Three more days until I must move out and get back home. How did this semester go by so quickly? Even though I have been here since last August it all still feels a little surreal. However, I do feel like a lot has changed since then. I remember my first few months here. I felt like I was on vacation even though I did spend most of my time in a classroom or doing homework. Now it just feels like home. I have become comfortable with all of the people and the surroundings. Life here is very familiar to me. So when I go home I will have to settle back into a different routine. On the positive side I already have a job lined up that I can jump into once I get back. It will help me settle into some sort of schedule.

So what are some of the current happenings with me recently since I have not written a descent entry in ages?

Well, a couple of weeks ago I had some fabulous company here. The best visit being from my girlfriend. She arrived in the airport carrying the stuffed sheep that came from Wal-mart around Easter that I wanted so badly. I have become very attached to my sheep. We did not do much the day she arrived except wander down to the open air market around 8ish for dinner. We ate at Wild Wing Cafe and their food was pretty good minus the fact our waitress was a tad flighty. Friday, after my classes we left to go to Boone Hall Plantation. We spent a good 4ish hours there, walking about and taking photos. We did the house tour, then she had to listen to me geek out and explain archaeological excavations, and finally we took the bus tour around the plantation. Afterwards, we went off to a shopping center and wandered around for a while before going to see State of Play. Oh, now that was fun. I feel sorry for the people who sat on either side of us and had to deal with our girly squealing. Saturday was spent mostly downtown. We went to the farmer's market, open air market, Waterfront Park, St. Philip's Church cemetery, Battery Park, and finally the Unitarian Church cemetery. Whew. I'm sure we got in several miles worth of walking that day. Got back to my room, freshened up a bit, and then we were off to go sailing. The only thing I regret is not dressing a little warmer. I was wearing pants and had a jacket, but it did not help against the wind. We took the sunset cruise. It was....wow...it was beautiful. At first we motored out a ways, but then the engine was turned off and the sails went up. (Note: We were on a schooner.) I found my sea legs and was not bothered one bit by the movement of the boat. I was the happiest person in the world at that moment. After an hour sailing away from the docks, the ship was turned to directly face downtown Charleston. This occurred just as the sun was beginning to set and the orange sky was pierced by the church steeples scattered throughout the town. It was such a beautiful view. Sunday, we met up with my friends for brunch and then headed off for the Angel Oak. I pretty much dragged her there because I really wanted her to see it. We stayed for I'm sure over an hour there. Then we took off towards Kiawah Island to see what their beaches looked like only to discover it is pretty much a private island. However, the drive there was amazing. It was a very scenic road. Anyways. She was meant to leave that day, but because we got to the airport a little later than we liked we discovered that had sold her seat. So...she couldn't leave till the next day. Not that I complained. Overall, it was a really nice break of the dull monotony I have lived lately.

Last Saturday, K dragged me out to the place she had been interning at all semester (Colonial Dorchester) to give me chance to get my hands dirty. Oh, that brought much joy. We dug a 55 by 55 centimeter test pit in a flagged area. She manned the screen and I shoveled. Our test pit was a gold mine. We had found a midden, which refers to where the people who once lived there who have placed their trash. The soil was highly organic and that particular layer went down 3 feet. (You have to dig until you get a change in soil color). Our finds included a nail, pieces of brick, fragmented pottery, pieces of glass, and oyster shells. I made two amazing finds personally. One being the top of a medicinal bottle and the other being the handle possibly to a chamber pot. Also, the guy who was working there that day and supervised our progress began in underwater archaeology. So he gave me a good deal of info and programs to look into. I have my fingers crossed that I can maybe either work as an intern at Fort Johnson or work with the H.L. Hunley submarine.

In more recent news. I did have my math final this morning. I do not think it went too terribly, but it did take me the three hours to finish it in. However, I did not like the way the test taking was set up. I only thought we were taking the test with other precal students, but come to find out there was a mixture of precal and calculus students in there at the same time. We did take two different tests, but in my opinion I would think that it would be confusing. *shrugs* Its really not my problem I guess. So all I have left on my agenda is finishing my osteology project to turn in on Tuesday and taking my Anthropological Theory test on Monday. I should be moved out of here by 4 pm on Tuesday. Omg. No more convenient internet access. *dies*. Of course, if I'm working a lot it won't matter anyways.

Anyways, I have been looking to cruises lately. Mom has always talked about the one she went on when she was younger and I have always wanted to go on one myself. So in a spell of boredom and an urge to be on vacation and somewhere tropical I looked into cruises. I looked both at Royal Caribbean and Carnival and found that Carnival cruise lines have the better deals. Of course, I won't be able to go anytime soon, but here is what I am looking at as of right now. I have found a 5 night cruise to the Bahamas that is not until 2011 for $379 (thats for an ocean view room) per person. I find that to be a really good deal. If you book your cruise early than you will get that deal and if not you will have to pay more. So my girlfriend and I may be booking our cruise tickets over the summer and go ahead and get them paid for. I'm really geeked about this particular cruise because it stops in Nassau, Bahamas and then Half Moon Cay, Bahamas. I'm the most excited about Nassau. Pirate port nation peoples. *The* hotspot for well known pirates such as Blackbeard, Jack Rackham, Anne Bonny, and Mary Read. They even have a special 2 and a half hour tour you can go on that explains the pirate history of the town. The nerd in me squeals to think about it. Plus, I can't wait to buy my tickets because when I do you can get these really snazzy cruise countdown clocks. So hopefully within two years of this very day I will be able to kick back in a lounge chair by the pool and suck on a pina colada.

I have one last bit of news I want to share before ending my book of an entry. Well, of course, my sister had went to my dad's going away party the day before he was shipped back off to Iraq. A few days later Amanda told mom that my grandma from my dad's side and dad's wife are going to be attending her wedding. Grandma E I can understand. But dad's wife? I have met this woman like once and that one time did not leave a great impression. But thats beside the point. Mom is furious. Ever since that has been announced I have heard mom fuss about it nonstop. If you listen to her she makes it sound like she is being betrayed. In which I can understand where she is coming from, but it is my sister's wedding and if she wants them there than my mom really cannot do anything about it. In a sense this is making me semi-dread summer and is creating an uneasy feeling about my sister's wedding. More or less because I feel like I'm going to be stuck in the middle when I would rather play neutral. The only thing that buggers me about them being there is that my parents have been divorced for 12 years and during that time dad's family had absolutely nothing to do with us. But now that Amanda is getting married they want to be involved again? I mean yeah people grow older and people change, but they have been adults long before us and needed to act like it. I'm not really sure how to go about handling this except pray that mom can act civil the few hours she actually has to be around them. Oh! And because one of my cousins is pregnant they actually asked my sister why she had not had a baby yet? Not to be offending to anyone who had children young, but my mom raised us with a little bit a sense. Don't have kids until you can take care of yourself. I'm a little taken aback by that. If they ask me any such nonsense questions like that while at the wedding they are liable to find their next resting place on the floor. Or I could just ask them if I look like an idiot. Or say I'm not a fucking baby machine. *rolls eyes* So yes, this creates a rather interesting dilemma that can go bad quickly.

Ugh! I must stop procrastinating and try to get some work done today. I want to get my notes finished for theory so I can attempt to reread over some of the articles. I believe tomorrow I may make a brief outing to Wal-mart to buy a few more plastic tubs. I figured I can put all of the stuff I will not be using over the summer in plastic tubs and the stuff I will actually be unpacking in boxes.

Chocolate to everyone who read this.