I finished The Secret Life of Bees, and to answer Kaylan's question, I Loved it! It's definitely been a while since I read a book that I enjoyed that much, even though Memoirs of a Geisha was pretty good too.
Although the Bees book is described as the ideal book for "that special bond between mothers and their daughters" or something like that, I swear it's not that cheesy, and it could also be just as appealing to boys, in my opinion.
I recommend it!

In response to Corie's comment, and to give everyone time to prepare for the great emptiness that will fill their existance once I'm gone: I leave to Germany August 7th. So I have one more week of work next week, and then a week off, and then I LEAVE! But not for forever, thankfully.

In other news, my sister gets back from Costa Rica tomorrow! I'm spending so much time at LAX this summer--dropping off Leah, meeting Cammy, picking up Leah, leaving myself!

PS-More bombings in London suck. A lot. That's all I can really say about that.

Hooray for the beach! Summer is truly here, no matter how fleeting!

I've been meaning to post about this for a few days....
Kaylan went to D.C. and sent me the coolest souvenir ever!



It's a "Smush Bush" toy!!!



I have big plans for this little guy...he's definitely accompanying me to Germany, and being displayed prominently in my room, to make sure that all the Germans know that I am not one of the Americans who voted for him!

Thanks, Kaylan! You're awesome! :)

Word of the day:
• ninja | NIN-juh | noun : a person trained in ancient Japanese martial arts and employed especially for espionage and assassinations

Best word of the day so far on my UC Davis homepage. Too bad I already knew what it meant.

This is the pic of Bush on the BBC website today. Hmm...think they intentionally used a pic of him looking extremely evil and conniving? :)

[Later realization: How often do we see a pic of him when he doesn't look that way?!]

Sometimes I like the "what-are-you-going-to-do-with-your-future" talk with my parents, and sometimes I don't. Sometimes it's thought-provoking, and sometimes it just makes me feel confused and depressed. Tonight was one of the latter experiences, I think because I'm so tired today. It feels like so many of my friends are right on track to doing what they want to do, getting internships, having plans for what they want to do after they get out of college. I really don't. I mean, I pretty much plan to go to grad school, but I don't know when, or where, or what I would even major in. Maybe linguistics, maybe English, maybe even law. And after that, then what?

Ok, I know these worries are appearing a little early in my lifetime (according to my parents), but I still have to think about them sometime! I am seriously considering the idea of joining the Peace Corps, however, between college and grad school. It might give me a better idea of what the heck I want to do!

Well, I definitely feel better about these thoughts after posting them up here. Thanks, blog! *pats computer monitor*

Another nice weekend; Saturday I went to see my grandma and ate lunch out in Venice with my family. Today, Cammy got back from Australia (got to LAX at 6:40 am to meet her) and her boyfriend Alex and I spent the whole day with her until about 7, when she was about to collapse anyway from staying awake for approximately 27 hours!

It was nice...now back to work. :(
Hope everyone else had a good weekend! :)

The time has come.

I have been considering this one thought for a long time, and I guess I feel comfortable posting this on my blog, since it is the easiest, least painless way to tell people: My mom has been diagnosed with breast cancer. It's not serious, it's only a small tumor, and she's having a mastectomy this Monday. Everything should go well; hopefully, she won't even have to have chemotherapy. So yes. My family's doing alright, I think everything should turn out ok.

It was the 4th of July last weekend! (For those of you who were unpatriotically unaware.) My boyfriend Dylan came down on Friday, and we went with my family (sans Leah, of course, who is still in Costa Rica), to San Clemente, to relax until Monday, since we all had work on Tuesday. Then I dragged Dylan around to hang out with my friends (I think he enjoyed it?), and then fireworks at night in good ol' Monrovia.
Sorry for not getting to meet up with the people I missed! (Brigitte, etc.)
For the next four weeks, it looks as though my life will be revolving around WONderful office duties from 8-5 every weekday. Hooray.

But on the brighter side. . .
CAMMY IS COMING BACK TO THE US THIS SUNDAY!!!! And I have not talked to her in like, over two weeks. I am sad, yet very happy.