The 6th Day of Christmas

It feels like Christmas is well over. Wal-mart is full of Valentines Day candy, and they're already out of chocolate oranges, much to Joy and my dismay. Christmas trees are on the curb and all the christmas socks are on sale. Being born of the Feast of the Epiphany, I feel like my feast day will, yet again, be totally ignored, even by many Catholics. Now that my finals are over, and I have all this free time, I'd love to get into the Christmas spirit, sing some carols and bake some cookies. Unfortunately, I have a whole lot of work to do, fun work, but work all the same.

I may or may not have just realized that I will be heading to Italy in exactly, um, exactly... 20 days. (I did just check my itinerary to make sure I actually knew what day we're leaving). If you want to know exactly how I feel bang your head on your keyboard and then read the resulting word. You get my meaning.

Although I have been out of the country many many times, I'm still a little nervous. This will be my first trip abroad without my parents or grandparents. And did I mention it's a five month trip. Yeah, no big deal, just living in a country I've never been to with a language I don't speak. Yeah. Yeah. No. If you need me I'll be curled up under my bed, shaking with fright. But seriously, this is really nerve-wracking. I have to figure out what clothes I need, where else I plan to travel, heck, I even need to apply for summer jobs. Ahhhhhh!

I keep seeing all these pinterest-picture things that say, "I would gladly live out of a suitcase if it meant I could see the world". While that is a touching sentiment, I always think, "depends on what's in the suitcase..." I am not one of those people who can just throw something on. I am, and have always been, very picky about my clothes (sorry, mom), so I tend to over pack... A lot.  I am also a firm believer in blending in, so my best pal and I have been looking through European clothing sites going, "uh huh, uh huh, yeah, we have stuff like that. Yeah, we can pull this off."So European and comfortable. Uh huh. No problem. You know what? Perhaps I just won't pack at all. Perhaps I'll just sit here and think about packing until the world ends (unless it already has, and I managed to miss it).

I am also not looking forward to dealing with toiletries. I have curly hair that requires a lot of, shall we say, taming. The whole "Curly Girl" system has been a lifesaver for me, but I'm not really sure that I'll be able to find my special conditioner and various other products abroad. So I'm afraid I'll have to stock up. I love having beautiful, silky curls, but buying a three month supply of products in one fell swoop is slightly terrifying. I'd just give up on it all, but I'm afraid my hair would poof and take over the entire country. So for the sake of all those poor Italians who would otherwise be crushed by the great ginger frizz, I will make the sacrifice.

Finally to keep us all in the Christmas Spirit despite what the rest of the world is doing, I'd like to introduce you to my absolute favorite Christmas carol sung by my absolute favorite choir! It just doesn't feel like Christmas here in the King household without Lessons and Carols from King's College Cambridge! Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas

   From Our Family to Yours

Communists, Firemen, and Mustard

Well, the book arranging went well. Everything is well organized, and my little OCD freak out is over.

We got and decorated our Christmas tree several days ago; it seems like it shouldn't be so close to Christmas, but apparently it is. While we were decorating I noticed that my smaller siblings were putting many ornaments on the same branches, so when they weren't looking I carefully redistributed them around the tree. Catching me in the act, my fifteen year-old brother said, "Pip! You're a Christmas tree communist!" I sure thought it was funny.

Speaking of my fifteen year old brother, he had a rather interesting run-in yesterday afternoon. Since he's acquired some really dangerous jogging habits, he is now required to wear a reflective vest while running. Anyway, he likes to run, and today while he was out running, he saw several fire trucks parked outside a house in our neighborhood. So, there he was, in his reflective vest, rubber-necking, while a line of cars slowly formed beside him. After several minutes he realized that they seemed to think he was a fireman in charge of directing traffic. Greatly embarrassed, he waved them on. By that evening, however, he found it extremely funny and told the story with great glee.

Also, in recent King family headlines: We won a vacation! Okay, my family has absolutely awful luck when it comes to raffles. The last time we won something in a raffle, I was in brownies, and we got a box of, are you ready for it? Bath Mustard. Weirdest thing ever, right? So, we'd pretty much given up on winning things in raffles, but on Wednesday my dad won this vacation in a raffle at work. Definitely a step up from the Bath Mustard.

Anyway, I shall be back later perhaps with a post containing pictures. Perhaps, I'm not making any promises.

11 O'Clock PM

I always get my brightest ideas late at night. That's also when I get my motivation. Tonight I decided to rearrange my books. Seems pretty sane, right? Well, I've decided to arrange them from favorite subject to least favorite and to alphabetize them. I'm still plowing through the Literature section. Next comes the History section, but then there's the problem of Historical fiction... Oh dear. This could take a while.

And on that day the Lord spake these words, "Thou shalt not listen to Christmas music until the time I have ordained." The wal-mart employees took heed, and on that day they were delivered from eternal damnation. 

If there is one thing I absolutely, positively cannot stand, it is unseasonable Christmas music. Black Friday is not the first day of Christmas! Everyone knows that black Friday is the day we all recover from our food comas. It's the day we sleep in, eat pie for breakfast, and then spend the rest of the day watching cartoons with our family. That is the sole purpose of black Friday, and there is absolutely nothing at Wal-mart that can't wait until at least Saturday.

Technically I should be doing homework on my break, but I'll leave to your imagination the actual amount that has been accomplished (Imagine a lot, ok?). I have actually chosen a topic for the 12 page research paper that's due in two weeks. It's progress, right? I also tried working on the short story for my English class, but I've actually managed to bore myself with my own story, so I've still got a lot of work a head of me. In her column, Home Life, Alice Thomas Ellis once wrote about writers and deadlines. She said that if she were locked in a room to finish an article by the deadline, she'd try to get out, rather than actually sitting down and writing. That's about how I feel. Nothing dries up the creative juices like a professor cracking the whip and bellowing, "Create!" I promise I'll do homework tomorrow. I promise, I promise! Which is not what I said yesterday (yeah, right).

But what I've neglected in the homework department I've made up in the housewife-ly department. I actually made pie crust for the first time, and, yes, they turned out great. Not one single person in our house died after eating them, thank you very much. I've also baked a batch of Ginger Snaps (now totally devoured) and a batch of those-cookies-with-choc chips-walnuts-&-coffee (delicious, by the way). I'm not letting my family near the latter because I promised everyone back at school that they'd get some cookies too. Tomorrow, after I finish all my homework, I'm going to make Lebkuchen, a traditional German cookie!

Well, it's past midnight, and I'm still up, even though I told myself to go to bed hours ago. So I think I'd better call it a night!

