#we’re taught to be PROUD of ourselves for working to literal exhaustion!!!!

[kimvvantae]

i’m not someone that cries easily but this morning i was going to work and the bus was so packed i barely had a spot to stand and it was like 7am and my back and my legs hurt and it felt so humiliating to be in that situation day after day for a job that doesn’t even pays that well and i felt like crying on the spot bc damn this is what we’re wasting most of our times on earth for

[halothenthehorns]

Catch a Falling Star

by  bookhater95

5 Times Remus was afraid to fly and one time he wasn't. Wolfstar galore

Sirius had already decided that Lupin kid was the odd one before they'd all lined up next to their brooms, him last with tentative steps at the bit of wood. All he did was sleep up in their dorms whenever he wasn't poring over homework, you'd think the lad would enjoy a bit of fun they were being forcibly taught.

James leaned over to whisper in his ear, "I can't decide which is funnier to watch, that guy, or Snivilius?"

Said pompous Slytherin was standing next to his own broom and glowering down at it as if ready to throw a hex at that instead of them for once. How was it possible they seemed the only two ready to have some fun?

A whistle was blown and Sirius' jumped right into his hand of course, he even swung his leg over already before even being prompted and sat proud and ready to do more than just hover, when he again glanced over and saw Remus Lupin looked quite green around the edges, putting some color in his usually gray face.

Pity warred with hilarity, all the idiot had to do was get off the ground, but then, he'd also offered his notes already before they'd even had to ask as a sign of good will if the two promised to keep it down at night, which they'd graciously been doing by being ten times louder in the common room.

At least when they came up and he was snoring away it didn't bother them, Snape on the other hand had been nothing but a useless waste since the train and deserved to have that smarmy look brushed from his face. The fallback would just be happenstance.

A quick curse at just the right spot, and the broom went bucking wildly away with its rider shouting profanities even Sirius didn't yet know. A girl burst out laughing in delight, while Remus watched the progression in horror as if his worst nightmare were being played out. Sirius winced as he realized he hadn't thought that all the way through, but then the other boys eyes caught his, and he smiled. He'd seen him do it, and he mouthed 'thank you' as Snape hit the mud, disbanding their flying practice for now.

2

The pitch had long since emptied out, James in the lead as he ran across the entirety of their school with excitement for making the team, but Sirius hung back as he sat in the warm sun and trimmed the tails of his precious broom for practice that evening.

Remus came down from the stands and sat beside him until he was finished with that quiet air of his, he hadn't even brought a book this time, just watching him handle his broom with fond exasperation. "I'll never understand you lots appeal to this madness," he told yet again as if he hadn't been doing so for over a year now.

"And I'll never understand how anyone can hate being in the air," Sirius said back at once. "Won't you give it a go, just once?" Remus blanched in disgust and finally took a leery step away from him, eyeing the cloudless sky above as if a hand would reach down and squash them all. "Don't you trust me?" He wheedled. "I've never fallen off a broom and I'm not going to just let you!"

"I'd really rather not," he pleaded. "Honestly Sirius, isn't the promise of sitting in the stands and watching enough for you?"

"For now," he pouted as he slung it over his shoulders and clapped him on the back. "I'll get you one day though, you mark my words."

"Haven't you learned by now not to bet against me," Remus said back with a challenging smile he only ever showed around them.

"You cheated, not getting caught last time!" Sirius was instantly distracted and pulled into the argument as he allowed himself to be steered to lunch.

3

The moon was three quarters full above them. The stands were empty and every snatch of wind had them standing closer together than normal as they shivered and sized each other up.

"Sirius, this really isn't necessary," Remus whispered. "I said I forgive you, and I do, please stop trying to make it up to me, especially like this."

"Please?" He was, actually begging. He looked as distraught as when he'd confessed what he'd almost done to Snape.

"Why is this so important to you?" Remus wasn't even sure he heard he spoke so quietly.

"Because I," Sirius was still clutching the broom and looking at him with hungry eyes. "I want to, prove that I'm worth, more than just a killer. Moony, I want to give you good memories too."

