Today, they finally, finally, finally opened up a Ross nearby, so my mother, Melissa, Marie and I naturally had to run and buy clothes.  You don't appreciate the ten million Ross stores in Orlando until you don't have one, and realize you can't run and buy a sundress for six dollars, or a pair of Express jeans for twelve.  And in Tennessee, there is nothing. 

I bought two pairs of jeans and two shirts.  Finding  jeans is still as difficult as ever, even with having lost a bit of weight - I seem to be inbetween sizes.  The two pairs of jeans I bought fit, but they'll fit better when I finish losing weight and continue to work on my stomach.  Anyway, I'm quite pleased with my purchases.  Last year I didn't get back to school clothes at all.  I'm intending on asking my dad if I can buy some more clothes, put it on my credit card and have him pay for it.  However, I'm thinking any more clothes might be best bought in Florida.  Though the prices at Ross were good, and I did get all that for less than fifty dollars, there's almost ten percent sales tax here.  The six percent in Orange County and even seven percent in Seminole is looking miiiighty good right about now.  And don't get me started on how jealous I am about the no-sales-tax back to school special.  Grumble. 

I start my diet back up Monday, but first comes tomorrow.  And with tomorrow comes cookies. 

Eeep!  I see Blogger has changed things once again.  They're just so crafty. 

Speaking of unexpected changes, the Rollins website is totally different now.  For the most part, I say "thank God" - it now looks much more professional.  Took me a minute to find the Pipeline link, but I think once I get used to the new layout I'll like it much better. 

Stacey's birthday was yesterday.  We now have lots of cake in the house.  Unfortunetely, that's about all we have in the house.  Tonight I had a major craving for chicken salad (pasta, ranch dressing, chicken, green peas).  However, we had none of these ingredients, nor ingredients for anything else healthy, so I wound up having peanut butter and jam on toast.  And cake.  Tomorrow we are having the salad, though, and I am glad.  Besides being awful for my diet, I just feel so junked up from all the sweets and soda lately.  Diet kicks back in with a vengeance on Monday, though, so I'm just indulging myself and telling myself I still have a month to lose more weight before school starts. 

Haven't heard anything on the Melissa/Zach front lately.  I must bug her about it. 

Went to the drive-in the other night, and saw I, Robot and Spiderman 2 as a double feature.  Was fun; I liked both movies, though the credits say the former was only "suggested" by Asimov.  Though I've read and like the Foundation trilogy, I've never read any of the robot series, though I know I own it.  Sadly, most of the family books are still in boxes in the basement.  Last night I did come across The Positronic Man and Foundation and Earth.  Have already finished the first, and am about 1/3 of the way through the latter. 

Made pretty good progress on my paper; sent it off to Nola, though I've yet to recieve a response.  My cousin's wife has also offered to give me pointers on presenting my paper at the conference, and edit my paper when I'm ready.  This terrifies me, as she's a Fulbright scholar, apparently tears papers apart when she edits, etc.  Yes, it's exactly what I need.  I'm still afraid.  Shut up, I'll cowboy up later. 

I'm thinking of taking yoga during the spring semester.  I really need the stretching, and by spring I may be strong enough to handle it.  Plus, I need to learn to "breathe through my problems."  I already have high blood pressure; I need to figure out a way to handle stress before I enter grad school.  This internalizing cannot be good. 

I miss everyone in Florida, though I am having a good time with my family.  I'm missing those who I spend very little time with, due to busy schedules (Katie, Casey, Jacob, this means you) those I do get to see often (Michelle) and those who, well, I simply don't see enough (Mike, Anjali, Jen, Melo, and more).  And Alan, well, you're still somehow a FL person in my mind.  It's just occurring to me that come the end of the year, I will be moving out of state, and I need to take advantage of all the friendships I have here while you're still quite accessible.  I know that with modern marvels such as the one I'm typing away on, moving away isn't all that terrible or at times even noticable (cough, Alan), but still...I'm actually getting slightly choked up thinking about leaving stupid things such as the Oviedo Marketplace, laden with so many teenaged memories; the Oviedo Borders, laden with so much drama; the many Checkers, Sci-Fi City, and  simply the knowledge I've accumulated since I was five about where everything is.  And hell, Disney will be a place I have to take a vacation to go to!  And don't get me started about Halloween Horror Nights.  I know that these thoughts will be quickly replaced with excitement at starting a new portion of my life; even with this nostalgia, I am aware that I'm ready to move on.  Still, though, no matter how odd the circumstances, Orlando really is and always will be home. 