Thanksgiving & First World Problems

Everyone has that friend, right? No, not the one who does awkward, embarrassing stuff in public (although, if you're lacking one, I have plenty). No, I'm talking about that friend who can and will say anything to your face. Well, that friend and I were sitting around on day, and he turns to me and says, "Y'know, Pip, you have a really whiny personality." My first instinct was, of course, to punch him in the face, but once I had restrained myself, I thought, "Maybe he's right. After all, what do I have to complain about?"

I have the greatest, albeit weirdest, family in the world. I am so thankful that, no matter what, they will always be there for me. I am also very thankful that I get to spend this holiday stuffing my face alongside them. I'm  thankful to be with people who truly understand and share my bizarre humor. I am thankful for my mother's love and patience in educating me. I am thankful for my father's humor and hard work that keep our family together. I'm thankful for my little bothers and pester... I mean, brothers and sister, of course. Even though they drive me crazy sometimes, I'm so thankful for their goofy, little selves. And, of course, I'm thankful for the dog. I'm really thankful that he didn't eat the entire turkey as he is wont to do.

I'm so thankful for all the opportunities I've been given, particularly the opportunity to attend my college. I'm thankful for my parents and professors who have always encouraged me to succeed and challenge myself. I am so glad that they have never given up on me!   I'm thankful for the friends who have become family over the past year and a half. I am also thankful for everything that is going to make my trip to Italy next semester possible!

I am thankful to be a very small part of the Catholic Church, and I give thanks for all those who aided me in my conversion. I am thankful to Fr. B for being such a great inspiration of holiness of life to all of us at St. Agatha's. I am also thankful for the freedom to practice my religion openly, may that freedom never be jeopardized.

I am very thankful for the opportunity to be an American citizen, and I thank all those who have given their lives to keep our country free. I'd also like to remember all those members of my own family who are in the armed forces. Thank you so much for your service to our country!

In the midst of all the general drudgery of everyday life and work, it's often hard to remember how blessed we are. But I think we would all do well to celebrate Thanksgiving everyday (minus the calorie intake, perhaps). So next time I lose my cell phone or have a bad hair day or get the wrong things on my burger, I'm going to try to remember what I'm thankful for before I complain about the things I don't have.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Perseverance

This was taken my senior year of high school, right before one of my orchestra concerts. I've been playing violin for about ten years now, and it's one of the few things I have really persevered in, but recently I've really been questioning my motives for putting so much time and effort into what is now such a minor part of my life. Why would I add two extra classes to my already intense workload? Why on earth did I agree to perform a new piece on Monday? 

The only reason I can think of comes from something my teacher from back home once told me. He said that when you first start playing your interest goes up and up and up, but once you reach about eighteen you fall into a violin rut, and you want to quit. But, he said, you will regret it for the rest of your life. Frankly, I don't want to regret anything for the rest of my life, so I've kept playing. 

Senior year, violin was my life. Practicing gave me such a rush; it was amazing to feel my fingers beating out such complicated patterns. It was amazing to hear the beautiful melodies I could make, but all this changed Freshman year of college. I was too busy to practice, and my new teacher and I didn't exactly see eye to eye, so I let I pretty much let it lapse. 

This year, however, I was determined to get back into it. So I auditioned for a new teacher as well as chamber ensamble. I have to say I'm still not 100% sure this was the best idea ever, but my playing has improved a lot much since the beginning of the semester. It was hard, really hard, but it's been worth the effort. At the beginning of the semester, I was ready to quit violin for good. I hated chamber and my lessons required way more effort than I really wanted to give them, but it has been well worth the effort. I practiced last night, and once again I knew that I could make beautiful music. 

On St. Crispin's Day (Belated)

Thanks to Katie for reminding me that Thursday was indeed St. Crispin's day. On Thursday I actually started writing a post about how fitting it was that this feast day fell on that particular day. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to finish it because I was in the midst of my own battle with a particularly nasty Anglo-Saxon paper.

Last week really was a battle for me because it was just so rotten. I missed the wedding because I not only had the paper to write, but I had two exams. It was awful. I was so upset. Not only because I missed a very special day for two people I love very much, but also because I had been looking forward to seeing my family all semester. I was so ready to get off campus for awhile and just not be an adult for awhile. I was ready to go, and I tried as hard as I could, but the day before I was supposed to leave, I realized that  there was no way I could take that weekend off. To be honest, I spent the whole weekend crying about how much I hated school because I've missed so many important family events.

Then the week started. The two exams were fine. I don't know why I worried about them, but the paper was a beast. I was practically living in the library, but I finished it six whole hours before the deadline and turned it in. It was such a relief! And now I have a whole week of normality before my second round of midterms start.

I decided to give myself the day off from homework yesterday, so I went and had some girl time at the mall. I got two amazing sweaters at H&M, as well as an adorable infinity scarf. Now I'm curled up in bed with a cup of coffee, reading the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Pure. Bliss. Let me tell you.

Anyway, I'm think that I'm going to write a music post at some point and maybe a post with pictures too. So stay tuned!

I swear I haven't been neglecting you. I've started writing about eight different posts, and eight different times I've gotten completely sidetracked. But I promise it's always for a good reason, like homework. I had one of the absolute worst weeks of my college career, and its looking like next week will be pretty rotten. But I'm only going to focus on the positive things, because otherwise I'll probably go utterly insane, leave school, and go to work at McDonald's.

I get to go home next weekend! My "big brother" is getting married, and I am so excited I could explode. It's going to be a crazy, whirlwind trip, but I'm desperate for a break from campus. I'm braving the Megabus to get there, but it was a $60 fare compared to the $1000 plane ticket. So the choice wasn't too hard.

And speaking of travel, I'll be studying abroad next semester! I cannot wait to live overseas again! I'll also get to spend two weeks in England, visiting friends and traveling. It's been ten years since my family moved back to the States, and we've never been back to visit, so this is a huge deal. I'm also planning some other trips while I'm over there. I'm definitely going to Germany and, hopefully, Austria; I really want to go to Normandy, and I'd really like to make a pilgrimage to Muro, Italy where my patron saint, St. Gerard, was born. I bet you can't tell how utterly excited I am.

I've also discovered my "thing". I absolutely love to.... Dance! I've been involved in the Swing dance and Contra dance clubs, but I've recently been introduced to two-stepping. Being a huge country music fan, two-stepping is right up my alley. I went out with some friends last night and had a great time dancing and singing country music at the top of my lungs.

