How my last week has been...

I'm finally getting the opportunity to be on a computer for more than 30 minutes. Freaking-A. It sucks butt. So here I am in Wisconsin. Let me just say, I'm never coming back here. I think it's been ruined forever.

Let me start from the beginning. The plane ride was pretty good. I sat next to the cutest little girl! My gate was right above the baggage claim and my luggage was the first out. I was seriously in the airport for like 10 minutes, tops. Then, Steve picked me up. Totally a Massachusetts accent and attitude. Like 2 minutes into the ride he burst out in swearing at the traffic and zipped in and out of cars, and smoked twice during our ride. He was nice enough though. Then I got here. I saw my room, which really isn't my room. I have a roommate, and if I were staying here I'd have a whole heck of a lot more than just 1. Apparently there's supposed to be 4 equine interns and 10 "exotic" animal interns. There's only 4 places to sleep in our room! Oh, that would drive me insane. Oh, and did I mention there really isn't internet set up. She was lying.

I saw the barn and met Dana. She took me into her office and sat me down. She said like 2 sentences to me, and then just stared off at the tv. It was the most awkward thing ever. I was like "uh, can I go now?" except I didn't know really how to get back. And then, Friday was my first day of work. They wanted me to ride in the Saturday afternoon show! Yeah, freaking, right! No way was I going to learn 2 patterns well enough on horses I don't know when I haven't ridden in 7 months and I'm jet lagged and sick! And then they got mad when it didn't work out! That really ruffled my feathers.

Saturday was the show. It was a pretty fast day, except they didn't tell us they sleep in on show days so we got there early and stood around for 45 minutes. I didn't see any of the show cause I was backstage. I was shoved into the finale on an illuminated horse. That basically means that the horse and I are covered in blankets that have mirrors and lights on them. Awkward! And they didn't tell me that we trot in the finale. They assured me, "oh it's only at a walk". So I felt like an idiot when everyone was trotting and I wasn't.

The rest of the week has been pretty slow. Sunday we had our day off. Yep, one freaking day off a week, if we're lucky. That sucks. Monday we had a staff meeting, where Dana told us off! Seriously, it was the second time I'd met her and every other word coming out of her mouth was a swear word. She was angry that the show sucked and that some people were taking days off. I guess she was mad a Sarah for leaving for a wedding. She actually said "F*** weddings and having a personal life.. you work for me. This is my barn, my horses, my money, and you'll do what I say." Well, there goes that idea of me going home for Krissy's wedding in May. Seriously, she was so unprofessional. And most people here are. They swear like sailors and smoke in the barn and aren't really considerate of other people.

Yesterday, Lacey and I got to see some of the "exotic" animals. And I put quotes on these because most of them really aren't exotic, at least not to me. The cool ones were a ring-tailed lemur, a monkey, and I guess they have a bobcat somewhere. The lame ones were raccoon, skunk, pigs, rabbits, birds (although I guess they have a pretty cool bird show), ferrets, hedgehog... Yeah. I can pretty much find those animals anywhere. And I discovered why they're not AZA accredited. The living situations definitely weren't great. Some animals were in tiny cages with absolutely nothing to entertain themselves. They never see sunlight in the winter. They're only let out to do shows. There was not a good kitchen to prepare meals and the staff that takes care of them really don't seem qualified. Steve was even SMOKING in the barn! It's an enclosed area where the animals always are! Who on earth would do that?! That's just the stupidest thing I've ever seen. I wanted to scream at him!

Lacey, my roomie, told Dana she was quitting the other day. If she leaves before me, I'm screwed because I have no kitchen stuff. Dana told me I wouldn't need any, but when Lacey arrived, there wasn't even a microwave or pots/pans. Lacey's quitting for pretty much the same reasons I am. She's more bitter about it though. She's kind of a "Screw the world" attitude-type person. She basically always puts people down and does things with a crappy attitude. She's a young one too. Hopefully that'll grow out of her, because she won't get far in the work world acting like she does. Sometimes I just want to teach her a lesson. Even though I'm miserable and most likely going to quit next week anyway, I at least do my job now and don't bitch about people and say mean things under my breath, and not offer to help out with stuff.

Anywho, I think that's enough rambling. Besides, I'm hungry! Hope this keeps y'all at least somewhat updated on how things are going since I'm not able to get online much. :)

No more packing....

There are few things I hate more than packing at this moment in time. I can't even express how stressed out, nervous, sad, pissed off, and terrified I am right now. It just now hit me how little you can really fit in a suitcase, carry-on, and backpack. I'm going away for 8 freaking months and that's all I get! No f-ing way is that happening!

