...there are no words...

I am so angry right now.
No, I have not been wronged. I am fine, but this
poor family will never get to see their young son play tag. They will never get to have him taste his birthday cake. A whole person's worth of potential trashed at two years old.
And why? Because some idiot went out for a drive when his blood alcohol level was THREE TIMES the legal limit. And no, this was not his first offense. Apparently he has been arrested for drunken driving several times.
My father says that the attitude of many of these repeat offenders is not one of remorse when someone is finally hurt by their actions. Instead they say something like "It's not my fault. They shouldn't have been on the road when I was driving."
I find very little room in my heart for people who knowingly put others in danger on a regular basis. I see no point for them to exist in society. If I had my way, these dangerous people would be locked in a closet somewhere and forgotten about.

Do me a favor, don't drink and drive. And don't let someone else. If you have to knock them down and wrestle them for their keys, do it. If you have to call the police on your best friend or a family member, do it. Don't be that person who wishes they had intervened. And if you're one of these people who thinks they will never hurt anyone and takes the road after a night of carousing, give me your name and address. You have a closet with a nice big padlock waiting for you.

Particulars...particulars

So, moving into a house with some people or rooming with someone in an apartment is...well...complicated. I don't exactly have a bed to take with me (my big full-sized stays at home until I move permanently. That thing is HUGE and HEAVY and difficult to maneouver) and while I have a desk waiting for me at my grandparents', I do not have a desk chair! Figuring out how to swing these things is a bit of a challenge, but I'm sure we'll figure it out. I'm so glad that my financial aid is going to cover not only tuition and books but rent as well. I'll still plan on working (hopefully as a graduate assistant!) so I can save up and pay for incidentals.
I'm still in awe that this looks like it could happen. I never thought that there would be any chance of affording this. I wasn't sure I'd even get in!
The only thing I'm worried about is staying on top of all that work. I'm doing the non-thesis track (Margaret...I admire you for doing yours!) because I don't know how I'd do that on top of my internship and my internship project and my certification exam etc. I'm determined to be organized and on top of things. I found an amazing planner at the university bookstore (and I can't find it anywhere else so I'm probably stuck!) that has the days in vertical columns with the goals for the day on the top and then an hourly schedule underneath, with an extra column on the side for goals for the week. I plan on having some sort of filing folder system for each class (four the first semester; 10 hours...ugh!) and of course my syllabi go on the wall like last spring (easy to find them and a quick reference that way!).
I'm thinking about a bulletin board or a marker board for big to-dos but I'm not sure. What do you guys think? How did you get through school/grad school?

I got in.

Yeah...that's what I said! I'm going to grad school, guys! Looking at places to stay now and hopefully will move in around late July, early August.

Many things

Okay...I think it's best I bullet this. Life has been crazy behind the scenes!

• I semi-recently came to the conclusion that Mom's right, I would be a ridiculously good child life specialist. I have applied to a graduate program in child life, and received my unofficial acceptance email yesterday.


• Currently am awaiting my official acceptance letter, which will come once all my recommendation letters and my statement of interest/goals (sent today) are received.


• Also currently am trying to find a place to live while at grad school in case I 1) do not receive enough financial aid or 2) do not put in my application soon enough to receive housing. If I get in to traditional housing, I may end up rooming with a freshman. Bummer for poor roomie, having to live with a 23 year old grad student with no interest in partying whatsoever.


• Also discovered recently that there is an orientation a week from Friday morning (gee, thanks for the advance notice) so will be going down there to investigate campus and such. Pick up a newspaper and check the residentials, see if a kind family has a garage apartment.


• Incidentally, learned this week what 420-friendly means. Craigslist, you live up to your shady reputation. Yes, you do.


• Feel the need to say that 1) I discovered at a concert in 2007 sitting on the lawn with my dad that I am allergic to second-hand marijuana smoke and 2) it's illegal, guys, get over it and 3) there have reportedly been studies recently that show that it is much more harmful and addictive than originally thought. Therefore, I am not, nor shall I ever be, 420 friendly. Sorry Mary Jane.


• Am nannying for a very sweet little girl who does/says such funny things. We sing Skinnamarink a lot, but she is little and doesn't sing it all. I sing skinnamarinky-dinky-dink skinnamarinky....and she fills in "DO!" and so on. Today she hit her head, I hugged her and comforted her like a good nanny, and we said "I LOOOVE you" until she stopped crying (not long) and then she walked off saying "I love you in the morning and in the afternoon..." Can I just say that I am an excellent influence, here? I have her singing Sharon, Lois, and Bram, saying "Awesome" and am slowly but surely teaching her that when she wants "Kate" to do something, she says "You do it, Kate" not "I do it?" (that's right, the little darling has her pronouns confused! I'm really mean, too. Whenever she says "I swing? I swing?" I stay where I am and say "you are swinging!" We go back and forth like this a lot. [back and forth...swing...inadvertent pun!] Eventually I say "who do you want to swing?" and she says "Kate?" and I say "then say 'you swing, Kate'" and she says something that kind of sounds like that. Progress is slow...). I don't currently get to take her anywhere because her carseat is complicated and they keep that in the car. Am praying that this summer when baby brother is born and mommy is home and needs her out of her hair, I'll be able to take her to the zoo and the water park and the gardens and the library (two as of Sunday and love books) and the regular park...etc.
• I went to a plant swap on Saturday and got rid of about 75 irises. You can't tell.
• Also received butterfly weed seeds, purple aster plant, spearmint plant, phlox plant, and white oxalis (to go with my two pink ones).
• Going to take classes this summer and hopefully volunteer at a camp for children with medical needs (sadly, I can't make it to Camp Broncho, the asthma camp, but perhaps can do the sickle cell camp) and at the childrens hospital with the child life department.

So, that is my life in bullet points right now. Kudos if you kept up!

When it gets warm again and I've had a chance to work in the yard more I will show garden pics. Seedlings are dropping off one by one so my cutting garden may consist of...coneflowers.