Break Update

I realize I haven't been so great at updating this as I bask in the absolute nothingness that is collegiate winter break. 

Yesterday the whole family enjoyed one of my mom's christmas presents (from Dad), and we all headed over to the Kennedy Center for "The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber." In short, it was AWESOME. In getting there, I realized why I never, ever drive in D.C. We got totally lost. We always do, when trying to get to the Kennedy Center. It's tradition. Luckily we'll get another chance on New Years Day, trekking over there for Claire and my birthday present, a Legally Blonde show. Which I am totally up for. I'm in the process of renewing my passion for show tunes. 

Last night we also had dinner with some family friends, and took the traditional (yeah, we're all about that) walk around the neighborhood (despite one member being in crutches) in the freakish 60 degree weather we are having. 

Christmas was great. On Christmas Eve we watched the movie Elf so that the rest of the family could finally understand what Claire was saying all the time, as the Christmas spirit prompted her to quote it constantly. 

"SANTA?! I KNOW HIM!!!" and  "Smiling's my FAVORITE!"

On Christmas, not keeping in with the spirit at all, we watched people get their butts kicked in Casino Royal. It was awesome.

We are a family of complex tastes. 

Today I plan on working on my room so I can remind myself what my carpet looks like. I also hope to take in a few of the amazing games that are going to be on today. I'm so set.

I Love Being Home

I love being home. I have spent most of my time laying on the couch, sleeping, showering (it's so exciting when it's hot the whole time), hanging with Claire, and waltzing for short amounts of time outside so I can loudly proclaim, "It's not cold outside, I KNOW what real cold is NOW!"

So basically, I may be turning into my father. Except, my father willing goes out into the cold for activities such as skiing. I sprint through the parking lot and hide in the ski lodge for fear of momentary discomfort.

Tomorrow is IB alumni day, in which I will try to portray the awesomeness that is Ithaca College (and how well IB prepared me for it) to a bunch of high school seniors who neither care nor want to be at school the day before break. Hey, I had to sit through it, senioritis and all. They will listen. I'm a big kid now, I know how to be persuasive.

And now, because of said Alumni Day I have to get up at an inhumane hour, an hour at which no college student ever sees the light of day.

I am also going to sleep.

Ahhhhhh....break.

I don't even mind that I spent 9 hours in a snow storm getting here! That's how great it is!

I'M DONE

I just turned in my final intro to journalism article. It felt blissful, if a little anti-climactic. I think the article turned out well. I learned so much doing it. Had I known what I know now about how to collect and organize stats and information, I would have saved hours. But that's what I'm in the class for. 

All I have for the rest of today is attending a wrap-up class for Mass Media, in which my friends Malti, Ashley, Steph and I have decided to have a picnic. I'm not sure how that will go over with Professor Lustyik, but I'm pretty sure she won't notice and/or care. 

Back in IB my group of friends determined a system to determine stress levels based on what music you are listening to. From least to greatest, it pretty much went: punk rock -> 90s pop -> country music -> musical soundtracks (enter freak-out mode). 

I guess I am feeling residual stress, because the Dixie Chicks are not coming off my iPod today. And I feel totally fine. 

What a weird week. I can't wait to just be home.

I Would Throw Something Out the Window if I Wouldn't Be Fined by Res Life

Granted almost all the hard work is done with. Over. 

I have to have this final 1200 word article done by Thursday morning. On the surface that doesn't sound too bad. My interviews are finished. Here's the problem: I have about 10,000 words worth of information, ideas, opinions, and confusing stats to sort through that I have been wrestling with ALL DAY. The histories and stats for each sport vary hugely in how up to date they are and if they are actually helpful at all. Sometimes it's difficult to figure out how many conference championships they've had. THAT'S how badly this information is kept. So, if all this information was kept in an actual object, I would throw that out a window in frustration. But it's currently on a website and in my word document, and there is no way my Mac is going out the window. It's my baby. Also, there are screens on the window, and if I break one, I get fined.

So, not an option. 

I also hate Excel. I have so much information, so many numbers that are jumping out at me, but trying to figure out what it all means is officially kicking my butt. My charts look like a crazed ant jumped in paint and ran around a chart frantically. 

It's weird that this article is all I have to work on right now. It's almost like I'm writing as a job. 

My biggest problem is that everyone in the universe is on break, and all I want to do is nothing with them. 

That said, I love everyone here. I seriously do. I want to take them with me, down to D.C. 

I just sat at the computer staring for about five minutes, trying to think of a way to end this post in a witty sort of manner. 

I give up.

It's Finals Week

I've just returned from rocking my Cultural Anthropology exam. It was pretty awesome. Not that I was really worried. I don't know if I ever mentioned it here, but I got a 100% on my midterm exam for that class. My brain just hold the analyses of the Malawi goat-milk project and the marriage practices of the Nayar tribe in India pretty darn well. That's all I'm sayin'.  IB taught me the ways of making ANYTHING sound intelligent. 

