Just Stop It.

Ok. Here's the deal. I was just thinking about this weekend as I looked at all the blogs of friends that I have bookmarked. I saw something that reminded me of so many comments I have heard about other blogs....basically everyone is worried that their blog isn't original enough, entertaining enough or whatever. People read others' blogs and critique them as if they were a term paper or a book. It's ridiculous. They talk about how much they hate some peoples' blogs or how much they just complain or talk about stupid pointless things. Here's an idea- you don't like it? DON'T READ IT. No one is holding you at gunpoint to make you read their livejournal, blogspot, xanga, or whatever else there is out there. No one should have to pass your approval to post their point of view, complaints, praise, random ramblings, thoughts or how their day went. If you don't think it is worth reading, don't. And if you think it's stupid what they wrote, then don't put it into your brain by continuing to go back to that blog and reading it's updates. JUST STOP IT. You don't like people complaining on their blogs? you don't have to see it. But we don't have that luxury of just shutting you up when we don't want to hear YOUR complaints. We can't close you like a tab or window on the internet. If you don't like reading people's complaints on their blogs or anything else about their day or thoughts, then maybe you shouldn't share those things with people ever at all either. Just an idea. It's just a blog. Get over it.

Change of Plans

The first week of classes is over, and the second week picks up again tomorrow. It's been pretty busy, and the classes are already running full speed ahead. I am going to be worn out by the end of every week, and I have a feeling that all I will want to do every break I get is sleep. My teachers all seem pretty good, but incredibly intense on their topic of expertise. For example, my Biology teacher- Prof. Darley. He seems like a reallly nice guy. He is in his late 60s and has been teaching for 35 years. This is his last year teaching....and he loves Biology so much. I mean...the first day of class he was flipping through some pictures of algae that were taken under a microscope, and continued to say, "Isn't it beautiful??" And then he showed us his "favorite algae," and he was so excited when he talked about how much time he spends growing algae and that we are going to study some of the algae which he has grown if we are in the corresponding lab. (I am). The guy could not be a bigger dork if he went to Georgia Tech. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Yes, he could be. *wink* =)>

Ok, so this weekend turned out a bit differently than expected. I found out that my lake weekend was actually one night. That meant I would leave after class Friday for Lake Lanier and then return Saturday whenever I chose to do so. That was great because I could still hang out with Tom, Claire, and Phillip on Sat night....Only everything changed. Thanks to the hurricane...I guess....the Lake weekend was canceled. Friday I got a message to let me know that they were sorry but had to cancel. No explanation, so that was the most logical guess I could make. Then Tom already had plans...as did everyone else in Athens as of 2:30 pm Friday, so I called my dad about heading home. Mom is out of town, so I went home and we had KFC and watched I Robot. SUPER GOOD movie. I was actually surprised bc I expected it to not be that great. After I went upstairs to go to bed, Jordan got home, and we ended up hanging out talking in my room till about 4:30. That was fun bc I don't get to see him often.
Saturday, Ben and Lacey came by to eat lunch and hang out some, then they left for Atl, and I left for Athens. I called Claire to see if she wanted to hang out (Phillip is out of town for the weekend), and couldn't get a hold of her. Sooo Tom and I decided to go ahead and eat. But we ended up waiting too long to eat- messing around on facebook, doing laundry,etc- and we had to make supper instead. But it was good (Hamburger/Chicken helper), and we watched some Matrix.

That has pretty much been my weekend. I have to study today for a Spanish quiz-wish me luck- tomorrow, as well as do a lot of my Spanish homework in which I am entirely behind. UGH. I am not in the mood for hw at all!! I can't seem to focus on classes...it's like I am all in a sudden ADD. I just don't want to do anything at all, and I know it sounds lazy, but I just can't concentrate on it. I mean, I will do the work, but it just seems annoying and takes forever to do. I guess I am still just adjusting to the swing of things again. I need to break out of summer mode.
Ok- outta here
Later my hoes. =)
Love,
Megs

Classes

Hola!!
Classes have been going in full swing, and I've been busy keeping up. This semester I have 17 hours - Biology 1104 and the lab, Marine Science and the lab, Spanish 2002(the third semester I've had of it), Psychology of parenting, and Psychology Research. I also go to Chapter every Monday, babysit pretty much every week, go to Campus Outreach every wednesday, and go to Gamma Phi's singing practice every week. So far we haven't had singing practice yet, but we are supposed to have a meeting about it soon, and the first CO of the year is tonight. But you get the drift- I'm busy and pretty tired.

