Right, so I went with Michele today to get her tatoo and I talked to Yutaro about a design for me to be placed at the small of my back. If you need a refresher, this is what was talked about before. Here's what he came up with.

It's kinda big for me. Michele says go for it, but I dunno. Anyways so I'm thinking of making it smaller by doing this and putting it on my shoulder.

So what do we think? You can be brutal it's ok.

P.S. It is a rough sketch so it is darker in some places and when actually tatooed on me the gaelic designs would be more detailed and clear.

Some Holiday Humor for you:

I love Christmas. Why I don't know. It's not like it was ever a HUGE deal in our house, considering it was usually just me, Ady, Mom and Dad, but I adore it. If I had money to throw around I would spend it making the house all christmasy. And I mean all the corny stuff that you can never use again till next year, like Christmas plates, dinner napkins, dish towels, runners, lights, little christmas trees, fabric signs that declare "NOEL", all that crap. I'd buy it if I could and display it proudly.

As it is I've spent too much money on it already. During the last move we seem to have lost all our holiday decorations. And I mean the good ones, the ones we made in grade school. All gone. It's so sad. The tree is going to be decorated if it kills me and depletes my bank account though. I've spent the last week looking for interesting ornaments to put on the tree and I have a small store of ornaments that I made last year. I also spent an hour at Target yesterday buying boring ornaments, lights, a tree stand and Christmas cards.

Weird thing about Christmas cards. I feel as guilty sending them out as I do not sending them. I feel guilty if I don't send them because well soemhow I feel it's rude. Like it's required, but then I feel guilty when I do send them because I make an effort to send it to people I don't see a lot or am too lazy to call. So instead of me making an effort to spend time with them during the year, all they get is a guilt ridden Christmas card and even that is not every year. Then there is the fact that and I never know what to say in the damn things. Yep Christmas cards are definitely the one thing I don't like about Christmas.

Despite my hate for the Christmas cards I've BIG Christmas plans for the weekend. We're getting the tree, we're decorating, I'm going to try and bake some cookies and make some ornaments. I'm also going to attempt to make a wreath. I couldn't bring myself to buy one at target, they're too expensive, but I felt a nostalgic twinge for the old wreath I made in fourth grade with paper napkins and a wire hanger. I couldn't find anything like it online in the craft corners, but I'm going to do it from memory damnit and hell if it won't look like a 9 year old did it.

Let's hope I go through with at least one of these plans. I have a nasty habit of planning all this grand stuff and then come saturday I go "Pffft" (with a pushing away hand motion) "I can do it later. Right now I'm going to stay in bed and read/watch a movie" And then before I know it the weekend is gone and I've done nothing. But not his weekend. I'm a girl with a mission. A Christmas mission. Just you wait and see.

Today is my sweeties 22nd Birthday, unfortunately I cannot be there to celebrate with him, but wanted him to know I was thinking of him.

Love you sweetie!

I also wanted to include one embarassing picture. This was taken while Sumit was in Vegas with the boys last year. You were supposed to be hitting on the strippers sweetie, not the boys.

So I was at the library yesterday and the book I wanted wasn't there so I start looking around seeing what's what. When I think I've grabbed enough books, I wander into the Young Adult section and what do I find? A new book by Tamora Pierce! That's right! And then when I look it up in the database what do I find? I whole shelf full of Tamora Pierce. What's funny as that the majority of her books are in the Children's section of the library, so here was me in the Children's section of the library last night looking gleeful at a whole self full of Tamora Pierce books. I think mothers were shaking their heads as they passed. Can I also mention that the Alanna series is on audio cassette. I was so facinated by this discovery. Now for those of you who are NOT Michele and Kristen I will explain.

Tamora Pierce was my FAVORITE author when I was younger. I started to read her books when I was like 10, thanks to Daphne, who lent me Alanna: The First Adventure. Thank you Daphne! Anyways it was basically like Harry Potter to me when I was younger. Loved it. And I've read that series at least 4 times. I even went so far as to write Tamora Pierce twice! And she wrote me back thank you very much. I wish I knew where the letters were, I would scan them and post it but unfortunately they're lost in some box somewhere from the million times I've moved. sigh.

Anyways, Tamora Pierce seems to have written two new series while I wasn't looking. Shame on me! So the one I'm reading now is called First Test. And I basically almost finished it last night. I was that entralled. I go to the library tonight to get the next one in this series.

The other new series is called The Circle Opens and the first books is called Magic Steps which I believe, Michele and Kristen, starts after the Circle of Magic Quartet.

Right so for those who are not familiar the series go like this:

The Song of the Lioness Quartet
The Immortals Quartet
The Circle of Magic Quartet
The Protector of the Small Quartet (which I'm reading now)
The Circle Opens Quartet (which I'm going to read soon)

She's big on Quartets. Anyways you can read a synopsis of each of the books here.

Stupid Statements. I hate them. Michele thinks it's fine, good even, while Sumit thinks I'm focusing too much on my parents and not enough on me. What do we think? And just for reference, my promt was the following:

Please provide a statement about your personal history and your intellectual development. This statement can include a discussion of educational and cultural
opportunities (or lack of them), family background, special interests and abilities, and future goals. Please note that this statement should not duplicate the Statement of Purpose.

And please be brutal, it's okay. I promise I won't cry.

So I'm almost done with the whole "applying to grad school" thing. I hate it. I just want it done and over with. I called UCSB this morning to make sure that my reccomendation letters and transcripts weren't sitting gathering dust behind that man's counter and found out it had arrived. I think the lady on the phone thought I was mad calling to make sure it was there, but I had to know. I just had to. The idea of it having been sitting in Berkeley for two weeks was just too much to bear. I NEEDED TO KNOW. And now I do. All is fine. (Happy compulsive grin)

I also know that my application to UCSD arrived as well. I got smarter after the whole scary counter man and actually found the post office and sent it with a Delivery Confirmation. And I checked and it arrived in La Jolla. So far so good.

Now there's just the damn Berkeley application one left. It's done really, but for some reason I am applying for a fellowship that I will not get since I feel it's SUPPOSED to be for struggling students with no money options. Why I feel this way I don't know. Maybe it has to do with all the money questions they ask you. Anyways I have to write another damn essay for it and it's even worse than my personal statement. Michele will disagree with me here and say it's fine. Lovely editor that she is, but I still feel it makes my parents sound like horrible people, which they're not, but I had to come up with some conflict to overcome. Ughhh it's crap and normally I woudn't care as I should get other forms of aid, but this is Berkeley we're talking about. What if they read this essay and judge it in the context of extending me a place in the dept? It's so bad. No one would want me to go to the school after reading that. I'm just afraid. Horribly afraid.

And you want to know the sick part. I want to get into all three schools. I want to be able to pick. I don't want them to decide. I want to be able to reject them! I want them to fight over me!

And now I just want to send it so that it's over. Please let it be over. And get me out of the hell that is working at Berkeley.