Woke up this morning and fall was already in the air. A hot, dry day with lots and lots of wind. A fire day my professor called it.

I have had a busy couple of days. I left Wednesday afternoon for Sacramento. I got there in the late afternoon and Derek and I just watched Monk episodes until my sister, who I had called, arrived with Nick. They brought me the bigger rat cage and some other things. We then got in their car and headed downtown to the Spaghetti Factory for dinner. We had a good time, lots of discussion, and it was really cool to hang out with my sister without my parents. They dropped us off and we spent the rest of the evening watching more Monk.

The next day we watched even more Monk and then for a diversion went out to the mall. I got a camera case for the new camera, a bigger memory card, and some much needed movement.

The other errand we did was got to Jared's. It a jewelry store. Derek had gotten me a necklace. A way too much money birthday present. He spent about $400 on it and I was shocked. The necklace he picked out was nice, but he knew I might not like the style, so we went back so I could pick something else out. I tried to pick something cheaper, but it ended up roughly the same. What he got was two circles intertwined, one of diamonds, one of amethysts. I got a diamond and sapphire bracelet. I felt bad for exchanging it, but he made it sound like it was expected. I don't know. I was sop shocked by the gift itself, and at this time when we are breaking up and he is moving, that I still haven't processed it.

Anyway, we came back to his place after and I knit and we watched more Monk. I left in the early evening and rove back over here. I was out of sorts for the evening and spent some time outside with music to calm me down. Then I watched ER alone and chatted with some people afterward.

There was even more drama while I was gone because I had left my alarm on by accident. I had called the night before to warn them and tell them to call me if it was horrid. So Jessi took it upon herself to use it to become the center of attention. She called me, she texted me, she texted other people and woke them up. She made it a HUGE ordeal, and from questioning the others, I know it wasn't.

Things are getting more and more tenuous between Jessi and the rest and I hope it works out. She makes everything her business, and then tries to use it or exaggerate it to make her the center of attention. It's a very hard thing to take.

Today I woke up and putzed around. I fixed up the new cage for the boys and hung another map. I finished my knitting and am weaving in the ends. I had class, which was as usual. Now home and thinking about some food.

Today was very different than I expected it to be.

I got up and felt refreshed after a very long sleep. I immediately went down to the mail room and got my camera. I fiddled with it a bit and I think I like it. I am worried about picture quality, but then I have to tell myself it just won't measure up to my SLR. I played with it a bit and then set it to charge.

Mom called and I talked to her about things. She faxed me the copies of my immunization records that the school emailed me and said they didn't have or weren't good enough. I then took said records down to the place where they belong, but they could not tell me if it was that they didn;t have them or they weren't good enough. Bah! So I came home and called the health center and they said they weren't good enough and to come down and get the shot for free.

So after some reading, I headed down there. They gave me a stab in the arm and I now am protected from measles, mumps, and rubella . . . again. Stupid lack of proper paperwork done by my doctor.

I came back and sat down to do reading, but took a nice nap instead. Woke up and finished the reading, then made some dinner, and wrote my reading journal. All for Friday so tomorrow I can take off after class and go to Derek's. I am both looking forward to seeing him and not looking forward to being gone from here.

Tonight I am going to stay in and watch some Law & Order. The rest of the kids are going to the soccer game that Jordan, Kelsey, and Anders play in, but I am still beat from yesterday and want to watch my shows. So I will remain behind.

Tomorrow is the morning class, in which we will take a tour of the library and learn how to find things we need there. Yay. And hopefully it will be short and sweet and helpful. I am stumped about how to find sources here and I really need to learn. I need to locate a primary source and two secondary for the history paper coming up too. Eek.

Now to fiddle with the new camera and relax.

A super hard, but amazingly good day.

First day of the actual surveying on the internship. We got there at 8, and drove up to our site, stopping at the Dry Creek Store on the way. It's a neat little country market in the heart of a wonderful wine region. We continued up to the private property we were working on and met the owners. They were very cool people.

We started out walking on a graded path, and then turned off of that onto incredibly steep hillsides. W e basically slid down the hill more than walked. We finally arrived at the site and set up our various tasks. I was the volunteer for mapping after no one would do it. I know I need to learn it better, so I said I would.

