It's been awhile, huh? Geez.

Good Things

+ Officially sending off all my Portland State stuff last week. I only had to tweak my Boston College entrance essay just a bit, too, which was nice. The nice admissions lady from the Graduate School of Social Work also said she'd be able to personalize a course of study for me, taking into consideration the transfer credits from BC, which is awesome.

+ Feeling at least a little better on my newest anti-depressant, Effexor.

+ Feeling a lot better when I take two Klonipin with aforementioned Effexor. Then again, I'm sort of reconsidering how often I choose to mix prescription medication. The whole Heath Ledger thing sort of has me paranoid.

+ Finding a lot of fantastic new music to listen to. I'm currently obsessed with Missy Higgins, who sort of reminds me of a cross between Alanis Morrisette and Fiona Apple. She's coming to one of my favorite little venues here next month, which I'm really excited about. Other recent favorites: Yael Naim, Sara Bareilles, Morcheeba, and remembering how much I love Matchbox Twenty's, "Yourself or Someone Like You".

+ Strengthening friendships with people here. In the last month or so, I've really had a chance to evaluate the life I've made for myself here and, with that, the people I'll be leaving behind. I'm really going to miss a lot of them.

+ Having rainy weather instead of snowy weather.

+ Buying a flannel pajama set on sale at Target for $6.24.

+ Burning candles that smell like the holidays.

+ Coming home to Roma buried under my blankets.

+ Making some minimal progress with the guy at work, Justin, who I've liked forever. We hung out two years ago a couple of times. Kissed, watched movies, nothing major. Then he gave me the it's-not-you-it's-me bullshit, so I gave up for awhile. I tried to ask him out again about a year ago, unknowingly doing so when he was dating someone. They broke up last summer. Now it's February, he's single, and I'm leaving in four and a half months. So, seize the day, right? We flirt like crazy at work, which mostly consists of him talking trash about Idaho and trying to beat me up, and me bashing him for grammatical errors in his work e-mails and for the Patriots choking during the Superbowl. Yesterday I casually suggested we hang out again, because I'm leaving and it'd be nice to spend some time together before I go and blah blah blah. I suggested watching Superbad and drinking wine, which he seemed open to. We'll see. I've still got time.

+ Being really happy with both Democratic front-runners. And the fact that Romney bailed out.

+ Hosting a cocktail party in three weeks. Dressy attire, fancy wine and champagne, Scrabble, good lighting, and jazz.

Not So Good Things

- Paying $117 for a one month supply of my Effexor. Apparently it's not one of the medications Blue Cross/Blue Shield covers, which is super convenient seeing as how it's been the most effective for me thus far. Go figure, right?

- Continuing to work my life away. I've been alternating between 50 and 58 hours a week, which, along with my two classes, is just about killing me.

- Hating my Research Methods class and its professor. Picture Mr. Miagi from Karate Kid teaching Statistics, and that pretty much sums it up. Plus the textbook is almost impossible to understand and everyone in the class seems to have a better grasp on the material thus far than I do. Boo.

- Realizing that I'm going to have to pay out of state tuition for at least my first year at PSU (assuming I get in) after having lived in Oregon previously for five consecutive years.

- Forgetting to update my Netflix queue before I send my movies back and ending up getting new DVDs I didn't really want.

- Not being able to think of anything to give up for Lent. Not that I'm really Catholic or anything, but I like to test my self-control once in awhile. I was thinking alcohol, but not being able to drink at my own cocktail party would be uber-depressing. I realize that I'm, like, several days past the start of Lent anyway but I figure I can go a few extra days or something.

- The recent influx of disgustingly long and super fast red centipedes in my bedroom. I usually find them on the ceiling and have decided they're coming up from a hole that leads down to the basement. And I fucking hate them.

- Watching more and more of my friends get engaged. Which makes me happy for them, but even more depressed and anxious about my own single-ness.

- Hearing the same five or six awful songs on the radio every day. Chris Brown, Jordin Sparks, Flo-Rida (which shouldn't even be allowed to be a name), and J. Holiday (same goes for him). WTF.

- Having to file my taxes and reapply for FAFSA, neither of which I've done yet.

- Spending hours on Scrabulous.com and losing most of the time.

- Turning on CNN every day and seeing some election story. Now, don't get me wrong; I can appreciate the importance of the campaigning and all that. And I voted in the primary on Tuesday. And I'm excited about our prospective Democratic nominees. But, uh, isn't there something else they can cover sometimes? Sheesh.