My left speaker, of the set I inherited after Charlotte left, does not work, possibly due to someone's brilliant method of twisting and crushing the cords to let them make their exit out of the speaker stands, rather than simply threading them through the holes in the backs, as was clearly the idea. So with stereo songs, where different 'parts' of the music come through each speaker, I only hear half the vocals. Odd.

I left my goggles at the pool on Monday. They were nice ones, too. Bah.

I am out of printer paper. This, too, merits a Bah.

Shifting topic... you know... I've had quite a bit of heartache and uncertainty over the past two years, but I'm only just now realizing something. A relationship is not just good conversation, physicality, compatible lifestyles, and 'that extra spark'. I've had all of those things before, but we were missing one important thing - arguing. Don't get me wrong; I truly hate arguing with people I care about, yet I'm starting to understand that that can be as powerful a tool as any other for learning about each other. Many people say they can 'agree to disagree', but then they really don't - the subject continues to come up in conversation and to prey on both parties' minds. This is true in friend-friend relationships as well as romantic ones. But when you can argue - totally NOT see eye to eye - and then step back quietly for a few minutes, see the other side, accept the fact that you have found yet another thing about this person that you cannot change, and move on, without the fear of repercussions in the relationship - only then have you found that missing ingredient.

(Extra points if the argument is about money.) :)

That was my philosophizing for the evening, probably the result of the pint of Ben & Jerry's I ate while watching Gilmore Girls. Yes, a whole pint. K, my freshman year roommate, trained me well. I watch what I eat and exercise a lot, and it's usually not that difficult. But every once in a while, I get that gnawing hunger to really gorge on something sweet - not just have a little, but have a LOT. Whether that's a result of being so careful all the time, or just a part of my personality, I don't know. But I know that after I eat the pint of ice cream or box of cookies or whatever it is, the urge is satisfied for a good month or so. And since it's that infrequent, I have decided to enjoy those moments rather than feeling guilty about them. So tonight's pint of Chubby Hubby (peanut butter, pretzels, and fudge in vanilla malt ice cream) was the November indulgence.

I have been going kind of exercise-crazy lately, though. I swam Monday and Wednesday as usual, then Friday for a make-up, then ran the stadium on Saturday (in UF-speak, 'ran the stadium' = ran up and down all the stairs in the lower level), then ran around the campus just because I didn't feel like I was 'done', then rode my bike to Target the next day, then swam in class yesterday, with so much pain in my calves from those stairs that I could literally barely kick. I didn't do anything today, and my legs feel much better, but I've got to swim again tomorrow morning (borrowed Renate's goggles - it rocks to have a former Olympic swimmer as a roommate!) and then I'm planning to go running when I get home, because I'm having Lasik on Thursday and won't be able to exercise for a few days. I've also been looking into joining a couple of sports clubs here at UF - Ultimate Frisbee, for sure, and also maybe roller hockey and possibly lacrosse if that girl ever e-mails me back. Never played it before, but it just looks like so much fun. Sadly, they didn't have any basketball.

And, just to make this stream-of-consciousness entry complete: there is the cutest new baby at work. It's a little girl, M, and she's six weeks old with red hair and blue eyes. I spend a lot of time around little kids, but this one is a keeper - the kind of baby you pick up just for the heck of it, because she's so little and cuddly. She fell asleep in my arms today... first baby to do that since hospital volunteering. I didn't want to put her down. :)

Countdown to Lasik: 33 hours!