December News

Its been a while... but finally, all I have left is finals. My brain is a little fried, and I need sleep, so I can't remember everything that has happened since my last post, but I do want to share three recent events, as follows:

1. Our final poem in poetry class was due Wednesday, and mine was one of the ones that he had in time to make copies to do critiques on yesterday. It went over well... one girl teared up (and she's always writing amazing poems, so it's kinda a big deal, to me, at least) and my prof (the poet laureate of Kansas) said that its competitive, publishable, that if I had about 3 more of that quality, I could send them off just about anywhere and get them published and make a tidy sum of money. Very encouraging, because I would definitely love to pursue that venue! And if you'd like to read this poem I speak of, check it out on my creative blog, linked on the sidebar.

2. I love my iPod. It came Wednesday, just in time for me to walk on campus when it snowed and listen to Vivaldi's four seasons, the winter section. Amazing. And it puts on my calendar and contacts, which is definitely a handy feature. Kinda like a less fancy PDA in that regard, but its enough for me!

3. Alliance, eesh. Like what else could go wrong with our house, right? The pipes froze. Yeah, record low temps, blah, blah, blah. But when you call and tell them you need someone to come, and then all they say is "we'll put urgent on that work order" and the last time they said that was when the toilet was leaking over my bed and I had to call them again before someone came. This house is seriously in need of some fixing up. Like maybe new windows that don't let freezing cold air come waterfalling over the sill into the sink. or maybe a back door that you can't see a good inch of the outside because a chunk is missing on the bottom left, and the cold air still comes through the glass door on the other side of it. or maybe a fix to the ducts so that my room isn't an oven while you freeze at about 40 degrees when you sit on the sofa while watching TV. Keep that in mind when looking at older houses. And also remember that Alliance is very slow, and not on top of things, and I can't recommend renting from them and maintain a clean conscience.

Anyway, that, on top of 2 papers and a couple panic attacks, has been my week. Hope all is well with everyone, good luck with finals if you're taking them!

The Way the Sky Would Like to Touch the Snow

I open the deep amber door, covered with ancient scratches
and veiled with a calico print.
I am enveloped with the warm love of Grandma’s baking.
The yellow and orange vinyl floor squishes under my feet, and
is as old as the honey colored cabinetry.
She stands at her ancient rolling board, battered from years of use,
and briefly looks up and smiles, which crinkles her eyes.
Her warm voice greets me, before she returns
to measuring, mixing, folding, kneading, stamping, cutting,
and as her magic works,
bread, cinnamon rolls, spritz, pepperkocker, and more
begin to float out of the oven,
all with love and memories baked in.

3, 9, 0, 5, and the light flashes green, signaling to us that
it is safe to open the heavy metal door.
The odor of age and the acrid smell of disinfectant
assault my nose.
Our steps echo on the discolored tile
as we walk past mechanical armchairs
to the table where Grandpa, motionless,
is now parked.
I say hello, but am unsure
if he hears me, and am certain
he no longer knows me.

Grandma sits beside him, takes his lunch tray,
and lovingly feeds him, smiling,
telling him about her day,
how we came to visit,
but his gaze towards the far wall never wavers.
Potatoes, jello, ham, and then, to top it off,
she presents a special treat from home.
He grips her hand tightly, and she squeezes back
fulfilling a promise made 50 years ago.

He is moved to a chair, and she follows to sit with him,
reaching out to him,
the way the sky would like to touch the snow.
My vision clouds as a tear escapes, and I watch,
two lovers, hand in hand, and worlds apart.

The Great Frosting War

You smile sweetly,
“Aww, cupcake, just one bite”
and with your outstretched arm, offer a token
of friendship and love – a white spatula,
heaped with mounds and mounds of vanilla frosting.
Tentatively, I lean forward for a lick, and
with one deft motion,
I am left
standing,
shocked
staring at your smirk,
with icing in my nose.

The skirmish quickly escalates.
Taking the frosting on my face for ammo,
I quickly retaliate,
grabbing your arm to s m e a r on the white goo.
You launch a full scale attack.
Utilizing a kitchen chair to deflect,
like a ringmaster with a tiger,
you maneuver around the kitchen table.
But my attack still succeeds,
as frosting suddenly appears
in a streak
across the side of your face.

After numerous casualties,
supplies are exhausted.
We meet at the sink for peace talks.
A no fault treaty is agreed on,
both sides assisting in clean up efforts.

As I wipe frosting from your hair,
I realize,
these are the moments in which life resides.

The Language of Love

They say that French is the language of love.
Rich and beautiful, words blend into one.
Conversation transforms into an art
and all indulge in the pleasure of listening.
But difficulties are found underneath:
unsounded vowels in strings unending
sweet nothings whispers away from insults
voice dancing between passion and ruin.
Yet all of the risks are necessary,
for without an attempt, the joy is lost.
The hidden complexity gives structure.
Attention to the smallest detail gives
depth and richness for the outward beauty.
The greatest effort gives the greatest gain.

A Petrarchan-esque Sonnet

There he stands, more splendid than Leander.
To him the gods granted strength unsurpassed.
Power is revealed in his broad shoulder.
Auburn curls are the laurels he’s amassed.
So sweet a face the world has never seen.
Refreshing wellsprings of joy are his eyes.
Glistening snow dims with his smile’s sheen.
His ever playful lips are my demise.
Angelic choirs sound not so sweet
when compared to the rich strains of his voice
And gentle Hero is a brutal cheat
set against loving kindness, his by choice.
I know not why God chose this to grant me
But of this I never wish to be free.

Innocence at 4

Yesterday, the little boy next door
wanted to play.
But the driveway of gravel rocks
and piles of matchbox cars
were only fun for a little while.
So he asked me to come inside and play
and promised he had an amazing prize
just for me, if I would.

So he took me into a dark and dirty bedroom,
crumpled clothes everywhere
and he told me to crawl under the bed.
He followed me, blocking
the rectangle of light,
made by the wooden planks
and shag carpet.

I went home.
I don’t like him anymore.
He’s a liar.
He never gave me any prize.

Experiences at Hale

Two stories.

1. I was in the library after class the other day, passing time between British Survey and my enrollment advising meeting, and I chanced upon an empty sofa. A rare occurrence at Hale, as they're pretty amazing sofas and everyone knows this. So, I decided to enjoy the treat of an afternoon sofa nap. I was exhausted, I decided it would be beneficial to my well being if I crashed until my meeting. Brit says she's always worried she'll snore or something, but I didn't really care. If I snore, someone can wake me up. At any rate, the sofa that opened up was right behind this group of four female Chinese (I think) international students. If you don't know the arrangement at Hale, there are about 8-10 sofas on the first floor, arranged so they are alternately back to back and facing each other, making several areas where groups can get together and sit on two sofas and talk/study. So I'm lying on the sofa, eyes closed, and I can hear the girls talking. I had seen them when I sat down, so I know they were working on what appeared to be homework. I caught wisps of English in that familiar accent, when a few stood out to me: "vagina" and "condoms." Needless to say, not what I expected. I finally figured out that it was some lesson on birth control. Still my weirdest Hale experience to date. I did get a nice nap though!

2. Yesterday, I was chilling in the library again, doing a little devo. Natalie Lloyd writes one in Brio every month, and they're amazing. Anyway, it was about being quiet before God. We always get caught up in how busy our lives are, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Especially this past week, my busyness has forced me to totally rely on God for strength and the ability to get things done and done well, and He is there, always. It's an amazing thing to see Him work like that, and feel Him as a total support. But it's also important to take time for Him without the busyness. Natalie used Psalm 46:10, "be still and know that I am God." We know God, and see God, when we are still. We experience Him through that, and he gives us peace. Which totally fit with a verse I ended up reading (because God is amazing like that), Phil 4:7 "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." When we take time out for Him, he gives us peace, which gives us strength and protection to live our lives for Him. And he rewards that. Yesterday was amazing, because He filled me with such joy! I can't remember the last time I have felt such deep and overwhelming joy... not happiness, but joy that overflows and you want to share with everyone! So, take time today, to just be quiet before God, to listen and appreciate who He is, and watch Him work in amazing ways in your life!

Tango and a new creative outlet

News of Note:

• Ian and I now know how to tango... really fun, and not too terribly difficult... t...a...n-g-o. We're pretty much amazing dancers now. hehe!
• Vern and I got whistled at yesterday while walking from her house to the princess palace, I think it must have been more for her though, I mean, goodness, she's gorgeous. But seriously, who wants to get checked out by random probably jerks... he was a scrub anyway... hangin' out his best friends ride on the passenger side tryin' to holler at... us, yeah.
• Britni isn't leaving me spring semester! She's going next fall to Australia, and I'm going to die without her, but it's going to be amazing, and I'm so glad she gets that chance!
• I detest, even more than before, axe commercials, and tag commercials... sick.
• I absolutely love my bible study, in case you were wondering.
• I'm contemplating getting an iPod... which would make me a pod person in both a literal and figurative sense.
• Nathan is going to win regional x-country for me... he already got 3rd at league! yay!
• I made a new blog, currently housing my poetry, from class. I'll probably put up pictures a bit later... I'm entering a photography contest put on by UPC, by the way. So, if I win something, I'll let you know. But the blog is www.annascreativeside.blogspot.com, and there's a link to it on the side, as well. Comments are greatly appreciated on all of them!

Radioactive Bob

Bob peered through thick glasses, watching
as bleary eyed students poured into the lecture hall
until it was filled to the brim.

The bell rang, and he began his monotonous chore
of scratching an illegible language onto a dusty black expanse,
dutifully turning the emptiness into wavy lines of
incomprehensible characters
as he droned on and on
about poor small bunnies caught up in mudslides, lithified
and now pumped into our glimmering SUVs,
loesses, composed mainly
of wind deposited, air breathing snails,
and the dry and barren deserts
in the nothingness of western Kansas.

The count of sleeping students rose,
1… 3… 4… 7… its time
“LAVA,” his foot crashed to the floor, disturbing their slumber
“becomes either aa or pahoihoi…”
Eyelids drooped again.

