I’m back in the dorm again. I left Jessica’s house at maybe ten till 2, got here, and was annoyed to find that construction has screwed parking all to heck. The employee lot that’s right across the road from my dorm has the convenient entrance next to my dorm blocked off with a chain-link fence, so I couldn’t park there. I ended up driving around my building again and was able to catch a parallel park right next to my dorm because some guy in an SUV was kind enough to move forward.

All my stuff is unpacked now, though the room’s still a wreck because we have clothes and chairs and stuff everywhere. I was hoping to see Scott this afternoon but that never happened. While I’m disappointed, I did get some dishes done that I had forgotten here over the break. Wow, that smell… I don’t know how to describe it. It originated from a bowl that had once held Mom’s au gratin potatoes. You know how those are normally a nice goldeny yellow color? The remains of these guys had turned dark brown, but they weren’t dried out. Oh no, there was a runny brown slime coating that bowl and lid; I opened it and about gagged. So I took all the dishes out to the sink in the little sunk-in kitchen area in the hall, started washing, and noticed that when people walked by, they commented on the smell. I was cracking up but trying not to be obvious about it. Some comments I overheard:

• “Pfhew, what’s that smell?” / “I guess someone just got sick.”
• “It’s coming from the trash can.”
• “It’s coming from that room! Why does it smell like that? It never used to smell like that!”

I tried washing the lid of that bowl but afterward it still stank, so I just threw both the lid and the bowl in the garbage. This won’t please my mother, as they were hers, but since they were cheap plastic things, I’ll buy her another set.

Jessica, Ashlee, and I went grocery shopping earlier because it was needed and because Jess had $45 in gift cards to spend. We spent that and $15 more on canned soup, cereal, milk, yogurt, brownie mix (for my two roommates who are not on a diet), etc.

I don’t know why, but my lips have been really chapped the past few days. I’ve been drinking water and juice constantly, so it’s starting to bug me. I felt sick a couple of days ago, with nausea and a headache, so maybe that has something to do with it.

My first day of work is tomorrow. I’m to go in at 9 a.m. to fill out paperwork, then my manager will pick me up at 10:30. After that, hopefully I’ll be able to do something computery. I’m really nervous, so I just want to get the first day over with and I really, really hope that it goes well. I’m worried about being overwhelmed or unable to do something that they expect me to do. I’m also going to be working more than I ever have before (40 hours a week), so I’m hoping I get used to that quickly and enjoy my work enough so that the time goes by quickly. Maybe this semester I’ll become more of a morning person, since if I go into work earlier (I set my own hours), then of course I’ll get to come home earlier.