So I am the stereotypical woman when it comes to chocolate: I adore it! However, there is a point at which too much can be a bad thing. I have reached that point: I have had chocolate every day for weeks now. Not healthy. So I decided yesterday that I wasn’t going to have any chocolate all day. Maria kind of killed that goal when she offered me the rest of her chocolate chip cookie. I couldn’t very well refuse it, could I? I told Sam this and he said that I couldn’t go one day without eating chocolate. I said I could. So we made a bet that if I went all day today without chocolate, he owed me a dollar. If I couldn’t, though, I owed him a dollar. (He also upped the bet to include sweets of all kind-I agreed because I thought I didn’t eat other sweets-that turned out to be wrong!). Stupidly, I forgot to stipulate that there would be no tempting allowed before we shook on it. The temptation began at approximately 10:15 this morning. I was in his room and unfortunately for me, there was documentary on Hershey’s chocolate on the History Channel. Wow can I say coincidence? Why, on this day, would this be on TV? And how did he find it! However, it did not break me down. Then on the way to dinner, things got worse…There was an ice cream social outside the cafeteria. Ice cream: a weakness nearly on the same par as chocolate.  I just thought, the entire world is conspiring against me today! At dinner, Sam conspicuously placed a bottle of chocolate syrup on the table, in addition to trying to put a piece of cake on my tray. Then, as if that wasn’t bad enough, Kaileigh, Aaron, and Brittany all decided to join in on the torment. They started talking about how good chocolate is and how much they were going to enjoy the ice cream after dinner. Sam even went so far as to grab some oatmeal raisin cookies, pour some chocolate on them, and push them in front of me. After dinner, the real torment began. Everyone around me had a bowl of ice cream and was waving it under my nose. Sam decided to drag his ice cream soaked spoon down my leg. But that’s not as bad as him trying to force feed me M&Ms that he bought for solely that purpose. He spent $3.00 on candy for a $1.00 bet that I will win!  It’s about 9:00 now and despite the many temptations, I am still going strong.

So I was having a conversation with my co-worker, Erika, this morning and I revealed to her something I only recently discovered myself: I can do push ups. Real ones, not girly ones. I usually only do girly ones, but I always see Kaileigh doing push ups, so I thought I would try it myself and I did it! I was quite proud of myself; so was Kaileigh (or so she claims). I’ve even worked myself up to doing three at a time…..yes, I am that weak. So I told Erika (because I had to brag) and she didn’t believe me. She said, “Do one.” So I did. Three of them. Right behind the circulation desk. How’s that for a morning’s work?

Most people would agree with me that being used by someone is not something they aspire too. Most people likely avoid it at all costs. However, I would bet that most people have not been used in the same way I was used Friday…

I went to dinner with Kaileigh, Sam, and Mitch, and while we were there, the skies decided to open and pour down rain. I had come prepared (though not as prepared as I would have liked) and was wearing a hoody (my hair was nice and straight and I wanted to keep it that way). My friends were not. As it turns out, Sam did not need an umbrella or a hoody: he had me. Apparently, I double as an umbrella. He literally hauled me over his shoulder to keep him dry (not comfortable on a full stomach). He walked with me like that nearly all the way back to Old Lynn. Bumpy ride for me. Then, when he finally put me down, I was so unsteady from being bumped around that I nearly collapsed. But that wasn’t as important as the fact that I really did keep him mostly dry…

So like I said, not many people can say they’ve been used the way I have: as an umbrella. I can now officially say that.

One of the amazing things about living in Old Lynn is that we get our own bathrooms and showers; we don’t have to travel down the hall to use the community restrooms like students do in three of the other dorms. I think we are very fortunate for that; I’m not particularly fond of public restrooms, no matter how clean. However, this positive aspect has recently become somewhat negative…

Lack of toilet paper can be an issue. Since we have a private bathroom, the school does not provide toilet paper like they do for the community bathrooms (which I believe is kind of unfair; we do pay the same price for our rooms. But-can’t have everything!). We have to fend for ourselves in that respect. All year, Aly, Kaileigh, and I have had a nice rotation plan going on. One person buys toilet paper, then the next, then the next, then we start over again. But, since Kaileigh and I do not have cars, getting toilet paper can sometimes be difficult. Usually, we can catch a ride with someone to Walmart or CVS or we will give someone money to pick it up for us (not that that worked out so well last time; I asked Sam to get us some toilet paper and he comes back with paper towels). As of now, it’s Kaileigh’s turn to buy toilet paper and–well–she hasn’t been doing such a great job of procuring it. In fact, we’ve run out. Fortunately, though, we have not yet been stranded on the toilet without it. Until she gets a chance to get some more toilet paper for us, we have been taking miles of toilet paper from a bathroom downstairs outside the gym. It’s not very soft, but it gets the job done.

