Summer's almost over.

I can't believe it.

Let me see if I can do this chronologically.

On my birthday, I traveled back home from Chris'. We stopped at Tim Horton's, which I must say is a small highlight. We got home and went out to dinner with my parents. We went to my favorite Japanese restaurant. :) Salmon sashimi and miso soup. Yum! On the way home, my tummy hurt, so when I got home, I just crawled into bed and chilled for a while. When I came down, my parents gave me my birthday presents, and we had pie. Naturally. I got a new alarm clock from my mom. I'm really happy about it. Now I can listen to a CD to fall asleep instead of having my computer play the music. For some reason, when I do that, the screen stays on all night, which I don't like. So, problem solved. My dad also gave me some money, The Who's "Endless Wire", and the DVD "The Kids Are Alright". Yay!

The following Sunday, I went to a Grad pool party for my friend Kaylyn. It was pretty chill. :) We hung out in the pool and talked about college. Later that day, Chris got me.

Tuesday, we went to Maine. Saco, to pick up Dan, and then to Portland. We walked around the city a bit. We went into a comic shop, a candy store, a wine and cigar shop, and a small adult shop. (The adult shop had incense that smelled like Ramune! Way too damn cool! I didn't get any, though.) Chris and Dan got tattoos! They got trees that hold a bowl of flames. It's supposed to represent a chalice. They came out really well! The tattoo artist was also very friendly.

I believe the guys made the appointment for four o'clock. Dan went first. Downstairs from the tattoo parlor, there's a hookah bar. I couldn't get in, though, because I didn't have a valid photo ID to verify that I'm 18. I was really upset. This was supposed to be one of the awesome things about turning 18. So I went back up to watch Dan get his tattoo and sulk while the others did stuff.

I think Dan and Derek came in while Chris was getting his tat done, or about to. They whispered to each other, and told me to stay put where I was.

Later, just when Chris' tattoo was being finished, he just about passed out. The tattoo artist asked me to run out and get him a candy bar. So I did, and Chris munched on it. His blood sugar was hella low.

After we were done at the parlor, my friends told me that they were going to try to buy a hookah. Before that, we got dinner at this place called Henry VIII's. Oh my word, they have roast beef sandwiches down to an art. All I had was a plain roast beef sandwich with some au jus, and it has to be one of the best sandwiches I've ever eaten. When we were done, we trekked about Portland, looking for a place that'd sell us a hookah. We found one on the edge of the city.

I gotta say, while we were walking back to the car, everyone but Kevin and I smoked cigars that they bought. It was a sight. A group of young adults, and by young I mean none of us older than 21, smoking cigars.

Back at the camp where Dan works, we tried the hookah out with some blackberry tobacco. It was so much fun! I felt like a dragon, blowing smoke out of my nose. The hookah's name is Mjolnir, like Thor's hammer. The different hoses have names of mythological creatures, except for one. It's named after a favorite adult of ours in the UU community.

We got back hella late, but it was fun. :)

Wednesday we saw The Cat Empire at Lupo's in Providence. They were awesome! They got everyone dancing. :D They didn't do much in terms of banter, which was a little unfortunate, but they're still incredible. I highly suggest checking them out. Their website is www.thecatempire.com

Fast forward to Friday. Got to therapy late. Chris left immediately. My mom hasn't seen the tattoo yet. :D

Saturday and Sunday I hung out with Abby and Sam. We saw "The Simpsons Movie", which was pretty funny. Then we slept over at Sam's. We tried to do s'mores over this little grill thing Sam bought. It worked for a little while, then the fire just kept dying. And I fell out of my chair.

I believe on Tuesday morning, I got a call from a woman at UMass. Back during orientation, I applied for jobs at the student center and events office. Well, I'm pretty sure the woman was calling from the events office, and I was one of the people chosen for a job there! :D I'm really excited. I'd get to move in a week early and use that week for training. It sounds way too cool. I'm not so sure about specifics just yet, though, but I'll be getting them by e-mail in the coming weeks.

Yesterday I went out. My mom, Abby, and I had something to take care of. Then Abby and I went to Payless, where holy crap I got new shoes. Lemme tell ya, I haven't bought new shoes since 8th or 9th grade. Not everyday shoes, at least. These things are hella spiffy. They be's here. I also got sheets! Here and here. Yay dorm sheets!

Other than all of this, I've just been laying around, melting. :) Oh! And waiting for housing information from UMass. What the hell, I wanna know who my roommate is, and where I'm rooming. As far as I can tell, all of we UMD 2011 students are anxious about it.

By the way, Jon is not a dork. I just wanted to let the internet know.

Alright, that should be good for now. :)

More later,
~*Pie