Pamunkey Post from Mom...

Okay, most of the time I think our life is sooooo boring that none of you would find it the least bit interesting...but of course, minor things go on and I think that 'oh yeah, I can include that in a post'..and then the rest of the week is 'dry'. not yesterday...I was doing my house chores, checking ebay (it's been very slow lately and gasp, might need to look for a 'real'job), and found a geo metro...for reasonable..and in NC..forwarded the info the Craig and he gave me a bid range..and I won it in between doing hill climbers on the treadmill...I have been putting away a small sum every month for car improvements & replacements...so it will be a cash deal..read another old beater..that just happens to get 50 mpg... rest of the day was working and planning pickup arrangements to Asheville, NC..home of the Biltmore Estate....sounded like fun..going to get an early start today...hah! Cait called at 11:00..and was stuck in an upside down car..she had rolled it 3 miles from the house..it was dark, wet and she had no idea how to start to get out...didn't call 911..but thought Dad was the best bet...apparently she swerved around a big puddle, then had a big branch in the road..swerved again...and rolled into the ditch...I haven't seen it yet..PT was asleep so I stayed here and talked to her while she was crouched sitting on the roof..a little disoriented but perfectly fine. Of course, wearing a seatbelt..and to her amazement..they really work..totally held her in place and she arrived sitting upside down hooked to the now ceiling...thank goodness she is the wildiest roller coaster rider in the house so she thought it was an adventure. Craig drove her into the emergency room just in case, and an hour later I had pounding on my door...Local sheriff quizzing about whether I was the owner, where is the driver, why we didn't call it in, etc...they followed cait to the hosp to assure themselves she was fine, probably make sure she wasn't drinking, etc..they already had the car towed to the wrecking yard...that was Craig's grumble as we have AAA and it would of been free..now, it's several hundred dollars...and of course, it only had liability on it...and I just spent the car allowance money that morning....AAAAh life! But Cait is dandy..she got up on 4 hours of sleep and drove in wait tables this morning at Cracker Barrel...I told her to call & see if she could get the day off..but in her mind she should not let them down...nicely enough they had an extra worker and sent her home..and the rest of the family is at the wrecking yard trying to figure out the next move..how bad it is (especially since it would get damaged again turning right side up), how much they want to pay for salvage..vs whether my dear husband thinks he can resurrect or part it out on ebay....so in one day we've done a car rotation..and I'll still be stuck occasionally taking the suburban into town...at today's prices it's $10 just to get a $5 gallon of milk..go figure! on to more pleasant stuff...we surprised Pierce for his birthday (monday Aug. 25th) with a trip to Disney world....we had planned it months ahead of time when there was a cheap hotel/free food promo...and had it half paid for...then Craig's work was going down hill and we didn't know whether to cancel or go...since the part we paid wasn't refundable..we decided in for a nickel in for a dime...we planned, packed and woke him up at 4 a.m. on Sunday, had Cait drive us to the airport (he still had no idea where we were going that day)...and ended up in Fl for a week...oh what fun! and oh how tired! I did a TON of research before we went...went to ride sites that have figured out to the minute on every day of the year what rides are busiest and how long the wait time would be...you stick in the activities you want to do and it spits out a plan...and of course, we had free food so we rode and ate our way through all their parks...PT came home with a cold and gave it to me a couple of days later..so we each had a cold a week or 2 after the fact...and my new favorite ride is the rockin' roller coaster in Hollywood studions..an in the dark coaster with enough lights and road signs you have a vague idea where you're headed...and all the while playing aerosmith songs...the car takes off from zero to 60 in seconds and IMMMEDIATELY sends you into an inverted loop...OMG! I could of spent the day on that one...so there was our fun!!!! Pierce loved it... onto the weird coincidences of life....like everywhere Qimonda is struggling..they were spun off from