The lights dimmed as giant pictures of unearthly
scenes flashed by at the front of the room.
Bob whacked the screen, pointing out the massive
pencil length boulders from every corner of the world
and sighed inwardly to himself.
He had found those trips and specimens so fascinating.

As the bell rang and the lights glared back on,
he reflected on his illustrious career and
watched uncaring students shuffle past.
“Tomorrow,” he thought, “I’ll try again tomorrow.”
And resolutely began to gather his things.

Homecoming

i.
Once a year, the primal high school ritual is interrupted
by pomp, frill, and a tiny, sparkling circlet.
Coach protests, but who can stop
the force of a thousand voices
with precedence on their side.

ii.
The battle’s triumphant hero boasts, “95 yards!
Sainty can kiss my ass!” then throws
his golden arm around his next big catch
knowing full well the reward she will bestow on him
before he must sneak back through his window,
still inhaling her lingering perfume.

iii.
He tosses his worn jacket on the couch.
As he walks in the door, a sigh steals
past his lips, despite his best defense.
He should be content with another W
in his already illustrious career.
Bracing himself, he calls, “honey, I’m home.”

iv.
I sit in the stands, alone
in the midst of a mob of screaming fans
watching numbers I no longer know.
Four years I devoted my life to this,
and now it all has faithlessly left me behind.

v.
Time runs, and I remain standing in its dust
Is it all meaningless?
What do you do when home is no longer
home.
Suddenly an ethereal peace fills my empty soul
with the One who always welcomes
me with open arms.
The dust settles. I belong.

Absolution

He doesn’t look at me – can’t look at me.
I stare past my reflection in the glass to see
street lights flickering past on empty concrete,
a road devoid of any movement.
Silence presides over the apprehensive gray chamber.
He waits.

I turn to see
his statuesque silhouette etched in the dim light
his marble hands clenching the wheel
his apprehensive and anguished face
his beautiful eyes blinking back the tears.
Gently, I rest my hand on his arm
and whisper reassurance.
His tears pour down with a thankful smile.

Leaving Paradise

The alarm sounds its shrill blast,
interrupting an intoxicating dream.
Morning light floods in and quickly burns away
the fragile wisps of thought.
You roll over, vainly hoping that
a few more moments
will return the dream that floats
just beyond consciousness.

Lying there, you realize the futility
of your efforts, and instead
turn your thoughts to the present.
Eyes closed, you sink back down
into the soft sea of nothingness
and listen as the house outside your room
slowly yawns and stretches to life, not unlike
eternal mountains awaking to a cool, dewy morning.

As a warm, rich, almost tangible scent drifts under your door,
the hiss of this ancient morning ritual is heard
momentarily, before becoming drowned out by the sound
of thousands of glistening soldiers marching down, down
into the battered and scarred porcelain that rests
in the room just behind your bed.
With a sigh, you slowly rise,
alone,
momentarily adrift in a boat of sweet solitude,
before plunging your feet to the cold, wooden floor
to begin another day.

Star Trek and Ballroom Dancing

Wow, over a month... I'm horrible. But I've been pretty busy. Between school, and well, school... (I think that British Survey 1 is going to be the death of me. Reading untranslated middle English was not pleasant... and now we've got a test in the near future, and a paper... *sigh*) I haven't had a whole lot of free time, and the free time I have is spent hanging out with people, like watching Star Trek: The Next Generation with Brit. We have lots of fun, and no we aren't Trekkies. It's funny to see how cheesy it can be.

image from Star Trek: The Next Generation via Memory Alpha

It's especially exciting to watch the earlier ones...

image from Star Trek: The Next Generation

Lieutenant Reicher (front far right) has a cleft in his chin that Britni finds absolutely hilarious, and Warf's (to the left of Reicher) hair and head in general just look, weird (it's weird anyway, but weird as in not so well done makeup, whateveryoucallit). And there are some fantastic story lines in the old ones, like when everyone de-evolved, or the time that there was some sort of virus that had the symptoms of being drunk, or when Tasha (back center) had to fight to get a cure for a disease with this poisoned spiked arm-club thing... You never know what will happen next! And on Fridays, we're back in time to watch Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which has fond memories for me... it used to be my family's show. *reminisces* Anyway, enough about Star Trek and on to more exciting things.

So, I think I mentioned this before, but Brit, Phil, Daniel, Megan, Ian, and I are enrolled in ballroom dance, which is AMAZING. I highly recommend it, if you're in the area, anyway. We've learned foxtrot, salsa, mambo, and swing so far. And know some pretty sweet choreography for salsa and swing, that involves dips, jumps, spins, and even the girl hanging upside down. All in all, pretty sweet! Plus I get to dance with my favorite person, so it's even better :D

Unfortunately, Phil didn't get to go last night (since he went home for break), and Carl was a hero and stepped in to dance with Brit! We gave him a 45 minute crash course on everything we knew, and he did an amazing job of it, so my props to him!

And I know this isn't my best writing ever, mais j'ai beaucoup de devoirs aujourd'hui, et je ne veux pas penser trop.

And today, I shall end this with football... O-town beat G-town at THEIR homecoming! And I love you, Ren, and I know you did a fantastic job, and I'm very glad about that. But now I have a good comeback for when Ian gives me a hard time about a certain homecoming game my senior year... AND...watch the K-State OU game, 6 p.m., Fox Sports. It's gonna be awesome, and we are so gonna win! :D Go Cats!

Bon week-end!

Frogs and the house

So, I think I'm gonna be not as good this year about posting, but oh well. In overview, I finished work, saw my aunt, uncle, cousins, and grandma, packed, moved back to school, celebrated one year of togetherness with Ian (I'd like to state, for the record, he's got to be the most incredible, sweetest, bestest boyfriend ever, and I would have said that before the cards and flowers!!) which was an amazing day, started classes, got my frogs, peanut, butter, and jelly, who are currently tadpoles but are at various stages of sprouting limbs as of this afternoon. I love my frogs. And for any of you who know how weird I am about my pets, yeah, nothing's changed. Moving right along, I've also been able to catch up with people. I've missed my roomies, and even if they're gone a lot for work, I get to see them more than I did this summer! Church is great, I've missed it, and I'm really looking forward to small groups, the girls I know in it are amazing, and I can't wait to meet the rest of them! And Brit and I are finally enrolled in a dance class, after 2 years of meaning to sign up. And it's great. Ian and Phil are so fun, as are Daniel and Megan! Anyway, I think that's all the big stuff. Oh, and classes should be fun, hard work, but fun. Poetry writing, British survey for English majors (early period starting with Beowulf, ending at the Renaissance), French 3, and the intellectual history of early China.

On to the house. It's been quite the adventure. Our roof has leaked 3 times in 4 different spots, the lawn is never mowed, the upstairs toilet started leaking, which is right above my bedroom, and threatened to drip through onto my bed, and Ian found a brown recluse to add to the list of unknown spiders that we have viewed throughout the house. No Ian, you cannot feed them to my frogs. So they fixed the roof, hopefully for good this time, the toilet is fixed, the lawn should be mowed in the next couple of days, and they are coming to spray at 11am on Friday, and since there was a brown recluse, they have to do something special, so we have to vacate for 4 hours. So, if you've got a free Friday afternoon, 3 girls, 3 tadpoles, and a Christmas cactus will be homeless... But don't worry, Karen and Kylie, it'll be safe and de-spidered when you guys arrived for the game. Yay football!

Now it's time for either homework, shower, or a nap. On a side note, that new perfume Beyonce is spokesmodeling for is potent stuff. So, if you spray in the store to smell it, make sure it doesn't get on you, or you could end up with a headache.

Le Fin.

Old Maids and Movies

So its been forever since I last posted. I've been keeping pretty busy with work (especially the 4 days I work at Dairy King, also, as they needed assistance), and other things, such as putting together my college scrapbook, hanging out a bit with everyone, and sleeping. But today is my day off, and I thought I'd catch up. So, since my last post, I've had my 20th birthday (thanks to everyone who has reminded me how old I am now), went to Denver for a day with Ian, went on family vacation to OKC, saw everyone here back home, and worked a bunch. I am now able to do basically everything at a dry cleaners, since Krystal and I were in charge of doing all that while Donna was out after surgery. It was stressful, because we got swamped (stupid wranglers still, plus winter clothes, and wedding stuff... I think I'll write a poem for my poetry class entitled "winter coats and wedding dresses"), and we aren't as good as she is. But she's back now! *much happiness*

Now, on to old maids. So, the other night, my mom finally showed me the pictures my Tito Nilo emailed from my cousin Paolo's wedding. ("Nilo asked what you kids thought about seeing all your cousins... what? You didn't see them? I thought you did!" But its okay, its happened with everyone else's weddings. "Ate Aileen's husband..." "SHE'S MARRIED?!" "yes, didn't I tell you?") And my mom told me that she told Tito Nilo that I said something about all my cousins getting so old, and getting married a bit older (as in late 20's, early 30's), and he informed her that it is 'a family tradition' to get married in that age range, and that I need to 'keep the tradition.' She was laughing, so I think they both thought it was a good joke. *crosses fingers* lol! On another note, mom told me that if I got married in the Philippines, I could have a really fancy wedding, because you can do more for the same money over there. It's a thought, as long as we could charter a big plane for cheap to get everyone over there... hmmm... well, according to 'family tradition' I have about 10 years to figure all that out, hehe!

Finally, movies. When The Notebook came out, Veronica told me that it was a life changing movie for her. I watched it, and while I did enjoy it (sorry T, I know how you feel about that movie), I didn't really feel that my life was changed. But Sunday night, I found my very own life changing movie. It was the network premiere of I Am Sam on CBS, and I think its got to be one of the greatest movies I've ever seen. Its so touching, and has really good life lessons about love and family. I highly recommend that you go out and watch it!

"I laughed, I cried, it moved me, Bob."

How do you feel about Wednesday?

