Well, I’m back in town, so I can actually post all my LJ stuff from the vacation. Not much to say about today, other than the fact I’ve been informed that I owe 500 dollars on my license. Joy.

July 23, 2005
Vacation day one.

Well, as my iPod needs my laptop to be on to charge, and considering that I lack most of the essentials that I use to waste my time normally (namely internet, video games, and sometimes cable), I do believe that I will document my trip.

Weather is unseasonably dry down here in Wisconsin. It’s creepy to think that the weather has officially been classified as a drought while we’re literally swimming in our back yards. Pleasant side effect: No mosquitoes. I mean, like, none. I haven’t been bitten once in all my time outside.

I have a five year old and a three year old cousin that we’re sharing the cabin with, and, well, they’re really the center of attention for the trip. They have to be, or they start being rotten. At least I have the rest of the family occupying them, so I’m in relative peace.

Time with the family is always kind of weird for me, now. I’m 19, but I have very little to add to the “adult’s” conversations. I always end up sitting and nodding on the fringes of the conversation, which isn’t that fun at all. I dunno, I just don’t feel the urge to socialize with my family like I used to. The fact that the only time I get alone is when I’m in the shower grates on my nerves, as well.

Speaking of socializing, I can’t believe how much I miss MSN. It’s been a total of 2 days since I last chatted with someone online, and I really miss it. Especially chatting with Megan, although my reasons for that might be a little different.

Had a pretty full day today, actually. Woke up in the AM, which was downright disturbing. I looked down at my watch after a while, expecting it to be 4, and seeing it was 1, instead. Scary stuff.

Forgot the power cable to the PS2, and I made the mistake of telling Pat I bought a copy of Fire Emblem, so I haven’t played a videogames at all. Read about 200 pages in Harry Potter, though. Uncle Mike brought a Sea-doo with him, though the fact I’m not a big fan of swimming or of driving things really, really fast limited my enjoyment of it. Tie died shirts, which left me with lime green hands for the day. Built a fire entirely too large, which is just the way I like them.

What would all you people out there on my friends list say to going out some night, building a fire, and partying? What with the 100x normal mosquito count, the summer might not be the best time to do this, of course, but still. I haven’t been camping in years, and never since I was old enough to get smashed with friends while doing so. Sounds fun.

July 26, 2005
Vacation day 4

Well, we’ve moved on to St. Paul, Minnesota, staying with the grandparents. A lot quieter now that we have 6 people in one house, as opposed to 14. We spend so much time around here that it feels like a second home. This is the time I’m going to be actually enjoying my time down here.

Stole the 56k access that my Grandparents had for most of last night. Oh, sweet sweet MSN access. It makes me ever so happy. Unfortunately, it’s useless for anything else. With no way to transfer my files from the laptop to the desktop (forgot my memory key at home), this LJ entry is going to have to wait until we get home to get posted. I stayed up until about 1:30 chatting with Megan, at which time my exhaustion and sinus headache got so bad that it won over my urge to chat.

Speaking of sinuses, it seems that we’ve brought our weather down south with us. We had a thunderstorm yesterday that dropped about 2 inches of rain in 45 minutes. For those of you who might not know, my entire family on my mother’s side gets horrible sinus headaches from bad weather. I haven’t been feeling good all summer, to be honest.

I’m always amazed at how much better stocked stores down here are. I spent a week looking in every possible location for a copy of No Quarter, and down in the states, I found it in about 10 minutes at the first place I looked. I grabbed a Gorillaz CD from the local Best Buy that I hadn’t even heard of before, which I’m in the process of ripping onto my iPod as we speak. Good times.

The best part of being down here, most definitely is my Grandmom’s cooking. I’ve almost forgotten what real home-cooked meals taste like. It reminds me why I want to learn to cook things other than pizza pops. I can smell the stuffing from up here in my room, and my mouth is just watering already. In fact, I think I’ll end the entry for now and go investigate that aroma.

July 27, 2005
Vacation day 5

Not much to say here, other than I love Khol’s. Between 6 people, we bought $850 dollars of cloths and such, but only paid $520. I’m now set for the foreseeable future. Among the spoils is a “it’s just a flesh wound” Monty Python T-shirt. Life is good.

Finished Harry Potter a few days ago. That’s by far the most depressing book that I’ve read in a long time. If parents still have their 10-11 year olds reading the series after this one, I’ll be highly disturbed. Of course, I’m highly disturbed by a lot of parents, so it’ll probably happen. A quick survey: who has read the book? I’d go into more detail about it, but spoilers should die. Yes, Shawn, I’m looking at you.

After talking with people about Ai Kon plans, it sounds like Mike’s place is going to be used as the crash pad for the con, not that it’s any more convenient to get from the convention center to his house than it would be to get to my house. Mostly doing it to hang out with people. Still not sure what’s going on with the timing though. Erika can’t make it for the pre-con get together day, Shawn can’t make it until Thursday, and Megan is still trying to convince her parents that it’s a good idea.

I’ve passed the part of the vacation where I enjoy it. I want to go home and get together with people again. I can’t imagine what the trip would have been like if I had no way to contact people. Interesting to note this is the first time it’s happened to me. This is the first year that I have a life away from my family. Honestly, it feels pretty good.

I’m charging my brother’s iPod at the moment (he let the battery die. Fool), so I’m looking for more things to say, but I’m really not finding anything. I’m dancing around the big projects that I set out for myself this summer. My Tau army is still unpainted, I haven’t started my Warmachine army, and I haven’t cleaned up any of my art. On the plus side, I’m on page 8 of my writing project, How To Win Fighting Games. I’m such a nerd.