Remus stepped close and cupped his cheek. Sirius leaned into the touch without breaking eye contact, watching his every inflection carefully. "You've given me more than I'll ever dream of Padfoot," he promised, putting special emphasis on the dog nickname. "I look forward to the future because of you."

Sirius melted in his palm, turning his face just enough to kiss his wrist before covering his hand with his own and smiling. Just a sweet, simple gesture that meant the world to him, that Sirius even seemed to enjoy his touch was a miracle he'd never believe anyone would because of his affliction and Sirius proved wrong every day. "Okay," he whispered, dropping the broom and pulling him in closer.

4

"What are you up to?" Remus asked, trying to keep the worst of the poutiness out of his voice for going out into the cold November air given the occasion.

"Nope," Sirius refused to answer, again. "It's my birthday, it's my surprise!"

"Pretty sure that's the opposite of how this is suppose to work," he corrected in exhaustion, but was ignored as Sirius got him all the way out to the broom shed and pushed him inside before closing it and leaning in to grin up at him.

Remus started to frown already, his gut clenching unpleasantly at how this was starting even as Sirius tried to coax otherwise by trailing his hand up and down his zipped pants suggestively. "So, shall we do what does work then? Our last year here, I'd love to get the full experiences of life."

"Like getting ourselves expelled early," he tried to curb, plenty distracted by Sirius' nimble fingers but eyes still darting around to all the broom tails suspiciously, the strong smell of wood polish was making him nauseous. "Please be gentle with whatever's about to happen." Sirius laughed lightly, but there was a hesitation now as he prodded at the button but didn't move farther like he was second guessing himself now. "Sirius?" He asked uneasily.

He let his hand drop and pouted up at him. "Never mind, I guess. I thought, I don't know, but never mind."

"Well at least tell me what you were thinking?" He offered in consolation even as he relaxed in relief.

"It's stupid, you'll laugh," he muttered, moving to hold his neck now and pull him in for a proper kiss. "Just, bloody shag me, yeah?"

Guilt tampered out the need though as he gently kissed him back before leaning out and frowning. "You're making me feel like an arse, just tell me, I promise I won't laugh."

"I, um," his eyes darted to his and away to his own broom before going back and repeating the pattern several times before reluctantly blurting, "I was hoping you would, let me give you a ride. Just a small one, I swear, we'd barely hover off the ground, but you clearly still don't want to, so let's just let it go."

Remus bit his lip rather than go back to kissing him as he stroked his hair absently for a few moments and watched hope war with his insistent expression to let it drop back off. "This really means a lot to you, doesn't it?"

"No," he impulsively lied. Something of that eleven-year old who still wanted to laugh at anyone being afraid of heights though would always be in his boyfriend, and Remus knew that. "I've never pushed you, have I? Just, thought you'd want to give it a try now, it's been so long, and a lots happened since then. The wizarding world is literally at war Remus, we don't even know how many more birthdays we're going to get, so I just sort of thought this little thing of yours had fallen off. I was wrong, I won't bring it up again, promise."

Remus kissed him then, because he was incapable of doing anything else in that moment or he'd explode. Sirius snogged him back eagerly, and as always let himself be guided anyway Moony wanted as he started pushing and nudging him to whatever position he desired. Sirius obviously wasn't expecting to be let go though when they were in the center of the little space and blinked his eyes open in concern to see Remus reaching out and holding his broom.

It was a gift from the Potter's he'd screamed like a delirious child over, it was the same one he rode on every Quidditch game, so it's not as if Remus grabbed at random. His heart stuttered with hope, but then he just watched in confusion as Remus let it go at chest height. It hovered in place, and then Moony moved fast, he squealed in surprise a noise threat of death couldn't make him admit had issued from his throat as his waist was seized.

"Ask me again after the war," he whispered as he sat him down on it sidesaddle, stepping in-between his legs. "Doesn't mean we can't have some fun in the meantime?"

Sirius laughed in delight and vowed, "I'm going to remember that."