Well, I've got to go finish reading Bede for my Anglo-Saxon mid-term on Monday. Have a great weekend!

Just Because

In my Anglo-Saxon England class, we've been learning about how the Anglo-Saxons liked to make up history. Yep, they just made stuff up to make themselves look good. This includes many, rather fanciful, genealogies. I was telling my friend, Greg, about this on Friday night, so of course we decided that we too should make up our own genealogies, which in 6th century England would have made us pretty cool. So without further ado, I present my Anglo-Saxon style genealogy.

In the beginning Woden begot Thor, who begot Zeus, the king of the gods. And in turn, he begot Agamemnon, who begot Odysseus, who begot the great warrior Beowulf. Who begot the great King David, whose daughter was Mary Magdalene, and her son was named Noah. And Noah begot Julius Caesar, who begot Charlemagne, who begot Grendel, whose daughter was Jane Austen. Her son was Charles Dickens, who begot Gandalf the Grey, who begot Ronald, who's daughter was the fire-haired Epiphany who reigned over all. 

 Okay, so we took a few liberties, but this is basically what the elite 6th century Anglo-Saxons did. And yes, some of them did claim to be descendants of both Woden and Noah.

In other English history news, yesterday marked the 97th anniversary of the publication of Extricating Young Gussie- the first ever Jeeves and Wooster story! If you haven't had the good fortune to read any of P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster stories, all I can say is that you're missing out. The series was also made into a rather fantastic television show starring Stephan Fry and a very young Hugh Laurie.

I haven't actually seen this episode, but the clip had me rolling around in my desk chair, helpless with mirth.

And finally, if you like free things, of if you like audio books, you should totter over to my dear Mama's blog to find a link to some really great free audio books that amazon and audible are giving away!

Sophomore Year They Said. It'll Be Fun They Said

I just got my final schedule complete with my violin lessons and chamber ensemble practices, and my main thought right now is, "What the *expletive* was I thinking?" To give you a taste of the extent to which schoolwork has taken over my life, see video.

     German is actually one of my favorite classes this semester. It's a lot of fun to speak German with my friends because it makes us feel very superior. "Can you ask me how I am in German? I think not."Actually we spend a lot of time watching goofy youtube videos and trying to insult each other in German (very challenging with such a limited vocabulary).

     Biology is another story. In fact it's quite similar to this story. My lab partner and I did indeed spend an hour peering into a microscope at some interesting little dots that turned out to be the side of our slide and not the onion skin we were supposed to be observing. It was a bit embarrassing to say the least.

    I'm also taking this amazing Anglo-Saxon history class. Basically we're reading Bede and talking about archeology. Our textbook even has pictures of random Anglo-Saxon stuff. Not only do I like looking at pictures, but it makes me happy when they mean that the actual text I have to read is shorter. Unfortunately my professor seems to have also figured this out. Ah well.

    I should probably stop checking facebook because every weekend my acquaintances talk about the lovely relaxing things they're doing,  like having fun. And every weekend I am sorely tempted to make some sarcastic comment like, "I'm having a great weekend too! Only 20 more pages of Plato to read! lol." But I don't. Every weekend.

Anyway, I'm off to get some more coffee and study German. Auf Wiedersehen!

Books My Children Will Read

1. The Little House Books
2. The Children of Green Knowe by L.M. Boston: if you haven't read this book, you need to! (Although the sequels are, in my opinion, not nearly as good).
3. Danny Champion of the World by Roald Dahl. I must admit that I have fallen out of love with many of his books as I got older. They are so odd! But Danny is absolutely superb. 
4. The Famous Five and Secret Seven By Enid Blyton: Okay, please don't face palm! I swear these books are great; they are kind of like the British version of Nancy Drew.
5. Anne of Green Gables: Of Course. 
6. What Katy Did by Susan M. Coolidge
7. The Dear America Books. 

My Place

One more day of orientation. One more day. I can make it. Correction: my buddy caffeine and I can make it. In other news, my dorm room is finally decorated and much less depressing. 

My desk area. Isn't it cute?

Yes, I have a tree growing out of my computer.  It's actually one of those wall decal things you can buy at Target. Frankly, I'm pretty impressed with it; it's like a huge piece of tape that you stick on the wall, and if you peel it off none of the paint comes off (very important in a dorm). The pink doesn't really go with the green/blue theme my roommate and I have going on, but it really warms up an otherwise blank wall. I have a white board and millions of sticky notes to appease my desire to make random lists, and, of course, I have my favorite holy pictures to keep me company (St. Gerard in the frame and the Sacred Heart of Jesus just above the stickies). The speakers are also very very important. They allow me to blast my favorite music. When I'm not studying of course.

My very comfy bed

I don't get to spend as much time in this part of the room as I would like, but it's still pretty awesome. Even though I have to take a running start before getting in to bed every night. Do you see how far off the ground my bed is?

 I bought a new bedspread this year because the one I had last year was five years old and kind of dingy. Can you believe it was only $40 on O.co? The green fuzzy blob taking over the end of my bed is a cheapo throw that I bought during camp, but it was probably one of my best impulse buys ever. I can't really justify the pillows, except by saying that I really like squashy pillows. Oh, and the yellow M&M in the middle of the bed is a Little Miss Sunshine doll that talks when you squeeze her. All my friends think it's creepy, but I love her. So there.

These are the frames that Joy and I made during our craft day. Honestly you can make the cutest dorm decor from cheap crafts supplies from Walmart. The frames were 97 cents a piece, and the acrylic paint was 57 cents. I basically just glued stuff like lace and bottle caps on to them, and it looked like I spent a lot of money. The thing in the middle is a magnet my last roommate got me. It says, "Life is a journey not a destination." I feel very inspired by it, thank you very much.

I also have a very large Brave poster above my books shelf, but that side of the room needs some attention before I take pictures to post on the internet. Oh, and I have a roommate who has cute stuff on her side of the room, but I figured she didn't want creepy photos of her stuff all over the internet. 

Exhaustion

Aren't the Freshies oriented yet? In order to get an internship credit for my orientation leader position, I have to work fifty hours this week. I've been working my tush off, and now I'm totally exhausted. I really don't mind spending a lot of time with the freshman; it's what I signed up for, but they've kept us out late several nights in a row, and it's really getting to me. Friday night there was a very loud "Welcome Party" outside my window until 12:30, and last night I had to be a Blackjack dealer until midnight. Yes, we welcome Freshman to the Catholic college experience by teaching them how to gamble at Casino Night. It was a lot of fun, but it really takes its toll on those of us who can't leave when we want to. I'm basically living on caffeine; this is just not the best way to start the school year. 