The Liberal Arts Symposium was last week. I meant to write about it sooner, but other things just kept getting in the way. For those who don’t know, the symposium is a chance for students from the College of Arts and Sciences to share some of the work they’ve done throughout the year. My friend Maria was in it, reading a paper from a China/Taiwan trip she went on over the summer. Michael, a guy I know from Medieval/Renaissance class last semester, gave a comical presentation about his trip to Egypt over the Winter break. Three of my friends were doing a project from math class, but I missed their presentation because I left early. I heard later that it was pretty funny, as well. There were many more presentations: one from a sociology project that included many of the Haitian workers on campus, another from an international student on, I think, the secretary general, and a couple from the science department. I read a research paper that I wrote this semester on The Awakening. It’s an eight page paper, so pretty long. I knew I was going to be up there for a while, so I tried to read fast to get it over with more quickly. A couple of people picked up on it, which was kind of embarrassing, but really only natural. It’s a good night for the College of Arts and Sciences, a good chance for the students to show off their talents. Great job to everyone who had the opportunity to present!

The Lynn Magazine is out and the bloggers are in it! Debbie Stern interviewed all of us last semester for an article she planned to write for the magazine and I think she did an amazing job! She said that we’ve created “a living, breathing brochure for Lynn University,” which I thought was an exceptional phrase. She included information we gave her in our interviews and mini bios as well as excerpts from our blogs, which I wasn’t expecting (though I suppose I should have). The entire article is so colorful! The excerpts from our blogs are color coded (I’m green) and in a different font, which makes the whole article more interesting aesthetically. And I have to give Anthony credit; the pictures he took from the beginning of the year are amazing, as well. Good job guys!

Have I mentioned that I work in the Lynn Library? I can’t remember, but I do. Someone came into the library this morning and told me that one of the cigarette receptacles we have out front was billowing smoke! I looked out the doors and could see a cloud of smoke covering the entrance to the library. I told Susan, one of my bosses, and she called maintenance, who came over and extinguished whatever fire was trying to start. I feel sorry for anyone who had to walk through that cloud before it was put out, though, because I’m sure they smelled like cigarette smoke. It was certainly an odd way to start the morning.

I can’t believe Spring Break is almost over! I was surprised to find out that there were still quite a few people on campus over break; I expected many fewer than there were. I actually had an amazing week despite (or maybe because of) the boredom. I did accomplish most of my goals. I cleaned so much! I vacuumed almost every day, cleaned the sink, and rearranged a few of my things so that I would have more space (mostly for books). I did end up ordering a pizza (pineapple, though it could barely be called that considering how stingy Dominos was with it), and I did watch Star Wars (though only the first one and by myself because Alyssa couldn’t make it).  I did much more homework than I needed to and simultaneously not as much as I wanted to. I did not, however, get to go to the pool every day. It ended up being cloudy and rainy most of the week, which was somewhat irritating. Those first three days, though, were beautiful and my skin is a nice, beige tone now. Except for my knees. If you read my last blog, you know that I fell. Those parts of my skin are a mixture of purple and red and brown. I really didn’t do anything the least bit interesting. Well, one night I went out with Brittany H. and her boyfriend to dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen, but that was it. Oh, and I did walk to the mall one day. That was interesting; I was proud of myself for not getting lost.

So everybody is coming back tomorrow and classes start back up on Monday. Even though I’m quite nerdy and don’t really mind classes too much, I could definitely be extremely happy with a longer break. The week went by too fast.

So when normal people are riding a bike, if they fall, they are likely to fall off the bike, right? Not me. I’m so awkward that I didn’t fall off the bike. I fell off of a curb while I was walking my bike across the street. I even scraped my knees. I felt very five-year-old last night. I’m kind of upset because I had just gotten rid of all of the bruises I had (there were very many). Then this happens.

Anyway, I was thinking last night while I was riding home about how much I love having the room to myself. Being alone is sometimes refreshing. I could even call it an escape. You learn a lot about yourself when you’re alone. You think more and talk less (though  in my case, it may be the other way around). Solitude is good for you; if you can’t stand yourself, how can you expect any body else to stand you?

It’s spring break! I’m spending it here at Lynn rather than spending more money than I have on a plane ticket to go somewhere. Once I firmly decided that  I was staying here, I became really excited. Campus is pleasantly deserted. I get my entire room to myself for a whole week and I can do whatever I want. I don’t have to worry about homework or classes, so I might actually watch tv for once. I get to play my own music as much as I want as loud as I want. Everyone is telling me that I’m going to get bored and I can’t wait! It’s very rare that I have the luxury of being bored, so it’s going to be amazing. Not that I don’t have a list of things to do to keep me occupied. I’m going to do some serious cleaning, try to sleep past 9:00, work ahead on homework, and work at both jobs. I know, I know, it’s not an ideal vacation, but it’s not that bad either. There are fun things on my schedule, too. I’m going to the pool as often as possible, I’m going to order a pizza for no reason at all, Alyssa is going to come over and we’re going to have a Star Wars marathon (she’s never seen them!) and her and I are also going to play catch. I just have to remind her that she can’t go into work instead of hang out with me. The only thing I’m worried about is a disturbing propensity I have for talking to myself. I realized last night that I was doing it. Kaileigh was still here…and listening. Apparently I do it pretty frequently. I did not realize that. My plan is to play my music so much that I don’t have a chance to talk to myself. It’s kind of embarrassing…even when I’m alone.