Today, Mom is coming up, and after classes Mom is going to pick me up so we can go have ice cream! I know I sound like a little kid, but I am really excited!! =) Also, this weekend, I might be going to a CO lake weekend at Lake Lanier. They are going to go for two nights, and there are passes to the lake and waterpark for two days or something- fun times! If for some reason it doesn't work out though, like-I don't get out of classes before they need to leave- Tom is going to come visit me in Athens, and we are going to see Claire and Phillip some, which is always so fun! Either way, I am really ready for the weekend to arrive.

Tom ended up pledging Theta Xi last night, and I am SO excited for him. I really am glad that he is involved in such a great Christian group of guys, and I pray that they will be an uplifting outlet from school for him! =) I am sure that it will be so fun for him to be in a group like that!! I can't wait to see how it all goes...oooooh- two formals this year instead of just Gamma Phi's!! YAY- more fun!

Ok, off to more classes! I miss everyone who isn't at UGA...I hope all is well!
Love,
Meghan

If I don't update now...

...I never will. So I'm gonna do it now. =)

Ok...On the ninth of August, I packed up my car and headed back to Athens. I met with all the Rho Chis and the Panhellinic Exec in Memorial Hall (where the Greek Life Office is Located) and we talked about Rush-formally known as Recruitment, were assigned rooms and roommates, and did yet another ice breaker. This time what we did was tell tell our names, where we are from, something interesting about ourselves and answer a "would you rather" question. (Meghan Patton, Covington, I volunteered at Noah's Ark- an animal rescue center-this summer, and the question "Would you rather be able to fly or be able to read people's minds?" My answer: fly- that would be so cool. And I don't think I want to know what people are thinking a lot of the time- especially about me. haha). Then I got to know my roommates- Jess (Sigma Kappa) and Meredith (Delta Zeta). We were supposed to have 4 girls per room at the Holiday Inn, but Karen- our 4th, is a SK also, and we cannot room with girls in the same sorority, so she moved out- freeing up shower time, so that was convenient. I really am sooooo fortunate to have gotten to know those two roommates of mine so well. They are sweet and funny and fun to be with.

Being a Rho Chi (Formal name= Recruitment Counselor) is hard hard hard work, but well worth it. I LOVED this rush experience more than any other that I have had previously other than maybe when I found out I received a bid from Gamma Phi and when I found out that my lil sis- my rush crush- had taken our bid and was joining our sisterhood. I would recommend trying out for this position to anyone and am seriously considering trying again this year. I met so many girls that were fellow rho chis and consider them to be true friends. By the end of the two weeks we were together, we were hugging goodbye, though we would see each other the next day- bid day. And on Bid Day, when we saw each other, it was hugs again- and we felt like it had been forever. I was suprised at how close to my heart these girls became in a matter of weeks, and I really do miss them already.

So, what did we do? Well.....

The day before rush started, We all spilt into various locations to sign in the girls and answer any questions they or their mothers might have. That night we had an orientation session for them to give them a general idea of safety, of recruitment rules, and of who we are. The Rho Chis did a lil skit to make fun of rush- the 12 Days of Recruitment (rather than Christmas-ha).
12-Cups of water
11-Frat boys Drooling
10-Speeding Buses
9-Notecards missing
8-Packs of Breath Mints
7-Red Vests Strutting
6-Same Questions
5-Maxi Pads
4-Hours of Sleep
3-Ringing Bells
2-Comfy Shoes
And Don't forget your nametag!