I got so much done this weekend. Hence the lack of posts the past two days. Now I'm unwinding a bit, doing some laundry, and waiting around until my interview at 2:30. Because my interview with the Director of Athletics on Friday fell through because, well, I got all the way there, and he had left. The secretary forgot. I was mad. Luckily I was able to reschedule. Let's just say he better be there. Or else. 

It got suddenly warm here (meaning, 40 degrees ish) today, so everything is melting. The campus is absolutely beautiful when there's snow. Under melting snow? Not so much. 

I just want to finish this day. I also never want to talk about football again. Or at the very least, the Redskins. Or the Cowboys. 

I dunno, maybe it's Steelers time? Mom, can I come on your side? Things are looking pretty rosy over there.

Not That This Post is as Good as the Last One

I woke up to about nine inches of snow this morning! It's gorgeous, but also requires me to wear those weird looking boots mom bought me. I'm not ashamed to admit it. They're warm. 

I got some great stuff done this morning, and I still have more to do, but I felt like giving myself a present. That present? Doing nothing for a few minutes. 

Here are some things I am absolutely happy about:

1. In exactly a week (to the hour, even!) I will be on the road to D.C. metropolitan area or...Maryland. Whatever sounds fanciest.

2. Today is the last day of classes!

3. Any time someone on the Redskins says/does something stupid, Terrell Owens comes to the rescue to prove that there is absolutely no one more bratty than him in the NFC East, or even the entire NFL. 

4. icanhascheeseburger exists for my procrastinating pleasure.

5. This video exists. Sorry Notre Dame fans/Mary Coyne. It's hilarious. 

Obviously I am in a linking, sharing mood. 

I was talking to my friend, a die-hard Bills fan, the other day about football, and he said something that scared me whole lot:

"Obviously I'm crazy depressed. But you're a Redskins fan, so you know exactly how I feel."

OH NO.

THE REDSKINS ARE THE BILLS.

I Got a Little Something at the Ithacan Awards Banquet...

Just in case you can't read that, it says "The Ithacan Sports Section hereby recognizes Abby Paulson as Best New Writer for the Fall 2008 semester."

OH MY GOD YAYYYYYY

It's so awesome to feel like all the games in the rain, hours spent in front of the computer, and all the weekend stress were TOTALLY WORTH IT.

What a great Christmas present.

There's also four inches of snow covering the ground right now, and it's still coming down like crazy. People are playing football in the quads, trying to sled down hills in the dark. To ward off some more finals stress, dormmates Tori and Sara bought tons of bacon and eggs and invited everyone down for breakfast. At 8 o' clock at night. 

I love it here.

That's not to say I like finals. 

But this totally makes it bearable, to say the least. 

It's Just About Finals Time

So I've got a lot of papers to write. 

Which I don't really feel like doing. At all. But I will. 

Starting Friday, for the WHOLE WEEK every dorm has 23 hour quiet hours. That's right. We can only be loud but "non-disruptive" for an hour a day. From 6 p.m to 7 p.m. If we mess up once, we get written up. 

So, essentially, Friday, the dorms become prisons. And everyone is serving a week sentence for, well, finals. 

Argh. I can hardly wait to come home to fires and couches and showers with water pressure. As much as I love Ithaca, finals makes being here college minus the fun. 

Which is obviously no fun at all...and makes me really need chocolate and caffeine in various forms. 

Wish me luck! All the stress should be gone by Wednesday night!

The Griddo Crew

A pic of us being as awesome as we truly are! I'll write more later, but work is calling. 

I Froze Yesterday and Today

Yesterday, as I walked through -2 degree windchill down to Park Studio B for the millionth time, I considered the possibility of purchasing a hat. You know, one that keeps your ears from falling off. 

I spent just about a year of my life (at least it felt that way) working the teleprompter yesterday, because I worked it on the Inquirer for the first time, and then ran it during our one-hour Griddo special last night. Total time spent: four hours. Gaahhhhh

If you didn't catch the amazingness that was our one hour special, full season recap yesterday, it re-airs on ictv.org on Thursday from 9-10 again. It even included an AMAZING PTI-inspired countdown and we brought in these awesome guys from commentary and Sports Final and they did some really neat, kind of funny analysis of the whole season. It was great. Our graphic was totally wicked. It felt like I was working for ESPN. 

It is cold outside, but it did snow last night. I love the way it looks, but it's thirteen degrees outside. It's bad when you announce the high temperature for the day and someone asks, "Fahrenheit or celsius?" 

Whatever. It's my last week of classes! I'll make it. 

Happy Birthday Mom!

It's my Mom's birthday, and I would just like to say thank you:

You're such a great mom. You taught (and am teaching) me to be a strong woman that can do anything she sets her mind to.

