Jesusfreak

Oh technology. It makes our lives so complicated, but we'd be unable to live without it.

Your first impressions are usually correct. There probably is something. Maybe. I really hope not though. I don't like not-liking people, especially when they're people that the people I'm close with like. And I would really hate to have to be the person to tell Marius there's something wrong with his romantic interest, especially since things seem to be going so well for him right now, and he's so happy about it. And I like seeing Marius happy. It's just something about the whole thing is making me uneasy, and I really don't like that.

A descendant of Wolverine perhaps? Did he ever tell anyone why he got so angry? I think he should tell someone, even if he does seem more calm, that way there's nothing to be left bottled up inside for a resurgence of anger. Or maybe it's better for your health not to mention it. I think it was mostly just lots of stress gaining on him, although I think he's got a lot of repressed issues from his past, which he only makes vague references to. I was actually chatting with him a few minutes ago, and he was in a really good mood (he was pretty much glowing), because he just spent the past several hours hanging out with Nikki (the one he's interested in). And today was the first time I've gotten any decent look at her, although I still have yet to talk to her. I just don't get good vibes from her for some reason, and I don't know why, so I'd love to actually talk to her to see what she's like. There's just something really creepy about her that I can't quite peg, and that bothers me. I mean, she's strange (so are pretty much all the people I know, and I'd never expect Marius to be interested in someone normal), but something about her really makes me uneasy. I just hope it's all in my head and that it turns out she's really cool once I get to know her. In other news: We did our paint-a-block thing today. Every year, the people living in our building get to paint one of the cinder blocks in the wall right outside our door. Mine's really cool, it's a beach scene framed by two palm trees, and in the center where the ocean is, I have a Bible verse I liked about wisdom. Also, I'm going home this weekend, and Phil's going to be home this weekend, so we're going to attempt to schedule some hanging out time in there somewhere, so I'm really looking forward to that. And that's pretty much it. Tomorrow's Wednesday, which means sleeping in.

Isn't this his second crash? Perhaps he should start thinking about riding a bicycle. The good news is that no one was hurt. The nice thing about being away at school, germs just keep being passed around and around, until everyone has had a chance to get sick a couple times. No, although Marius claims to be a bad driver (I've never been in the car with him driving), it was Ian that keeps getting into crashes. lol I wouldn't call that a nice thing, but whatever. I usually barely get by without getting sick, but this bug seems like a tough one. I had confused Ian and Marius with the car crashes. At least they are okay. Usually, I can avoid most bugs, which seem to hang out at the "health" club, but the last one was the worst I have ever had. When I was having coffee yesterday, two guys were sitting at a table for four, kind of diagonal from each other. One guy coughed directly into the face of the other one without covering his mouth. The other guy said something, which I couldn't quite hear about coughing in his face, but the cougher... acted like it was no big deal and started getting rather loud, calling the other guy a baby. The other guy got up, went into the bathroom, and instead of walking back to the table, he left. Unfortunately, I do not believe, the cougher will get the message. Haha wow, some people are so stupid....I remember about this time last year, Marius was going out with this girl Michelle. And they were about to go their seperate ways one day, but Marius was sick, so he said, "I'm sick, you probably don't want to kiss me" and then proceeded to kiss her on the hand instead. I thought it was really sweet. Very sweet and very, very considerate. Speaking of Marius, I'm worried about him right now. He's in a *really* bad mood. I've seen him in a bad mood before, but this is a little bit scary. I hope part of his bad mood is due to the fact that he might be getting sick. If not, I wonder what is causing this. Please keep me posted. Just a thought, perhaps Michelle has something to do with his bad mood... what do you think? Part of it probably has to do with the car crash, he's just getting over being sick, and he has a lot of work to do. Michelle has nothing to do with it, they broke up a long time ago last year. Although he is interested in this girl Nikki, but I don't know much about that, so that might have something to do with it. I just hope he doesn't hurt anyone, or himself... It is really scary that you think he might hurt himself or someone else. Ah, yeah. When I got back from Choir today he seemed to be in a much better mood, although he was punching walls rather hard, and not feeling any pain from it. But he didn't seem angry at all. At least he's done with his work, which is a good thing. He was even nice with Lara, which impressed me, because I expected him to be short tempered with her. I bet his hands hurt tomorrow. Makes me wonder what caused the bad mood. Lara is very fortunate that his mood improved. I looked at his hands, no bruising. His body does strange things sometimes, including healing really fast from injuries. Don't know why. Great news. As for the really fast healing... I could use some of that. Perhaps he can market it? LOL Haha really. Today so far has been alright, aside from not getting enough sleep because my roomie's coughing kept waking me up. I got all good marks from my teaching two weeks ago, and an 88 on my midterm.

