A Woodsy Weekend, A Gross GRE

This past weekend was heavenly. Dave and I ventured to Harriman State Park for some illegal, out-of-season camping and got absolutely lost in the woods and each other and how great life is when you're cuddling with your favorite person by a toasty campfire. Luckily, Dave is Mr. Mountain Man who grew up raised by wolves, so he knew all the right ways to do everything. I assisted him in performing the necessary duties to keep us warm and happy, learned how to make and tend to a proper fire, and chopped a bit of wood for my first time. Our fire proved to be entertaining enough for both nights and even part of the second day...we passed so much time just watching the embers and flames. It was a hell of a lot better than TV!

The weekend included making out atop big rocks, investigating for only the best fire wood, getting lost at night ("Oh, yes, definitely I can get us right back!"), a bit of scrabble, plenty of tequila and PBR, yummy food, lots of snuggles, and two little field mice who were brave enough to run over and stare straight at us. And how adorable they were! But we ran them off before bedtime...no one wants wild mice, not matter how freakin' cute they are, running in the tent.

Unfortunately the weekend also included studying for these damn GREs. The date is this Saturday, November 10th, and I absolutely can't wait to get them behind me. I feel like I've been doing so much studying but at the same time I sucked it up on the practice test, so I'm uncertain how the actual test will go down. In my defense, the practice test was filled with plenty of distractions (I was taking it in my kitchen) and I did quite well on the writing section. But the verbal was just okay, a little bit above average, and the math was embarrassingly bad. Thank god my prospective programs don't really care about these scores, especially the math scores, but still. I don't want to look like a complete dumbass!

In addition to absolutely hating the GREs, I found out that my chances of getting into NYU are less than 10%. I'm still going for it, but after I received this bit of info, am also going for quite a few other programs. Thanks to everyone who has helped out with the portfolio so far. I really appreciate the input!

So, I'm getting back into the swing of New York City and these applications and working and all that. It's amazing how only two and a half days away can really change your mindset. Just being in the woods like that with only one other person, to return to a city like NY in only an hour car ride! It can throw one off a bit. And I still feel like I'm adjusting to the city in general, so adjusting to it after the woods felt especially confusing.

Lastly, Frida Bat says, "Hi." And she just added, "I love Mama Tay!"