Still no dice on the job search. Blargh. I tend to go in cycles about this whole process, and right now I am in the mellow, zen stage of the cycle rather than the mega-anxiety freak out stage, which I guess is good for the time being. Not that I don't want someone to respond to me and let me have an interview at least, but I'm not stressed at the moment.

In other news: WHY WON'T IT STOP RAINING?!?! Right now it's starting to thunder, which I wouldn't mind, except that it has be raining all the time for what feels like a month. I don't know if it's actually be that long, but it surely has rained a lot here. Earlier this afternoon, I had to drive somewhere, and I was shocked because it was actually sunny for once, but then of course we had a big, downpour sun-shower for a little while, which was ridiculous. Then, miraculously, it was suddenly clear skies and sunny, so I decided to sit out on our back porch and read. I've wanted to do this everyday for a while now, but I couldn't due to the near constant rain showers.

But of course I couldn't last very long outside because of my tendency to develop a sunburn even at the mere thought of direct sunlight and because of the fact that it was so humid that I was sweating through my clothes just sitting there. Which isn't really necessary for my life right now.

Oh also, I'm super bored and I've decided to reread the Harry Potter series. I've realized you can get a lot of reading done when you have absolutely NOTHING else to do and can't leave the house as much as you would like.

BIG NEWS: I ACTUALLY WENT OUT LAST NIGHT AND SOCIALIZED.

Honestly, I haven't gone out since I've moved home. I mean, I've left the house and I've hung out with Kim (the only person who wants to watch hockey with me, ever it seems) but I haven't actually had a night out because usually all I like to do is complain about the local bars and how lame they are and how I don't care about any of the people there blah blah blah. But then Kim pointed out the following things:

1. We are bored.
2. We are, for all intents and purposes, each other's only friend (ok, we have other friends, just not here). So maybe we should attempt to make new friends/talk to other human beings so we don't get tired of each other/want to kill one another. That last part did happen once, so we try to avoid it.
3. If we are both stuck at home, we might as well make the most of it.
4. HOCKEY ENDED WHAT ELSE ARE WE GOING TO DO WITH OUR TIME?* :(  We're really sad about this one.

So there I was, bar hopping. I spent the ride there complaining about how I miss being in the city, and going on and on about all my favorite bars downtown, and how even if the bars were totally lame I could get on the train, go back uptown, and just go to An Beal (FAVORITE RIVERDALE LOCATION), etc. Then, becuase we have no idea what goes on, we went from bar to bar trying to scope out the scene. There's this one bar called Bourbon Street, and while there, I naturally went on and on about how I've been to the real Bourbon Street, blah blah blah, New Orleans is the best. I also ran into a bunch of girls I went to elementary and middle school with, some of whom I played CYO basketball with back in the day (we were the worst team in the league. Every. Single. Year.).

We also went to the one bar where a majority of the dudes there were taller than Kim and I. This never happens (idk, we're giants or something).

I think the worst part of the evening was when we left and I started craving my usual wrap from Jasper's Deli, BUT CLEARLY I COULD NOT GET IT. I miss living like <100 yards from that place, even with the sketchy guys who worked there who obviously did/dealt coke on the side. It was a 24 hour deli and it was the most glorious place in the world after a night out. Possibly, this is the worst part of having moved home.

This all proves I need to move back to New York City, mostly BECAUSE IT IS THE GREATEST PLACE IN THE WORLD!!!!

*WOO PENGUINS WOO. I've always kind of liked them, even if they are in our division and I often spend time wishing for their downfall. I like basically everyone on that team. Plus they were playing the Red Wings, and I'm not a fan. I watched all the games with Kim's family, because they have a big tv/semi-understand our undying insanity. We're really insane.

However, now hockey's over. We've been fine so far since it just ended, and honestly I needed a break, but I think in a few days to a week we'll be whining and complaining about lack of hockey and basically annoying everyone around us. Good times.

Moved out of my apartment and now I'm back home. Meh. It hasn't been too bad so far, which in this case means no one has gotten into a screaming match with anyone else. At this point my room doesn't have much in it, and looks like a storage space, and I will probably leave it that way as inspiration not to feel too comfortable, find a job, and move out. I don't want to be here since I hate Rockland County with a fiery passion.