Isn't this his second crash? Perhaps he should start thinking about riding a bicycle. The good news is that no one was hurt. The nice thing about being away at school, germs just keep being passed around and around, until everyone has had a chance to get sick a couple times. No, although Marius claims to be a bad driver (I've never been in the car with him driving), it was Ian that keeps getting into crashes. lol I wouldn't call that a nice thing, but whatever. I usually barely get by without getting sick, but this bug seems like a tough one. I had confused Ian and Marius with the car crashes. At least they are okay. Usually, I can avoid most bugs, which seem to hang out at the "health" club, but the last one was the worst I have ever had. When I was having coffee yesterday, two guys were sitting at a table for four, kind of diagonal from each other. One guy coughed directly into the face of the other one without covering his mouth. The other guy said something, which I couldn't quite hear about coughing in his face, but the cougher... acted like it was no big deal and started getting rather loud, calling the other guy a baby. The other guy got up, went into the bathroom, and instead of walking back to the table, he left. Unfortunately, I do not believe, the cougher will get the message. Haha wow, some people are so stupid....I remember about this time last year, Marius was going out with this girl Michelle. And they were about to go their seperate ways one day, but Marius was sick, so he said, "I'm sick, you probably don't want to kiss me" and then proceeded to kiss her on the hand instead. I thought it was really sweet. Very sweet and very, very considerate. Speaking of Marius, I'm worried about him right now. He's in a *really* bad mood. I've seen him in a bad mood before, but this is a little bit scary. I hope part of his bad mood is due to the fact that he might be getting sick. If not, I wonder what is causing this. Please keep me posted. Just a thought, perhaps Michelle has something to do with his bad mood... what do you think? Part of it probably has to do with the car crash, he's just getting over being sick, and he has a lot of work to do. Michelle has nothing to do with it, they broke up a long time ago last year. Although he is interested in this girl Nikki, but I don't know much about that, so that might have something to do with it. I just hope he doesn't hurt anyone, or himself... It is really scary that you think he might hurt himself or someone else. Ah, yeah. When I got back from Choir today he seemed to be in a much better mood, although he was punching walls rather hard, and not feeling any pain from it. But he didn't seem angry at all. At least he's done with his work, which is a good thing. He was even nice with Lara, which impressed me, because I expected him to be short tempered with her. I bet his hands hurt tomorrow. Makes me wonder what caused the bad mood. Lara is very fortunate that his mood improved. I looked at his hands, no bruising. His body does strange things sometimes, including healing really fast from injuries. Don't know why.

Isn't this his second crash? Perhaps he should start thinking about riding a bicycle. The good news is that no one was hurt. The nice thing about being away at school, germs just keep being passed around and around, until everyone has had a chance to get sick a couple times. No, although Marius claims to be a bad driver (I've never been in the car with him driving), it was Ian that keeps getting into crashes. lol I wouldn't call that a nice thing, but whatever. I usually barely get by without getting sick, but this bug seems like a tough one. I had confused Ian and Marius with the car crashes. At least they are okay. Usually, I can avoid most bugs, which seem to hang out at the "health" club, but the last one was the worst I have ever had. When I was having coffee yesterday, two guys were sitting at a table for four, kind of diagonal from each other. One guy coughed directly into the face of the other one without covering his mouth. The other guy said something, which I couldn't quite hear about coughing in his face, but the cougher... acted like it was no big deal and started getting rather loud, calling the other guy a baby. The other guy got up, went into the bathroom, and instead of walking back to the table, he left. Unfortunately, I do not believe, the cougher will get the message. Haha wow, some people are so stupid....I remember about this time last year, Marius was going out with this girl Michelle. And they were about to go their seperate ways one day, but Marius was sick, so he said, "I'm sick, you probably don't want to kiss me" and then proceeded to kiss her on the hand instead. I thought it was really sweet. Very sweet and very, very considerate. Speaking of Marius, I'm worried about him right now. He's in a *really* bad mood. I've seen him in a bad mood before, but this is a little bit scary. I hope part of his bad mood is due to the fact that he might be getting sick. If not, I wonder what is causing this. Please keep me posted. Just a thought, perhaps Michelle has something to do with his bad mood... what do you think? Part of it probably has to do with the car crash, he's just getting over being sick, and he has a lot of work to do. Michelle has nothing to do with it, they broke up a long time ago last year. Although he is interested in this girl Nikki, but I don't know much about that, so that might have something to do with it. I just hope he doesn't hurt anyone, or himself... It is really scary that you think he might hurt himself or someone else. Ah, yeah. When I got back from Choir today he seemed to be in a much better mood, although he was punching walls rather hard, and not feeling any pain from it. But he didn't seem angry at all. At least he's done with his work, which is a good thing. He was even nice with Lara, which impressed me, because I expected him to be short tempered with her.

