Wandering Aimlessly

One of my major downfalls as a student is that I hate reading for class. I would far prefer to spend a few hours a week in lecture listening to the professor talk than to sit down and read a chapter in a book on the same subject. I don't know why. I can read for fun all day, every day, but when it's a text book, jst can't do it. I know a lot of people who would never go to class if they didn't have to -- just read and take exams on the reading. I don't read for class unless it's absolutely necessary, and even then sometimes I skimp on that. It's not a good practice, but it's a bad habit of mine. Well, today I heard my least-favorite words come out of my professor's mouth: "The book and the lectures don't cover the same materials at all, but you will be responsible for both." Yeah, I have to read an entire textbook on small group behavior. <.shudder> He already lost points by lecturing the entire time on the first day of class. Lol. And then he throws this at us. The nerve! <.g>

My second class of the day, natural settings laboratory, was cancelled. If I'd thought back to my days as a biology major taking chemistry classes left and right, lab classes don't meet the first week of school. Wish I'd remembered that before I walked all the way over to the psych building! Ah well, exercise, right?

Speaking of exercise, my third class of the day was my Intro to Jazz Dance. Eeep! Everyone's stick-thin and has danced before. I took ballet for three years in elementary school... lol. It looks like fun, if I can get over the intimidation factor. I should just embrace the fact that I am not a dancer and probably will not be impressing anyone in that class with my flexibility and movement, and just have a good time with it. It is my last semester, after all. And Shelley, if you get into the class, we can be goofballs together! Woohoo!

Outside of classes, I got a lot done on my scrapbook. I now have seven pages completed. Yay! Pretty soon the livingroom can stop looking like Hobby Lobby threw up all over it. <.g>

Posted by kate at 05:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Why does nail polish not want to stay on my nails for more than a day? I painted them Sunday evening. By yesterday, the corners were all chipped, so I did a little touch-up, but today, they chipped even more. It's time to take it all off. Is there a secret to keeping nail polish fresh and chip-free that I don't know about?

I went to visit Lance, my TA from junior year, today. It was soooo good to see him. Meg and I talked with him for an hour, at least. Turns out, we're neighbors. He lives about two blocks from each of us, right in the middle. Why is it that only gay men give me their numbers?

Posted by kate at 02:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Been a while, ey? I can't say I've been particularly busy with important things, which, I guess, is why I haven't updated this thing in a few days. Let's see. I worked on a webpage, started Internet Traffic School, went to the scrapbooking store to spend WAY too much on my Florida scrap book, went to Wal*Mart and spent WAY too much time buying a very few items, and then not even getting the important stuff, like food. I have a half-loaf of bread, some turkey and cheese, a box of cereal and a gallon of milk. And some Diet Coke. I need to go to the store, but I just hate shopping. ha ha.

I'm rewatching the Atlantis Concert. I love it. I watched the first half last night, before conking out during Tim McGraw. I just now watched JC laughing at Chris while singing This I Promise You in the acquarium about half a dozen times. SO my favorite part. And since we don't really get any channels (all three of them), watching DVDs and videos has been my sanity for the last few days. Especially since I've been avoiding going into campus or anywhere the thousands of students who just moved in might be swarming to, such as stores and restaurants in town. We had to go to the Wal*Mart out in Savoy, since we figured it might be far enough away to not be crowded.

So there's no point to this post. I told you I didn't do anything exciting. <.g> Oh, my gosh. I just about freaked out, seeing a commercial for Rudolf on CBS on Saturday, thinking "It's freaking August! They are NOT playing Christmas movies yet!" But, um... this is a tape. <.giggle> Which was taped Thanksgiving weekend. I suppose they were justified in playing Rudolf then.

Posted by kate at 09:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I can't wait for the day when I can live in one place for one full year. Move in, move out, move in, move out... it's all very tiring. I moved home from school, was home a week, moved to Florida. Moved home from Florida, was home two weeks, moved back to school (but different apartment). I'll move back home in December, and probably be there a few weeks and move someplace else in January. Hopefully that will be the end for a while.