Orientation 2012

So right now I'm working the Info Booth at freshman orientation. It's been a pretty good first day, but I'm exhausted. I've worked dorm check-in (I check some girls into my old room. *Much sadness*), been a "greeter", and now I'm in the Info Booth. I am so excited to meet the new Freshman! I have such fond memories of my freshman year, and I hope the newbs will have as great a time as I did.

We (the orientation leaders) have been here since Tuesday for our training and moved into the infamous "New Hall". I'm not 100% sure if I like this dorm. It's about 5 times as big as my freshman dorm, and I hate being separated from my friends. It is also definitely lacking in personality. My last dorm had a very accurate stereotype, and we were a very very close-knit community. So now to be in such a big dorm that doesn't even have a name makes me really homesick for my beloved Theresa Hall.

On the other hand this dorm has very spacious rooms. Heck, we have our own bathrooms and walk-in closets. Being a sophomore has its advantages, no doubt. We are also trying very hard to build community the New Dorm. Last night a bunch of us played cards for several hours,  making a lot of noise and having a lot of fun.

Last night was also the first time I really hung out with my ex-boyfriend since we broke up last spring. I'm so glad that we can still be friendly and have a good time with our mutual friends. I have a bunch of friends who have to endure a lot of awkwardness because of bad freshman relationships. Note to Freshman: Do not date Freshman year! My good friend and I were saying how we wished we'd listened to that piece of advice back in the day.

Anyway, a bunch of us are going to try and go out for Korean food tonight, so I'm out!

Alas, Alack!

I have finished Downton Abbey and am in post-season depression. I guess this means I really ought to finish packing, clean my room, and do all those little last minute things. Or I could find another show to watch... No, no, not acceptable! I must Get ready to leave on Tuesday.

In my defense, I'm mostly packed. The plan now involves two suitcases, instead of one, but this means I no longer have to carry a backpack full of shoes and books through the airport (not to mention my violin case). Right now I'm resisting the urge to unpack, get rid of half my clothes, and then repack. I have to keep reminding myself of how miserable I was last fall when I didn't have enough clothes. You will need that jacket! For heaven's sake, put the shirt back in that bag, young lady! That's me talking to myself, by the way.

I ordered all my books today, which didn't hurt as much as I had expected it too. Probably because I've decided to wait before ordering the $200 German textbook. Basically I'm just excited that I'll be getting packages when I get to school. I know I've already got a box, containing my new comforter, waiting for me when I arrive. I'm a sucker for packages.

Tuesday is going to be here really soon, and I still have laundry to do; my room is dirty, and Many of my things are still scattered throughout the house. I guess I had better go... So I can deal with them tomorrow. Betcha thought I would go get things done now. Yeah, not going to happen, but anyway, I'm out folks.

P.S. [WARNING this post script contains shameless advertising]
The store I worked at all summer has a website should you wish to check them out. They have some really great books and gifts, so please mosey over!

Last Week at Home

Yep, that's right, only four more days until I leave for Texas. On one hand I am very very veryveryvery excited to start a new semester, but I'm also sorry to leave my family and friends in NC. This summer has been fabulous, and I'm sad that it has to come to end.

I haven't written much about my work even though it's taken up a lot of my time. I've had three jobs this summer: I worked as a camp counselor, as a nanny, and as a girl in a flower rosary shop. The counselor job provided all the crazy shenanigans and eternal friendships that can only be found at camp. The nanny job was absolutely horrible. The kids were wild, and my stress levels were through the roof. Once I called my dad in the middle of the day, sobbing because the children had been so vindictive. I've been babysitting since I was twelve, so you can imagine what a bad position I was in. But my last job has been a lifesaver this summer.

Two women I once went on retreat with have opened a catholic bookstore! And I got to work there all summer! Honestly it was the greatest thing; I got to arrange merchandise, do the window display, and even suggest which books to order for the teen section. While I still had the nanny job, the store was my haven, a place where I knew my work was appreciated. It was so relaxing to just dust the crucifixes while listening to hymns in the background. Unfortunately, today was my last day, but my bosses, Kristen and Pam, made my day quite memorable. We had a lovely lunch, and they gave me a gift card, so I could get all the things that I've had my eye on all summer.

I'm also getting my TV fix for the summer. Right now I'm in the midst of the drama at Downton Abbey. I'm really enjoying it, but I'm afraid that when I watch episode after episode of a show, the drama starts to get to me. At the moment I'm really disappointed in Lord Grantham, but I'm desperately in love with Mr. Bates. I've also start getting really dramatic in real life. Poor Joy has been subjected to  the most melodramatic texts at the most bizarre times.

Joy and I are savoring our last days together. We made our last pilgrimage to the Goodwill (more on that later). We hiked 6 miles for no good reason, and we had a really nice evening downtown. Admittedly, the Littleton downtown is not very large but armed with milkshakes and a camera, we had a very memorable night out.

Well, it's 1 am, I'm thinking it is time for bed. Night all!

What I'm Doing At This Very Moment...

Cooking. It doesn't happen very often. Let me rephrase that- I don't cook healthy things very often; I love to make goodies, but I don't make dinner to often. Although, admittedly, sometimes I would really love to make my own dinner on certain nights in the cafeteria, but enough about that. Right now I'm making pork chops.

      Usually I stick to, well, mostly I just dump olive oil and oregano all over the chops, but tonight I've gone out on a limb. Here's what I did:

Ingredients
Yellow Tail Pinot Noir (mostly because it was what was open and in the fridge)
Sage
Cumin
Salt & Pepper
Olive Oil
Pork Chops (obviously)

Put the chops in a large skillet and anoint them with liberal amounts of olive oil. Turn the stove on (right now I'm cooking the chops on low, but cook them according to how fast you want them done). Then sprinkle the chops with salt and pepper. Pour out the libation of wine on to the chops. Sniff all the spices you have (optional). Settle on sage and cumin, then sprinkle said spices on the sacrifice. Cook until the meat is done, then prepare a bowl of apple sauce as a votive offering. Consume after offering prayers and supplications. 

