I bet that after all of this time you've all assumed that I've given up diaryland all together... now, would I do that to you? No! I just literally have not had time. And it's actually been hard for me to discern what to write about... this past summer was pretty crazy.

Back in May, when I would daydream about my 2007 summer vacation during those long tech hours working at the high school, I imagined working a few weeks at an easy part-time job, lazing around at my aunt and uncle's lake house, catching up on 9 months of personal to-do's, and enjoying an almost completely obligation-free August. Yeah, my daydreams aren't usually indicative of my actual future, but I had no idea the drama that would come out of nowhere! Some of the drama was good; some of it was tragic... and all of it is described below in list form.

a. My parked car got hit in the passenger door by a hit-and-run driver and caused $500 damage.
Don't people realize that public school theater workers don't make a lot of money? My poor little car!

b. I got a new computer.
So, yeah, one "good" thing about my apartment getting broken into was the opportunity to upgrade my old computer. Now I have unlimited access to Spider Solitaire, Windows Movie Maker, and YouTube in my home... and no time to take advantage of it!

c. My boss got "let go".
I can't post a ton about this on the internet, but I trust that his bosses made an informed and valid decision to dismiss him. Two of my coworkers subsequently got hired to take over his job, and our department went from 5 full-year employees to 4. Needless to say, the rest of the summer was filled with the drama of bitter rumors, new responsibilities, and an upset former theater employee...

d. Our apartment's closet flooded.
After all of the bathroom floods we have endured, we still didn't expect the closet to flood, too! Apparently it had something to do with the upstairs air conditioning compressor... whatever, after having to empty out a 6'-by-6' filled-to-the-brim closet TWICE, we didn't really care what was causing it, we just wanted it fixed!

e. I smashed my thumb in a window.
Holy cow, I can't remember being in so that much pain in a long time (and I've had a kidney stone and have broken 14 bones before!). I was closing up at my summer job and one of the windows got stuck open, so I gave it a big push with my left hand and it closed on my right thumb. There I was, alone at work, in shock, and when I reopened the window, and the tip of my thumb was bending backwards at a right angle! I had to lie down for a while with a cold compress on my hand until I felt like I could drive home without passing out. The bruise under my nail didn't grow out for 3 months, but I am happy I still have it!

f. One of my good friends from college eloped.
And I actually found out about it beforehand because I randomly ran into his best-friend-from-high-school's dad and he mentioned it to me. I guess, as eloping tends to happen, it was decided and happened all within 2 weeks, and only immediate family attended. I've been to about 35 weddings over the past 6 years, but this was a first!

g. My coworker's husband got diagnosed with cancer and then passed away 3 days later.
Out of respect for her and her young kids, I am not going to go into too many details about this, but it was and is nothing short of a tragedy. It affected me a lot, between feeling an overwhelming sense that I wanted to help, but knowing that I couldn't... and remembering when my own father passed away from cancer...

h. A Chinese guy thought he had my driver's license.
This was the so bizarre. Before I left town for a few days, I was checking the phone messages, there was one indiscernible one for me. While I was trying to make out what this guy was saying, he called again! After several minutes of him speaking broken English and me saying "What?" I finally heard "I have your driver license". So I said, "No, I have my driver's license!" and he said, "I renew my driver license by mail and your driver license in my envelope!" I told him I'd call him when I got back into town, but I don't think he understood because he called several other times. I was pretty creeped out- I mean, was he trying to lure me into a trap? Was the license issued to the woman who stole my identity 8 years ago? Was it a fluke? So I dragged my Chinese-speaking friend Sherry with me to his apartment (he didn't have a car so he had me come over!), and, thankfully, it turned out to just be a misunderstanding. He did have another driver's license, but it was issued to a woman named Caroline and her middle name was my last name- so when he looked it up in the phone book, he got me. He was nice enough, so I am glad the situation didn't end up in some twisted news-story, but I must admit, after 3 days of hype it was a bit of a let down. :)

i. Monisha's pregnant!
Monisha and her husband Rob had been trying to get pregnant for a while, but with no luck, so it was a complete shock when she came into town for a weekend and showed us her 3-month-big pregnant belly! This is the first of my close friends to have a baby, and it's still pretty unbelievable. We're growing up!