Our apartment is really cute. I like it a lot. Our kitchen leaves a little to be desired, as it is smaller than the bathroom, but it'll do. I've pretty much got my room decorated, which makes me happy. I still have some unpacking to do, but for the most part, my room is settled. I need to get my kitchen stuff from Brad and start getting the kitchen situated, but it's coming along well! I did plug in my answering machine for the first time since Florida, and found it had four messages left over. Two for Andrea, one for Carolyn, and one was Stephen calling to have me come in to work early on my second-to-last day. <.sniff> I miss it all so much! I know, I know, get over it, Kate. Whatever. Lol. I get very attached to things. I get very involved in things. Hence the various "obsessions" I've been through in the last decade.

I bought all my books today, and then pretty much hung around the house. I watched Toy Story, which made me want to pull out my pictures and start getting them organized for my scrap book. I have about a three-inch tall stack of photos to fit into one little scrap book. ha ha. Going through pictures, in turn, made me want to talk to someone in Florida, so I called Jessica. She gave me the gossip (they finally got new CPs and Stephen is leaving Pizza Planet... sad!) and we chatted. I watched Bridget Jones' Diary (we don't really have cable, I can't get radio, and we have to dial up for internet until Monday, so there isn't much to do other than watch movies), and then went to see Signs. I liked it. It was creepy! But it was good. It had me laughing, had me tearing up, and had me hiding my eyes. For one film to put me through that many different emotions, it has to be pretty good. Then I went to see Aarti and gave her her (belated) birthday present. And now I'm very, very sleepy. G'night, y'all!

Posted by kate at 02:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If there is one word for our internet service here, it's infuriating. So far, it's been out probably as many mornings as it hasn't since I've been home. It usually comes on sometime in the early afternoon. This morning it was out, and now it's on sporadically. Like right now, instant messanger keeps getting service interrupted. And it's slow as anything. Grrr.

I suppose this morning, it had an excuse for being out. We had one hell of a storm last night. (there goes AIM again...) It was like the storms in Florida: rain pelting the windows so hard that you know if you went outside for thirty-two seconds, you'd come back looking like a drowned rat, (AIM again) thunder so loud it sets off car alarms, lightening so close it lights up the whole room through just one window. It was a doozy. (Oh, hello, AIM friends, you're all signing on. My service must be back.) I got up to a note telling me to call my parents in Michigan, so I did. They tell me the basement flooded, which gave them a late start on moving my sister in. So I should squeegee any more water that's come in into the drain in the laundry room. They also told me to go to the post office, but not to go the usual way because Smith and Colfax Roads are under water. And to start washing the rugs that got soaked, and if I got the chance, start emptying boxes that are all wet. Great timing, since today is my "pack for school" day, supposed to move in tomorrow. Luckily it looks like the room with all my school boxes (as well as most of the "junk" we'd rather not lose) didn't get soggy, but the laundry room and my dad's workshop were in two inches of water this morning. =/

In other news, 1776 at the Marriott Lincolnshire was wonderful. I'm not much of a history buff usually, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. "Sit down, John, sit down, John. Somebody open up a window! Sit down, John! For God's sake, John, sit down! ... It's hot as hell in Philadelphia!" <.g> I'm sad that I missed Damn Yankees, as its run was while I was in Florida, but Carousel is next. Maybe I'll be able to come home for it.

Posted by kate at 10:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I can't believe I have two days before I move down to school to begin the last semester of my college career. Like, wow. I'm still freaking out just a little bit about my future. I've started looking at possible jobs, but it's all extremely scary. At least to me.

I drew out my schedule. It's pretty much sucky. Not the classes, necessarily, but the times. I prefer to squish all my classes into as few hours as possible, be done with my day early. This semester, I have class until 6:30 twice a week and until 5 twice a week. I have huge gaps between classes. An hour and a half here, three hours there. Three hours is enough time to go home and get something done, but an hour and a half isn't so much. So we'll see what I figure out to make those gaps productive.