The sugar from the cake I ate is condensing into a small, throbbing ball of pain in my head.  Most definitely time to lay down and read some more Asimov.  I think I've depressed myself sufficiently for now. 

Casey's right. I should just post a link to the nincam, since that's where I've been lately. Well, it is located at http://www.nin.com/visuals/webcam.html . Just so ya know.

My current plan is to go babysit Stacey's house on Sat. night, bring my laptop, and work like mad on my paper. So far, these are my intentions. We'll see how it goes.

I want to sleep through City of Heroes again. And see another alien landing.

Had to use some fast talking to get George away from Julian. George was upstairs cause I had brought him up when I came up after the storms, and I was taking a picture of him sitting on my laptop. Julian found him and was of course entranced. He is now "jungle monkey George," who uses his tail to "climb trees in the forest." Cute, but George is special. He's going back in my room now.

I am determined to go to bed at a reasonable hour. Bedtime for Frances.

More Julian:


And finally, my emo-looking web cam pic:

I need to get someone besides Orkut to host my pics, but in the meantime



Stormy, my cat.

Was pictures, but I decided to take them down.

Dammit, I tried downloading that Hello Bloggerbot thingy, and it didn't work. Any tips on how to post photos the old-fashioned way? I just took new ones of Julian and Stormy.

Bed time.

More fangirlness: the NIN webcam kicked on about an hour ago, and I was actually able to witness it. I bounced around in glee like a toddler. In a stunning display of geekiness, I took little screen shot thingies too. And it was actually Trent this time, not palm trees or a cat.

I am such a giddy dork.

I've been attempting to drink the required 8 glasses of water a day. Therefore, I've been drinking like a dehydrated camel. Still, it does make one more full.

Ripped this off of Saturnine's LJ, so, by association, off of Tony's:

[YES OR NO]

You keep a diary: I do the online thing. I used to keep diaries, but I threw them all away. I don't like being able to go back and see what an idiot I was.

You have a secret journal: Naw. Maybe I'm too much of an attention whore or something. My head is my secret journal.

You set your watch a few minutes ahead: When it isn't magically stopping, yeah.

You bite your fingernails: Not exactly bite, but I tend to tear at them. Doesn't matter currently, as I play the piano.

You believe in love: Yes, I believe in a thing called love. *cough* I don't think it really matches up with all the portrayals in the movies, though.

[DO YOU]

Take a shower everyday: I did at school. Here it's pretty much every other day.

Have a(any) crush(es): Hmm. Not that I can think of, offhand.

Think you know you've been in love: I'm in love.

Want to get married: Yep (big surprise).

Have any tattoos/where?: Nope.

piiercings/where?: Nope. Not even my ears, anymore.

Get motion sickness: Yep. In fact, I did today on that Ab Lounger thing.

Think you're a health freak: Sure. If chocolate and Cherry Coke counts as health food.

Get along with your parents: I get along very well with my mother. As for the others, eh.

[FAVORITE]

NUMBER: 16
COLOR: pink and fire-engine red
DAY: Friday
MONTH: June, October, December
SONG: "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" atm
FOOD: Italian and New York-style Chinese
SEASON: Summer in Florida, or fall.
SPORT: ice skating and gymnastics. And I enjoy a good basketball game.
DRINK: Cherry Coke. Dr. Pepper. Starbucks chocolate brownie and caramel Frappucinos.
VEGGIE: green peppers, kernel corn.
FRUIT: Apples, banannas
FAST FOOD: Checkers.