Infineon..and chip prices have been down..and orders lower because of the economy...talk is they are going to get bought out...and guess who the top takeover person is? Micron...Micron is in Manassas 2 hours north...so no one knows whether they just want the equipment, close up shop to remove a competitor, or who might have a job..or for how long...so we've been living fairly cautiously but like everyone..things have gotten more expensive and we have been tightening the belts...But truly the whole idea that we moved 2500 miles and could end up under the Micron umbrella is a little odd.... Weather here has been nice...it's cooled off from the summer heat and humidity...fall has cooled off the evenings (finally)..I had been reading the Boise night temps and ours..we were 20 degrees or so warmer at night and similar temps in the day...I've talked Craig into paddling on the river several times...it's been gorgeous...leaves just barely starting to turn, eagles, osprey, insect hatches, monarchs eating up the plants and creating chrysalis...I see we are right in the middle of the pathway from Canada to Mexico for them....and we have had the swarms of red wing blackbirds come through..and when I saw swarm..I mean thousands upon thousands...darkening the sky and creating a huge noise... Craig's shoulder is holding it's own..still pinching nerves daily...feeling week..but he has been pushing it to get a few pushups in (it looks weird to see the bone configuration so I can't stand to look), he's chopped some of the neighbor's hardwood...he now knows why they call it hardwood..even with a maul it takes 12-15 direct hits to get it to split on an existing crack....he found that having a thick pillow between his arms allows him to sleep on his left side for a while...it had been immediately causing a pinched nerve severe pain and he wouldn't stay that way for more than a minute..so it was on his back or nothing... Garden is pretty much finished...since I hadn't written a pamunkey in forever..you wouldn't know..but I got a wild hair and started rototilling the side yard (sand in the shade), adding manure, leaves, compost and planting rows...as I filled up the rows I rototilled more..and kept going....after I planted everything I could think of I rototilled in front of our shed, Craig & Pierce dug a curving path from the driveway to the shed and filled with excess pea gravel...then I planted either side with periennials, roses, grapes, herbs, a few yard decorations as time and money allows...thankfully, our local trash station has free mulch..so each week..trash in, mulch out..and so we've covered most of the permanent garden with bark...thought I was done with the progress for this year..then...on Craig's birthday I saw a freecycle ad for some shrubs if we dig...so we took the truck and went to dig..the lady totally underestimated the amount..we ended up with dozens of big plants: daisies, monkey grass, holly, roses, barberries, azaleas, lilies, vines, butterfly bushes and a whole bunch I have no idea what it is...can't say I spent a lot of time deciding the perfect arrangement as it was over 100 that weekend and I just wanted to get in the ground...so the boys dugs up at her end..and I dug and planted at my end..2 days of solid digging..'happy birthday' I said....Craig said he couldn't wait to see what fun I had planned for next year....so it was the hustle to keep everything watered, alive and established...Strangest thing in my garden was a nesting turtle...right in my potato patch...so we marked off where she was and left that area alone..but I've never seen any holes of baby digging back through..so I don't know if snake, gopher, vole or something got them...while planting the free monkey grass Pierce discovered another nest of eggs..that nest has had holes show up so I'm assuming some of those hatched and headed to the water... okay...I think that is all the highs and lows...Cait is perfectly safe..THANK GOD! and send up lots of thank yous...and as I hear from all of you I hear all your highs and lows...Blessings: martine found a great job and is getting settled in St. Louis..that will be a good excuse for a road trip sometime...Cait's friends are settling in for their college experiences...Prayer requests...for Gerhard and his family...I hear his dad is ill with cancer...and Heidi looks like her job may be out the door...and Marilyn lost her twin sister recently...so as we all share our ups & downs know that at this end..I'm daily sending you all hugs, praying for all you too... love & hugs..jo

