Are you surprised?

Guess who got busy again? And guess who's doing another one of those giant catch-up posts with headers?

Guess I should've been more specific
K and I tried the whole webcam thing again Monday night. I was sure to leave the gym by 9:30 so I'd have plenty of time to get home and maybe even shower before talking to K online. A few minutes before 10, I was at my computer logging on. I turned up my speakers and busied myself with watching The Hills (thank goodness Spencer & Heidi are finally OVER!) while I waited for him to log on.

K signed on at about 10:20. We started trying to connect with our webcams. It was exciting when I could actually hear him and another one of our friends who was in the room with him. I couldn't believe it -- this was actually working!

For a few seconds, anyway. The audio started doing this weird thing where it was skipping every few syllables of K's and repeating a few others. The result sounded like a rap song. When the video actually came up, it was exciting to see K.

And then I realized how bad the video was. Parts of the screen were getting jumbled from the delay of K's not-so-quick Internet connection.

We tried Sky.pe and W!ndows L!ve Me.ssenger. WLM seemed to be the better of the two for us, but it was still frustrating.


The other nights of the week
Reread the above mini-post, but be sure to add @Ol to it as well. We definitely tried all of them many, many times.

We tried using just video. We tried using just the microphones. We tried using the webcam and the microphones at the same time. We did all of that on each messenger service. And each time, after about an hour of trying, we gave up and just went back to typing.

Last night, we realized K can hear and see me clearly and with no problem, so we used the microphones and allowed just my webcam. It was still hard to hear K with the delay, but it was too good to hear each other's voices to fully switch to regular old-fashioned IM.


The first care packages/It's a good thing she's so cute
I got an email from K's FRG (f@mily readiness group -- they keep families informed and serve as a support system while the soldiers are gone) telling us we're finally cleared to send care packages over. Because K's battery had classes and training in other areas before getting to their final base, their address wasn't registered until Tuesday.

This meant that the night I got the email, I stayed home from the gym and got packages ready to send to K. We originally weren't supposed to be able to send anything until this weekend, so I had thought I had more time. I had put some things K wanted me to send him (his Wii, Guitar Hero, some socks & undershirts that I had washed for him, since they were dirty when he left) in boxes, but I still had things to add with them. I had to write a letter to go with the boxes, and I had to put some goodies in there for him, too, so he would feel loved.

One thing about K is that many Tuesdays each year find him at the store buying new movie releases. Last Tuesday is one I know was waiting for: the release of The Bourne Ultimatum (AWESOME movie!). I bought the limited-edition version, just like K would have, but I converted it to an .mp4 so he could put it on his iPod and so I could burn it to a DVD. That way, if the DVD gets lost, scratched, or borrowed and not returned, it won't be a big deal.

Piper was sitting on my bed and had realized she could see her reflection in my bathroom mirror, which was down a short hallway several feet away. She was barking and growling at herself, and I was laughing at her for being such an idiot.

I went back to my computer to finish burning the DVD. I turned to look at Piper and immediately stopped laughing when I saw she was peeing on my bed. I guess she really felt threatened by the strange dog she was growling at. Stupid dog.

I was up until almost 3 that night, thanks in part to the new loads of laundry I had to do because of Piper. I had just changed my sheets the night before, so I hadn't washed the other set yet.

I went to the post office the next morning to mail all the packages. There were four. K should feel loved by that. I'm sending him another one Monday morning. This one will be a "real" care package, though, with things I make and buy for him instead of things he needed me to send because he couldn't fit them in with everything he had to pack for the deployment.


And now for the weekend plans
As I type this, all three of my roommates from my senior year are on their way here. They're coming to spend the weekend with me, and I'm really excited. The four of us don't all get to hang out very often, so we always have a blast when we do.

But two of them have never been to my apartment. And because I think it's necessary for my entire apartment to be absolutely spotless when people see it for the first (and second, and third) time, I have got to get back to my organizing and cleaning.

I only blogged tonight because I was inches away from my computer, shredding old checks that were taking up room in a shoe box in my closet. Clearly, they have to be disposed of tonight. If the girls happen to look in my closet now, they'll be jealous of how orderly and nice everything is. It's amazing how much room a shoebox can take up!