Temptaris

Back in the quarter when I took plant genetics, during the discussion role-call, I used to say "Present!" when everyone else said "Here!" I'd like to think that the TA for that session remembered me slightly longer than he otherwise would have.

I didn't bother to check. The odds that any TA would remember me two quarters later is about 5%, less if it's not a class from my department.

... ...

So: Thanksgiving. Due to reasons that don't need exploring at this juncture, neither Anna nor Victoria made it, so it was just Kate, Christine and I. Kate wanted to look at the bright side or, how it's much easier to find seating in food court with only three people. I pointed out it's even easier with one person and was accused of being a non-supporter of optimism. See, Lucy? That's why we need you here. Next time this situation comes up I should just dial LA.

The Christmas decorations are up, needless to say, and though my parents have noticed that the crowd at certain stores is smaller than it usually is, Vallyfair was still fairly packed (read: parking lot insanity). I brought a hat so we could draw lots for the Secret Santa lottery, and envelops so we can seal & mail them without opening the slips if we decided that was was we wanted to do. Except there was the risk of a person drawing her own name, which we decided not to risk, which meant that aside from Kate and Christine no one else got to experience the full lottery-drawing experience. I'd say that it was just like what you'd expect of drawing names out of a hat, except while I was writing down names on the slips of paper Christine had decided that the normal square-fold is boring and that she wanted the slips in paper-crane. So we spent some time before lunch making paper cranes while Christine muttered "This plan is flawed" over and over again, due to the fact that 1) she forgot how to fold one and needed to be reminded and 2) paper cranes are a lot harder to unfold than a double-folded slip of paper. But as we agreed, it was fun, so what the heck.

...

I got my diploma which, by now, involved less "yay-ness" and more "it's FINALLY over, thank goodness". I got it via personal delivery and it did not end up in Brazil, as Kate did not end up in Brazil, Christine as my witness. (Yay!)

...

Poked around in the backyard on Saturday. Re-discovered that my parents are definitely not cut to be gardeners, as the weeds are taking over the yard. Everything needs trimming, and parents' attempt at seed harvest meant a box of seed pods that have already split (which meant that the seeds are already in the ground and things will begin taking over the yard when they germinate in a month or so). After some thought I decided that I'm just going to stop and leave the yard, as it clearly required me to dedicate at least one full day to it, and that was not going to happen this weekend.

My parents decided to get me a netbook for Christmas, as a "Thank you for saving us a year's worth of college tuition, especially this year" present. It's an Acer and weights about half the mass of my current laptop, which makes me happy because some days, by the time I get home, my back hurts.

...

Plane was at 8:05 on Sunday, but we'd really bad fog in SD, so we held position over the airport for half an hour before flying over to Burbank, LA, to refuel and wait until it cleared up. Soniya was on my plane.

We finally got off the plane at 11:20 and I saw Soniya again on the bus (the 30, which I transferred to from 992) though she was taking the holiday shuttle to campus and the bus from there. I think I talked with her more this weekend than any other point during this quarter except for the days Lucy visited. She was Not Happy, since she took the early bus so she could study for the final (which is today) but the delay made it so that she lost the entire morning.

On that note, it took me two and a half hours to reach home via public transit, with no traffic and all the buses arriving on time.