I'm very much looking forward to my narrative writing and intro to jazz dance classes. I'm also looking forward to my language development class, even though it really has nothing to do with what I want to do with my life. I'm taking a natural settings social psych lab, which is a long class (two hours, three times a week), but it should be helpful and hopefully a good course. I also have small group behavior, which I'm hoping will be career-relevant, and then the one class I'm dreading: psychology of sensory and perception. Ick. It's my biological psych requirement, and I just have this sinking feeling that I'm going to be suffering through it. I hope I'm wrong. I wish I could take another advertising or marketing class, but there just isn't any time. In fact, there are tons of classes I wish I could take. If I was hanging around spring semester, I'd have no trouble filling my schedule with fun, relevant and interesting classes. Too bad school costs so much money. <.g> I just can't afford to take a semester to have fun with.

Anyway, it should be a good three months, and I plan to make the most of it. Go Illini!

Posted by kate at 01:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I had a full-caffeine chocolate brownie frappucino at Starbucks tonight. I got ambitious, and now it's 2 am and I've accomplished a lot and am not tired. Hmm. I started scanning drawings I'd done in the past (due to the constant urging of a friend), and then made a bit of a page for them. I also updated my Players page a little. See? I've been a busy bee!

Posted by kate at 02:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I forgot about this in my last post. I was at Tammy's last night, and she had the radio out, and "Girlfriend" came on. Well, comments are made, ha ha ha, then it gets to the point where Kate can't keep quiet anymore and had to come out with a "now don't be mean!!" Of course, everyone turned on me and started teasing me. CFTC came up, and one guy (now this is the reason I'm posting this) said "Is that that thing in Chicago?" I turned and went "What thing in Chicago?" He said that he heard on the radio or something that Joey Fatone (and he had that whole name... for someone who thinks nsync is worthless, knowing Joey's full name makes me think maybe he did hear this somewhere) is hosting some kind of charity event in Chicago sometime coming up. That's all he knew. Didn't know what radio station he'd heard it on, when this thing was supposedly going to happen, nothing. Not to mention Joey's in New York all fall. I'm still completely out of the loop on NSYNC news, but has anyone heard about this? Or was he just totally confused?

Posted by kate at 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's been a few days since I last blogged, so I have a little catching up to do, I guess. Let's see. On Thursday I went down to Georgetown to visit Amy (after a 5-hour drive that shouldn't have taken more than about three, due to traffic, traffic and more traffic). I'm so glad I did. I don't know if Amy reads this or not, but if so, thanks so much for everything!! We chit-chatted a lot, reminisced about Florida. Watched 13 Ghosts at midnight, at her house which is arguably kind of in the middle of not a lot but corn, and it was freaky. Heehee. On Thursday, she showed me around Georgetown and Danville and we went to see Austin Powers: Goldmember which was pretty funny. I still like the second one better, but this one had me giggling quite a few times. After the movie, Amy's parents took us out to dinner at the Beef House, which was very tasty. We ate a LOT. A whole lot.

I drove home Saturday, and then Jess, Hollis and I went into the city to visit Jill and Mike. It was the Air and Water Show at Navy Pier, and Jill and Mike live RIGHT on Navy Pier. Like, directly acrss the street. So we had an excellent view of the planes and the fireworks. Jill and I got to catch up a little, which was great.

Then yesterday, Mom, Jess and I went to the Long Grove Art Fair, which was so, so much fun. I love art fairs! Mom bought a beautiful watercolor for the family room, which I totally fell in love with. Too bad I won't be living in this house much longer. After that, I went to Tammy and Dorothy's birthday barbecue. A lot of people I hadn't seen for a very long time were there. It was great to see everyone again, and Artie and Scott are coming down to Champaign for a Bears game in early September, so I'm going to see her again! Yay!

In less happy news, Dad printed out the listing of expenses I'll have when I move out, and we went through and assigned dollar amounts to each of them. Basically, there's almost no way I could survive on Disney pay, even if I cut out all entertainment (movies, going out with friends), vacations, any weekly savings, "new" furniture, etc. And scratch going to grad school. <.sigh> Not that I necessarily want to work for Disney, at least not doing a theme park job, but it's an easy starting point, honestly. Eeek. I'll have to do some thinking.

So. That's what I've been up to the last few days. <.g> Today I'm just bummin' around, doing not a lot. Going out to dinner with Jamie, Craig and Tammy tonight, but that's not until later. I'm gearing up for a lazy day. Woohoo!

