Mar 28, 2010

New Roommate Found (I Hope)!

So remember how my roommate more or less kicked me out for next year? I finally found a solution to the problem! Awhile back I told my landlords that I'd like to have my own two-bedroom in our complex, and they had one open for me. I already signed the lease and put down my deposit, so the next step was to find a roommate.

And... DONE! I was emailing people on Craigslist who had put up ads requesting housing (you can better weed out the crazies that way), and found a really cool girl. She came to visit last Sunday, we had coffee Wednesday, and she's signing her half of the lease this Wednesday! She seems really fun and easy to talk to, but there is one problem. Her mother is a freaking nutcase. She came with to see my current place to get an idea, since it's only 2 doors down. Cut to her trying to break into my neighbor's apartment so she could see what his bathroom looked like. And going on and on about how the landlords completely have to gut and redo the kitchen before we will move in there. And rip out the carpets in the bedroom. Like, seriously?!?! What the hell does she think the landlords will say to that? I'm imagining something along the lines of... F*ck off! (after hysterical laughter).

I really like the girl, and am totally cool with having her for a roommate, I just hope that her mom won't push her around and convince her to make all these crazy demands. It seems ok because when we had coffee (sans mom) on Wed, I told her I wasn't comfortable doing that so I won't ruin my good relationship with the landlords, and she said she understood. I just hope she doesn't go bat-ass crazy when we meet with them on Wed, or else I'll be in the market for a roommate again.

Mar 27, 2010

Slightly in Shock

Sorry I've been so crap about updating! Well, an update:

I am going to Italy!!!! For real, the approval letter came on the 15th (I know, I know, I'm soooo late). But starting June 20th, I will be basking in the warm Italian sunshine, eating pasta and drinking good wine. :) And I just bought my plane ticket!! I'm really excited, but I am in shock as well. The flight was $1,400. Yes, you read that right-- FOURTEEN HUNDRED DOLLARS. I've never paid more than $700 for a flight IN MY LIFE, and this is double that. I'm super perturbed, actually. Guess that's what I get for flying in the middle of the summer. That's only part of the problem, though. The other part is that I have to fly home from Reggio, a small airport, which jacks up the price as well. I have to be back at school the very next day after I get back (my lease ends), so I can't take the time to travel up to Rome and leave from there. Balls.

I just have to keep remembering that sunshine though, then maybe I won't be so stressed... :)

Mar 8, 2010

Man, living out your dreams can be expensive :-P

In only 7 more days I'll find out for sure if I get to go to Italy or not!! I'm already registered for classes there and already got my summer tuition assistance approved, but it won't all be formalized until March 15. I assume I'll be accepted but you all know what they say about assuming... haha.

I know I told you guys before how this trip will be hella expensive, but I was kind of hiding the details. So here's the truth: it's going to cost me about $5,100. Yes, you read that right... five THOUSAND. *sigh* Basically, I have enough in my travel fund + my tax refund to cover the program fee ($2,695) and the flight if I can get a good deal($1,000). But I still need to scrape up about $1,000 for food, going out, and souvenirs/clothes/whatever.

But I have a plan! Well, two plans:
a) Sublet my apartment for June and July. Finding someone is already in the works, but no biters yet. If I can do this, then the only bills I'll have to pay for those two months are my car and student loan payments.
b) We get a scholarship every summer from the department... at least $3,500 but sometimes more. Even if I use $1,000 out of it, I'll still have leftover money to refill my EF like I plan to.

Mar 4, 2010

Update of sorts

Sorry I've completely given up on this blog lately, but I'm STILL sick and feeling crappy. Mono is a bitch, to say the least. I was even jaundiced last week because my liver was in such bad shape, so at least THAT's improved. But as far as the mono goes, my glands are even more swollen than before, my throat hurts more than before... it's like I'm going backwards! I'm so completely over it at this point. At least spring break is next week so I can just spend the whole week and SLEEEEEP. Boring, but glorious!

In other news, I'm starting to run participants for my experiment, and it's going great!! So far I have 14 people signed up, which is a big enough sample size for the conference I'm attending. I need a few more people to make it big enough for a publishable article though, so we'll see if I can get them. It's a little hard when I don't have any money to offer them to lure them in, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed!