"Don't Burn Down Brooke!"

It's amazing, but I've managed to make more friends in a week than I did all last year. It's absolutely amazing. Erring on the side of stunning, considering that both me and my room mate were supposedly introverts. But now we've gotten into the serious stuff, and I think me dragging her all over campus is doing wonders for both of us. 

Of course, all of my new "friends" are freshmen, but WHO CARES. They're all still cool. And I've always been one to make friends with people who are younger than I am.

Anyways, I'm here to share a little graphic with y'all. I made this, so no stealing!

So, what do y'all think?

It's a bit of an inside joke, I suppose. "Don't burn down Brooke!" Basically, we can't have anything in our rooms that has an open flame. No candles, incense, microwaves (except those who bought them from the school), or warmers, or extension cords.

Despite this, I'm sure several people will have set fires by the end of the year.

College Days: Introduction & Free Stuff

Now that I'm starting my sophomore year of college, I've realized that I've learned a ton of stuff about how college works.

I'm by no means an expert, of course, but I do think that I've had enough experience to offer some advice.

In the following weeks, I'll address these topics:

• Free Stuff
• Textbooks
• Food
• Professors
• Classes & Studying
• Roommates
• More to Come!

As I think of more things to talk about, I'll make more posts about them. This is just a rough draft/schedule of things I'd like to share.

Let's start with our first topic:

FREE STUFF

Now, the first thing I learned in college is that there's always some sort of free event going on, and usually this event will give out free stuff.

What sort of free stuff, you ask? Let's see:

• gift cards
• shirts
• team support banners
• car air fresheners
• posters
• USB drives
• PENS
• stickers

And, of course, everyone's favorite:

• FOOD

So, how do you go about acquiring these free things? GO TO EVENTS.

I'm not sure about your school, but mine has these things called "Broadcast Emails" (which you will come to hate within the first two weeks of attending the school). They're sent out multiple times a day. Once a week, however, they send out one detailing all the events for the upcoming week. As those event days get closer, they send out emails detailing just that event.

On Monday, for example, you guys saw my awesome wax hand (right?) that I got for free at our "Back to School" bash thingy. (Next year, I'm totes getting the street sign.) I also got a free eyeglass cleaning cloth, and some coupons for Huddle House (not that I'll ever use 'em, but hey. Free. With a free fried mushroom.)

Seriously, if you attend all the events your campus puts out, you have a chance of scoring some pretty sweet swag. ("I'VE ALWAYS WANTED SWAG!!") 

Get out there and DO THINGS, PEOPLE! Don't sit in your room all year, avoiding your room mate and/or the sun! If you get out and do things, you will make friends. If you make friends, your school year will certainly be better. (I've made so many friends by going to events and stuff already. More than I made the entire last year. It's weird.)

Just remember: Don't hang around like a vulture. Swoop in and get some stuff, swoop out, and repeat.

Do you have any other tips for scoring free stuff? What's the best freebie you've ever gotten on campus? (I say shirts! Less laundry to do!) What would you LOVE to see as a freebie? Tell me in the comments!

Sophomore Year: I've now been to ALL of my classes!

And some of them may be more difficult than others.

My Psychology class may be interesting, but I'm not quite sure if I will like it or not. I'm not sure at all if I'm going to be able to make it through the class without breaking down in tears. For some reason, I spent the entire class thinking about Charlie. IS HE BREAKING INTO MY MIND WITH HIS PSYCHOBABBLE?! God help me.

My Biology class is going to be...interesting. The professor reminds me of a Hobbit, which is kinda cool, I suppose.

I also have a sort of "job" for the Bio class. I take notes, and then I take them to the Disabilities Services Center and give them to the ladies. There's a student in my Bio class who isn't able to take notes for himself, so that's what I'm doing. And I get paid $100 at the end of the semester to do so! What could possibly be easier than that? (I'm taking the notes in class, then typing them up when I get back to the dorm and emailing them. It's easier for me, and will probably be easier for him to read than my handwriting is. But if they need me to handwrite them, I will do so.)

My roomie and I went out to Alabaster after lunch (she drove, and it was a little scary, not gonna lie). We were looking for a magnifying glass, because we want to make a shoebox projector so that we can watch Netflix from my phone and have it projected onto the wall above our fridge. (WOULDN'T THAT BE AWESOME?!) We couldn't find a magnifying glass, sadly, that didn't have one of those extra "super magnifying" circles on it. 

Sarah did buy a book at Books-a-Million, though: William Shakespeare's Star Wars. I bought a copy a few weeks ago, and when I showed it to her, she dropped everything and bought it. Then we hung around the Doctor Who table for a bit, and we talked about the stuff on it. She said she was going to go and pay for her book, and I wandered around for a bit.

We went to Target to look for rain boots (nada), then to TJ Maxx (zilch), and finally to Rack Room Shoes. Theyw ere having a "Buy One, Get One 50% off" deal, so we decided to buy the same pair of rain boots (they were really cute!) and split the cost in half. So, instead of paying $48 a pair, we paid about $36. And that was a GREAT deal. (Watch it not rain for a long, long time. But I can use these for the next two years, too. So that's good, right?)

When we got back to the room, Sarah surprised me with a K-9 figure! Turns out she'd bought him at the Doctor Who table while my back was turned. I put him on my shelf for a quick picture (next to my papercraft TARDIS and my Catwoman String Doll Keychain), then I put the keyring part of him to good use! He's now protecting my dorm key from all the evils in the world, and that's just find for me! (Isn't he just absolutely adorable, though? I love K-9, even though I've only seen him in one episode: the one where Ten meets up with Sarah Jane so many years later, in a school where these creepy vampire thingies are killing students and using them to hack the universe. It's strange.)

