Stuck in my head, for the past two weeks

I haven't written in... a while.  

Because I've been caught up in a number of projects recently, and haven't had much time to muse (... in text... er, "blog" form).

A list of recent happenings, because lists are fun!:

1. Work.  This takes up much of my time, especially daylight hours.
2. Socializing.  Living with students makes me realize how much studying for non-stop exams sucks.  And coincidentally, how much not having to study all of the time rocks.
3. Eating.  I love food.  
4. Socializing.  Much of my "socializing" occurs concurrently with #3.  It is amazing to be able to do this without having to worry about school...  Because I am no longer in school.
5. I am trying to be more nice to people.  Although sometimes "being nice" automatically bequeaths you "mom"-like responsibilities(?).  Making sacrifices in order to help make other people's lives a little easier is supposed to be a good thing... but has been a bit more difficult to do than anticipated.  But I think even though sometimes it sucks, I am going to need to learn how be a more patient person, sooner or later.  
6. I am trying to be more forgiving of people who aren't very nice or grateful, because maybe the reason they suck at being nice is because nobody was ever nice or appreciative to them first(?)
7. Attending random shindigs I've never been to before/trying out new things.  Includes: various local music fairs, surfing, Knott's Scary Farm, a Renaissance Faire, house parties (was never really a fan of them), bars/lounges (decided they're not my scene), Happy Hour with co-workers (I wish my Aisan glow wasn't so freaking redddd), cooking classes, cookie-decorating, and soon-to-come: sail boating lessons!!!
8. Learning to appreciate my family and relatives more.  My immediate family is pretty dysfunctional.  But I guess as I've been getting older, I am learning to be more appreciative of my parents.  Even though they sometimes have odd ways of showing that they care. And... My relatives have always been weird, but I guess now I view them as being more "quirky" than "strange."  

An odd assist to my patience-training:

I think the show Big Bang Theory has kind of help me to view certain individuals (who used to sometimes really confuse/frustrate me) in more of entertaining-endearing way, now.  Or maybe they've been working on their temperaments, as well, so now they're more pleasant to be around and are actually kind of fun, once you get past their personality quirks.  (In essence, I have a friend who is very much like a real-life Sheldon; he used to frustrate me, but now I've grown to appreciate his peculiarities.  However, the more I think about it, the more I realize that most of my friends make the same sort of geeky jokes in real life that the characters on the show do... Hell, I've even found myself engaged in hour(+) long debates about super heroes on a couple occasions...)

The YouTube butt-freeze frame below is distracting.  I just realized that that's been up at the top of my blog for the past month or so.  Eh.