Songs for a manic Friday

I'm feeling really good right now. Marc came through his surgery with flying colors, and I made it through my first week of school. I'd like to jump around like a crazy person on the dance floor to get out this energy. Preferably a dance floor with colored tiles that light up. My ideal playlist for this manic dancefest:

1. The Rolling Stones - She's A Rainbow
2. Caesars - Jerk It Out
3. Neutral Milk Hotel - Holland, 1945
4. Wham! - Club Tropicana
5. The Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop
6. Dexy's Midnight Runners - Come On Eileen
7. A.F.I. - I Wanna Get A Mohawk (But Mom Won't Let Me Get One)
8. General Public - Tenderness
9. Jamiroquai - Canned Heat
10. Blondie - Maria
11. The Polyphonic Spree - Section 12 (Hold Me Now)

Meanwhile, I'll keep rocking out in my head.

Birdwatching at Brazos Bend

Marc and I went to Brazos Bend State Park today to view the wildlife. There were loads of mosquitos, orb weavers, and alligators, none of which were afraid of humans, much to my dismay. We did see a lot of birds including some new ones to add to my list. I also learned the difference between a gallinule and a moorhen. Fun times.

-Yellow warbler
-White-eyed vireo
-Yellow-crowned night heron
-Great blue heron (eating a snake!)
-Little blue heron
-Little green heron
-Great egret
-White ibis
-Common moorhen
-Purple Gallinule
-unidentified sandpiper (Solitary Sandpiper perhaps?)
-Red-winged blackbird

School starts tomorrow. I'm not sure whether I'm more nervous or excited. There's no failing out now that I owe almost $50K in student loans. It's hard to even comprehend that much money.

It's not rainbows and pussycats

But it's definately an improvement from the last post. I've spent the past three weeks away from home and now my summer is winding to a close. My first week was spent at the beautiful LSU campus in Baton Rouge, LA. The conference was boring, but the nightlife was fabulous. A lovely town overall especially when compared to the hell-hole that N.O. has become. We took a short day trip to the french quarter in New Orleans and got outta town before dark. When you're in that small area of town things don't seem so bad but the rest of the city is a ghost town.

That Sunday was spent driving from Baton Rouge to College Station and after a two hour layover at home it was back into the car for the ride to San Antonio for the next conference. The speakers were interesting, and our extremely expensive hotel was located right on the riverwalk. I learned how not to pin a broken bone (thankfully on a bird that was already dead.) Apparently shoving a 12-gauge sharp metal object into your patient's abdominal cavity is frowned upon.

I spent the next week driving back and forth from College Station to Houston while my friend from Chicago was down visiting. I'm finally home for good. Queso is starting to get a little neurotic with all this traveling poor guy. And his bladder infection has reappeared probably due to all the stress. The last round of antibiotics almost killed him, so I think I'm gonna try shoving cranberry extract pills down his throat for awhile and see if that helps.

School starts on Monday and I'm tentatively looking forward to classes. I'm worried that I'll go down in a blazing tailspin of failure as usual. My goals for this fall are to work harder, get better grades, apply for some internships for next summer, and exercise more.

Now that I've escaped the black pit of despair that is PMS, I'm feeling hopeful and positive. Let's hope this lasts awhile.