So, after getting K-9, I went to go eat dinner. And after dinner, it was BINGO TIME!

College kids are legit into BINGO. I mean, we had like 50 people packed into the teensy tiny little room. Everyone had their game cards, and we were all on edge the entire time. (I never won. I didn't even get very close. It sucked. But there's always January!)

One guy won THREE TIMES with the same card. They only let him get one prize, though - he got his lawn chair and he was happy! (He's such a cutie - too bad he's gay.) He's running for SGA president, actually!

After BINGO, I chilled in the room for a while. Sarah went to the BCM meeting, and I waited for 9:00 to roll around. The library was doing this "Carmichael's Crypt" thing again: you follow clues around the library that eventually leads you to the school's graveyard. I got first place last year with my group, and we got third place this year. (We decided to give ourselves "honorary second place," though, because we're pretty sure that Group #1 cheated.) We really bonded! I was standing alone when these girls (sisters, in fact) came up and talked to me about my Doctor Who shirt, and then Erin and these two other girls showed up, and we just decided to become Team Time Lord. And it worked!

We got a "bag of swag" at the end. Print Cards, Chocolates, and highlighters & pens (I got a highlighter, but that's all right!). Divvied up the goods, then sat down in a circle for cake. (We also each got a book, because we were some of the first ones back.)

I hope those pictures get put on Facebook! That'd be SO COOL!

I hope I see the sisters again! They seemed so cool!

So now I'm in my room, at 11:00 at night, waiting for my caffeine to wear off so I can go to sleep. Drinking an entire can of Dr. Pepper at 10:00 probably wasn't my brightest idea ever. It's going to be a long night. (I think Sarah's already asleep, too.)

Sophomore Year: First Day, DOWN!

So, today was the first day of Sophomore Year. And it actually went pretty well. I'm just not excited that my first class of the day, at nine o'clock, is Spanish 201. I hate Spanish. I really wish I didn't, but I just don't like it. I can understand it, but my tongue gets tripped up with speaking it.

BUT ANYWAYS.

Spanish 201: The instructor's the same guy that I had last semester. He's really funny, and hopefully I'll be able to actually pay attention in class this semester.

MUS 121: This is basically "introduction to music." We'll be listening to things, we'll be learning about Western Music and Composers and whatnot, and stuff like that. Hopefully, I'll ace this class. (It doesn't seem like it'd be too hard to do that, anyways.) The instructor's a bit of a pushover, according to my friend Jamie. So there's that to think about, too. But she seems really nice!

COMS 103: This is the Honors communications class. It's taught by this really ADHD asian lady. She seems IMMENSELY nice. My room mate's in this class, too! And so is one of the friends that I made on my midnight Steak & Shake run last year! :3 It's still probably going to be a bit hard, but hopefully, since it's an honors class, the group project will be easy! (And I'll get to do a movie project-thing on Secondhand Lions! HOW COOL IS THAT.)

I went to lunch between Music & Coms, and WOW. They completely changed the cafeteria over the summer! And the food is so much better now! (But they're lacking in ice cream. That's the only sad part.) I had a tuna sub and some home-made chips for lunch. FANTASTIC.

After my last class of the day (COMS), I went back to the room and played Animal Crossing for a while. At 4:00, I headed to the Main Quad to this "Back to School Bash" thing. Last year, there was all sorts of free stuff and whatnot. I did manage to get a few free things, but the main thing that I got for free was a wax hand.

Yes, you heard me right:

A WAX HAND.

 This is the company that made our hands. It's basically saying that we can bedazzle our wax hands once we're done. LIKE WHO WOULDN'T WANT TO DO THAT, YO.

 I wish now that I had taken pictures of MY experience, but I was so cold that I couldn't think straight. Basically, first you put your hand in this ice water for about ten to twenty minutes. Then you dip your hand in the hot wax (but you don't feel it because your hand is pretty much frozen). Then you put it in the water again, then the wax, then the water, then the wax, until the dude's decided that you've had enough.

 Then he peels the wax off your hand. (This is my roomie Sarah, by the way.)

 THEN WE GOT TO BEDAZZLE THEM, YOU. Nail polish, feather boas, stickers, and stuff.

 This is my hand! It's the Vulcan Salute. I mean, it's a little fat, because I didn't realize how fast the wax would set, and the guy had me dip it a ton. I put little rhinestones on it!

 This is my Vulcan Salute with a blue rose!

We put our hands in the fridge, because they were still warm and we wanted them to not melt and stuff!

So it was a really interesting day. I'm sure I'll have more to report tomorrow, what with Bingo and the "Carmichael's Crypt" thing and wahtnot! Until then!

ALLONSY!

Sophomore Year: Move-In Day, Part II

So I guess I wasn't finished with my post from last night. (Or is it still tonight? Is it still Saturday? I can't tell any more.)

After my room mate left to go do more Freshman Orientation things, I sat around. And sat around. And sat around some more. I didn't go out to eat lunch (I had a Fiber One brownie to tide me over). I didn't do anything but sit on the internet and attempt to organize my room. (My room looks neat, at least.)

Around 4:00, I decided that I was going to go out to eat. Plus, I had to grab milk. So I drove about eight miles to Zaxby's, and then I went to Publix (which is right behind Zaxby's). I had a great supper, and got home around 5ish. 

The main street was crowded with all of these Art Walk people. You have to understand, first of all, that Montevallo is a liberal arts college. We have all sorts of artsy people here. So this is nothing new: it was "established" in 2011, but they have like four a school year.

People set up booths all along main street and peddle their wares: glassware, jewelry, t-shirts, drawings, paintings, soaps, lotions, food, etc. You get the picture. There's live music, people are talking to people, and it's just plain fun.

So I went to the Art Walk. It was completely on a whim. I went to my dorm, shoved my milk in the fridge, popped a peppermint in my mouth, and walked over to Main Street.

