rain, rain, rain

O-Four-Days has come to an end... but not without another O-Staff UC dance party to "Love Today."

... and tomorrow, classes start?

Today was good. Roommates are all here, which is wonderful. Nice times with visitors and friends and people I haven't seen in far too long. Lots of errands to do tomorrow.. an absolutely packed first day of school. I need to wake up early to get all of my ducks in a row for our first Chapter meeting... considering my laptop died today.

Yikes.

I got home, and the screen was black. Hit a button, error message. Then it randomly restarted itself over and over and over and promptly erased my hard drive. Blue screen, black screen, restarted, error message, erased itself again (quicker this time.. guess it's easier on the second pass by)... it was like the fourth of July on a computer screen.

I've needed a new computer for awhile, so this ordeal was a catalyst. I would rather the "issue" had not occurred during my "break" between O-Week and the first day of class (namely, my 3 free hours of summer-Furman life), but my parents were gracious and helped me out, and I will pick up my early Christmas present tomorrow in Spartanburg.

YAY!

I picked out a cute little HP; I want a small, portable laptop that has fewer bells and whistles. Kind of representative of my life, I think... I'm trying to get rid of some frills and live with the bare minimum. I've given away a few tubs of clothes and trinkets to Goodwill (and I haven't even gone through the winter wardrobe yet), and I sold some books I had lying around. I just don't want to hang on to things I don't need... my vocation right now is to be a student, and with that calling comes a need to be portable.

I've decided that I would be far less stressed if my lifestyle actually fit my life. It's so tempting to try to settle in at Furman.. to make this strange, beautiful bubble an oasis of sorts. Truth is, Furman is temporary. I have one more year of ducks and the belltower and the lack of reality, and then I will be thrust into some colorful version of Real Life. I don't need to build a library of books or a collection of decorative art. I don't need a wardrobe of a princess or copies of all of my old notes. I need a lifestyle that suits my on-the-go-life... a challenge for a homebody like me :)

A big reason for this self-talk about minimalism... my hard drive holds all of my music and pictures from the last four years, and I have to be prepared to let those precious things go. I'm struggling to think that a lot of those invaluable pictures will be erased, but I have to keep telling myself that the favorites are printed, the albums are set, and I don't need to dwell on the things that I lost. Music can be re-borrowed, and I have plenty of life left to take ridiculous pictures.

... right?

::sigh::

Cory was wonderful in the crisis... rode in on his white horse and made stupid jokes about how my "pooter pooted" (complete with elementary sound-effects)... after driving the 25 minutes so that I would have his laptop (and comic relief / hugs) to make the reordering process easier. AND we get to have a breakfast date tomorrow! My favorite :) I am the luckiest girl in the world.

So this week is the start of a new year -- new classes (although an old favorite professor -- yay, Brewer!!), new computer, new job, new football season, new apartment... lots of change. I think I'm ready, though... I'm ready to have another year in this crazy ole' place.

:)