[IN THE LAST 24 HOURS, HAVE YOU]

CRIED? Nope
HELPED SOMEONE? Yep. I paid my mom's bill online for her.
BOUGHT SOMETHING? Nope.
GOTTEN SICK? Yep. :P
GONE TO THE MOVIES? Nope. I watched "Die Hard" on TV though.
GONE OUT FOR DINNER? No.
SAID "I LOVE YOU"? Yes, I think so.
WRITTEN A REAL LETTER? No, but I will be sending a dollar or two to Matt soon.
TALKED TO AN EX? Hah. Noooooooo.
MISSED AN EX? Nooooooooo.
WRITTEN IN A JOURNAL? Yes.
MISSED SOMEONE? yes. Obviously.
HUGGED SOMEONE? I am suffering withdrawl, actually.
FOUGHT WITH YOUR PARENTS? Maybe my stepfather, though I can't remember.
FOUGHT WITH A FRIEND? Nooooo.

[WOULD YOU EVER]

1. Eat a bug? Nope
2. Bungee jump? Nope
3. Hang glide? Maybe
4. Kill someone? I don't think so
5. have sex with someone you don't love? Nah
6. Kiss someone of the same sex? I've been kissed by someone of the same sex, actually.
7. Parachute from a plane? maaaaybe. More likely to do that than bungee.
8. Walk on hot coals? Will take Sat's answer: Only if I had the right mental training for it. Or the right magician trickery.
9. Go out with someone just for their looks? Maybe for one date.
10. For their reputation? Perhaps.
11. Be a vegetarian? I actually might become one. There's just too many adorable cows near my house.
12. Wear plaid with stripes? Ewwww. Except I think I did, back in the flannel days.
13. IM a stranger? If I was bored.
14. Sing karaoke? I already have *cringe*
15. Get drunk? Already have. Sort of.
16. Shoplift? I did when I was seven, from the school store. The guilt plagued me for years.
17. Run a red light? I don't drive, but why not.
18. Dye your hair blue? Naw.
19. Be on Survivor? Eww.
20. Wear makeup in public? Already have.
22. Make someone cry? Already have.
23. Kick a baby? Don't kick the baby!
24. Date someone more than ten years older than you? Errr, no. That would be like my sister's boyfriends, and, ick.
38. Stay up all through the night? Already have.

Ok, so the Fourth:

It was a smaller affair this year than in years past. No Katie, Cara and Casey, who are all pretty busy with school and lives and relationships of their own, or Lee, who's out in Las Vegas. No, it was pretty much a family thing, though that still meant thirteen people. There was the usual bitching about having to spend all day at my dad's, though the past few holidays had been at Krista's, so it was really his turn. It was incredibly hot - 93 degrees - so Stacey, Marie, Krista, Julian and I all went swimming (Julian perched atop an inflatable alligator, which he pretended was the Peter Pan crocodile and tick-tocked his way in circles) while the rest stayed on the porch and talked. Awesome day parachutes were set off while we were in the pool, and we cheered. It's a good thing we had the fun in the pool early on, though, because a storm rolled in soon after that went on for a good portion of the afternoon and knocked the temperature down by about 15 degrees.

The rest of the day was fairly typical; firecrackers were thrown down the little hole in the front yard, we ate a ton of food, watched some Independence Day and a Gilmore Girls DVD (that was disputed - was it the first episode or the pilot? You decide) and ate some apple pie. The fireworks were wonderful and set off by the men of the family, save Doug, who never cares for it, and my dad, who cut out early because he decided he wanted to actually watch the show for the first time since he was fourteen. Julian conked out on the blanket before the end of it, having "ooohhed" and "ahhed" and "yeee-hawed" himself right off to sleep.

(Note: the rest of the family did not yee-haw. Julian had just gotten back from spending four days in Mississippi with his other grandparents.)

I had a drink or so that night, and even my mom got a bit toasty (an unprecedented, funny and shocking event, if you know my mother). Quite a good deal of the conversation revolved around alcohol, actually, since the older Marie is now a bartender. The fireworks were lovely.

And basically, that was it.

So I had to add Thumper-Chris to the links. He's an awesome guy, and if I ever get around to sending mail out, he's first on the list. He's also the reason I have a great desire to see the rest of Teachers. Oh, and he's from Scotland, which is even more coolness. Also, he drinks a lot. And if all that doesn't make you check him out, I don't know what would. ^_^