800 miles... no biggie

Friday morning, we departed Peru for a trip to Columbus, Ohio.

[Midwest highways. Bugs on windshield. "Very white cloud."]

The original plan was to get home sometime on Saturday.
Instead, I got back (from Chicago) on Sunday afternoon.
And the trip meter read 804.7 miles.

I love it when plans change.

Things started out normally enough. Amanda and I had been planning for some time to go see We The Living and Cavashawn play this show together at OSU, and since my mother now enjoys both bands, she wanted to go as well. Since Ama is down in Evansville, she drove up and met Mom and I at the hotel in Columbus. The show was originally supposed to be outside, but thanks to a recent shooting in the area (great...) the show got moved inside to a place called Skye Bar. We hit up Panera for dinner before going into Skye, and even though we'd originally been told we could leave after we entered, it turns out this wasn't the case. It was still kind of early but we decided to go on up anyway. 3/4 of WTL and 1/4 of Cavashawn were there at the time, but almost no one else. The beefy security dudes were taking up all the couches, but we found another one to chill on for awhile.

After deciding we'd be able to sneak back in, we went to Wendy's for a little bit with some of the guys so they could grab food. Ama and I bought Frosties for those present, either because we're nice, or because we're huge suckers. I'm not sure which. Entertaining conversations ensued. Those guys are witty. ["Yeah, I pretty much had to sell my soul to the devil to get days off work for Summerfest." "You work for the devil?!" "Not what I meant..." "You never get Christmas off, do you?"] We trekked back to Skye after awhile, got some Aleve from the car for Mom, watched some mediocre breakdancers outside, listened to a little Bon Iver, and slipped back in the back way. Once we gave mom the painkillers and realized how ridiculous the music was, Mom gave her blessing for us to disappear again, so out we went. Meanwhile, Benjamin had gotten into a verbal altercation with a venue staffer, who informed him that white t-shirts were not allowed in the venue. Something about gangs. I guess the Plain White T's can't even play there. Hello? Hello? Is this thing on? Anyway... Ben was pissed and the aftermath of that was both fascinating and frightening.

After spending some time away, we realized we should head back up. We may also have been driven away by the stench of the giant garbage compacter. We had a slightly more difficult time getting back in, and Matt helped, but the security at the front even gave Matt hell. He looks different from his ID photo, and the guy wouldn't stop going on about it. I don't even know how we managed to get back in without much crap. Later, we found out that when Scott went outside to meet friends, the security at the door wouldn't let him back in and made him get in the line! Are you joking? Basically, the staff at Skye was rude and insanely disrespectful to the bands, who did absolutely nothing wrong. Actually, Skye in general was ridiculous. It's usually more of a dance club bar, so the music they played when bands weren't on was pretty wretched and far too loud. We could barely handle it, and may or may not have consumed a slightly more than reasonable amount of Labalt Blue Light throughout the night in order to survive without killing anyone.

The first two bands played way too long, far longer than any opener should have. The first was a solo country guy, and the second was a band that only played covers. I can't remember their names, and I don't really care. The crowd was trashy and annoying, the music was painfully loud, our feet were sticking to the disgusting floor, and I was getting really tired of seeing girls who seemed to have mistaken a shirt for a dress. I was in such a bad mood after the first two bands that I didn't even know what to do. Thankfully we decided to work our way through the dancing bodies to the front, which turned out to be a good plan, since surprisingly, no one was running into us there. Matt, Ben, and Jeremy came over by us to watch Cavashawn's set as well, so at least we had familiar faces by us. (Also there was a die-hard Cavashawn fan and her friends to our left, so that helped greatly as well.) The guys put on a good show and we had fun dancing around. I can't remember the setlist and I'm too lazy to figure out, but they played all the usuals plus a brand new song called "All the Lonely Girls." We loved it. It's got this fun poppy sound in the beginning and verses that go into a driving beat in the chorus, and what lonely girl doesn't love a song about her plight? Haha... but yes, it's a great song. The crowd enjoyed them a lot.

