If A Boy Gives You A Cake

Have you ever wondered what makes a person ask another person out? Or how they actually go about asking someone out? I have... many times.

Like today, when I was at the grocery store and this 20 something year old cashier starts chatting me up about how unfocused I am. Which, really I was. I was getting my groceries and truly off in a world all my own thinking about meals I wanted to make, where I wanted to go running, where was the best place to buy a coffee travel mug because not having coffee every morning was starting to drive me crazy... all in all I was not really at the grocery store.

So, in this state of mind, without even thinking about it, I was completely ignoring the cashier as he was blabbing on and on about who knows what. Summer, memorial day... New York I think. It is all a little hazy. I wasn't paying attention and his what I think was an italian accent was rather hard to actually understand. Especially when I am quite hard of hearing already. I think it is why my normal talking voice is so incredibly loud. I really just do not hear all that well.

All of this mixed together lead to a really strange and extremely awkward encounter.

As I am helping bag my stuff, which I am not exactly sure if you're supposed to do that but I always do anyway, I find myself whipping out a few "Yeahs," a couple "Uh-huhs," and quite a lot of "Mmm-hmms."

That is why the next part was very odd... I hear the cashier say, "So I guess thats a no?"

My head snaps up from my purse where I was  frantically trying to find my debit card. I make a tiny second of eye contact with this guy and look back down and mumble a "I'm sorry what?"

"So I guess that's a no to a date."

At that my eyes flash back up with my debit card half way in the air where I stand a little frozen. Did this all really just happen? Then, I think he realizes how not present my mind is so was making a joke... but when I smile and kind of half giggle, his face starts to fall a little... and I realize what a bitch I am being at that precise moment.

First, I don't listen to the guy. Then, I don't even answer when he asks me out. Then, I proceed to laugh at the whole situation. Super classy Kaitlyn. Super classy.

Somehow, I managed to get out of there with something along the lines of I'm flattered truly but no thank you.

Then it hits me... why the hell did he even ask me out anyway... in a grocery store. I was in his presence for a mere 2 minutes maybe. I didn't really talk to him even or look at him. What in this whole situation makes a guy want to ask me out. Absolutely nothing. I appear to be a pre-occupied, day dreaming girl who could really not give a flying flip about what is going on around her. I am truly astonished at this entire situation. I still can't seem to figure this one out.

But, I need to mention that after the fact I whole heartedly appreciated how he went about the entire deal.

I have a huge problem. It's doesn't have a name but it probably really should. It's so bad that every single one of my friends has commented on it several times and instructed me to fix it.

You see, this little problem I have is not noticing when a guy is asking me out. Ever. I just don't see the cues. They go completely unrecognized to me at all times. I have had more than a handful of guys tell me that they tried to ask me out and I apparently "shot them down" ... more than once. Guys I, at the time, really liked and was convinced they didn't like me. So bad in fact, that once I was apparently in some kind of relationship with this boy and I was completely unaware of it. How does that even happen!!? Once, I was offered a cake and turned it down because I was too full. Which I was. I had just eaten lunch actually. Who the heck am I?

People... let me give you life's MOST IMPORTANT lesson. If a boy offers you cake. You never say no. Never. Do you hear me? I don't care if you just ate an entire antelope family. You eat that flippin cake. If you never learn anything else in life. Learn that. 

Memories

It has been awhile. But, as I said in my last post I am no longer apologizing for this. However, I can shed some light on to why I have been a little MIA and why I will hopefully be writing to you more soon.

A lot has happened in the last couple of weeks... and I sure do mean a lot. First, and most important, things first. I graduated from college. What an amazing feeling it was. Not the actual graduation. The actual graduation was a waste of 3ish hours of my life where I stood in the hot sun for an hour, almost fell down and broke my life on the steepest ramp of the world in my heels, waited inside in chairs that were too close with other graduates who were just as hot and miserable as I was, and after all of that I walked across a stage for less than 30 seconds.

It was riveting, as I am sure you can tell. I understand that this was for my family so I sucked it up and did it anyway. And I have to say thank the universe that it is over. The actual amazing feeling came when I stepped out of my last final, a final I must say I only studied about 2 hours for. It was Ecology... and I did not enjoy ecology to say the least. And as my last final in a class I was about 90% positive I was getting a B with or without studying, I really did not see the point in wasting a full day of studying for it.

