Impromptu and Unplanned (and Possibly Redundant)

I have had a very productive week! The search for housing has begun in Maryville. Yep, the housing rut is in full-swing up here at Northwest. It started earlier this year than ever before, according to all the landlords around. That being said, Alex and I have decided not to repeat what we did last year. It went a little something like this: having no plan, whatsoever. At first, we were considering living off campus, and had scouted a few options around town. When those plans fell through, mostly because we didn't realize the speed at which open houses fill up, we decided maybe we'd just live on campus one more year. There was one problem, however - the 09-10 housing had already taken place on campus. That left us homeless. We were put on a waiting list for the residential halls here on campus and finally got a message in the summer that we had been assigned to a room. Stress was unnecessary and could have been avoided. So, I told that story to tell this story. This year we have already toured 2 duplexes, which we liked. We learned today that the one we liked the best had already been claimed. We now have scheduled 2 more tours for tomorrow afternoon, so hopefully we will find a winner there.

Now that we will be living off campus, our routines will change slightly, not to mention we will have to provide our own furniture, decorations (which will most likely be minimal and limited to only outdoorsy, masculine items and colors ha) and FOOD! We have tried our hand at the whole cooking thing, and so far it's working out well. We purchased a skillet, some Crisco, and a whole lot of napkins and have fried deer loin, catfish, and yes, even the squirrels made famous by the previous post.

I have taken 2 tests, which I am confident I did well on, although the results are not back yet. I also wrote 2 papers in the last 2 days.

For the Superbowl (resulting in a Saints win, with which I am pleased), a bunch of people, including myself, showed up at the BSU to watch it on the projector screen. It was a great time. Free snacks. We even played a form of fantasy football, where everyone drew a players name when they arrived and whenever that player did something note-worthy, a certain, predetermined number of points were awarded. For every 10 points, you could add your name to the prize drawing, which took place at the end of each quarter. Alison won a Nerf gun, so that means I won a Nerf gun (thanks AL!).

Yesterday I went home on a surprise visit for mom's birthday. It worked out perfectly. She was in the shower when I arrived, so she didn't hear me come in. I was sitting at the kitchen table when she came out and she was excited to see me. It was nice to spend a few hours at home too, since I haven't been there in a couple weeks.

Our Intermural basketball team, The Tune Squad, won our second game tonight. We are now 2-0.

I finished training for my new job working dispatch for University Police here on campus. After a few more hours of supervised work, I will be working the night shift (12am-8am) one night per week and possibly one night of the weekend, which doesn't usually get a good reaction, but remember - we're in college, we can handle the late nights (especially just one a week). I have some time during the day to nap too, before and after work, so that will help. I am really enjoying the job and am excited to continue working and getting paid too, of course.

Like I said, busy week. But it's been a 'good' busy.