Posted by kate at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Grrr. Just... grrr. Our internet sucks. Mom says, "It hasn't gone out all summer!" Well, since I got home, it's been out twice, and for extended amounts of time. Today we had a power blip, and out it went. Turns out it has something to do with the router, because if we directly hook up the computer to the cable modem, it works. But the network does not. So, that must be looked into tomorrow. That also means four of us are fighting over the downstairs computer. Grrr.

Today I went to the eye doctor's, got new contacts (which is wonderful... do it while I'm still on my dad's insurance), and went to dinner with my mom at Heng Wing. Had never actually eaten there, so that was cool. We shared orange chicken and chicken satay (?... some kind of peanut sauce, anyway). Yum.

I then spent the next few hours, after the couple hours on the phone with the internet help line, researching apartments. Dad is coming up with a sort of cost of living estimate for me, and it's my job to find out what apartments typically cost wherever I'm looking to live. The lowdown on that is that, so far, Orlando looks to be about half as much as living in either the Chicago or New York City areas. The nice thing about Chicago would be living at home first to save up some money... but I don't know. I guess it depends on where the jobs are. Everything, short of living at home, is too expensive if I don't have any source of income. <.g>

In other news, I cleaned up my sidebar a little. It took me an impossibly long time to get that little picture button thingy done. If I get motivated again, I plan on making them for the other two bands. We'll see. =)

Posted by kate at 12:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Want to become a Hollywood starlet? Change your name to Kate. This moniker is working for Blue Crush's surfing hottie Kate Bosworth, who at 19 is this season's go-to gal for photo shoots and magazine covers. And history proves the trend. Last year, Kate Beckinsale stirred hearts in Pearl Harbor and Serendipity. In 2000, Kate Hudson ruled as the groupie with a heart of gold in Almost Famous. And the list goes on.

From Entertainment Weekly. I remember the days when the only nickname for Kathryn was Katie. Or Kathy. Never Kate. I went through junior high giving up on correcting my teachers, just letting them call me Katie. And then there was the year when I thought Kate was plain and boring and I insisted on going by Kathryn. Or the week I went by my middle name. I started to like my name when I realized there weren't a whole lot of us out there... until now, apparently. Kates are popping up everywhere!

Posted by kate at 10:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I love it when people come to visit, because I get to play tourist and go into the city to do things I never, ever think to do when I'm sitting around complaining to myself about the boringness of Illinois. My cousins are here for a couple days. My aunt and uncle were out a babysitter for the week, so they drove the girls out here from Kansas City to stay with us and their grandparents.

Yesterday, we all went in to my dad's parents' house to visit. My grandparents are so cute. My grandpa went out and got White Castle Sliders for us, which I don't typically like, but he was so excited about it that I had to enjoy them.

Today, Mom, Erin, Emmie and I went downtown. We took a River Bus down the Chicago River from the train station to Navy Pier, which was fun. At Navy Pier, we ate and rode the swings, then took a Water Taxi down the lake to the Museum Campus. The Water Taxi was going against the wind, and we were warned that it might be a bit of a wild ride, but boy was it ever! We started out getting sprinkled by the waves, and then it was like someone was holding a hose on us. We got smart and scooted to the front of the boat, where people weren't getting drenched. It was too little too late, though, and we were a bit soggy. <.g>

We went to the Field Museum of Natural History, which I hadn't been to in a few years. I really enjoyed it. They have Sue the dinosaur there, which was funded mostly by Walt Disney World. Exciting stuff! Remember the Sue stuff at Animal Kingdom in 2000, Carolyn? We went through the Chocolate exhibit, which was the history of chocolate. More interesting than I would have thought! That got us totally in the mood for some chocolate, but that would have to wait for later. We then learned about dinosaur eggs (the Tiniest Giants) as well as a whole exhibit on Africa, which was very well-done. All in all, an enjoyable trip.