The other day, I was cleaning out my room for the umpteenth time. I'm such a pack rat. *sigh* At any rate, I was tossing out a ton of stuff I had gotten throughout high school from various colleges. Why did I have all that mail lying around anyway... I think it was something about wanting to see if I could top my dad's supposedly large collection, and wondering what colleges thought I was significant. Rather an ego boost, especially now when I've gone from a stand out high schooler to student number 12,308... its always nice to know that there were those fancy, exclusive colleges that sent me letters about how they believed I would fit right in with their outstanding student body and had a good shot at their impressive scholarships if I should decide to apply... I never felt the need to correct them on this point, their misguided faith was rather endearing...

My family recycles. This does fit in, really, I promise. My mom wanted me to sort through this massive collection in order to recycle it, instead of just tossing it in the trash. (Perhaps this will help debunk the myth that conservative Christians aren't out to destroy the environment, huh Micah? :D But that's off topic...) As I opened envelopes, tossing leaflets and prospectus (is that prospecti in plural, or prospectuses?) into the appropriate recycling piles, I came across one that intrigued me. It was from Macalester College in Minnesota. I remembered being interested in them when I first got their little booklet and such, since they marketed themselves as distinctly NOT Ivy League, represented by an illustration similar to:

(a bit nicer looking than that, obviously) and below the claim that Macalester College is "an excellent place to get an Ivy-caliber education." I casually glanced at their application, thinking to myself, could I really have gotten into a private school, where they actually make you fill something out that requires time, effort, and dare I say, actual talent? I've sometimes thought to myself, that perhaps high school was my pinnacle, and I'm declining into the twilight period of my life, or at least my academic career. Well, sometimes is perhaps inferring something more frequent than actually has occurred, perhaps it was only twice.

Irregardless of the previous frequency of these thoughts, the fact of the matter was that they returned, and with a vengance. I began to more closly examine the applications from the various schools, in an attempt to ascertain whether or not I am currently capable of putting together something at least semi-marketable. I soon ran across "the uncommon application" from the University of Chicago, and looked through the essay options for the infamous 1-2 page essay. One caught my eye, being so simple and open, yet intriguing. "How do you feel about Wednesday?" (they credited it as "inspired by Maximilian Pascual Ortega, a graduate of Maine Township High School South," which is, funnily enough, in Illinois) This question has been one I've begun to contemplate, but, as of yet, have not determined any solid answers. I think, in a future post... and I mean "future post" in the most vague sense possible, I shall attempt to answer this question. However, in the mean time, I shall leave it as a question to you, dear reader, if you really do exist. Feel free to leave an answer and satiate my curiosity!

Changes, sunburns, and high altitudes

Firstly, I'm changing to blogspot, because my mom informed me that on bravejournal, there are some creepy ads, and she told me that she noticed blogspot didn't have ads, except for blogspot, which isn't creepy. So, I've transferred everything over here... all my posts as well as their comments (the dates on the comments are messed up, but the entries are the same) which took not very long at all. I love copy paste! But I'll still leave the other one up for quite some time, so that everyone can find this, and doesn't just think, oh nuts, she quit writing. Okay, so actually it'd probably be rejoicing, but don't burst my bubble. :D

Secondly, I got slightly sunburned yesterday. I went to G-town, and Ian and I had a fabulous picnic up at Mount Sunflower! No photo — we didn't bring cameras. oops.

Slightly windy, but we got to see an antelope close. And it was so polite: it tried to hide the fact that it was staring at us by eating every time we looked up at it. And then we walked the 1/2 mile to the state line. Or at least I think so. We assumed it was the fence, but it seemed really far... perhaps we were in Colorado longer than we thought. Oh well. And FYI, there are a stinking lot of cacti between the monument thing and the fence. I got to play nurse and remove some spikes from Ian's foot and hand. For having no nails, I was impressed with my bare-handed tweezing skills! And we didn't run into any poisonous snakes. I have good experience with non-poisonous bites, just not fangs. So, in case, we went over emergency protocol... tourniquet, suck the poison out, drive fast to the hospital. (However, at church talking to a nurse and EMT, I found out that this is no longer recommended, but perhaps in our situation it would have been the best, they said, since there'd be exercise, and therefore more circulation, in getting to the vehicle, and we were t-minus phones, and in flip flops...) However, there were no snake attacks, so no worries! But I burnt without realizing it, and have nice watch and bracelet lines on my hand, and some fun capri ones on my legs. I know you burn more easily at higher altitudes, due to thinner air. I suspect that the fast burn was due to the extraordinarily high altitudes there at Mount Sunflower. You really have to be careful up there, altitude sickness really can get you, and if you drive up, you should probably stop halfway down when you leave, so the brakes can cool off.

But anyway, I'm not too thrilled about my weird arm and leg tan lines, despite the humor of them. Thankfully though, they are now not so noticeable after my fun pool trip with Karen. The water was perfect! And I was reminded how quickly I get darker, so maybe I won't look like a ghost this summer, since we're turning the visits into a weekly ritual.

Anyway, I think that's really all I got today. I'm rather scatterbrained right now. So to conclude, remember to wear sunscreen when out of doors to avoid pain, and never listen to John Mayer. He's gross, and creepy, seriously. You want a guy with a guitar, you can do much better than him!

i hate wranglers

This is amazing. Its summer, I'm working, and I'm posting twice in one week! Mainly for the fact that I need to vent again. Not about the girls who occupied our house previously and couldn't clean up after themselves or their cat, but about wranglers, and more specifically, starched wranglers.

Now, I've never been particularly fond of cowboys and their two-sizes-too small jeans. (or anything country for that matter. like overplayed country songs. and you thought boulevard of broken dreams was hell, huh, Ian. but I'm getting off subject...) I don't understand how anyone in their right mind can find a cowboy attractive. I understand the purpose of the clothing for more functional reasons... but the appearance is one I personally find revolting. But to each his own, I suppose. My problems comes when said cowboys bring in umpteen pairs of jeans, and want them heavily starched and pressed. Honestly, how can they be comfortable like that? When you literally have to jump into your slacks, I think there are some serious mental issues there. Perhaps they've been with the cows just a little too long. At any rate, these jeans require a lot of work. First the starching, then the hang drying, then taking these boards, I mean pants, spraying them down with a mist until you can slightly manipulate the fabric, then pressing around the tops. That's the easy part. Then you have to spray down the legs. First one,then somehow wrestle with the leg until you get it lined up correctly (virtually impossible with the starch), then you press the front half of the leg, and leave it sitting for a good 10 minutes to dry. Then you press the back side of the leg. Then you repeat with the other leg. And not only do you have to worry about fighting the solid fabric, but wrangler's had this fabulous idea. "lets put metal bits everywhere on the tops of these jeans." For reinforcement, right? Nope. They wanted to brand their logo into the hands of every person who presses them. I've come close, but fortunately have managed to escape... so far. And not only is the metal hot, but the fabric is hot too, when its straight off the sizzling griddle, i mean press. Then you hang the jeans. Which really isn't an appropriate term. they kind of arch over the hanger, and the pants feel like cardboard. Then you start all over again on another pair.

Now, I really do like my job. The people are great, and I don't mind the laundry and pressing in general. I just take issue doing something that takes forever and seems to serve no point other than to torture the wearer of the jeans... really, and they PAY for it! Alas, it is something we must do. As for all the starched jean wearers out there, I have nothing but ill will, and wishes that your chicken is raw... wow, I need to stop listening to those country songs... *sigh*

on a final note, don't forget to check out the one campaign!

exhaustion, satisfaction, and the tanning squirrels of manhappenin

It's been forever, I know, but work has kept me busy, among other things. And I kill myself. Going to bed super late and getting up early for work is definitely starting to catch up with me, especially this past weekend, which I spent mostly helping out at our house, cleaning blinds, cleaning cat hair out of floor vents, and painting ridiculously tall closets with confusing shelving. I had issues putting it back in my closet. And I'd like to vent. The girls who occupied (I don't like to use the phrase 'lived in' for the fact that we have postulated that they only crashed there.) the house previously never cleaned, and had a cat. In a couple vents the cat hair was a good quarter inch if not more deep. yummy. hopefully you didn't just eat. The closet painting was fun, no ventilation up there. You could only see the lower half of my legs (as in the lower half if you start counting from the knee) in the door, when I was on a bunk ladder propped against the pole thing that you hang your clothes on (for being an English major, I really am at a loss of word quite often). And the roof leaks, it fell in on Lindsey, the washer leaked, the laundry room still smells like cat... but it's starting to come together, and it's looking good. I can't wait until y'all get to come check it out! And we'll have plenty of sleeping spots, so you're definitely welcome to crash (well, girls anyway). And we've determined with our fridge surplus and knife surplus, we're going to start a dessert business, and an assassin business, and rent out sleeping spots on game weekends, to help cover costs. More randomness, I saw a squirrel tanning on the peak of the roof at the neighbor's, and it was just about the funniest thing I've ever seen. I'd illustrate with photo, but I was t-minus a camera at the time.

And tonight I saw a special on Brad Pitt, mostly him raising awareness for children in Africa, through the ONE campaign. I have a bracelet, but after hearing more about it, and seeing those kids, wow. You should all check it out!

Anyway, seeing him with those kids, and talking about the campaign, and him using the extra media attention about him and Jennifer Aniston's breakup to get more attention for the campaign (very clever, I might add) has definitely impressed me. No, not because he's a good looking older actor, but because I think he really cares, and is doing something about it. Anyway, you should check it out, sign the pledge, all that. It's an excellent cause, support from everyone from actors (whose political views I generally don't share) to conservatives... groups like World Vision are a part of it...

anyway, *gets off soapbox* hope you're having a wonderful summer. Apologies for randomness, but I think the paint fumes are still slightly in effect, and I'm still a wee bit tired from this weekend.

