ugh, I've been studying for the math part of the GRE for the past hour or so and now I think my head is going to explode all over this room. I am so rusty on things like simultaneous equations, geometry, things that inovlve x or y...it's hard getting back on track with that. and even though my math score isn't really going to matter at all, I feel like I should at least try to do respectably well so I don't come off looking like a dolt. as for the verbal sections, I am pleased to say that my dry runs have gone well so far. relief...

this past weekend was pretty good for me. Friday night I met up with Erin and we went for two drinks with one of her coworkers. the beer I had tasted so good, I swear. after that it was sushi to celebrate my birthday. as soon as I put my first bite of sushi into my mouth (I think it was salmon), I felt my fog of pent-up sushial frustration lift off my shoulders like nobody's business. and then slightly drunk me proceeded to eat the rest of my delicous sushi in a manner that can be described as nothing short of scarfing. it was soooooo good. goddamn I love sushi. and now I'm thinking about it again. SUUUUSHI.

after sushi, Erin and I went to a bar and had a few more drinks and chatted. I learned from her for the first time the story of how she got pregnant with Kevin when she was 16 and it was really horrible. I'm amazed that Erin is who she is today after hearing that story. she was surprised she hadn't told me before. it was good to finally have the whole story, as I knew the entire "during" and "after" parts. anyway, the night wasn't all heavy like that. at one point at that second bar a very inebriated man named Sterling, who had to be in his late 50s to early 60s, basically proposed a threesome to us by asking if Erin and I were "together." he had his hands resting on each of our lower backs. verrrry skeevy. but he did buy us a drink. he was wearing a fake gold hoop in his left ear and told us his wife was in Minneapolis on business. when he learned how old we were he laughed and said something about how we were younger than his daughter and he therefore couldn't pick up on us. whatever, dude, just take that hand off my fleshy parts. he almost looked like a physician, very white man, old money looking, and that made it all the weirder. when he finally stumbled away Erin and I just gave each other "hey, whatever!" looks and started laughing.

shortly after that we met up with a few of Erin's friends and then went all over the place, I think to 5 bars in total. I was getting pretty tipsy, probably because I'd done a very strong kamikaze shot after having three beers, and then after another two beers at another bar I had a shot of what the bartender called "hot sex," but what was just Bailey's, I'm pretty sure. some guy friend of Erin's friend bought it for me in honor of my bday, and when the bartender learned that was the occasion he guessed I was 22. when I told him how old I really was, the bartender apparently felt this gave him license to ask me how many guys I'd slept with and whether I'd slept with more in college or high school. I said I was not going to discuss the matter, took my shot, and walked away.

shortly afterwards I went to the bathroom and dropped my lipstick in the toilet. the cap was still on it, so I fished that baby out right away because I had just bought it three days prior and I wasn't about to flush $14 down the toilet! literally! not one of my proudest moments, I'll admit. but there was zero dampness inside, where the important mouth-contact is made, so I'm choosing to slowly forget it was ever in a public toilet bowl at all. anyway, I think I got home around 1 or 2am that night and promptly fell into bed.

Saturday I, hung-over, took my gma to get her hair cut, which turned into a fiasco when we missed an exit, turned around, but got on going the same way again, then had to turn back around again. several factors contributed to this situation, the first being that the map directions I'd gotten online did not have the exit number or the correct exit name; the second being that my gma mistakenly got us back on the highway going in the wrong direction; the third being I'd never been where we were going before Saturday. we ended up being 30 minutes late to the place (it was kind of far away). but it was ok. I'm just going to ask my gma to blindfold herself next time she's navigating because honestly I don't need to be told at each sign that the exit is coming up, or when to exit.

anyway, after the haircut I took my gma to one of those neato fancy foods and furnishings places, one that she'd never visited before, and she bought a whole bunch of shizz. she was very excited about it, and she bought me a bottle of wine too. thanks, gma! cheers to you.

Sunday I went to a mall with Erin and studied a bit for the GRE. scored three sweaters for 70 bucks at the mall. tried on some pants. did not buy pants. I'll leave it at that. and that was my weekend!

I did get some very sad news yesterday morning, however. when I had turned on my cell phone, there was a message from my 17 year old sister asking me to call her as soon as I got the message. I called, figuring it was some unusually bad boy trouble or something. alas, no. my kitty died Sunday night. she had two seizures some time during the day and after my parents decided to take her to an animal hospital she was basically unresponsive so they decided to put her to sleep. apparently she'd had a mini stroke a week or so ago too, but I didn't know about that. as soon as my sister gave me the news I started crying so hard, and she joined in.

my kitty was a stray and I was the one who had found her. when I was in 7th grade, she wandered into my ballet class and, despite my teacher's efforts, hung around the dance school all throughout the class. she was still sitting outside when I left to meet my mom outside and I convinced her to let me bring the cat home so she could at least have food while we placed an ad to try to find her owner. my mom was reluctant, but finally agreed. my dad wasn't too hot on the whole cat idea, and both my parents insisted the cat sleep in the garage until we could make any further decision. we placed an ad in the paper, put up signs and everything, but no one ever claimed her. so my parents grudgingly decided we could keep her. my sisters and I were very excited and I came home from school the day after the decision was made to my mom's announcement that my little sisters had dubbed the cat "Fluffy." since I thought that was the stupidest name possible, I always just called her "kitty."

she was the best little kitty--she'd come when you called her, she would never act aloof, and she would tolerate things like my youngest sister carrying her around by the neck as a toddler. plus she always stayed very small, never weighing more than 8-10 pounds. so I always thought of her as being a young and healthy cat who always recognized me whenever I'd come home from college or from the various places I moved after finishing school. she went deaf sometime last year, but that was the only sign that maybe Fluffy was just starting to get old. so I was very shocked to learn that she died, and in such a traumatic way as to have seized twice before being euthanized.

my whole family is pretty upset about it. my mom started crying both times I spoke to her yesterday, and my 17 year old sister even stayed home from school yesterday (my kitty used to sleep with her every night). I thought for a second about skipping work yesterday too, but it seemed silly to miss work for a pet's death even though I was very upset talking to my family on the phone yesterday morning. also, I had an interview at 4 yesterday afternoon so I needed to keep the chin up. but yes. poor Fluffy. poor kitty. very sad. I'm trying not to think about it too much because then I get really sad again. and I think it'll be hard to go home for the first time and not see her pad around the corner to mew at me but of course I'll be fine. still, sad.

not much else to share for now. it's kind of a down note to end on, but oh well. I have another interview coming up this week sometime and I'm really hoping to get that job. interviews are promising.

and that's about all I gots in me right now.