Dorm Room Diet

It seems that everyone is on a health and fitness kick lately, me included. I find this slightly ironic because I absolutely loathe all forms of exercise, and my favorite well-rounded meal is fruit loops and curly fries (I hope you see what I did there). Last year I was on the 19 meal plan at school. This means that I paid to have breakers, lunch, and dinner at the cafeteria. This coming semester, however, I not only have an 8 am class but a 9:00 and 10:00 as well, so breakfast in the cafeteria is out. At the moment I'm planning out how I will still make breakfast happen. It has to be a) nutritious and b) easy. So here's my hypothetical shopping list:

• Natural Peanut Butter
• Natural Jam
• Whole Wheat Bread
• Cereal (probably kashi)
• Yogurt (I'm in love with Greek yogurt at the moment)
• Milk (lots and lots of it!)
• Tea (Lady Grey, Raspberry Zinger)
• Coffee (of course)
• Bananas
• Apples

Yes, I am totally thinking that PB&Js will become a breakfast food. They are very filling and can be made the night before and stuck in the fridge. I'm pretty sure that I can splurge for the natural peanut butter and jam and still eat for less than $7 a meal (last year's caf price, insane right?). I probably won't have access to a kitchen next year, so all this has to be prepared in my room without disturbing my roomie. I'm thinking I'll carry a piece of fruit in my bag to eat between classes. I may also occasionally get some protein bars; my favorites are Cliff bar builder bars and power bars, mostly because they taste like chocolate bars. 

I am a total coffee addict, but once I realized that it caused me to break out, I've been drinking decaf or half and half. I've also realized that the very action of drinking something warm will keep me awake during my early classes, so I'm going to try mixing it up with some tea. Raspberry Zinger really helps during, ahem, that time. Being home with my tea-guzzling little brother has given me a new appreciation for the stuff. 

 For the rest of meals I will return to my good habits from first semester. In my first semester of college I managed to stay away from deserts and other goodies in the cafeteria, and that combined with all the walking I did made me such skinny minnie by Christmas. Second semester, on the other hand, I really got into the fruit loops and curly fries. Bad, bad, bad. Next semester, I plan to return to my "no goodies" policy. Salad good. Salad filling. Salad yummy. Maybe if I repeat this to myself enough it will become true. Yeah, right. 

The Balloon Lady

As part of one of my many babysitting jobs, I was sent to the library so that the kids could see "the balloon lady." Being the super cool college student I am I was a bit mortified to be seen at this show, especially since I was way out of the kid age-range, and the two dark brunette kids obviously did not belong to my pale, ginger self (excluding me from the mommy range). But despite my initial misgivings, I thought the balloon lady was the bee's knees. Heck, I admire anyone who can make the Grinch out of bendy balloons.

Actually I was inspired to take up balloon doggie making myself. Not because I'm convinced it's my art form, but as I sat there watching her make a ballon Mickey Mouse, I thought, "as an English major, I really ought to have a marketable skill. Why not balloon animals? Who doesn't want to hire a balloon animal maker?" 

How Hipster Am I?

Subtly, apparently.  One of my acquaintances found this baby. Yes, that's right- it's a "How Hipster are You?" quiz. I found several minutes of glee as I filled it out, but at the end I realized that my subtle hipster-ness and poorness were synonymous.  I mean, if I had my druthers I probably would not furnish my hypothetical apartment from various dumpsters, but alas... Anyway, you, dear reader, should also waste three minutes of your life, so we can compare notes. 

You know those days where you do a lot of stuff, but by the end of the day you can't remember any of it? Yeah, well I had that kind of day. Heck, I had a near death experience (I'm fine, I'm fine) , and the most interesting part of my day is that my hair looks good. I did inventory, rearranged half the store, and ran errands. Yet, of all my accomplishments today, the most exciting is that I'm wearing a headband, and my hair doesn't look poufy. What a day.

Image is from here

Cleaning

A few years ago I posted a status on facebook about cleaning, and one of my dear childhood friends made a comment about the usual state of my childhood bedroom, which I must admit was atrocious. But in recent years I have become more of a neat-freak than I was (not saying much).  I now clean on a more or less weekly basis; I've stopped folding my clothes, but the floor is clean. I'm the kind of person, however, who purges rather than cleans. When I get in the mood, I will empty drawers and closets making piles of things to send to my favorite place- Goodwill! But there are somethings you can neither throw away or donate. Things like seashells. What on earth do you do with seashells?  I've got a perfectly good drawer filled up with useless things that cannot be discarded like these stupid seashells. I feel like this should be a metaphor for my life, but it's not. It's just irritating. Like that stack of papers on the floor over there...

Crafts, Clothes, and Conversations! Oh My!

I haven't had to work much in the last week, so there has been plenty of time to catch up with my girlfriends. Several of us are very recently single, so we're having a bit of post-break up rebellion. We've decided that this summer is our self-improvement summer. We're dedicated to doing interesting, artsy stuff. Unfortunately Littleton does not afford many opportunities to be cool and artsy, so right now our plans are a) to go to a coffee shop in Bigton (is that rebelliously hipster, or what?) and b) to go to Shakespeare in the park.  But until such time as we do these things we are content to hangout, do crafts, and blow our hard earned cash in the local Goodwill.

The craft day was probably the most productive thing we've done so far. We painted some really adorable picture frames, ate some nutella, and were generally having a great time, until a random 5 minute storm knock down a tree in Joy's backyard. In doing so, it also took down all the power lines. We were not deterred, however, and continued applying acrylic paint to various wooden objects. When the firemen came, we did take a break to crowd around the window, hoping and praying that they would be handsome (and single). Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to see them, because it turned out that the neighbor had called 911 first. So we returned to our crafts as the house got hotter and darker.  Finally we gave up and came over to my house to enjoy AC and some late-night giggles.

This made me so proud of my artistic abilities.

My other frame. No, I did not drink all those Yoohoos, thank you very much.

The other activity that the girls and I have greatly over-enjoyed is that of shopping at Goodwill. Sometimes you just need a little retail therapy, and Goodwill is a great place to get it because everything is cheap. Plus, don't all the fashion bloggers endorse thrifting? Anyway, our local Goodwill is a magical place. You get entertainment (Who bought that in the first place?), fun (Let's try on all the prom dresses!), and true love (I absolutely positively must have this wonderful garment!). And then, of course, there's all that stuff about finding brand names at low prices, blah blah blah. The only drawback to the thrifting experience is that you occasionally must beat your friends away from really fabulous items. These beauties for example:

Haha, Joy, you will never get your hands on them. 

Now, you might wonder why on earth we would argue over a pair of banana yellow, grandma heels, and the answer is, do you know anyone who has banana yellow heels? I think not. I have also acquired several great dresses. I must confess that I am most definitely not the feminine dress type, but I have recently discovered that dresses help along my habit of turning up for things completely overdressed. So do the cute accessories that can be found at Goodwill. Heck, I could become a total fashionista, except for the fact that I have absolutely no concept of how much color is too much.