Anna the Laundry Lady

Finals are over, went well, moving out wasn't a horrible hectic mess... however my room is now a certified disaster area. Seriously. You think I'm joking because I'm miss have everything has to be perfectly in its place and spotless... but its not working out so well... I'm trying to get rid of things, and clean, and put away, all at the same time, not so smart... but oh well...

So, I'd started to get worried about a job and all, after learning that everything I considered was already filled. I know I shouldn't, because I know that God is in charge and taking care of me, and whatever the heck happens this summer has been okayed by him. But the thought of me stuck at home, because of lack of gas money funds to go visit anyone not in town, and also lack of funds to do things with friends that require money, almost sent me into hyperventilating panic mode when it hit me this afternoon. I love my family and all, but I want to see other people this summer too. Plus, when I went to the movie last night with my fabulous friends that I've missed dearly (Kael, Carl, Brit, Steven, Vern, y'all are amazing!), my dad informed me that "if you're going to be going to the movies, you need to get a job." As if my coming home and giving up the larger job opportunity pool in Manhattan to come home and spend the summer with them, and him having a cushy, secure job, isn't enough for them to fork over a little cash periodically through the summer. Of course, maybe it's because I'm almost 20, and I'd feel bad mooching anyway, and the whole lawsuit thing... good lawyers are dang expensive, fyi. But anyway, so my mom tells me that they've been busy at the cleaners because a nearby town's cleaner closed recently, so I should try there. So I did, and Maxine is awesome, and I have a part-time, maybe more, depending on how busy things are this summer, job! It'll be mostly washing sheets and such for the manor and hospital... and maybe some pressing stuff, and taking orders and such... but yay for money and nice bosses! So, for the summer anyway, I am now Anna the Laundry Lady!

I *heart* storms

Wow, its been almost a week since my last post... I think that's a record (spring break doesn't count). I've been keeping busy, with school finishing up, and hanging out with people before we all leave for three months (and some people longer than that). We'll just say I've been a little lacking in the sleep.

I went with Brit to watch state forensics, which was really weird at 2A... it seemed so much smaller than 3A, but the team (although very small) did really well... everyone broke semi's, and Karen and Steven both broke finals and got 2nd and 4th, respectively, in inform. (for all you non-forensicators, semi's are the semifinal rounds, inform is informative speaking... if you want a more detailed description on exactly how forensics works and everything, but I shall not bore you more here) I'm so proud of them! Gold state medals (because all state medals are gold, whether it's 1st or 6th... trust me, I know... you can impress everyone with the thing, because they never see the 6 on the back!) are always fun to have!

Other good news: I finished my Development of English Language paper, on the use of language in Disney animated movies, and its 15.5 pages long, so no final for me! whoohoo! And now I can give a very lengthy discourse on the topic... if you'd like a demonstration, let me know!

Finally, to the statement in the title. I really do love storms. And I miss them when I'm home. Western Kansas is rather lacking in that department. And today was a good one! The nice cool calm before the storm, with the pretty grey clouds creating an overcast sky, with little bits of blue showing in the east, and rain coming down in the west. The faint rumbles of thunder in the distance And then the random huge drops on the windshield, and finally the downpour and the sweet smell of rain and faint tapping sound it makes on my window. I get all warm and fuzzy inside just thinking about it! *sigh of happiness* Thank you God for storms!

Dance in the rain if you get a chance, but only if you aren't sleep deprived or else you'll get sick, and that's no fun.

Relay for Life, Parking Tickets, and Surprise Photo Shoots

First off, Relay for Life was awesome, despite it being so cold everything was majorly frosted and sparkling. And eating breakfast while watching the sunrise as well as a fox pouncing is just about the best thing I’ve ever done, and Ian’s shoulder makes a great travel pillow. Seriously... someone should patent and market that. It’d be so popular, and whoever did it would be amazingly rich... I mean, never mind *looks up patent website*

Secondly, I have dubbed yesterday National Anna Got Her First Parking Ticket Day. Why the parking Nazis were out at 11:32 am on a Sunday morning, I don’t know, but they were. But it was worth it, because lunch at Kramer with Ian and Dave and Jenn was FANTASTIC! It was so much fun, and we were all hilarious... maybe that’s because we thought everything was funny because we were all so sleep deprived... hmmm...

Thirdly, my bedding and big purple fuzzy slippers were the stars of a housing and dining photo shoot this afternoon. So Chandra and I were sitting in our room, minding our own business, getting ready for work, and doing homework, respectively, when people knocked on our door, and before we knew it, these three people, one with a camera, were in our room. "I like the curtains, and the woodwork on that chair, and the stars on the bedding... can we get that all in?... the chairs are nice..." Then proceeded to start snapping away. "No, don’t look at the camera. Talk to each other about something fun, we want this to look natural. No, don’t straighten up. Why did you move that pillow? It looked good, put it back... now sit so we can see those slippers. I like the slippers. Can you cross your feet? Where did that other girl go... lets get her back in here..." I ended up sitting at Chandra’s desk, Chandra in her chair, and Alicia came back and was instructed to get in my bed. They told us to start talking, and munching on food if we have some. So they took pictures of us laughing and talking about Chandra at prom, and eating goldfish. Then we had to sign photo release forms. I think they said something about brochures... but they could use them for other things too, I’m guessing. So, you can look for me and Chandra and Alicia, and our room in future housing and dining publishings. Fascinating, I know. I look really grungy, but oh well. They seem to think my star sprinkled bedding and big purple fuzzy slippers will make potential students decide to come to K-State and choose the residence halls. I mean seriously, that’s why I picked dorm life. Not really. But seriously.

Have a wonderful day, and watch out for those dorm paparazzi.

hollywood's newest trend: making babies

I hope that I am not the only one disturbed by the snippets of fact and gossip that is currently flurrying around Hollywood. It started last year with Britney Spear's public announcement of her desire to be a mother. After marrying a bum who's name eludes me at the moment... feder something... I shall call him fedora... speculation began about who would be the next starlet to produce offspring. Focus on Jessica Simpson began (although I bet this is dying down with rumors of her and Nick's breakup). But now, apparently it is Heath Ledger and his new girlfriend, who is best known for her role as the bad girl on Dawson's Creek (one of the many shows I never watched). If you want more info on this new development, click here. And I would not be surprised if this trend continues.

Now that you have background, I shall commence my tirade. (And no, I don't generally keep up with Hollywood... all this information is garnered from standing in line to Wal-mart during visits, and clippits that I hear from other people... its really hard to NOT know info like this, especially as a female, and in a female dorm) WHAT ARE THESE PEOPLE THINKING! Perhaps Britney and Fedora won't be the absolute worst parents in the world, but in my opinion, they aren't the type of people I consider to be even remotely fit to raise a child. And Heath and whatsherface? I guess, from my impression of what I see of them, I don't understand how they would be mature enough to carry the responsibility of raising a child. My sympathies are with these children. They are doomed for a lifetime of therapy. Living in Hollywood is difficult and vapid enough, but to be completely submerged in it from birth, with pop star parents who carry around a froo-froo dog and treat it like a kid, and spend ridiculous amounts of money on trivial things, and are in this constant social whirlwind, there is no way you can maintain even a sense of normalcy for these children, who are going to have ridiculous expectations of how life will be, and will constantly be disappointed. Its difficult enough for seasoned Hollywood-ites to raise a child... I honestly think that its just the new thing to do. While on spring break in LA, K-Lub made the statement that Californians in general, just jump on the bandwagon of trends, instead of being practical. Such as the movement to buy bikes like those out for rent on the beach, instead of a more sensible bike. Just because its the new trend. I have a feeling that this is potentially the case when it comes to the stars having kids, mixed in with a severe case of keeping up with the Jones. Maybe some of them honestly want a kid (say for example, Britney and hat), but no matter the reason, I still pity the poor, innocent kids.

May God have mercy on their souls.

the formal and an ER visit

Okay, first things first, I'm doing fairly well, and I'm now adjusted to the effects that the IRRITATING lawsuit is wreaking on my summer... okay, so I'm still mad about the fact that they're suing us when they're the ones who screwed everything up, and are now making us pay for all the expensiveness of court, but I'm okay, and know that God has it all under control.

Second, I changed my paper topic, so if you have any thoughts on accents/language in Disney movies (in general, or specifically, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, the Lion King, and maybe Lilo and Stitch) I would definitely appreciate the input, and hey, I could even cite you as a source! Wouldn't you feel special!

Now for the good stuff... The formal was AMAZING, I forgot how much I missed spending an afternoon getting beautified (Lindsey, you are talented beyond words with hair, talented with hair, not the words with hair, yeah, misplaced modifiers are fun), and while we were out, I got a ton of compliments on Lindsey's fabulous dress (and a mom told me I made her little girl's day, getting to see that dress). Ian looked dang hot in his pink tie :D and Brit looked GORGEOUS, as did Cory *wink wink*, and we had fun wandering Target all spiffed out, before getting to the dance. Which was a blast, Cru people are awesome! I heart dances!

Now, I bet you're wondering about the ER visit, and have been skimming, thinking gosh, the formal sent Anna to the ER?! Not exactly... as it's final project time for all those studio people, after Ian and I left the dance, we went to studio (after changing, of course). He was working, and I was watching, when all of a sudden, Ian gets enlisted to drive Daniel to the ER... while working on his model, Daniel sliced two of his fingers a good one. So we got to drive up to those ambulance doors, hazards flashing... where Daniel got everything taken care of (although it took a while to clot, I quote the EMT "he's a bleeder!"). But it did take a while. While we were there, someone got brought in after being hit by a car, and another person with chest pains... and they only had ONE, count 'em ONE doctor. In a college town. On Saturday night. And that was my fun excitement. Due to this occurrence though, the ol' sleep tank is running low, and this isn't my best writing. I shall apologize for it. But I had to share. And Daniel's a trooper. After he got stitched and bandaged, he was back in studio. Arch profs (and design profs in general) are insane and are trying to kill off their students, Vanessa and I decided.

So in conclusion, good luck to all those studio-ers out there, hang in there, we're thinkin of ya!

that window and siding company is ruining my summer.