If you have ever experienced Sorority recruitment at UGA, you will understand that song. =)

Then we all broke up to the locations we will meet in our small groups throughout the week and waited for the girls to be dismissed to that location. We each had about 18 girls in our group, and it was to these 18 girls that we were more personally Rho Chis. Throughout the week, any girl can approach a Rho Chi for help or advice, but when it is time to meet at the end of the day, withdraw, rank sororities, or have a heart to heart, our girls have us- the ones they meet with twice a day (in the morning and in the afternoon) to talk to. My group was awesome. I loved them all and I wish them all the best. They were so beautiful, smart and talented that I felt like a proud mama hen. By the end of the week, 8 of my 18 decided that they would like to withdraw from the process, but there is nothing I could do about that. I couldn't do anything about what houses invited them back, and 6 out of 8 times, that is why they withdrew. The other 2 decided that they weren't ready to be Greek at all in that point in time. It was too overwhelming for them. No matter what the reason, I wanted the girls to be happy, so I tried to be there for them, convince them to do all they could so they would look back on withdrawing with no regrets, then showed them where to withdraw if they were certain. The other 10 went through the whole way, and were happy to receive a wonderful array of bids on bid day. I'm proud to say that two of my own girls went into Gamma Phi!!

Ok...So: The first day of rush I was stationed at Alpha Gamma Delta. That means that I never left that post (except for lunch) and I was there to make sure that they were timing according to our rules on how long they could talk to the girls, have their doors open, and f0llowed all the other rules on rush. There are SO many rules...for example: no singing or cheering may take place outside of the doors of any sorority house, all pictures of Rho Chis and Exec members must be covered- and the coverings may not have "rho chi" or "exec" or any other such title on them, only water may be served in the first round, etc. They are allowed an exact amount of time for each round, and if they do not close their door by the time that the stationary Rho Chi has it on her stop-watch, then they are fined. The first time is a warning, but after that they can be fined up to $100 each time and a social. ...intense, huh? Your sorority could lose an entire social calendar in the first round or rush. UGA has the second most detailed and intense recruitment process in the nation...I think Alabama is the only one ahead of us. AGD didn't get a single violation while I was there. I did learn a lot of their songs though. "Oh How I love those Alpha Gams so deep deep so down down in my heart *clap* wooo!"

Day Two- Still Round one of Rush, but I was a GLO girl...Greek Life Office Girl. We do anything that is needed- filing, pencil sharpening (this sounds easy until you realize we sharpened over 1200 pencils), correcting ranking sheets (we had to mark through Delta Phi Epsilon on every sheet- again about 1200x4 because it was one sheet per girl per day she ranked) because DPhiE didn't do rush this year in order to strengthen Alumni ties. We also have to be avaliable to take later girls to houses they are supposed to be at via the vans, and to help out any Rho Chis or girls that need us to come to a house or whatever. But the best part is you are in Air Conditioning all day long, and if you get done with everything, you get to relax- maybe even sleep. That is a pretty big deal because sleep is not a luxury we got much of. Often we would get in bed around 12 am, and we had to be back ready to go for role call by 5:30 am. And that means we had to get up around 4:30. Wooo-hoo. I was exhausted by the end of the week. I was exhausted by the first day. But anyway....

Day three- Round Two of rush- House Tours/12 parties. I was a rotating Rho Chi, and there were 12 houses. That meant a LOOOOONG day. I traveled from house to house and had to call out the roll at each house of all the girls that were invited back to the party of the house I was at. Then the stationary Rho Chi and I would go inside and make sure that all the rules were being adhered to during the house tours. That was probably the worst day for "dirty rushing." Girls were alone with Sorority members in house or doors weren't opened all the way to some rooms with girls inside....it just had to be reported, so we didn't have to confront the sorority- the Exec did.

Day Four- Round Three- Skits/6 Parties. This round all the sororities perform skits for the girls that they invite back. I was stationed at AGD again this day, and they didn't have any viloations again. It was awesome- they never broke rules, so it made my job so easy!! Their skit was cute, and they teased the Rho Chi's with it, which caught me off guard the first time. They had been saying in one part "Yeah I thought that would be cool, but it turns out that was as cool as a Georgia Tech party!" But the third time they surprised me with "That was about as cool as those Wal-Mart vests that the Rho Chis are wearing all the time." And the other girl repiled, "Yeah, rolling down Milledge, Rolloing back prices." I gotta hand it to them, they totally deserved props for that one. You see, Milledge is the Road that most of the Greek houses are located on, and the Rho Chis are always wearing blue vests so that people know who we are in case they need us and so that we can do our job more effectively. We really did look like Wal-Mart workers, and the exec members had the same vests in red, hence number 7 in the 12 Days of Recruitment song.