And it was awesome. I wish I'd gone when Art Walk had happened last year! I walked for a bit before coming to this jewelry stand run by two college students. They had these great earrings for sale, and I talked to them for a while about Doctor Who (they loved my TARDIS earrings!), and then Harry Potter (they had House bracelets for sale), and then I decided that I wanted to buy a pair of earrings. So I paid for my earrings and went on my merry way.

I came to a painting booth run by a family. They had painted glass cups for sale, and one of them had a sunflower on it. So I bought it for my mother. She'll never be able to drink out of it... Or maybe she'll be able to drink, but she'll have to be EXTREMELY CAREFUL when washing it. The paint's on the outside, and it's not covered with modpodge or anything of the sort. It's just there. It's a decorative cup.

I talked to them for a while, and they were very nice.

Then I came across a lady selling innumerable amounts of earrings. THEY WERE SO GORGEOUS. So I stayed for a long time there, trying to pick out what I wanted. She even had angel wings that matched the wings on my Doctor Who charm bracelet! I ended up buying two pairs: a pair of cowgirl boots for me, and a pair of motorcycles for my sister. (The motorcycles were the last pair that she had, so Sarah's gonna have to clean them before she wears them!)

I walked by this soap/lotion booth, and I LOVED the lotion that they had, but it was too expensive. A 4oz. jar was $10! I mean, I had the money, but I didn't want to spend all of it there. So I said thank you for the sample, I'll check you out next time I have more cash, and went on. 

I saw several other booths that were interesting, but they were out of my price range. There was one table with a girl drawing Pokémon pictures, and I might have her draw me a picture of an Espeon & Umbreon together. I don't know yet. Maybe an Espeon and a Vaporeon, since those are my two favorite Eeveelutions. I kinda want a picture, and they're only $5. We'll see.

I'll certainly go to the Art Walk when it comes around next time! And I'll probably bring my sister, too!

After the Art Walk, I headed to the auditorium for this illusionist act. And oh, my goodness, am I glad I went! The guy was stunning. And he was hilarious! There were a lot of "BUT HOW" moments, but at the same time, there were a few duds. It was simply amazing. I really, really liked it. I missed it last year due to the BCM's progressive dinner, but I made sure that I made it this year!

Then I went to this band's concert. They're called 88 Keys & the Truth. They came last year. AND THEY CAN PLAY ANY SONG YOU THROW AT THEM. Simply stunning. My sister's coming to see them next time they're in town. She was so sad that she missed them. Because they played songs she loved. Next time, though, I'm going to take headache medication BEFORE I go! My head's finally stopped throbbing... Whew.

So, was today good? YES. YES IT WAS. Hopefully that means the rest of this school year is going to be great as well!

ALLONSY!

Sophomore Year: Move-In Day

Ouch. *stretches* I'd forgotten how ridiculously uncomfortable these chairs were ;-; Pardon me while I move to my bed.

...

Okay. We're good.

So. I'm all moved back in to my dorm room. Room 406. Top floor, beside the stairs.

I've seen my room mate for mayyybe thirty minutes, tops. She's had all of these "Freshmen Orientation" things to go to throughout the day. I swear, they're running these poor babies like dogs.

I'm beginning to wonder when my meal plan kicks in. Do I go today? Does it not start until tomorrow? Or Monday? Do I need to fend for myself until then, or what do I need to do? I'm pretty sure it'll start tomorrow, seeing as tomorrow is Sunday, but who knows?

Anyways. I got up at 7:00 this morning, and we were on the road by 8:30. We arrived at Montevallo at 9:10, and it took me a few minutes to get my room key and stuff. Then we started the long trek from the parking lot with all of my college stuff. The fridge and the two heaviest boxes (from the truck) were some of the first things we brought up. (It took two trips to empty the truck.) After we got the truck empty, we straightened some things up in the room. We unpacked the fridge and got it all set up and whatnot. (Sarah still hasn't gotten the fridge sticker, though. So hopefully she'll be able to do that either later today or tomorrow. Before Monday, for sure.)

After getting the fridge up and running, we went down to the car to get more stuff. It took us two trips to get everything from the car: One trip for the trunk stuff, and one trip for the backseat stuff. (I was sure it was going to take three, but somehow we managed to get everything in two. Woo!)

After getting back upstairs, Mom helped me hang the curtains (they actually match REALLY well) and make up my bed. I realized I'd forgotten all of my decorative things to put on my little bulletin boards. Dad hung up my whiteboard calendar, and I started arranging my books and stuff on my desk.

 This is my side of the room. Well, we're looking at my side of the room. My bed's in the solid blue blanket. Blank bulletin boards (because all the pictures I have from last year are of Charlie...and I can't exactly put those up, can I?). Pretty curtains (which match better than we thought they would). Desk. Backpack. Fridge in the bottom left corner.

And my desk. My books on the shelf, my clock, my little TARDIS papercraft. Laptop, printer, fan, lamp, etc.

It only took us about an hour and a half to get everything moved in and set up.

This whole time, Sarah was nowhere around, because of that freshman orientation thing. So I was able to take my time, get everything set up, and even snoop a little. (She has like twenty pairs of shoes. LIKE WHAT. TWENTY?!) Everything's arranged how I like it. No idea how long everything's going to stay neat, but for now, it's good.

Sarah came in around twelvish, and we started talking about what orientation was like, then I got her started about books and stuff, and then she had to run off on another orientation thing.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do tonight. Well, I know what I'm going to be doing at 7:00, but I don't know what I'll do until then. I may run out to Zaxby's at Alabaster around 5ish and get myself some food. Then I'll come back and hang. (Sarah's going to the Progressive Dinner with the BCM, like I did last year.) At 7:00, I'm going to a magic show, then at 8:30, the band "88 Keys & the Truth" is playing. They were here last year, and they were REALLY good. Plus, they're an AIM event, so that's even better. (I'll have to get myself a card before going to see the illusionist. MENTAL NOTE.)