As the title states, that window and siding company is ruining my summer. "What window and siding company?" you may ask. Well, I shall tell you.

It all started this past November, when my parents decided to finally shell out to have our house sided, and new windows installed. Six months later, my parents are being swept into a fun legal battle, because the company, quite frankly, did a pathetic job, which could mess up things in our house, cost us a lot more in heating and air conditioning costs, and make replacements for these new things come a lot sooner. So my parents, unsatisfied with the job, didn't pay, because they wanted to get everything fixed first (just like the Kansas Attorney General states... satisfaction with the job, THEN payment). But then the owner gets mad and claims my parents are just trying to get out of it, which is very not true. Honestly, is it too much to ask for a job well done, especially when it's as expensive as this sort of thing? And they won't own up to the fact that they messed up. So my parents have to pay for a lawyer, and all the costs that go along with trying to get this thing all figured out, which isn't free by any means. And there could be hearings, and a trial, its insane. So, if you're going to have windows or siding put in, talk to my family before you select the company.

"Okay, yeah, that's super annoying, but how does that relate at all to your summer?" you are probably now wondering. Well, I shall tell you.

The costs that this legal proceeding is consuming, on top of paying for a new car to replace the dying nova and insurance with Nathan as a driver, means that the wonderful Orlando vacation that my entire family has been hoping and looking forward to since last summer is probably not going to happen. Also made more unlikely because we will have to be around for potential hearings and trial. And my parents are going to be busy with all this stuff, so enjoying my last summer at home with my family is not going to be the easiest thing in the world. All this on top of the fact that I may be certifiable by the end of the summer for many other reasons: possible lack of a job, Brit and Linds staying here, Ian busy at home, and most of my hometown friends being in various parts of the country, or the world for awesome summer missions trips and such... it all means that I will probably fall into a permanent vegetative state over the summer. Not good when classes come around again. I was counting on fun family times, and that vacation, to keep my sanity. So now I don't know what I'm doing for the summer... I could still go home, try and get a job nearby, and just work all the time so I don't have time to think about everything, or I could stay here and do the same thing. Or perhaps I shall move to South America and live at one with the monkeys in the treetops. I'm starting to stress out about this, which is not good. And I'm miserable because allergens here right now are horribly high, and I'm suffering severely. But Brit was a doll and went therapy shopping with me, and an outfit later, I'm a little better. Anyhoo, now that I've vented (I'm still steamed at that company though), I do feel even more better. So I think I'll try and get something accomplished.

Have a better day than me, and beware those siding and window people.

An Ode to PB & J: an approximately paragraph long rambling discourse on the goodness of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

So I just finished writing a composition in French (slightly over 1 page long, using the 'conditionnel' mood verb tense, its fun, let me tell you). It could be a little longer, but it is two lines over the minimum (but if you have any interesting ideas for what my life should be like after I graduate, feel free to tell me. I've got the usual stuff... good job, good marriage, a couple kids, lots of traveling... I think I might add a pet snake in there too. So any creative assistance would be welcome! At any rate, after focusing on all that French, I decided to take a blog-break before I dive into some of my other homework. (by the way, if you have any info on language in either the Philippines or in a former Spanish colony that I could use as a comparison, it'd come in handy in a final project that I'm starting to work on!)

Anyway, so yesterday, I woke up... really late, and decided that perhaps I should get some lunch before the good ol' Derb closed for the afternoon. So after throwing on some grungy clothes, I made the trek across the parking lot (beautiful day) and up the stairs to the dashers line. Nothing sounded too appealing, so I went to the wonderful sandwich standby. Walking back to my room, paper bag with sandwiches and milk inside, I began to think about how much I love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Honestly, they are very underappreciated. No one ever talks about how amazing they are, so I decided that it was time that they get their due. However, I haven't had my poetry writing class yet (that's next semester), so I don't really know if rambling about the goodness of pb & j for approximately a paragraph really technically constitutes an ode... *mental note to self: look up the word ode* Probably not, but ode sounds much more interesting and poetic than "an approximately paragraph long rambling discourse on the goodness of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches." Honestly, what kind of title is that... ya know, never mind, I like it. *adds subheading to title* much better.

So really. Just think about the pb & j. That wonderful sandwich that brings back warm memories of your childhood, when your mom would lovingly pack a lunch for you to take to joy school, and you'd sit at those little tables in those tiny chairs, where you weren't quite cool enough to sit with the popular little girls... scratch the memory retrieval sentiment. So really. Just think about the pb & j. That wonderful sandwich that brings you back to the simple pleasures in life. The creamy stickiness of the tan peanut butter spread across a soft slice of iron kids bread, (depending on your peanut butter preference) with little bits of peanuts dotted across the surface. The wonderful strawberry red color of the jam sparkling on the other slice of bread, just waiting for you to slap the two sides together and shove it into your mouth, where the bread would immediately stick to the roof of your mouth, and you'd hurt your tongue trying to get it off, before giving up and just washing it all down with an ice cold glass of creamy milk (or perhaps pasty water-milk, if you drink skim). Honestly, I think the world would be a better place if everyone would just sit down and eat pb & j together. We could achieve world peace.

Have a wonderful day. Eat a pb & j.

The Much Anticipated California Post!

I should probably be doing things, like homework, putting away laundry, job finding things, but honestly… what’s more important? Keeping up on school so that the money that my parents and organizations crazy, I mean smart, enough to invest in my education have spent, goes to good use, or finally commemorating my week long adventure in California to the annals of cyberspace? That’s what I thought. And this post is going to be fabulously long… and you thought my weekend rantings were long, wait until you see the massive torrent of words that I am about to unleash on my unsuspecting readership. It shall resemble the crashing waves of the pacific ocean, and you, poor reader, are like a tiny clam, buffeted in the swirls of sand, other debris, and surf boards dashed in the salty depths of what we like to modestly refer to as ‘waves.’ Honestly though, what can you expect, an entire week of California, and I’d have just a smidgen to say? I think not. However, to throw you a life preserver, I shall attempt to put in bold headings, so that you may feel free to skim, and only hit the parts that sound interesting. And then of course I just might put in a couple tirades about a few things at the end that have happened just today, as well… fun, I know!

Saturday: Flying Out!
After brunch with Cory, Brit and I headed to Dave’s house in KC. And we didn’t get lost… which is a major milestone for us! His house is nice, and his parents are amazing. They took us out to lunch at this awesome Mexican place (“on the plane, they only feed you pretzels!”) then Dave brought us to the airport… he’s such a sweetie! We hung out in the airport a bit, then we went through security, where I had to remove my belt and my shoes, I felt rather naked, but oh well, all in the name of public safety. Our flight out of KC was delayed a bit, because of bad weather in Chicago, and so we almost missed our connecting flight. Let me tell you, those gates had to be in completely different wings, and its not fun running through O’Hare with a couple bags, praying the plane hasn’t detached from the walkway yet. And I got complimented when we got on the plane, a flight attendant told me “you are a beautiful young lady” and I doubt he was hitting on me: he was a 40-something black guy. And the pilot expressly stated that the plane would be flying over Kansas, and “directly south of Goodland” so we flew right over home, or at least close enough. And Britni’s grandpa was awesome and picked us up at the airport and got us McDonald’s. And I must say, the cars in that parking garage there in the OC, that was insane, I’ve never seen so many pristine super expensive cars in one place.

Sunday: The Long Nap
We went to church, which was good, ate at Olive Garden, where I tried something new. I’ve been working on that… alleviating my pickiness. Anyway, we returned to the house, and took a brief nap that turned into about 3 hours long…

Monday: DISNEYLAND
My first time to Disneyland. It was fantabulous, and, to steal Caleb’s quote, “it really is magical!” Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, Indiana Jones! And we stuffed ourselves silly at dinner. Lunch did disappoint us though. We waited in line for almost 2 hours at Club Buzz. But in line, we met a really nice Filipino lady from the bay area. And we watched Fantasmic, which was awesome. I do believe Britni had to close my jaw for me at one point during the show… hehe. Plus we got swords made by none other than WILL TURNER, and princess pens, and I *HEART* Pirates bracelets. I’d say my first trip to Disneyland was a smashing success. And that evening we spent an incredible amount of time on the phone with the guys, trying to work out the hang out plans. It took forever, and we discovered that public transportation is rather lacking when you’re trying to get from Huntington Beach to certain places in LA, but we finally got something worked out.

Tuesday: The Getty, Rain, USC, PCH, and Pepperdine
Brit’s grandpa once again was amazing and drove us all the way to the Getty where we met T and Ian in the parking lot, and it was so good to see them! We caught the shuttle up to the Getty (which took a while, and it was an insane-o line). The architecture tour was fascinating, and I felt like I was walking around a giant’s project model, but it was really really cool, and I got some awesome pictures (the artistic type that Brit gets frustrated looking through because “where are the people!”) We ate lunch, I got attacked by the salad when the wind picked up, and it started to rain, so we went in and looked at the art stuff. I found a clock with everything written in French, and we attempted to translate. It started to pour, and T had to get back for class, so we headed back to USC, but traffic was bad, so it took forever, and T missed his class. But we did get to see a teddybear attached to the back of a pickup. When we got to USC, we went to the bookstore, where I got a fantastic scrape on my toe that turned out to look like an “A”, however, it was bleeding profusely when it happened… not a good spot to have a bleeding wound when you’re walking through ankle deep water. And we all got USC shirts, and saw the football team practicing. We also got to have a “USC experience” and eat this drive through Mexican food, which was good, but there was something extremely spicy, which I couldn’t hack eating. Then we took off with Micah for Pepperdine. Ian and I were crammed in the back with the luggage, since the trunk didn’t work. And it was our first time on the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway). We stayed with some really nice friends of Micah (that is, Brit and I did, Ian stayed with Micah), and conked out not long after arriving.