Update Extravaganza-I'm alive!

Alrighty... so I do believe it is time for me to update and post a new blog, especially considering recent events. As many of you already know, I rolled my car. I brought it on to myself so I should have seen it coming. I'm just glad I got so lucky and managed to sustain absolutely NO injuries, not even a bruise. I was coming home from work and I was going to leave a note for my parents telling them where I was because I was meeting a friend at IHOP, change my clothes, and drop off my book bag. Yes well none of that actually happened. I was only 2 miles from my house (approximately) and it was very foggy and the road was wet because it'd been storming the past couple of days and of course this all happened around 11 at night so it was dark. I came around a corner at the top of the hill and as I'm about halfway around the corner I see a branch sticking out into the road. I swerve to avoid it and end up hitting a patch of gravel from somebody's driveway. Due to the slick road and the gravel it caused me to skid across the road, of course Caitlin has no idea what to do so I decide to do the worst possible thing I can. I overcorrect which only makes the situation worse and in a matter of seconds I've managed to flip the car upside down. Thankfully I'm off to the side of the road in the ditch so if anyone else rounds the corner, not suspecting an overturned car to be there they most likely won't hit me. So at least that was taken car of. But I'm not out of my predicament yet. I'm still suspended upside down in the car. Thank goodness I wear my seatbelt because it's got me strapped in so I'm literally dangling, if I unbuckle it, I WILL hit my head on the windshield and I'm sure injure myself worse. But I really have no idea how I'm situated because the headlights are focused in dirt so are providing no light, and the only thing I can see is the glow of the radio console. So I know that I'm upside down and I know I heard glass break so now I'm afraid that if I unbuckle myself not only will I hit my head but I'll also fall into a pool of broken glass that will get embedded in me. Not the best situation I've ever been in. But I know that somehow I have to get down so I can get to my cell phone which I had sitting on the dash so is now who knows where. I braced my arms against something metal (not really sure what but I knew it wasn't glass) and my feet against the dash, well at least I'm assuming it was the dash because it was near the radio. I literally couldn't see a thing, it was pitch black. So after I had successfully released myself from the grasp of my seatbelt I began looking for my cell phone. I tentatively patted around me hoping there wasn't a lot of glass ... I found my cell phone within the first few seconds and called my dad. "Hey dad, I'm upside down sitting on the roof of the car. I rolled the car, I'm fine don't worry but I need you to come get me so I can get out of the car because I can't see anything" "(undistinguishable muttering) okay let me get my shoes on... where are you?" "I'm sitting at the top of the hill where mom and Gail and Lynell walk, I'm off on the right hand shoulder and if you could just shine your headlights on the car that'd be fabulous... thanks dad!" "Here talk to your mother, I'm on my way".... so I got to talk to my mom who is um.... well to put it nicely a little less put together than my dad. Dad is calm and collected in emergencies, mom on the other hand is freaking out that her daughter could of died... which I suppose is a reasonable reaction. Dad comes to the rescue, all we had to do was roll down the passenger window and I crawled out. The glass breaking that I heard was the side mirror that was broken... that's really the only damage. The car looks like I just gently rolled it over and it took a nosedive. None of the windows are broken, the roll bar is still intact and obviously worked effectively, the framework has a few dents but no more than any fender bender would give you. Otherwise the car is fine and I'm fine. I didn't hit my head on anything, I'm not bleeding, the seatbelt didn't cut into me, I don't have whiplash, I have no injuries whatsoever. But we decided to play it safe and take me to the ER, I mean you never know. So we're on our way to the ER and make a pit stop at the 7-Eleven to get a slurpee because that always makes everything better and then get to the hospital. While I'm getting checked out my dad gets a call from the police saying that someone called in the car as a recent accident so they sent out cruisers, the fire department, and the search and rescue, because they thought I could have hit my head and was wandering aimlessly around in the soybean field. Then they went to my house and my mom half asleep told them my dad brought me to the hospital and gives them my dad's cell phone number. Then we get a phone call from the police saying they've already towed the car and they're on their way to the hospital so that they can file an accident report because if the damage is more than $1,000 or a serious accident they have to submit it to state. Yeah, wonderfully. This is not good because now instead of calling AAA which we were planning on doing to tow the car we have to pay for the police's towing company and when the police call the tow truck you automatically pay 2x what you would have otherwise. :( Not good. I ended up checking out with nothing, they said if I developed any bruises/aches/pains to come back in... Now my dad and I are waiting at the ER for the police officer, he takes down everything I tell him... I conveniently left out the part about speeding... I was "focused on avoiding the branch in the road" I didn't know how fast I was going.... *ahem* Yup, just like that. so finally after everything's said and done my dad and I get home at 2 in the morning and I have to wake up at 6am to be at work. Not so much fun. So I got my 4 hours of sleep expecting to hurt like a mother bear in the morning after such little sleep and such a traumatic accident. But as usual I was wrong. I woke up just like it was any other day, I didn't hurt anywhere I had no bruising, no headache or sore neck, I was absolutely fine which is amazing. I went to work and then afterwards we went to go pick up the car from the towing company... cost me $300, ouch! But it could be much worse. The only damage is the side mirror, we need a new windshield because when they flipped it over they cracked it and there's a problem with the ball joint because when I rolled it I screwed it up but that's fixable and not a big deal. A few dents and dings here and there but nothing major. So as many have told me I'm pretty sure I had a guardian angel or something that day because instead of dying or being seriously injured I was just fine. Amazazing!!! My mom sent out a Pamunkey Post for those of you who get those which explains some other details but basically that's it.