We spent the next couple hours walking transects on these steep steep hills and sliding all over the place on dry grass and loose rock. It was a miracle that I stayed upright as much as I did. We did three passes and marked anything. We had lunch and then I started mapping with another girl and the others did various other jobs.

it took about 2 hours to map the site with Mike's help. It was hot and a pain to map the steep hillsides and crazy things all over, but i was so glad I had done it. I needed to learn what I was doing and this was a great crash course. I have a wonderful map in bag now.

It was so hot and rough that I sweat gallons. We all worked our asses off and left the site at close to 4. We then had to hike the endless trail out, though a couple guys opted to haul it across country up the hills. It was a strenuous hike up, but nothing I couldn't handle We did have one girl get sick from heat. She threw up on the trail and had to be driven out on ATV. She's alright now, but I would have hated to be her.

Once up the hillside, we rested at the house and they gave us cold soda. We sat on the their porch and looked at their amazing view. It was heaven after the hike.

We left and drove home. On the way we had an obligatory stop at a brewery. A cool place in Healdsburg called the Bear Flag. We had some good bear, some yummy, greasy fries, and tired banter. Then another short jaunt in the car and we got back to the campus. I slogged home and took a shower to rinse the think layer of grime off my legs. It looked like I was wearing a brown pair of pants, ending where my socks were. It was lovely.

Now everyone is out and I am about to watch some Antiques Roadshow and History Detectives with another beer. It was a great day.

Laundry and cleaning are the agenda today. I started laundry, but it's been slow going because everyone else in the complex has decided to do it today too. I knew it would be like this, I was just too lazy to do it last night.

I slept like a rock until 11 a.m. I was so sore last night I could barely move. I am still in pain, but not as bad. Kelsey got home really late last night, I think I heard them get in, but she doesn't remember when because she was blacked out. Apparently Jordan stayed until 5 a.m. but she doesn't remember that either. Silly kids.

I have eaten breakfast, done the dishes, vacuumed and washed the floor, and cleaned my bathroom. So there isn't much left for me to do but actual work for school which I have been putting off for three days. I have to do preliminary research for my research proposal and email a synopsis to my professor and the librarian who will be helping us on Wednesday. Not too bad, but annoying. I also have to begin looking for sources for my upcoming history paper. Not a fun task. I wish I could do it in the living room instead of in here on this clunky machine.

Well, I might be able to talk myself into cleaning rats first . . . which would extend the time frame a little. Hmmm.

I've had two days of activity and I am so sore I can barely move my legs.

Yesterday was fine. I went to class and we had a good discussion. I talked so much the professor banned me and one other girl from talking more. I came straight home and then had nothing to do. I went to the grocery store with Anders and then hung out later with him, Jordan, and Kesley. We drank some and just sat around. We put on Kind of Blue by Miles Davis and Jordan and I zoned out to it completely. It's so awesome that he and Anders like the same music I do.

Then Jordan got a call from a friend who was going to play hide and seek on campus. He invited us and we trekked out there with a few other people in tow. The other group showed up and were super serious about it. They were all in black and had their faces painted black. they looked like ninja. We formed teams of 2 and I was paired with Jordan. We did pretty well, though I got tagged twice. I tagged people when it was our turn to be it too though. We played for an hour and then came back here. We sat around for a bit and then went to bed.

This morning it was hard to get up, but I had planned to go to Jack London State Park with Anders, so I forced myself. I got ready and we headed out there. It was hot and I was breaking in the new hiking boots I got. We walked all over and at one point took a wrong trail that dead ended and had to back track. We eventually made it back to the car and were exhausted. I think we hiked about 7 miles all told. It was a nice hike and good conversation.

Came back and collapsed on the sofa and watched football with Jordan and Kelsey. Snacked and relaxed for awhile and then they left for a party they were going to. So I came in here and took a very relaxing and much needed bath. Now I am finishing up editing the photos from today and then I will make dinner and read/watch tv some. Sounds heavenly.

I have the whole place to myself. How grand!

I am getting worse and worse at this. I really want to keep up on the journal, there is just usually something going on in our apartment which makes it hard. If I could get a laptop like I want to, then I would be able to write out there.

So I am 25 now. I don't feel older than I already did next to the 20 year olds, but it is a big age. I don't quite want it.

