Life has gone on even though I've gone silent about it recently. It's not that nothing noteworthy has happened; I simply don't have the interest or the energy anymore to sit down, sift through my thoughts and write. Truthfully, I don't have the energy for much of anything these days. All work, no money-- the summer has not gone much like how I hoped it would and there's only three weeks of it left. I expected to return to school with a comfortable profit but at this rate it looks like I'll be spending another semester simply trying to keep my head above water.

A couple weeks ago I finally got to meet Matt's friend William when he ducked into Athens one last time before moving out to California. He's a genuinely sweet and friendly guy, and hopefully Matt and I will be able to visit him out west. Also, Charlie has gotten settled into Athens from New York City to start grad school here at UGA in the fall. He hung around town for about a week before heading off last week for a month-long, cross-country odyssey. Right now he is either still in New Orleans or heading out toward California, I'm not sure which. Whichever it is, I bet he's having a blast (hours and hours of uneventful driving aside).

Repairs on my old place are still ongoing. Except for my room, which is a very deep blue, the realtor had the bright idea of painting every single wall a creepy, flesh-like peach color. I imagine that that color, along with the heap of furniture in the middle of the living room that I have yet to bring over or get rid of, has some part in the fact that it hasn't sold yet. Now that I'm settled so nicely here I barely even think about the old place, which is both foolish and dangerous. If I don't get all my loose ends tied up there I know it's going to become a giant hassle later on.

Pearl, the greyhound which my Dad and stepmom have had for six years, had to be put down about a week ago. She took a bad turn a few weeks ago and they tried desperately to help her, but her liver failed and she simply gave up eating. They loved her dearly and neither of them took it very well; I can't even imagine how hard it was for them to do it. Three days later, their house was burglarized and most of my stepmother's jewelry-- the only heirlooms she had from her family-- was stolen. It makes my pulse race with fury just to think about it. I know the thieves won't be caught but I still hope for it daily, as much for my stepmother to get the jewelry back as for them to be jailed, slaughtered, whatever.

Almost time for bed. Waking up at 5:45am five days a week has yet to approach anything near easy.

Oh my, eleven days without an update. The weekend before last I made my official move to Matt's place, where I'm now living full time. Since then I've moved over about 90% of my things, we've set up a wireless cable network and I've set up most of my room. Things are going wonderfully. Maybe it's because I was already over here so much anyway, or because Matt and I understand and know each other so well, but from day one my living here has felt very natural and easy. At the moment, the two main difficulties are a lack of storage for my things and the fact my 5:45 alarm every morning wakes Matt up as well. Still, neither of these is really critical and we'll find solutions for them soon enough.

This past weekend was my dad's 63rd birthday, so Matt and I drove up to spend it with him. Seeing the whole family gathered is always fun, and I'm thrilled at how everyone has let Matt into our clan. I'm so grateful I have such an amazing family; things could be so much worse in so many ways.