Day Five-Pref Round/3 Parties. This is the last day of Rush, and the one that the sororities use to really try to seal the deal with the pnms (Potential New Members) so that they will put them number one on their bid list when they rank at the end of the day. That day, I was on bus duty, and I was on bus nine- the Gamma Phi Beta bus. That means that I was the girl who was on the loud speaker (haha, Tom) over the bus, and told the girls where all the stops were and how to get to each house. Because I was on the GPB bus, we stopped outside of Gamma Phi everytime that the partys were ending, and I would load girls from there and nearby houses on the bus and take them to their next party or back to Tate or the Greek Life Office. It about killed me to have that job, because as a Rho Chi, I had to disaffiliate from my sorority on August 1st, and I hadn't seen or spoken to my sisters since then. Seeing them standing right there and pretending not to even know them was SOOO hard. These girls are some of my best friends, and I missed them so much. But I did get to know the bus driver lady- Mrs. Elizabeth, and she was sweet and easy to talk to. I also got some free time in between rounds to chill on the bus- we waited at the Varsity in the parking lot between shifts, and while I was looking around at the adds on the bus, I noticed that I am in the top corner of a picture on an add! It is an add for all the choral groups at UGA, and I was in the UGA Women's Glee Club my Spring semester my freshman year- it was a picture from one of our concerts. That was a pretty exciting discovery.

So the next day, Thursday, was the first day of class as well as bid day. After classes, we had to be back at the GLO by 4:30. We practiced doing our last skit, and then saw the bids we were to hand out to our girls. I was pretty excited to hand them out- none of my girls mismatched, and all but one got their first choice- and she got her second, so that's not too shabby. We went downstairs in Tate to do our last skit, and it was to reveal what sorority we were in to the girls- they didn't know what sorority we were in the entire time, and my girls were sooo surprised- all but maybe one, and even she wasn't sure. What we did was mix up all over the stage with our vests on covering out t-shirts, which had our letters on them. We would all sing "If I weren't a Rho Chi, I tell you what I'd be. If I weren't a Rho Chi, an XYZ I would be!" and then the girls in XYZ sorority would run to the front of the stage and rip off their vests to reveal the letters, and do one of their sorority's cheers. We did that from Alpha Chi Omega to Zeta Tau Alpha, and then we all went to our spots we had been meeting our girls at all week. They dismissed the girls a minute later so they could come meet us, and we handed out their bids. I was so excited for these girls. Anyone who can go through the hell that is UGA sorority rush deserves to get a bid.

The bad parts of being a Rho Chi is being the bearer of bad news when you have to hand out a schedule that is mostly empty to a girl, and she comes to you with tears in her eyes and tells you she just doesn't understand. Or when you have to help someone withdraw. Or when a girl cries to you for hours because she is so torn on sororities- on of which is yours, and you have to be completely unbiased. Or when a girl drops out of rush because a certain sorority cut her....and it was your sorority. That is so tough to stomach, and it made me get misty-eyed more than once. Some of the other rho chis flat out cried once they were in private. It's not easy to see someone get hurt, or to know that the piece of paper you have to hand them in a minute is enough to make or break their day. I am so grateful that when I went through rush, God made it where I wasn't hurt by being cut from sororities. I was surprised sometimes, but not enough that I was hurt.

But anyway, so we had a bid day party that night, and Gamma Phi's theme was Cinderella. "The perfect fit" We had three horse drawn carriages that made rounds picking up our new pledge class (we met quota by the way!) and we gave them crown shaped name tags to pin to their dresses and tiaras to wear in their hair, and rode them to the house, where they were awaited by cheers and screams from the sorority. There were also tons of cheers from the boys who spent the entire night cruising by the sorority houses screaming like they hadn't seen females in years. Typical of rush in Athens though...

One of the best things about bid day for me was being reunited with my sisters. I couldn't help but cry by the 10th hug and "I missed you- rush wasn't the same without you." Even now thinking about it makes me misty... I really love those girls. A homecoming like that is something I will always treasure.