So what if I'm a nerd

According to my mother I am a very boring college student. I don't go to crazy wild parties, I don't have wild sex, and I spend my Friday nights at my parents house eating dinner with them. And really, that's okay with me. I don't have time to waste on parties I may not remember in the morning and puking in the bushes. That does not appeal to me in the least. There are TONS of "recreational" drug users, I'm trying to avoid them so that I can keep my brain cells. I'm a little short handed as it is and I don't think that'd help any. I need to get a 4 point this year so that next year I can apply for the honors college, get accepted there and then when I apply to MCV, the medical school associated with VCU I'll have a "preferred" application. Basically meaning unless I completely screw it up, hopefully they'll like me more because I went to their college... hopefully. This is what they tell me anyway.

So where in the midst of all of this do you fit in crazy toga parties? It helps that I don't live on campus, that way I can just escape it all and go home and study. According to their formula I should be studying 2 hours for each credit hour. That's 36 hours a week plus my 30 hours I work at Cracker Barrel plus driving back and forth and somewhere I fit in eating and sleeping if I have the spare time, and this week I'm housesitting for the neighbor and taking care of their pets. I know I work to much, trust me I know, I hear it from my mom nearly every single day. I'm working on cutting back so I don't fail at life. But even if I do, where do you fit in a social life?

Last night I brought my friend home and she ate dinner with us and then we went to her dorm and watched a movie, then I had to drive home and got to bed then wake up at 6 to get ready for work. I haven't quite figured out that "balance" yet. I'm still working on it yet.
So far college feels pretty much the same as high school, you show up, don't necessarily have to pay attention and then study for the tests/quizzes and pass the class. I know it's going to get harder and I'm dreading that. Already this week I had an energy quiz, a math test and a quiz, and also my poli sci map quiz ( I think I did okay), and I had an english essay due. All in the span of one week so I can only assume that things are going to get worse. They have to get worse before they can get better right?

Yippee!!!

