American Red Crock

This week seems to be heading seriously downhill since yesterday. I'm feeling so down for a number of reasons. Navigate away from this page now if you're not in the mood to read an itemized list of my woes:

1.) I'm tired of working. I couldn't possibly be more thankful for my new, regular position, but I'm ready to go back to being a student. Of course I enjoy the free time but I feel so...I don't know...unproductive. At least you're constantly busy in school so when a break comes, you can truly enjoy it with other on-break student friends. *sigh* Which leads me to...

2.) I'm so sick of watching TV. I've never been a TV-watcher and I get antsy and a headache after watching more than an hour. It's just that I feel so exhausted after work, the easiest thing to do is flip on the boob tube and take to the couch. It doesn't help that there isn't much to do during wintertime in Ann Arbor that doesn't require money (of which I am in short supply). I have barely done any of the things I wanted to accomplish during my year off like bettering my Spanish, volunteering, or readreadreading. My goal for this weekend is to find a new place to volunteer at least one evening a week (the Humane Society's hours just didn't mesh with mine) and/or plan out more activities to do in lieu of watching TV. Josh and I have become mindless drones that find ourselves watching wretched programming like "The Ashlee Simpson Show." Uck.

3.) I really miss hanging out with my family on a regular basis. We're approaching the halfway point of my sister's stay abroad (5 months down, 5 to go) and although I saw her in December, I'm missing her more now than ever. My mom is still in India taking care of our house and my dad is always traveling and/or working so I don't get to see him very often. We all do a great job of keeping in touch via email, but I just feel kind of lonely lately. My dad was in Mexico this week and pointed out again how we'd become a 4-country family (Dad = south of the border, Me = home of the brave, Mom = the subcontinent, Tanya = vacay in Bangkok, Thailand). That thought makes me a little more sad than giggly these days.

4.) Cash-money sure is in short supply right now and I can't stop worrying about my FAFSA. I'm trying my hardest to pay down all of my bills before dental school starts and I must hand it to myself for being quite disciplined and making good headway on my finances. It'll sure be nice when my paycheck starts fattening up in a few short weeks and hopefully Josh can give me a FAFSA mini-workshop. I've never done one before...!

5.) Finally, I was deferred from donating blood to the American Red Cross yesterday...for the FOURTH TIME! I've never met someone as willing to give blood as myself that is so undesirable as a donor. I swear, I was turned down the first time for being too young, the second time for having low blood sugar, the third time for having gotten a tattoo within the year, and yesterday for having gone to India and Mexico, both "malaria regions," within the year. Despite having received all of the necessary immunizations and malaria pill sequence, I was still ineligible. I respect that they want to keep the blood supply uncontaminated, but imagine how it makes me feel that I can't even give my blood away! Needless to say, I politely declined the "I TRIED" sticker. This sucker is never trying again...that's for sure.

Hmph. Now that I've worked myself up into a tizzy, perhaps I'll try to listen to some music to lift my spirits. It'll be hard to shake this mood (a trip to Old Navy didn't even do the trick yesterday), but I have to remind myself that the weekend is on the horizon.

xoxox