5

"Her name is Elvendork," Sirius told him with pride as he ran a rag over her chassis one last time.

"Of course it is," Remus nodded without surprise. "Do you plan on many broken bones at once, or just one at a time?"

"Moony, how dare you," Sirius scowled. "I've never fallen out of the air in my life, I most certainly won't start now!"

It was no use telling him otherwise, Sirius was a natural skyborne and he knew it. "Just please be careful," he asked instead. "You and Prongs, watch your back, you promise?"

"Her christening night out Remus!" Sirius reminded with the same delirious happiness he'd had the entire time he'd put her together. "Voldemort himself couldn't knock us out of the air!" He stopped and watched him roll his eyes and bit down hard on his lip to stop himself asking just like he had every other time the idea popped into his head. Remus would say no, he hadn't even gotten within arms length of his beautiful motorcycle. "Kiss for luck never hurts though," he added as he sat astride her.

Remus stepped forward willingly and moved their lips together with eagerness. Blood rushed so fast through Sirius he didn't even stop to consider himself as he abruptly stood up and grabbed him, trying to pull him forward and down with him, and to his utter amazement Remus complied, settling himself down and opening his mouth in an invitation Sirius greedily accepted. Moony even began knotting up his long hair in his fingers and grating against him, it was intoxicating and he longed to let his fingers itch off his waist and just casually flick the engine on, maybe even just being astride it with the power activated would be okay, and if they happened to start getting a bit off the air while he kept Remus distracted than surely-

"Oi! Padfoot! Are you coming or what?"

Sirius startled and fell off the bike as James' voice echoed from his pocket mirror. Remus watched him with amusement as he got up and offered him a hand.

"I hate all of you," he groused as he dug it out.

"Love you too," Moony gave him one last promising peck before stepping back away.

And 1

The Shrieking Shack had been their reunion, but Sirius Black abruptly showing up on his doorstep with a stolen hippogriff while being on the run from the world was their official homecoming.

"Ah Padfoot," he chuckled for old times when Sirius' latest crazy stunt wouldn't surprise him. Actually, that was a lie, Sirius continued to surprise him his whole life with every turn they took. "You know I can't go on the run with you."

"I know," Sirius nodded, he hadn't even dismounted but just smiled down at him as he reached out and gently traced one of the scars he hadn't been there for. "Just couldn't leave without saying goodbye first."

The awkward silence hung as they watched each other. To many words from their past hovered between them, it may even take another long thirteen years to unravel it all and really be able to talk again. Maybe distance would help. Neither still moved away.

"You all unpacked yet?" Sirius stalled even as he drew his hand away. "Settling back in to, whatever the hell you 've been up to."

"We can talk about that later," he promised. "You'll owl me, won't you? The birds won't trace back to you, I swear."

"I'll get word to you Moony," Sirius promised solemnly. He turned away then, looking at the horizon with long dormant eyes that were finally waking up again.

He couldn't bare to watch him leave again without a proper smile. "What's the matter with you, not even going to offer me a ride first?"

"What?" Sirius just looked at him in pure confusion, blinking dazedly like he'd forgotten he was here.

"You forgot, didn't you?" Remus whispered. There was no need to watch him for any hint of a joke. The haggard lines of his face, the mess of his hair and prison robes, it was like looking at a warped mirror of the teenager he'd once loved with all his heart and given out on.

"Forgot what?" Sirius asked in concern. Shit, it wasn't Remus' birthday. Azkaban had taken away memories, but not facts, he still knew dates.

Remus seized his shoulder and climbed without a second of hesitation, hooking his boot into the notch in Buckbeak's wing-joint like a pro as he swung himself up behind him. Wrapping his arms tight around Sirius' waist after thirteen long years felt as natural as breathing, but Sirius remained frozen beneath him in surprise unlike usual. "Padfoot?" He whispered in concern.

"Are you, really offering, I mean, I'd swear I remembered, but maybe I was wrong," he began babbling and wasn't even twitching, unnaturally still.

