06.08.01 - 6:56 p.m.

It�s over. I�m not quite sure how I should be feeling about this, since I�ve been working till the very last minute and that doesn�t leave much time to contemplate. It�s kinda like I�m done with summer camp, or boot camp, more likely, but after spending almost every waking minute with the same 17 people for six months� ok, maybe it should be more like Survivor, where we booted someone out of the class every week. No, wait, bad idea, cause then the winner would be left to do the entire book by herself at the end.

Anyway. I have a week off to pack, move, do whatever I want, and it�s a little intimidating. I really don�t know what to do with myself or with all this free time. Already today I�ve gone out to lunch, walked to the lake and sat on the rocks, went to Dairy Queen and took a walk by the Skokie sculpture garden. Soon we�re going to Sheffield�s and possibly dancing after that. My day is FULL. I�m getting tired just thinking about it.

I feel like I�m at my best in the beginning of a relationship � when I�m first getting to know someone, I�m all witty and people think I�m funny, charming and intelligent. (Like today, when I said I needed a barrier between me and the nature.) But then it starts to drag and I have no more quips to make and I become Boring Date Woman of the 21st century, stuck in my little boyfriend/girlfriend "let�s watch Ed and fall asleep" rut. Maybe people shouldn�t be allowed to know me for more than three weeks at a time, so then I can be the me-est me I can be and after that, start all over again. A single-serving friend.

I don�t have to set an alarm tomorrow. How sweet it is.