I'm going to a Yankee game tomorrow with my sister. She was supposed to go with a friend, but that friend ended up taking summer courses and can't go, so therefore I get to attend. I haven't seen the new stadium yet, so it should be interesting. I am excited, since I love going to games of any kind, and I haven't been to a Yankee game in a while. Also the Yankees are my favorite team (even though I technically hate them and all the stand for, but whatever). Oh and they're playing the Rangers, which happens to be the name of my favorite team in all the world. We are sitting in the bleacher seats so it should be awesome.

Also, hockey is almost over and that is sad for me. Go Penguins (because I irrationally hate the Red Wings ever so much)!

And so on Sunday I did indeed graduate from college, and it was totally anticlimactic and boring. Oh well. Now I have a degree. I still don't have any job or anything, but I do have a degree. Woo?

At least I got to wear some awesome dresses at graduation and senior formal.

I then spent the rest of the week doing a lot of nothing.

Then today I decided to come home for the night. Kim is having a graduation thing, I need to do laundry anyway, and I figured I could use this opportunity to move some stuff out of the apartment. Here is what I find upon my return home:

My parents repainted my bedroom. It is still pink, but a darker shade of pink. The took down everything from my walls to do so. This includes my Titanic poster, my beloved Michael Jordan poster, the 245134534 other things I had on my wall, and other things like that. Years and years of memories and inside jokes. They didn't hang anything back up, except of course for a crucifix that has been hanging in my room since First Holy Communion, back in 1995. It used to hang above my window and to be honest I forgot it was there. Until now, since my mom didn't put it back above the window, but in a middle of an empty section of wall. It's a little weird to be honest, but sometimes my mom likes to pretend we are super religious Catholics (really the only time any of us have been to mass this year was the Baccalaureate Mass the morning of graduation).

They also threw a lot of stuff out, which I don't actually miss since I couldn't tell you what was thrown out except for one item in particular. THEY THREW OUT MY BED. Apparently they did it weeks ago and didn't tell me. Awesome. I mean I'll have a bed when I move back here, but it just wish they had given me some warning or something.

Now I have to find something to do for the rest of the day to entertain myself. Normally I would just lounge in my room and read a book while waiting for my laundry to be done/until I have to get ready for Kim's but I can't BECAUSE THERE IS NO FURNITURE.

Hello world!

My room is a mess and I really should begin the process of throwing shit away so that I can move out in a couple of weeks. Whatever, not important.

I got my nails done. The color matches approximately nothing, but I don't really care (I mean, I did pick out the random dark red/brown color). Some lady at the nail place told me I had beautiful nails. Which is nice to know that my decision to stop biting them actually paid off.

I think my phone interview went well! I don't want to get my hopes up too high, but I have to do a second interview with them early next week. Crossing my fingers.

OH AND ALSO: I FINISHED COLLEGE. SUCK IT EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM, I AM OUT.

Tonight I will celebrate by watching hockey (guilt free for the first time in weeks! Go Penguins!) and going to the bar all night. Because I am nothing if not classy.

CLOWN STATUE! Christine and I LOOOOOOVE clown statues! No one else will think this is as hilarious as we do.

I am cracking up just thinking about this and the fact that we discussed it at length at the bar.

OH GOD OH GOD I HAVE A PHONE INTERVIEW ON TUESDAY. Really nervous about this.

Here's the thing, I've been applying to AmeriCorps for some different positions in New Orleans. I love that city, and I've wanted to move there for about two and a half years since I first went there on a service trip. I want to work with a non-profit focused on community engagement or coordinating volunteer efforts. I'm freaking out because I have no idea if I am even a good candidate for any of the programs I'm interested in. I just want to move there and do the kind of work I am interested in.

Needless to say my parents hate this idea. Well, my mom doesn't really like it, mostly because I won't be making any money. And I'll be in a city she doesn't know. I haven't really talked about this to my dad. Because he will just yell at me, or worse roll his eyes at my plan because he seems to think everything I do is ridiculous and treats me like an absurd 9 year old.

My friend Katie lives there and keeps telling me I should just move down this summer and find a job once I am there. Because she is looking for a new roommate anyway.

I really don't think I could move to a new city with no job.

But first I have to get through interviews because I could end up not going anywhere.

Also, I cannot for the life of me finish my sociology paper. I have about 7 pages to go.

Oh hey, so I had my last class as an undergrad. No big deal. College is almost over.

