what is it that they say about the summertime blues, again?

During my undergraduate years at SIU, I was always told that Carbondale summers were/are "awesome." I spent my summers back home in the Chicago suburbs, though, so I could work full time, live rent-free, and make real money. And so this summer of '08 is the first summer I've spent in Carbondale, and I don't know if "awesome" is the word I'd use to describe it. We've had two really rad parties (if you weren't at both or either, you truly missed out), but besides that, it's been totally blah. I went to one of the Carbondale summer mainstays - the Sunset Concert - and mildly enjoyed myself. But now that I can't even afford a case of shitty canned beer, I can't very well go to one tonight. (Well, I suppose you could, but the draw of the said Sunset Concert is not the music, by any means - it is definitely the boozing.) I'm still totally broke and soooo looking forward to August 1st, which is so close, yet so far. I will have money in the bank, I will be moved into my amazing new place, and I will probably be a lot less crotchety. In fact, this summer is so boring and craptacular, that I'm actually looking forward to next week when I have to cover all Writing Center hours because my coworker will be out of town. That is pretty sad. Even sadder - I cleaned my bathroom for fun today. Granted, I am one of those who pathetically enjoys cleaning and finds it to be quite therapeutic, but still. I have to admit it was a last resort. It's just hard, because Mike and I are on totally different schedules, and he never wants to do anything later on in the evening (understandably) because he starts work at 4am each weekday. So, then I end up going to bed early, cos I figure, why not? And then I don't get anything done, and now I'm sleeping way too much.

But not everything has halted with the summer. I'm beginning to develop quite the workout regime. I'm sure all of you that know me have heard me praise the cult of Crossfit, which I try to do at least three to four times a week. And today, I even got up and ran at 8:30 am - only 2.25 miles, but considering I'll be doing Crossfit at 7pm, I think I'm doing pretty damn well. Since I've been going to bed earlier, I've been getting up around 7:30 every morning. I don't always do super-productive things, but I like being up for a few hours before I have to run out the door to work. I'm still plowing through the very dense Victorian ghost story collection, which is AWESOME. As tedious and soul-sucking my past summer office jobs were, the best part was being able to read copious amounts of books that I couldn't get my hands on during the school year. And I'm sure my best friend Jen can attest to the awesomeness that is/was the STC Public Library summer reading program... alright, once again, awesomeness may be a stretch, as the prizes were pretty paltry - but hey, it's better than not receiving an ice cream cone for reading a book or two.

I guess what I'm getting at here is that I'm tired of living so far away from the ones I love. I had to miss Corinne's baby shower because I had a pathetically low amount of funds in bank account, and I really, really wished I could have been there. I'm also nostalgic for more civilization and culture in general that the Chicago area affords. 

But until then, I will spend tomorrow, my day off from work, working on my tan and reading (for pleasure and for pain).