Domestic Goddessing

After my Elizabeth Bishop brownie catastrophe, I felt a bit down in the dumps about this whole cooking thing. There's nothing like standing over your almond-y, greasy brownies and remembering that you have to keep yourself alive for the next four months. But today, the parental units were going out to dinner, and I was presented with a pack of frozen pork chops, instead of the pizza I was anticipating. And, hey presto, I made a pretty good dinner, if I do say so myself.

I covered the pork chops with, olive oil, salt, pepper, a little lemon pepper (because it was there), and oregano. Then I put it in the oven until it was cooked through. I also stewed some peaches to go with it. This past week mum bought a huge box of rock-solid peaches, so I cut about four up and put them in a covered saucepan with a little water and honey. I think the water may have been overkill because the peaches gave off a lot of juice, but I was afraid that they would burn to the pan at first. Then for desert I made brownies from this recipe. I thought that the raspberries were a nice touch, and they even turned out great. The only problem was that it took absolute ages to cook, but once they were done, they were
delicious!

Yummy brownies in the making!

In other news, I'm finally packing up to go back to school. It seems that all my clothes have been breeding in the back of the closet for the past couple months, and I'm having quite a time trying to shove them into my duffle. Sometimes I wonder why on earth clothes are so important. Why can't we all can't just be nudists? It would make life so much easier. Anyway, I've decided that this is not the semester to experiment with such things, so I've got a bulging suitcase that looks like it's packed for the end of the world.

Fortunately all my bedding and other random dormhold (like household, but more primitive) items are in storage in Texas, so I don't have to worry about bringing those down. I'm moving into a flat this semester with three friends, and we're having an interesting time figuring out what we're going to do about about cookware and what not. Personally, I own three plates, four mugs, a lot of spoons, and an electric kettle. I also picked up two pyrex dishes with plastic lids, which I am very pleased with, especially since I picked them up for $6 a piece. Gotta love T.J. Maxx!

Siiiigh.

I also have to admit that I'm cramming to finish all the seasons of my new favorite old show via amazon prime, As Time Goes By. Mum introduced it to me at the beginning of the summer, and we were watching it together, until I was gone for most of July and got way ahead. Now I'm forging through season 7 (of 9), while she and dad are still somewhere in season 4. I don't actually watch it all that much though, I usually just put it on while I work on blog posts and various other things. There's something really soothing about just listening to British TV. Maybe it's just because I grew up there, but I just like background noise with familiar accents. In honor of this bizarre quirk, here's a photo from my post-Rome trip to the UK. You're welcome.

Update on Baby Caroline

Sorry for not keeping you up to date on baby Caroline's situation, but your prayers have definitely helped! Last week Caroline and her mom under went what is called fetal intervention (basically unborn baby heart surgery). Obviously it was a pretty nerve-wracking experience, but it went well, and miss Caroline's chances of developing further heart problems have been lessened! Thank you so much for your prayers, and please continue to pray for a safe delivery for her!

The Room Saga Continues

I finally finished the great room redecoration of 2013! Although the start was unpromising, I'm very happy with the end result. I had a lot of random pictures hanging around, so I decided to try my hand at a picture collage on the wall above my bed. 

I'm really happy with the results. I was excited to finally hang my icon from Greece, as well as my picture of St. Hedwig, which I got from Salzburg. For awhile it looked like the collage would be a lopsided disaster, but then I found that awesome round frame under my parents' bed. They keep asking me what I'm planning to put in it, but I think it looks cool on its own. Here's the whole picture:

I've had the pillow I made on my bed for a while now, and I love how it looks. I've also got some plans for the wall above my bookshelf; my sister Viola painted a really incredible picture, which I bought from her for a milkshake. Viola is a terrific artist, and I absolutely love this piece!

Sorry about the carabiner, I had to find something to hold it flat while I took the picture. 

So, as you can see, I'm getting it together here. I still need another bookcase to house my suddenly massive library, but I'm pretty happy with the results so far.

Brownies and Elizabeth Bishop

I knew that my life had reached an all time low today, when I went up to my mother and said, "Mom, all my friends are either engaged or have chosen their poets for the project." Obviously there's not a lot I can do about the latter, but I decided that today was the day that I finally chose a poet for my Junior poetry project. So off I went to the coffee shop armed with my new satchel and my ever trusty copy of the Norton Anthology of Poetry.

Originally my plan had been to read every poet on the list, and then chose one, but eventually I just ran out of poets than interest me. What with the semester being only 3 weeks away, I figured I had better get a move on, so I went back and reread the poets I had really liked. And several hours later I decided on Elizabeth Bishop! You have no idea how happy I was about this decision. I mean, I couldn't stop smiling. If I can't be engaged, this is obviously the next best thing, obviously.