I wanted to say "my last class FOREVER" but to be honest I have no idea what's going to happen in the future. This is the first time in my life where I don't actually know what is going to happen next. I mean, I (probably) won't be starting school again next semester, I still don't have a job, and I really don't have much of a plan. And yet, I feel almost excited. After having a meltdown about not having a job, for some reason I've just become really zen about everything and now I am thinking that all of this is just going to be an adventure. Maybe "Kaitlin and the Quest to Move Out of her Parents' Home" or something similar.

Or maybe the absolute terror I should be feeling hasn't sunk in yet? It's hard to say.

Either way, college is almost over. The culmination of nearly 18 (!!!) years of education is almost at hand. It's strange that at one point I was a 4 year-old in Brooklyn in 1991, super excited for Pre-K to begin. Seriously, I basically tried to run ahead of my mom, who was walking to slowly, and finally I turned to her and said, "What are you waiting for, there's no time to loose!" Man those were the days.

I do still have 10 pages to write for this paper. And no interest in doing so. Plus it's my last day of class AND Cinco de Mayo so clearly I am not going to end up being particularly productive.

Ok. Two more days of class. Two presentations and two final exams. Three short one page writes ups about skyscrapers. One final research paper. And then I am done with school! Or at least undergrad! 14 days until graduation! Ahhhh!

The only thing worrying me is the research paper. Naturally, it's not going well because I cannot concentrate. When the Rangers got eliminated, I figured that maybe this meant I would be able to spend more time doing actual work. (This came after I had gone through all the stages of grief and made it to acceptance. I still miss the Rangers in my life though.) Instead, I have dedicated my time to making Blingees of whatever catches my fancy, watching youtube clips of Friends, continuing to talk about hockey, and basically going to Fenwick's until 4am. Alright, I have gotten some work done, but not really as much as I had hoped. Typing this right now is clearly not helping my cause.

Also, I got my dress for senior formal from Cache. This is it right here.

Ok back to work. I hate the library.

This week was my semi-annual meltdown. It involved crying for 20 minutes on the phone to my mom after a career fair on my campus.  This one was about my lack of employment opportunities post-graduation. I am well aware that most people are dealing with the same issue. Whatever, I don't want to get into my issues right now, because I'll end up rambling for a while and I don't feel like being depressed/depressing right now.

I feel better now. Possibly because it is sunny and it's almost warm. FINALLY. I have been so sick of the BS chilly weather all April. Of course this probably means we will have a week of my favorite spring weather before moving to an epic heat wave or something. Oh well, bring it on! Except that the forecast is for more crappy weather next week.

Oh hey, Mets game tonight! I've never actually been to a Mets game before. The are playing my beloved Brewers, but I will have to cheer for the Mets, being a New York area team I don't have animosity for. It was a great day when I realized I had no reason to actually hate the Mets! It should be really fun and I can't wait to see Citi Field.  Maybe when I win the lottery I'll go to the new Yankee stadium. Or if I can get my hands on some bleacher tickets, which so far hasn't worked out for me. Seriously, SUCK IT, YANKEES. I CANNOT AFFORD YOUR STUPIDITY. SUCK IT HARD.

NICK SWISHER IS THE GREATEST PITCHER ON THE NEW YORK YANKEES ROSTER!!!!

He is also the greatest member of my ~*fantasy team*~. I feel I should get points or whatever for his dominant pitching performance. I only get points for his hitting.

Also he actually seems happy and has a personality and OH YEAH he's actually doing really well. I like him.

I had a pretty good Holy Thursday, not that I actually observed Holy Thursday because I am just that terrific of a Catholic.

First, I taught Andrew the fine art of lacrosse defense. Which ok, I'm not really some expert but he truly knew NOTHING about it even though he is assistant coach, so I was basically the Lord Jesus of lax right at that moment. It was such a nice day for it too, so we spent an hour and a half or so just throwing around and what have you.

After that, people actually came over to watch the Rangers with me. This was exciting because usually the only people who will watch with me are Christine and Maura and only because they have nothing else to do. Generally I watch alone, and I like to yell weird things at the tv. I was not aware that I did this, until it was pointed out that the players cannot actually hear me speaking to them. Maybe I should work on having more human interaction. Anyway, this was very important because the Rangers FINALLY AFTER 81 GAMES clinched a playoff spot.