I had three days of birthday, which was great. Sunday we went to Goat Rock and had a picnic lunch and wandered about. When we got back we went to Olive Garden and had dinner. The waiter kept forgetting it was my birthday and the group had to remind him to bring me a dessert, which ended up being a wine glass full of dinner mints. :(

On my actual birthday, Gavin paid for my lunch and we went to a teriyaki place off campus. I had the internship all day, but it was fun mapping things and learning how to use my compass. When I got home I had Jessi making a meal for me. Though she decided to charge people to eat it. The boys came though, so it worked out. We had a cake the boys bought and they gave me a card and a funny squeaky mouse toy. Jessi gave me a very nice bottle of wine. We watched Garden State in the evening. As good as ever, though Jessi didn't get it and kept being a jerk about it, telling people who came to the door that we were watching some "gay ass movie."

Tuesday my parents came over. They brought me a whole bunch of stuff i needed and a card from Grandma. I showed them the apartment and then we went out. We got some lunch and ate it before heading over to my Great Uncle Ken's house. We hadn't seen him in forever and it was good to visit. He is an amazing man, but very sad. He was an actor and a voice actor for commercials and was quite famous for awhile. He knew artists and actors and was in "the scene" for a bit. He has a million great stories. he also knows the family history better than anyone and talks about it. He has chairs from our family that came out to Utah with them when they came with Brigham Young. I saw them. I touched them. I was awed.

We spent the afternoon there talking to him. His wife died suddenly a few years back and he's alone now. He is an alcoholic and still drinks, even though he had a kidney transplant because of it and diabetes. He makes me sad. I will go see him more often now because he is only 20 minutes away from me.

We left there late and then went to dinner in downtown Santa Rosa. It was an ok meal. Kind of awkward, but good. They dropped me off and then headed home. I sat around with the roomies for a bit and went to bed feeling kind of homesick and out of sorts.

This week hasn't been very productive after that. I keep meaning to go to the gym, but don't do it. I will definitely be starting this week though, it is imperative! I ran errands on Wednesday and got some awesome hiking boots that were expensive, but I think worth it. I also had Derek order me a camera online that I hope will be here today or Monday. It's half paid for by my parents for my birthday present. The one thing I needed to do and didn;t was grocery shopping. So maybe tonight or tomorrow. I really need some better food.

Yesterday I did nothing. I read and did my work, but didn't leave the apartment. I spent a long time working on the computer and ipod to make some things work. In the evening we had drama with Jessi. She felt like we dislike her and are leaving her out. It's partly her overreacting, partly true, and partly everyone having a rough week. She should have talked to us about it, instead,s he took off for home and text messaged and called me.

I think we talked to her enough to calm it down, but it was sort of silly. Anders apologized and I think Jordan will too as they were kind of mean to her after she was very rude to them. I don't want drama and I don't want her feeling uncomfortable and resentful. She has just made us feel like not being around her for a while this week. She was rude about the movie, then she brought these guys over the night of my birthday to drink and they checked us out like we were pieces of meat and when Ashley, Kelsey, and I left, they left too because they weren't going to get anything. It was sickening. We all left with Jordan and went into Kelsey's room to listen to stand-up and music. So there are things that she is doing, perhaps without realizing it, that are upsetting to us.

I hope it blows over.

Today I have class. It is getting cold and cloudy outside and I am not wanting to go, but I will. I need to eat something and check the mail on the way out.

Tomorrow I am planning on breaking in the new hiking boots out at Jack London. Anders really wants to go, so I said I would take him out there. I liked the place well enough and if I'm lucky and my camera comes today, I can try it out there.

I'm off.

I have been so busy I can't even recall what i might want to write. I have possibly never been this busy in my life before. it is awesome and crazy at the same time. I am just trying to keep up with everything and doing a fairly good job so far, except for journal entries, which I am sucking at.

I left Friday for home. Got there in the evening and spent it with my family. It was odd being home and Mom was terribly cranky, but I am not blaming her. I tried to get some much needed sleep, but was woken up at 6 a.m. by Bret getting things ready for the garage sale they were having. I spent Saturday rounding up various things I needed to bring back. Lots of clothes, some random craft things, and a printer. Oh, and rats.

