Get me out of here

So, as my previous post indicated, I spent last week alone. My sister and her husband were around, but for the most part, it was just me. On top of that, my sister and I had to function, get things done, and so we stopped our bickering and got along so well we were even hanging out when things didn't need to get done.

And then I was so excited to go back to school that I griped only a little on Monday morning when my alarm went off. And by Wednesday, I was back in full swing of being okay with my life. I even started thinking that I like it here.

This is all important because I'm thinking about applying for a job that could possibly deter my graduation until the winter of '11. That, I would like to put out there, is a year and a half, almost two, from now.

The job is super awesome. The beach area tourist office around here is looking for someone to travel the area and blog about the experience for two months. They're also offering free housing and a nice chunk of change. I would love to take on this job. I hesitated when I discovered how it would throw off my summer class schedule, thus pushing back my student teaching and graduation by a lot, but my boyfriend convinced me that I should apply anyway.

His reasons were that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and that one day I might look back and regret not applying. Also, if I get the job, there's a strong possibility he'd get to join me. We'd get to enjoy two months together. Plus, I'd have money in the bank to pay for my student teaching semester. I agree with him on all accounts and I've been feeling okay about living with my parents, so I started to look into making the video application.

And then today happened.

Now, before I start explaining today you need to understand that nothing about today is out of the ordinary. I'll get back to that point.

This morning at 8:30 am, on a morning when I really needed to sleep in and rest, I woke because my grandfather (who doesn't like to wear his hearing aid or admit that he can't hear anything) turned on his country music. It's 3:23pm. I'd kinda like to take a nap. But guess what's still playing? Yeah....

Then I headed out to my mom's studio to help her get it cleaned up and organized after the big winter/Christmas rush. My sister came in with her 3 month old baby to tell my mother about all of her friends who are pregnant. My mother proceeded to tell me how I need to give her a baby one day, and adopting is cheating. I have to push the baby out of my crotch. Her words, not mine.

My sister also mentioned how excited she is about this cruise she just booked for her and her husband. My sister struggles to pay my parents the small monthly rent they charge her, and yet she gets to go on a cruise. Because we live in a world where those who accidentally get pregnant, get married at a young age, and struggle to pay their bills can still go on luxury cruises when the child is still not old enough to crawl.

After my sister left, my mother told me all about this fight she had with my sister just a day or two ago. This fight sounds exactly like every other fight my mother and sister have ever had. And I realize right then and there, as if I'd just caught the brick wall that'd been chucked at me - my sister will never change. Nor will my mother.

Nor will my grandfather.

And I kinda secretly am over teaching college freshman.

And if I don't graduate in December, I will be teaching in a high school classroom as a certified teacher for the first time when Obama is fighting for his position as President against some unknown Republican candidate.

And I'm exchanging the ability to move next New Years to wherever my boyfriend is for two months of vacation with him followed by a year and a half of weekend visits when possible.

So I'm not applying. And I am full steam ahead for graduating December '10 because *OMG* get me out of here.

The Blizzard of 2010

Everyone is in a panic about the impending blizzard, but no one is freaking out more than my own parents. They have a special reason; they are scheduled to leave for a cruise out of Baltimore on Sunday and they didn't buy the insurance that would let them move their cruise if they miss the boat. So...panic.

Yesterday is when the general panic set in. Two other couples were going to drive to our house on Friday and Saturday, and then they were all going to head out on Sunday in one car. My mom and I decided to go to the grocery store around 2 to get food for two large meals that would feed everyone. The store was crowded, as one would expect. We grabbed some food, and mom decided that she had a ham and a brisket, so we just needed some side dishes. We grabbed what we needed and headed home.

When my dad got home from work, he started panicking about not being able to get to Baltimore if the government calls a state of emergency. He convinced my mother that they need to leave on Friday and get a room until Sunday. They call their friends and make the appropriate plans. I start to feel, for the first time, a pang of panic in my heart. I'd be utterly by myself all weekend. I'd have no interaction with other human beings for the entire time I'm snowed in. I might as well live in a cabin in the woods at this point.

Then the prospect of being by myself brought on another fear. Our property is 5 acres. Our driveway spans 2 acres. Our snow-blower is finicky and unreliable. And that's even if I knew how to start it in the first place. "Dad. How am I going to get all the snow off the driveway?" I asked. He looked at me for a second, and then began to mime a shoveling action. My eyes grew like saucers. I would have to shovel the entire driveway by myself. A month ago I barely survived when I had to shovel out a spot big enough for my car. Bwah!?

Also, food might be an issue. We have lots of food for big meals, but very little in the way of individual servings. Also, also, I've never made a ham. Or a brisket. At this point, I'm certain that before this is all over, I'll be eating a meal consisting entirely of Stove Top Stuffing and Poptarts. But that was the least of my worries, apparently.

My mother started panicking about all of the other details that I hadn't thought of. "What if we lose power?" she asked. Power? I could lose power? When I'm all by myself? But I'm just a girl! I won't know what to do! My mom turned to me and said, "honey, if you lose power you have to build a fire in the fireplace to stay warm." Ohmygod. I'm going to freeze to death in my own house. To be fair, I was a girl scout and I know how to start a fire, but still. There's the possibility that I could run out of wood. You don't learn how to use an axe in Girl Scouts (that's another issue...but I won't digress). And then I thought about what food I could eat in the event I have no way to heat it. We have hot dogs, so I can roast those. But then I wondered if we have a non-electric can opener. If it gets down to it and I have to start eating canned food, would I even be able to open them? And then what about sleeping? I'd have to sleep by the fireplace all night. On the floor? Could I drag my mattress into the living room to the fireplace? Also, if there's no power, there's no water. Which means the toilets will be unflushable.... I'm going to die. I'm suddenly second-guessing all those times I laughed at that Bear soandso guy on Man Vs. Wild. Its not so ridiculous now that I'm facing possible death at nature's hands.

So now I'm fairly certain that my parents are going to return from their cruise to find me dead on my mattress in front of the fireplace. I'll have a can of beans in one hand and a butter knife in the other. Hopefully the dogs won't have started gnawing on me by then.