twilight makes me giggle. And I found Beamish at the Fast and Sleazy!! SHOCKING!! (A Cork stout, for those of you not in the know. Consistency like Guinness, flavor a bit more like coffee or chocolate and the company has just closed its doors so finding it was DOUBLY SURPRISING AND EXCITING! I got to introduce JD to it, which was hella fun. :D) Tuesday evening I chilled with Jessi and Metro and Bee's Knees in Augusta again. THIS weekend we're going up to Greenville, NC, because that's where the family's moving in the next year. This UPCOMING Tuesday Steph is coming up from Statesboro for New Years here and maybe dragging a few others with her (JD might come and I'm trying to talk Jesse into it and Jessi might come too if she's not gone back to Texas! This should be an AWESOME NEW YEAR) and on the first I go back to Dublin at 8 pm. I might get to see some of the Statesboro folks that are in Atlanta for the hols earlier in the day. I'm hoping so!

So, that's my life of the holiday season in a nutshell. There is much more, but I'm lazy and this is quite long enough!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I resisted the urge ALL DAY yesterday to update AGAIN. I have some aversion to updating twice in a day if I can help it I guess. Now let's see if I can remember everything I wanted to update about!

- I got a card on Monday from prpl_pen! THANKS, JESSIE! I need to check my mailbox at school still. Lord knows what all's hiding in there and I bet they're going to want to shoot me when I finally mosey my way up there again [when I haven't gone for a while I usually end up with a BUNDLE so big that they've been waiting in curiosity for me to pick it up. >.>]

- I finally did some work with my icons! More to do yet because I NEED MORE ONE PIECE ICONS OMG. Which I've been making as I go now whenever I see something I REQUIRE as an icon. \o/ I also finally tracked down some icons for Gundam Seed/Destiny and Last Exile. Both of which I loved. Though I actually STILL haven't gotten around to watching Gundam Seed itself. Whoops. Will do that EVENTUALLY, though I know most of what happens, having watched the sequel series and all.

- One Piece is amazing and my goal is to finish by New Year's. I've read half in less than a week. So I should be able to finish it off in equal time. \o/

- I MIGHT be going to a concert in Atlanta on New Year's Eve, actually! It looks pretty likely, actually. If not, I'll probably be up there ANYHOW because I'm invited to a party up there. It'd be good to see Bailey again! Kinda haven't seen her siiiinnnce....December 7? Something like that.

- I actually didn't go QUITE as broke as I thought I might this Christmas. Which means I can probably pay my rent alright. Yays! Regardless, I have a list of things to get once I have a decent amount of money again.

1. My own PS2 so I stop having to rely on the kindness of others for one.
2. Freaking GH3. And possibly GH2 as well. And maybe an extra controller.
3. Four tickets to the Celtic Women concert as belated Christmas presents. It's not til March 2 anyhow. ITWORKS.
4. Last Exile on DVD.
5. Idunno. Clothes? I kinda need more socks someday. XD

- Going back to Statesboro again this evening. So yeah. That's about it.

MUCH LOVE, FLIST. ♥

I keep telling myself "Today, I will post." And yet, inexplicably, each day goes by and I don't. Perhaps I'll begin, but quickly I'll erase it all. No point. What am I on about, why am I bothering?

Well, to prove to you lot, of at least the rather large percentage of you who I don't [alas] talk to daily on IM, that I have not, indeed, been abducted by little green aliens or eaten by some awful snow monster.

Not that there's any snow. Not that I even wore a jacket or thick sweather outside today. Oh, Georgia.

Perhaps I could also be updating to tell you that combining a southerner with incurably bad balance, ice, and narrow little blades strapped to her feet might not be the wisest course of action. Alright, alright, I exaggerate. I'm pretty decent compared to a lot of other people, but when I wipe out, I do a damn goo job of it. I ache and my left knee is all purple. Mind, I like the color purple aesthetically, just not when it's on my body as a result of internally busted blood vessles. I suppose, in the end, that's neither here nor there.

Hmm, I've not updated since afore Christmas, have I? Midnight Mass was amusing. I'm terrible, I forgot parts and fidgeted the whole time. The whole church thing just isn't something I do much anymore. And it's funny, because I've realized it's not for lack of faith, it's for want of sleeping in on Sunday mornings and the fact that Sunday evenings are spent flailing and telling myself that "In five minutes, I will start my homework," and then rarely actually getting around to it before midnight, before the next morning. That's just the way my life works, you know. But Mass was amusing. Catholics are funny. Because we have, what, some of the most strict ideas on sex and sexuality and birth control and shit, but no one actually seems to care that much. If you don't mention it, it's not an issue. Funny.

What else am I on about?

Oh, most people do a "Christmas haul" thing, don't they? I got clothes. Lots of nice, new clothes. I think I want more. I'm learning to walk in high heels. I got makeup. I got "Knitting for Dummies" and an awesome LotR calander which I have gone through and written in the birthdays of all the important people in orange sharpie. And told them who's month they were in, for the most part. I got my mum a popcorn popper and my dada a wafflemaker. Both were excellent ideas, in my opinion.

I'm starting to miss school and the hustle and bustle and constancy of activity, though not the stress load that inevitably brings. I have a 3.90. I'm content with that, I'll try and raise it a bit this semester. I want to go to Trinity, and then probably somewhere else after for a PhD. Somewhere big. Maybe in the US, maybe Oxford. I don't know. Somewhere. I still might go to Rice. I like Houston. But I want to see what it's like to live someplace that it snows.

The barrage of engagement announcements has decreased. Will it increase again for a few days after New Year's? I know Februrary will be full of them. Should I risk wearing heels to the block party tomorrow? I might die. But I can always come back and change them. It's supposed to rain.

I've hung out with my mum a lot this December. She's fun, she's seen a lot of places, done a lot of things, has a lot of ideas. Parents are funny like that, they know a lot and are really quite fun to talk to if you can get past the whole parent bit. Most adults are. Once they realize that you want to listen.

It's almost New Year's Eve, half an hour. I'll have no one to kiss at midnight tomorrow.

I'm happy. I hope this bodes well for the year ahead.

( Edit: New Years quiz thing )