I’m MIA, FYI.

My brother, Jake (the Marine) has recently been stationed in a bordering state so he has had a few opportunities to visit home. Upon his most recent visit, he was complaining about the usage of these web acronyms. Apparently he can’t stand it when people actually say, “OMG! FYI, I’ll BRB.” Which, I kinda agree…but I say “FYI” sometimes…so maybe I should just keep my mouth shut around him. Either that or I could say, “Hey Jake! For your information, I accidentally shrunk your cothes in the wash!” I will finish this statement with a big smile.   Anyway! That’s the reason behind the title. That silly brother of mine…Love him!

 

^^^ HAHA!

I know it’s been a while since I have written. As I mentioned before, things are about to get very crazy in my life and I am not quite sure how well this blog is going to hold up. I actually pushed back my GRE test date by two days so I could have a little extra time for preparation. After taking a practice test, I saw how miserably I did on the math section and freaked. Within five minutes, I was on the phone with ETS (Educational Testing Service) begging for more time and actually agreeing to pay an extra $50 to change the date…by two days! Actually, it’s quite easy to change your test date/location as long as you fork over money. Oh well. It was worth every penny. So the plan is for me to move back to my college town about a week before I had originally planned and spend that week alone with no cable, family, or roommates (kinda sad) and sell my soul to the GRE devil.

^^^ But what if I’m not prepared?

After all that is over, I get to actually start APPLYING to these schools. I have a list of about ten…at least. All the while, I will be starting my final year of classes as an undergraduate. Woo-hoo! It’s funny because I was completely aware that this would be my final year but I was so wrapped up in my internship, GREs, and grad schools that I completely forgot about that “graduation” I will attend. My mom reminded me, “Can you BELIEVE you’ll be graduating this coming spring?!” It hit me all at once, “Oh yeah…I actually have to go find a cap and gown at some point. I wonder if they sell kids sizes? Hmm.” I’m 5 feet tall (or short, rather.)

^^^ Can I get that in HER size?

Brief update on the medical front: I am pretty sure I know what caused my hives. Yes, it is an allergy. And guess what I’m allergic to? Neutrogena Sensitive Skin Sunscreen!!!!!!!!!! You know, that really expensive stuff that you can only find at drugstores and Ukrops? So upon my next trip out in the field (that required sunscreen) I wore long sleeves (in case it was the sun that was killing me) and applied this top-shelf sunscreen to the tops of my hands and my ears. I had on a baseball cap which usually does a fabulous job of shielding my face from harmful rays. Nothing happened until later that night. I was sitting in my room, reviewing GRE vocabulary (“Perspecacious….What?!”) when I noticed that my ears were awfully hot. Then they were itchy. And when i finally got off my dairy-air to look in the mirror, they were swollen and bright red. When I woke up the next morning, small hives had begun to develop on the tops of my hands.

^^^ YOU did this to me!!!

Problem solved. I am allergic to that sunscreen…or something in it. The active ingredients are titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. I’m still too scared to try any new sunscreens though. Maybe I could honor the death of Michael Jackson by wearing gloves everwhere I go.

^^^ A classic Michael photo.

With that being said, I am really looking forward to going back to school. I miss my professors, friends, and yes, the overall atmosphere of academia. Of course I will be begging for mercy within the first couple weeks. I am taking four upper-level biology courses, all with labs. I also got accepted into my university’s semester-long Leadership Program for Women. That involves one long class per week as well as outside reading and a retreat (YAY! I lvoe retreats!). Each member of the class is assigned to a mentor (a successful woman in her field, I assume). Dr. Crick (a fellow student) took it last year and put my name into the pot for this years application process so I am very excited fort his opportunity to follow in her footsteps.

^^^ Ehhh…I sure hope I can do it…  :/

Until next time readers! You probably won’t hear from me again until AFTER my GRE which is on the 20th. Start saying prayers! I’m gonna need all the help I can get!