"I did use to be afraid of heights," he promised, squeezing his hands and resting his forehead against the back of his shoulder. "Please don't do that to yourself. I once told you though I'd give this bloody flying thing a try after the war, and well," he swallowed as he heard how hollow this would probably sound to someone who had never really left the war, time had abandoned Sirius in there. "I won't waste anymore time being afraid of something as silly as a little height. Not when I have you again."

To his horror, Sirius' chest stuttered beneath him, he gasped in a breath and Remus leaned forward to see his old love was actually crying.

"Sirius?" He asked again in concern, moving to get off now and get him to come with him inside. Instead his hands left the birds neck and clamped down on his knees still resting on the wings to hold him in place, breathing raggedly but refusing to move, so Remus waited. He rested his chin on the shirt and leaned over to kiss his wet cheek and neck gently, closing his eyes and just letting him be.

"We can't go back," Sirius finally spoke, and Remus fought back his own sob at hearing true emotion in his voice again, the likes of which he'd thought stripped away from him forever. Love, Sirius still loved him, his past he was still piecing together. "I keep hoping I'll find something out here that hasn't changed, now even shit I didn't know about is different. You'd never get on a broom with me before, would you?"

"No," he admitted, "but I never said I had a problem with winged creatures. You just never asked."

Sirius threw his head back and laughed. That sharp barking noise he'd gone far too long without hearing. "A hippogriff. You're really telling me I never thought of that?"

"I'd never lie about something like this," he grinned, nuzzling as tight into his back as he could. "Now please, the poor creature's getting restless." Buckbeak had been remarkably still and calm beneath them the whole time in fact, but Sirius didn't call him out on it. "Can't I have that ride?"

"Anything for you Moony," Sirius' voice was brimming with excitement, his brittle fingers squeezed Remus' legs before nudging him around a bit, making sure his feet were securely behind the coming wingspan. Remus just held on tighter to his chest and leaned into his every motion with anticipation as Sirius rode with his legs and their hippogriff began a soft walk at once. "Hold on now," Sirius dug his fingers back into the deep gray feathers, sitting properly with his back straight but nearly vibrating with anticipation.

"I'm not letting go," he promised.

Sirius did something with his legs again, and their ride moved to a fast gallop in one stride, Remus worried for a moment his hold went painful on Padfoot but he merely whooped with delight and shouted, "get ready!"

There was no warning that he could tell, the wings burst forth and unfurled with a beautiful glory of streaming feathers already flapping and beating the air around them as they launched into the dark night, the two laughing the entire time.

[noctomania]

Just having a moment

Dad already had been fighting a lung infection for a while when the pandemic hit. After about the first year, I think, of the pandemic his health has steadily gotten worse. It's been one thing after another and now we're looking at a situation where he may be facing the end of his life. He can't breathe well on his own and he has an extreme phobia of wearing a mask so he's been apparently a bit difficult during the pandemic in terms of wearing a mask, but also now that he needs a mask to help him breathe. The only way they could get it to work was sedating him (with his permission) so he can wear it.

I'm at work rn but I'm not *here* really. I couldn't tell you anything about the last hour. Ive not cried, the only time i really felt close to crying was bc I was hearing my sister cry on the phone. I'd known this was coming and I guess either I'm prepared? Or just hasn't really hit yet? Idk. It's complicated bc my relationship with my parents lately has not been great, we don't really talk. I still haven't talked to my stepmom. I don't know how to explain why I feel a way towards them. Bc it's not like a blunt obvious issue yanno? It's just they have a culture about them that I don't deal well with i guess.

I don't know that I'll be able to speak to him before he passes, idk what the next steps are, and I can't be there so I'm just stuck knowing that things are going south and that I have nothing to do but sit and wait for the inevitable. It's not that I don't feel anything, I feel sick and tired and frustrated. But also plain overwhelmed so I can't even get the energy to deal with any of that feeling. I do care, I just deal with things differently bc I have to.