But the thing I've enjoyed the most about all this girl time is that I can be my crazy, weird self, and absolutely no one cares. It is also nice to have friends who are going through the same things you are. Okay, not nice, frankly I wish we were all engaged to the nicest, catholicest millionaires in the world, but as that's not the case we can all commiserate. And until these fantastically handsome men turn up, we will have the greatest summer ever.


ADDENDUM: If you can't already tell, I've been completely ODing on Auntie Seraphic' blog. Just giving credit where it's due, in case you think my attitude adjustment is my own doing :p

In Which I Become a Disney Princess

        I've been looking forward to the movie Brave for months now. First of all because the heroine has curly red hair, and secondly because the heroine has curly red hair. Friday, I had a rather long work day (more on work later), and when I finally got home, I discovered my family had disappeared, so I decided to have a nice, quiet evening all to myself. I put my jammies on and was on the brink of ordering a pizza when my dear friend, Joy, called me. Our conversation went something like this,
"Hey, Pip, we'regonnagoseeBraveatthedrive-in. Wanna come?"
To which I responded, "Sure"
So I put my clothes back on, and ran out to their van. As I opened the door about 3 people fell out. They were kind enough to scooch over, so I could squeeze in. We stopped to pick up an insane amount of pizza, soda, and other goodies, as well as another friend, and then we set off. As we drove along the very twisty country roads, Joy's mom remarked,
"We've got any teenage boy's dream in the back seat. Girls, pizza, and soda."

        We got to the drive-in two daylight filled hours early. Within seconds a blanket, lawn chairs (in a second parking spot for Joy's dad), food, music, and an enormous amount of people disembarked on to the grass. We looked like a gypsy-block party-circus. I was just waiting for the Secret Seven to turn up and convict us of an imaginary crime.

     We had a really fantastic time, which was helped along by the fact that no one could park in front of us because some hornets had conveniently made a nest in that particular speaker. Of course, Joy had to hop up every six seconds to explain the situation to all the people who kept trying to park there.

     The movie was also incredibly cute. In fact, I'm taking the two youngest siblings to see it this afternoon. In exactly two hours, as they keep reminding me. So I'm going to spend my day off in a dark movie theater "bonding" with my brother and sister. 

Having a Nice Holiday....

That's a bit of an understatement, actually... I am having a wonderful holiday at the beach with my family. After the stress of finals and camp, it is so nice to have some quiet time on the beach. It is also nice to be with my family because I rarely get to see them during the school year. This vacation has also been wonderful because of some news I got on Saturday.

Right as we pulled into the driveway of the house we're renting for the week, I got two texts from two very close friends, and they read, "Congratulation on making Dean's List!" During Fall Semester I really struggled with my grades and passing all my classes was a big accomplishment for me. Spring Semester, I had one major goal- to qualify to keep my financial aid. So when grades came out, I was very excited to not only have accomplished that goal but also to have done very well in all my classes. I had no idea that I would ever be on the Dean's List. I thought that only super smart physics majors and people with no social lives made Dean's List. Basically, I never thought I would make the cut. It just goes to show what our Heavenly Father can do!

So now I'm off to enjoy the rest of my week, hoping not to get too sunburned. See you soon!

*If you didn't get the Chicken Run reference, never mind. 

Camp

You all will be glad to know that I survived my week at Camp Cheery. For the first few days it looked as though my lack of sorority-ness would doom me to failure, but I actually had a really great week. Orientation was the hardest part. I was staying with 9 girls who were my exact opposites or at least led very different lives from mine. I felt like I did when I was that weirdo at school. I was not at in a sorority, and the only intense parties I attended this year were study parties. By the end of the first day I was ready to leave. But things looked up pretty quickly, I bonded with the 2 other non-sorority counselors, and we had a really great, really dorky time during orientation.

Once the campers arrived, things really started to look up. My co-counselor and I had the best cabin! They went to bed early; none of them were homesick, and we only had one small behavior issue. By the end of the week my ego was so inflated it was insane. I was basically skipping around camp going, "Who's a great counselor?  This kid! Oh yeah! Oh yeah!" In my head that is. I really try not to be blatantly prideful/obnoxious. 

Anyway, being a camp counselor has a whole lot of job satisfaction. All my little girls were very sweet. One day they brought me a slightly squashed day lily because they knew it was my favorite. They hastened to explain that they had found it on the ground, so it was okay, right? Even my one behavior problem turned out to be a very sweet, albeit very sad, little girl. In fact, when I had the chance to talk to her one on one, I found that she was a very smart, thoughtful kid who just needed a little more attention. 

This same girl, whom I'll call Becky, was probably the kid who made my job seem really important. At all the meetings before camp opened, the directors would say things like, "You will never know the impact you will have on these girls' lives." And I thought, "Yeah, yeah, yeah." But Becky made me realize that what they said was true. From the start, Becky was a handful. She was loud, never listened, and seemed to have a knack for riling up the other girls. I was about to lose patience with her when something happened. The ringtennis coach (I'm not 100% sure what ringtennis is either), came up to my co-counselor and me and told us that she had had the girls going around the circle saying their names, where they were from, and why they had come to camp. Becky, after giving her name, had informed the group that she was there because her parents "needed a break." 

Immediately Becky's behavior became understandable to me. If her parents had that attitude about sending her to camp  no wonder she was trying to attract attention. This is the only part of  camp that truly made me unhappy: I had a week to prove to these girls that they are loved, something which their parents are not willing to show them in a lifetime.  Honestly getting the chance to treat Becky like the intelligent, sweet little girl that she is made my week-long job (and puny paycheck), seem worth it. 

Well, That Was a Rather Epic Fail.

I know, I know! I said I would write everyday starting last week, but as you may have figured out, that hasn't really happened. I was in a really bad mood, and I didn't want to inflict it upon the world at large, so I kept away from the blog. I have no excuse for slacking off this week; unless my need to sleep till noon counts as an excuse. Who knows, maybe this post will make up for two weeks of silence. Maybe.

