I'm going to let out my inner whiny toddler this evening... er... morning. So, I guess here's fair warning, this post is unlikely to be very pleasant and I'm really writing it more so I don't spontaneously start screaming and/ or sobbing somewhere in the near future... enjoy?

So being sick really stinks. Friends and relatives will attest to the fact that I can be a pretty terrible person to be around when I'm sick, so I pity my boyfriend for having to deal with me in this state, but at least for today, I pity myself more. I don't know if I wrote about this, but in June, I managed to get bronchitis. A cold/ cough lingered a little too long and... voila! a lovely lung infection. Apparently getting bronchitis twice per year is totally acceptable, who knew? Also, in case a bad cold morphing into an infection wasn't enough, this lovely mutiny by my respiratory system falls between two weddings. I missed the wedding of a friend's older sister in MN last Saturday because of my ills- low grade fever, body aches and sore throat playing the lead roles in that production. Now, personally this wedding wasn't a huge deal to me... I've never even met the chick and I would have been attending mostly because I am the girlfriend of my boy. However, it was obviously a big deal to her brother and because my boyfriend opted last minute to stay home with me instead of trucking off to MN, said brother was highly angered. I find this at least fairly reasonable, IMO my boy really should have gone. However, his friend then proceeded to send him an inflammatory email and make a total and complete arse out of himself. While this isn't really my business, this certain boy tends to be a little self-righteous concerning mistakes my boy has made and as such, tends to "take the moral high ground" very obviously and not at all morally-high-ground-ishly. He made incredibly hurtful, rude, and (untrue) assuming statements to my boy that a friend should never say, no matter how upset. Ok, fair enough, now MY boy also has cause to be upset... but instead, he tucks his tail between his legs and lets "friend" bask in the glow of his mistaken self-righteousness by apologizing yet again and vaguely stating that the email was a tad harsh. Now, I don't really like conflict, but the next time I see this guy, I will be SO tempted to give him what for. I know I should let it go, but seeing him repeatedly treat my boy like a naughty schoolboy instead of a respected friend really gets me going! Gah! Friendships are made of honest discussion, admission of mistakes and mutual care and respect. I don't see much of that at all here and it makes me a bit sad. Hmph.

Well, that headed off in a different direction than I intended. Hm. Anyway... I still have bronchitis (all of 5 minutes later) and as you can probably tell, it has left me in a rather cantankerous state. As I said earlier, my surprise vacation happened to straddle two weddings. The second is actually tomorrow (er... today) at 5:30 pm. This wedding however, is actually a friend of ours. He's the older brother of a member of our social group, but he also hangs out with us when he can and this guy is just a wonderful gentleman who has been nothing but lovely to me since I first met him. If anyone deserves a beautiful wedding chock full of family and friends, it's this guy. Obviously, missing this wedding would be a huge bummer, to say the least. I'm pretty determined to go. Unfortunately, it's 2am and (just like last night) I can not bring myself to sleep... even when joining forces with the rather ineffective, if well meaning, Robitussin night time. So, by tomorrow morning that will put me at roughly 48 hours without much more than a nap here or there, bronchitis and a special side of nausea brought on from the antibiotics the Dr. gave me. Now, I can deal with a bit of sleep deprivation. I can also deal with bronchitis or even nausea... however, adding all three together and expecting me to be put together enough to attend a wedding without seriously alarming or traumatizing the other guests is another thing entirely. So, I'm torn. Not only do I really want to be there for my friend on his special day, but (selfishly, I know) I also don't want to miss out on what is certainly going to be a wonderful celebration. My current plan is to try my very hardest to piece myself together enough to at least attend the ceremony and dinner. I tend to feel better in the afternoons and early evening, so I'm fairly hopeful that I'll make it and at least be relatively cheerful and coherent through the important parts. The perhaps more reasonable half of me is still screaming in protest, however. Going to a party with bronchitis has got to be one of the silliest things I've heard in a while, and I don't really fancy making a fool or spectacle out of myself or my friends/ boyfriend. I'm absolutely terrified at the (rather likely, I must admit) possibility of hacking throughout the entire service, which, unpleasant as it would be for me, would probably be distracting and horribly irritating to the other guests and the wedding party- especially considering that at the moment, there is no way on earth to turn my hacking bark of a cough into a ladylike *ahem* 

So... I'm stuck. I feel terrible at missing a special and one of a kind occasion that I will never get to celebrate with this particular friend ever again, but I think most folks would logically conclude that I stay the heck away. (As a side note, I'm no longer contagious, but, considering my bark, I'm not sure most folks would feel comfortable agreeing with me) Bah.

