For the first year or two after the injury, I’d get odd flares of pain in my knee area. Sometimes my knee would lock and I couldn’t unlock it because of the pain. Other times I couldn’t bend it because it felt like the tendons behind my kneecap would snap clean in half if I did. No matter what happened, I’d end up having to massage my knee with my fingertips in the hopes of easing whatever was tensing in the area so that I could use my knee properly and go about my daily life without hobbling around.

Just yesterday morning, I was thinking to myself that I hadn’t had any problems with my knee for roughly the last two years. That was nothing more than a passing thought until after dinner last night, when I hopped off my dinner chair and almost keeled over from the pain in my knee. I guess I had been sitting oddly in my chair or something, because my knee just wasn’t having it. I made it over to my couch and felt like all the muscles around my knee had become incredibly tense and stiff, which was unusual because I hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary. Still, I managed somehow loosen the feeling of tightness in my knee so that I could get around the house for the remainder of my day.

When I woke up this morning and tried to move my knee, I ended up screaming in pain. The last time I screamed in pain over my knee was when I injured the damn thing! I couldn’t sit up because that hurt my knee. I couldn’t bend my legs because that hurt my knee. I couldn’t reach down to touch my knee in an attempt to massage it because that hurt my knee. Basically, I couldn’t do anything because it would hurt my freakin’ knee. I ended up laying in bed for an hour, staring at my ceiling, contemplating what on earth I could do since I basically couldn’t move at all without screaming in pain.

Somehow I managed to maneuver my body around so that I could do what I could for my knee, as I was not going to put up with being immobile all day. Now, my knee is unlocked, but there’s something still not quite right with it because it still feels very tender and sore. Guess I’m bedridden for the rest of the day until I can figure out what, exactly, is causing all of this…

Gone are traitorous best friends. Gone are dirty lying ex-boyfriends that waffle between wanting to transition into becoming friends after the breakup and getting back together. Gone are all the relationships in my life that I have been hanging onto for far too long without practical reason.

I am a strong and independent woman who deserves care, respect, and honesty. If the people in my life can’t give me those things, then I don’t see why I should keep them around.

I know who I am, I know what I want, and I know how I want to live my life. If I hang onto all of these relationships that cause me nothing but pain and hurt and hold me back from achieving my full potential, I am not going to get anywhere in life.

I can’t let that happen. I won’t let that happen.

It’s time for me to finally free myself from the boundaries my ex-friends and ex-boyfriends have managed to set for me post-friendship/relationship breakup and cut them out of my life. I need to detoxify from the poisonous effects of maintaining relationships with these people. I refuse deal with other people’s crap anymore for the sake of sentimental reasons; it’s time to be practical and move on.

Feeling… tired. Like, perpetually so. I think most of this is stemming from the fact that I am so busy that I haven’t gotten a chance to sleep in for weeks!

Studying… non-stop. This week is midterm for me, so I have exams and/or papers every day this week. I have so much I need to do to prepare for each exam and I’m starting to panic about whether or not I can get all my prep work done in time.

Excited… for spring break! I can’t even explain how much I am looking forward to go home. It’s not that I’m unhappy at school, but I definitely need a break from school, work, and friends.

Applying… to my first-choice study abroad program for the next academic year. I have one last portion of the application to submit and then my application is complete! I should hear back from my program about my acceptance in about two weeks.

Craving… my mother’s home-cooked food. She is the best cook I know, hands down, and I don’t particularly enjoy eating cafeteria food day in, day out.

Loving… my close friends, both online and offline. (You all know who you are.)

Organizing… my life in a shiny new planner. I’ve never used one before, and I’m now finding that I can’t live without it. I use it to keep track of everything, from what I’m doing to how much money I spend.

Saving… money. I’m rigorously keeping track of my expenses for the first time ever, and once I have some kind of idea how much I need for food, transport, etc. each week I’m going to figure out what is the best percentage for me to deposit into my savings account from every paycheck. If I want to travel as much as I hope to in the next few years, I need to work on saving every penny.

Thankful… that my busy schedule has proven to be a blessing in disguise. There’s been more drama this semester than any other semesters, if that’s even possible, but luckily I am not directly involved in any of the drama since I’m too busy to be around to cause any.

Keeping… all those affected by the Chilean earthquake this past weekend in my thoughts and prayers.