So.

Yeah.

It's going to be a boring afternoon for me. I'll probably look up my classes and check out the books and stuff. We'll see what happens. I'll be back on Monday with more about my sophomore year, this time reporting on my classes.

Sophomore Year: The Night Before Move-In

So, everyone! I'm semi-back from the grave (well, almost), and I would like to share with you what I've done the past few days.

Last night, I couldn't sleep, so I cleaned my bathroom. Picked up all the laundry, put it in a laundry bag, and brought it downstairs. Cleaned off my little hamper/shelf thing I have. Scrubbed my toilet and my bathtub. Threw away random crap. Cleaned up my sink. Swept (EW).

 Seeing from my bathroom door looking in. There's a bit of a mess atop the toilet and the organizer, due to my pajamas and tomorrow's clothes, respectively. Otherwise, it's so CLEAN!

Bathroom sink. It's also very, very clean. It'll look a lot neater tomorrow, once I take my makeup case and stuff off and head to college.

It took about an hour and a half.

This morning, I tidied up my Corner, as I call it. It's where I plug in everything that I have to plug in. It's also a catch-all for all of my crap. 

(Sorry the angle's weird; I was looking from over my bed. But you get the general gist: It's EXTREMELY messy. Eurgh. I was always scared that things were going to crawl out and get me. I did find two spiders, which I promptly squished and vacuumed up.)

All nice and neat and stuff! All my chargers are neatly tucked away, I can actually see the floor, and everything has it's own space! (I threw away a lot of stuff.)

This morning (and some of yesterday), I packed all of my college crap in boxes and carted them from the upstairs, to the dining room, then to the basement, so I could inventory everything and my mother could help me organize things as needed.

Starting from the left in the back, you see the two foam mattress pads (I'm giving one to my room mate), my mini-fridge, the pillows, hampers (under the pillows), and the over-toilet rack (and the handle of the swiffer sweeper). In the front, I have my little plastic drawers and all my shirts that I'm taking with me. Between the drawers and the toilet rack, I have a laundry basket filled with all the cleaning supplies that I'm bringing. To the left of the basket (also behind the drawers), I have my little black ottoman, which is filled with my little fan, styrofoam cups, power strips, RAID, and plastic spoons. My suitcase is also there somewhere, and it has my pants, underwear, hairbrush, socks, and "hygiene" items in it.

In these white box, I have all my food, my little plastic cup and bowl, my insulated cup, and my cokes. Beside the white box, I have two packages of mini water bottles (they fit better in the fridge, they were BOGO, and I don't drink a lot of water in one sitting, anyways). In the red box, I have my little speaker pillow, my lamp, hair towels, and other miscellaneous items. In the clear box under the red box, I have my blanket, my mattress cover, my bathroom rugs, and my TARDIS blanket. (I'm obsessed.) My printer's in the back by the couch.

All of these boxes are downstairs in our basement, where my dad keeps his hunting trophies and we keep our old furniture. (It's a fully furnished basement, with a bed, a minifridge, couch, chairs, sink, bathroom, and closet. And all sorts of stuff stuffed in the closets.)

So, after I've gotten everything inventoried and organized, my mother and I went shopping to pick up a few extra things, like a bowl, some more hangers, and some cereal and stuff. (I'm going to have to get milk and yogurt and stuff on Saturday afternoon, probably. From CVS. Because I have Extra Care Bucks.)

We spent the rest of the day trying to figure out why my scholarship wasn't showing up in my student account. (It's all been fixed now, so no worries!)

I picked up my sister from school and we got milkshakes.

We took my sister's clarinet to the music shop later, found out that it's rusted (so began the hurried "CALL EVERYONE WE KNOW THAT HAS A CLARINET!" freakout), and it will be about two weeks before she can pick it up.

Took home Papa John's for supper, and we watched M*A*S*H*.

After supper, I went downstairs and cleaned out my car. I took out all the mats, wiped down everything with Armor-All, and then vacuumed EVERYTHING. The floors, the mats, the seats, the cupholders... It's extremely clean now. I even took off my shoes before I got back in to adjust the seats, because I didn't want to get it even the slightest bit dirty. 

I also washed the mats (that was backbreaking), and I even vacuumed the trunk.

I wish I'd had time to wash my car, but it was already 7:30 and still 85º outside, so that was out of the question. (I hate the heat.) So I'm going to college with a filthy car on the outside, but a clean car on the inside.

Then we packed the car. The trunk is full to bursting! My suitcase, printer, ottoman, water bottles, and laundry basket are in the trunk. The mattress pads, pillows, hampers, and all my hanging clothes are in the back seat (along with my umbrella). Everything else is going to go in the truck tomorrow morning!

My room mate got to move in today. (I'm going to have to rearrange the furniture when I get there tomorrow, anyways.)

I'm excited and nervous at the same time. This girl's a complete stranger. Sure, we like some of the same things, but I hope I'm not too weird for her! :/ Wish me luck!

Packing for College: Your Room in General

So, we've gone through all the rest of the thing - bedding, bathroom, desk, closet... What else is there to talk about? 

Well, actually, there's a LOT of things left to talk about! I'm going to apologize in advance that there aren't any pictures; I've been busy and haven't had time to take any to plug into this article! (I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.)

What kinds of miscellaneous items can we cram into your room? Let's find out!

1. Refrigerator
Please, before you buy one, check with your residence hall and see if you're allowed to have your own refrigerator. Make sure that yours fits the requirements - my dorm doesn't allow anything over 1.5 amps - and make sure that it's going to fit in your room. 