[Just trying to survive this place...]

By this time the buzz was taking over and I was in a much better mood thanks to Cavashawn's set, so Amanda and I danced a little and I even let Mom dance without me begging her to stop. We The Living came on after a little bit. The crowd did at least know their songs pretty well, and by that point I didn't even care that people were running into me. Their set is actually a little hazy in my memory because I was just dancing and enjoying myself and not really caring anymore at that point. At least we were having a good time with some good music. I think Jer even laughed at us from the stage. Thanks, pal. Also, they played Joy, which is always amazing. I hadn't heard it properly in awhile, so it was great to see them play it again. They didn't play History, but that was understandable with the setting. It was nice to see the crowd really into them, but I wish I could see a show where the crowd is both into them, and not plastered. Oh well. Good performance.

After they were done we escaped the crowd and hung out near the couches by the merch. There were a lot less people over there and we had some room to breathe. We just hung out for awhile, had several conversations at very high volume thanks to the pounding music, then helped carry equipment and merch tubs to the elevator, and eventually outside. While we were lugging stuff to the trailer, some random drunk dude asked if I was a groupie. I love getting that question. Love it like a knife to the skull. Anyway, while we were doing this, we also met Trevor from the band Mayday. They're friends with Cavashawn and live in Columbus, and I really like their music. He was rather profane and hilarious. Cool dude. At some point in here, someone from Cavashawn asked if we were going to Chicago the next night. We said we weren't, but they're persuasive, so somehow we ended up agreeing to go. We are ridiculous. Mom opted out but told us to do whatever our little hearts desired, so it was set. I don't even know what else was going on in this time, it was so late and I was exhausted... I know Cavashawn got excited over the bags of fresh fruit that Mom brought for them, JP was doing a balancing act on empty beer kegs, and Matt was refusing to give the name of some pizza place in Chicago. Meanwhile, Van-Go wouldn't start so they had to pull up Clifford to give him a jump. We decided to leave then, said our goodbyes, and went back to the hotel. We discussed the logistics of our unplanned Chicago trip and fell into bed around 4 am.

After a whopping 4 hours of sleep, we hauled ourselves out of bed and got ready for the day. We'd decided that we would all drive to my aunt's house in Lafayette, my dad could pick up my mom, Amanda would leave her car there, and we'd take mine up to Chicago. On the way to Lafayette, I rode with Ama. As usual, I have no idea how we passed the time in the car. We're really good at doing nothing and not being bored by it. At some point after we'd crossed back into Indiana, we found ourselves gaining on a van with a trailer in the left lane. After about 30 seconds of "Is that...? No. Yeah it is. No it isn't. Wait... yep. That's totally Clifford." we passed it on the right and discovered that we were indeed cruising by Cavashawn. We smiled, waved, laughed, mocked them slightly, and carried on. Fun times. Once we got to Lafayette, we said goodbye to Mom and transferred over to my car to set out for Chicago. They were playing that night at Reggie's Rock Club, which is on the south side. The place is actually part of a 3-room establishment I think, with a small room, a record store, and the larger room where the guys played. We found the place without trouble but were a little wary of all the sketchy people wandering the neighborhood. We went inside the smaller room and hung out for a bit while the guys finished dinner and debated coffee, but a search on Jesse's phone turned up no nearby establishments, so we sat around. Eventually they needed to change and make a setlist and do whatever else it is that bands do before they play, so Ama and I went over to the room they were playing in. The first band, Luster, was just finishing up. I think they sounded good, but I don't completely recall, so they must not have been that memorable. I probably just wasn't paying much attention.

This show had the best sound we'd ever heard for Cavashawn. We shoved aside our standard "Is it creepy to be in front?" issues and did stand up front, and thankfully we could hear so well. It was nice to actually hear all parts of the music evenly, normally the bass is a little harder to hear, and clear vocals were wonderful. Something went awry with Jesse's drums at one point, so we got to hear Background again, which was even better with the good sound. Fantastic song. We also loved All the Lonely Girls even more the second time around. Apparently someone at the venue later told them that the song was single material, and I think I agree. It's catchy and fun and so applicable. They put on a really good show and definitely seemed to make some new fans, so that was great.