Saturday night I hung out with Derek for a few hours. We had a talk about really breaking up this time and were both crying and feeling shitty. I am confused and sad, but I am trying to realize that I really shouldn't drag it out and possibly screw up his chances of finding something else and being happy and having a family. So if in the future things work out with us, that would be amazing, but I don't know right now and have finally admitted that. We cried and ate pizza and watched Monk and cried some more before i had to leave. It was really hard to leave that night and I felt terrible for doing it. I would have stayed if I hadn't had the rats with me.

So I drove back over here in the middle of the night. I snuck the rats in with my things and spent the night alone in the apartment setting things up. It felt good to be back home here, but I was wishing for some light company. There was a drunken party next door, but it wasn't my speed that night.

Sunday I got up and quickly made a fruit salad and bought a pasta one for the CRM party. I took Wes with me and we met up with everyone there. It was a nice relaxing party. Sitting in Adrian's garden in the sun and chatting about archaeology and other cool things like getting a team together to do the Alcatraz swim . . . Good food from everyone and some insights into the CRM program from our elders.

I brought Wes home and hung out with Jessi and the boys. We went to target and they got Ashley a birthday present. We came back and hung out a little more. I went to bed somewhat early I think, but am not all that certain.

Monday was a hike with Gavin, Jessi, and Anders. It was just going to be Gavin and I, except my green soul could not let Jessi drive a separate car to the place I was going. So I took them along and it was an odd combination. We wandered and got lost and finally found a place to hike some and walked around. It was awkward for me with Jessi and Anders so much younger and apparently trying to use their match-making skills to get us together when he has a girlfriend and I am not really interested.

We came back after the hike and readied everything for Ashley's birthday. She came home soon after and we ran errands and made food. Then she locked herself out of her room and we had to figure out what to do about that. We invited people over, had food and drink, smashed a pinata pretty solidly, and got Ashley drunk. I tried to get drunk all night, but couldn't and was sad. We gave her presents, sang to her, and ate cake. It was a fun night and I think she had a good birthday. I can only home mine is as fun. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet, but will figure it out soon.

The party went pretty late and I woke up even later. No class on Tuesdays, so I hung out and read and watched the parade of class goers. I wrote up some possible theses topics and hung out. We played Trivial Pursuit Pop culture, which is the "dummy" edition apparently. Every question was the obvious answer and they were all pretty easy, though the girls were having a lot of trouble with them. I found it to be super easy. My team still lost, but that's ok. We ordered campus pizza and had a good time.

Today was class. I was so nervous about the these topics discussion, but in the end it was a breeze and very brief because we took a tour of the Northwest Information Center for most of the time. After class the hang out group went to lunch at Popeye's and had chicken. We talked and agreed to have a pirate game night on Friday. We will be playing Liar's Dice, which Gavin has promised to teach us. I am excited.

I have a few more things to get done now and then it's off to Sacramento to hang out with Derek tonight. I'll be heading back here tomorrow afternoon/evening and probably beginning a new party round when I get back.

That's me. Kate, the non-stop party girl . . .

So it's my birthday month now. 25 here I come, apparently.

I have been pone long party jag recently and not able to even sit down at my computer for a few minutes, let alone write anything. And there have been several late nights. Why I am doing this now, I don't know.

Tuesday night the roomies and I went to the craft store to pick up some things. I am making them some knitted items and they picked out yarn for it. I don't mind making things for others and they bought the supplies. I got some things for me too though and have been knitting non-stop.

I was sitting in the living room when a group of people came by to introduce themselves. They invited us to come along. I talked myself into it because even though I was into knitting and hot chocolate, I thought i should meet people. So we went to another door and then to the apartment they were from upstairs and hung out. We had about 20 people there and I met lots of them. They are all fun, nice people. I even met another 25 year old, Jan, who lives downstairs with Jordan. It was a nice evening and I ended up with 2 glasses of wine that Jessi didn't want to drink. She has a guy crushing on her and he's a major wine snob too, but she doesn't like red wine, so handed it to me. We left around 11 because we had class the next day.

Wednesday I had early class. We spent 3 hours discussing what we had read about writing and the fears and worries we have about writing. It was a good class and I like the discussions we have as a group. After class we got the few of us together that had agreed to miniature golf and headed out. We scored a free lunch on campus and then drove over to the Scandia. We played some video games and a round of golf ion which I scored the worst. Then some more games and back to the school.

