A Little less than a month later...
Prompted by a combination of Robbie's addition to my list of things to work on (seen in the comment section to that post)and also by the block of time I have this weekend, I decided to update ya'll on where I stand on my list and other stuff.

1. I definitely have improved on this one, though I'm not sure if its really due to any effort put forth on my parth. Rather, I think that being back in Virginia has helped a lot, as well as some of the people I've met here at summer school and have been hanging out with.

2. I think I've done a good job with this one. Though once again, I haven't had many opportunities for me to assess my improvements in this area.

3. I don't think I've been complaining much... Although when I tell people what classes I happen to be taking this semester, they seem to feel bad for me... I kinda figured this would happen, so I don't tell people unless they ask. I'm also doing a little better on not having to have something in every conversation to relate to...

4. yes, I am eating better than I had been the last few weeks at GE and at home... However, I've not been doing very well on the going to the gym part of this goal. My classes do keep me very occupied during the weekdays/nights, so I spend most of my day either in class or in my room doing homework or studying so I don't have much time to fit in going to McComas during their hours. I did go to the gym one day last week as well as ride my bike on another day.

5. Maitaining same status as when I made the post. I suppose that today would be day 115 of 400.

6. No real opportunity to see how I'm doing on this one so far this summer...

7. Well, I'm posting now... so I suppose that counts for something. As I mentioned earlier in this post, my classes keep me pretty busy during the week so I haven't had much time for doing much of anything 'fun' or stuff like that... except on the weekend.

The other day, I came to the conclusion that I'm not naturally very sociable. I don't do simple things to interact with other people very often... for example, I'm walking across campus and I pass someone I know. They kindly say, "Hey Stefie! How are you doing?" To which I reply, almost rudely but by no malicious intent by any means, "Fine." Then I continue walking. Now, if I had possessed the normal social skills many human beings possess, I most likely would have instead replied to their question, "I'm doing fine... Thank you. And How are you, [insert person's name here]?"

Another example... I have my car here this summer and so on the weekends I can park very convieniently behind my dorm. Say I'm driving over to Wendy's to pick up some lunch. My roommate is still around (for once... which is odd cause she lives in the architecture lab) so I let her know where I'm going, "Okay... well, I'll be back later, I'm going to get lunch." She says, "Oh I'll be there in a few minutes"... To which I reply, "Oh... I'm not going on-campus because they close in like 5 or 10 minutes. I'm going to Wendys." At this point I leave the room and get to the stairs when I realize that I should go back and ask if she wants to go or if she wants me to bring her anything back... So this time I come back and do so.

A third example... Last weekend, Mike and I were going to go into Roanoke on Sunday night to see this Beatles Tribute band at the Roanoke Festival in the Park. We were making plans on when to leave and stuff like that and he asks whether I'm bringing my roommate. Which is kinda odd, because it hadn't even crossed my mind to invite her to come along with us... So I did invite her and she came along.... had a good time I think.

Anyway, its just simple little things that I could be doing that brighten people's days that I could be doing and I don't... little people skills. Mike attributed it to being an engineer, but really, I think that's no real excuse. Though we may be less socially inclined, it doesn't mean that we can just give up on manners and interacting with people. I know that when people do stuff like that to me it makes me smile. So I'd like to make that item number 8 on my list of things to work on this summer--My people skils!