Try to catch a good sale. I managed to get mine at Lowe's for only $126. (Of course, I used my military discount on that, plus it was already on sale for $128, down from $176.) I was going to get one at Wal-Mart for $128 + tax, but I could never find the amps on it, so we went to Lowe's, where they're more knowledgeable about stuff like that. We even managed to wedge this fridge into my little car! (It took a lot of effort.)

My fridge is REALLY big - like 4.0 cubic feet! - and should hold everything we should ever need. My room mate's going to be buying the Fridge Sticker each semester, since I bought the fridge!

2. Printer
Again, check with your dorm and see if this is all right.

I also got my printer on sale. It was 50% off on the BestBuy website, so my dad ordered it, and I went to go pick it up. It's very nice quality, and it's wireless. It also has ePrint, which is awesome! (I can print stuff from my phone AND iPad!) Plus, it works with both Macs and Windows, so my roomie can use it, too! (I just have to give her the installation disk.)

If you don't think you're going to be printing off a lot of stuff, then by all means, don't buy a printer. Print stuff at the library instead. If you ARE going to be printing a lot of stuff, a printer is a great investment. PLUS, you can use it once you're out of college and living on your own!

3. Bulletin Board/Whiteboard Calendar
I bought one of these things last year for my closet door. It's amazing! I can write down all of my assignments and when they're due on the calendar, then stick things to the little bulletin board part beneath it (like finished assignments) so that I don't forget anything. It's brilliant, and certainly a great investment of $10.

You can find these at Wal-Mart (which is where I got mine), but I'm sure Target or some other stores will have them, as well. (And if not...there's always the internet!)

It's a great way to get yourself organized, and if you're anything like me, you're going to need all the help you can get!

4. Decorations!
It's no good to have your own little space and not be able to decorate it! I know; some of you are living in a single room, where both of you are nearly on top of each other all the time. Some of you may have suites, though, so use that to your advantage!

I know a girl who has Christmas lights strung up around her bed. (Other people put them in their window.) 

Bring pictures to hang on your bulletin board. Bring things to decorate your door (ask your roomie's permission first, though!). Figure out how you want to decorate your bathroom. 

I didn't do much of anything last year, because I didn't want to offend Jamie or anything. (I'm not a very good roomie.)

5. Television?
Let's be honest, guys: You're not going to have a lot of time for television in college, and if you do, you're most likely going to watch TV on the internet: Hulu and Netflix are great for doing so (because we all know you're going to be binge-watching Doctor Who). Why pay extra for a TV that you're hardly going to turn on throughout the year?

Jamie only had a TV last year because it was on sale, and she could use it in her room when she went home. Halfway through the year, it blew a bulb or something and never worked again. She did get it replaced, eventually, but I never watched it while she was gone. I did watch a few episodes of Psych, as well as the Vice Presidential Debate, but everything else that I watched, I watched on Netflix.

The TV's up to you. Choose wisely! I don't want you wasting your precious money on things that you're probably not going to need!

6. Rugs
Trust me on this one: You're going to want rugs. Dorms are rarely carpeted, and let me tell you: those tile floors are terrible in the mornings. Get a rug for just in front of your bed (and have your roomie do the same, if they want), or see if your dorm offers a way to carpet your room. (If they do, try not to take it. It's often way expensive and far more trouble than it's worth. Plus, are you going to remember to vacuum it? Better off going with the small area rugs and whatnot.)

Just remember to give them a good shake now and then, and beat the dirt out of them! We don't want you to end up with black feet at the end of the year!

7. Surge Protectors/Power Strips
My dorm has three outlets. THREE. One by the bathroom (we used it for the fridge/TV last year), one under my desk, and one under my roomie's bed. If it hadn't been for the power strips, I never would've gotten anything done. Simply amazing.

***

Again, CHECK YOUR DORM REGULATIONS. That's really the only advice that I can give you here! If you don't check the rules, then you're probably going to get written up during the monthly (or sometimes bimonthly) dorm inspections. (YES, they actually do those. Sometimes they're more thorough than you'd like; other times you could be making meth in the closet and nobody would care/know.)

General rule of thumb? HAVE FUN. BE CREATIVE.

If you can do that, then you've got this dorm-thing down!

Is there anything else that you'd like to see me talk about? Do you want to talk about how I handled this short mini-series? Would you like to write a post for this series? Leave a comment, please!

Clubhouse

If you were expecting a story about some kind of rude encounter I've had recently, I'm sorry to say that you're out of luck. Most of the customers (sorry; we're supposed to call them "guests") that I've handled recently have been really, really nice.

Since I'll only be working weekends for the next few months (unless there's a DIRE emergency), I think I'm going to take a few weeks and talk solely about the different areas of TreeTop:

• Clubhouse
• Jumpies
• Water Wars
• Laser Tag
• Prize Center
• Café
• Cashier
• Party Captain

There are a few other positions, such as "Go Karts," "Arcade Tech," and "Party Assistant," but those are jobs that I have never done. (Actually, I've done Party Assistant twice, but it's been a long time. And it's an easy thing to do. I'm sure you can figure out what it is by the name alone, eh?)

This week, my topic is The Clubhouse. 

Now, Clubhouse is a giant indoor playplace, like something you'd find at McDonald's or Chick-fil-a. It's three stories tall, has a giant twisty slide, and costs $5.74 to get in. (I think. Or it's $6.53 to get in, and like $5.93 for the VIPs? I'll have to fact-check on Thursday when I go in.)

