Ugh.

First, the good news: I was accepted into the University of Kentucky Masters of Social Work program. I figured it was a sure thing, but until I found out for sure, I was uneasy. So I will start school in the fall, and will be smart and all that stuff.

The bad news: I had an interview yesterday for a great temporary position in Frankfort, doing HTML, paying $20 an hour, and I didn't get it. It makes me feel absolutely useless. It would have been nice to have that cash before I start school. *sigh* On the bright side, I won't have to drive 35 miles (one way) a day to work. It depresses me. Not in that "oh, poor me" way, but in the "ohmygod, there must be something seriously wrong with me" sorta way.

Today has been my birthday. I am OLD. Twenty eight years old, in fact.

It was a good birthday. I went out to dinner with 15 of my friends (I didn't realize I had that many friends, locally), and then most people came back and had cake that Jay had made. Chocolate with chocolate icing. Very moist and delicious. He's a good baker. Mmm.

Now I am very tired, and I'm going to go watch Seinfeld and get ready for bed. Thanks to everyone for their birthday greetings, whether they were via blog, email, regular mail, or delivered in person. I'm happy to have so many great people in my life.

It's thunderstorm season (which tends to be rather brief here in Lexington.)

Personally, I like storms, even though they scare me. However, I cannot say the same for Princess, the chow-lab mix. It's torture for her. And for me, too. She trembles like a leaf and pants like she's just ran a mile.

My urge is to hug her, pet her, and calm her down. Unfortunately, that is not the recommendation of the vets. If you make a big deal of it when there's a thunderstorm, it just gives positive reinforcement for their actions. You're supposed to pretend like nothing's wrong, talk to them in a happy voice, and distract them. She'll have none of the distraction. She looks at bones like they're something she's never seen. Any attempts to play are met with her sitting down at (or on) my feet. I've tried taking her to the laundry room with me (dryer running, fan on, in the basement, so there's less in the way of loud noises), playing piano, giving her closets to hide in, etc.

Any suggestions?

I am back from the cruise to the Bahamas on Sovereign of the Seas. It was a fun trip. We went to Royal Caribbean's private island Cococay, and to Nassau.

Cococay was a fun day. We were just on the beach all day. There were a ton of hammocks, and guys selilng tropical drinks. The water was crystal blue (although the seaweed on the floor of parts of the ocean bothered me. I'm a wimp that way.) Emily and I lounged in lawn chairs and read most of the day. There was lunch on the island, but it was only so-so. There were some damned violent seagulls going after one lady and her fare. For some reason, I neglected to put sunscreen on my legs. Big mistake. They burnt so bad there are a few blisters. I also go burnt on parts of my upper torso where I missed with the sunscreen. However, other than that, I'm pretty tan (for me.)

Since we'd gotten so much sun the previous day, we didn't go to the beach in Nassau. We went to the straw market, where we were both intimidated by the intense haggling. We walked around for awhile, had lunch in the pub next door to the pirate museum. We went back to Nassau after we returned to the ship for dinner, but it was Dead. With a capital D. Everything closes at 6. We found one restaurant that was open, and after a few drinks we returned to the ship. The next day was a day at sea, which found me reading IN THE SHADE. hehe. My legs were so burnt they were swollen. The food onboard was pretty good, although not quite as good as the food on a Carnival cruise. Our waiter's name was Siraj. He was very nice. We had assigned seating, and we were with people a lot older than us, but that was ok.

Jay and I are thinking of raising some foster kittens for the summer through one of the local animal shelters. We both love animals, but don't need anymore permanent guests. Since I have no job, I have the time to take care of them. I'm going to call the lady about it tomorrow.

And in conclusion, my joyful anticipation of the movie The Day After Tomorrow has made me realize how much I like natural disaster movies. I loved The Core, the volcano movies, etc. I think I'm a freak.

There was a West Virginia commercial on in Nassau.

Whoo hoo!

Hey, everyone. I'm blogging from Nassau. Things here are cool. I have very very sunburnt legs. They look like sausages. It's sunny.

I have nothing else to say. I'll be home on Friday!

Today I leave for Florida, and tomorrow we board the ship for our cruise. We're flying out of Louisville.

Ani Difranco was a little disappointing the other night. Her set wasn't very long, and most everything she played was new(ish). The idiots in the audience kept yelling out stuff. Argh! And some dancing girl in front of us needed to have her hands cut off. Still, it was good to see Ani again, and it was Lizzy's first time, and she liked it alot.

OK, I'll be back on Friday.

OK, so it's been a week since I've posted.

Since then...

On Wednesday I went to see Metallica with my cousin Emily. This is something I didn't think I'd ever do. She had an extra ticket and didn't want to go alone. So I went. Wow. I'm glad I had my earplugs in. It was LOUD. It was neat to see, though. The stage was in the center of the coliseum, and the center of it rotated (about one revolution during the entire show). There were a lot of pyrotechnics, and when the big ol'[ flames went off, we could feel the heat way up in our nosebleed seats. That felt really weird.

Next week Emily is taking me on a four-night cruise to the Bahamas. We're going via Royal Caribbean to their private island (Cococay) and Nassau, Bahamas. I'm excited. We're flying to Orlando on Sunday and staying in a Hyatt Regency (a pretty nice hotel) with a pool on top. We leave on Monday and come back Friday. I will be tanned and relaxed. And very well-fed.

I'm pretty sure my friend Craig never reads this, but if he does I'd like to congratulate him on his engagement to his girlfriend extrordinaire, Julie. I'm so happy for both of them, and I'm glad Craig finally found someone that deserves all he has to offer.

I got second row tickets for the Ben Folds/Rufus Wainwright/Guster show in Dayton in June. This is exciting. I also have good seats for Ani Difranco this Friday. It's going to be a busy week, but I'm thrilled. YAY!

I'm sorry my images on the blog weren't working. I've fixed them now. Lemme know if you have any problems. And thank you, Liz and Patrick, for hosting them!