I like to get a full night’s worth of sleep on the weekends. Unfortunately, your tendency to pull the fire alarm at some ungodly hour when I am fast asleep is really starting to be a problem when it comes to me getting uninterrupted sleep. I’m pretty sure it’s not just me you’re bothering; you’re rapidly becoming a hated enemy of three residence halls as we all have to evacuate whenever you decide to pull the alarm. I hope you can count, because that’s a lot of people to piss off.

I don’t really care why you have such an affinity for pulling the fire alarm at 3a.m. Maybe you’re pledging a fraternity/sorority, maybe you get a rush whenever you hear the blare of a fire alarm, maybe you keep forgetting that foil does not belong in a microwave when you want to heat up food to appease your cravings for a midnight snack. Whatever it is, stop pulling the fire alarm. I’m serious. You’re an ass for doing so.

Not only do you force three residence halls to evacuate in the early hours of the morning, but you’re also making us stand outside for prolonged amounts of time until the all-clear is sounded and we are allowed back inside. This isn’t as much of a problem in the summer, but it is most definitely an issue in the winter, particularly as there are still mountains of snow on campus from our recent blizzards. I’d rather not catch pneumonia or bronchitis because of your stupidity, thanks.

I suppose I should be grateful for your consideration, as you did pull the fire alarm in the early a.m. on Sunday morning the last two weekends. It could be worse, such as if you pulled the fire alarm on a week night during the next two weeks, as midterms are fast approaching…

Now is probably a good time to state that if you even think of pulling the fire alarm in the middle of the night during the week of midterms, I will have your head. Consider yourself warned.

1. I realize that the chance of it being the same person pulling the fire alarm on multiple occasions is very slim, but it is easier to direct this rant at one individual rather than a group.

When I was little, my favorite movie was The Sound of Music. (It’s still one of my all-time favorites.) When people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always answered “Liesl von Trapp.”

I wanted to be just like her when I was sixteen. I wanted to receive telegrams from the boy of my dreams and twirl around inside a gazebo with him before he gave me my very first kiss. I wanted to sing “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” with a boy who would be able to sing the verses about being seventeen going on eighteen. I wanted to have her optimism, her poise, and her grace.

I’ve never had an attachment with any other fictional character; Liesl is the only one.

I didn’t realize there was so much about Liesl’s story that involves the loss of innocence and the onset of heartbreak. At sixteen, she’s right at the brink of adulthood. She’s “innocent as a rose” at the beginning but by the end, her innocence and naivety have faded and she has a much more realistic outlook about the ways of the world. Some of that has to do with her short-lived courtship with Rolf. But most of it has to do with the von Trapp family’s unfortunate circumstances thanks to the Nazi invasion of Austria and the onset of Hitler’s regime throughout Europe. Either way, the Liesl at the end of the film is very different to the one at the beginning, and her character development is something that I’ve always taken away from The Sound of Music.

There are so many things that I love about Liesl and a lot of what I love about her has changed over time. When I wanted to be Liesl at the age of six, it was Liesl’s fairytale princess quality that I loved most about her. Now, though, what I love about her is how her story carefully tells a tale of one girl’s transition from child to adult and her slight brush with heartbreak. A lot of my attachment to Liesl is for sentimental reasons, because whenever I watch The Sound of Music I’m transported to a time when I was younger, more innocent, and more naive. Perhaps it’s wishful thinking, but there’s a lot of Liesl’s initial trusting innocence that I think I, too, had when I was about fifteen or sixteen.

I wanted to grow up to be Liesl at the age of six, and now at the age of nineteen there are traces of her I can see in myself from three, four years ago. It’s funny how some things turn out.

I still want to be Liesl von Trapp when I grow up.

As usual, I spent the past week cleaning and doing laundry in an effort to get rid of the “bad spirits” of the old year as I usher in the new one. I wanted to have a newly purchased outfit set aside to wear on the first day of the year, but time and money didn’t extend to a whole new outfit so a new shirt will have to do. And of course, I won’t be washing my hair today as it’s bad luck to wash your hair on the first day of the new year.

Since I’m away at school, I won’t be able to enjoy all the delicious foods and wonderful atmosphere at home. However, I’m managing to have an enjoyable time nonetheless. My friends and I have plans to go out to eat Chinese food and my Chinese class is arranging a dim sum lunch to celebrate. I haven’t had dim sum since the last time I was in Hong Kong during the summer of 2008 so I’m really excited as dim sum is so delicious!

I hope everyone has a great day whether or not Chinese New Year is celebrated. 恭禧发财，新年快乐！Happy Year of the Tiger!