Regardless, after the final I had to walk through a large chunk of campus to get back to my car. And that is when it hit me. This was the last time I was going to walk those grounds as an NMSU student. The last time I was going to cross the Horseshoe (a chunk of grass with a street around it shaped like... you guessed it... a horseshoe). The last time I was going to pass that horrible Bell that chimed every 15 minutes, always a couple of minutes early of the actual 15, 30, 45, or hour mark. That stupid bell that would wake me up in the middle of the night when I lived in the dorms.

And suddenly I found myself actually missing it a little. I would never listen to it again and think well, I'm officially late to class.

So many other little things triggered great memories of midnight walks, mud puddles, stress, happiness... and now they are officially that... memories.

I write this from Boston where I am currently getting a little nostalgic about NMSU and New Mexico. Something, I knew would eventually happen but something I was running from too. But it feels good to be done. I closed a little chapter of my life and it feels... Sad. Amazing. Scary. Exciting. And 50 other things rolled into 1.

I would like to mention I did in fact get a 4.0 which means I got an A in Ecology... which really was a horrible thing to happen. It just backed up my decision to not study... which is a horrible habit to have.

So, right after my final I pretty much jumped into graduation, and parties, and more parties, did I mention I went to some parties ;) But really, it was almost exhausting!! Then I packed about a quarter of my life and got tired so I stopped and took a little gallivant to Maryland and the HHMI headquarters which was fun as usual. Next stop was 30 hours to do some more packing and hop some more planes and end up here in Boston/Brookline.

As you can see, I've been fairly preoccupied. And I know this post was not funny or particularly interesting but I needed you to get caught up before I can get into the random occurrences.

Character Flaws

I think we are all on the same level here. I am a failure. So, I am no longer going to apologize for my lateness in blogs or long intervals of time between some of them. There really is no point. It's a major character flaw that is a permanent fixture in my life. I've accepted it.

Right this very second I am doing my all time favorite activity... procrastination. I have a huge paper due tomorrow and I just don't seem to want to do it. I need to do it. It's 25% of my grade, so yeah I need to do it but I don't want to. This is also a character flaw. I've been noticing more of them lately.

On the positive, I have several pages of this paper done. There is no page limit or recommendation for how many pages we should have so I suppose this really has nothing to do with the productivity of the actual paper. I still have the virulence factors, a case example, and a health fact sheet to do. In case you were wondering, this paper is about Campylobacter jejuni a sweet little bacterial food-borne pathogen that causes some not-so-sweet problems with your insides.

But holly hell, this thing has like 85,000 virulence factors (factors which make it toxic and make the infected person really wish they had cooked their food better and washed their hands) which means 85,000% more writing to do. I should have gone with a simpler one who simply produces a toxin and causes you too poo. But no, I had to be difficult with my 20ish citations and hating life on my last week of classes.

I really cannot take this paper right now. I have 2 weeks exactly before I leave for Maryland, then Boston, then Michigan. Does the universe really want me to be doing papers and taking finals... NO. The universe wants me to eat amazing food, drink tons of wine/liquor, have good old fashioned sleepovers, watch movies, go look at beautiful houses, visit my old high school one last time, and of course see all of my friends.

These are just some of the planned events I have coming up on my last 2 weeks. Obviously, there is no time for papers or finals. Or packing... I've decided I should really pay somebody to do this for me. Lets just graduate and be done with this nonsense.

At least work is done! Bye bye sheepies, and cowsies, and all other farm animals that I had the distinct pleasure of working with for the past 4 years. But really, it was time for me to move on from smelling like a barn and instead get ready to freeze my behind off in cold Michigan winters.

I am actually quite scared for this. I just watched The 5 Year Engagement on Monday and it was like my cold frozen life was flashing before my eyes (Emily Blunt ends up being a postdoc at the University of Michigan).

Well, ladies and gents I hope you enjoyed these random paragraphs of my life's nonsense but now a cup of very strong New Orleans Chicory coffee is calling my name along with the end of the school year. I must fight my ongoing battle with procrastination!

