I've been a terrible student this week. I like to think that I've been spending my time on equally important things, but maybe I'm fooling myself.

Monday, I discovered that winter keying is incredibly frustrating. Seriously. Trying to identify leafless twigs? Not my idea of a good time. "Wait, are these scales imbricate? Is the branch red-purple or purple-red?" Which is not to say that I don't thoroughly enjoy my Maryland plants class. I just now know that winter plant identification is not my thing.

Monday night, we found out that the Environmental Perspectives class would be taking a tour of our house on Tuesday. That's what I get for living in the EcoHouse. We were displeased by the lack of advanced notice, but we did our best to get the place into shape. Basically, we cleaned a bit and then chalked up the rest of the mess to realism. Why show people what living here is like if we pretend our house is something it's not? Giving tours of my own home was a hoot-- "here's our super-sustainable staircase." Showcasing my room was especially silly. As if there weren't already rumors that Elizabeth and I are a couple, there are now about 30 people we don't know who have witnessed our single, giant bed. Awesome.

Wednesday night, we had SEAC elections. I am officially not co-president next semester! (This is a good thing. I'm graduating in the spring and need to hand the position down.) We have people for every position, and everyone seemed excited and happy and all that jazz. We talked about the Global Warming Solutions Act and what we want to do next semester. Hopes are high. I'm tired of coordinating and am very glad to be stepping down.

Thursday, I found out once and for all that I can in fact cross-list my SMP with Environmental Studies. Sort of. I mean, it'll work out just fine. I just need to get a form to the registrar to drop PSYC494 and add ENST494. In the end, I'll have four credits of psyc SMP and four credits of environmental studies SMP. It adds up to everything I need; it's just unconventional.

Yesterday was Friday. We had a potluck. We threw a dance party. It was a pretty good day. The party was quite an experience-- lots of people, lots of dancing. There were some unsavory characters none of us knew, but they didn't disrupt things horribly. They just made some gross comments every now and then. For the most part, it was a pretty clean party with pretty good folks.

Justine was here for the whole week. She left this morning with Matt, who was here starting Thursday. I thoroughly enjoyed both of them. Justine was in high spirits and I had a blast hanging out with her. We had some excellent discussions and skill-sharing. Talking to Justine made me want to travel a lot more, and made me much more reluctant to commit to a normal lifestyle. Am I committed to a normal lifestyle anyway? What does "normal lifestyle" even mean? Whatever. Matt is a goofball and I don't think I've ever not enjoyed his company. They both attended the party last night, which was fun. I love mixing up my social groups.

I'm not mad at Paul anymore. I think I'm incapable of maintaining anger. There are worse weaknesses to have, certainly. Anyway. I don't really know what's going on, but my hope in the situation is dwindling and I'm actually pretty OK with that. Well, I'm OK with it as long as I get to maintain a friendship with him. That's pretty key.

Winter break is coming up. I have a few medical appointments lined up. My medical coverage runs out when I turn 21, so we're squeezing in everything I could possibly need. "Everything I could possibly need" includes checking out my ankles, which is pretty cool. Maybe I'll find out why my left ankle makes a popping noise every few times I step. I'm also planning on going to a show that Matt and Flynn are playing. I'm actually kind of intimidated when I think about it, but I'm sure it'll be fun. (Did I tell you that I've never been to a show before? Because I haven't, really.) Elizabeth and Rachel will be back on the East Coast for New Year, and the three of us are planning to go to Twin Oaks for the party and staying at Acorn for a week or so afterwards. After that, Sarah is reserving her family's lakeside cabin for a bunch of her friends, including me, so I'm expecting a silly week or so with people I love. Oh! And my friend Jesse B from SPROG is going to be in DC around Jan 14, and I definitely want to meet up with him while he's in town. It'll be like a teaser for Power Shift, where I expect to meet up with lots of people I met in Oregon.

Basically, my life is enjoyable and my future is bright. I love being alive and empowered.