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Ahh, so a real update. I hope you have all been well, because, well, my life is weird.
So where were we last? It was late Wednesday night, into Thursday morning. I was done with my angry burst about one of my friends, my grandmother was recovering well from triple bypass surgery and I was still waiting to hear about my M.Eng project. How things have changed.
So, Thursday the 23rd of October opened nice and late for me, I remember that. In my inbox was my M.Eng project assignment! Yay! My M.Eng project will be with Analog Devices, Inc.. I will be working with 4 people on the project and we will be analyzing how data mining might be useful to ADI. The company is headquartered in Norwood, MA, but the people we will be visiting are in Wilmington, MA. So I get to go to Boston a few times this year and that is exciting as well. :-)
So the day was going pretty well. ADI was my first choice for my project (we had to rank them, I'm not sure if I ever mentioned that), no problem set due that day, earlier week stresses were done. Of course, all of that had to change around 9:15pm that night. My mother called me and as it turned out, my grandmother's surgery had not gone as well as they had thought. There had been problems with oxygen when closing up her heart, causing brain damage and she was on life support. They didn't expect her condition to improve, so the family was going to take her off life support if she didn't make it through the weekend. My mom wanted to know if I wanted to come home. I said yes, find me a flight home. I was upset about my grandmother, upset because I wouldn't be around for Homecoming weekend (Helen, Vinny, Herb and Bolcar were going to be in town), in limbo as far as how I would handle it academically (I had group members to be concerned with, as well as my own stuff), etc, etc, etc. I stayed up so late that night because I was just in shock and kinda upset at myself, as I always am, about the way I grieve.
My mom failed to call me back about a flight that night, which kinda bothered me, because I was in such limbo. I went through the motions of going to class the next day; still no call. I came home and talked to a few people, told them I'd probably see them that night because it didn't look like I was going home that day. Still no call. I took a nap. Still no call. When I woke up, the one good thing that could have happened that day, did - I got a second round interview with a consulting company in Boston, so I was glad to have a little cheer, but really, not thinking about it so much at that point. Still no call. Saw Vinny. Still no call. Finally, at 6:00pm on Friday my mom called me. My grandmother had woken up! I was very happy, my mom sounded so much better and it was not necessary for me to go home. Everything was going to be okay. I felt so much better.
So Homecoming weekend happened. I didn't get a lot of sleep, but had a good amount of fun. There was poker and wine and catching up with my friends and a party and a football game that I didn't pay attention to and brunch at Ruloff's, so all in all, a good weekend.
I think things started to go wrong again on Tuesday, though I am not sure. Tuesday was the day my car was towed, which is really annoying. They do a lot of street work in Ithaca, and even though I had checked on my car Saturday night (hadn't had a reason to move it), they are only required to post the signs 24 hours in advance. So they posted the signs at 7:30am on Monday (keep in mind that I have no reason to go past my car unless I'm going to drive it) and towed my car Tuesday morning. Stupid street parking and city of Ithaca. Luckily, Jamie was able to help me out and it didn't cost as much as I thought it would, but still a dent. I bought wine as a present to myself.
Then came Wednesday. I had my first meeting with my team for the ADI project and our advisors. We are going to Boston on Wednesday the 19th of November. Now, I can drive myself up there if I want, that's not a problem. But here's what is. We have to be in Boston that morning (Wilmington, really, but same difference). On the evening of Tuesday the 18th, I had a concert ticket to see Ani DiFranco at the beautiful historical State Street Theatre. So yah, I can't exactly drive to Boston in the middle of the night, so it looks like I'm not going to the concert. :-( Kathy has found someone to buy the ticket from me, so that's good, but I sure am disappointed. I feel like I'm being punished for something because all of these setbacks keep occuring in my life. Everyday there's a new one and it's kinda ridiculous.
So on Thursday, I was lamenting my sucky life to Herb on IM, which was starting to wear his patience. I finally stopped and went to get a cup of tea. I came back and said, "I now have tea with cream and sugar; maybe my life will get better." Coincidentally, 5 minutes later, Bolcar IMed me and invited me on the trip to Toronto with Herb and his family to see Eddie Izzard (Bolcar had an extra ticket)! I got to go away for the weekend! So Friday early afternoon I left for Toronto, meeting up with Bolcar and Herb and Jeff in Rochester. We had a fun 3-car party across the border. :-) Friday night was the performance, and we all (including Herb's mom, two sisters, Dawn and Donna, and Donna's friend Mark) went in costume, which was pretty cool. I was a sexy/slutty cat (lots of black and leather and fishnets, complete with tail and mask with ears and whiskers), Bolcar went as a green belt in Tai Kwan Do, Herb was the Devil's Advocate (complete with horns), Jeff was a sheriff, Herb's mom and Dawn were both witches of some sort, I don't know what Donna was, and Mark was Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes. It was a lot of fun! I really enjoyed Izzard, which is good, because apparently Herb and Bolcar quote him a lot (they were actually so surprised that they had never made me watch a tape of Izzard). The rest of the weekend was spent sightseeing, including the CN Tower, playing poker, eating, learning Magic (not my idea) and not a whole lot of sleeping. Saturday was Donna's birthday, so we all went out to eat to this restaurant called Barberians. They had a 60-page wine list, which I now have a copy of. They keep their wine in a cellar that holds 18,000 bottles (they are going to be building a bigger one). We got a tour of the cellar. The steak was amazing (it was a steak place). Lots of fun. I then got to witness the Wilmoth/Spina birthday tradition which was quite an adventure, but lots of fun, complete with cake. Ohh, and I shared a hotel room with Herb, Bolcar and Jeff which probably sounds sketchy, but wasn't (what gentlemen those three are).
So yeah. It was nice to get away for the weekend. I think it was much needed, given the stresses I've been dealing with, so it was good fun and I'm happy that Bolcar invited me. :-)
Now back to my regularly-scheduled week. Prelim Wednesday, Matrix Revolutions Wednesday, who knows what else. If it's boring, I'll be happy. :-)
- Lizzardie, at 4:37 PM
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