Even though I still lose all my hair ties, you made the transition from high school to college easy, teaching me everything I needed to know. The only problem? I miss you so much!

Everyone is totally obsessed with the candy wreath you made. As am I. Thanks so much!

Thank you for supporting me in anything I do, whether it's absorbing myself in football, becoming a journalist or swimming on the swim team. You're always there to cheer, or make all my friends love you by showing up with food (Continental pizza at Homecoming Decorations? You're legendary!)  and lots and lots of love. 

Have an amazing day! You deserve it. I can't wait to see you in less than two weeks! 

I love you!

Oh, and Dad, I love you tons too. 

Friday!

So I'm just estimating, but I'm pretty sure that 60% of my blogs are about Friday. Whether it's Friday, or I want it to be. And here it is again.  

I'm cleaning my room, which had (has) become a disaster area. I'm taking a small break, gaining a little perspective. Yesterday, because it was a Thursday, was long.  It ended with our last Sports Section meeting of the year. As usual, it was extremely entertaining. Next week's issue is our last of the semester, and since I don't have an assignment, I can take a break! Well...I've actually got to deal with my intro to journalism assignment instead. Ugh. But at least I won't have to handle both at once. 

Next Thursday is the Ithacan semester-end banquet. Everyone is supposed to dress "business casual." I'm not exactly sure what that means. I may resort to getting the girls in my dorm to pick my outfit for me. We are, essentially, an awesome sorority.  I don't know how it worked out so perfectly, but everyone that lives here is pretty awesome and fun. 

I also have a confession: I'm all the way in New York, and I am still listening to WashFM Christmas Music (online, of course). It's a hard habit to break. 

I love it. I even like listening to the traffic report, thinking about all the angry Washingtonians on the packed Beltway. 

That's what Christmas is all about.

Griddo Ends

I just got an e-mail from my Griddo producers, about our last episode of the year. Because it's the last episode, we're going out with a bang, doing an hour-long season extravaganza. So, if you're free from 9:00-10:00 p.m Sunday, tune in on ictv.org. It streams right on the front page live.  

Reading the e-mail made me very, very sad. Saying goodbye to Griddo for the year pretty much means saying goodbye to the seniors on the crew, and they've helped me so much and are so much fun. I can't imagine Sundays without them, because of how much I've learned. We're taking a full-crew picture afterwards, and I hope I'll get a copy. 

Of course, in true Gridiron Report style, Dave had to put in a little extra caution and advice to the crew:

"And guys, leave your guns behind. I know it's a football show and all, but bringing the pistol that I'm sure you all have to the show won't be necessary."  

And that's why I love the Gridiron Report.

 I didn't know I needed another reason to be sad when football seasons began to draw to a close!

So tune in Sunday!

Life in Not-So-Slow Motion

It's a Tuesday, which normally means I have extra time in the morning to get things done. I usually wake up early and try to crank out some work on long-term projects and such. I've already done quite a bit this morning. 

This week is just packed. Once Wednesday is finished, however, I'll have a few things to cross off on my master finish-and-then-you're-free list.  

Yesterday everyone was struggling to get back into the swing of things, and I spent an unexpected hour wrestling with my swimming article with my editor in the Ithacan office. It's never exactly fun to do that, because it drags on and on, but I always learn a lot when I go, and my articles always turn out way better. 

I'm listening to so much Christmas music. Claire sent me a short text message yesterday saying, "I CANNOT escape Christmas music!" If she went to Ithaca, I would totally be part of the problem. 

I worked a little on our family's Christmas letter, which I write every year to avoid the horrible cliches  that tend to plague Christmas letters, like, "Last year, while our family was vacationing in Bora-Bora, little Becky discovered a passion for aquatic life and quickly became one of the most highly respected dolphin trainers in the universe. Also, little Jimmy got straight As again, as he always does." 

Maybe ours is no better. Who knows. 

Okay, seriously, back to work. 

Okay, so another tally on the "things destroyed" list

I stated at the very beginning that I would use the blog to keep track of the things I lost/destroyed while making the journey through the crazy world of college. 

It all began with that silly yellow towel, which is now a...well, puke colored towel. That actually is (was) the only thing on the "destroyed" list. Now, my lovely, cherished red Einstein Swim shirt will join it, as my pen exploded on me yesterday. I rushed it to the washing machine like an EMT rushes a crash victim to the hospital, but it could not be saved. But I'm keeping it anyway. 

This incident did, however, alert me to the fact that I have only ruined two items in three whole months of college, which is a huge accomplishment for me. You would know this if you have ever lived with me before. 

I haven't updated the lost list either, but I think I'll just have to estimate the total to about 4 lost hair ties. See Mom? I haven't changed! 

I have created a Christmas-color themed list of all the ridiculous things I need to get through to get to Christmas break and posted it on my closet door.  It goes with our lovely dorm Christmas decorations, which includes lights, a big santa on our door, and my candy wreath. 

It's good to be back.