Easter Camping

We are well packed for our camping trips!

A week ago today, I was sitting in the Gila National Forest on the most beautiful of days. No wind. Slightly cloudy skies. No homework. No people or noise or distractions. Just me, my dad, my mom and my two pups Emmy and Murphy.

Fast forward one week... I am sitting in my room avoiding doing homework. It's a disgustingly nasty spring day. Winds up to 40ish mph. Dust blowing in through the windows. And too many noises and distractions around.

Amazing how so much changes in a week. A week ago was Easter. As you know, I am not religious but we have been celebrating the traditions of Easter since I was a wee little girl and I love it. One of my favorite things is that we go camping on Easter.

We are a camping family. And we do it well.

We can sleep in tents... but we don't because we have a much more comfortable way to hide from the cold and the rain. When I was young we bought this pretty awesome pop-up tent camper thing from a family friend. It has seen us through many trips. Though, we spend a good 80% of our time camping outside, it is nice to not lay on an uneven rocky surface.

I think we eat better camping then we do even at home. Everything made in the woods on a fire is just incredibly more tasty. Take a hot dog. A hot dog is pretty tasty at home on your grill... but in the woods it's like a 5 star meal that obviously had to have been made with the finest ingredients in all the land. It's kind of magical how the forest seems to have that power over you.

Easter is more special in the forest. My parents used to hide the eggs filled with candy all around the forest and my sister and I would wake to freezing cold mornings to find the colored gifts scattered high in the trees. It's so much more rewarding that way.

We had freezing years where the candy would literally freeze in the eggs. We had years where the droughts prohibited fires throughout the forest in an effort to prevent all the trees going up in a burning blaze. We had windy years where you couldn't sleep because you felt like you may just be lifted right out of your sleeping bag and thrown into the air.

But this year was perfect. It was cool but not cold. It was breezy but not windy. It didn't rain. We had fires all weekend long. We played games, hiked, flew kites. It was perfect. Well, almost perfect. Almost perfect because this was the first year my sister wasn't there to spend it with us seeing as how she is in grad school in Pennsylvania. And almost perfect because it is more than likely the last Easter camping trip I will ever get to go on.

I'm starting to get a little sappy and a little nervous and a little bitter-sweet about everything. I have exactly 28 days until I graduate and 32 days until I leave New Mexico for good. Well, almost for good. I come back 1 day after a very short science related trip to Maryland, just so I can pack and fly out to Boston the next day. Then in August I am back for a total of 3.5 days so I can pack up my whole life in to my tiny new car and drive off to Michigan.

It's all getting very real and I am not preparing for it at all. I'm one of those last minute packers/preparers and right now I am more concerned with the my food list. You know, the list of food I have to eat before I leave. Oh... the amount of green chili being consumed in 1 month is going to be a new record. I am sure of it.

I hope you all had a wonderfully amazing Easter whether you're religious or not. Enjoy the moments... life never stays the same for long.

The Mac Attack

I am apparently way behind on the times. I think I should have lived in the 80s mainly because I think it would be fun... or the 20s because I think I would have been bomb at running a speakeasy, not to mention I would have loved to rock some of their fashion.

Oh yes, behind on the times... I don't know if you've noticed but Macintosh (aka Mac) has become surprisingly popular in the past couple of years. I imagine you must have heard of it... you probably own an iPod, iPad, iPhone, Mac Book... and who even knows what else they sell. But maybe you've heard somebody call an electronic device an Apple...

Or maybe you're like me and ignore everything and choose to only listen to what you want. Which is why in this era of Apple-mania I only own 1product because it really is the only legitimate source of musical influence in my life (my iPod). It's a classic iPod... huge and white and a little scratched. And full of my music. Music is probably my favorite thing in the entire world next to movies and food. I love anything and everything with a good beat, good lyrics (or at least catchy lyrics), and rides whatever emotional wave I am currently on at the time.

I listen to music when I drive anywhere, I listen walking between classes, I listen while doing homework or cleaning, I listen when I work out. I simply love to lie and listen to music. It is really quite an amazing thing and I couldn't imagine growing up in a country or culture that didn't allow music. It's tragic and even the thought of it is enough to break my heart.

