While the fall semester is officially in full swing, the weather finds itself lagging in hundred-degree heat with a humidity so intense you can see it in the air. I’m out of sorts because my mind is telling me pumpkin spice lattes and sweater weather, and mother nature is telling me ice water and a signature bandana to tie up my hair. However, the weather is not the only thing making me feel out of sorts these days.

This past week has been interesting to say the least, and even though I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: I think interesting isn’t a strong enough word to capture the constant chaos that is my life. Since I’ve been back in my cozy little apartment, I’ve experienced a great flood in my living room, an almost stolen package, numerous mornings stumbling around in utter darkness, an unexpected guest, and a passive aggressive neighbor.

My week began with an early shift at work and then slowly progressed into a seemingly unmanageable mountain of reading assignments and papers. Let me remind you, that I’m only in week 2 of 16. I stumbled out of bed at the unruly hour of 3 a.m. and managed to look semi-presentable for my first day back on the job. I made my coffee, gathered my belongings, and entered the stuffy hallway in a slow decent to the parking lot. I yanked open the rusty white door only to be met with an impenetrable darkness; not even the flashlight feature on my phone helped guide me to my car in the wee hours of the morning.

I’m sure it was quite a site if anyone in their right mind also found themselves stumbling around the building earlier than necessary. I was juggling a backpack, a purse, a lunchbox, a thermos containing copious amounts of water, and my trusty travel mug containing the rejuvenating serum that would kickstart my weary spirit and sluggish body in preparation for the insane day ahead of me. Have I mentioned how much I dislike adult responsibilities?

Every morning for the past week has commenced in the same manner. I wake up and expect to find the parking lot lights up and running as they should be only to be disappointed once more. It honestly scares me half to death because there could be a wild animal roaming around in the trees at the perimeter of the parking lot. I would like to mention that I have reported the lights to the realty company and still no one has come to resolve the issue. Just. My. Luck.

If it’s not lights out in the morning, it’s passive aggressive notes stuck on the driver’s side window of a neighbor’s car. Because it feels like the apocalypse in the morning and I’m too afraid to walk a far distance from my car to the door, I park close enough so that all I must do is hop, skip, and step on over to the stoop. Imagine my surprise when I happen to glance to my left after entering my car to go to class and notice a tattered piece of loose-leaf taped to the window of a neighbor’s car.

The note said, and I quote, “unless your going to carry my child in please stop parking where it’s closer.” The first things I noticed were the grammatical mistakes and lack of punctuation. The second thing I noticed was how rude this individual was being to me, a stranger. I’m the queen of passive aggression, but let’s get the facts straight before we start making demands.

There are no assigned spots in the parking lot, so until I see a nameplate and a sign, I’ll park however close I want to. First come, first serve. I was parked in my spot before this neighbor even arrived home for the day. The entire parking lot was open for her to park her car so that she could easily remove her child and take him or her inside.

Instead of parking elsewhere, my lovely neighbor parked so close to my car that I had about five inches of space to work with to squeeze into the driver’s seat. This is just one of the many experiences that I must laugh at because if she keeps it up, I’ll start a full-on War of Passive Aggression and we’ll see who comes out the victor.

During all the darkness and passive aggression, I also found myself trying to sop up the tidal wave that hit my living room one weekday afternoon while I was falling asleep in my American Literature class.

When I made the trip back to school for the year, I brought another air conditioner whose new home would be my stuffy living room. This air conditioner is pure magic; it sucks all the heat out of the air and replaces it with the cool, crispness of summer solace. However, when I lugged this machine almost 300 miles and through 3 states to its new home, I forgot to attach an important hose that filters the water back through the machine.

After a long day of work and class, I came home to a sopping wet carpet and an air conditioner leaking everywhere. For a few days, I had to leave a baking sheet under the leak, just until my mom could send out the correct attachment. The package was set to arrive the next day before 3 p.m. So, imagine my surprise when I check my mailbox and find no package patiently waiting to be ripped open. (She also sent my favorite rice because I can’t find it here, so I was extra eager.)

I was freaking out because I needed the attachment for the air conditioner and my rice, but there were also other important things that could not be lost. I thought the passive aggressive neighbor stole my package, and I was not happy. Needless to say, my mother sent a semi-nasty email to the realty company and then I potentially illegally opened my neighbor’s mailbox just for kicks and found my package. The mailman made a mistake with the apartment number. My mother also had to immediately send an apology email because her daughter is ultimately a ditz … although I blame the mailman.

If these antics weren’t enough to make my week interesting, I also had an unexpected visit. I got to hang out with someone I hadn’t seen in a while, and while it was nice, I find myself even more confused than before. Are men intentionally obtuse? Are they all the same, or do I just really have bad luck? I guess I’m still trying to figure all of this out, but in the meantime, coffee remains my one true love … well, coffee and a Hardy novel because this girl needs to escape reality for a while and focus on the fantasy; it’s almost always better than the real thing.