Classes went well enough- I still have some homework to get to before tomorrow. Also, I came up to see Tom this weekend. I am so proud of him because he went to a couple of rush events at Theta Xi, and is now an associate (pledge, but given more respect) of that fraternity. I can honestly say that that fraternity has earned my respect above and beyond any other fraternity I have ever seen. They are a great group of Christian guys, and I pray that they have great things in store for Tom. I have had a great time hanging out with everyone up here this weekend and am impressed with how well they have pulled the house together.

Ok, well I have to run do some other stuff. If you have actually read all that I typed- it took me almost two hours to get it all out- I am impressed, and you now have a good bit more knowledge of Rho Chi stuff and how my life has been the last few weeks. I hope all is well with your life, and leave me a message to let me know how you are!
Love,
Megs

Rush is over

...for the most part. I have to meet tomorrow to reveal my sorority affiliation and hand out the bids, then we have the bid party. I am so exhausted that I don't even want to sit up long enough to be on the computer and type up a blog. I am going to lay down...or get stuff out of my car then lay down. I hope I don't fall asleep before finding something to eat tonight. I haven't eaten well lately what with rush and all...
I'll blog when I can next- my first day of classes are tomorrow, and I will be sleeping LATE...at least compared to what I've been doing getting up between 4am and 5am lately.
Peace-out my hoes.
~Megs

Survey Says....

....Amazing boyfriends are Southern Gentlemen from my neck of the woods. =) I want to update about this week, and that is wonderful because it means I have total bragging rights for The McFarlin boys as well as Mr. Thompson. (aka:Tom, Ben, and Davey dating me, Lacey, and Kristen Bos.)

Monday:
I went shopping with Tom all day long, which was a lot of fun, although we were supposed to be shopping for him and it seemed like when we went into stores he chose, he was too picky and I ended up buying something I had forgotten I needed. So in the end, I had more stuff than he did. That was not how it was supposed to go, but oh well. I learned that Tom is really picky about shoes, but that is something I should be learning from. Shoes are a weakness of mine, and I tend to own way more than I should. At least, I can claim that a ton of them are flip-flops, which do get a lot of wear from me bc I LOVE flipflops, so I need to get them in every color to get with every outfit. *wink* While we were shopping, Tom treated me to lunch- as well as drove everywhere. Take notes, guys: ask girl to shop all day, offer to drive, pay for lunch. That's how it's done. =)

Ok, so Monday was Lacey's sixteenth birthday, and Ben was at home BAKING HER A CAKE- something he had never made before (but it was really good)- as a surprise, when Tom and I left for the mall. He also knew she wanted a "True Love Waits" ring, so he already had that. But in order to keep her guessing, he gave Tom some money to get her a T-shirt at PacSun. He was throwing her a surprise bday party that night (SO SWEET...Tom did that for my 17th bday), and he planned to give her the shirt then, and then the ring when he dropped her off at her house that night. Now that is what I am talking about. Throw me off by buying me two presents rather than one anytime you want. *wink* So at the mall I picked out 4 shirts I liked, and we sent pictures to Ben via Tom's phone and Ben picked out the second shirt. That night he took her out to eat, then came home to a surprise party, then gave her the presents (turns out she had wanted that exact shirt when she had gone shopping w/o Ben but they didn't have it in her size- so he really knew her taste), then ate the cake he made her, then we all hung out before going home, which is when he gave her the ring she had wanted. A+ Ben!!

Tuesday:
I was supposed to go to Atlanta to help Tom and Ben assist Davey in cleaning and painting his bedroom at their house, but I ended up staying home to finish the final cleaning of my closet and room. I took two huge black trash bags full of stuff from my room to the dump, and I have more stuff to take still. I also filled two of the same size bags with stuff to give away or sell at a consignement shop and hung up about 150 things to take to the shop. good gracious. OK, so instead of making me feel bad about not being able to come, Tom told me he understood then sent me sweet messages and some pictures of the updated apartment via our phones throughout the day so I could see what I wasn't there to see. He also made a short video of Davey's painted room so I could see how it looked. Awww. Kristen drove into Atlanta that day (she and Davey are going Sunday to Mississippi to see her extended family, so she needed to drive), and Tom and Davey had planned a suprise double date for us (and they had been planning several such dates for us for about a month, but I had plans to babysit Thurs and Friday this week, so it threw some of those plans off...oops).