I had the chance to see my two bestest buds from high school while I was not blogging, and oh my goodness, it was great! My pal, James, and I were notorious for skipping things like Legion of Mary meetings to get ice cream and Bojangles, Senior year. So, although he was only here for a day and a half, we found time to get ice cream and have a great chat. I realized that even though I love all my college friends dearly, there is no replacement for old buddies. I also got to spend a day with Lauren and her fool... I mean boyfriend. We saw The Avengers, which, ordinarily, is not really my kind of movie, but I really liked it. Then we went to this tiny little BBQ place which was way out in the country. This part was probably the closest I'll get to having an adventure for a while so  I really enjoyed it. The food was served on paper plates; you went along the buffet, and stereotypical old southern ladies dished meat on to your plate. Lauren and I drank about a gallon of sweet tea between us. Then we stayed for a while to enjoy the bluegrass and clogging.

I'm currently packing up to go to camp tomorrow. I'm really excited, but I'm also a little nervous. Never having gone to camp as a kid, this will be a whole new experience for me, but I'm glad I'll be starting off with the little girls who won't care if I make some mistakes. You're going to laugh, but I actually purchased a hula skirt and Lei as well as a plastic tiara for this week. The list of "things to bring" was very adement about bringing costumes, and the last time I dressed up was about 10 years ago, so I had to make an emergency run to the dollar store. Honestly I've probably spent more money on this week than I will earn from it, but oh well. I know it's going to be fun. Let me rephrase that: I really really hope it's going to be fun.

I also got a haircut. It seems that every summer I got absolutely insane for about two or three weeks. This is enough time to chop all my hair off.  Well, not all of it, but a goodly amount. So I tripped into the salon with long luscious curls and came out with, well bad 80's hair. It's okay though, I promise! My hair actually looks horrible right after it has been cut, but it has settled down very nicely. Apparently it looks very good because I posted a few pictures on facebook, and my internet popularity went up quite a bit, which is always kind of exciting. Kind of.

I'm in a bit of a panic right now because one of my summer jobs seems to have fallen through. In addition to my camp job a lady and I had exchanged emails about a steady babysitting job several times a week.  She had promised to call me and didn't, so I emailed her again, and again she promised to call me but didn't. I am very frustrated because I really needed that job because other jobs are so hard to come by around here. I guess I will call her- getting her phone number off the bottom of her email, which seems just a bit creepy to me, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

I've also done some more work on the novel I sort of started this past semester. I've run the plot by a few friends, and they seem to think it's pretty cool, so I'm going to keep plugging away at it. One of my major goals this summer is to finish a writing project- something I haven't done in years. So whether it's this one or the one I worked on throughout much of high school, I really want to finish something.

You may have also noticed that there are now adds on the blog. Should you care to click them, that would be wonderful. If not, I won't ban you from reading. They're just... there.

Well, I hope that makes up for my laziness. I will see all of you next week!

So I'm babysitting the siblings while my parents are out of town... I swear I am the model babysitter with other people's kids. I come armed with educational games and books. I encourage playing outside. Heck, I've even let kids squirt me with super soakers, but when it comes to my siblings... Honestly things started off really well, I had everyone up, dressed, and at Mass by 7:50. I brought them home and was getting breakfast ready when the dentist called. There are just somethings I really don't want to handle before I've had my coffee and unexpected family dentist appointments are one of those things. So, basically, today was a charming roller coaster of yelling, then being sweet, then more arguing.

It is so hard to be the authority to people who know you don't really have any authority, and it is also really really hard not to ring the necks of those people you are supposed to be the nicest to. Father's homily today was all about how we should always give to others, but I'm just not sure how this applies if you are thiiiis close to throttling those sitting next to you. So I bought them ice cream. It was a sort of "I-can't-think-of-anything-nice-so-I'll-bribe-you" kind of move, but, hey, desperate times call for desperate measures.

On a happier note I finished The Prime of Miss Jane Brodie by Muriel Sparks. One of my parent's professor friends told me to read more Muriel Sparks over the break, so I have promptly set to work on it. He told me especially to read one story about a guy who's dressed up as a seraph for a Christmas play, but then a real seraph shows up.. Sound familiar to anyone? I can't for the life of me remember the title. But anyway he told me to read that one, so if I happen upon it, I will. My next selection is another one of Dr. B's recommendations: Lost in the Cosmos by Walker Percy. I'm planning to start that one either tomorrow or Thursday, depending on the babysitting gigs I've got lined up.

It's now 12:15, so I don't know whether this counts as today's post or yesterday's, but I'm thinking I should get off the internet before my eyeballs fall out. 

Goooooaaaaaaaaaaaals!

Well, I've been home for a whopping three and a half days. Since I have been home, I've done absolutely nothing. Do you want to know how bored I am? I am so bored that I have watched The Vow twice in the past twenty-four hours. Y'know it's not half bad if you just look at Channing Tatum's abdomen through the whole thing. Anyway, I was inspired first by Emmy and then by Charlie to challenge myself to blog everyday. I'll start with doing it for a week, and who knows maybe I can do it everyday all summer. Maybe.

Okay, well, that's a lie. I won't be able to do it for a week because I am going off to work at an all-girls summer camp, but perhaps for most of the summer. I don't know. Basically this is my refusal to do nothing all summer. Goodness knows what I'll find to write about, but I think it will be a good discipline to have. So there you have it. 

Oh hi, Ohio....

Except I'm not in Ohio. I'm not in Wyoming either, which is apparently where this picture was taken. No,  I'm in North Carolina, in a teeny weeny town I like to call Littleton. I'm sure there actually is a Littleton, NC, but I'm not there. I'm in the hypothetical Littleton. Frankly I would love to run screaming back to TX, which as we know, is so much less country. Not that I don't like Littleton, but my first impression of it has never really worn off.

My first impression was formed at a small, incredibly greasy, unbelievably local lunch counter on Main St. My family, house-hunting before we moved, was standing behind a woman who was discussing the pros and cons of having her boyfriend do her tattoo with anyone who would talk to her. Now, to fully appreciate this situation you must understand that my father was probably wearing a tie. To put it mildly, my family looked really weird, weirder than we did in the big city in which we were currently living. And I vaguely remember my fourteen year old self saying, "No, no not happening, not happening" over and over again.

To cut along story short, I'm back from college for the summer, and I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. I don't want to be in class, but I'd rather not be here in Littleton, charming as it may be. We'll see how this one goes. 

Dead Day

Things are pretty dead around here, but that has nothing to do with the fact that it is 9:45 am the day before finals start. Yeah, nothing to do with that. I think I was the first person up on campus this morning, and for the past hour and a half I've had my favorite study spot to myself. My advisor came up about an hour ago and left his office door open for awhile. He and his classes are taking on my favorite English professor and his classes in an epic soccer showdown on Wednesday night. We are out to prove to my advisor that Raphael in Paradise Lost is an ironic character, anything to keep my professor from slipping hemlock into his coffee for corrupting the English majors. Technically I'm supposed to be studying Economics, but the cafeteria will open in seven minutes, and I'm staving. Maybe I'll spring for a warm caffeinated beverage too. 