Anyway, that is the only reason I invested in any Mac product while I was in high school... and really, I didn't invest in one. I was given my sister's old hand-me-down as she went at bought whatever new version was out. Then, when my old one broke. Which was purely an accident. It had nothing to do with the fact that I dropped it on the asphalt a good 6 times and the screen was shattered beyond all recognition. Or that it was caught in my non-waterproof jacket in a rainstorm. Nope, those had nothing to do with it... for reasons that are beyond my comprehension, it broke. And I was forced to buy a new one.

Around the same time, my sister bought a new touch iPod... and I was like why in the world do you want that fancy gadget? First off, it doesn't even hold as much music! What is the point of a musical device if it cannot hold years worth of music. It doesn't make sense to me. I don't need to play games or get on the internet... I really just need to be able to listen to lots and lots of music. Second, have you seen that very fragile touch screen... you must be joking. Me? I'd have that broken in 2 days max.

I am very hard on my electronics... I'm actually just very hard on my life. I'm quite clumsy and often break things, including myself.

So, I stayed behind on those times and refused to by any fragile mac product and ignored the rants and raves about the newest Mac product... and there is always something new... just give it a month. Though, I did fork out $400+ on my mom's iPad for her Christmas present which broke my wallet and my heart all at the same time.

Then this fancy new thing called Instagram came out... I had no idea what it was except that it involved some sort of picture taking functions and that it was only available on the iPhone. That is when I immediately let it get lost in the place in my brain that holds pointless facts that I will never be able to use.

Then today or yesterday... I'm not exactly sure on this time table... Instagram was released for the Android. That's right. Me and my old-fashioned Droid 2 Global can now get the Instagram application and see what all the fuss is about. Only problem... I really am out of date on the times and since I started writing this post a good while ago my Instagram download is only at 65%. And all I can think is this probably didn't happen to people who have iPhones.

All the while, my computer is flashing that my battery has gotten so bad that it can only hold a charge on its own for 2 hours max and I should probably think about getting it changed. And then I am informed that I should just by a new computer because really... this old gigantic  17 inch Toshiba laptop is just not cutting it anymore.

And now, I find myself sitting at the computer looking in to buying a Mac Book Pro... sometimes I miss the days of writing a report or doing my science poster by hand because we didn't have a computer.

Then, I look at my hand-writing that closely resembles that of a two year old and think... all these years, Steve Jobs was only creating this product known as Apple to save the world from trying to read my chicken scratch or look at my horrible drawings. This makes me feel a little better about the impending Mac attack.

Thanks for looking out for me Apple. Now all I need to do is find the cash in order to purchase this Mac Book Pro.

Also... my android phone decided to get the little hamsters rolling and installed Instagram. You can follow me @kaitnorm if you want. Though I don't have any photos yet... they will surely be coming soon!

Changing In Your Car

I recently... as in just this morning... was asked a strange question. Actually, the only thing strange about the question was that it was being asked at all. And then I realized maybe the fact that somebody had to ask me this question just meant that I was a little strange too. So, I know you're sitting there wondering... what was the question?

Did you just change in you car?

In which I replied, with a sort of quizzical look on my face... Yes. Doesn't everybody?

No. Apparently people don't change in their cars. Which really is a new fact that I am stumbling upon. The guy friend who happened to ask this question saw me entering my car in jeans covered with sheep muck, an old t-shirt, and boots with my hair in a high messy bun.

Less than 5 minutes later he saw me getting out of my parked car in a different parking lot wearing jeans, knock off Sperry's, a blue wrap t-shirt, and my hair in a side twist.

At this fact he just simply laughed at me, said I was always a strange one, and explained that my life is really too hectic if I have to change in my car and then he proceeded to buy me a coffee.

I never really thought about how changing in your car might be considered strange. I mean, when your day consists of waking with a 2.5 hour horse riding class, then several hours of normal class, then off to the gym, then meetings that required dress attire, then hours of studying in the library... all within the same day. Every single one of these events calls for a different outfit. It's not like I can just show up as President of the Panhellenic Council in jeans, a t-shirt, and cowboy boots. Or show up for my riding lessons or work with the sheep in a dress and heels. This is not acceptable. So the only obvious choice was to just change in your car in the middle of events because I was not about to carry a duffel bag full of clothes all across campus.