Once they were done, Ama and I decided to watch the rest of the show from these bench things at the side of the room. The Obstacles were pretty good, but they didn't stand out to me. They just seemed like another dime-a-dozen young pop/punk band, but it may have been because I don't really follow that type of music as much. The headlining band was The Butterfly Assassins. As they were setting up, we decided they had some potential to sound good, as there were keyboards and a female cello player, among other things. They also had a bass player who looked eerily like John Paul Roney at times. I did end up enjoying their set, they were definitely doing their own thing, and were pretty fun to watch. I think I would have liked them better with slightly different vocals, but for the most part it was really good. Apparently there was a later show in the venue that night, so we got promptly kicked out of Reggie's after the Butterfly Assassins played. That seems to be a recurring theme when we see shows in Chicago. I like the earlier shows better though, they're less exhausting for everyone involved. We decided that Reggie's is our favorite of the series of smaller venues we've been to lately- the sound was good and not overpoweringly loud, it was clean, our feet didn't stick to the floor, the set-up was cool, and the staff was nice. (Hear that, Skye? Mop your floor and send your security to anger management. Thanks.)

The remainder of me and Ama's time in the Windy City can be loosely summed up by the following list: driving in the rain, parking hell, turkey/gouda/apple sandwiches, music video narration, solid sleep, creaky floor, fiesta music, pigeons on crack, toast with jelly, dirty feet, and vinyl. I think that more or less covers it.

We left Chicago at about 1pm (Central) on Sunday, and got back to Lafayette around 4:30 (Eastern). From there we took off for our respective homes. I took the long way around out of Lafayette so I could drive through Starbucks and get "bucked up" as Scott so eloquently put it at Reggie's the day before. Cut me some slack, I hadn't had a caramel macchiato in 2 weeks. It was a nice day so the drive home was good, and I rocked some Red Hot Chili Peppers from the iPod. When I got home and saw how many miles got put on the car over the weekend, I just laughed.

Life is good.

_________

p.s. - Everytime I say I'm just going to type up a short recap blog, it turns into something like this. I am way too verbose. I'd be amazed if anyone actually reads these things. Is the detail just too excruciating? Let me know.

p.p.s. - Tomorrow night we leave for Los Angeles. WHAT? I'm packing right now. How did this come up so darn fast?

three years later

Three years ago today was a major turning point in my life.
On May 7^th, 2005, I saw Lifehouse live for the first time.

What? A concert? Big deal, you’re thinking.
Actually, it’s a huge deal. Beyond huge.
If that concert, and the events that followed, had not happened…
I cannot begin to fathom how different things would be.

Allow me to explain.
Some know the whole story.
Most don’t.
Here’s [the short novel of] how Lifehouse changed my life.

I can still remember the first few times I heard “Hanging by a Moment” on the radio in my freshman year of high school. I had no idea who sang it, but I knew I loved it. Finally I caught the music video on VH1 one day, and discovered that the name of the band was Lifehouse. I got their album No Name Face and quickly fell in love with it. Over time, it became my favorite CD, and some of the songs had a huge impact on me in high school. I can clearly recall sitting slumped against the wall of the dining room where the stereo was, crying, on a night home alone, as I truly heard and understood the lyrics to “Simon” for the first time. Some of my friends hurt me so much in those days, and everything I felt, every insult and twist of my words and stab in the back from the people around me, and all the pain it caused me, was summed up in one amazing song. I listened to it repeatedly that night, amazed at how he managed to be pulling the words right out of my head. As high school went on, things got better for me and I didn’t have nights like that very often. I recall buying the second album, Stanely Climbfall, shortly after it came out, but I think I always favored the first album then. I really enjoyed listening to music, and it was a major pastime, but the thought of seeing my favorite bands live never really crossed my mind. I didn’t even ponder the concept of keeping up with bands online. When asked about my favorite albums in the next several years, No Name Face always topped the list, but “Lifehouse” existed as a sort of vague entity in my head. If only I knew how much that would change.