Phil... yeah! Boring is good. You got lots accomplished. Which always helps when it comes to projects. Haha I wish I got lots accomplished. Most of my time was spend staring into space. Not really productive. I went to bed early last night because I had nothing better to do. Marius came back today, a lot later than normal. Turned out he got into a small car crash on his way over. No major damage to either him or the person he hit (or hit him, however it went), but his car is out of service for awhile. And pretty much everyone here is sick! Isn't this his second crash? Perhaps he should start thinking about riding a bicycle. The good news is that no one was hurt. The nice thing about being away at school, germs just keep being passed around and around, until everyone has had a chance to get sick a couple times. No, although Marius claims to be a bad driver (I've never been in the car with him driving), it was Ian that keeps getting into crashes. lol I wouldn't call that a nice thing, but whatever. I usually barely get by without getting sick, but this bug seems like a tough one. I had confused Ian and Marius with the car crashes. At least they are okay. Usually, I can avoid most bugs, which seem to hang out at the "health" club, but the last one was the worst I have ever had. When I was having coffee yesterday, two guys were sitting at a table for four, kind of diagonal from each other. One guy coughed directly into the face of the other one without covering his mouth. The other guy said something, which I couldn't quite hear about coughing in his face, but the cougher... acted like it was no big deal and started getting rather loud, calling the other guy a baby. The other guy got up, went into the bathroom, and instead of walking back to the table, he left. Unfortunately, I do not believe, the cougher will get the message. Haha wow, some people are so stupid....I remember about this time last year, Marius was going out with this girl Michelle. And they were about to go their seperate ways one day, but Marius was sick, so he said, "I'm sick, you probably don't want to kiss me" and then proceeded to kiss her on the hand instead. I thought it was really sweet. Very sweet and very, very considerate. Speaking of Marius, I'm worried about him right now. He's in a *really* bad mood. I've seen him in a bad mood before, but this is a little bit scary. I hope part of his bad mood is due to the fact that he might be getting sick. If not, I wonder what is causing this. Please keep me posted. Just a thought, perhaps Michelle has something to do with his bad mood... what do you think? Part of it probably has to do with the car crash, he's just getting over being sick, and he has a lot of work to do. Michelle has nothing to do with it, they broke up a long time ago last year. Although he is interested in this girl Nikki, but I don't know much about that, so that might have something to do with it. I just hope he doesn't hurt anyone, or himself...

Phil... yeah! Boring is good. You got lots accomplished. Which always helps when it comes to projects. Haha I wish I got lots accomplished. Most of my time was spend staring into space. Not really productive. I went to bed early last night because I had nothing better to do. Marius came back today, a lot later than normal. Turned out he got into a small car crash on his way over. No major damage to either him or the person he hit (or hit him, however it went), but his car is out of service for awhile. And pretty much everyone here is sick! Isn't this his second crash? Perhaps he should start thinking about riding a bicycle. The good news is that no one was hurt. The nice thing about being away at school, germs just keep being passed around and around, until everyone has had a chance to get sick a couple times. No, although Marius claims to be a bad driver (I've never been in the car with him driving), it was Ian that keeps getting into crashes. lol I wouldn't call that a nice thing, but whatever. I usually barely get by without getting sick, but this bug seems like a tough one. I had confused Ian and Marius with the car crashes. At least they are okay. Usually, I can avoid most bugs, which seem to hang out at the "health" club, but the last one was the worst I have ever had. When I was having coffee yesterday, two guys were sitting at a table for four, kind of diagonal from each other. One guy coughed directly into the face of the other one without covering his mouth. The other guy said something, which I couldn't quite hear about coughing in his face, but the cougher... acted like it was no big deal and started getting rather loud, calling the other guy a baby. The other guy got up, went into the bathroom, and instead of walking back to the table, he left. Unfortunately, I do not believe, the cougher will get the message. Haha wow, some people are so stupid....I remember about this time last year, Marius was going out with this girl Michelle. And they were about to go their seperate ways one day, but Marius was sick, so he said, "I'm sick, you probably don't want to kiss me" and then proceeded to kiss her on the hand instead. I thought it was really sweet. Very sweet and very, very considerate. Speaking of Marius, I'm worried about him right now. He's in a *really* bad mood. I've seen him in a bad mood before, but this is a little bit scary.

Leguan!!! I miss you and your posting goodness!