When I walked in here, there were already people hanging out in the living room, so I just joined in. We sat around and then decided to go to the Farmer's Market in Santa Rosa. So we piled in Jordan's car, Jordan, the roomies, and Anders and headed over there. We had a good time walking around and eating and then decided to run some errands. So we went to Target and I got a blender and then the super market where we picked up some alcohol and other party staples.

When we got back I made margaritas and we started playing card games and getting drunk. I had a couple margaritas, a pina colada, and a screwdriver in pretty quick succession and was feeling pretty good. I ended up getting the crap end of the drinking game too, so got pretty tipsy pretty fast. It was fun. Jordan got a little drunk and brought his keyboard up here and started playing for us. We sat around and talked about all kinds of stuff and listened to the music.

At 2:30 we called it a night, but I couldn't sleep and ended up calling Derek and talking to him, not because I was drunk, but because I just couldn;t sleep. We talked for a couple hours and then I went to bed feeling pretty shitty. I woke up at 9:30 for some un-godly reason and couldn't get back to sleep. I was tired, cranky, and not feeling very solid. But I got up and went walking with Jessi anyway and it felt good to get out and exercise.

Came back and started a long day of reading. I had to finish a book and write a blurb on it. So I sat in the living room all day while various people came and went in our apartment. Jordan came up often and played us music, which I love. I love musicians and he's pretty good and I like listening to it.

We had a small group over last night and they drank, but I didn't. I felt pretty wiped at that point. We played a silly game and then sat around. we had a little in-house drama, but I think it was appropriately solved and I hope it won't come up again. We went to bed around 1 a.m.

Today I am the only one here. I have class at 1 and then am considering going home, but I don't know for sure. Kelsey went to Reno, Jessi is going home, and Ashley is going to house sit in Sacramento. So I would be the only one here tomorrow and Saturday. So I am thinking of heading home, doing laundry and maybe seeing Derek on Saturday and coming home either Saturday night or Sunday morning before the party.

It's so insanely busy here. I can't seem to get a moment when something isn't going on. Luckily my work has been VERY manageable. I think I would be in trouble if it wasn't. Things will slow down in a bit when everyone has to buckle down anyway.

So that's been my crazy week and I am sure it will be a crazy weekend too. I'll try and keep up with it.

Ten days until my birthday.

I am so excited about this internship. I had the first meeting today and it was great. We're going to have so much fun.

We spent today going over a crash course in California History and Pre-history. I knew a lot, actually most of it well, but it won't hurt. We went over the sites we'll be working on and what we might find and how he wants it recorded. We talked about how the course will work and everything and it sounds like a blast. We have a weekend trip to replace the one that was canceled in the summer and I will get paid each day we're there. We might have others and will be working all over the area.

It's a small group, only 7 of us and I know all but two already from proseminar and CA history. We are going to be a tightly knit group very quickly. That's good news for me. It's like having built in friends to hiking and camping with already and they all like archaeology too!

We had a 5 hour session today with a lunch break and will have them for a couple weeks before heading out in the field. I came home and made myself a sandwich and talked to Jessi. When I got out, I walked back here and hung out with the girls and watched tv. I got the book I ordered last week and looked through it. The rest of the night I spent knitting and watching tv, including my favorite, History Detectives.

My knitting project is coming along nicely and is really long. I can't wait to be able to wear it this fall when it is all cold and misty. It was bad enough this morning and it's only the end of August.

Mom and Dad might come over. Mom said they might and then backed out tonight, but I leveraged a little guilt and I think she'll for Dad to come. I just really wanted to see them and I was hoping they'd come tomorrow and bring all my things with them.

I want so badly to bring up the rat question with the roommates, but I'm afraid they'll say no and I don't want that. I was thinking of waiting a little while longer so they'll know me better, but then they might be able to say no more comfortably that way. Dam.

I miss the ratties and I need them here. Plus, Dad doesn;t want them at home. Maybe I can sell that angle to them.

Talked to Kassie for a bit today before her phone cut off. She'll be in Vegas this weekend. She sounds bored in Ohio. I would be too. I spent most of the time telling her about my first week and all the cool things I've been doing. I'll have to call her back in the next couple of days to find out what happened with the phone.

