I woke up this morning around nine thirty to a very hot room and a dead alarm clock. This, of course, means that our little SRP box that beeped the day before was out of money and, therefore, we were out of electricity. The fridge was off (but still cold, thankfully) and I couldn't turn on a light to go potty...

So I hauled myself down to the nearest Basha's and put $40 on our box. Hooray.

Honestly, the 'pay-as-you-go' method for electric is NOT my idea of convenient.

In other news, tomorrow is my appointment with my academic advisor (who will hopefully help me sort out my math class issue) and my first official closing shift at the Chandler Mall. Should be entertaining. Or boring. One of the two. I hung around most of the day with Illyssa, introducing her to the awesomeness that is Guitar Hero and cracking lame jokes with her boyfriend. Same old, same old.

As of tomorrow, I will be living with my friends in a cardboard box of an apartment. (It's really not that bad...my room just happens to be the smallest.) After a frustrating bout with the landlords, Gary, Illyssa, and I toured the model one last time and chit chatted about some basic things we would need and when, exactly, we would be moving in.

And as soon as I got home, Mom took me shopping at Target for sheets, a body pillow cover, laundry soap, sponges, a tea kettle (yay! I can have my nightly cup of Earl Grey! But will I be able to afford heavy whipping cream?), and a lamp for my bedside cube. I bought the cube.

My own receipt has my 51-piece cutlery set ($19.99!), hair care products (comb, hair ties, and Bobbi pins), cookie sheets, and a cute frame for my aforementioned bedside cube. I also purchased a huge cork board for my pictures and miscellaneous memorabilia that will help me to not feel so homesick.

Right now, Dad is making me a 'farewell' dinner...I don't really want to think that I won't be home for dinner come tomorrow, or that I'll have to make my own pot of coffee, wake myself up, not have to report to someone of my daily comings and goings. (Don't worry Mom...I'll still call you, I promise!)

Things are going to be very different...I hope that I'm ready!

Today is July 17th, 2009 and it is one day before my 18th birthday. For whatever reason, this birthday snuck up on me, which they normally don't. I even planned a party and everything...(So maybe 'planned' isn't the best word. More like: invited people and plan on having a hang-out session.)

On Tuesday (as in four days from now) I move out of my parents' house and into an apartment with Gary and Illyssa that is located in Ahwatukee Foothills (right across the street from the Barnes and Noble, oh noes!). And sometime during that week, I'll begin working at the Chandler Mall Starbucks, which isn't a drive-thru and is very slow. I have the feeling that I will be deep cleaning many many many things there. Like the windows and the bathrooms and the mop sink and the....

I've been trying to accurately describe to myself exactly how I feel about this whirlwind of events that I somehow managed to get sucked into. I think I'm about 20% excited and 80% scared...sometimes more or less. I'm scared about money, I'm scared about my grades and scholarship, I'm scared that I won't make friends, or that I'll make too many friends and I'll forget about everything else...but this is all normal, right? I'm allowed to feel this way.

I know that I am...intelligent sometimes and that I have barely enough street smarts to pass through this first stage of adult life only slightly singed. Hopefully anyway... I think my parents are having an even harder time. (I love you, Mom and Dad!) But regardless of how high my emotions are running, I do have a twinge of excitement that is propelling me forward. And damn it, I will be moving forward.

Maybe just not at a slow enough pace. Oh well. :)