Phil... yeah! Boring is good. You got lots accomplished. Which always helps when it comes to projects. Haha I wish I got lots accomplished. Most of my time was spend staring into space. Not really productive. I went to bed early last night because I had nothing better to do. Marius came back today, a lot later than normal. Turned out he got into a small car crash on his way over. No major damage to either him or the person he hit (or hit him, however it went), but his car is out of service for awhile. And pretty much everyone here is sick! Isn't this his second crash? Perhaps he should start thinking about riding a bicycle. The good news is that no one was hurt. The nice thing about being away at school, germs just keep being passed around and around, until everyone has had a chance to get sick a couple times. No, although Marius claims to be a bad driver (I've never been in the car with him driving), it was Ian that keeps getting into crashes. lol I wouldn't call that a nice thing, but whatever. I usually barely get by without getting sick, but this bug seems like a tough one. I had confused Ian and Marius with the car crashes. At least they are okay. Usually, I can avoid most bugs, which seem to hang out at the "health" club, but the last one was the worst I have ever had. When I was having coffee yesterday, two guys were sitting at a table for four, kind of diagonal from each other. One guy coughed directly into the face of the other one without covering his mouth. The other guy said something, which I couldn't quite hear about coughing in his face, but the cougher... acted like it was no big deal and started getting rather loud, calling the other guy a baby. The other guy got up, went into the bathroom, and instead of walking back to the table, he left. Unfortunately, I do not believe, the cougher will get the message. Haha wow, some people are so stupid....I remember about this time last year, Marius was going out with this girl Michelle. And they were about to go their seperate ways one day, but Marius was sick, so he said, "I'm sick, you probably don't want to kiss me" and then proceeded to kiss her on the hand instead. I thought it was really sweet.

Phil... yeah! Boring is good. You got lots accomplished. Which always helps when it comes to projects. Haha I wish I got lots accomplished. Most of my time was spend staring into space. Not really productive. I went to bed early last night because I had nothing better to do. Marius came back today, a lot later than normal. Turned out he got into a small car crash on his way over. No major damage to either him or the person he hit (or hit him, however it went), but his car is out of service for awhile. And pretty much everyone here is sick! Isn't this his second crash? Perhaps he should start thinking about riding a bicycle. The good news is that no one was hurt. The nice thing about being away at school, germs just keep being passed around and around, until everyone has had a chance to get sick a couple times. No, although Marius claims to be a bad driver (I've never been in the car with him driving), it was Ian that keeps getting into crashes. lol I wouldn't call that a nice thing, but whatever. I usually barely get by without getting sick, but this bug seems like a tough one.

Phil... yeah! Boring is good. You got lots accomplished. Which always helps when it comes to projects. Haha I wish I got lots accomplished. Most of my time was spend staring into space. Not really productive. I went to bed early last night because I had nothing better to do. Marius came back today, a lot later than normal. Turned out he got into a small car crash on his way over. No major damage to either him or the person he hit (or hit him, however it went), but his car is out of service for awhile. And pretty much everyone here is sick!

Hey, lookit who I spotted today:

Well, this weekend has been incredibly boring overall. Although I had a really nice conversation with Phil the other night. I got laundry done, did a little bit of work on my psych project, that's pretty much it. Boring.

I looked for you to wave as you went by my cage... what happened? You made it over to the tourist capital of Florida I see. Glad you got to do something nice even though the reason for coming down was sad. There was a phenomenal airstream park down here and the airport got stupid and moved them all out, now the lot is just empty. They had a constant "stream" of money, with all the airstreams, but some politician wanted to sell the property or something like that. Everyone loved seeing all the great shiny trailers. Nice that you have returned back to the cool weather of the north. You forgot to take the 50 degree nights with you. What? I waved! Oh yeah, tourist city. It was fun though. My parents bought me one of those "mini palm tree" things, so it's sitting on my desk with the rest of the usual clutter. Politiciants=lame. Politics comes from the Latin "Poly" which means "many" and the word "ticks" which are blood-sucking insects. And hey, your low temperatures are our high temperatures. I don't know how I missed you. LOL The palm tree does not need too much water. If you water it once a week, with just enough to wet the dirt, but not water in the tray, your palm will be successful. I had to turn the heat on in my cage today. I couldn't get the temperature above 73 until I turned on the cage heat. LOL lol Yeah, the instructions said to only water it like twice a week. It's pretty awesome, it seems like the plant thrives on you ignoring it! You only water it once a week, don't put it in sunlight, and don't give it plant food more than 4 times a year!

I looked for you to wave as you went by my cage... what happened? You made it over to the tourist capital of Florida I see. Glad you got to do something nice even though the reason for coming down was sad. There was a phenomenal airstream park down here and the airport got stupid and moved them all out, now the lot is just empty. They had a constant "stream" of money, with all the airstreams, but some politician wanted to sell the property or something like that. Everyone loved seeing all the great shiny trailers. Nice that you have returned back to the cool weather of the north. You forgot to take the 50 degree nights with you. What? I waved! Oh yeah, tourist city. It was fun though. My parents bought me one of those "mini palm tree" things, so it's sitting on my desk with the rest of the usual clutter. Politiciants=lame. Politics comes from the Latin "Poly" which means "many" and the word "ticks" which are blood-sucking insects. And hey, your low temperatures are our high temperatures.

