8:58 PM

I'm supposed to be on a paddle boat in Knoxville, Tennessee right now, hosting a 4th of July party before the wedding on the 6th. Not my wedding, mind you, but I bought the silly dress and everything. I'm supposed to be with Colleen, my best friend, and Dylan, her brother and my (now) ex-boyfriend, dancing and trying to keep cool in the Midwest heat. This was my one hard-and-fast plan until the Fall Semester begins.
It's weird to think of the places we're supposed to be.
I'm aware, though, that it's likely a very good thing that I am not there, and am, instead, here.
I looked into adopting an iguana, and it seems people are just giving them away, terrariums and all, in my area on CraigsList. I'm trying to force myself to wait at least another month before making the decision, but it's been a-stewin' in my head for a little more than a month already, and I'm making no promises.
I found out today that I made First Honors on the Dean's List last semester, so the grad school crisis feels somewhat averted for now, as I will be able to rationalize procrastinating the filling out of the applications for at least another week with this ammunition. And to think, all that I had to do was write forty-seven pages over the course of a caffeine-pill-fueled, quadruple over-nighter during Finals Week, lowering my immune system just in time for me to catch the horrendous two-week virus that was going around. Why didn't I become a quivering, paper-skinned academic sooner?