July 9, 2011

Well, we've reached the end of another day.  I can't say I have anything exciting to report.  I worked from noon to 6 p.m. today, so I don't know what it was like outside in the middle of the afternoon.  I was SO bored during my shift because there was no one in the building, and I didn't have any homework to do.  You'd think that there would be enough on the World Wide Web to entertain me for six hours, but that was not the case.  At one point, I was so sick of looking at the computer screen that I resorted to staring off into space and letting my eyes glaze over.  This was not a good choice.  Around 4 p.m. I almost started to doze off in the middle of my shift, so I had to get up and pace behind the desk to wake myself up.  Needless to say, I was happy to get out of there at 6 o'clock...

Anyway, what I can tell you about the weather is that this morning was hazy, hot, and windy (Picture 1),  and after work it was hot, hazy, and a little less windy (Picture 2).  I went on a long walk (thinking it would be cooler in the evening), but ended up sweating like crazy in the humidity.  By the time I got back to my dorm I felt so disgusting that I took a shower right away.  Now, I'm partyin' it up on my Saturday night by doing laundry and watching Jurassic Park on ABC Family.  Man, I have such a fast-paced social life...  I really need to slow it down every once in a while.

July 8, 2011

'Twas another clear, hot day in the Capitol City.  However, many aspects of this day made it better than usual.

1) It's Friday!  Now, weekends are virtually meaningless with the job that I have, but it's still nice that I won't have to go to class tomorrow.

2) It was the LAST day of my first Spanish class.  Granted, my next class starts on Monday, but it still feels good to have one finished.  I have no idea what my grade is yet, but I can't say I'm too worried about which letter I'll find on my transcript this weekend.

3) I accepted a job that I was offered yesterday as a Resident Assistant with the university.  I originally applied this spring and was named an "alternate," and a spot finally opened up for me this summer!  I'm pretty stoked.  It sound might sound like a lame gig to you, but it means I'll get free room and board during the academic year, which is HUGE.  I already have free tuition (plus some), so with my job compensation, I'll basically be going to college for free.  It's freaking awesome.

4) Lastly, I didn't work today!  Always a bonus...

Tomorrow, on the other hand, I will be stuck at a desk from noon to 6 p.m.  It's supposed to be hot and clear again, so I guess I'm not missing much.  Oddly, I'm a little disappointed that I won't have any homework to do for my shifts this weekend.  It's harder than you would expect to fill 6 hours of dead time on a computer.

July 7, 2011

I woke up this morning around 7 a.m. to the sound of light rain on my window.  I don't think Lincoln got a tremendous amount of rain, but is was enough to pump plenty of water and heaviness into the air for the day.  After the rain stopped around 8:30 a.m., the sky starting clearing off immediately (Picture 1), and the sun came out.  It was partly cloudy all afternoon (Picture 2) and in the low 80's.  The temperature  drop kept it from feeling as hot as the past few days, but it was still uncomfortable to do anything physical outside for an extended period of time.

In other news, today was the second-to-last day of my Spanish class.  It won't feel like I'm starting a new class, though, because next Monday I start another Spanish class with the same teacher.  Fortunately, I like this teacher, so I'm not too worried about it.  I'm just excited to have three more credit hours under my belt and to get one step closer to a Spanish minor.  Also, I was offered a job this morning as a Resident Assistant (RA).  I haven't formally accepted the position yet, but I certainly will be.  Free room and board is just too good to pass up.  With that compensation for the RA position, I'll be basically going to school for free!

July 6, 2011

Whoops, I dropped the ball with this post.  I have absolutely no valid reason for posting this late.  I guess it's difficult for me to remember to post when I'm NOT working.  The scary thing is, I'm actually having a hard time remembering what I did yesterday...  I'm assuming that I went to class, went for a walk, goofed around in my room, etc. but I honestly have no recollection of yesterday.  I don't know if that means I'm experiencing memory loss, or if yesterday was just so ordinary that it isn't worth remembering...

Anyway, I do remember that it was really muggy and hot.  The humidity, which has been relatively low all summer, has been pretty ridiculous the past week.  Not so pleasant...  The temperature has been in the mid-80's, but the air has been so heavy.

July 5, 2011

I'm afraid I don't have a post for Independence Day this year.  Most of our celebrating was done over the weekend, so my family was burned out by the time the actual day rolled around.  We spent the day hanging out at home.  We did go out in the middle of the field behind our house at night (like last year) and listened and watched the chaos around us.  As usual, it sounded like an absolute warzone outside.  A new addition to the insanity were these weird Chinese lanterns.  They weren't technically fireworks, but they were still interesting.  They looked like glowing orbs (or UFOs) in the sky.  It's a good thing it's been a wet summer or I'm pretty sure on of them would have started a grass/forest fire somewhere...

Then, early this morning, I drove back to Lincoln in order to get to class on time.  I would have skipped under normal circumstances, but I had to give a presentation today.  The entire drive back, it was sunny, but hazy.  When I approached Lincoln from the west, you couldn't see the capitol building until you were very close to town due to the heavy mist.  The entire day was hot and ridiculously humid.  I went for a walk this afternoon and was absolutely soaked by the time I got back.  It was no surprise, then, when ominous clouds rolled in around 4:30 p.m.  The air was unbelievably stuffy and thick, and black clouds surrounded Lincoln from every direction (Picture 1).  The lightning was pretty incredible to the south.  I was watching TV at the time, and the sky-to-ground lightning was severe enough to make the cable go out about three times.  Then, it began raining as hard as it is possible to rain (Picture 2).  The second picture isn't blurry...it was just raining that ridiculously hard.  Finally, just in time for me to walk to my shift, the rain let up and things started to clear off to the north (Picture 3).  It's still stormy out there, but I think we may be out of the woods for the night...

July 2 & 3, 2011

Because I was in my hometown, I can't provide Lincoln skyline photos for the holiday weekend.  However, just to bridge the gap, I thought I'd thrown in a few farm "skyline" pics.  I spent Saturday and Sunday out on my grandparents' farm (which is close to GI) to see my grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins.  We spent the weekend eating (a LOT), screwing around outside with cheap smoke bombs and rockets, playing with farm cats, driving on their golf cart, and just enjoying each other's company.  The top photos show a couple panoramic shots of the cornfields surrounding the farm, my grandparents gravel area and grain bin, and my grandpa's shooting house (which he built over the winter).  Below, I have a few little videos that were taken with my little Flip cam.  I was too lazy to edit the clips together, so I just posted the individual clips.  The first video is of my cousins and my sister chasing after a parachute firework, the others are of our low budget fireworks show.  The first is just of typical fireworks, and the second is of my dad lighting off about 10 strobe fireworks at a time.

July 1, 2011

I'm well aware that this post is three days late, but it's a holiday weekend, so I don't particularly care. :)  The first day of July basically consisted of me getting up, packing, going to class, eating, and getting the heck out of Lincoln by about 1 p.m.  I was back in GI a short time later, where I began my weekend with my family.  In both Lincoln and Grand Island, it was clear and hot, so my sister and I hit the waterpark.  It was the first time  I had been at Island Oasis for a couple years.  Because I'm writing this a couple days late, I can tell you that my body is definitely not accustomed to swimming.  I have had sore muscles in my arms and chest all weekend from those few hours I spent at the pool...