After the museum, we took the free Trolly back to the train, and the train home. I created two little monsters by showing them how we bring the tree swing in my back yard up to the top of the monkey bars and swing off... probably not the safest thing to do with a 9 and 11 year old, but they had a blast. Lol. And after dinner we went to Ben and Jerry's for Mint Chocolate Chunk all around. <.g>

I guess this is the next best thing to being in Florida. At least having company keeps me entertained, instead of sitting on the floor making my scrap book (which leaves me surrounded by pictures and getting teary-eyed over the memories). I did miss my eye doctor appointment today, because my mom forgot to inform me that she'd made me an appointment. Oops. Dentist tomorrow, eye appointment rescheduled for Wednesday, and then I need my hair cut before school and I think I'll be set. <.g>

Posted by kate at 10:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have been such a bum at home. Today was mildly productive. I went to the orthodontist (oh what joyous things they will be doing to my teeth in the next few weeks), the bank, and the car wash, then went to my grandma's house for lunch. It was nice. Then I came home, cleaned for my cousins who will be staying with us tomorrow, and went out for coffee with Meghan. Also very nice. <.g>

Okay, today was more than mildly productive. I also started researching grad schools. I don't know if I want to go, or what I want to do with myself after graduation, but grad school is one possibility. For right now, I was looking at schools in Florida. I really do want to live there, if only for a few years. Here's the dilemma: I want to be in Orlando. All my friends are in Orlando, the places we hang out are in Orlando, I know Orlando. It's home. If I'm looking at grad schools in Florida just to be in Florida (not because they have superior programs or whatnot), the schools that even have programs I want are in either Gainesville or Tampa. Tampa's about an hour and a half from Orlando, Gainesville almost three hours. Is it worth it to go to school there, as opposed to someplace else that might have a better program, just to be in Florida if I'm going to be that far from Orlando? And if grad school is just a by-the-way, pass-the-time activity I'm doing while in Florida, is it worth it to go at all if I'm going to be that far from Orlando? Or do I just say to heck with making sense of things, I can work for Disney one day a week to keep my status, spend weekends in Orlando and just go to school at one of those places? Ahhhh!!! Decisions that will effect the rest of my life! And if I'm going to go to grad school at all, I need to take the GRE's, like, now.

I also need to get recommendations from professors, start looking for a job, just in case, and concentrate on school. I have a feeling this next semester is going to be a full one, and not necessarily full with fun stuff. But this is my future, so I better be excited about it.

Posted by kate at 12:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It's always interesting to be the newcomer into a set way of doing things. Every time I come home for an extended period of time after an extended period of time being away (be it Florida or just school), it's an adjustment. I get used to things being "my" way, and then I have to do them my family's way all of a sudden. Not that it's a bad thing, just... an adjustment.

I watched Driven today, which so made me cry. Darn you, Joe Sr.! Oh, and happy birthday, JC! I hope his day was full of wonderfulness. I also saw Joey on the View, so it was quite an *NSYNC morning. I guess I had some catching up to do. <.g> I can't wait to watch the tape, Shelley! I so very much wish I could see Joey in Rent. It's my second-favorite musical (behind Les Miserables, which nothing will surpass), and I can imagine Joey's excellent in it. Too bad moolah doesn't grow on trees.

I talked to Heather today, which was so much fun. I miss that girl. I miss ALL my roomies. Carolyn, Amy, Andrea, Heather... you girls were the greatest roommates ever! And Tonya, our adopted roommate. I'm so glad that this time around, I really hung out with my roommates. Last time, not at all. Except for Meghan, but she was a friend before Disney, so that doesn't really count.

The sad thing about all of this is that when I blogged in Florida, I felt like I had something at least somewhat interesting (at least to me!) to write about. Here... bo-ring. I apologize. <.g> I'm so very glad I blogged all through Florida, though. I went through today and printed out everything I'd written, and I have 30 pages of memories now. What an excellent system this is!

Posted by kate at 10:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Did I mention that I miss Florida? <.g> I just miss everyone so much. Amy's here in Illinois, so I definitely have to get in touch with her. I really miss Heather a lot. I just got along with her so well. I would love it so much if she could move down to FL with me and get an apartment. <.nudge, nudge>. And Carolyn, I know I'll talk to you, but waaah! It was so much fun being in the same time zone, let alone the same apartment. And Karen, I'm so glad I met her at the Science Center. Why isn't anyone online for me to chat with! Where is everyone? Huh??

