Whoa, man. Caffeine.

The world is full of details! Color! Excitement! Andeveryoneismovingtooslowly!

lol. I wish. I'm not that caffeinated, but I'm getting there. I try not to rely on it too much, but this week (and possibly next week?) I need it. I'm not going to make it through life without a pretty little stimulant.

I have a Latin midterm next week. During class yesterday the lecturer (they're not called profs over here) made it very clear that even if we started right then, it is impossible to teach yourself everything we've covered in the last five weeks. Insert silent panic attack here, because I'm so confused and so far behind that's exactly what I was planning on doing this week.

And you know how I got a hold of myself? It was a spiteful little bit of work, even though I (obviously) didn't say anything out loud. But I had a moment of, "Fine. Challenge accepted. I'll prove you so wrong you'll be too embarrassed to say something like that to your students next year."

So I've worked it out that I need to cover two chapters a day. (And by cover, I mean memorize the contents of.) Lots of memory work, but hopefully I'll be able to handle it.

Hopefully.

Other than my panic attack and general sleep deprivation, this has been a pretty fantastic week. Yesterday I received another congratulatory email from the Writer's Digest competition--which was thrilling enough in and of itself, but they awarded the only good haiku I've ever written FIFTH PLACE. Fifth place! I'm in the top ten of the non-rhyming poetry category!! Part of the rewards include fifty dollars (first time I've ever gotten money for my writing--Neil Gaiman was right, this is the COOLEST THING EVER), a copy of the 2011 Writer's Market (which is an immensely useful book if you're looking for places that might publish your work), and fifty bucks worth of Writer's Digest books. How fantastic is that? I feel so spoiled! :)

Juuuulyyy

I finished my story and got it in on time. :) It’s been about two weeks since the deadline came and went, but I’m still quite pleased with myself. I went to the gym in the morning, did a final read-through and edit, and then submitted it—all before I headed off to work. It was a good day (except for the work part).

Yesterday, I went down to La Jolla Shores and surfed for the first time in a year. Couldn’t find anyone to go with me, so I just went all by myself. I’m pretty terrible, but there were probably three different instances where I managed to stand up (crouch) before the wave ended. The first time I managed it, all I could think was, “Ahhh, so this is why surfers keep at it…”

And this morning, after I got back from the gym, my mom and I got all my housing for next year sorted out and paid off! I’m so glad that’s taken care of—one less thing to worry about, you know? I’ll be living in the largest of the res halls at U of Edinburgh, and will probably be surrounded by first years. It wasn’t my first choice—or second or third, really—but I’ve only heard one bad thing about it (that it’s noisy, since it’s next to a huge street full of bars and clubs). Everyone I’ve talked to who lived there last year had a really fantastic time, so I’m not real worried at all. Ear plugs are such a small investment. ;)