the essence

After a few days off, I'm back. Problem is, it appears that our computer has been hacked & has a virus so it's not working anymore. Hopefully Ray can get it fixed for us soon.

Finals are over, but now I'm kind of stressed about my final grades. Some unexpected things came up just this week & now I don't think my grades will be nearly as good as I thought they would (let me say, for the record, I HATE group projects when I can't be fully involved in them-have people not been taught how to follow directions???).

I just can't think about that stuff, it makes me too upset & tense (& it's just a grade...it doesn't even matter THAT much in the long run!).

Anyway, I'm at mom & dad's right now. I've been up for awhile, but Megan is laying on the sofa, sick with the flu, & I guess mom & dad are still asleep. Since when do I get up earlier than my parents??? Or are they out garage saling? I should go check that.

Ruth & I were over here yesterday to make Christmas cookies. I think we talked moe than anyhting but it was lots of fun. We made shortbread almond stars & peanut butter & chocolate bon bons. The short bread is SOOO good.

I also took Ruth to Old Time Pottery which she LOVED. Why don't we have good stores in Tampa? It seems the majority of areas over there are ghetto. No Crate & Barrel, no Old Time Pottery, no Whole Foods. Even Ruth is bemoaning the fact that she hasn't been able to find a good health food store yet. And thankfully she's not jaded by people who have grown up in that city either-neither she or Ernie think it's pretty (they live in the nicest part of town too) & there's nothing that nice about it. Plus, when anyone who lives there wants to do something, they drive to Orlando anyway. I would settle for moving the NYC for a year or two. :)

So, I'm sitting here, really wishing I didn't have to drive back to Tampa today & go to Busch Gardens. I'm sure it will be fun, but I'd much rather stay here. There's only a few good things about Busch Gardens, but it always makes it more fun when you go with friends. So, I hve to leave here in a couple of hours & I'm starving. I think I'll have some of that leftover pizza.