There are a lot of people who come into Clubhouse thinking that they don't have to pay. I mean, there's a gate, there's a scanner, and there's an attendant there at all times. (Most people hate running Clubhouse because there's nothing to "do." I bring a book or a bunch of paper and sit and read/write the entire time. It's easy.) We're a business; it's going to cost money to get into the Clubhouse! It's counted as an attraction, for Pete's sake, if you even bothered to read the signboards when you came into the business!

Then you have the parents that think we're a free babysitting service. I can't TELL YOU how many times I've had to desperately hold kids up and pray that their parents are nearby, so the kids can point them out to me. I, personally, have a rule that I will NOT let anybody under the age of eight out of the gate unless they can point out their parents to me. I don't want to be responsible for a four-year-old getting kidnapped. Sometimes the parents come back, furious that I haven't let their kids come to them when "they've obviously been waiting." Um, excuse me, ma'am, but you've been out riding GoKarts and playing Mini Golf (or Putt Putt, if you want to call it that), and you've completely forgotten your children. I've been trying to keep them calm so that they don't upset the rest of them. I'm not going to endanger kids because you think I'm a babysitter.

Then there are the parents that love that I don't let kids out without making them point out their parents. Their kid comes to the gate, puts on their shoes, and I say, "Hey, buddy/sweetie, where are your parents?" The kid peeks over the gate, surveys the parents sitting on the seats or playing games, and points out their parents. If the parents are playing a game and there's nobody else in Clubhouse, I'll walk them to their parents. Otherwise, I let them go, but I watch them all the way. If they veer off, I'll run and catch them and take them straight to their parents, but otherwise I let them go on their own. If their parents are sitting on a couch, normally they'll wave to me when the kid points, and I send the kid on his/her merry way, and watch them as they're reunited.

Some parents go up and rescue their kids if they get stuck, or they try to coax them down from the outside.

Some parents go in and play with their children (but I'm honestly afraid that some of the rather weightier ones will get wedged in the tight places. I mean, I get scared that I'll get stuck sometimes!).

Most parents sit outside and watch.

If a kid does start screaming, I'll take my flashlight out of my purse and go up to them. I know where they'll be: outside of the rocking tunnel. (It goes back and forth as you go over it, like a teeter-totter would. It terrifies the mess out of some of the children, especially the younger ones.)

I gently coax them across the tunnel, sitting on one side so that it won't shift. I'll take their hands and lead them across, if that's what takes it.

Most of the time, the kids are fine after that. They see the slide and they slide right on down.

Sometimes, they're terrified of the slide, too. Now, this slide is DARK (hence the reason for the flashlight), twisty, and FAST. If they're scared to go down, I'll offer to go down first with my flashlight pointing back at them. Most of the time that's all right. Rarely, the kid will want to go back across the tunnel (with me holding it down, of course) and doesn't want to deal with the slide at all. And that's fine.

Then there are the kids that think that I can go up and play with them at any given moment, because I helped them across once. If it's busy, I can't do that. If I leave my post, people could come in without swiping their cards and I'll catch hell from the managers or the owners, and that wouldn't be a good thing. I NEED this job. I need it so, so badly. I'll tell the kids that I can't go up with them, that I'm sorry, but they need to be big girls/boys and do it by themselves! Normally that works, and they find another kid to go up and play with them (they're fine if they have friends).

If TreeTop is deserted, I'll go up and play with the kid. There was this one little boy a few weeks ago... His mother was pregnant and couldn't climb around with him any more, so I offered to go up with him. He was terrified of the tunnel AND the slide.

I must've gone up and down with him about seven or eight times before he decided that he didn't need me any more. He literally sent me away, and the mother thanked me very much. An older lady who had been sitting nearby watching her granddaughter play in the Clubhouse (the granddaughter was the only other kid in the arcade) came up to me afterwards and said that she thought it was really nice of me to do that, especially since it's not in my job description.

"Aw, it's all right. I really don't mind. It's fun! I used to be terrified of dark slides, so I know how it feels. And besides...I really, really like to slide." 

She smiled and walked away.

Sometimes kids have "accidents" in Clubhouse. The Go Kart guys usually clean that up. One kid peed in the slide a few weeks ago, and the whole thing was shut down for about three hours so Garrett could sanitize it. A few months ago, some kid threw up on the second story, and Garrett and one of the Vitaliks had to clean it up and sanitize it. It's a dangerous place to get sick, that's for sure. No way to clean it up without being extremely cramped and uncomfortable.

So, Clubhouse isn't all that bad. It's good on slow days, because you can wander around, or read your books, or slide down the slide if you wish. On busy days, you're just sitting there, bored out of your mind. It's a hit-and-miss deal most days. I always bring a book, just in case.

Any more questions about Clubhouse? Do you think you'd be all right working this particular station? Do you have something like this at your work? What would you like to see in future installments? More stories, or more about how the place works?

Doctor Who & Animal Crossing

You all are probably wondering why I haven't been posting a lot lately.

It's not because I've been busy. (I haven't been. I sit around all day on the internet or at work, bored out of my mind.)

It's not because I've found more productive things to do. (The one corner of my room is still messy as all get-out, and I haven't found "time" to clean it yet.)

It's not because I've figured out what I want to do with my life. (Wait - I have to decide?!)

No, there are two little explanations as to why I've been neglecting my blog:

Doctor Who & Animal Crossing.

I mean, I'm sorry, but I think I might be a bit obsessed.

I stay up until 3:00 or 4:00 a.m., watching Doctor Who every night. (I'm trying to finish the seasons before the Fiftieth Anniversary in November, you see.) I'm exhausted come the next morning, but it's worth it.

I'm absolutely in love with David Tennant - he's a brilliantly fantastic actor, and the world would be a much poorer place without him. (Plus, shipping Ten & Rose just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.)

Doctor Who lets me get away from the real world for a few hours. It chases away the dreams of Charlie so that I can actually sleep. 

