Whew!

My goodness what a day.

Today I woke up and studied my brains out, well almost, for my LAST FINAL EXAM OF MY UNDERGRADUATE CAREER! I also contacted my bank about a weird transaction that showed up on my statement - it should all clear up in a few weeks - I love Wellsfargo. I then proceeded to Blinn College where I took that LAST FINAL EXAM OF MY UNDERGRADUATE CAREER after standing in line at the Learning Center for almost an hour...yeah, I stood in line longer than it took me to complete the exam. I took the supposedly cumulative exam (except that it wasn't...weird.) and scurried home to pack for Indy! Lu and I then had our little roommie Christmas time and it was awesome - I love giving gifts!!

After saying our goodbyes for a week of being apart, I hit the road to good ol' Cypress to see my dear, dear Kacydilla and JJ. They are amazing and will be rising with the sun (and myself) to take me to the airport. We will be leaving their lovely home circa 6am, which means I'll be waking up around 5am...lovely :) We will be stopping to get some Shipley's or sooomething, I do believe. I always love coming to visit them - they make me feel so much like family, which is awesome, because they are family to me. Yeah, pretty much they are just awesome. We had a lovely dinner (Kacydilla made baked ziti!) and closed the evening with a movie rental - thank you AT&T Uverse - in front of a lovely crackling fire - thank you JJ :) We rented Sunshine Cleaners. It was very different, but good, overall - definitely not kid friendly, though. Kacy and I decided that it leaves you with the same sort of feeling as Little Miss Sunshine does - you're not overjoyed, but you are sort of content, while slightly saddened...you know, just one of those odd ones. We liked it, though.

Well, the two love birds hit the hay about an hour and a half ago...since I've been staying up 'til the wee hours lately, I am still awake...yay! I'm charging/syncing my ipod to help pass the time...and caught up on some email. I think I'm about ready to hit the hay myself. Eyes are finally getting a little heavy and have the beginnings of that sleep-deprived burn, yuuum.

I'm sort of lost in this weird limbo between the termination of my finals and the moment I walk that stage... Being completely done with my classes/exams and graduation being a week away makes graduation seem like just a dream that I'm not so close to attaining. It's so weird. It's like I'm about to drop out of reality for a moment by attending the ESA meeting while everyone else is still trucking along. Don't get me wrong, I put in my fair share of work by crunching to get all of my exams taken by today, but it still feels strange. I dunno...in a way, I'm kind of sad to not be around for that last week of hell. Finals are always such awful yet fun times in the insanity that ensues due to intense sleep deprivation and overdosing on caffeine. Oh, memories. I will never forget finals my first semester, freshman year: Rach and I were pulling an all-nighter while Harpi slept soundly on the bottom bunk of their bed. Rach and I were SO ridiculously hyped up on Surge (please tell me that some of you share the sick love of this bottled potion of awesome that she and I do...) that we couldn't even sit still in our chairs! We were continuously shifting and jumping up, only to force ourselves to sit back down; there was, of course, the constant occasional glance-and-giggle profusely. **sigh** Those were the days. I miss being that young and carefree, sometimes. But, only sometimes. I am truly happy with where I am today. While I am not entirely thrilled to move into my parents' study - Mom & Dad, if you read this, I love you, it's just the moving into the study part - I am quite excited to have some free time again to read and visit with people and just enjoy existing. I am rather tired of the continuous go-go-go that has been my life the last 4yrs. The change of pace is much needed and will most certainly be enjoyed. I can't wait to start my reading list...I still need to actually compile the list that has been building in my head and put it on paper, but still...I'll have time to read again!!! This will be bliss.

Ok, I now have to face the day in about 4.5hrs, so I HAVE to close for now. I'll be updating throughout the conference, so get excited.

Indy, here I come!!

Blessings and Peace to you all!
~MW

P.S. - If it's not too much to ask, my family and I would greatly appreciate it if you could keep my Grandma and Grandpa in your prayers. Grandma just got home from being hospitalized and still has a lot of swelling and seeping in her legs; Grandpa just had surgery to have a catheter placed permanently. Also, my Aunt Deb went to the hospital today because she had a seizure (that might not be entirely correct, but it was something to that effect) and after a bunch of scans, cat-scans, etc. they found a mass behind her sinuses and sent her immediately to surgery. I haven't heard anything yet on how it all went, but I'm hoping that no news is good news... Thanks all!