Week Before "0 Week"

Prior to this week I wasn't in such a blithe mood. It might be due to fatigue and stressful things that I have had to deal with. The sources of my stresses include moving back into UCLA, missing my high school friends, preparing for another year of college, possibly moving from my house in Azusa to a yet to be determined location, my financial woes (i.e. loans), issues with my dad's siblings, and my relationship with Megan. All of this just brought me down to an emotional state that is neither happy nor sad. My mom believed that I was somewhat depressed, however I believe that all my stresses as well as the state of mind I was in made me look like I was depressed. If the lack of smiles were replaced by serious face gestures and emotionless stares at the wall as I contemplate about life, how else would a mother respond?

I basically felt this unnamed feeling between happy and sad--but more towards the negative side--until about the day I moved back into UCLA. These past couple of days have been fun and truly helped me bypass my negative feelings. On Tuesday I moved into my new apartment that I am sharing with five other friends. Not only did I feel welcome but my friends were helpful, nice, and outgoing.

The next morning someone made eggs with potatoes and a couple minutes later Josh, Dennis, Alan, George, and I walked down to JWC for a gym session. After our workout, George, Alan, and I ran about 2.5 miles around the perimeter of UCLA from JWC to Hilgard, then to Le Conte, and finally back up to our apartment. I took a shower then George, Alan, Harrison, and I made a trip to IKEA; which in and of itself is nice because it made us feel independent. As soon as we got back to our place and unloaded all of the things we bought at IKEA the drove down to subway to get something to eat; by then it was 4:00 pm and you bet that we were starving. The rest of the night we just took care of some miscellaneous things, and I helped Alan build his desk/shelf.

Yesterday (Thursday) a bunch of us decided to go Point Dume beach, which is before Zuma beach. George, Alan, Emilie, and I rode top down in George's jeep on the way there and my was it nice. The weather, the air, and the company was refreshing. When we got to the beach we picked a spot, settled in, and played some beach volleyball. The rest of our stay there, we relaxed, and did other typical activities a group of college students would do at a beach. By 4:00 pm we packed up and headed home. We hit a little bit of traffic but all in all it wasn't a bad ride home (especially since we rode top down and shirts off in George's Jeep). We waited about half an hour after we got back to our apartment to head down to Chipotle with George, Alan, Karo, and myself. We were just a couple guys catching up and getting something to eat. I enjoy these kinds of things because I get to go outside, hang out with some friends, socialize, and feel as if I truly was part of the UCLA student body.

Later that night, most of us had even more fun playing some "table" games. For the sake of being succinct, let's just say there were music, games, and good company all well-mixed in one event. I am feeling good...so far.

Today a couple of the guys and I made an effort to clean the dining area and the kitchen. I must say, it was a success!