Okay, so Florida trip. Flying in the airplane was really cool. The taking off, being above the clouds, seeing everything, having TVs in front of every seat (which was cool not because of the TV, but because there was a channel that showed you where you were on the map, your speed, and your altitude), and all that fun stuff (I had a window seat both ways). Airport security wasn't bad, although they gave my sister a hard time at one point because she didn't have a government issued ID. Although bonus points to the airline for us landing early both times. So the whole flying thing=awesome. On Monday I got to see all my dad's side of the family for the memorial service, which was really cool, because I don't know most of them that well. Meeting them, and hearing what my aunts had to say about grandpa at the memorial service explained a lot about myself, which was interesting. Tuesday we went to Universal's Islands of Adventure, which was a bit of a surprise, and tons of fun. The amount of detail they put into that park was astounding. And the roller coasters were fun times. And today we came back. Traffic was a pain, but we stopped at Ruby Tuesday's for dinner, and the food was even better than it normally was. Although here's the irony. One thing my grandparents loved to do was go camping in their airstream trailer. At the restaurant, I got a bottle of Jones iced tea. The little image on the inside of the cap was a clip-art looking image of an airstream trailer. I have the cap in my jacket pocket now. So now I'm back at Rider with my friends, who I missed greatly in the past few days. Tomorrow I might be going to the NJEA conference with Brennan, which might be fun times.

lol freshmen Yeah, that's pretty much how it is, and Horatio is exactly right: they're out of mommy and daddy's control. I'm glad to see you've got more sense than that. If you get the chance, live in wellness/substance free housing next year. No drunks screaming down the hall at 3am, people are nicer, and more likely to have similar interests to you (like not getting plastered). As for the relationships thing, freshman year relationships almst never work out, so don't bother trying. As for your roomie, he's in a bad spot, and we have a word for that: whipped. A friend of mine was in a similar situation last year. Wasn't pretty. Frienships are important, but, like you said, so is maintaining your own character. Don't be afraid to bend a little or try new things, just keep a level head about it. As for your neighbors, if the RAs won't deal with it, invest in some earplugs and good headphones. And also, midterms. It's a stressful time of the year, and when people are done with them, they celebrate (often, as you say, stupidly). College makes you a patient person...

I'm back. I'm busy now, so I'll have to elaborate on my trip later.

We will keep you all in our prayers. Hopefully it won't be too rough. When you feel like talking, we are here for you. When you pass my town, wave. I will be in my cage looking for you. Thanks again. This will be my first time on a commercial airline, so I'm kinda excited about that. I can't say I expect it to be *fun* what with airport security and all, but it's a good experience to have. I'm really going to miss my friends while I'm gone though, I won't see them until Wednesday. Christina went home earlier tonight, so I've got the room to myself. And Marius is leaving for home tomorrow morning, so unless he gets back early on Sunday, I won't see him even tomorrow, which is sad, because out of everyone, he's been here for me the most. I hate to sound all mushy and stuff, but I honestly couldn't have expected to have a better friend. Ah well, I need to finish my day-of-trip pack list. It's amazing the things they list on the federal list of stuff you can't have in a carryon. I mean really, cattle prods? Hand grenades? Fire extinguishers? The airline flying will be fun for you. Security is not bad. Just remember to put everything from your pockets into the little tray or into your bag. When you set off the detector, this just jams up the line. Most important, do not carry any water bottles, coffee drinks, soda or other liquid, through security. It will be confiscated. Even if the bottles are sealed, they are confiscated. Once you get past security, they will sell these same items. Once you are on board, if you get cold easily, make sure to bring a sweater, sweatshirt or other item to keep you warm. Blankets are many times not put on board as too many are being stolen and it costs the airline too much. So, they just decided to remove them. Checking luggage is good as it cuts down on stuff you have to carry. Plus, it makes going through security easier. Carry-on... now that made me laugh. Keep those cattle prods, hand grenades and fire extinguishers home. LOL You would be surprised what you will see people trying to take with them. Trust me on this one... you cannot imagine what people think is acceptable carry-on. If you are a chef and take your personal collection of knives with you when you travel, those would need to be in your checked luggage. Can you imagine the look on the faces of the security people when you tried to get through security with those??? It is just much easier when you check your bag with all those extras. Having the room to yourself is nice on occasion, I hope Marius sees you again before you leave. lol yeah, when I saw "meat cleavers" on there I was like, "Darn, you mean I can't bring my meat cleaver collection?" Although I am kinda bummed about not being able to have my pocketknife on me. I'll have to remember to take that out of my camera case. As for the selling beverages past the security line, gee, coca-cola corportation couldn't have has any say in that now could they? Haha. I'm probably going to keep all my stuff in one carryon if I can. It might be more annoying with security, but my dad's done it before, and that way I get to keep everything in my posession so I don't have to worry about it getting lost. It's all going in my backpacking backpack, so it won't be too tough to carry. The stories about lost luggage are really overblown. The thing to check with your backpacking backpack is to make sure it fits in the overhead bin. Your father would know for sure about this. Just don't take anything you don't want taken away. They can xray your camera so there is no need to take it out of the case, unless the case is metal. If it is in your backpack, and you tell them you have a camera in there, then they usually will let it go through. If you are taking your laptop, be prepared to take it out of it's case, put it in a separate tub to slide through the xray machine. There are some places where after it goes through the xray machine, then you have to turn it on for one of the security agents. As for the Coca-Cola Corporation, add Pepsi and all the others, and then imagine that this is the influence they would love to have. LOL Actually in the beginning, you were not even permitted to buy a bottle of water or any other drink, after passing through security, keep it sealed and carry it on. The good news is that they have relaxed that part. The airlines hated it because it cost them more money. People now wanted two and three drinks of water, soda, etc., when they were on the airplane. Just make sure you don't put a flammable liquid in your drinking water bottle. You probably will not make it past security. LOL Your new home will be very structured, having security bars on the doors and windows, a uniform in a colour you probably don't like, and three square meals of unedible food. Arriving at your new residence also includes any jokes or comments about how stupid the process is to one of the security agents. LOL No sense of humour with those guys. lol really. My laptop is going inside my normal backpack, which will then go inside my big backpack, and my camera will probably be either in my hands or in a side pocket of my big backpack. And I've already got my shampoo and stuff in the quart-sized zip-lock bag, in an easily accessable outer part of my backpack so they can see it. If they really complain about it, I'll take out the small backpack and camera case, and check the rest of the big backpack, but I'd really rather not. LOL... oh they don't complain. It is only when you get to the security checkpoint that you find the ridiculousness of some of it. But, I can wait for your security stories. Haha oh boy.... I actually just finished printing our boarding passes for tomorrow... That was a great thing you did... it helps to print out the boarding passes early. Yeah, Dad sent my sister and I each an email. I was assigned to print out the passes, and she was assigned to print out the maps and directions. Although I printed out and extra copy of her stuff just in case. And I have all of that stuff saved on my computer anyways.