Then, after Mass, I decided to throw health to the winds and bake brownies rather than going for a run. Who needs health anyway? I used this recipe, but I substituted almond extract for vanilla, not because I'm artsy or anything, we were just out of vanilla extract. I also tried to substitute shortening for oil, which somehow didn't work out. Then just when you think I've messed up enough, I decided to make these celebratory brownies. After all, it isn't everyday you pick your junior poet, so I found some writing frosting in the cabinet and frosted "Bishop" in very amateur writing. The writing started out okay, but I ran out of room, so the last three letters were all squished together. So we ate greasy, almond-y brownies, bad decoration and all. Yep, Elizabeth, they were a disaster (and they didn't just look like it).

Lazy Sunday

You'll be glad to know that my room is finally clean enough for me to reach the door and that I have actually been able to open it, since I last blogged. So now I'm just relaxing in the midst of a not-so-bad mess and enjoying my Sunday coffee.

Wouldn't you like to come have Sunday brunch with us?

Dire and Dusty Situations

We finally finished painting the last segment of our house, this past week, which means that yours truly now has a nice shiny bedroom (just in time for me to move out, wouldn't you know). The painting caused utter havoc to my nicely feng shui'd room, so naturally I just had to rearrange everything. Which, in and of itself, caused even more chaos. About this time last night, I was sitting on a nest made of my rolled-up rug and a large strip of cork board, facebook-ing furiously in an attempt to ignore the war-like state of my once-pristine room (Don't laugh, we all know that it was pristine at least once... A very long time ago).

But as we all know, when you start rearranging furniture, you then have to start purging your closets. Do you know how much random garbage I've been hiding in my closet for the past five years? Well, let me just say that there are now three goodwill bags cluttering up the floor I'm trying to clean. Who knew all that stuff was there? Seriously, I just found a pith helmet in the way back of my closet and am completely bewildered as to its origins. I am also realizing that sentimentality comes at a price; keep all the shirts you wore in middle school or have room for your new ones.  Anyway, there's definitely something therapeutic about throwing things away (or into bags to donate to goodwill).

Several Days Later:

I started this post on Tuesday, and there has been no visible improvement, in fact the situation is deteriorating rapidly, but the ground troops (me) are still working tirelessly to prevent total meltdown. Originally I planned to have a lot of before and after pictures to perhaps inspire you to clean, but at the moment I'm too ashamed to (I am also unable to get out the door to get my camera). If you want to know how I feel right now, see below. If I can't have a clean room, at least I can feel epic while weeding through dusty craft supplies.

I suppose the upside to this dire (and incredibly dusty) situation is that I am no longer bored.

Summer Reading and Kiddie Poetry

Summer boredom has officially set in. Well, it set in in June, then took a break while I had a blast at nerd camp and with my grandmothers during the month of July, but now its back in full force. I also deleted by pinterest account (no more mindless pinning. No more wasting my life), so now I'm trying to remember what worthwhile things we did before we pinned.

Today I read a book. It has been an embarrassingly long time since I read a book for fun (The Norton Anthology of Poetry doesn't count). Okay, it's been like a month, but I'm an English major, so the bar is pretty high. Yeah, because English majors are that snobby (sarcasm). Anyway, at the moment I am giggling my way through my first every Terry Pratchett book. That man is a genius. I suppose my pinterest addiction had led me away from intelligent humor, but my goodness, Pratchett is hilarious. I've also realized that my summer reading list has been... eclectic to say the least. So far I have read The Moviegoer by Walker Percy, My Anthonia by Willa Cather,  Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym, and Good Omens by the aforementioned Mr. Prachett. I'm not sure what's next on my list, but I am considering another Pratchett book, possibly Going Postal.

On a more juvenile note, I have been desperately seeking the audiobook of Michael Rosen's You Wait Till I'm Older Than You. We checked it out from the library when my brother, Cole, and I were but wee tots, and those poems have been part of our family vocabulary ever since. Unfortunately, the audiobook is not to be found (I've found a million copies of the book). This is a bit of a catastrophe because yesterday when I turned to my sister and said, "I know that now, but how do I get the car out of the ditch?" She had no idea what I was talking about. Right about now you're probably wondering why I think this is such a catastrophe:

Now do you understand? This man is genius, genius I tell you, but I still can't find him reading my favorite poems. Michael Rosen, if you ever ever read this, there are poor, deprived children in America who have never experienced the pure hilarity that is You Wait Till I'm Older Than You.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Wow, it's hard to believe that Nerd Camp was already over a week ago. It seems like only yesterday (Sniff, sentimental tear). Yet somehow I think I'll survive, especially since I'm now gearing up for my favorite time of year: Back to school time! Nothing like the smell of new books, the sound of squeaky new erasers, and the beautiful, beautiful sight of all my friends back together after a very long summer apart!

I've already done some back to school shopping which means I am now the proud owner of probably too many sundresses (but I love them all), a new laptop charger because I managed to loose mine at Nerd Camp, and soon I will receive in the mail the satchel to end all satchels. That last one was a total splurge which I justify by telling myself a) "But, Pip, you didn't buy a leather bag in Florence like the rest of your classmates, and b)"You're just stimulating the economy in your 'hometown'," all of which are really dumb excuses, but goodness me I like this bag. In addition to these larger purchases I also have a planner and two rolls of scotch tape. Oh, and all the pens that my Nerd Campers left behind. Thanks, guys, now I'm ready for the school year.

