I Swear I Meant to Write

Okay so I admit that I haven't been on in awhile and that my weekly blogging dreams for February just didn't happen. I chalk that up to the conference at the end of January and then assignments and work taking over. February in a nutshell was a roller coaster of happy and sad, excited and bored. I had a date and I don't know how I felt about it. Work intimidated me and then made me laugh at how ridiculous it could be. I went to Disney like 6 times and took SO MANY BUSES TO AND FROM WORK IT IS RIDICULOUS!! I also started driving lessons and spent 300 dollars on prescription sunglasses so that I don't close my right eye whilst driving. 

The predominate emotional throughout February though has been sadness.  Adjusting to this new life is apparently not something I can do right away which is odd for me. I have always been able to figure things out and adapt and that skill just isn't kicking in here. I love my major and what I'm learning but I seem to hate everything else. I'm trying so hard to be positive and to figure everything out but all I want to do is break down and cry (like today on the bus) or curse the universe (also like today on the bus) or see how I can go home (again, one of the things I did on the bus). Of course then logical Kaitlin takes over and says "start studying for Wednesday's test" and being sad isn't an option (on the bus).

Pixie dust for March?  

A Tale of Tears

The last four days have been exponentially harder than I predicted them to be. My thought process was that I would finish my last shift on Tuesday and cry and be sad that I was leaving some awesome people behind. Ell the tears started around 2:30 in the morning on Tuesday because I started running a fever and hallucinating and everything hurt. The next three hours were spent in and out of consciousness until I finally was able to keep my self awake long enough to call the shipment team and tell them that I was not coming in.  This made me even more sad because I missed my last shift! I missed my last chance to have fun with my team and to say goodbye to my store. Stupid sickness. Stupid fever. I hate feeling not normal. 

However, the next two days weren't any easier. I knew I had to pack my room while still feeling like I was hit by a bus but I had no motivation to on Tuesday so Wednesday inherited that project. I had to do this and keep my self alive all while not being allowed to go outside of my room without sanitizing. i got to a point where packing was just so boring and depressing that i sat in box and literally packed myself. 

I should not have done this. All it did was make me sad about leaving and not being able to say goodbye to work and my nephews. I wasn't allowed to have fun with my nephews because we couldn't risk them getting sick. Eventually I did get out of the box and continued to pack but it wasn't a fun day. Thursday morning I was able to give one nephew a hug and say a very small goodbye before continue to pack everything. Amanda came to shove my stuff and my self in her car and we got to Orlando around 2:30. We struggled for 30 minutes to get half of the stuff from her car up 3 flights of stairs to my apartment before I had to go to orientation. Orientation went fine but my quest for a shower rod afterward did not. And I forgot to buy a tooth brush and detergent.

I ended my first day in Orlando wanting to go home and thinking about all of the things that could possibly go wrong this semester. I texted Catherine and she told me to hang in there which I know is what I have to do. Somehow I have to come up with motivation to unpack and convince my self to stay here as if it wasn't the only thing I don't want to do. Oh boy. Welcome to grad school? 

No More Three Word Titles

I really wasn't sure if I was going to continue using this blog in the new year. I had mulled it over for a few weeks in December but neither option sounded appealing. How do you give up on something you spent 366 days accomplishing? I thought that I would be okay with leaving it symmetrical and complete but these last three days I have seen myself go from " I DON'T HAVE TO BLOG TODAY" to "that would be such a good thing to blog about."

So here I am again, writing down my life. Will it be daily? I can't promise that and I don't really want to. Some days throughout 2014 weren't really worth the post. Two of those days had posts that were literally a sentence long because nothing happened. I guess I'll reserve posts for lessons and exciting experiences both good and bad. Like today! Today was the first part of my move to Orlando! I didn't get to meet my new roommates yet but I will eventually. My brother in law and I packed the car with as much of my crap as we could and went and dropped it off while also checking in with my new job. It is crazy to think how in 6 days I'll be a new town, starting over with college. Oh boy.

An Uneventful Day

First of all, ONLY 2 DAYS TILL HAYES!!

Now that the excitement is out of the way I can talk about today. Oh wait nothing really exciting happened today. I bothered my brother in law about signing his guarantor paper work so that my lease in Orlando can be finished, I call Busch Gardens about Christmastown, I talked to Expedia about how stupid they are, and then I went to work 2 hours early because I can't read my schedule.

CRYING A RIVER

I got home from a short shift at work around 7. Then I had dinner and finally headed to the computer room around 8:15 so that I could watch the Noles win and do more research on apartments. Said research lead to a list of apartments that exist on the UCF bus routes and I sat there and went to every site. I looked at every number. I got really comfortable with the possibility of moving into some of the complexes. I emailed each complex that I liked after narrowing down the list. THEN it occurred to me to look at the reviews.

"It can't be that bad" said thought Kaitlin. THOUGHT KAITLIN WAS WRONG!

Every single place has a horrible reputation. From crime to bugs to mold to maintenance issues. You name it and every. single. apartment had TERRIBLE reviews about it. MULTIPLE TERRIBLE REVIEWS.On MULTIPLE websites. Is it just the students at UCF being snobby? Do I just say " ehhh" and go with the one that I like the most?
WHY IS THIS SO HARD!?

Heading to Orlando

I was lucky enough to be blessed with a manager who understands that things come up and who is willing to work with me  and switch shifts so that I can end up in Orlando when I need to be there. You are a beautiful human and I am so SO grateful for all of your help this weekend!

 I finished worked at 4:45 and we immediately headed to Orlando so that the family could experience their first Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. We ended up staying at Disney's Contemporary Resort so that it was easy to get to Magic Kingdom. However, when we checked in they did not have all the MNSSHP tickets ready. This meant that we would have to spend about 20 minutes waiting in the guest relations line acquiring said tickets before we could go to the event. Afterwards we made a stop at town hall and then we made a stop at Casey's so that my sister could find something to eat. We tried to encourage the older of my nephews to come with Snow White (me) and watch the parade. Our attempts at fun were met with adamant "no"s and stern refusals. This kid hate parades. 

We finally made it to some Trick or Treating spots which meant that I ended up not being able to see Celebrate the Magic (IT IS THE MAIN REASON I GO TO DISNEY WORLD) and then we ended up on the Dumbo Ride during WISHES. This is when we discovered that the older of the two also HATES fireworks. Like hates them to the point of being on the Dumbo ride and sobbing every time one of them made the booming sound.

We calmed him down enough to get him to go on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train which he also hated and was very scared by. More Trick or Treating and some other rides and then the night got better. We finally went home and I took a shower in order to sleep in a little be more before the big interview!

Road Trip Time!!

Today started at 7am and ended about 30 minutes ago.

You see, today was grad school information session day at UCF and I was lucky enough to have wonderful, amazing Catherine agree to take me a the way out there and back! I was also lucky enough to have an amazing leadership team at the store to work with who got  me out of work early so that I could go! Thank you so much!!

The meeting was very helpful and it will give me a leg up in the interview process if I make it that far. It also gave the opportunity to see the campus and learn about staff.

I also got to see my wonderful Biggles today as well!! Catherine, Alex, and I were able to join her for a yummy dinner and four hours of giggles.