We will keep you all in our prayers. Hopefully it won't be too rough. When you feel like talking, we are here for you. When you pass my town, wave. I will be in my cage looking for you. Thanks again. This will be my first time on a commercial airline, so I'm kinda excited about that. I can't say I expect it to be *fun* what with airport security and all, but it's a good experience to have. I'm really going to miss my friends while I'm gone though, I won't see them until Wednesday. Christina went home earlier tonight, so I've got the room to myself. And Marius is leaving for home tomorrow morning, so unless he gets back early on Sunday, I won't see him even tomorrow, which is sad, because out of everyone, he's been here for me the most. I hate to sound all mushy and stuff, but I honestly couldn't have expected to have a better friend. Ah well, I need to finish my day-of-trip pack list. It's amazing the things they list on the federal list of stuff you can't have in a carryon. I mean really, cattle prods? Hand grenades? Fire extinguishers? The airline flying will be fun for you. Security is not bad. Just remember to put everything from your pockets into the little tray or into your bag. When you set off the detector, this just jams up the line. Most important, do not carry any water bottles, coffee drinks, soda or other liquid, through security. It will be confiscated. Even if the bottles are sealed, they are confiscated. Once you get past security, they will sell these same items. Once you are on board, if you get cold easily, make sure to bring a sweater, sweatshirt or other item to keep you warm. Blankets are many times not put on board as too many are being stolen and it costs the airline too much. So, they just decided to remove them. Checking luggage is good as it cuts down on stuff you have to carry. Plus, it makes going through security easier. Carry-on... now that made me laugh. Keep those cattle prods, hand grenades and fire extinguishers home. LOL You would be surprised what you will see people trying to take with them. Trust me on this one... you cannot imagine what people think is acceptable carry-on. If you are a chef and take your personal collection of knives with you when you travel, those would need to be in your checked luggage. Can you imagine the look on the faces of the security people when you tried to get through security with those??? It is just much easier when you check your bag with all those extras. Having the room to yourself is nice on occasion, I hope Marius sees you again before you leave. lol yeah, when I saw "meat cleavers" on there I was like, "Darn, you mean I can't bring my meat cleaver collection?" Although I am kinda bummed about not being able to have my pocketknife on me. I'll have to remember to take that out of my camera case. As for the selling beverages past the security line, gee, coca-cola corportation couldn't have has any say in that now could they? Haha. I'm probably going to keep all my stuff in one carryon if I can. It might be more annoying with security, but my dad's done it before, and that way I get to keep everything in my posession so I don't have to worry about it getting lost. It's all going in my backpacking backpack, so it won't be too tough to carry. The stories about lost luggage are really overblown. The thing to check with your backpacking backpack is to make sure it fits in the overhead bin. Your father would know for sure about this. Just don't take anything you don't want taken away. They can xray your camera so there is no need to take it out of the case, unless the case is metal. If it is in your backpack, and you tell them you have a camera in there, then they usually will let it go through. If you are taking your laptop, be prepared to take it out of it's case, put it in a separate tub to slide through the xray machine. There are some places where after it goes through the xray machine, then you have to turn it on for one of the security agents. As for the Coca-Cola Corporation, add Pepsi and all the others, and then imagine that this is the influence they would love to have. LOL Actually in the beginning, you were not even permitted to buy a bottle of water or any other drink, after passing through security, keep it sealed and carry it on. The good news is that they have relaxed that part. The airlines hated it because it cost them more money. People now wanted two and three drinks of water, soda, etc., when they were on the airplane. Just make sure you don't put a flammable liquid in your drinking water bottle. You probably will not make it past security. LOL Your new home will be very structured, having security bars on the doors and windows, a uniform in a colour you probably don't like, and three square meals of unedible food. Arriving at your new residence also includes any jokes or comments about how stupid the process is to one of the security agents. LOL No sense of humour with those guys. lol really. My laptop is going inside my normal backpack, which will then go inside my big backpack, and my camera will probably be either in my hands or in a side pocket of my big backpack. And I've already got my shampoo and stuff in the quart-sized zip-lock bag, in an easily accessable outer part of my backpack so they can see it. If they really complain about it, I'll take out the small backpack and camera case, and check the rest of the big backpack, but I'd really rather not. LOL... oh they don't complain. It is only when you get to the security checkpoint that you find the ridiculousness of some of it. But, I can wait for your security stories. Haha oh boy.... I actually just finished printing our boarding passes for tomorrow...