Oh, look, *NSYNC Chili's commercial! Lol! I so have watched absolutely zero television (except for middle-of-the-night Nick at Night) all summer.

I finished updating my CFTC Weekend report. It's not as detailed as it would have been, and I'm sure I've forgotten stuff, but at least it's written down so that I can look back in five years and remember the basics.

And now I'm going to go through and print out all of my entries from all of Florida so that I can keep them in my scrap book.

Posted by kate at 09:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wow. I'm home. It's... weird. Sad. Not that I don't love home, don't love my family, didn't miss any of it, but I have that same heavy, sad feeling I had when I finished my first program back in 2000. I love Florida and everything being there encompasses, and I miss that so much. I have so very much to write about, and I hope I can remember it all. I just got through my last week, so here's the Trip Home:

Saturday
Animal Kingdom Lodge has the most beautiful pool ever. We decided to spend the morning laying out and swimming. Kate got a wee bit toasty. Ha ha. The first thing my dad asked me when he saw me on Tuesday was where was my tan. I told him I worked seven days a week and only went out at night, that's where it was. Well, on my last day at Disney, I found my tan. With a little added pinkness. Ha ha. Ah well. It was a wonderful and relaxing morning.

I had to take Jess and Dad to the airport, which I did. Then coming home, signs kind of just stop directing you to Disney World, so I went by my exit, turned around, and ended up getting on 417 going north instead of south. I had to drive about five miles before I found an exit, and I wasn't entirely sure that was the wrong direction, but I turned around anyway. I was getting a little panicky, since I had to get back to meet Mom for dinner at EPCOT, so I was tense and looking for any sign telling me that I was headed for Disney World. I was going 72 mph on a 65 road, but apparently (even though I was being passed), I was keeping pace with a police man about a quarter mile up the road. Well, he slowed way down, and I saw him do so, so I slowed a little bit, but passed him. BIG MISTAKE. There go the lights. Yeah, five years and I'd never been so much as pulled over. On my very last day in Florida, I get my first ticket. GRRRRRR. It pisses me off, because he told me he was on his way to an accident, and the roads were wet and he had to pull me over, but if he'd been on his way to an accident, there's no way he'd have taken the time to pull me over. Turns out he gave me a ticket for Violation of Right of Way, which I did NOT violate (I stayed in my lane the whole time... what right of way was I violating??), I was just speeding (even though it was ONLY 7 miles over the speed limit). I think I was an easy target, being from out of state so that I can't go to traffic school, can't take him to court... just have to pay the damn thing. Eighty freaking dollars. I don't HAVE eighty dollars. So that was the suck-ass-iest way to end my summer.

On to happier topics after that vent. I went back to the hotel, met Mom, and we made it to EPCOT in time for our dinner in Mexico. It was very yummy. Our fabulous timing struck again, and we got out right in time for Tapestry of Dreams, the updated Tapestry of Nations parade from 2000. After the parade, we went to see Shockwave, this awesome barching band-ish group that plays at the American Pavillion. We also got to see the World Trade Center flag, which is hanging in the American Experience. That was very cool. Very sad, but very cool.

Sunday
Left Animal Kingdom Lodge and headed for Daytona. I'd never been to Daytona. I'd been to Clearwater, Venice, and Cocoa Beaches, so Daytona was the last of the major central Florida beaches to go to. We got to drive on the beach and finally found parking. We laid out a bit, but then played in the water for the majority of the time. We met a very talkative eight-year-old, which was fun. After the beach, we drove to Atlanta. We arrived around 9:30 and pretty much fell into bed.

Monday
Mom and I met Carolyn for lunch at Logans, and then Carolyn took us on a tour of Atlanta. We went to Centennial Park, which was the park they made for the 96 Olympics. That was cool. And hot. We then went back to the CNN center for a tour, which was very interesting. Great tour. I highly recommend it if anyone is going to be in Atlanta. <.g> After the tour, Carolyn took us on a driving tour of Atlanta, and then back to Logan's to get her car. We encountered some Authentic Atlanta Traffic, and then Mom and I took our Chick-Fil-A to Stone Mountain for the laser show. Very enjoyable.

