I'm sick and tired of this. Seriously.

***WARNING: This entry is full of whinging and complaining....YOU WERE FOREWARNED***

So, it's Saturday. I woke up around 11am and messed around in my room for a little bit and around noon went out to go make some coffee and remembered I had some muffin mix in the pantry and so I started to make some of those. Micah--my roommate--came in and started getting some breakfast for himself. As I'm flipping through TV channels in the next room, Drew--my other roommate--comes in from work and sees the coffee and asks if there's enough for him. Micah tells him there's only enough for three cups and the third cup is Rachel's.

Rachel is Micah's girlfriend. She's really a nice girl and I don't have a problem with her. I don't think I would be friends with her if she wasn't friends with Micah just because our personalities clash too much among other things, but that's ok.

The problem I am having is that she is over here every day. Seriously, every day. She comes over Saturday mornings to make breakfast. She comes over weekday evenings to make Micah dinner while he's still at work. Seriously, the woman is here more than Micah is. In fact, I am not sure when the last time I did NOT see her in the appartment at some point during the day. And even so, I don't think it would bother me that much if it wasn't for their relationship. I don't have a problem when Drew's girlfriend comes over (which is fairly often also--though not nearly as much as Rachel). The problem I have is with their relationship.

I knew I had a problem before...but it took me a long time and some discussion with my parents, interestingly enough, to figure out what it was. Basically it's threefold:

a) Rachel is very disapproving of me. Our personalities clash, and that's OK, I don't claim to be able to be friends with everyone. But I constantly get looks or see exchanged looks between Micah and Rachel about something I said or did that is quite obnoxious and disapproving. The least you could do is do it on your own and pretend you actually think I'm a worthy human being.

b) Micah and Rachel's relationship was one that started out with them not supposed to be in a relationship (because of certain beliefs Rachel had and Rachel's parent's express disapproval of them being in a relationship at this point in their lives). Regardless, they continued to act as if they were in a relationship and it continued to grow when the 'relationship' officially didn't exist between them outside of anything platonic. When her parents finally gave them permission to be in a relationship (and Rachel also decided she didn't agree with her parents' idea of what a relatinoship should be)

c) You know how there are those couples that you don't quite feel comfortable with. Like you're always the third wheel. Like the two people in the relatinoship no longer can see outside of themselves? Yeah, well...this is one of those couples.


All this to say that I miss my old friend Micah who no longer exists, I don't think. His personality has even changed and it's like the two personalities of Rachel and Micah have infused into the personality of Machel but in two seperate bodies.

I think I'd be OK with this but they also are here all the time and I WANT MY FREAKING APPARTMENT BACK. The place that I live should be comfortable. It should be somewhere I can relax and be myself. It should not be somewhere that I feel as if *I* am the intruder.


All I wanted to do today was eat some muffins, drink some coffee, and do some reading for my thesis on the couch in the living room.

Now, Machel are making chocoalte chip banana pancakes in the kitchen and will probably spend all afternoon in there.

So I'm holed up in my room--like always-- as they galavant around the appartment and be all touchy feely.

Damnit, I know that you're friends grow and change and I have grown and changed myself. And I'm willing to acccept that my friendship with Micah may just be over now. OK, that's fine. But this is not just his appartment. This is my appartment and Drew's appartment as well. And I want to be freaking comfortable in my own appartment!!!

Oi.


/end rant


On a side note, maybe I should just walk around naked one morning when she comes by to make breakfast. I think that might make her think twice before being here all the time.

So Thursday, after my Spanish class, I left with Micah, Rachel, and Jenni for our fall break in Nebraska. Why Nebraska, you might ask? Well, it has an abundance of wonderful things...like...umm...plains...and...corn...and...soybeans...and...cows...

ok, so the real reason I went was probably three-fold.

a) I love a good road trip, I can't resist that.
b) I've never been to Nebraska (41st state I've now visited-*check*)
c) Meeting Rachel's family and having an excuse to visit somewhere new and meeting new people. If you know me, travelling and meeting new people is like the coolest thing ever. How could I turn this down?

We originally were planning on making the 15ish hour drive in one day, but Micah and Rachel's parents insisted (as in, they are not going if we do not do this...talk about parental control...) that we stay overnight at a hotel (at the parents' expense, thankfully), so the first night we stayed at Mount Vernon, Ill. Can we say Po-dunk? Yes, yes, I think we can. Not to mention I got stopped by a county police officer for going over the speed limit. It's the first time I've ever been stopped. I'm glad he only gave me a warning. Good to know the midwest hasn't changed much from when I was there. Although, they are super strict on their driving in illinois. Unlike people from Georgia, Tennessee, or Missouri...seriously...people from those three states are speed-demons.

Anyway, after staying in Po-dunk we got some lunch in Columbia, Mo. at a Steak & Shake. Man, I miss Steak & Shake. I haven't been to one in ages. I wish we had one up here in Rome, Ga. It'd get so much business....

We eventually arrived in Nebraska after leaving Missouri and going through about fifteen minutes of Iowa (w00t! Go Iowa! We've got...corn...and well, ok, so that's pretty much it...but I was born there...) When we got out and visited the family it was crazy. All of Rachel's sisters (of which she has three) were surrounding her hugging her for a good 10-15 minutes. Then we all finally got introduced. I really liked Rachel's mom, she's sassy and appreciates good grammar and corny jokes...how could you go wrong? I also finally got to meet Audrey (Audge/Ange--16), Erica (whose middle name is Todd (very cool!!) and is sometimes called E.T.--14), and Merrill (Janey...don't ask me why--12). The family is seriously addicted to giving nicknames to people. In fact, Micah and I came away with new nicknames. Well, Micah's always been called Mighty Micah (if always means since last year) and I am now known as Super-Manu (pronounced: su-pair ma-noo). It's a long story.

We spent the days doing some farmwork (why do I *always* build a fence when I am on a farm?), drank some unpasteurized "straight from the utter" cowmilk (it's actually pretty good and relatively undistinguishable from normal 2%), ate some delicious food (oh man...the steak......*drools*), rode horses (not really my thing, but still fun), and played a lot of games.

I was fairly nervous that her family wouldn't like me. Granted, it didn't matter if they liked me or not, because, it's not like I'll be seeing much of them for the rest of my life--unlike Micah, who may want to marry Rachel and pretty much *needs* her family to like him. However, I think they did like me; sure I talk too much, and I really didn't get to know them all on a deep level, but I had fun with them all: Audrey and the card games/sudokus, Erica and Jungle Speed, and Merrill and teaching her french "I Je gagne!!!"

I also went to their church, which was a very different kind of church. It's basically where a bunch of people come together and when someone feels led to say something or to sing something, they do and other people join in if/when they feel led. It was interesting; it's something I have never done or seen before. Then, at the end, this lady comes and talks to the four of us thanking us for coming and stuff and then after shaking my hand she says "and I know you have some questions and I just want you to know that God won't lead you into something that he doesn't want you to do".

Can you say...wha?

I'm just standing there, thanking the lady for her kind words...and wondering, what problems/questions do I have? which ones are she referring to? Is this lady full of crap or somehow divinely inspired? Needless to say, after that lady talked to me, I did have a bunch of questions, but I'm not sure that's what she was referring to, lol.

All in all, it was a pretty good trip. I drove probably 26 of the 30 hours of round-trip driving. Yep, our 2081 mile trip is over. I love road trips. :D

School, however, I am not loving so much. I need another break...please?

Also, parts of Tennessee and Missouri in the fall are beautiful. Seriously. Just beautiful. (Pictures to come soon...as soon as i figure out how to do that on LJ)