For now, it is fun book time, then bed as late as I want because I have nothing to do tomorrow!

I have been getting out and doing things, which is why I have't been writing.

On Friday I went to my California History class, which was very cool. Of course it's almost needless review, but should be fun and a good way to get me back into school work. The CRM students make up a block of people and we were very talkative and rowdy and I am sure the rest of the class will hate us before long. The teacher had to explain to everyone what we were and why we were there, which was funny.

In class we did some fun things. We looked at a period dress and successive documents to see what we could tell about the person they were about. We got more and more into it, trying to deduce things about the woman who wore the dress and her lifer. She was a young woman in England and was ill with some sort of tumor and having surgery and writing home. Then there was a sweet letter from her husband and then finally a death notice. We were heart broken. Of course we knew she was dead, as it all happened in about 1890, but she died two days after the letter from her husband was written and of the effects of surgery. She was 38 and left behind 3 children. We felt like we knew her at that point and it was very sad. I loved the exercise. It's a lot of what I get out of my genealogy research. From the several documents throughout a person's life, you can glean a lot of information and get to know a little about them.

We also made a funny time line of California history and the CRM people problematized the date for starting because we really can't say exactly and we also can't say for sure how people got here. It was a very fun class session. At the end we watched a movie on Pomo basket weavers which I've seen before.

After class we agreed to meet at a nearby pizza place and broke up. I brought Wes, one of the other CRM people, back here to grab my keys and get the car. We drove over to the pizza place and sat around until the others got there. We all had food and drinks and chatted about the program and other things. They all seem like good people and I think I will like hanging out with them. Most of us there, about 5 will have every class together, the internship, writing, and the history one.

After we left the pizza place, I took Wes with me to the bookstore off campus to pick up books for history. I thought I had escaped the painful book thing, but it's not so. I have 5 books, and 2 readers to pick up. We bought our books and then I dropped him off at home and came back here. I settled in and talked to Kelsey for a long time.

Yesterday we got up in the mid-morning and got ready to head out for a hike. I was thinking of going to meet my Mom in SF to see an art exhibit, but I felt like I wanted to hike more and get out around here. So we drove up to Jack London State Park and walked around. We saw his grave and the burned out house he built but never lived in. We did a small hike which I wished had been more strenuous. Jessi was hurting from even the small walk we took though and I realize that she is not in great shape. Kelsey was fine and I was too. I need more than a little stroll to work me out and I feel like it wasn't worth the day fee to just walk around. But we had a nice time and talked about a lot of stuff. They asked me all about my rats and I am still hoping to convince them to let me bring them here. They haven't said no, but I am worried that Jessi won't want them and that they might be worried about getting in trouble. I hope I can get them to see how great they are. I really miss them. :(

After the hike we drove into Sonoma and walked around. We sampled some cheese and I took them to the yarn store. We came back here after that and ate and showered. There is poison oak everywhere in this area, so I will have to be extremely careful. I do not want to end up with a nasty case of that again.

We were just sitting around with the door open when Jordan popped in and invited us to watch a movie with him and some other guys. Jessie went right away and I waited for Kelsey. We were confused about the room though and ended up at the wrong one and had to track the room down by listening for Jessi's loud voice. We sat around watching the guys play video games for a bit. I felt like I was in high school and it was sort of silly. After video games one of the guys put in a DVD of Jim Gaffigan, which was hilarious. I LOVE the guy and his stuff is so funny. We were all cracking up.

After the show we came back and all headed to bed. I stayed up reading for a couple hours though. I read homework during the day and fun stuff at night.

This morning I slept in. I got up late and made myself breakfast. Jessi wanted us to go to the seafood festival in Bodega, but I was not wanting to spend any money and feeling lazy so I begged off. Instead I lay around here. I edited photos and put up the new ones from the hike yesterday on my site. I read some and showered.

I did some homework reading in the living room and Jordan came back over and sat around with us for awhile. Jessi and Ashley went off to the beach to watch the sun set and drink some wine and took Jordan with them awhile ago. Kelsey is asleep and I think I will go make myself some food.

Tomorrow is the first meeting of the internship and I am excited. It will be the first hands on stuff I've done in a really long time.

So, off to make some chicken and rice.