Tuesday
We left Atlanta and headed to Chattanooga, TN. In Chattanooga, we went to Lookout Mountain, the site of one of the turning point battles in the Civil War. We took the Incline Railroad a mile up the side of the mountain, which was scary. At the top, you're at a 72% incline. Wich means you can see right down the side of the mountain from your seat on the train. Eeeek! We took a walk and heard a program on a civil war artist, which was extremely interesting. Then we headed back down the mountain and to Ruby Falls, which is a cave inside Lookout Mountain. We took an elevator down into the side of the mountain and walked through a tunnel, past cool rock formations and whatnot, to the Ruby Falls room, which is a room the waterfall carved out over thousands of years. Beautiful. It was an hour-long tour to and from the falls, and was well worth the $11. Lol. After Ruby Falls, we got back in the car and headed to Bowling Green, KY. We hit some awful traffic (due to an overturned semi... bad stuff), but made it to Bowling Green in time for dinner at a cute little steak house by our hotel. I had the yummiest baked potato I'd had in years. Mmm-mmm.

Wednesday
Final Day. We left the hotel and ate at the Waffle House. I'd never eaten at a Waffle House. It was tasty. The rest of the day was spent on the road. We hit some more traffic, lost a piece of my car (oops... hoping it wasn't too important), but made it home more or less in one piece.

And now I'm left spotting Florida license plates and missing the heat and sun and friends and everything I had to drive away from four days ago. =( I'm going back. That's for sure. My mom told my dad on their way down to get me that she suspected I was going to move to Florida, and I think I might, at least for a few years. I'm not sure I want to raise a family there, because I want my children to still see all the magic in Disney that I did. I know that's the sappiest reason ever, but I still think it's important. If I get that internship in January, I'm definitely going. And if I don't, maybe I'll look for jobs in Orlando anyway.

I miss Florida!!

Posted by kate at 08:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My Final Week on Program:

Monday
It was so long ago, I can't remember what I did. That makes me sad. I'll come back to Monday.

Tuesday
I didn't have to work until 2, so I went to Animal Kingdom Lodge to check my parents in. After that, Heather and I went to Wal*Mart to make copies of pictures and whatnot. When I walked in the door, Andrea handed me the phone. It was my manager, asking me to come into work early. Again. Lol. By this point, it's become a joke. I'm either called in on my day off, called in early, or asked to stay late constantly. And he knows I'll do it. So I did. Then I spent my entire break showing and looking at pictures of CFTC with Jessica and Stephen. That was lots of fun. Mom, Dad and Jess (to avoid confusion, Jess=sister, Jessica=friend) came to visit me at work. They videotaped me at my register, woohoo, fun stuff. I had to close, but we finished really quickly. Jess met me back at Pizza Planet, and I brought her back to Vista Way.

Jess, her roommate Amanda, Jessica and I then went to the Roxy. We met Heather, Jamie, Jamie's roommate, Diana and Diana's friends there. It was a good time. We danced, drank Diet Cokes, and basically just had fun. We each got boys dirty dancing with us, which was almost laugh-able. My boy (who I couldn't see because he was behind me the whole time) had zero rhythm. Now, I'm not the world's most coordinated dancer, but I can usually keep a beat. Lol. Then we went upstairs to spy upon the VIP section from above, do a little star-searching. Nada.

(Update: The next day at work, Diana informed me that one Mr. JC Chasez was in attendence that very night, as she was shown his car by a bouncer and saw the gaggle of girls waiting for him to come out, but none of us had been aware at the time. Damnit.)

Got home at 3:00.

Wednesday
Got up super-duper early to meet my family at Animal Kingdom Lodge for breakfast, and then over to Animal Kingdom. Didn't have to work until 2 again, so I had the whole morning. We got to the park right in time to see the Lion King Show (actually titled "Festival of the Lion King"), which is my favorite show. Oh, I love it so much. Very glad I got to see it one last time. We went from there right into the Tarzan Show (actually titled "Tarzan Rocks"), which I also love very much. We ran into Tonya, who was working the show. She sat us in VIP, which was quite exciting. <.g> Billy was the lead singer, which was great, because he's my favorite. And Tarzan was good. I was impressed. Very glad I got to see it one last time. I got one last frozen coffee at Safari Coffee (my old home in 2000), and then off to work. Turns out Stephen had called me in early again, but I hadn't been home to get the call. <.giggle>