Super happy right now. Just realized that my map quiz isn't until September 12th, that means that if I continue studying I should actually have all of the countries memorized by then hooray!!! (by the way that's called the spacing effect, yay for psychology class). Needless to say I thought the test was today and I'm not exactly ready for it. Don't get me wrong I've been studying but it's hard to memorize nearly 200 countries in a few day span when you're working and have other homework and studying to do. But no worries I should be good now, what a relief that is. Otherwise nothing too exciting. I donated blood last Friday in between classes and attempted to figure out the bus route. Not helpful when there are no maps or anything to help me navigate, plus I get lost really easily, that was an eventful day.
Sunday I worked and did homework, how utterly thrilling.
Monday was Labor Day and seriously I did some true labor. They were going to be short handed at work and were expecting a busy day since people were traveling and wouldn't want to have to go cook a meal or come home and do more work. (I work at Cracker Barrel as a waitress by the way) So they asked me if I could come in early on Monday to help out. I said sure no problem since I was schedule from 4-10pm and I figured a few extra hours wouldn't hurt and I'm a broke college student so I can always use the money (can't we all?). Yeah couple extra hours turned into a 13 hour shift.... oh boy, that was something alright. I was all fine and dandy until they gave me a 6 table section and then one of my tables and one of another servers were combined for a party that was coming in. Well she didn't want to take it and neither did I because I already had 4 of my tables filled but I took it since she's brand new and needed the help. Well the "party" was literally that it was a group of 10 and everything that could go wrong did. The cooks messed up nearly every single order, instead of fried chicken they gave me grilled, they forgot to put the steak on the grill for a woman's steak salad, I got mashed potatoes and corn instead of macaroni and cheese and green beans, along with countless other things. Then I messed up a lot of things like gave her the Stewart's orange soda instead of the Fanta orange soda, etc. While all of this is happening my other tables are wondering where I am and why they haven't gotten their food, drinks refilled, empty plates taken away, been given the check, etc. It was really frustrating because I'm not supposed to have that many tables and then I got a 10 top among everything. Plus everyone else was busy or taking their breaks or doing who knows what so there was no one to help me out. Not fun, not fun at all. I NEVER want that to happen again. All the rest of the day was fine, it was just that one hour span or so in the middle that muddled everything up.
Tuesday I had classes, my energy class, literature, and pre-calculus (which is still ridiculous). I get done around 8:45 on Tuesdays and Thursdays so I went home, ate dinner studied then slept. Today, Wednesday got up at 6 with the rest of my family now that Pierce has started school. My dad usually leaves for work by 6 o' clock so don't see him in the mornings but Pierce, mom, and I all eat breakfast together and mom makes our lunches. Yes, I still have my mother make my lunch. Hey! It's free, better than the food here and I don't have to stop someplace to eat, I can snack whenever I feel. So it works out for me. Had my University 101 Pre-Health class today. Pretty much like Health Applications all over again. I can tell this is going to be a great class, at least an easy A right? Have that then I have a two hour break between classes which is where I am now, I studied countries for an hour or so and now I'm waiting for a friend and we're going to the Open House in the Commons that is all about the different clubs on campus and stuff. Then after that I have my internation studies (no test... yay!) and biology class which is also just a review of biology and A&P from MMACHS. I'm hoping that one is just a review the entire year and doesn't get too complicated or anything like that, one less thing I have to worry about. After that I'm going to work and working till 9 tonight (I don't have to close :]) then coming home, eating and studying. Then doing it all over again!!!!
I can tell you guys are all jealous of my utterly fabulous life, if you can call it that...haha. Hope everyone has a splendiforous day!

Whoops

I almost forgot to tell you where I go to college. Some know and some don't so the nitty gritty of it all is I'm attending Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). It's in the heart of Richmond, meaning you're going to get run over while attempting to cross the street. We don't have a campus persay more of a bunch of buildings somewhat interconnected with a little grassy knoll they call the park. It's lovely. Not my favorite style but it works just fine and you get used to it pretty quickly. I'm studying pre-med and have not declared my major yet. It will most likely end up being biology or something similar.

This semester I'm taking 18 credits, working part time, and planning on volunteering at MCV (their hospital associated with the college). While joining different clubs so I am a "well-rounded" student, whatever that means. But I am planning on going to medical school and becoming a doctor but that's a few years down the road. In the mean time I'm working at Cracker Barrel as a waitress trying to earn enough to pay for those textbooks that are $200 + (!!!!). I'm quickly learning that money disappears 10x faster than how long it takes you to make it, unfortunately.

Any other questions, concerns, complaints, or praises can be left in a comment below, emailed, or telephoned to me.

