Jack on leaving me here

Me (walking into my parents' room at the beach house and finding the bed trashed): Dude, you have totally destroyed this room!

Jack: Dude, you have totally destroyed my life!

Mom: Jack, that's not nice. You're going to miss her when we leave her here on Friday.

Jack (matter of factly): Mom, I know. I already cry in the night about it, OK?

Things I already love about my new school

1) It's in a beautiful city

2) The financial aid office was actually helpful-in 20 minutes, I had all my loan information in my online account; I went in and accepted and the whole year is taken care of.

3) My classes are within a few blocks of each other-yay!

Off to bed because I have to be downtown at 6 tomorrow morning (gag!) for first-come, first-served parking passes.

Leaving home

The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say

(The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien)

Today's my last day at home. I'm in the midst of packing, but my room's starting to look sad. All my books are gone, as well as the bookshelves. Honestly, at this point, I'm starting to have mixed feelings about going. I suppose that's normal, but here's where I am right now: so excited for all the new adventures that living in a new city and going to grad school will bring, but slightly terrified of being on my own. I'm so close to my family that being 4 hours away will be difficult.

But like Bilbo, I'm being called by the Road... for whatever reason, I'm supposed to be where I'm moving to, so I'm going. And I'll be back here, but I know that it won't be the same.

Things I Love Thursday: Beauty edition

I've decided to experiment with having themed Thursdays (man, I love alliteration!), so this week's theme is beauty. Here are, in no particular order, as usual, the things that I'm loving this week:

1. Rimmel Extra Super Lash Mascara

I like this mascara because the curved brush picks up every single last lash I have and it stays on for hours, which is wonderful when I'm busy (which would be, oh, I don't know, most of my life). It's cheap too, which is nice for my student budget.

2. Conair HS34r Compact Hairsetter
These hot rollers are a new purchase for me, but I've decided that with grad school (!) and real world job interviews (!!) coming up, I need to do something a bit classier than heading places with wet hair. I'm moving further south, so I can't fight the curl, but I figured there had to be a way that I could do it better. I think I've discovered it. It's a really easy set and it gives a nice curl (when you don't leave it in too long-I looked rather poodle-esque for a while this morning until I tamed it). I think I'm going for an Old Hollywood look, like Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca. We'll see, and I'll post a picture once I perfect it :)

3. Burt's Bees Super Shiny Lipgloss
Simply put, this makes my lips shiny without a lot of color, which is great for when I'm in the middle of a teaching day and don't have time to painstakingly reapply my lipstick.

4. Pond's Cold Cream
This vintage beauty cream is what my grandma uses and the smell reminds me of sleepovers at her house when I was little. It takes my makeup off wonderfully and makes my skin feel nice too.

5. Noxzema cleanser

This brand has been around for a while and has apparently always been sold in the blue jar. I like it because it wakes me up in the morning and leaves my face really soft, just like the Pond's does.

There you have it for this week! Come back next week to see if I'm feeling serious or frivolous

Dad on House Hunters

Me: "I'm soooo tired. But I want to watch the end of this episode. Wait, does House Hunters actually have episodes?"

Dad: "No, it's really more of a vignette."

Setting up house

I visited my paternal grandparents this afternoon and had a delightful visit with them; I hadn't seen them since I started working, so I told them all about my job, my apartment and everything that's happened recently. I also got quite a few heirloom things for my kitchen from them. Unfortunately, I've packed them all in moving boxes, so no pictures yet, but I have added the following things, among others, to my kitchen collection:

-2 glass jars with cork lids

-2 wine carafes

-my great-grandmother's cookie press

-a pie plate

-a muffin tin

-a couple of casserole dishes

-a teapot my grandparents received as a wedding gift, 51 years ago

Pictures will follow when I've moved and unpacked. I'm terribly excited, though, because I like things that have a story. Plus, it's nice to keep those kinds of things in the family.

Jack on dinosaurs

(Talking about apatosaurus)

"Yep, they were herbi-whores"