This is how my car (poor old Coop) got turned into one gigantic closet. At all times I had a dress, t-shirt, jeans, nice shirt, dress pants, work out clothes, pajamas, sweatshirt, heels, flats, flip-flops, tennis shoes, and cowboy boots in case the occasion called for any of the above. And trust me... I went in to my stash of extra clothes several times every week.

There were times in college where I didn't even have time to go home and shower so I would just stop off at a friends house close to campus and jump in their shower really quickly. It is quite convenient to have extra clothes always at hand.


Plus, if anybody needed an extra shirt or a jacket or heels to wear to an event, I always had them covered. I'm pretty positive my car also had a first aid kit, several board games, pom poms (which was strange because I was never a cheerleader), an emergency car kit that I didn't know how to use, my dad's wrench that he thought he lost for 2 years, 87 dollars in change, a research poster, AA and AAA batteries, a flashlight, 5 novels, 3 textbooks, and countless other things that I couldn't even begin to explain. 

But now Coop has gone far away and I am driving my sisters old car to school because I am not about to have my new car smelling like a barn and I am also not going to leave it in the ghetto free parking lots where Coop was often broken in to.

Now that Coop has gone to live in his fancy junk yard and my days have grown less crazy, I find I don't have a closet in my car anymore. I also find that because of this I can't actually fit all of my clothes in my room closet anymore.


Who knew after five years of a crazy hectic life I'd actually be sad about trading in the days of living in my car...

The Invisible Degree

Sometimes I wonder about the actual capabilities of people in the academic offices. Throughout the years, I have had so many problems with them... people in charge of registration, people in charge of finances, people in charge of the running of this university. It is really quite frustrating at times. I really think it comes down to a lack of training and a huge communication error.

Take this instance for example which is currently an ongoing frustration of mine.

As you know, I am graduating in T-minus 46 days. I will be graduating with a Degree of Bachelor of Science in Agriculture majoring in Animal Science, a Degree of Bachelor of Science majoring in Biology, and a Degree of Bachelor of Science majoring in Microbiology.

I applied to have these degrees added to my transcript and for the past 3ish years they have been on every piece of mail I have sent to other schools. When I officially applied for my diplomas, I had to pay for 3 separate ones... a total of $75 and everything in life was looking good. All I need to do is pass the 4 classes I am currently taking that actually matter for my degrees, which is quite easy.

And yet, I find myself reading an e-mail congratulating me on my two degrees and these are the ones that will show up on the graduation program and the only two diplomas I will receive. No, these are not the only 2 degrees I will get. I would not have stayed an extra year to get the 2 degrees I finished last year... no thanks. I think I will take the 3 I paid for, the 3 I studied for, the 3 I took all the required classes and then some for.

In an effort to figure out who screwed up, I contact the advising department of my college... in which they believe they accidentally lost my degree. I'm so sorry... you WHAT?

Lets just back up for a minute here lady. I'm actually positive you didn't lose my degree. Why? Because I have the receipt for the 3 I purchased. Not to mention this transcript. You see this official piece of shiny paper with the school seal on it and everything... which I just got today. Which your office printed. Which has all 3 of my degrees. See... even your office says that I have them.

In which she replies, "Well, this information doesn't say that."

Are these official school transcripts that I am holding in my hand invisible to you!? I mean really, did they just change in to harry potter and they can get around with a cloak of invisibility hiding from only your eyes seeing as how everybody else knows what the heck is going on? Honestly, that is the only explanation I have for this here.That or your complete lack of competence.

I really don't want to be rude. And I am trying really really hard not to be, but this isn't just a small problem. This is something I have been working five years for. FIVE YEARS. And I am not going to let it get thrown all away because you are... for a lack of better words... completely incapable of doing your job correctly.

If this doesn't get fixed very soon, sparks will fly. And I'm actually pretty good at making sparks if I really want to.

In conclusion... get it together people. Get it together.