Hey everyone...

It doesn't really seem like anyone uses this site anymore.. so I'm abandoning it!!  If anyone wants to keep up w/ the happenings of my live, then you can subscribe to my myspace... at www.myspace.com/MrsDaleJr18

: )

Alright soo I wrote a long, well-written xanga entry about my trip back to USC, but then I accidently deleted it... so instead of rewriting the whole thing I'll just hit the high points...

*  Cars hate me

*  It's important to pay attention to mile markers and exits

*  Triple A is a good thing (even though they will put u on hold and hang up on u at least twice before they actually take ur call)

*  I love LaLa and Liz for coming to get me in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere I-26!!  I OWE YOU BOTH SOOO MUCH!!

*  Tow truck guys that show up in like 10 minutes rock my socks

*  Going to Sonic at 2am and ordering "extreme tots" runs the risk of attracting the studly (note sarcasm) Sonic employees (lol, sorry Liz, they could just tell that you were a college girl gone wild)

*  I have horrible luck.. Asaf might have been right in 10th grade when he told me that my life sucked...

*  Things could be worse

 Alyssa 

     Are really drunk people somehow drawn to me??

     Last night Laura (one of my future roommates) and I went to the VanZant and Gretchen Wilson concert - it was an eventful night.  We started out the evening by going out to eat at Monterrey's (a Mexican restaurant) with Liz (a.k.a Liza, my current roommate and other future roommate).  After we ate we took Liz back to Capstone, since she doesn't love Laura and me enough to go to the concert with us. 

     Then Laura and I headed toward the Colonial Center (where we beat no. 5 UF the Wednesday night!!! ).  We found a parking space a couple blocks away... we didn't want to pay to park.  When we finally got outside the Colonial Center I started looking for my ticket... but guess what... yep that's right, I didn't have it.  Sometimes I'm such a blonde.  I had knocked my purse off my bed and dropped the contents in my room before we left for dinner, but I thought that I'd put everything back... guess not.  The sad thing was that I had even asked Laura if she had her ticket before we left, maybe I should have asked myself .  Anyway, I called Liz to ask her to look for my ticket in the room.  She found it.  Laura and I trudged back up the hill to where we parked on Assembly Street, drove back to Capstone, got my ticket, and started the process over again.  Laura, sorry that I made you parallel park twice!!

    Alright, so we finally made it into the Colonial Center... it was almost 8:00PM at this point, the concert started at 7:30PM.  We got to our seats right as Blaine Larson was leaving the stage, but we didn't even know he was going to be there, so we weren't too disappointed.  Then things really got interesting.  At some point during VanZant a very drunk older woman wandered into the row of seats in front of Laura and me.  The poor woman was obviously very lost and very wasted.  At first the woman was just dancing in her seat and falling over; however, after a while she decided to try to get up - not a good idea.  Next thing we knew the woman toppled over three little girls in the row of seats in front of her and onto the floor.  All I can say is thank god she was in the second row of the second level and not the first or she would have toppled over the balcony, and quite frankly that would have been traumatic.  The woman appeared to be alright, but then as the paramedic showed up to check on her, another woman...wait... another DRUNKEN woman... slid down the stairs behind me.  I wouldn't have even noticed this woman, except for the fact that her chunky 5" heels flew off and hit me in the head and back.  Ouch!!! 

     After this second encounter with the incredibly drunk the night calmed down.  The concert was actually really good.  VanZant was awesome - gotta love some good Southern Rock!!!  However our strange encounters left me wondering if I somehow attract drunken people... I mean there was Bob the Drunken guy at the Pepsi 400 who put his arm around me and sang the national anthem to me... and the random drunk guy at the Clemson game who picked me up of the stands when we recovered a fumble...  Hmm... Maybe it isn't me, but just the events that I attend... I guess if you go to NASCAR races, country concerts, and college football games you have to expect to encounter a good number of drunken people... lol, I guess as long as they were all having a good time.

~ xoxo~

  alyssa

     Alright, so PP (Pimpin' Pat) left me a message that I should start updating this thing again, and since I do everything that Patrick says I decided to write a little something...

     It is now my second semester at USC (that's the real USC - the University of South Carolina – GO COCKS!!!), and everything is going pretty well.  However, since I got back from winter break I've been thinking a lot about the things that I miss about home.  Basically dorm life has it's pros and cons, and a lot of the negatives you don't really think about before you leave for college - at least I didn't - so I just thought that I'd document a few!!