Besides all this, I'm extremely stressed out about all of the school that I've missed due to this and in total despair at the state of our house ("bleugh!" comes to mind.) I can't sleep, my chest hurts, and all I'd really like to do is curl up with my cat and hibernate until all of these yucky feelings dissipate. Unfortunately, from what I've heard, life doesn't seem to operate like this and it is unlikely to switch to the aforementioned comfortable pattern anytime soon, so I suppose what I should really do is head back to my recliner, grab a cat if I can find one and make at least some attempt to sleep while it's still dark outside.

If anyone was brave enough to make it all the way down here, I marvel at your persistence and feel you should be awarded a plate of cookies... or even an entire feast. Feel free to claim either of these well deserved awards anytime you are in the Chicago area. I will happily oblige, as it's the least I can do to help you recover from the insane barrage of misery and poor attitude that I have assaulted you with. Cheers to you and may you never get bronchitis before a wedding!

And again, it's been awhile = \

Things are rolling along fairly smoothly here in the suburbs. School is underway and I'm starting to fall into a routine. Classes are generally not too tough and also interesting.

Last weekend, I went to Pennsylvania to meet up with my parents and many of the folks from the motorcycle forum. I had SUCH a blast! Paul ended up not being able to go, which was a bummer, but I think he needed a vacation of his own, and hanging out all weekend with Nathan and Jesse certainly gave him that :) SO, 13 hour drive and speeding ticked aside (whoops!) I got there around 9 eastern on Thursday night and proceeded have a wonderful time until I left Sunday, arriving back in the burbs around 6. (I made MUCH better time on the ride home) As much as I love biker meets, coming home always stinks. This herd of men are seriously some of the most wonderful people I've ever met and after getting the opportunity to hang out and ride with them, going home is so bittersweet. They're scattered all over the country (and beyond!) so seeing the majority of them regularly just doesn't really happen. After coming home I always feel pretty flat for a while and as the weekend approaches I'm just now getting back to normal. As always, it was so fabulous to see my parents again. I was a bit less adventurous this year and pretty much stuck right by my mom's side for most of the trip, but since I haven't seen her in a couple months, who can blame me? The older I get the more I realize how great my parents really are. It's tough living so far away from them, but I definitely appreciate whatever time I can get!

Oh! and in happier news... it looks like I'll get to visit St. Petersburg this spring! Yep, as in Russia!!! I'm taking a Russian history/ culture class and our teacher is organizing a week long jaunt to northwestern Russia right after the spring semester ends. The fee is pretty crazy, but I talked to Paul about it and it looks like we'll be able to swing it. I've never been off the continent before and I'm just so excited! I'll have to go get my passport now as well, but I've been meaning to do that for a while anyway, so now it's the perfect motivation to drop the money and just do it. I'm a little nervous about actually getting into the trip, as only 15 students will go, but considering the fee I'm hoping it won't be too terrible. I plan on talking to the office handling the trip on Monday to see when the soonest I can reserve a spot is. Hooray!

Well, now it's time for me to head off to class. Philosophy is my last class of the week and I just received and email that said it's in a new room... so, I need to find it first 8-)

So, long time, no blog. A lot has happened since I've written, so this is your warning! Probably more significantly, my friend Jill is staying with Paul and I for a while. Her boyfriend is moving to Chicago in August, so she'll be moving in with him then. We're also starting to look for a house. I mean in the very, very beginning sense, but hopefully we'll still be able to take advantage of the tax cut for first time buyers. Paul has an appointment with his banker guy on Wednesday so he'll see what exactly the price range is and he's also going to take a look at some list of distressed properties (I think that's what they're called) to see if there are any good deals. While I don't want to hope for too much, I really would like something with stairs and something with at least a little bit of space out back for a garden. Obviously if I had my way, we would have at least an acre with some pond or river and loads of trees, but we'll make do with what we can find :) A few weeks ago I somehow managed to contract bronchitis, so I was out of commission for almost a good 2 weeks straight. The antibiotics they gave me were super strong... like, killing a mosquito with a shotgun type of thing. I'm still feeling the effects of those now and again... mainly a distinct lack of hunger and a bit of fatigue. I think getting out and about with help. Today, Jill and I went to get our hair cut. Mine was unfortunately forming itself into more of a mullet the longer I let it sit and Jill really just needed a trim. My stylist was very nice and left even more length than I thought I could keep. Now it's a bit shorter than chin length all the way around, which bodes well for the growing-out. Unfortunately, the girl Jill had seemed super grouchy. Jill tried to tell her what she wanted and it seems the girl barely heard her! She cut off a ton of hair and really didn't do what she was asked to do at all. Thankfully, styled it does look cute... it's just not really at all what she asked for. Other than that... life continues :) Summer is in full swing and it warmed up quite nicely. Jill sat by the pool for a few hours and I may have to do the same tomorrow.