Summer is drawing to a close...

and I already miss it.

It seems every time I come away from the weekend I am left thinking that was the best weekend ever! But, amazingly, the following weekend trumps the previous weekend. It's awesome!

This weekend was incredible! Friday and Saturday night Core 47 played at Rack Daddy's and both shows were terrific, as usual. Good drinks, good music, good friends. I can't think of a better way to spend those nights.

After going to bed at 3am on Saturday, Ashley and I woke up yesterday at 8am to drive, with Cliff, to Lake Whitney for the day. We met up with Grant at Laguna Park and piled in his truck to get ride the lake. It was such a perfect day. The water was calm. The sky was a little bit overcast, so it was not scorching hot. We had a blast tubing and just floating in the water talking and laughing. The conversation was insanely ridiculous at times, but several good inside jokes came out of it, which is always fun between friends. It was so good to see Grant. We have been so fortunate to see each other at least twice a month all summer. I am not sure that I could go much longer than that.

I feel that I need to post a list of thanks for the weekend:
Thank you Grant for the crazy supply of Nutter Butter's and cold beverages... and also for putting up with me in all forms for the past ten years, and always humoring my silly self. I love you.
Thank you Ashley for always making me laugh until my side hurts, for singing all the right songs, and for always being there for me-- whether in silence or chaos.
Thank you Clifford for making me shake my head more than anyone I have ever met, for consistently amazing me with your quick wit, and for participating in banter with me on a regular basis. We all love our "Tee Cake".

I look at my friends and I cannot express the immense gratitude I feel. I could go on. Gah, I am such a sap. I need to stop.

Okay, so I have been writing non-stop for about the past month or so. I have notebooks full of nonsense. It's a strange thing. Sometimes I will not write anything for months and then, all of the sudden, I will write for weeks straight. I had to make a deal with myself this week though, and it hurts me to have to bargain with myself...that's no fun. This is the way the battle went down:

M1: Melia, you need to work on your thesis. It's due in October, sister.
M2: But I am too busy writing. Plath can wait.
M1: Did you just hear yourself? Plath can what?! I don't even know you anymore. Time is running out and you don't want to turn in a shoddy thesis.
M2: I know...I know... You're always right.
M1: If you get the urge to write, just make sure your focus is the thesis. Turn all of your attention to that until you have the 70 pages.
M2: Well, what if I have an idea for something and it comes to me and I have to write it down?
M1: It must deal with religious imagery and Sylvia Plath.
M2: But...I....
M1: No...

And it went on and on like that and the conversation is pretty much constant in my head when I get the urge to write. My thesis is due in October and I only have about 30 pages. I guess that's progress, but not what I wanted to have by August. Oh, well...

I have quite a few large things to do in the near future: (not necessarily in order)
1. Move out.
2. Purchase my Powerbook and accesories.
3. Finish thesis.
4. Be off book.

All exciting. All nerveracking. All are coming up. Stupid summer...why do you have to be almost over?!