We will keep you all in our prayers. Hopefully it won't be too rough. When you feel like talking, we are here for you. When you pass my town, wave. I will be in my cage looking for you. Thanks again. This will be my first time on a commercial airline, so I'm kinda excited about that. I can't say I expect it to be *fun* what with airport security and all, but it's a good experience to have. I'm really going to miss my friends while I'm gone though, I won't see them until Wednesday. Christina went home earlier tonight, so I've got the room to myself. And Marius is leaving for home tomorrow morning, so unless he gets back early on Sunday, I won't see him even tomorrow, which is sad, because out of everyone, he's been here for me the most. I hate to sound all mushy and stuff, but I honestly couldn't have expected to have a better friend. Ah well, I need to finish my day-of-trip pack list. It's amazing the things they list on the federal list of stuff you can't have in a carryon. I mean really, cattle prods? Hand grenades? Fire extinguishers? The airline flying will be fun for you. Security is not bad. Just remember to put everything from your pockets into the little tray or into your bag. When you set off the detector, this just jams up the line. Most important, do not carry any water bottles, coffee drinks, soda or other liquid, through security. It will be confiscated. Even if the bottles are sealed, they are confiscated. Once you get past security, they will sell these same items. Once you are on board, if you get cold easily, make sure to bring a sweater, sweatshirt or other item to keep you warm. Blankets are many times not put on board as too many are being stolen and it costs the airline too much. So, they just decided to remove them. Checking luggage is good as it cuts down on stuff you have to carry. Plus, it makes going through security easier. Carry-on... now that made me laugh. Keep those cattle prods, hand grenades and fire extinguishers home. LOL You would be surprised what you will see people trying to take with them. Trust me on this one... you cannot imagine what people think is acceptable carry-on. If you are a chef and take your personal collection of knives with you when you travel, those would need to be in your checked luggage. Can you imagine the look on the faces of the security people when you tried to get through security with those??? It is just much easier when you check your bag with all those extras. Having the room to yourself is nice on occasion, I hope Marius sees you again before you leave. lol yeah, when I saw "meat cleavers" on there I was like, "Darn, you mean I can't bring my meat cleaver collection?" Although I am kinda bummed about not being able to have my pocketknife on me. I'll have to remember to take that out of my camera case. As for the selling beverages past the security line, gee, coca-cola corportation couldn't have has any say in that now could they? Haha. I'm probably going to keep all my stuff in one carryon if I can. It might be more annoying with security, but my dad's done it before, and that way I get to keep everything in my posession so I don't have to worry about it getting lost. It's all going in my backpacking backpack, so it won't be too tough to carry. The stories about lost luggage are really overblown. The thing to check with your backpacking backpack is to make sure it fits in the overhead bin. Your father would know for sure about this. Just don't take anything you don't want taken away. They can xray your camera so there is no need to take it out of the case, unless the case is metal. If it is in your backpack, and you tell them you have a camera in there, then they usually will let it go through. If you are taking your laptop, be prepared to take it out of it's case, put it in a separate tub to slide through the xray machine. There are some places where after it goes through the xray machine, then you have to turn it on for one of the security agents. As for the Coca-Cola Corporation, add Pepsi and all the others, and then imagine that this is the influence they would love to have. LOL Actually in the beginning, you were not even permitted to buy a bottle of water or any other drink, after passing through security, keep it sealed and carry it on. The good news is that they have relaxed that part. The airlines hated it because it cost them more money. People now wanted two and three drinks of water, soda, etc., when they were on the airplane. Just make sure you don't put a flammable liquid in your drinking water bottle. You probably will not make it past security. LOL Your new home will be very structured, having security bars on the doors and windows, a uniform in a colour you probably don't like, and three square meals of unedible food. Arriving at your new residence also includes any jokes or comments about how stupid the process is to one of the security agents. LOL No sense of humour with those guys. lol really. My laptop is going inside my normal backpack, which will then go inside my big backpack, and my camera will probably be either in my hands or in a side pocket of my big backpack. And I've already got my shampoo and stuff in the quart-sized zip-lock bag, in an easily accessable outer part of my backpack so they can see it. If they really complain about it, I'll take out the small backpack and camera case, and check the rest of the big backpack, but I'd really rather not.