Fast forward to the end of my freshman year of college. I still listened to Lifehouse, but hadn’t given a lot of thought to what they’d been up to. One day I noticed they had a new album out, so I went out and got it. Then I started doing a little online research, and realized there was a new bass player, and that the band’s future had been questionable for awhile. All of this was a surprise to me, because like I said, I never really kept track of bands in those days. One night, my friend Whitney and I were sitting in my dorm room, listening to the new album, when we decided it would be really awesome to see the band play live. We checked tour dates and settled on a show in Cleveland a few days after our last final, and decided to make a little celebratory roadtrip out of it. The show was at the House of Blues, and was only the second concert I’d ever gone to (Guster was the first). From the moment the curtain opened and they began to play Breathing, they had me hook, line, and sinker. I was in awe the entire show. Jason was sick and I didn’t even notice, the music was simply amazing and I couldn’t believe I had never taken the time to go to a show before. They blew me away and blew my mind and completely cemented their place as my favorite band.

When I got home the next day, I was looking around online for fan communities, and came across a message board at lifehousefans.com. The people there were talking about the Cleveland show, and I was a little intimidated because everyone seemed to know each other. I tentatively joined and began to post, and began to absorb as much information about the band as I possibly could. I started developing an online friendship with several of the people in the community, and before long, I was talking to some of them on AIM on a nightly basis. I started to realize just how much in common I had with these people, and all the while my love for the band and the music was growing. Some of us planned a big trip for Labor Day weekend, and I could not wait.

Over the summer and as I returned to Purdue in the fall, my undying love for this band baffled my family and friends. When I talked about how two girls I’d never met in person were coming to pick me up for a 3-show roadtrip with even more fans I’d never met in person, my friends all but threatened to disown me. As it turns out, it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I met the band for the first time after the first show of that trip, and was amazed by how friendly and down-to-earth they were. The next night, September 3^rd, the show was in Madison, Wisconsin. That show still stands out to many of us as one of the greatest of all the shows we’ve seen. It was my first time in the front row, I was surrounded by new friends and devoted fans, and we were treated to a shining reminder of how much the band loves their fans. Since so many fans were meeting from all over for this show, Jason had previously agreed to play the song Simon, which at the time they had not played in years (and wouldn’t play again until nearly two years later), since it meant to much to all the fans. As they played that song, there was not a dry eye in the front rows. We undoubtedly looked like complete fools, but it simply meant so much that they would do that for us. If I wasn’t hooked before, I was hooked then. Their music and shows sustained me from then on out through a very difficult school year. I recognize now that at times I devoted too much energy into keeping track of them, posting on message boards, and the like. But at the time, it kept me sane, and I am grateful to them for that.

Sometime in the spring of 2006, they started calling me by my nickname. I can’t describe how crazy it was the first time I was greeted by a “Hey Meesh!” after a show without any prompting. As time went on, I realized that by giving them respect and acting normal, we got respect in return. The more shows I went to, the more this respect grew. Throughout the years, their talent has grown as well. The shows have been major points of happiness for me in the past three years, and all the roadtrips are some of my fondest memories. The 14 hour drive to Virginia, baking in the heat all day in North Carolina, accidentally making Bryce freak out onstage in Missouri, hearing Broken live for the first time in Ohio the night before a final exam, winning a $20 bet with Bryce in Michigan, almost getting hit in the face by Jason’s guitar in Indiana, almost beating up a woman in Georgia, playing Uno for six hours in line in Kentucky, making faces at Ben in every city… the memories just go on and on. With 22 shows in 11 states now under my belt, I’m one of the people that they treat a little differently. They ask about our lives, they ask our opinions on song changes, light shows, and setlist order. This means the world to me, more than I can describe. Yes, they are ultimately just regular guys, only human. But they are also well-respected, famous, multi-platinum musicians, and when they ask me what I think about a new song, or walk past a group of waiting people to give me a hug… I’m allowed to enjoy that.