When the game was over, I had an adventure to attend too, so I repeatedly hinted that my guests needed to leave, because they had decided not to adventure along with me. However, THEY REFUSED TO LEAVE FOR ABOUT A HALF HOUR until I finally straight up told them they had to get out of my apartment. Here's the thing: my friend Kim was at the actual game and I was going to go meet her and go bar hopping or something and then she would stay over at my apartment. I didn't want her to have to be sitting in a bar by herself for a really long time waiting for me, which is why I wanted to be able to leave and had to kick people out.

So I get downtown and meet up with Kim and it was totally super awesome. At the same place where Kim had gone were none other than Scott Gomez and Colton Orr, two of the Rangers. We didn't get to talk to them for various reasons but it was still really cool. Then they left and we realized we had no actual interest in this particular location (everyone was probably 20 years older than us), so we left and went to another bar nearby. While at the second bar, Maura came by to hang out and we met a nice Canadian guy who bought us drinks.

The best part of this whole evening occured after we left the bar. Maura was driving us back to the Bronx, and naturally we got stuck in a traffic jam at 2:30 am. At first we were all annoyed but then for some reason we and everyone around us decided to just get out of their cars and hang out on the West Side Highway. It was like a block party basically. Minus the food. Eventually the traffic started moving and these three guys had gotten out of their cab, but the cab wouldn't let them back in, so one of them is chasing the cab and kicking it and it was one of the stupidest things I've ever seen. I just laughed all the way home.

Also, Easter happened but I did nothing except watch the Yankees and then the last regular season Rangers game.

Oh and hey! I'm going to a Mets game on Friday night!

Oh and hey again! I've officially become totally ridiculous and I have a fantasy baseball team. This is all Lisa's fault. Naturally I am taking this shit way to seriously because I want to win. Whatever, the Awesome Awesomeness is (are?) totally World Series caliber.
( here is my team )
I have no idea how I ended up with so many Yankees. Really though, best team ever.

Oh sweet Jesus, it's baseball season! I've pretty much ignored the existence of baseball for quite sometime now, but now I'm suddenly super excited for the season. In fact I've spent the afternoon flipping between the Mets and the Texas Rangers waiting for the Yankees to start. Which they are about to. Right now. Woo! Hi Derek Jeter.

The Yankees are playing my mortal enemies, the Baltimore Orioles. Some Oriole bastards laughed at me one time six years ago, and I have hated them with an irrational passion ever since. Suck it Orioles.

Also, I am trying to buy some tickets to see a baseball game here in New York perhaps, and the Yankees keep trying to sell me some $900 tickets. Seriously? Stop being idiots. No. I hope no one buys your tickets, and this is coming from a fan. Stupid Yankees. I just want some normal priced tickets. But apparently the cheap tickets for the near future are sold out or something. I have no interest in spending more than $23 dollars, and  stubhub is failing me. So, screw that, I'll go to a Mets/Brewers game or something. I just want to see some baseball.

In other news, I was in Boston all weekend. I witnessed the Rangers losing and the Bruins clinching the Eastern Conference, which was totally lame and the Boston fans made fun of us. It was pretty awkward being the only Rangers fans in our whole section. I've never been to a game where I was not supporting the home team. It was still really fun though and my sister enjoyed her first ever NHL hockey game! If only the stupid team had won.

And for some reason I went to the movies twice while I was up there. I ended up seeing Adventureland and I Love You, Man. I thought both were really funny and I liked them a lot.

Now, more baseball until I have to go to class.

Hi. I'm on a bus to Boston. I'm on my way to see my sister for her birthday/the Rangers v. Bruins game tomorrow. I've never been to hockey game or any sporting even really, outside of New York. This will be wild and crazy. Possibly. I'm not even staying with my sister in Boston, since her friend, who is coming to the game with us, is staying in my sister's dorm room, and there is no room for me. Idiot. Luckily I have my friend Lisa in Boston who I can stay with because she's nice and doesn't mind me crashing there. I hope Lisa and I get to go to the bar that has $1 beers, because that is kind of glorious.

Right now I'm really excited. And not just for Rangers (I'm actually really anxious about that game since the team is really up and down and makes me nervous). Last night I went out to my favorite local bar to meet up with some friends. I was talking to my friend Andrew about what he's been up to, since I haven't seen him since my birthday (almost a month ago). It turns out that for some reason, even though he really knows nothing about it, he is now a middle school boys' lacrosse coach. This is even more excited than the time he told me he was the middle school hockey coach.

