3 semanas... 3 weeks...

I seriously cannot believe how fast time is passing. Has it really been this long since I've done an entry?  Am I really 25 already? It seems like it was just the beginning of spring, and now it's almost June. We've had lots of rain so the leaves on the trees are green and lush, the grass is actually GREEN, and flowers are everywhere. The heat radiates of the pavement, and you sweat walking from your car to the store. Yes, I think summer is almost upon us.

I can't believe I leave for Spain in 3 weeks time. (And I still need my hotel and transportation!) This is my task for tomorrow afternoon.... Madrid here I come.

My emotions are distinct this go-around. I always feel a very specific way right before I leave for Spain. I feel happy to leave, stressed to have to do it, and eager to return to my second home :) I'm calmer than I was a few weeks ago. The workload for my master's program is a stressful reminder that I'm not going to have much of a break this summer, and that sucks, but I look forward to the fact that I'm going to be learning in a new way that I never have before... in the place I love most in all the world. I look forward to the challenge and dread it at the same time. For some reason, the word "Masters" STILL seems so distant to me. Is that really me? Kathryn? Getting her MASTERS? That was always something that you do when you're "like thirty"... I'm with people twice my age who know more about the world than I do, and I hoping my little Albion college degree measures up!

And yet, I'm sure I'll be with others who are thinking, "Geeze, everyone is half my age, fresh out of college, and I haven't taken a test in 15 years."

We'll see. :) I look forward to learning from everyone.  The cool thing is we all bring something different to the table.  Somehow, I think I'll be listening and learning a lot this trip :).

I'll be staying HERE if you are interested to see it.  It's in Spanish, but you can see pictures of the residencia.  I'll be sans the IKEA decor...obvio.  But you get the idea.

Tonight Charlie and I ate at a Spanish Grille in the Ballantyne area...the Sangria was good as was the paella.  Far better seafood than I was expecting.  I wanted to order more tapas, but I'll get to do that soon enough... and the ones in Spain vienen con un plato de acetunas.* :)

*come with a plate of olives

There's an app for that!

I must preface this by saying I have never had an "spakin' new technology" anything.  Every phone I've every owned made a call, sent a text, and took a few crappy, blurry pictures.

That is until yesterday when I became the proud owner of the HTC Android Incredible.  They just hit shelves Thursday... needless to say, last night I was completely consumed for 5 hours straight learning it's ins and outs.  I was creating my own google calendar, connecting my phonebook to facebook pages (yes, I can spy on you!), and downloading every free "app" under the sun.  It was great.  I talked with Charlie via an internet Skype service, viewed constellations from where I was standing on my phone, hit up the cheapest gas station, added widgets on my different phone interfaces, read a Spanish comic book, made photo frames of Luna, checked my e-mail, created a grocery list....

...and then I got a phone call from my mom.

...and the phone didn't work.

And so, I spent about 30 minutes on the phone with "Steve" from Verizon Wireless trying to figure out the reason behind my problem.

What are the odds that the "Incredible" do-it-all-phone that has an application for everything under the sun can't make a phone call?  Apparently pretty high in my case.  I guess in the first wave of phones they are trying to "get the kinks ironed out"...and if it happens again I need to restart the phone.  If the problem persists they will order me a new one.  Oh joy.

In the meantime, though...I will be enjoying the many features the phone has to offer...and keeping up with the news at work. 

I suppose that's what you get when it's "very expensive."


P.S.  If you did not get the last joke then you did not spend the better part of your childhood in the 90s ;)