We will keep you all in our prayers. Hopefully it won't be too rough. When you feel like talking, we are here for you. When you pass my town, wave. I will be in my cage looking for you. Thanks again. This will be my first time on a commercial airline, so I'm kinda excited about that. I can't say I expect it to be *fun* what with airport security and all, but it's a good experience to have. I'm really going to miss my friends while I'm gone though, I won't see them until Wednesday. Christina went home earlier tonight, so I've got the room to myself. And Marius is leaving for home tomorrow morning, so unless he gets back early on Sunday, I won't see him even tomorrow, which is sad, because out of everyone, he's been here for me the most. I hate to sound all mushy and stuff, but I honestly couldn't have expected to have a better friend. Ah well, I need to finish my day-of-trip pack list. It's amazing the things they list on the federal list of stuff you can't have in a carryon. I mean really, cattle prods? Hand grenades? Fire extinguishers? The airline flying will be fun for you. Security is not bad. Just remember to put everything from your pockets into the little tray or into your bag. When you set off the detector, this just jams up the line. Most important, do not carry any water bottles, coffee drinks, soda or other liquid, through security. It will be confiscated. Even if the bottles are sealed, they are confiscated. Once you get past security, they will sell these same items. Once you are on board, if you get cold easily, make sure to bring a sweater, sweatshirt or other item to keep you warm. Blankets are many times not put on board as too many are being stolen and it costs the airline too much. So, they just decided to remove them. Checking luggage is good as it cuts down on stuff you have to carry. Plus, it makes going through security easier. Carry-on... now that made me laugh. Keep those cattle prods, hand grenades and fire extinguishers home. LOL You would be surprised what you will see people trying to take with them. Trust me on this one... you cannot imagine what people think is acceptable carry-on. If you are a chef and take your personal collection of knives with you when you travel, those would need to be in your checked luggage. Can you imagine the look on the faces of the security people when you tried to get through security with those??? It is just much easier when you check your bag with all those extras. Having the room to yourself is nice on occasion, I hope Marius sees you again before you leave. lol yeah, when I saw "meat cleavers" on there I was like, "Darn, you mean I can't bring my meat cleaver collection?" Although I am kinda bummed about not being able to have my pocketknife on me. I'll have to remember to take that out of my camera case. As for the selling beverages past the security line, gee, coca-cola corportation couldn't have has any say in that now could they? Haha. I'm probably going to keep all my stuff in one carryon if I can. It might be more annoying with security, but my dad's done it before, and that way I get to keep everything in my posession so I don't have to worry about it getting lost. It's all going in my backpacking backpack, so it won't be too tough to carry.

We will keep you all in our prayers. Hopefully it won't be too rough. When you feel like talking, we are here for you. When you pass my town, wave. I will be in my cage looking for you. Thanks again. This will be my first time on a commercial airline, so I'm kinda excited about that. I can't say I expect it to be *fun* what with airport security and all, but it's a good experience to have. I'm really going to miss my friends while I'm gone though, I won't see them until Wednesday. Christina went home earlier tonight, so I've got the room to myself. And Marius is leaving for home tomorrow morning, so unless he gets back early on Sunday, I won't see him even tomorrow, which is sad, because out of everyone, he's been here for me the most. I hate to sound all mushy and stuff, but I honestly couldn't have expected to have a better friend. Ah well, I need to finish my day-of-trip pack list. It's amazing the things they list on the federal list of stuff you can't have in a carryon. I mean really, cattle prods? Hand grenades? Fire extinguishers?

The past few days have been really busy and kinda rough. I'm going to Florida on Sunday with my mom and sister, and I'll be there until Wednesday. I was in a really bad mood earlier today, but I took a nap, and my brain is slowly starting to sort its way out. I've had a lot on my mind, not just with grandpa passing, but with other stuff too. Dealing with all my upset family members is going to be rough, so I'm trying to relax as much as possible before I have to go.