I'm waiting for a mad man in a blue box to come and rescue me from my sad little life. I've become obsessed. I am officially a Whovian. And I am not in the least bit sorry.

As for Animal Crossing, I spend more time running around on there than I do running around the real world. (Not that I do a lot of running, that is. I don't run. Ugh. Probably haven't actually run since last October, when I ran from the auditorium to my dorm room to catch up on the Vice Presidential Debate.)

I'm trying to make my town perfect. At the moment, it is perfect; I just have to have it perfect for fourteen more days so that I can get the Golden Watering Can. (Woo!) I'm Mayor Mira of Mysidia, you see, and I'm attempting to get my town in beautiful condition.

The current Public Works Project? Remodeling the Town Hall into a Zen Town Hall. It's going to be absolutely fantastic. Then I'm going to work on my room. (I'm looking for Rococo Furniture for my basement - if you have any, please contact me at once!)

***

Anyways.

I'm spending all my time in my little fantasy worlds. I'm thinking about David Tennant and how much time I'm going to spend on Tortimer's Isle in Animal Crossing instead of sleeping. I'm getting maybe five hours of sleep a night, if that, and I'm terrified of thinking during the day. If I think, I'll start daydreaming about Charlie.

I've got something wrong with me.

And it's probably very serious.

I move into my dorm again on Saturday. I'm going to have a new room mate, one that doesn't know my past (and I'm never going to tell her about Charlie, not if I can help it). I don't want to have a complete nervous breakdown in front of her. They seem to happen in the shower, so I really need to keep myself together. I don't know if I'm going to be able to do it. It's going to be really, really difficult. 

The fact that the world is moving on and I'm not is something that I just can't tolerate. It's been a week since my nineteenth birthday. It's been six days since Charlie called and talked to me for maybe three minutes. Probably more like two. He said he'd call back, but he hasn't.

My life is falling apart. I'm letting myself fall apart. And I don't know what to do.

So I'm sorry, everyone. I'm sorry I haven't been posting. I haven't felt like posting. I don't want to post misery and depression, but that's all that's been in my life lately. Maybe once I start back to college, I'll have different stories to tell: stories of the people that I saw on campus, or what I did with my life that week. (Although I doubt that.)

I'm sorry.

I'm so sorry.

Packing for College: Your Closet

Here's where we get to the fun part of college packing: YOUR CLOSET!!

Your closet is going to be your very best friend. (Well, besides your desk...and your bed...) So, you need to treat it right!

Now, I have absolutely no idea what your closet is going to look like. I'm just going to talk about how my closet was, and how I organized it. You can obviously change these rules to suit your needs!

1. Hangers
Yeah, hangers are going to be uber-important! Your dorm certainly isn't going to come with them! I bought a bunch of plastic ones at Wal-Mart, but you can find whatever kind works for you. Looking for the $20-for-10 kind of hangers from Bed, Bath, & Beyond? Go for it. Far be it from me to tell you what type of hangers you're going to need!

If you want to hang up your pants as well, get some pants hangers. If you're just going to be hanging shirts (and, eventually, jackets), just normal hangers will do. (Skirt hangers, too, y'all! You never know when you might need something semi-fancy.)

2. Command Hooks
These are literally the best things ever. They're cheap, they're easy to apply, and they come off with no damage! (Which is great, because dorms charge you if there's damage that wasn't there when you moved in.)

Stick a couple to the inside of your closet door to hang belts, purses, and possible an umbrella or a hoodie, so that you're not taking up valuable closet space with these items. (Some closets will be small. Thankfully, I had more than enough room in my closet!)

3. Folding Laundry Hampers
Notice that I said "hampers," with an s on the end. That's right - you're going to want TWO hampers. One for your light clothes, one for your dark clothes. I started off the year with just one hamper, and by the third week I had bought another one.

The one I have for light clothes is smaller, because I don't have *that* many light clothes. I try to wash my darks at least once a week; my lights can sometimes go three weeks, because I'll only have one pair of socks or a pair of underwear in there. Unless I'm in an unusually happy mood, in which case I'll wear more light colors and will have to wash that particular load of laundry.

You can easily find these in your local Wal-Mart (or Target), and probably your local drugstore (Walgreens, CVS) as well. They're literally everywhere around college move-in time! They come in all sorts of colors and designs as well. I got really, really cheap ones that are plain, but they held up very well!

4. A Hanging Organizer
Now, this one's COMPLETELY optional! But I know you know what I mean.

I'm talking about those organizers that are rectangular in shape, hang on the rod in your closet, and have about five to seven "bins" or "shelves" for you to put things in. You can put shoes in them, or you can plan out the week's outfits in advance and put them in the bins, complete with underwear and sock choices.

Personally, I never used this thing (I have one at my house that my mother bought me AGES ago), but my roommate last year used hers a ton. (I think she used hers for planning outfits.)

There are also a few other types of hanging organizers, namely shoe and jewelry organizers. (I know that Bed, Bath, & Beyond also makes one for scarves.) If you feel as if you need to keep everything in OCD-order, then these may be worth looking into. If you're a "I dress as I feel" type of person, then you might want to hold back on these. (Although the shoe one would be cool.)

5. A Plastic Dresser
I got a three-drawer "organizer" from Wal-Mart. It's really wide, and it fits perfectly in the bottom of my closet. I use this to hold my underwear, bras, socks, and jeans, as well as some t-shirts that I don't feel like hanging up. (Namely, my Library Summer Reading t-shirts and my pajamas.) This year, I might also keep my towels & extra sheets in it.

This is really useful because you're not going to have anywhere else to PUT your underwear/small things. You might have an underwear drawer at home, but your closet doesn't come equipped with one of these! Your little drawer thing can be skinny or fat, and you can choose what color it comes in. (Mine's white, although I may try to figure out how to decorate the top of it... Stickers and packing tape? Printed images and packing tape? Lamination and Doctor Who quotes?)

