June 18, 2007 6:35pm

I know....I know.....

A thousand lashings with a wet noodle.

I've been busy, though! School was done, I came home to NJ, been studying for my board exam, had a mini-meltdown, rescheduled the board exam for July, feeling better now.

In the midst of all that, I have been enjoying my time in lovely New Jersey. I don't care how many jokes other people make, I love it here. I love my house, I love my friends, I love my neighborhood, I love the beach, and I just love everything.

I'm having my driveway torn up because what was there was crappy. The town code enforcement gestapo decided to play games with me, but a white tank top on a cold day seemed to get the code enforcer to suddenly be less of a dick head when he was in my front yard.

I filled out an application to volunteer for a dog rescue, and then became disillusioned when one of the women from it seemed less than enthusiastic to have me come out there since I'm only home for another few days. I'm not entirely sure, but I can only imagine it might be because by the time she shows me the ropes I will be leaving, but I told her I'd be home for a month at Christmas and then I will be home for good in 10 months. I don't think the problem of stray and unwanted dogs will suddenly be over in 10 months.

I'm so allergic to cats that I said I could really only work with the dogs. On the web site, they mentioned that they need people to come out and walk the dogs, play with the dogs, and do assorted chores. I was really looking forward to doing this for my last few days home (as a mental break from studying), but maybe I will just hold off until Christmas time when I'm home for a month and have more free time.

I also offered to transport dogs if they needed. I noticed that they get dogs from kill shelters in WV, VA and other states. I said that if that was needed, I could arrange to do that on a weekend if the place is in WV or VA since I am close. I also got little to no enthusiasm for my offer.

Sigh.

Then, they asked me if I would ever be interested in fostering dogs. The answer is yes, but not until I get home for good. I want a pup of my own, but I would be willing to take on one more as a foster and possibly 2 eventually. Still, no excitement for my offer. I got "Well, we have a lot more than 1 or 2 at a time who need a home." Well no shit, but that's what I think I can handle right now. Is helping a little bit no good? Is it better to help a whole lot or not at all? This is just something that I wanted to do because I enjoy the animals, not something I want to dedicate my entire life to like the people who run this rescue. Can't there be room for me too? :-(

double sigh.

Roger and I had a fabulous evening together in Philly. We went to The Rittenhouse for dinner and then we went to see Glenn Beck's one man show. A really nice night. I looked awesome. It felt good to get dressed up and have someone take me out for a grown-up night. Yanno, I don't think I've ever had a night like that before. Also of interest was when a woman with her boyfriend in the parking garage elevator with us after show commented on how she felt better about her shirt when she noticed that my boobs were hanging out too.

I then proceeded to get the worst migraine I have ever had in my life. It was partially (well, totally) my fault since I spent the day eating every migraine trigger food imaginable. The headache was so bad, I considered having Roger take me to the hospital, but I wanted to try some Aleve first. After being unable to find a pharmacy, Roger very sweetly stopped at a gas station that had a convenience store. It was in a super-shady place. When he got out of the car, he left it running and told me to lock the doors behind him. He went up to the counter where the man at the register gets you want you want and then takes your money through a bullet-proof revolving lazy susan type thing. Shady people were all over, and a homeless man tried to polish Roger's hubcaps. When Roger got back in the car, I begged him to take me back to where the white people were. "We don't belong here!" I cried out.

Obviously, we made it out of there alive.

Also in news of my life, I got my ears pierced. No, I never had them pierced before. Brooke went with me and took pictures, so as soon as she gets back home to Hawaii I expect her to email me the pictures. We went to Tattoo City and a very cool guy did it for me. The pain wasn't as bad as the crunch noise. I was not expecting that. I was also not expecting that it would still hurt days later. I thought it was a one time "ouch" and then was all better. Nay, my friend. There have been days of plasma oozing, itching, and assorted discomfort. It's not infected or anything, it's just part of the healing process that I hadn't really thought through.

That's all the exciting stuff I can think of for now. I will try to update more often because it's hard to remember everything all at once.