However, it isn’t just about the band and the music. The friends I have made as a result of all of this are beyond incredible, and mean more to me than any band member ever will. There is a closeness with some of these people that I never felt with anyone else. I think we were all drawn to the music for similar reasons, and that allowed us to connect. I simply don’t know what I would do without these girls (and boy) in my life the past few years. They are like family, we depend on each other, we support each other, and we love each other. Most of all, we understand each other when no one else does. It boggles my mind to think of all the amazing people who would be missing from my life if Lifehouse had not become a part of it. I truly owe them for some of my very best friends.

In addition, my appreciation for their live shows encouraged me to attend other live shows as well. My love for music and concerts grew as I branched out, and became an absolutely huge portion of my life and my happiness. I don’t believe I ever would have developed my love of concerts, new music, and music promotion, if it wasn’t for Lifehouse. They were the catalyst for what is now my biggest passion. I feel I am defined by this passion in the minds of many people, and it really is who I have become. Pharmacy will be my profession, but music will likely always be the love that sustains me. That is not who I was before. It is, without a doubt, who I am now.

Of course, things change a little over time. I’m no longer a main presence on the message boards. The Lifehousefans.com board went down last summer and never came back, and I never got used to posting as much on our replacement board. Over time, some older fans drifted away and newer ones drifted in to take their places. I used to be one of the first to know the new news, but I just don’t have the time to devote to it anymore. I still love them as much as ever, but the outward manifestations of that aren’t as obvious these days. I haven’t seen a show in our usual style since October (and a show in Los Angeles in March from the back of the room, but that’s not the same at all). The tour dates just didn’t fall in places or times where I could go.

Things have been a little different from the band standpoint as well. Jason got really sick earlier this spring, and everything has been just a little bit off since then. The setlists, which had already become pretty short by comparative standards, got even shorter. I’ve been told they rarely if ever come out to talk. Some supposed nonsense with an idiot fan girl spreading rumors and causing drama at a show a few weeks ago apparently either ticked off or freaked out Jason enough that he won’t even think of coming out to talk right now. Needless to say, all this is a little disconcerting. We’ve always been afraid that someday, some of the things that make them so special would start to disappear. I can’t say for sure that it’s happening, and I’d hate to accuse them of not caring, so that’s not what I’m trying to do. I think they’re all just a little thrown off right now, and we’re hoping the couple weeks of rest they have coming up will set everything back on track. Only time will tell.

Last night it was after midnight, and I couldn’t sleep. I went to look at my phone to see what time it was, and noticed the date of 5/7. In an instant, so many memories came flooding back, as well as all my concerns about the changes lately. I was suddenly hit by this intense longing to see them, the way that made me fall in love with them, with the line-waiting and the front row and the long setlist and the special after-show moments. Those feelings don’t happen to me very often, where I want something so bad that it almost hurts, but at that moment, it completely overtook me. I suppose I haven’t given them as much thought recently as I used to—the energy I’ve had left to devote to music has been wrapped up in the independent bands I support. When I actually took a second to think, I realized just how much I miss them and their music and all those experiences. I don’t know if they’ve changed for good, but ultimately I have no control over it and I will still love them regardless. Their shows still make me happier than I can properly describe. I can’t let the concerns of the present cloud everything wonderful that has happened. My life is infinitely more amazing because of them. Their music helped me through terrible times in high school, before I ever even saw them. Once I started to see them live, those shows helped me through terrible times in college. They led me to meet the people I count among my very best friends. They sparked something in me, something that has grown and flourished, this passion for music that has become the core of my happiness.