Wednesday: Car Time, Sushi, and Bibles
We woke up and went to this little place in Malibu where Micah loves the breakfast burritos, then went back to campus and got a tour, saw the Randumb Show, and got Pepperdine shirts, before heading over to USC to pick up T. We couldn’t find a parking spot, so decided to just head back to Huntington Beach and hang out there. Traffic was FANTASTIC, and so we got a lot of quality car bonding time in. When arriving in Huntington Beach, we narrowly missed being in a car accident (saved by Micah’s excellent driving skills). Then we got some sushi (which Brit and I were required to try) and washed it down with some Coldstone (but its just not the same without Cory). After the guys left, Brit and I took a walk on the beach, saw the aftermath of a giant grape eating contest (well, it probably wasn’t, but I think that sounds more interesting, plus it looked like something of that nature). And Brit and I were thoroughly salted and chilled. We got bibles that night as well. Nice NIV leather bound pocket sized for church and such. Other people get wasted on spring break, we get bibles!

Thursday: In & Out Burger and Shopping!
I had my first In & Out Burger experience, got a shirt, enjoyed it complete with 1000 Island dressing (the burger, not the shirt). Then we went shopping. Yay for Alias season 2!

Friday: California Adventure
We headed over to California Adventure after lunch, caught the Aladdin musical, saw the Incredibles (just Mr. and Mrs. Sadly no Dash, Violet or Jack Jack), rode the Tower of Terror and Soarin’ Over California, and ate a great burger in the hangar food place. All in all, a wonderful day. Plus we got to see “Disney's Electrical Light Parade” complete with the cheesy music!

Saturday: K (-Lub) Time!
Brit and I hung out with Caleb on the beach, played some Frisbee, caught up on all our lives and happenings. We met her family at Ruby’s on the pier for some lunch, and I had an excellent burger there… it had some sort of pepperjack cheese, and maybe ranch, I don’t remember exactly, just that it was DIVINE. Then we went back to the beach and Caleb and boogyboarded. I was rather unsuccessful at catching a wave, which Caleb did manage to do. After about 20 minutes, I couldn’t feel my body, so we went back on the beach. It was fine for a few minutes, then you aren’t numb, and Caleb and I were both convulsing. Brit tried to help, but after a while, we gave up and went back to her grandparents, where we warmed up, showered, and ate a fantastic home cooked dinner. Then we went and hung out at Hope, which was fun! I just wish we could have met his suitemates… he’s made them sound so intriguing!

Sunday: Home Again
Caleb was a doll and took us to LAX. Our flight home was pretty uneventful, aside from a gate change at O’Hare, which was annoying, but not rushed. Dave was amazing and met us at the airport. And the ride back was fun. Brit and I jammed out to *N’Sync, we ate at McDonald’s and I got a happy meal, complete with a blue beanie bear named red shoe. We renamed it blue bear, which is much more fitting if you ask me. He’s so cute, sitting on my dresser, watching me type. Awww. I know, I get too emotionally attached to things like my plants and stuffed animals. But when you never got to have a pet, and then your beloved fish dies, it happens.

Anyway, I do believe that’s all the high points, and a lot of extra random information as well, but now you’re all updated, and I can just make everyone read this instead of having to say a play by play every time someone asks, save the vocal cords and all, ya know.

I shall conclude by saying congratulations if you actually skimmed down this far, and I detest Earth In Action (although Andrew, Mr. I'm-acing-the-class-and-I-don't-even-think-it's-a-big-deal, himself was a doll and studied with Brit and I for the test tomorrow), as well as the dryers in Boyd, that don’t dry. Perhaps I shall discuss this in more depth some other day, but for now, I think I’ve procrastinated sufficiently, and I should get back to studying. Have a wonderful day!

I'm a pathetic blogger, but I'm a snake bitten pathetic blogger!

So I've been meaning to write a big huge post discussing all of the fantastic California spring break trip. But this past week, I've been caught under the avalanche of homework and tests that seems to occur right after a major break, which was followed by a period of unmotivatedness where I did nothing for an entire day except go to class and vegetate in front of the television. However, I think I've finally returned to normal (as normal as it gets for me, at least) but I'm still not inspired enough to recount spring break in all its glory and actually do it justice. So I shall postpone that (never fear, it will be up eventually, hopefully sometime this week).

In the mean time, I shall tell you my fun story from this weekend. After a wonderful time at Chuck E. Cheese's for Coltrane and Carrie and Kendra's collective birthdays, we returned home and decided that the beautiful day should be enjoyed from the wonderfulness of Pillsbury Crossing. None of us had been there before (us being JB, Brady, Ian, Brit, and I), so it did take a few missed (but only by a bit) turns before we arrived. We decided to avoid the congregation of drunken revelers actually in the water, and instead hiked out the other way. The guys spied a snake and excitedly tried to grab it, but only managed to make it slither away. I used my excellent creeping skills and snuck up on it. Under direction from Ian, I proceeded to grab it by the tail. I don't think it really appreciated that, and it was quite feisty for such a cute little guy, and managed to maneuver itself and bite my finger. In shock, I dropped the snake. I passed out, and had to be rushed to the ER where they managed to save me from the brink of death... okay, not really, I just wanted to see if you were actually paying attention. HAH! After I dropped the snake, the guys congratulated me on how I was "man enough" to grab the snake in the first place, and how impressed they are because "wow, Anna, I've never even been bitten by a snake!" and we examined my wounds (very minor, but it did bleed) and a weird substance on my finger. After much pondering, Brit, Ian and I came to the conclusion that the snake wet itself on my finger. As Ian said, "you scared it." So now I have lovely bite shaped small scabs on my finger, and a nice, very scrubbed other finger. All in all, I'd have to say it was quite the exciting day!

Post Script: I've gotten pictures back from California, the concert, other random things, so if you want to see them, hit up my website and check em out!

THE last pre-California post!

Whoohoo! classes are done, the day is beautiful (except the wind), and its even been a pretty interesting day so far. This morning, I booked it over to ECS (English and Counseling Services building) to turn in the fun take home test that I spent SEVEN HOURS ON *pause to compose self* and as I was walking out, noticed a guy with a camera following a professor-looking man. I think perhaps it has something to do with the media coverage on the Murray trial (that English professor just convicted for his wife's murder, exciting, huh) SO, if you see anything on TV about the trial, pay attention to the background person, and it just might be me!

Then I got to go to fabulous Earth in Action, where I learned that radioactive Bob wanders around the documents section in the library (second floor), and he really had fun with "BIGGER!" resuming his yelling concurrent with footstomps and hand gestures.

Well, its back to packing. I am so stoked for spring break! It is gonna be so fun! Oh, and I gave in and took allergy medicine... lets hope I don't get high again! Have a wonderful week, and there will most likely be a very lengthy post narrating the entire trip, a few days after we get back!

*EDIT* So, I just got the second best serenade of my life (second only to Ian's serenade, not like I get serenaded alot, but if I did, they'd still be the top two)! My bro is the bestest! :D And honestly, he's gonna be the next Elton John, and he's like... wow... yeah, so good, and I love Your Song!

Procrastination and Sexed Up TV

So today's been a pretty good day. Getting up for class was a bit difficult, but well worth it, because when I got to my first class, I found out that I got a wonderful present, our teacher is giving us Friday off, AND a homework postponement because "you should have to do any homework over spring break!" French wasn't too terribly bad... but that's skipping over Earth in Action. We discussed about meanders, oxbow lakes, natural levees, and learned a valuable lesson... "Head to high ground when the dam breakage sirens go off." "but we'll talk about that in a second, okay, the second's up." Ahhh, isn't Radioactive Bob fun! And Anna is lucky and got to run errands for her scholarship application, AND work on a take home test for 2 hours, and she isn't even halfway done. whoohoo for school... but she is taking a break now (code name for procrastinating), because she is stressed... you can tell because she's talking in third person. Okay, not really, she just likes third person. And watching LOST, where two people are swimming to the bottom of the lake and swiping loot from the creepy submerged dead people.

This television watching I just mentioned, in combination with Lindsey's post yesterday, has prodded me into pulling out my soapbox once again. I shall refer to the problem as sexed up tv. This evening's encounter began the moment I turned on the TV to program the VCR to record my usual Wednesday night programming. But that was to be expected, after all, ET is all about Hollywood, which is sexed up anyway. I didn't begin to get riled up until I saw the Victoria's Secret commercial. at seven. SEVEN. The time when little kiddies are still up and can see the TV. This was followed by a chick on LOST sunbathing in a string bikini... then a little less when she decided against tan lines on her back, followed by an extended conversation with someone while sitting up, and covering what was necessary with a towel. This was followed by a Burger King commercial (BURGER KING!!) for the "tender crispy bacon cheddar ranch" burger, complete with scantily clad cowgirls seductively singing and eating the sandwich. This was followed by a commercial for the new show "Grey's Anatomy" which had a ridiculous amount of references to sex for just a 30 second commercial. I could go on, but I don't think I need to. It's pathetic, and scary. The next thing you know, these images will be incorporated into Sesame Street and Saturday morning cartoons. And its not just kids that are affected. This severely messes with a girl's self confidence, and puts expectations into a guy's mind. From skanky girls on campus, to tv, to music, to movies... when will America finally get rid of its trash?

Ian

My boyfriend is weird: he talks to himself over msn using my msn. But I love him dearly, especially because I know I'm just as weird. (haha, and you thought I wasn't actually going to do it!)

Now back to lovely homework, scholarship stuff, and a take home test. Have a wonderful day!

The insane-ness of the week and St. Patrick

Its been exactly one week (give or take an hour) since my last post, and I feel like a complete slacker. But then I realized that honestly, not that many people, if any, really read this on a regular basis, if at all, so my posting indiscretion has probably gone unnoticed... and there is a high probability that I could post a ranting on *insert strangest thing you can think of* and no one would ever know. After pondering this depressing realization for a while, I decided that I still get personal satisfaction from churning out lengthy, irrational strings of words, and so I shall commence my overview of this past week.

