frost
Ironic, isn't it? The winter I was in Japan it snowed in Oregon and Washington, snowed a lot and stayed. Right on New Year's, too. This winter, they have rare snowfall in Tokyo, and there isn't an ounce of it here. It is cold, though. Freezing cold, an unusual event here in the Pacific Northwest. The second irony is that I often feel less frigid when it's crisp and clear like this than when it's 45 degrees and "misting" rain. Just goes to show ya that I haven't quite been parted from my Michigan roots.

Another term started today and it's back to the drawing board. Back to tuition, books, boredom, stress, lacking sleep, and too little time. The return to Eugene also signals my return to my long-distance relationship after the longest same-city duration since I came back from Japan. I do like to sleep by myself sometimes, if just because Justin is a terrible bed hog, and when I'm with him *all the time* I often need some space... but it just doesn't seem right to be a couple hundred miles of freeway apart.

I'm drowing my sorrows in retail therapy. Having already overspent my monthly budget (on the 3rd of the month?!?) I think I might need some REAL therapy to compensate, or at least credit management advice. It's hard to feel icky about a $400 credit card bill when one has $30,000 in federal loans in one's name. Ownz0red by the government. Yeesh.