So thank you to Jason, Rick, Bryce, and Ben.
Thank you to Winnie, Ean, and the rest of the crew over time.
Thank you to my friends who share my passion and understand me.
All of you know exactly who you are. (Lifeho love for life.)
I don’t know where I’d be without all of you.

May 7^th, 2005, wasn’t just another day.
It changed my life.
And ultimately?
It changed me.

For that, I am eternally grateful.
For that, I will always love them.
For that, this will never, ever get old.
This is what I do.

[June 5, 2006]

I’ve seen enough
And it’s never enough
It keeps leaving me needing you
Take me away...

cramming, concerts, and carloads of crap

The school year is over. Finals left me mangled but alive. I celebrated by disappearing to Ohio to see Cavashawn twice. And about 2/3 of my material life for the past two years is sitting in the living room of my house, with the remaining 1/3 either still in the apartment, or in my aunt’s garage.

Now, to elaborate on all of that.

Obviously, I haven’t had much of a chance to write lately. This semester was complete chaos, and the last few weeks were especially heinous. Between exams, quizzes, papers, meetings, and countless BGR responsibilities, I barely had a chance to breathe. (Of course that didn’t stop me from attending some shows here and there, but that’s to be expected. It’s ME we’re talking about here…) I had five cumulative final exams, and with my motivation and energy all tapped out, I entered finals week woefully unprepared. I rapidly developed my usual reverse sleeping schedule, where I would stay awake all night to study, take a final, sleep for several hours in the afternoon or evening, and get up to study all night for the next one. I think I did reasonably well on three of them, acceptable on another, and almost embarrassingly bad (for me) on the other. Semester grades are released online tomorrow, so I suppose we’ll see for certain then. Either way, it’s all over for more than three months.

Originally, Amanda and I had planned to go to two Cavashawn shows in Ohio (May 2^nd in Columbus and May 3^rd in Cincinnati) after my finals, and right before hers. Something came up for her on the 2^nd so she couldn’t go that day after all, but my mom sounded interested and decided to go. Amanda could still go on the 3^rd, so we planned to meet at that show. As it turned out, those shows were very good decisions, because we had a blast. My last final was Thursday from 7-9, and once that was over, my friends and I went out for a bit to celebrate. “A bit” turned into 2:30 in the morning, so the 8:30 a.m. alarm Friday morning seemed far too early. I did manage to drag myself out of bed, get ready, pay summer rent, and pack for the weekend concert trip. I made it home to Peru at about noon, and my mom and I left shortly thereafter and headed for Columbus.

The show that night was in a new(ish) venue called House of Crave. I think it is partially sponsored by White Castle… and there is actually a small White Castle inside. Weird? Very. The venue is right above The Basement, which is apparently fairly common on the tour circuit of bands with mid-range popularity. We had to enter through The Basement, which is quite the dark and humid place with a small stage and a less-than-stellar setup, and was absolutely crawling with scene kids. Thankfully we found our way upstairs, where it was cooler, lighter, and cleaner. I spotted the guys and headed over to talk to them, then introduced Mom. We spent quite some time chatting with the guys that night, they were darling to Mom and I loved it. Scott was even nervous that she wouldn’t like them, but I assured him she would. (Turns out I was right.) The first band was okay, but had a little bit too much screaming for my taste. Cavashawn went on second and played a great set as always, just slightly shorter than what I’ve seen before. They played Out of My Mind, How It Goes, Madison, Say It Ain't So, Friendly Fire, Thrill, and Just Because.

There was a fairly large turnout for the headlining band so we had high hopes, but ended up disappointed. The singer was a girl whose voice I did not like at all, so we said goodbye to the guys after a couple songs from that band and headed back to the hotel.

[A little sweat never hurt anyone... right?]