6. CLOTHES!
What do you want to say with your clothing while you're in college? Do you want to give yourself a complete makeover, or do you want to expand on your current style? Do you feel as if you'd do better as a punk instead of a prep, or a hipster instead of a goth? 

One of the best things about college is that nobody knows who you were in the past. You can completely re-invent yourself, with little to no consequences. (I say "little" because there's also the chance that one person will screw everything up and turn out like a jerk instead of a newer and better person.) 

Pick your style! Do you want to go ahead and buy a new wardrobe, or do you want to stick to what you've got and see what happens while you're in college? Do you want to just keep your old clothes, but figure out new ways to wear them?

There are a ton of sites on the internet that can help with fashion and styling and all sorts of stuff. You can look on Pinterest for inspiration. You can stalk fashion blogs (obviously, this one is not a fashion blog!). You can do whatever you want that makes you happy.

Make sure that you're doing this for you, not so that you can "make friends" or "fit in." THERE IS NO FITTING IN IN COLLEGE. Everyone's on their own. Everyone stands out. Of course, some stand out more than others (the guy who walks around in cosplay all day? Lives in the dorm next to me), and others blend into the background. Make an effort to look neat and complete every day, and you're going to go far.

Just don't spend your tuition money on a new wardrobe. That's not only idiotic, but you'll probably get kicked out of college, end up with a minimum-wage job, and have to flip burgers for the rest of your life. (Not. Cool.) Plus, what if you don't like that wardrobe a few weeks into college? Better wait until you get there and figure out what you want to do, and then buy yourself some new clothes. (But not a ton. And remember: Never leave the store without something to go with it, or without knowing what it will go with once you get back to your house. Otherwise, you'll end up with a closet full of stuff, but absolutely nothing to wear. Think about it.)

*~*~*~*

Wasn't that informative? (Or at the very least, I hope it was.)

Did you learn anything new? Is there something that really stood out to you about this article? Or do you have something that you'd like to add?

Is there something that you keep in your closet that I didn't mention above? LET ME KNOW! Tell me all about it in the comments - and remember, I read & reply to absolutely everything that's written here, so don't be shy!

"Who Wants to Volunteer?"

SO.

Do I have a story for you.

I was Prize Center at work (I work in an arcade, for those of you who don't know), and I was trading in tickets for some little kid when Mackenzie (one of the managers, hereafter referred to as Mack) comes up with my friend Hunter.

Mack says, "Hunter, you're going to fill in for one of these lovely ladies while one of them volunteers for something."

I'm alarmed, but I'm not overly concerned. "I'll do it," I reply, because the girl I'm working with is new (it's her second day), and I don't want to scare her.

Mack says, "All right. I need you to go to the last stall of the women's restroom and deal with whatever you find."

Now I'm freaking. "Do you know what it is?"

"I have no idea. Some lady just came up to me and told me that I should check the last stall. Double-glove, get the cleaning supplies, and be careful."

So I go to the stock room, put on two pairs of gloves, grab the supplies, and head to the bathroom, fearing the worst.

It was the WORST. POSSIBLE. THING.

Feces are smeared all over the floor, over the toilet, and on the toilet-paper dispenser-thing. The automatic toilet didn't flush, so it's all in the toilet, too. (I'm starting to fear that it's blocked, but I press the button to manually flush it, and it all goes down.) I look in the trash can, and it's got feces in it, too. Like someone reached into the toilet, scooped some up, and dumped it in the trash can.

I'm about to puke. And the worst thing is, I CAN SEE THE HAND PRINTS. IT IS CLEARLY AN ADULT'S HAND THAT DID THIS.

So, I step out of the stall, place my cleaning supplies in front of it, hope no one goes in, and I run to the kitchen.

"RUSSIA. DO. YOU. HAVE. BLEACH."

Russia blinks. "In the back. Under the sink."

So I run and grab the bleach. It's a full bottle (thank God).

I head back to the bathroom and pour it all over the floor, all over the toilet, all over the dispenser. And while it sits for a minute, I go out into the hall to clear my head ('cause that ammonia's noxious).

I go back in, and I start scrubbing with paper towels. I get every single bit off of the floor (IT'S DRIED), the walls, the toilet, and the dispenser. I throw everything in the trash, then I pour more bleach (let it sit while I go out and breathe), scrub everything a second time, and then lysol wipe the bleach can and my hands. (I scrub them for like five minutes in the sink with about half a gallon of soap.)

I return the cleaning supplies to the closet, the bleach to the kitchen (I used about half the bottle), and I grab a mop and a wet floor sign. I mop the floor in the bathroom twice, place the wet floor sign there, then put the mop back.

Then I grab the trash bag, tie it up, take it out (while still gagging from the bleach). I replace the bag, adjust the wet floor sign, scrub my hands more, then I go to the kitchen, grab myself some lemonade, and sit down for about ten minutes. Everyone asks what happened, and I tell them.

When I've recovered, I go back to the prize counter. I tell Mack what I found. She tells me that that's NOT THE FIRST TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED. It's happened at least five times in the men's restroom and twice in the women's.

Now that I'm home, I'm thinking... WHAT DID THIS PERSON TOUCH AFTER LEAVING THE BATHROOM. WHERE DID THEY WALK?! HAVE I TOUCHED SOMETHING THAT THEY TOUCHED?!?!?!

I'm betting someone gets some sort of disease from this, or at the very least gets sick. I hope it's not me. (I've inhaled enough ammonia for a lifetime.)

You can bet your bottom dollar I'm not going to volunteer for anything bathroom-related again. I've got this one under my belt. Next time, it's someone else's turn.