I played lacrosse for six years! Seventh grade until senior year of high school! And then he went on to say that he really had no idea what he was doing and that he was mostly working with the defense. Which is ridiculous because I played defense! I think I may have clapped a little bit. And so he decided that I was going to help him out and teach him lacrosse. Of course I went into a whole spiel about how I haven't played in four years and how women's lacrosse is a lot different than men's. But this didn't matter because I obviously know more than he does. So I get to do some lacrosse next week!

I'm kind of geeking out over this (because I totally would geek out about lacrosse of all things). I've even asked my dad to dig up my lacrosse stuff. Oh, this is going to be wonderful. I really have missed playing lacrosse. The last time I played was May 2005 when my team lost in the first round of playoffs to a team that was really good. It was such a good game and was a really tough loss. After I got off the field (I played the whole game) I sat on the sideline and cried.

But now I get to do something lacrosse-y again and it'll be totally epic

More pictures from my trip!

( Hola )
Basically I would like to be back in the Dominican Republic right now.

I have a bit of pink eye in both eyes at the moment, but luckily I have penicillin and eye drops which is making thing better. On the flight home from Santo Domingo, my right eye was straight up oozing and it was horribly disgusting.

DR was amazing! This trip was based around cultural immersion, so our group was split up into groups of 2 and we got to live in the homes of families in a neighborhood in San Pedro de Macoris.

I want to share some of the pictures from my trip. There's a lot so I'll probably do two entries.

( Dominican Experience )
More pictures to come in the next entry.

Back from the Dominican Republic! It was an amazing week.

I think I somehow contracted pink eye!

More about all this later!

Partying all weekend is exhausting, and I remembered why I usually don't go out on consecutive nights. However, it was my 22nd birthday, so I felt that this was necessary. Plus I had fun, so it worked out well.

For my party on Saturday night, I baked my own birthday cake, which is apparently weird. I didn't mind doing it, plus I was the one throwing the party, so I didn't see an issue. I did realize really late that we actually had not birthday candles, so I ended up blowing out some lighters that people held in front of me. It was possibly the most poorly organized birthday party ever, but people had fun.

HOWEVER, I lost an hour of birthday celebrating because of dumb Daylight Savings Time falling on my birthday this year. I only had 23 hours this year. What's the deal with that? FAIL.

The actual day was fine. Kim and I went to the Rangers game that I have been talking about since September or so. The day they released the schedule, I noted a game on my birthday and told my parents that if they were going to get me anything for my birthday I wanted to go to that game. And now I've gone to the game, so I can stop talking about it soon. But not just yet, because: Game was awesome!!!!!! OH MY GOD. There were moments (in the third period, mostly) where I was totally anxious because the Bruins had tied up the game and things weren't looking good, but then suddenly Zherdev scored a goal and then I knew it would be ok. Until Avery got called for interference with 1:22 left and then I wanted to die again, but then they made it through and won, 4-3. And I think I may be a little obsessed with Nik Antropov. HE'S SO HUGE and he scored a goal and was 1st star. Also Scott Gomez had a power play goal and my boy Ryan Callahan also scored! Guh. I do love this team.

[Incidentally, my icon makes me sad since they traded Prucha last week. To Phoenix. WHYY.]

Also this week I found out that I get to be in the sociology honors society. I guess I'm very smart.

AND OH GOD THREE DAYS UNTIL DOMINICAN REPUBLIC!

It's so nice right now! It's sunny and it's 61 degrees outside, so I'm sitting on my bed with the window open just because I can. So I'm basically in a really good mood.

I'm also in a good mood because last night I went out for Phase 1 of Birthday Weekend '09. A bunch of us went downtown to a bar called O'Flaherty's, which was really nice. The combination of people who went was nice, because three different groups of my friends were represented and I think everyone had a good time. I was excited because my friend Christina from high school came down and my friend Kim is spending the weekend too. When we got there, we sat next to a table and one of the women there was also celebrating her birthday, even though her birthday is on Sunday (like me!). They had all these beads, so they gave me a bunch to wear. I thought that was fun. Also, everyone bought me beer which was a plus. And DJ and Vanessa made the musician who was playing sing Happy Birthday to me.

Today, my family is coming down to 1. Drop of stuff I need for DR 2. Give me my birthday present (the Rangers tickets I've been talking about for months) 3. Take me (and Kim) to lunch! Luckily for them, I'm not even hung over so we can all be pleasant and happy.