Saturday morning we got up, had breakfast at the hotel, and checked out around noon. We drove the two or so hours to Cincinnati, and made some stops at Home Depot (stuff for home) and Staples (silver Sharpies for Cavashawn). We had plenty of time to kill so we asked around about a mall and eventually made our way there. The place was really crowded and I rejected a good portion of the clothes I tried on, but I finally settled on a dress and a new shirt from Macy’s. (I also completely fell in love with a black and white Tommy Hilfiger dress, and it wasn’t THAT expensive, but didn’t get it because I’m trying to save at least a little money.) Once we got back to the car, I carefully changed into a different pair of jeans in the car because I am just that classy. Once I got that all taken care of, we headed for St. Xavier High School, where the show was taking place. All the Cavashawn guys graduated from there, and they were headlining for a benefit concert for Ecuador. We met up with Amanda in the parking lot, and headed inside. There was a really good turnout of students, and of course we felt a little weird amidst a crowd of high schoolers, but it wasn’t that bad. We decided to hang back from the crowd a little, though. The two opening bands consisted of students and they mainly played covers, but both bands were fairly talented. When Cavashawn came on, we decided to suck it up and worked our way a bit further into the crowd. The show was really excellent, the guys were in rockstar mode with the lights and the big excited crowd.

It was really fun, and even though we had to dodge tall rhythmless high school boys for most of it. They played Hey Hey Hey, Out of My Mind, Stood Up, How It Goes, Say It Ain't So, Madison, Background (YAY!), Friendly Fire, Thrill, and Just Because. At the end we thought they were done, but the crowd demanded another song, so they came out and played Hostage, which we had never heard live. There was a decent size crowd waiting to talk to them afterward, so we hung out for awhile before we went to chat with them.

[Ecuador thanked us]


Amanda had pitched the idea of going out to eat to Jesse (since we’ve taken WTL out before and hadn’t had the chance to do the same for Cavashawn) and he said it would be fun, so we checked with the other three guys as they were finishing up the signing/talking to people, and all of them were for it. There was some debate between Skyline Chili and milkshakes, but milkshakes won out and it was decided that we would go to UDF. That stands for United Dairy Farmers, which we’d never heard of, but apparently it’s an Ohio thing. We hung around in the gym while the guys loaded out, then when they were ready, we followed Clifford (The Big Red Van… clever, right? I love it) to UDF. As it turns out, these places are part gas station convenience stores, part ice cream establishments. We all got our milkshakes and sat around talking for awhile, about any number of things including WTL, insane fans, other music, and their upcoming plans. We finally decided it would be good to start driving home and let the guys rest, so we snapped an adorable group pic and headed for Purdue.

Mom started the drive while I napped and she did almost all of it, but I finished out the last half hour or so. We crashed pretty quickly, Mom in my bed and me on one of the futons. Sunday, we woke up and sorted and cleaned in my room and started packing some things up. Mom did a lot more of the sorting than I did… I’m so bad at it. My aunt picked up Chinese food for lunch and took a few small tables of mine back to her garage. Mom and I packed as much as we could into my little car, but since there was still so much left, it was decided that I would bring our minivan back the next day to take more home. Avriel is also home right now and she said she’d help out, so early Monday afternoon we took the van and went to Purdue. First we took a bathroom cabinet thing and some shelves to my aunt’s, then went to Home Depot so she could get her new grill. Once all that was taken care of, my aunt took us for ice cream and we headed back to the apartment for the real work. We packed up so much stuff and loaded up the van really full, and even with that, there is still so much clutter and junk in that bedroom. I don’t even understand it… it’s out of control. I’ve still got so much work ahead of me before I am fully moved out. Today, I voted, set up my desktop computer, sat outside and read some of Atlas Shrugged, talked to some friends on the phone, hung up some clothes, and did too much sitting around. I think I’m entitled to that though, because tomorrow, I return to work. (I also work Thursday, Friday, and Saturday this week). For those who don’t know, I am a part-time pharmacy technician in a hospital about 20 minutes from home. I love my job, which is helpful. Unfortunately, I am currently unaccustomed to being active, productive, and continually on my feet from 7:30 to 4. Guess I better get used to it soon!