Honestly, its been insane... I said my last weekend was one of my busiest weekends in recent memory, and this past week and most recent weekend have been equally crazy. But through it all, God has really shown me His grace, love, and support. I am so amazed at the way He has met every single need I have had in the most perfect way possible, and I am so thankful! God is good! And also because of the insane-ness, I now have another reason to look forward to spring break... not only will I be in sunny Southern California, with awesome friends, and get to do really fun things, but I can sleep on the plane! whoohoo!

So what is the insane-ness to which I have referred?

The beginning of the week started out in one of the strangest ways imaginable. I woke up Monday morning and groggily traversed the short distance to the bathroom, toothbrush in hand, to be greeted by the sight of a uniformed officer and the complex director standing in the hallway. Needless to say, I was a little weirded out. As the week progressed, we learned there was an "incident" in my wing, which involved a non-resident of the hall entering the building and someone's room, and said intruder being discovered by one of the room's occupants. No further information could be revealed, due to the fact that it is an ongoing investigation, as well as various privacy issues. Rumor has it though, that it was a pantie raid gone awry.

Which brings me to Thursday, THE PRAGUE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA! whoohoo! Ian and I got all dressed up, and Craig and Vanessa played mom and dad and took pictures for us (when I finally get all my pictures developed, they will most definitely be up on my website). We went to Sonic for supper, where were were questioned "so, is there a prom going on or something?" And after a delectable meal, went to McCain, and it was amazing... *sigh of contentment* And afterwards, we went to Radina's, where we were complimented on how nice we looked, and I was nearly killed by a vicious cup of chai that attacked my lungs... charges against the chai pending investigation. I would definitely say that this evening was one of the high points in my life to date. Plus, I got to show off my excellent job on my hair to Britni, and we girltalked, while I intermittently sniffed Ian's wonderful smelling jacket.

Friday involved a nasty Earth in Action test (and we found out our grades today, and I say Andrew stinks, but he is SO my new geology tutor), and plenty of sleep before a fun dodgeball tournament. And I have a great admiration for the sport now. I think every single person that played was sore for at least two days. Who woulda thunk? And The Manchurian Candidate is a good movie, and Brit and I girltalked again, and watched American Outlaws, and cuddled... *teehee*

Saturday was shopping day, and Britni and I really went to town... but its justifiable, it's for spring break, and it was all on sale. We concluded the afternoon with a celebratory cup of coldstone cake batter ice cream with cookie dough bits, and then got into Brit's car to head back. While still in Aggieville (which, before 6 pm, was filled with a plethora of drunks, all wearing green, due to the St. Patrick's Day festivities... I shall continue this thought in a few moments) something went seriously wrong with her car, and JB came to the rescue and put back the belt that fell off. We drove happily off, only to hear a wicked ka-CHUNK-chunk-chunk a few blocks down 11th (it was definitely a God thing that Brit drove straight down 11th instead of turning onto much-busier Bluemont). We pulled over and called JB again... this time, a part had actually fallen out of the car and into the middle of the street! I ran back and got it (JB said it was the funniest thing to see me running with the part on a stick, since it was too toasty to hold). It was FUN. Gotta love crazy car stories.

place in car missing part

JB holding part missing from car

But back to St. Patrick (since no one reads this anyway, I can make it as long as I want. There's a silver lining to everything!). As part of the town's St. Patrick's Day celebration, the bars opened at 6am, or so I heard, and as of around 6pm, just about everyone you saw in Aggieville between the ages of 18 and 50 were pretty plastered. Now, I enjoy watching a funny drunk as much as the next sober person, but I began to think on this. Universally, or at least United States-ally, St. Patrick's Day has turned into a giant drinking fest, due to the stereotype of the Irish in regards to drinking. But this greatly sads me, knowing who St. Patrick was. Any quick google search will reveal that he was an amazing man of faith and was used by God to show the Irish people the truth, and that their faith in Druidism was wrong. And he was willing to go back to Ireland, even though he was violently ripped away from his family and cushy life by Irish mauraders and sold into slavery there, all at the young age of sixteen. Now, I don't know about you, but after this less than friendly treatment, I wouldn't be jumping at the chance to really love on these people, but Patrick did, and God used him in great ways to reach the Irish for Him. With this thought, it is completely appalling to me that anyone would celebrate this man's life by going out, partying, and getting trashed, which coincidentally, is often part of celebrations of the pagan sort. And taking after T (although this is definitely not nearly as good as any of his posts) I decided to use illustrations of saints! I don't think that he (he referring back to St. Patrick, not T, in this particular instance) really looks like the sort of person you want to infuriate by desecrating his special day...

image from Samurai Appliance Repair Man on Flickr

So anyhoo, kudos to you if you've managed to pay attention enough to catch even half of this enormous post... actually, kudos to you if you even bothered to scroll down this far! I hope you all have a wonderful day/week, and God bless!

The crazy weekend and flying snails

So, after all that talk of going to bed early and such, I embarked on a ridiculously crazy/busy/fun weekend... A little after my post Friday, Andrew called to inform me of a Butterfly Effect viewing over at Farmhouse... and as since I hadn't heard back from my French 2 partner about working on our project that evening, I thought, ahhh, what the heck, I really wanna see that movie, and told Andrew as much. With instructions to bring along all the ladies along that I could, I called everyone and their dog, but mostly they were all busy with homework, birthday parties, swing dancing in KC, work... so it ended up being just me and Chandra (who had a lovely time parking... but sometimes two blocks away in front of Kappa Sig is fun!) and we (along with a larger amount of people that showed up) viewed the psychotic gloriousness that is known as The Butterfly Effect. I was quite impressed, although my nails probably are still protesting, as they kind of disappeared as I watched. I've decided nail biting is like alcoholism... you quit, and you're fine, but once you cave just that tiniest bit, you are GONE. At any rate, after the movie, Chandra and I stayed a while longer, talking to one of her FH friends, before finally trudging back to her vehicular and heading back to the dorms.

The following morning, I arose at the bright and chipper hour of 9:30, and worked on French until Ian came by so we could go to the basketball game, which was absolutely fantastic, as we finally dished out a marvelous thrashing, to Nebraska, no less, with a small mob of red-clad cheering robots present. After making a pizza run and watching some golf, Ian headed back to studio and I got to work on homework, until it was time to head over to the Thurston house for a nice game of celebrities. To start off the evening, however, we played a fun game of nertz, and I'd like to interject here, I soundly beat Britni for the first time EVER (which is a big deal, b/c I consider her one of the goddesses of nertz) although I still only got 3rd, losing to Josh and Phil. And celebrities was a riot, as always. Although this time around, there were more phones involved. Say, Britni answering "hello?" *BENEDICT ARNOLD* "hey, he hung up on me!" or Josh in round two answering the phone during his turn, only to decide it wasn't worth it, and tossing the phone onto the recliner before proceeding to yell more hints. And Mike is amazing at the charades round... I'm pretty sure he got 9 in one turn, even though it wasn't enough to help our "Awesome Team" beat the "Not Quite As Awesome Team." After the lovely game sadly drew to a close, Ian and I watched Zoolander on the big screen, and for the rest of the weekend, had the word "you-google-ee" stuck in my head. Sunday consisted of church, lunch at the derb, and a mall run, before sitting down to do homework from 2:30-11:30 straight (with two exceptions... a dinner break, and a 15 minute accidental power nap).

And now for my fast-becoming-a-habit update on the fantastic class known as Earth in Action. The bunnies have been replaced. As radioactive Bob was discussing types of deposition in deserts, I learned that a loess is composed of small angular minerals, and wind-deposited, air breathing snails. No one in the class really understood that little bit of randomness, but I couldn't stop laughing as I imagined tiny snails hurling through the air. Needless to say, this inhibited my note taking, because my nervous system is weird, and whenever I laugh with more than a chuckle, my left thumb loses half of its capacity to function, and my ability to write rapidly is completely ineffectual. I also learned that the definition of sand deposits is: "deserts are not all sand - some are and some are not" Who knew!

Anyway, I do believe that's enough rambling for the day. I've got homework to finish, and after this weekend, I really could use an early bedtime tonight. Have a wonderful day, and if you get down, just picture tiny snails whizzing past you in breeze, and you'll cheer right up!

Happy Friday!

I'm pleased to announce that I have completely recovered from my drug-induced alternately semi-comatose/spacey and wacko state of being yesterday. But, writing in my stupor, I completely failed to mention the fact that Brit and Linds and I signed for the house on Tuesday afternoon! Whoohoo! Its so cute, and it will be so fun, I can't wait to go shopping for house stuff! And even if the guys aren't gonna be living next door, I love them dearly, and they can definitely come visit anytime they want! So I'm incredibly tired and sore, and I'm not sure why (*jedi mind trick* I could really use a backrub rights about now). Maybe its because I sat in the wind for 2.5 hours watching our baseball team kick some serious bum! And I found ten dollars... seriously... at the game, blowing around. But anyhoo, pretty sure it's gonna be an early evening for Anna. Ahhh, the exciting Friday evening activities of a college student. Sidenote, Less than Perfect on ABC is a pretty funny show! And I'm very jealous of Claude's gorgeous long red hair. Anyway, I'll keep this short, to make up for the past three extensive posts. Have a wonderful weekend!

*singing* It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away...

Before I get started my readership should know, I think I'm high. Anna? high? C'est possible???? If I am, it would be the second time, the first being on the Arizona missions trip when I inadvertently sat next to an open can of deck stain for two hours. But at any rate, I shall explain today's chain of events leading up to my conclusion.

I woke up this morning at 8:30 so I could continue studying for my French test, but there was a slight throbbing in my head, and a pressure in my nasal passages. I put two and two together. cold or allergies. Either way, a cold-type medicine with pain killer should do the trick. Learning from previous mistakes (bad things happen when you take medicine on an empty stomach), I took my self-perscribed OTC medicine with a McDonald's apple pie chaser (courtesy my amazing boyfriend, and he was right, they are good for breakfast!). This taken care of, I began to study until sometime between 10:30 and 11. I decided that if I looked at another French word or grammar rule, my head was going to explode, so I laid down on the floor, and at precisely 11:08:24-ish, I began to feel a little woozy, and like my head was floating away (think Pedro on this one, but no, I did not proceed to then shave my head and skip school from the shame, before finding a friend with a supply of wigs).

