I am so itchy. For reals. My whole self itches. First I thought it might be bedbugs. Then I was told it was mites. And now, a virus. But mostly, hives. So, so many hives. And I am itchy. And that is really all.

But the fireworks were beautiful. :o)

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I've had a ton of stuff going on lately.

Like seriously. A lot.

It's funny how when I was a student I never realized how much an admissions counselor had to do. I just thought an admissions counselor was a student who graduated and didn't really have anything else to do, so he or she became an admissions counselor.

Not true. Like, at all.

But in addition, I've submitted my book. (YEA!) It's all done. The working title is "The Ten Days of Summer," but we'll see what it ends up being. :o) I have to wait 6-9 months to hear back from the first publisher. It is unethical to submit a manuscript to more than one publisher at a time, so I have to wait for this publisher to decide before I do anything else. Usually it's about a 3 month wait, so this is a really long time. Hopefully they're just covering their butts, but we'll see! It was sent in at the beginning of January. Do you want to read an excerpt from my book? Yes?? Ok! This first one will give you an idea of what the book's about.

     Don looked around the group. The sweat was hanging onto the little hairs on his upper lip. His face was lit up like he’d just been offered a life supply of video games. He was the smartest one in our group. The rest of us pulled ourselves up on the grass, trying to be the first to catch on to Don’s great idea. “Don’t you get it?” He excitedly explained. “We’ve got nine days left before school. Nine days before we start our first year of junior high. This school year everyone is going to expect us to be more grown up. They’re going to expect us to be responsible. This is our last chance to be kids, get in trouble, and get away with it. We’ve got nine and a half more days to be get away with anything.”

And here's another quote:

It was almost as if the strange green light were alive, moving by itself. My eyes locked on it as it went from room to room. There was no way a person was making that light. I was ready to run for the payphone and call for help when, very quickly, everything turned dark. I rubbed my eyes and looked again. No, the light hadn’t gone out. Something was blocking my view of it. I couldn’t focus on whatever it was. I looked closer and blinked. A single white circle with a dark dot in the center floated into my view. It was a large, unwavering eye. Whatever was blocking my view of the light was standing in front of the shed window, staring straight back at me.

I know both of those sound kinda serious, but there are some really funny parts, too! It's a children's book for 4th-6th grade boys. I hope you guys like it!

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Sue and Liz are spectacular. I love them.

So, if anyone anywhere remembers, I always wanted a build-a-bear. Everyone else on the team in jr. high and high school had build-a-bears. Their friends had made one for them when they were going through a hard time, for their birthday, or just to say I love you. One of my friends knew I wanted one, and promised to get me one if I won a certain quiz for our team. I won, but I think her funds might have been tight that year. In any case, I didn't get a build-a-bear. I went through college, and every time we passed one of those stores by, I would tell the people I was with, "I really want a build-a-bear." And they would kindly suggest that we make one for me right then, to which I would reply that it wasn't a real build-a-bear unless someone else made it for you.

So Sue and Liz made me a build-a-bear. And not only did they make me a build-a-bear, but they named him the perfect name ever. THEY NAMED HIM JAKE!

For those of you who do not understand the significance of this name, let me explain. Jake is the name of the right guy. He's not perfect, but he's the guy that's right for me. (I've made up stories for Sue and Liz about this Jake character) What's even better, is that they incorporated all kinds of stuff from the past four years we spent together. Jake wears an argyle sweater. Everytime for the past four years that I've seen argyle, I've commented on how much I like it. I like boy cologne. (obviously. It's there to attract girls. On a side note, its other function is to cover up the no-shower-in-a-week smell. Don't be fooled, ladies!) Jake is sprayed with a special cologne called--get this--"Jake." He's got sweet shades, cause he's so cool, and he likes to cuddle (or so I'm told). He's a great listener, too. And he's got his own place. He doesn't even live with his parents! I don't care if it IS a small house. He's still independent.

Anyway, I was really excited, and with all of the craziness and difficult apartment issues, it is hard right now. It's just really nice to get an early birthday present. :o) Thanks, sue and liz.

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