So, about 8:00, I am getting into Tom's car and happened to glance down in time to see there was something in my seat and jumped back out before I smushed it. What was it you ask? A single long-stem rose (red- my fave color for roses, plus romantic, ahhh). It was absolutely beautiful and it smelled divine. I have a picture of it on my moblog, so check it out. Ok, so then Tom and I drive out to Davey's mom's house and there we had fondue with Davey, Kristen, Laura (d's sister) and Mrs. Anna (his mom). IT WAS AWESOME. What was there to fondue you ask? Steak, chicken, shrimp, broccolli, bread, apples, strawberries. To fondue in? Oil, Cheese, and Chocolate. There was also ice cream and cookies to go with the strawberries and chocolate. I never knew that Apples would taste good in melted cheese, but it's true. They were awesome. I didn't eat the shrimpies bc I don't like seafood, but I had a lot of steak and bread, some chicken, and a couple pieces of broccolli- which I normally hate, but it was good when smothered in cheese. After dinner and dessert, we were supposed to go to Davey's dad's house to go sit on the dock and star gaze (how sweet is that??) and I think they said something about a telescope too, but we ended up eating and talking for so long that it was 11:30pm, and Tom and I decided to head home. Now, girls, that was impressive, wasn't it? Tom and Davey making plans while talking online an ocean apart (Davey was in France when these plans were made) and what were they planning to do? Treat me and Kristen to a series of sweet dates. Getting writer's cramp guys? Don't stop taking notes yet...

Wednesday:
For my birthday (in June), Tom knew I wanted a Warped Tour ticket SO BADLY, and I didn't expect to get one, honestly. But I did, from Tom, and Warped Tour was Wednesday. I was incredibly excited about it because I knew MXPX and Relient K would be there, and I love those bands!!!!!! When we got there, there were a gazillion ppl milling about, and a lot needed to put some more clothes on, but that is not the point. Anyway, Ben and Lacey came along- Ben bought her ticket as well as his so she could come. None of us had anything to eat all day, but we kept buying powerade and water and drinking that because it was REALLY HOT and we were trying to stay hydrated. We headed over to listen to Relient K around 12:00 (they played at 12:20), but when we got over there, we saw signs saying that MXPX was signing stuff for free right there, so we got in line. About 20 min later, we were meeting Tom, Yuri, and Mike, getting pictures (moblog) and getting a free poster signed! I cannot even explain how awesome that was, and I mean, if I had done nothing else that day, that would have been an awesome birthday present! =) So when we got done posing and talking to them, we headed over to Relient K and they did a great show.

We took a break in some shade then went to listen to MAE perform. On the way we were....forced to listen to some other bands...ugh. I mean, the bands had talent, but they needed to get rid of their singers. I use that word liberally because most of the guys sounded like they threw up on the mic, and the one chick band that we heard....well I couldn't tell if she was speaking English in any of the songs. And she was American. It was weird and annoying. But anyway, Mae was awesome, and I am gonna buy their cd sometime soon, I hope. Props to Lacey for wanting to hear them- they are one of her fave bands.

At 3, we went and met Relient K and got autographs and pics (again moblog) with 4/5 of the band members, and it was so cool, because I realllly love their music! After that we went to listen to MXPX perform, and we managed to get right up to the front where only one girl was between me and the rail in front of the stage. That crowd was crazy, with lots of jumping and crowd surfing and shoving, and it was so fun! I was glad to have that girl between me and the rail because I got pushed into her so much, and it would have hurt to stand where she did. (she was cool about it though) And the show? IT ROCKED MY FACE OFF. MXPX did a good sampling of their music drawing from several cds, and then they made my day again by telling the crowd that they would be coming to Atl again in the fall with Rufio and Relient K!!!! YAY!