j. I finally got laser hair removal.
Some people save up for fancy cars or amazing vacations, but I've been saving up for a little laser hair removal. Now you know more about me. :)

k. When my college email account ended, all of my diaryland pictures (570ish) had to be moved to a different server.
That's the problem with using my college-account's server to post pictures on here for the past 4 years. Oops. That's why you may have noticed that many of my pictures aren't showing up in my archives... I haven't had time to change all of that code. It'll get done... eventually!

l. My car antennae broke AGAIN.
Okay, I know that there are much, much more significant things happening in people's lives, but in 6 years, I've had to replace my antennae TWICE because of vandalism! Does this happen to anyone else?

m. I found out that my great-grandmother Chiara may have had up to 4 illegitimate kids.
Yep, it was a little bit of a shock, especially since we already knew that she had 13 legitimate kids. It seems like I have a lot to live up to! What kind of namesake am I? Anyway, grandpa denies the whole thing, but the verdict is still out... and it's been interesting to learn some family scandals from 100 years ago!

n. I got crazy new work responsibilities.
Yeah, due to the "letting go" and the tragedy, we were left in August with a bunch of work to do and only 3 full-year employees. So when I thought I had the month off, instead I was learning and doing parts of 3 people's jobs. Ahhhhhh!

o. I bought a couch.
I realized something this summer: I am an adult with a steady job. Just because I am not getting married anytime soon, that doesn't mean I can't be all grown up. And grown-ups tend not to have disposable furniture. So I feel like this is a big step for me! Plus I got a great deal. :) I am not going to go out and buy all new furniture and matching dishes and such, I am just getting a couch and I think that's enough for now (especially since that's all I can afford!).

p. I got stung by a bee for the first time.
Guess what? I am not allergic! I was on my way home from throwing a party on a beautiful day and I opened the car window. Lo and behold, a bee flew in just long enough to sting me. Yippee. Thanks, bee.

q. I got up on the water skis.
This took a bunch of attempts (with a lot of water ending up where water shouldn't go), but I did it! I actually didn't get up on the skis from a rope behind the boat, I got to hang on to a pole on the side of a boat (I'll take any cheats I can get!). It was so fun! When we got back to the dock, my aunt said that she could hear me squealing out of happiness all of the way from the house!

r. I threw 2 wedding showers; went to 4 weddings; and prepared for 4 more weddings, 2 bachelorette parties, 1 wedding shower, and 1 baby shower this fall.

Yeah, this is nothing new for one of my summers... :) Congrats, everyone!
(thanks to Mike & Kevin for two of the pictures)

s. I booked a flight. (!!!)
I am totally flying-phobic. Seriously, it's definitely my biggest fear and I get panicky just thinking about booking a flight. But I've had this fear for over 6 years and I am sick of it. So I am going to face it finally (although it makes me so anxious in anticipation!). My great-uncle Hank is celebrating his 90th birthday in Florida on October 13th, and since I love him a lot and my entire family is going, I felt like this would be a good opportunity. I can only pray I won't freak out too much (or cancel the flight), but just in case it turns out to be a nightmarish event (which is likely!), I am packing some Atavan. :)

t. We had a japanese beetle invasion.
Grrr. These little pests apparently really love eating flower petals and decided to feast on my garden! After setting a trap and using several bug sprays, finally we rid ourselves of them, but not without many weeks of dead flowers. :(

u. My boyfriend and I broke up, got back together a month later, then broke up for good.
Hey, guys, did you all know I had a boyfriend? Well, not anymore anyway. We both agreed that the first breakup was a mistake and the second one was for the best. But whatever the reason, break-ups just absolutely suck. Oh well, life must go on, I suppose.

v. The tile around the tub in our apartment almost fell off bathroom wall.

I swear the only reason it didn't fall off was because it was just delicately balanced on itself. :) Luckily, maintenance got to it before disaster struck and replaced almost the entire wall. And yes, I made them clean the wood and insulation behind it. Yay, bathroom flood damage! Also, it's important to note that this is the second apartment I've lived in that has had this problem!

Wow. What a summer. I hope the length of this entry didn't prevent you from reading it. I want you to be involved in my life! And it's not my fault the list is so long... if I had my way, I would have had so little going on last summer there'd be nothing to write about. :)

Here's to a less intense fall! Hm... actually, that doesn't look likely... here's to a less intense winter? :)