My first semester at college was hard, to say the least. I was a billion miles from home, had two very difficult classes (which I was close to failing), and a brand new boyfriend who I had no idea what to do with. To make matters worse, the chapel on our campus makes me want to shrivel up and die. I was used to my beautiful home parish and my confessor who always gave good advice. At school our chapel is ugly and going to confession takes an hour at which point the priest gives you your penance and absolution, and you leave (if you got in at all that is). So one day I was a little surprised when my RA approached me and said,

"Not to be creepy, but were you waiting for confession the other day? You know it's a lot faster to go to the dominican priory, just ring the door bell, and Fr. Matt will let you in."

So my good friend and I trotted on over to the priory, where we were greeted by the oldest priest I've ever seen. He had a great big smile on his face, and in his quavery voice he asked us if today wasn't a beautiful day. We went into the little white chapel, and as he told us to, we took our time. Then I made the best confession I think I have ever made, and from then on I went to the priory frequently.

Fr. Matt really made me feel the love of Christ when I was very lost. He gave the church 76 years of service as a Dominican and 70 years as a priest. He was 97, and he would still hurry to open the door for me, even as he became more frail. I have never seen anyone so selfless and dedicated. Apparently the hundreds of people who attended his funeral thought so too.  He seems to have touched everyone from the wisest professors to the most socially awkward freshmen.

I never really realized what an amazing man Fr. Matt was. He was interested in everything: physics, biology, poetry. He could have been anything he wanted to be, but he chose to be a priest.

I think I will always miss Fr. Matt's big smile and soft voice. I will never be able to say 3 hail Marys without remembering him. I will miss having a friend to go to, but at the same time, Fr. Matt was a "straight to heaven" kind of man. 

I was messing around on my blog, as usual, when I happened to look at my stats- 144 page views? No way! Then I realized, I spent a whole lot of time looking at how pretty my blog is and not a lot of time writing things on said pretty blog. So, now that I feel like the Narcissus of the blogosphere, I will proceed to write something.

I declared an English major at the beginning of the semester, but I hadn't seen my advisor, so yesterday I skipped up three flights of stairs to visit him. And oh my goodness, he is a cool guy! Basically we planned out the next three years of my life, which, actually leaves room for me to *gasp* double major. I have absolutely no idea what I would double major in, heck, I don't even know what I want to minor in, so we'll just see where this goes.

I am now the new cabin counselor for Camp Cheery's Junior camp! Basically, I get to chase little girls around for a whole week. On the downside, my summer job is a week long, and summer break is three months long. So I'm hoping either to get another camp job at the lovely local YMCA or to take some summer courses at the local community college.

The weather has been gorgeous here in Texas, so there has been a lot of lying out in the sun. My friends call it tanning, but for those of us with, let's be honest, pasty white skin it's just plain ole painful, but who knows I might be a tiny bit less white before the year is over... Maybe.


(Picture is from here) 

I got some very sad news today, one of my dad's former students has gone missing. His car was found on a bridge over the Mississippi River yesterday, but he has not been located. The news reports make no conjecture as to the whereabouts of this man, but the mind immediately jumps to one conclusion. No one understands why he would do such a thing, supposing the worst, that is. His friends has all received emails and messages from him wanting to make plans for the coming week. Everyone is thinking, "He's just not that sort of person." We'd all like to hear that he decided to do something very odd, but is safe and sound, doing something utterly bizarre, probably dressed to the nines like he always is. But now we're just waiting, hoping and praying our fears are irrational.

Any prayers for Philip and his family would be greatly appreciated. 

Spring Break- It's Nothing Like the Ride at Disney World.

I've been on spring break this week (that's how I found time to start a new blog), and I must say, I could get used to this relaxation thing. Except every time I do, I hear my Economics Professor's voice, and I buckle down on the homework she was kind enough to give us.

I've always envisioned college spring break as something out of those movies I wasn't allowed to watch in high school. I spent mine with my grandmother, which, contrary to how it might sound, has been very pleasant. I've been out to lunch everyday this week. How penitential of me, now that I think about it. I've gone to see two rather good films: Undefeated and Hugo. Undefeated was good, but Hugo was excellent. This was also the first time my grandmother had been to a 3-D movie, and it was one of the good ones,  where things come out of the screen at you, so she was totally thrilled.

I also managed talked myself into buying two very, very short sundresses.  Please tell me I'm not the only one who stands in the dressing room at a store going, "It's not that short, " and then walks out of the store only to realize it really is that short, and wind is not your best friend. Fortunately I do know how to sew (sorta), so I've currently got a dress with lace pinned to the bottom. I absolutely must remember to sew it on tomorrow otherwise it'll never get done. I'm usually not crazy about little frilly accents on clothes, but I love the dress, so I can put up with an extra 2 inches of lace.

When I told all my friends that I was going to my Grandmother's for break, I explained that I was going to help here with some cleaning because she's thinking about moving. Well, so far, the only thing I've done to help was to appropriate a large suitcase. I'm very excited to finally have my own suit case, you have no idea how many goofy travel arrangements I've gone through in the past several years. For example, on my way here I carried nothing by a backpack and a large tote bag. I was very self-congratulatory about my light packing skills. Until I got here and realized none of my clothes matched.

Well, it's back to the grind on Monday. I haven't done half the things I planned to do this week, but I've found I don't really care. I suppose it'll get done. Too bad my flight isn't longer, though, I could really do some homework if I had a 5 hour flight. Oh, well...

Well, Here We Go Again....

Every once in awhile, I become an absolute maniac. I'll empty out closets, rearrange furniture, and reorganize every aspect of my life. Of course, this becomes harder when you share a tiny room with another person who might seriously object to your maniacal cleaning. So I'm taking it out on blogger. Yes, I am the same Epiphany who wrote on the blog Maria's Maiden. Same exact person, only older and with different views about the blog. I tried changing up the old blog, but it just seemed like a fresh start was in order.

I'm hoping that I will be able to write about more serious stuff (and by serious I mean stuff I want to talk about). Since I've been in college.... Only seven months, you say? Well, it's been a very formative seven months, thank you very much. Anyway, I've started a big girl blog where I plan to write long interesting posts that the whole world will read, and then BAM- world peace, right there, folks. Well that's my vision . In all actuality I should probably just say, "Hi, mom. I hope you like my new blog."