First Week of the Semi-Real World

As most of you know, I started college one week ago. Yay me. Well there were a whole lotta people that wanted me to keep them "updated". Yes well that's all fine and dandy but a little difficult to do. So I've created this blog, not that I know how to use it really, guess I'll be learning; but anyway, I made this blog so I don't have to worry about making sure I include everyone's email address when sending out my Cait Chronicles. Also so that those of you who don't want to be bored out of your mind with my endless ranting can come and go as you please. I thought it was a brilliant idea myself. Credit goes to Alexa who's had a blog for over a year now and periodically updates and sends out emails updating people of the new posts. A quite fantastic idea. Anyway moving on to a more exciting subject.

College has been hectic if nothing else. Between attempting to figure out where my classes are, what building, what room, what time..... it's a little overwhelming. Especially when you feel like a little lost guppy swimming in a tank full of sharks. I swear everybody already knows everything! Well obviously this isn't true. There are however many other freshman that feel exactly the same way I do. I just haven't met them yet. It's hard too that I live off campus. I don't eat in the dining hall or spend all my time wandering around aimlessly. This means that I know the campus less well and also when I forget to bring a snack and I'm starving I have to figure out where the closest dining hall or vending machine is. It's a scary world I tell you. Not to mention the abundant amount of bicyclists that are here. I can understand the concept. If you ride a bike you get places faster and it's less tiring. Yes well that's most excellent except those obstacles in your path? Yeah those are called people and contrary to popular belief they're trying to get somewhere too and they really do NOT appreciate you bicyclists running into them, yelling obscene phrases at, or basically using poor cyclist etiquette or rather poor etiquette in the general sense. I have a great example for this one. I was walking to class and I'm running late. So I'm walking quickly as fast as I can with a 50 lb backpack strapped on. As I'm walking I hear a man shouting very loudly and very uh..... passionately we'll say. I turn around to see what all the commotion is about and there's a woman who's crossing the street at the exact moment that the cyclist is crossing the street perpendicular to her. So they're going to be in a head on collison if this woman keeps walking instead of stopping like he's telling her to do. Well it's Virginia love, people don't listen to other people so she keeps walking. Terrific! He runs head on into her, she falls over, the bicyclist flips over the handlebars (he's wearing a helmet) falls off the bike and continues to skid across the middle of the intersection until he's dead center. He was not a happy camper. No worries, he was fine other than a little irritated.... or rather a lot. He proceeds to cuss her out with every known word in the book while she stands there like a deer in the headlights. He probably stands there a good minute or two just screaming at the top of his lungs. Which I suppose is understandable since she could of just killed him but if it were me, I would have wanted to get out of the middle of the street first and make sure I didn't break anything. In the meantime anyone who is even close to being around heard him and is now staring with mouths agape or laughing at him. Therefore I do not ride a bike nor do I want to and I have begun a certain dislike of cyclists. Granted they're not all like that I know but they haven't disproven me yet.

Spent last night (Friday) alone and at home. I know that sounds boring but I actually chose to be there. Crazy I know. I got invited by a guy I met at orientation to go to a party with his "group" last night but knowing his group I figured it wouldn't be the best of ideas. I hung out with them last week and basically concluded that they're all a bunch of potheads with dirty humor and low morals. Don't get me wrong, they're nice people but definitely the friends you hang out with strictly on friday/saturday nights. The rest of the time I'll stick to my other group of friends who are all more school orientated and focused. Yes they may be more "boring" and less exciting, but I can deal with that.

I still have yet to memorize all the countries of the world for a quiz coming up soon. Should probably get on that, it's only 25 questions long but of course you have to know ALL of them to know which 25 he wants. So not helpful. Oh! Another thing I just thought of..... it feels like everybody smokes... but me of course. I still, unlike many, I prefer my lungs to be pink and healthy while others choose tar infested black tumor-growing lungs. Lovely image. And by default regardless of whether I'm choosing to smoke or not I have to inhale their smoke which causes a grayish tinge on my beautifully healthy lungs. It's disgusting. Also it smells like crap. That's my rant about that.

Well I'm going to sign off now before people complain about me writing a novel again. It's been fun.