Slightly concerned, I laid down on Chandra's bed until 11:15, when I decided that, given my current state, I should leave for the test a little early, allowing extra time to walk to Eisenhower, on account of my spacey-ness. I got to good ol' 124, and sat down, fully prepared to take the test. After all, I thought, the last time I took a French test doped up on cold medicine with un-diagnosed pneumonia and a ridiculously high fever, I got an A (granted, I don't remember the test, but the grade is what counts, right?), so perhaps I'm better at French in a, umm... shall we say, slightly elevated, state of mind. While checking to see if my hand was shaking, my vision did seem rather beginning-of-Moulin-Rouge-ish for a few seconds, but other than that, I was fine, and made it through the test wonderfully well, I think. Except I couldn't remember the French word for highway... l'autoroute... *sigh* oh well.

At any rate, I returned to the dorms and had lunch with Ian on the basketball court, which was wonderful, since 1) it was lunch with Ian which is always fantastic, and 2) it is an absolutely gorgeous day out today. Then we traipsed around town in an attempt to track down studio supplies for Ian. And while scanning radio stations, found U2 (sounds like U2. nope. *scan* not U2 *scan* not U2 *scan* WHOA, FREAKY, its U2!) and their perfect song for today... Beautiful Day... nothing like driving around with the sun roof, windows down, listening to rock. The search for supplies was less successful however (the bookstore should really protest to their supplier about the limited availability of that board stuff in certain hues of the color palette, and the unpredictability in which said colors arrive), and he had to settle for a second rate color for his project (although it is an awesome design, and I'm sure that he'll do great despite the less than desirable shade).

After making the purchase, I was dropped off at my dorm with a suggestion from Ian that I take a nap, in hopes that it will help, as I think the drugs are still in effect, and I think I will have to follow through with that. But before I leave you for the afternoon, I would like to share three things.

1. I have a ginormous bruise on my right elbow from whacking a table on accident the other evening, and it is very painful.
2. I think that perhaps there is a conspiracy, and the drug company randomly slips illicit substances in their OTC medicine, in an attempt to get customers addicted and resultantly boost their black market operations.
3. This morning I discovered that my chapstick brand cold sore therapy stuff has amazing numbing properties, and I am seriously contemplating a liberal application of this to my entire lip region, in a scientific experiment to see if I would then commence involuntary drooling.

Having shared these thoughts, I am now at peace to go lay down on the floor to nap in an attempt to cure my drug induced state of incomprehensibility. Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the weather!

Bunnies

My first thought this morning was die alarm clock. Fortunately my amazingly sweet roommate turned it off for me before i was completely out from under the covers to get up and smack the snooze button myself. So I tossed and turned for another 15 minutes before finally forcing myself to roll out of bed (not literally, I think that might be verging on suicidal, as I'm on the loft, and the chairs below would probably sufficiently break my back as I landed so that I would face immediate death) So I brushed my teeth, threw on some clothes, grabbed my book bag, and booked it over to Blumont for class, where I learned about slang, cursing, and various American dialects. the f-word is the most versatile swear word, and American cursing is quite unique in the fact that it also includes expressions that are impossible to do (i.e." remove head from sphincter") and things that are pleasurable, feel free to use your imagination in figuring out which those are.

With swear words and non-rhotic (a.k.a. dropped r's as in New England dialects) pronunciations bouncing around in my head, I walked over to Earth in Action for the extreme pleasure of listening to radioactive Bob discuss mass wasting once again. I do believe his redundancy this class period was the highest this semester so far. I learned that generally rapid mass wasting includes falling and sliding. sub-point 1: rock or debris falls - rapid fall of the material. sub-point 2: rock or debris slide - fairly rapid slide downslope. And a slump creates a slump of material along the edge of a cliff.

Finally he switched to slides, and as I slipped into a comatose state as radioactive Bob waved his pool-stick-pointer around, gazing up and whacking various portions of the images while simultaneously revealing how the back of his head is beginning to have gollum-ish qualities in terms of wispy, disappearing hair, I realized that this class is causing me to enjoy certain morbid and disturbing thoughts. As I viewed the slides of mass wastings and rock layers, I could not help but laugh at the thought of little, cute, fuzzy bunnies mixed in among the debris, just waiting until thousands of years later, they could be reincarnated as a fuel source for environmentally detrimental gas guzzling SUV's. This realization has driven me to the conclusion that this class is evil. What kind of sick and twisted crazed teacher would put these mental images into the brains of his students? Alas, I am trapped in the course... apparently my contrapasso for something I have done, but as of the present, have not yet been able to determine.

At any rate, the need to study for my French test is looming before me and growing in urgency. Therefore, I leave you with a question. "Est-ce que vous mangez des spaghettis au petit dejeuner?

ramblings from the past week

It's been a busy past several days! And since I now have a free afternoon, and and am not quite ready yet to commence my women in TV homework, I am going to proceed with a play by play of the major events that have occurred in my life since the last post.

My midterm went well on Wednesday, and I actually got a decent amount of sleep that night! Thursday, Amber and Vern and I headed home for Mrs. Molstad's funeral. It was quite a fun car ride, and the three of us girls got all caught up, since we've been so busy this semester. But funny story. An hour and a half after leaving Manhattan, Vern turned to Amber and I and asked, "guys, did I pack my dress clothes? on a hanger..." We all looked at each other, perplexed. What to do! After much deliberation, we decided to stop at The Mall in Hays and use the remaining 30 minutes of it being open in order to scavenge a sweet deal on a dress shirt for Vern. A swimsuit, an on-sale dress shirt, and a fun almost-stripped-off-the-mannequin undershirt later, we triumphantly emerged from The Mall as they began locking up. The rest of the trip home was quite uneventful. Amber konked out, and I allowed Vern to play country music in my car (and trust me Vern, that is a BIG privilege you have!)

Friday, the funeral was really good, and then I went back home and crashed on my bed for a good two hours, before shopping with the family, hitting the world's smallest, and most ghetto Wal-Mart in the entire world, then Montana Mike's. I'd like to interject here that medium rare steak is amazing, and even more breathtaking when you haven't had steak, or more specifically, any beef besides hamburger, for eons. After my family stuffed ourselves and made polite conversation with the brother of a kid who used to be on my dad's soccer team and now runs cross country with the older of my two adorable little brothers, we made the relatively short journey back home, and I once again crashed, this time on the loveseat with a nice, new, fuzzy, $5 DG pillow that my mom recently acquired for the front room. After some quality relaxation and a fun phone chat with Ian, I took my brother over to Brett's for his birthday thingumy, where I got to catch up with all the fabulous hometown friends that I miss so dearly.

Saturday morning, I got to be a wake up call, and then, after indulging in my mom's scones for breakfast, got to work on the wonderful form known as FAFSA (with my dad's assistance, of course, as I needed his tax info), then once again stuffed myself on my mom's amazing macaroni casserole, before heading out to pick up everyone to head back to Manhattan (us three girls plus Amanda) and once again it was definitely a fun time, random discussions are always great, and I feel we really bonded. Near death experiences have a way of doing that, I believe. And no, it wasn't my driving. It was a creepy 50-something bearded guy in a jeep from Iowa that was driving at least 90, and not only was he traveling at a high velocity, but also passing on the right, squeezing into tiny spaces, cutting people off, and just generally being a horrid driver. Speaking on behalf of all those riding in my car, it is our sincere wish that the creepy guy is severely punished for his heinous actions. After dropping everyone off, eating, and doing the past month's bookkeeping, finishing FAFSA, and my taxes, and doing French homework, Ian and I watched the Notebook. Yes I did cry again, no Ian did not tear, but we both thoroughly enjoyed the movie!

Sunday was fun... cold, yes, wet, yes, but I got to be a bulletin-hander-outer-person at church which was fun, and then Ian and Megan and I had a fabulous time in Kramer over lunch, which was followed by the realization that for the first time in my entire life, I locked my car keys in my car. Ian was nice enough to drive us to the dorm to get my spares, and then back to my car, and then parking in front of West, where Megan successfully communicated with one of the local monstrously large crows, and after the entire fiasco, I changed into some comfy clothes and settled down on my floor for a nice 3 hour frenching session (french homework, that is), followed by dinner at Mr. Goodcents. They don't like me there, I've decided. They lost my order, just like the last time I ate there, when my meal was also very late. At least they gave us a coupon for free food this time! The rest of my evening consisted of attempting to assist Ian with his really tough physics homework (which I still do not comprehend), catching a couple awards on the Oscars, hanging out with Vern, and assisting Britni with her massive pile of paper writing/journaling, topped off with my very interesting reading on slang for development of English language. Did you know that in Australia, they call a bra a sheep dog because it "rounds 'em up and keeps 'em together" If you didn't, you do now... *ahhh* the vital things they teach you at university.

That brings you up to date to today, which has just consisted of walking to classes in the biting cold, and sitting through classes, including Earth in Action, where I got the lovely thought of a sweet little bunny as part of the material in a mass wasting ("movement of regolith or rock down a slope by gravity without the help of streams, glaciers or wind"... essentially anything like a mud slide, or rock fall, and all that fun stuff) To entertain myself, I envisioned this bunny tumbling around in a mudslide, along with other various unconsolidated material. It goes nicely with our prof's quote on lithification: "where little animals turn into oil!" And now that I have entirely bored you, perhaps assisting you in getting a much-needed nap, I will conclude by saying that T's new webblog is awesome, and hilarious, and he makes me SICK, and makes mine look bad... and I can't wait for spring break and LA! Now, it's time to do homework, or maybe the crossword, or better yet a nap, or maybe all three squeezed into the afternoon. Irregardless, I'm done writing, and I hope you all have a fabulous day!