Today's the first day I've really had energy to do much. Saturday, Elsa, Jess, and I finally got together and had a girl's night. It was much needed, I have to say. I think the last time we were all 3 together without the stress of Elsa's wedding, was ..... summer? We ended up going out for food and drinks and the FW basketball team was in the playoffs, so we watched that at the bar. It was really fun, reminiscing about old times and catching up and all that. Then, Sunday night my family and I went to see the Lion King on Broadway in Seattle. OMG! Freaking amazing! The lion costumes were a bit disappointing, but everything else was amazing! It was seriously so breath-taking I was almost in tears (well, when Mufasa died, I actually was in tears, but that's for an entirely different reason..). The giraffes, I think, were my favorite costume. The guys were in stilts! And Mufasa's voice... ohhhhhhhh my gosh! Robin and I agreed we were going to marry him just for his voice. It was so sexy.. almost like the real Mufasa. And Rafiki was really from Africa and she had the perfect African singing voice. Oh, I was completely in awe! LOVED IT! I highly recommend it to all.

Grey's and a sunset

Hoy. Apparently I get sick now more than I used to. I gotta tell ya, it's quite difficult to conjure up the energy to unpack/repack when I feel this crappy. The last few days have been filled with trying to find solutions to all these dilemmas that have risen because of my internship. I've been to the doctor's, dentist, and got a tetanus shot (which really makes my arm sore, by the way) in the past few days. I've been trying to figure out what to pack and what to leave behind and what to ship. I need to figure out how on earth I'm going to keep in touch with people when cell phone minutes are limited and there's a time difference. I'm trying to not care about all the events and things I'm going to miss and I'm trying to be optimistic about what's to come. But it's really hard when I'm here and haven't experienced my internship yet. I know (well, I hope with all my heart) that it'll be so worth it and I'll be so busy and enjoying everything that I won't be thinking of all the things I'm going to miss.

Anywho.. that's enough of Charlie Downer thinking. Yesterday Jess and I went out to lunch at The Rock. Oh my goodness, that was amazing pizza!! I'd been craving pizza for so long and was finally able to satisfy my craving! They're supposed to have really good drinks too, but we were both driving, so that didn't happen. Afterwards, we went to the barn. It was the first time in a long time that I was around live horses and it was really weird, but it wasn't as natural as it used to be. I mean, I had to actively think about what I was doing and how I reacted. It's always been second nature to me, and this was really the first time I felt that it wasn't. It probably has to do with me pushing them out of my mind because of my last job. Hopefully once I get back into the swing of things, it'll all come back to me. Horses are like my first love. I don't want to lose it all just because of one internship experience.

I realized the other day while driving home from the barn that there's no such thing as a perfect relationship definition. You can't really compare your relationship with others. It's an experience unique to two people. There really is no such thing as a normal relationship, and there really shouldn't be.

Done in Oregon

I have said "so long" to Oregon and returned to Washington, for a short while. It was definitely an emotional good-bye. Will actually organized a going-away surprise party for me! And I was actually surprised.. I had no idea! I thought that was really sweet. I really have the best boyfriend and friends! There were decorations and food and all the people I'm going to miss (or videos from those who couldn't be there). Then we went out to the bars and I finally got to be social and DANCE! Oh, I forgot how much I love dancing. Maybe I'll take up some dance classes in Wisconsin, if I have the time. Anywho, I just felt so loved and special that they would go through all that just for me.

Sunday I did absolutely nothing! There was lots of sleep and tv watching and video game playing. Then today, I had coffee with Sara and went to class with Will. It was definitely a flash-back to last year. I went to an engineering probability class and some class having to do with mechanical systems. It was quite fun, actually. I somewhat understood what the professor was saying about probability and math and all that. I also realized that I've forgotten a lot of stuff from high school and even from college, though that wasn't that long ago. So I think I'm going to start brushing up on stuff I've forgotten... and along those lines, I think I'm going to start learning more of random subjects, like politics and cars so I can be a more well-rounded person. Who knows, maybe that new stuff will come in handy one day.

Anywho, back to my day... After class I spent a couple hours at the blue house, and then finally said good-bye to Will. It was a tough thing to do. I didn't want to leave, because the next time we'll see each other is 7 or 8 months from now.. and we don't have the best track record with long-distance. I just wish we would be able to have time together, to really grow together. It's hard to keep a relationship growing without ever seeing each other. Seriously, I don't know how people involved in the military do it. But I did finally leave and say good-bye. And now here I am, watching the season finale of The Bachelor! Thanks for being here to "listen" to me. :)