Hey!

So it's been, what, 8 days since I last wrote? It seems like much longer. During this time, I wish I could say I did any number of the following:

1. win lots of money
2. find an accordion
3. make a new friend
4. lose about 20 pounds
5. get someone to do my laundry for me
6. get someone to organize all my stuff for me
7. get discovered by any sort of talent-seeking whiz

But instead, I did one or more of the listed items:

1. Read
2. Sleep
3. Eat
4. Avoid witing emails I should have done in, oh, June.
5. Avoid sending postcards I should have sent in July
6. Breathe

Basically, the highlight of the past 8 days has been receiving an email from someone (Stacy) who should beat me over the head with a dead animal because I haven't written to her, and she selflessly, unprompted-ly, decided to take it upon herself to make the very move I'm too lazy to do. The best part of the email was the following:

My mom said that your mom was in chicago visiting you, i figured my mom
was confused and there was a bit of a miscommunication. So here are my
theories of where your mom is...
1. In chicago chilling by herself
2. In Rome actually visiting you
3. In Boston visiting your sister
4. Out on a drug run in Compton and doesn't want my mom to know

and

So I would like to hear what you did on your birthday but I will let
you
know what I did on your birthday.  I got home from class at 6
(ridiculously dark already) and took the bus home to hurry and pass out
candy to the kids.  Got off a stop too early...because it was so damn
dark and i couldn't see.  So, I walked 10 minutes to get home and then
I
dressed the dogs up as pumpkins and lucy up as a horse but not all at
the
same time because i only had one pumpkin costume.

The first image that is so entertaining is the very idea of my mom "chilling." My mom does not "chill." When she talks about "relaxing" during a trip, that usually involves heavy duty cleaning supplies that could fill a suburban pool, a sledgehammer, a drill, a hammer, and one large, healthy dose of "DAMNITIWILLFINISHTHISEVENIFITISTHEENDOFME." People born in the month of December in my family don't "chill." I chill, but I chill at home. It's recently been brought to my attention that I don't chill when I go to a new city, but I could be wrong.

I mean, MAYBE Julia wasn't cowering in fear when I bounded off the train in Milano brandishing my Paris guide book and wearing a diabolical smile that said "You are at the mercy of my grueling schedule!" and I guess that I could have misinterpreted her when she said "You have to go easy this weekend, Adrianne." However, I do chill at home. I chill so hard in Rome, in fact, that for the past 2 weeks I've been using conditioner for body wash in the shower because I'm just too darn lazy to go to the store to buy actual body wash. Oh, yeah, and I've been too lazy to write those emails I keep on talking about doing, and to register for classes next quarter. Which, that is totally going to happen RIGHT NOW. I've even got the window open for it.

The second image that is hilarious is a couple of dogs vying to be a pumpkin.

Scrappy: No, IIII want to be the pumpkin now.
Anonymous dog 1: But IIII was the one who went on the carpet!
Anonymous dog 2: Hey, losers, I got into the pantry to eat the cornflakes!
Anonymous dog 3: IIIII tore up the bed sheet!
Anonymous dog 4: But IIIII gave the cat a conniption!

I don't know if you know Stacy, but at one point she had about a million dogs, and I don't think any of them would have been too keen on being a pumpkin, but Stacy, keep up the good work.

So my sister is coming into town. This is someone else who just can't "chill." She'll probably take one look at my room and go running for the nearest Container Store, even if my room might happen to be presentable.

And now I'm going to get going. I'll just requests courses later.