Anything to do with family immediately triggers a ton of shit I don't want to think about yet think about all too often. I can't shut shit off. And what's worse is there is also a part of my brain saying I'm selfish and petty and that nothing but other people's issues matter and all that shit. That if i had real problems I wouldn't be where i am. But then i remember I'm only where i am bc I have fought so hard to keep from giving up even though I have wanted, dreamed, fantasized about not having to fight anymore and just giving up.

Do you know how infuriated i get with myself when I am triggered by a fuckin pill bottle bc I feel like I'm the one who made myself mentally ill? But i have to give myself grace and remind myself that I'm not in a tunnel and that isn't Destiny - i just need to let the moment pass and the moment pass and the moment pass. That nobody makes themselves miserable on purpose. That not all issues have a place to lay blame. That the important thing is to try to take care of myself. Which is hard when I'm not getting the prompts I should or don't understand them or whatever.

When i last talked to dad he said he'd always been proud of me. Idk why or how. I'd never really thought about whether or not I make them proud. Idk why. I've felt just difficult, inconvenient, a financial drain. When i moved into their house they put me to work as soon as it was legal, when it was exhausting me bc I was in school and literally hurting bc my feet are shit, I was shamed for quitting. When I was turning 18 i was given an ultimatum to either go to college - which I did not want to do bc I had no idea what I wanted to do & it was a lot of money - or move out and find a way to live off of what a queer 18yo in texas fresh out of high school could find to sustain them. Somewhat homeless during college, as every holiday and summer break it was like ok who is going to let me sleep on their couch while the dorms are closed? Eternally grateful to those who put me up here. Can think of at least 3 households who did. I hate accepting help. It was humbling and I always tried to be a good guest. I never felt like I was good enough and always felt like a burden despite never being treated as such by these households. They treated me as family.

That continued as college ended going from couch to a full time live-in temp job to scrambling to find an apartment that I couldn't really afford when ppl couldn't put me up anymore. Applying to over a hundred jobs. Then landing an overpriced room in a precarious situation I was too naive at the time to navigate that also almost landed me on the street. When I reached out to my parents just for guidance on what I could do, they took it as me asking to move in with them (which i never asked for that i recall), said they couldn't help me, and that I'd have to sign up for the military if I was struggling (which was illegal at the time bc of the trans ban they clearly didn't care to know about despite knowing their son is trans) Anyway...

Idk what there was of me to be proud of. What did I do? What you told me to do? Is that what you're proud of? My submissiveness? Ruining my life for your opinion?

He also asked if I was happy. Happy? In this world? In this pandemic? I said I'm content bc at this point I didn't feel allowed to complain about anything but certainly couldn't lie. I wasn't allowed to feel vulnerable about what I'm facing every day. Someone always has it worse.

Well no shit someone always "has it worse", bc that's not a real standard. Am I not allowed to say it's hot out bc people in hell don't get snow cones?

Part of self care I've had to learn is that grace with yourself and taking yourself seriously. This is a very hard thing to do for some of us. Some of us will let ourselves get to a point where it's worse than had we dealt with it earlier on. Some of us struggle with knowing what it looks like to ask for help or where or how or even allowed to. Or even necessarily to know when we should.

I'm trying to balance the self care with trying not to be self-absorbed. I'm trying to still differentiate between the two as somewhere along the way I'd been taught they are the same when it comes to me but nobody else. I'm trying not to believe this whole post is self pity bc it's really just relaying the facts. I just can't help but imagine the shit being talked about me behind my back bc I know it happens.

Idk there's no real end to this and i should be more focused at work. I just needed to dump this off.

[cctherinesadventures-blog]

It’s currently June 22 and I haven’t written since June 3

We’re packing to go home. The last 6 weeks have been incredible. I know I haven’t written in like 3 weeks but I’ll do a brief summary to catch you all up.

Our last day in Rome included Vatican city and Kimmy’s grandparents’ dinner recommendation, De Mao Patacca. Both were incredible. I didn’t realize how much of this trip is really honoring my grandparents (on my dad’s side) until Vatican. I’m not catholic and I’m not full Italian, both of those things I get from grandma and pop pop. It’s really made me miss them, because I know how excited they would be for me and how much they would love this trip. While at Vatican I wanted to get things for my family, but we aren’t catholic and my gaga isn’t catholic so I just imagined what I would have gotten my grandma and pop pop. I’m so proud of that heritage though and I’m happy for all they taught me growing up. It’s made me appreciate the trip so much more.

