I hope that everyone’s Christmas was as beautiful as mine was. Quiet and snow-filled.
There’s a lingering sadness intertwined with the beauty of the season. It reminds me that after May, there is no plan, no set direction. And with that, I am off again on the adventure that will be my life. Here, abroad, I can go anywhere. Of course, anywhere is a strange place, but perhaps better than nowhere.

I’ll be getting a new coat and for that, I am thrilled.

Being home is beautiful.
There’s nothing quite like it.

Today, Madeline and I went back to Mullen to see all of the teachers.
It was strange. My name is on a banner for people who have received a 5 on the AP tests; it says “Katherine M. Barry – English Language.” Impressive, not really, but exciting, yes.

Mr. Hilbert keeps a database of all of his former students. He had to go back and search for me, but he remembered that he’d taught my brother and that my dad had often been in to ask about him. Wonderful. Great. Not remembered for my own achievements but for my father’s annoyance.
He updated his little database after telling me that the last time he saw me was in May of 2006. His room hasn’t changed. Words are painted on the walls and his collection of books remains. The file folders live on wire shelves against the back wall.

….
too tired. Getting sick.

Not me!

Ha, the party wasn’t really a party after all, but my costume was epic. (Maybe not, but I was stoked). Joaquin Phoenix is an amazing actor (he was in Gladiator, um, recently Walk the Line) who went crazy (apparently, but the hoax possibility reigns) and then went on Letterman before disappearing out of the public eye.

These are the pictures.

I blame everything on dehydration. I don’t think I’m that wrong either. I feel as though proper hydration is essential to good body function. It’s finals week, which means sodium and carbs, the only foods that make a body feel happy. I’ve been eating to fill the emotional void I’ve created, and although it’s pleasant, it’s not necessarily a good thing. So tonight I’m beginning the fruit and tea kick in an attempt to make my body love me again. Wish me luck.

I was under the impression that this was going to be the 300th post, but it might be the 301st. Either way, we’ll pretend to celebrate 300 entries of emotion and excitement and the cities that I love.

First of all, I would like to make a comment on the way that Chicago has changed me. Mustard. I love mustard now. Chicago is not a ketchup city. Of course, we eat it here, but the Chicago-style hot dog is covered in mustard. And if it can be eaten with mustard, it is. It must be a Midwest thing, but mustard is a staple here.

I’ve also noticed that my taste in foods is changing as I age. Right now, I’m all about tomatoes. Seriously love tomatoes. I want them on everything. I was eating stewed tomatoes out of the can the other day. And maybe that’s not all bad. I’ve always loved to eat fruit, but I’m also really getting into vegetables. Not just salad, but the pure tastes of all vegetables.

I made breaded pork chops last night. I really don’t like pork, but I was excited to have a chance to bread some meat. I love to bread things, but I’m still learning. Egg. It’s all about the egg. That was a new addition to my repertoire, Hunter’s roommate Adrian taught me the other night when we made meatballs.

I had made some cranberry sauce (cranberries are on sale right now and I’m buying them up and freezing them!) to put on my pork chops, which made them mostly edible. We also had red potatoes that I smashed with butter and a little bit of whole milk, then salted and peppered. Yum.

I’m dyeing my hair tonight! Dark dark brown. I’ll post pictures.

Don’t make airline reservations yet! Loyola seems to have lost my application for graduation. There’s an email into the School of Communication, so we’ll see what they say. My credits do all line up for walking in May and for receiving my degree in August. Ugh. Not the best news to receive on a Friday night. But…I double checked in October and it said- there’s already a valid graduation application in. So, here’s hoping that it will all get worked out.

I’m going out with Maddie and Katie and Anna tonight–even though I’ve not been doing enough lately to prepare for finals (I seem to have completely lost my motivation)—I’m going tonight to relax and just go out and be. Tomorrow noon will see me ensconced in the library working on my Monday final.

The cold has landed. Hopefully there will be pictures from the evening.

I’ve officially decided on a name: Simon’s Little Brother, Claude, but we’ll just call him Claude.

The last story for fiction as well as the BDSM ethnography are both available at my Tumblr account, http://www.katiebarry.tumblr.com

Spanish final today, then preparation for my speech Monday, then rewriting stories, writing a segment of a final script and then finishing a Drug Abuse Control class assignment will round out my day today. (Long!) Looking to the weekend: I see relaxation. Tuesday or Thursday brings the Spanish final final (although today is the listening final), then the DAC final Friday. That one will need a good amount of preparation, but I can spend all week doing that.

There’s really no place like home.

I stole this picture off of Google.

This started out as an attempt to update my blog, but is ending in misery. I cannot form coherent sentences at the moment, thus I cannot aptly describe the scene I was intending to discuss.

But alas, safe in Chicago, busy busy.

First post from the new computer! It’s been less than 24 hours and it hasn’t really set in yet, but I know that I’m so grateful for the opportunity to be able to get a new computer. I’m really settling in to the Mac lifestyle and am excited for greater ease of use. The good news is that I got to avoid the new Windows operating systems.

If you Google Map our house, you can see the Green Bean. Brought back some beautiful memories for me.

I was halfway productive today. I make chicken salad with grapes and celery and tarragon and then put it on a sandwich with some cranberry sauce spread (freshly made!) and lettuce. It was delicious. I felt really proud of myself for turning frost-bitten chicken into food. Really proud.
I’ve decided that I want to start cooking to sort of give myself some new meaning. I’ve always really wanted to do it and now that I have so much free time, I want a new hobby.

Hunter and I officially actually ended things today. It’s just not something that’s going to fix itself. I won’t say much, but I deserve someone who wants to work to be with me and who challenges me to be a better person, mentally, socially, etc.

I am having pre-Thanksgiving tomorrow night. I bought a turkey. Oh dear, it’s going to be an interesting day tomorrow. Something tells me I’m going to be defrosting the turkey in the bathtub tomorrow morning. Apparently, it needs like three days to defrost. Great. Learned that 30 hours before it’s being served. So I’m going to have to come up with a plan.

Cannot wait to be home.