Those giant white splotches are clusters of snowflake that have clumped together on my window. That brown box thing in the distance? That used to look like a building. And those big green things in the middle? Yeah, they’re trees, but it’s a question of how long they’re going to remain upright before they break and collapse underneath the weight of all the heavy snow on the branches. You can compare my photo from last weekend’s Snowpocalypse/Snowmageddon to this week’s Snoverkill storm to get a better idea of just how much snow there is outside.

There is a blizzard warning in effect until 7pm tonight and the government has halted snow removal because it is simply too dangerous for the workers to continue plowing the roads. Snowmageddon/Snowpocalypse dumped almost three feet of snow and Snoverkill is due to dump at least another two feet in the area. At minimum, there is going to be four feet of snow total – and that’s not even calculating the amount of (sometimes black) ice underneath the layer of snow.

I haven’t had class all week and I definitely won’t have it tomorrow. Class on Friday is looking pretty dicey at this rate as well. While it’s been nice to have an unexpected break in the middle of February, I’m starting to get a bad case of cabin fever. I’ve been trying to occupy myself by reading, surfing the web, and watching TV (until the satellites go down because of the blizzard). But there’s only so much that can keep you occupied when you’re shut up inside with friends who are feeling just as antsy as you are…

ETA: Someone made a time lapse of last weekend’s Snowmageddon. Now, take that and multiply it by about 100 to take into account Snoverkill’s blizzard status, and you should have some idea of what it’s currently like in DC.

[youtube]EMhUZAq5IxQ[/youtube]

I went out and bought a box of thank you notes from Papyrus, my favorite card shop, the other day. I absolutely love the pale green and yellow colors and the dragonfly print on both the card and matching envelope. Not only that, but the slight touch of glitter on the dragonfly wings and scalloped edges really add a nice touch. I’m not typically one to gush about the beauty of a card but this particular box of thank you notes truly are gorgeous. It took me over half an hour to pick this one out because Papyrus’ selection was so beautiful!

Now that I have a beautiful set of thank you notes to use instead of having to run to my school’s bookstore for a mediocre one every time I need to write a message of gratitude, I sense that I’ll be a lot more excited to write out thank you notes in the future. Hopefully I won’t run out of occasions that require sending one!

If I were an animal, I’d be a panda.

If I were a shoe, I’d be high heeled ankle boots.

If I were a hairstyle, I’d be a pollyanna.

If I were a dessert, I’d be red velvet cupcake.

If I were a Disney character, I’d be the Queen of Hearts.

If I were a time of day, I’d be 11:11.

If I were a city, I’d be Hong Kong.

If I were a flower, I’d be daffodil.

If I were a food, I’d be pasta.

If I were a material, I’d be silk.

If I were a fruit, I’d be mandarin.

If I were a book, I’d be The Book Thief.

If I were a tree, I’d be cherry blossom.

If I were a month, I’d be May.

If I were a planet, I’d be Jupiter.

If I were a taste, I’d be bittersweet.

If I were an expression, I’d be a wink.

If I were a scent, I’d be clean laundry.

If I were a feeling, I’d be love.

I know Canadians (and Scandinavians, and Russians, etc :P) are scoffing about how DC has freaked out about this storm. I’m from Chicago and even I am a little skeptical about how the city has whipped itself into such a frenzy about the blizzard that one would think it was the end of the world! However, this city is not equipped at all to deal with such intense winter weather. Schools were closed yesterday and offices either operated with a bare skeleton staff or no staff at all. And when the snow started to fall, all-out panic began to ensue.

My friend and I went to the grocery store yesterday in an attempt to buy some non-perishable food items on the off chance that we got stuck in our dorms due to the snow. And my God, what a scene there was at the grocery store! Our local Whole Foods had lines that wrapped all the way around the store, customers clutching grocery carts filled to the brim with enough food to feed a third world country. There was even police there for riot control, because tensions were running very, very high. The nearby Safeway was the opposite – its shelves were stripped bare because customers had cleared it out of any and all stock.

One can’t really blame everyone for panicking, though. When the blizzard is described as “the heaviest snowfall in nearly a century,” people are most definitely going to panic! As for me, I am going to spend my day curled up in bed, watching the snow steadily fall outside my window. I already ventured outside once to see how deep the snow was for myself – I sank my leg into the snow and it’s already higher than my knees!

ETA: Final snow accumulation amount for my area is 27.5 inches. I fell waist-deep in a snow bank :(