After MXPX performed, Lacey and I bought some t-shirts, then we all headed back to Ben's truck. On the way home we stopped at Blimpies, in Conyers near their house...I love that Blimpie guy! He knows who we are and he asked how UGA was going, he asked my major and how I liked it. Such a sweet dude (he's old enough to be my dad). Ok, so then Tom handed me some money and said to get whatever I wanted, which was really sweet...especially since I had no money on me after getting a t-shirt, but I was going to pay with credit, then I didn't have to. *smile* That was a really awesome day. And the guys drove and paid for everything (except the shirts and maybe a drink or two, which is cool with me). Awesome, right?? That night we hung out with Will at the McFarlin's before heading home. And that's not all...

Thursday:
Thursday, Tom, Ben, and Davey all decided we should go to Factory Shoals to eat lunch and swim. For those of you who aren't from Covington, FS is a river that has rapids and ends in a lake. (http://www.americanwhitewater.org/rivers/id/3372/). Well, that morning I was taking stuff to the consignment shops, so I wasn't able to get any food before heading out there, so Tom made me a pb&j and brought me a Sprite (bc he knows I can't have caffeine often or my kidneys get infected) and he also packed some chips and an oatmeal creamed pie. Now that is sweet! April came by to say hey to everyone since she lives about a mile down the road, and then after she left, we all got in the water. You have to be careful out there for the rapids and the snakes. People drown out there every year, and you don't wanna get caught under a rock or slip and hit your head on one. Obviously we were all just fine, and we had a great time, too. We all slipped a little, but it was more funny than anything. I thought it was sweet for the guys to plan it.

Thursday night I babysat in Athens, and today I am going to run errands with Mom. Tonight I am babsitting in Covington. That pretty much has you up-to-date. I had really good reasons to brag on those guys, and you know that if you read the book I just wrote on them! haha. Well, I have to go finish getting ready so mom and I can leave.

Adios!
Love,
Meghan

Meghan's Travels

Today was pretty tiring. After church and lunch, Tom and I went to Athens. I guess now is the time to mention that every time I went somewhere today, I drove. I just want to make that clear before I continue. Ok, so I drove to church and back, then to Athens. Tom was sweet enough to help me pack up some clothes to take to my apartment and help me unload it there. He then hung out and played guitar while I unloaded all of the clothes to their appropriate spots in my room.

After a quick stop by Marble Slab for some milkshakes...which ended up being supper....We headed out to Tech. YES. You heard that correctly. I DROVE TO ATLANTA. Not just sort of on I-85 for a minute till the first exit like before when I went to the mall with Melissa, but all the way to Tom's apartment. I was so freaked out, I almost cried at one point. I had clinched my teeth so much on the ride that I had a headache when I got to the house. Now, some of you may think this is a bit hyped up. I mean it's just a drive to Atlanta. No big deal, right? WRONG. I NEVER EVER drive in Atl, so it is really scary for me. I almost cried at one point because I was worrying, but I pulled it together. Tom sort of chilled me out by coaching me through the whole thing- telling me what exits to use and when to get over in lanes. I honestly wouldn't have wanted to ride into Atl for the first time like that with anyone else. I was so nervous, and he was a lifesaver. I think if we wrecked, I might have pulled the steering wheel clear out of the car because I was holding it so tightly. After we put a poster and some speakers into his room, Tom and I headed back to my house to get his car. So yeah, more Atl driving. Once I got on I-20 I was cool, but prior to that had me nervous.

After we went inside to tell everyone where we were headed, Tom and I went to his house and hung out with Henry, Will, and eventually Ben when he got home from Lacey's house. Tom and I schooled the guys on some mario kart, as usual. *wink* =)> Today is Lacey's bday, so happy 16th to you Lacey!! I love you girl.

I also didn't realize this till it was a bit late, but Jessica Smith's bday was the 31st (yesterday) and I totally forgot to call her. Happy Belated Bday to you- all 21 years of you! I can't wait to spend time with you and Ben in Athens again! I miss it so much!! =)

Well, I am finishing up in my room- there are a gazzilion hangers on the floor and I think that is going to drive me insane trying to sort them all out. They are all hooked together. AUGH!!! I think I might sleep for now and try to worry about the hangers in the morning.

Goodnight!
~Meghan