After Rome we went to Cinque Terre. On the train ride I talked to a woman who was born in Ontario, but moved to Italy 20 years ago. She told me all about the government here and how different it is from ours. Even though I really wanted to relax and listen to music, I’m glad I got her perspective on the world. She told me so much about life in Italy from her experiences. Cinque Terre was beautiful. It’s literally a huge cliff on the side of a mountain that falls right into the water. We swam there and relaxed for a day and a half - well deserved. I wish we would have hiked some of it, but I plan to be back so I’ll do it another time. 

When we got back to Florence Julia was here so we got to meet up with her and it was so refreshing to see a comforting face. We did the Academia with her and got Pinos and went out to this club called Dolce Zucchera - 12 euros for unlimited drinks. We also got dinner one night at Ghianya and it was SO delicious. Me and Kimmy have been back since then because wow. Yum.

Now onto one of my favorite weekends (even though they’re all my favorite) - NAPLES! I’m gonna take some time for this one because I won’t get over it any time soon. We got there and checked into the hostel of the sun - immediately I could feel pop pop’s presence. He knew I was there and he was so happy. As soon as we checked in we went for Pizza, obviously. We went to one of the famous pizzerias and ate dinner there with a few beers and simply wow. First things first, it was only 4 euro for a full pizza. Secondly, literally the best pizza I have ever tasted in my entire life. I don’t know if I’ll be able to enjoy pizza in the US the same ever again. We got to know some of the hostel pals there and went back to the living room area to hang out with them. We ended up playing cards against humanity (lol), but it was fun. Everyone was really welcoming. Since we had a full travel day we went to bed around 11, also we were going to Capri the next day so we had to rest up. The group from the hostel who went to Capri was so fun - the girls, Vicky, Torie, and Megan, and the only boy, Ben. The boat was supposed to take us around Capri, let us swim in the Mediterranean, take us to the Blue Grotto, and give us time on the island. We got to do all of that, except the Blue Grotto (which was so sad). It was a super fun day though, we didn’t get back until like 7pm and then we went to a place called 900 for pizza. It was back in the not-touristy part of town so we got to really experience Naples. The people there are so fun and loud and always excited. I honestly can see so much where my family gets it from. At the 900 everyone got pizza except me because I wanted to honor pop pop by getting a mussels and spaghetti dish. It was some of the best mussels I’ve ever had. We got back to the hostel after and went to bed to wake up and do Pompeii and Vesuvius the next day with Torie, Vicky, and Megan. Vesuvius was so big and hard to climb - we literally took a safari vehicle to get up most of it. Afterwards Kimmy and I went to Pompeii by ourselves since the other girls had to catch a train that night. At lunch we met this couple from Norfolk who knew the Tribles.... weird. But Pompeii was so beautiful, we spent literally 4 hours there. On the train back this family came on and was playing Despacito for us, the son who was like 4 was on the drums. It was so fun! When we got back to the hostel we decided to shower (because we were covered in Volcanic ash) and then go to dinner. We were supposed to meet people at this place called Nennella so we headed there. From this point on, I knew that my family was truly from Naples. It was the most lively restaurant I’ve ever been to in my entire life. The waiter was yelling names, he called me Catherine (pronounced Cat-a-reen-ay), and they put dollar spritz for the people waiting outside. The restaurant literally had a party in one of the rooms in the middle of everyone eating. When we finally got seated we were next to a man celebrating his 51st birthday and he wanted us to celebrate with him so he gave us drinks and cake! We each ordered a bottle of wine with our meal (which was delicious, even though I don’t remember exactly what I ordered). After we ate and celebrated we headed home, but stopped at a fountain and took pictures and drank our wine and just had fun being there. It was so much fun, I would go back in a heartbeat. Even though it’s a little reckless, it’s my city and I loved every second of it.