1.  Temperature control - I don't know what kind of control everyone else has over the temperature of their room at their respective schools, but in my room there is a control that has "low," "medium," and "high" settings.  Theoretically this control is suppose to control both the air and the heat - if it's hot outside then it's suppose to be air, if it's cold then it is suppose to be heat.  I've heard that our heat is suppose to come on when the temperature outside is 55 or lower for at least an hour; however, this rule doesn't seem to hold true.  I think the housing people just switch it over to heat when they feel like it because most of the time it's air and it's very cold in our room!!  Seriously, for some reason Liz and I's room is always colder than everyone else’s, it's strange.  Personally, I like it cold when I'm sleeping, it's nice to snuggle up in a bunch of blankets... but cold 24/7 is a little much for me.  Definitely miss having an actual thermostat that I can adjust according to my whims.

2.  Bed - Alright, this one is pretty self explanatory to anyone who has ever lived in a dorm and/or slept in a dorm bed.  They are small and really uncomfortable.  Not to mention that it’s really hard to find Twin XL sheets…To add to my bed woes my bed has my dresser underneath it, to make more wall space.  Raising my bed up for more storage is cool, but I guess I'm short because now I basically have to jump into bed, sigh, lol.  I miss my big full size bed that's a normal height. 

3.  Driving - I'm poor, so I don't have a garage spot for my car.  As a result my car stays about a mile away at the Coliseum, and it’s a pretty big production if I want to drive anywhere.  I guess that I took having a car ready to go in the driveway all the time for granted. 

4.  TV - Personally, this is one of the hardest things for me.  I'm such a couch potato, so only having a 13" TV and no TIVO has been difficult.  Anyone who has ever had TIVO knows that it is completely addictive.  I find myself missing parts of shows and going to rewind only to realize that I don't have TIVO, it's rough, lol.  The other sad thing about my TV situation is that USC's cable doesn't have some of my favorite channels.. No CMT, no GAC, no bravo!!!  That's right we get BET, MTV, MTV 2, MTV U, VH1, and VH1 Classic, but no CMT or GAC - it's cruel and unusual!!

Those are my main gripes with dorm life, but there are a few others to consider...

-  Privacy - living w/ a roommate, in a one room situation can be a challenge.  Luckily, my roommate and I get along pretty well, but I mean you are pretty rarely alone.  I mean you can't really walk around in your underwear or anything!!  (lol, not that I would... )

-  Food - Well... it's just strange to have to leave and go somewhere else to get food.

-  Laundry - Basically the same complaint as food, it's just really inconvenient to have to load up all your laundry and take it somewhere... plus Liz laughs at me because I "pre-fold" my dirty laundry

-  Bathroom -  All I have to say is that 4 girls go through A LOT of toilet paper. 

** Particular to Capstone** - Those damn elevators!!!  (I know Laura thinks that I say damn a lot, but I think it's really appropriate in this situation.)  Waiting for those elevators pretty much just sucks!!

*** Most of all I miss my family (including Savannah and Butter), all my friends that are home and the ones that are spread around the country!!!  Everyone at USC is great, but I still miss you all!!!*** 

lol... alright that's my whining.  Sorry, this post is soo long... I know that I probably sound pretty spoiled complaining about TIVO and toilet paper, but dorm live is definitely an adjustment!!  Don't get me wrong, I like USC just thought that I would point out some of the differences between dorm and home life, oh and I’m really looking forward to living in an apartment next year (upperclassmen honors housing is all apartments, yay!  I'll get my own room!!). 

That's my post - hope that you're happy Pat

Smooches!!

Alyssa

Alright, so basically I am a very indecisive person, and fall break is less than a month away!!!  My fall break is basically a long weekend, I get October 13th and 14th off and then have to back on the 17th.  But I'm having some trouble deciding what to do, if anyone would like to give their opinion go right ahead....

My current options include:

1.  Go home to Sunny FL

2.  Go over to Myrtle Beach and stay at my aunt's house

3.  Call up my cousin in Charlotte and mooch a place to stay and go to the NASCAR race (maybe meet one of my future husbands )

4.  Call up my dad's cousin in Charleston and go stay there for a day or two

5.  Other!!!  Open to suggestions!!!