That night, Jessica, Diana, Brandi, Doris, Joan and I (aka the CP's) went out to dinner at Chili's with Jill, Christina, Laura and Stephen (aka the managers). It was seriously one of the best nights of my program. They put us in one of those big booths, but Laura made us sit minors at one end and "majors" at the other, which stuck Diana and I with all the managers. Heehee. There were two-for-one drinks, too, which was excellent. We chatted for three hours, and ate some food in that time, too. Our waitress was a bit aggrevated with our lateness, but whatever. We were having fun.

After dinner, we went outside and got our picture taken, and then Jill and Stephen told us no one could move, and the took off running towards their cars. They came back carrying bags for the four of us who were leaving, which then made most of us cry. That was the sweetest thing ever. <.sniff>

Thursday
Last day. My manager told me on Wednesday that he wanted me to come in at noon instead of four. I spent the morning packing, and then went in to work. SADNESS! I was on register for the last time. I had to work until 9, which was a bummer on my last day (only two or three people work that late, and closing busing is the crappiest job). Ah well. Then I got my very first reprimand ever, which was the suckiest way to end a program I can think of. Revenue said that last Wednesday my bank was $29 over what my paperwork said it was, which I don't think is right. You count your money, then input it into the computer, which matches what you input with your sales. If your bank matches the computer within $5, you print the paperwork, sign it, put it in the deposit bag and send it to revenue. My bank matched the computer, but now they're saying it didn't. I would have had to make a mistake in cash handling during the day, and then make the SAME mistake in counting my money (which I count twice) in order for my count to match the computer but be off by revenue. Which is why I think there's a mistake in revenue's computer. Jill didn't make me sign the reprimand, so I didn't officially get it, but it's still on my record card that I have a cash handling infraction, which SUCKS. To put things in perspective, EVERYTHING you do is on the record card, every time you call in sick, every time you're late, everything. In two years, I called in sick once (in 2000), forgot to clock out once (in May), and then this. Most people's record cards are like 8 pages long. Mine had three lines. So grrr. I want Jill or Stephen to look into that reprimand, but I don't know if they will. Anyway. I said goodbye to everyone, which was hard.

After work, it was the last Margaritaville/Blue Stone Circle outing. Heather, Michelle and I had a bit of a time getting to Margaritaville, but we finally made it. Everyone was there, and I'm going to forget people, but here's who I remember: Carolyn, Heather, Amy, Michelle, Jen, Lisa, Luis, Joaquin... okay, there were lots more. Help, C? Anyway. Heather started crying, which made me start crying, which was a bad thing. But we all sang and danced one last time, and then headed home. Really, really late. We had to finish packing, so we didn't get to bed until about 4, I think.

Friday
Move-out day. Had to get up at 6:30 to pack up the car and finish up the last-minute cleaning, as our inspection was between 8 and 9. There was more crying, some videotaping, and a few pictures taken, which I'm a bit scared to see. It was bad. Bad, bad, bad. I drove to Animal Kingdom Lodge, crying the entire time. I met my family and unloaded half of the back seat so everyone could fit. Then we headed over to MGM so I could drop off my last costumes and pick up my evaluation. The minute I walked into Pizza Planet, Jessica and Brandi, who were both on register, burst into tears. That, of course, made me cry. Again. So we said our good-byes again, and then Stephen came out. Big hug and more tears. He told me that if he's not managing at TSPP come Christmas or Thanksgiving or whenever I go back to visit, he's going to make sure I get to work in his location. That made me sad, too. He took me back to get my evaluation, and then it was good-bye for real. <.sigh>

We (my family and I) went to Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: Play It, then went through One Man's Dream again, which is probably one of my favorite things at MGM. Chronicles Walt Disney's life. Very cool. We then ate at Backlot Express, and then off to Magic Kingdom. We rode Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, and Big Thunder Mountain. It poured rain and we got drenched, so we headed back to the hotel a little soggy.

And so ends my Summer 2002 Walt Disney College Program.

Posted by kate at 07:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)