All I remember is Monday going up the the Piazzale Michelangelo for the first time with Torie and them (they were in Florence too!). Beautiful. Breathtaking. We’ve been so many times since and I’m so happy each and every time. I don’t remember anything from the rest of the school week except being unbelievably excited for Blink on Saturday.

We headed to Milan right after class on Thursday to check into the Koala hostel. When we got there we just laid in bed for a while and relaxed before dinner. For dinner we went to this amazing restaurant, Al Gargano, that was about .4 miles from the hostel. The dinner there was amazing. We also got to try Affogato for the first time - YUMMY. The man didn’t speak English at all but he was trying his best. He was doing that thing my pop pop used to do where he just makes noises, I wish I could describe it because it’s so funny. He over exaggerates everything hes saying thinking it will help us understand but its fine. After dinner we went to bed to wake up for our tour on Friday. Our tour was so nice, honestly if we hadn’t done it we wouldn’t have seen anything in Milan because it’s all so hidden. We got to see the last supper, a church, a (very big) castle, the duomo, and a theater. All beautiful but hidden in the upscale, modern, Milano. We went to this mozzarella bar for lunch called Otica. The mozzarella was really good, but eating pizza after Naples was never a good idea. Also, I think it was the worst pizza we’ve had in general here which is even more terrible right after Naples. We wanted to stay and walk around all day but there was a strike so we had to head home around 5:30. We got dinner at a sushi place by the hostel that was so good and then we went to bed to wake up early and go back to the city center before the concert!!! When we got up we got dressed and headed to the city around 12 for a few hours. We checked out some of the stores but I was so excited for Blink. When we left for Monza I couldn’t contain myself. We got to the venue around 5 - which it turns out it was a rock music festival.... WHAT THE HECK! It was so cool, we were on a lawn with probably 15,000 people. Sum 41 was awesome, Blink was incredible. We made it to the front of our section for Blink’s performance and their set list was perfect. Linkin Park was alright, their music has changed so much since New Divide so I wasn’t really a fan. It was still an amazing experience though. If I could relive Blink every day of my life I would. We headed back to the hostel, the metro in Milan was closed, so we had to get an uber (the driver was so cute and old and trying so hard to speak English with us) and then went straight to bed.

We’ve gone up to the Piazzale almost every day this week, and I’m so happy about it. Weirdly enough we ran into Ford and Keithley on Monday here so we took them there and showed them around Florence for a day. I might feel weird about seeing so many people from home but its nice every once in a while. Before we saw them we climbed the Duomo though so that was so cool. I loved seeing the city from up there. We weer exhausted by the end of the night though from all the walking and climbing. Tuesday we had so much planned to do but we ended up just laying in bed most of the day and doing work for class. Our professor gave us a project and a final exam... Not fun. Wednesday was the same, we went to Osteria San Spirito for dinner though, a place Kimmy’s friend recommended, and it was really good. Expensive. But good. We both got two glasses of wine because class was really stressing us out. After dinner we walked around and went on the Piazza de Repubblica carousel just for fun. It was a really good night. When we got back we studied a little and then went to bed.

And now here I am at today, June 22, 2017. I can’t believe we move out tomorrow. Lucky for us we stay an extra night though so we don’t leave until Saturday. Our exam this morning actually wasn’t bad at all - even though I’m sad to leave I’m happy that class is over. After class we went to the Uffizi which was so much bigger than I expected. We walked around there for about an hour and a half and then came home to pack. I finished getting my things together around 1:30 before we got hungry for lunch. We went to Pinos for a panino and took it all in. We bought shirts and the woman working asked us if we were leaving soon. I hated saying yes. Honestly it’s all hitting me and literally as I’m writing this I can feel a knot in my throat forming. We got home and finished packing. Here I am now, writing away my day. We’re going to go out tonight with some classmates, so I’ll be sure to fill in more tomorrow. Ugh, I don’t want it to be over. One more full day, thats it. Wow.