It was so so nice to be somewhere other than my house this weekend. First I baby sat my darling cousins who told me that I am THE BEST BABY SITTER THEY'VE EVER HAD!!! They later admitted that I'm the only baby-sitter they've had other than our grandparents. I have some very disturbing childhood memories of my grandmother threatening me with a spatula, so I'm not sure if that's much of a complement, but oh well, it's always nice to be the best. So anyway, as fun as hanging out with six year olds was I managed to pry myself away at the end of the day (literally pry-- Cassandra would not let go of my leg) and head up to the great white north that is Duluth, MN. My brave little car huffed and puffed it's way up the big hill (I still think cars with manual transmistins shouldn't be required to stop at red lights on that hill) and at last I made it to UMD and my best friend ever in the world Miss Alexis Lexi-poo Stapp. We had a lovely evening with her roomate Cassie, who is adorable, making some very messy sugar-free chocolate mousse with Tofu and consuming adult beverages before heading over to a house pary of some of her friends which turned out to be THE place to be. I mean, anyone who's anyone in Duluth was there- crammed into the basement sucking down 3 kegs of something loosely termed as beer. Ahhhh... I can't wait for German beer! Needless to say a good time was had by all. Especially Erin. I don't actually know anything about Erin, except that It's her 20th birthday today and she's probably in a dorm room somewhere feeling extreamly hung over and wondering what on earth she did to break her middle finger last night. I'd like to take this moment to thank Erin and other obnoxiously drunk girls at parties for making me seem that much more cool and mature because intoxicated though I may be- I'm not as bad as they are. Alexis's friend Brian was kind enough to drive us to and from the party so we made it back safely and were soon snug in bed. This morning- err- make that afternoon Alexis and I went out to breakfast/lunch at a Greek/American Resturant/Pancake house. I enjoy the amount of slashed used in that sentance. Only in Duluth could you find a resurant with Greek Spnakopata served along side Wisconsin Cheese curds and Fried Walley. Alexis and I both had the very tasty Gyro-omlet and I decided that far more foods should be availible in Omlet form. Serioiusly. This girl loves eggs. After lunch it was time for Good-byes :( By now I feel like I've said good-bye to my friends so many times that it's not so hard anymore. We've made it through them all thus far so I'm pretty sure this time won't be any different. Chelsea and Alexis aren't going anywhere. I mean, they are in a literal sense, Chelsea's in Austrailia already and Alexis may be going to Argentina, but I know that the next time I see them we'll all still be best friends. I'm sad that we can't all three be together once more before I go, I wish they could see me off, but I think that saying good-bye to Eric at the airport is going to be enough to make me cry as it is. Eric's coming! yay! I'm so glad because it's kinda sad and lonley around here especially now I feel like I've said good bye to everyone else. and as much as I love my family I would go INSANE if I had to stay here alone any longer. I'm not even sure I can make it though this week. I love my family very very much and they can be fun, friday afternoon my parents and I bult a snowman- that's right, the three oldest members of the household built a snowman without my ten year old brother, what cooler parents could I ask for? but... it's just time for me to never ever live in their house again. I need a life!! I need to go see distant lands and meet new and interesting people.... hey, what'd'ya know? that's just what I'm about to do! and it's a damn good thing too because being here is putting me into a vicious funk that often involves binge eating and never changing out of pajamas.... so it's beyond time for me to get outta here. Not to mention that UR is already on spring break and I haven't even started the semester! It's depressing seeing my half empty buddy list and knowing they're all having spring break fun- or in the case of the synchro team off having spring break intensly long and excruciating training. But soon I'll be having my own fun and excitement. Eric and I will have our own hometown vacation when he comes next week and then I'm off.... up up and away! Iceland, germany, Spain, France, who knows where I'll be next? I don't even know what dorm I'm living in in Muenster! I'm going to pretend that that doesn't make me extreamly nervouse and instead say that it's very exciting and adventurous. This is excessively long. I'm going to go. Aufwiedersehen!