This year I'm especially excited because I'm moving into an on-campus apartment with three friends! Oh, and I got two spatulas for the apartment. That too. Being in an apartment means being off the meal plan, which is super exciting after eating three meals a day in the cafeteria for the past two years. It's also going to be a lot cheaper and, hopefully, healthier, if I can just stay away from all the junk food I love. The downside is, I'm not going to be seeing people in the cafeteria, so I'm going to have to make sure to actually leave the library and my apartment sometime. The apartment is also one more step closer to being an actual adult. It means that I'll have more than just my cell phone bill to pay every month, and it also means that I'm going to have to budget and plan my meals, which I've never had to do before. Sure, it doesn't sound like much, but it's kind of a daunting prospect, especially as I roll into my Junior year of college.

Speaking of Junior year, isn't that just a little terrifying? Don't get me wrong, we're going to have a ton of fun this year, but reaching the half way point in college is a little weird. I'm taking four upper level English classes this year, including my lovely Junior Poetry Project. Basically what you do is pick one poet, read all their works, read a ton of criticism, and then be reviewed by a panel of professors. I've been told that it's not as scary as a lot of people make it sound, but its still a big deal, so I want it to go well. I've also been a little annoyed about my schedule this year because our German department is now only offering 5 days-a-week, intensive German classes which count for 6 credits, rather than the normal 3 credit, 3 hour classes. Obviously the 5 days-a-week thing is a little difficult for any schedule, but the class managed to conflict with Poetry Project on Tuesdays. Only on Tuesdays, but I still can't take German, and I'm really disappointed about this because I absolutely fell in love with the German language in my last class. I was also hoping to get a minor in German, but now that plan has been blown out of the water. Oh well, I guess I'll console myself by taking Old English instead.

If you can't tell I'm totally geared up to go back to school, which would be a great thing, if I didn't have three weeks until the start of the semester. Yes, three whole weeks! I'm not sure whose brilliant idea this late start was, but may I just say, it's killing some of us. I had planned to spend these last three weeks moping around the house, but instead I got my late summer must-cram-everything-in mood, so I'm running around like a chicken with its head cut off, trying to make up for all the working out, reading, and violin playing I didn't do all summer. Maybe the time will go by faster this way. 

Nerd Camp 2013

John Paul and myself on Mount Olympus, reigning over the mere mortals. Because what else are you going to do at nerd camp (Photo cred: Bernadette). 

for the long silence! I spent the past two weeks in Texas, working as an RA for a high school summer program run by Ye Olde Institution of Higher Learning. It was an absolute blast, and I even think the students may have had some fun (I kid, I kid. They had fun too). I did the program myself, way back in the day (ish), so it was a nice trip down memory lane, as well as a terrific summer job.

Working with 30+  high school students is about a million times easier than trying to corral 10 eight year olds- just to compare my two summer jobs. High school students don't have to be taken to the loo every 10 seconds, they can get their own drinks of water... On the other hand I'd forgotten just how much drama you can squash into two weeks. But in all seriousness, it was the most rewarding and fun experience I've had in a very long time. My two coworkers, Bernadette and John Paul, are possibly the coolest people ever, and we had a ton of fun hanging out after the students were supposed to be in bed. Mostly John Paul would tell random stories or play guitar for us, which was amazing. That guy has been everywhere and done the craziest things. Bernadette and I have known each other since we did the program ages ago (well, sort of ages ago), so we both re-bonded over our copies of the Norton Anthology of Poetry, as we desperately try to figure out our upcoming Junior Poetry Projects.

Sure, we had our ups and downs, like when the fire alarm went off at some ungodly hour of the morning, and I had to shoo twenty terrified girls outside, all the while wearing a ridiculous pair of pajama pants printed with large, blue cats. And, of course, it turned out that someone's hairspray, yes, hairspray had set the darn thing off to begin with. When we were finally allowed back inside, the girls were asking, "Who was using hairspray?" To which John Paul sleepily replied, "It was I." Then we had the day where everyone dropped the ball, and I had to run all over creation before I'd had my coffee, which is imperative for brain function if you had, oh, I don't know, stayed up until three listening to John Paul's crazy stories. Despite all the goof-ups we really did have a wonderful time. The three RA's made a great team, and somehow we managed to pull off some really impressive stunts. When it rained the whole first week, we had to improvise all our activities, so we had a sock war, a Plato's Cave building competition (it's a nerdy school, okay!), and, of course, played a ridiculous amount of foosball. But our proudest accomplishment was making the talent show un-awkward. Admittedly, it was at the expense of our own dignity, and I never ever ever want to see John Paul in Bernadette's clothes again, but it was hilarious.

But all too soon it was all over. I don't think I've ever been so depressed in my life, watching all the kids leave was absolutely heart-rending. We spent last Saturday desultorily cleaning the dorm, pausing now and again to sigh deeply and moan about how purposeless our lives were. Then the time came when we no longer had an excuse to stick around, and I had to bid farewell to my fellow RA's. I'm going to be completely mushy here and say that since we all split up, I have missed them terribly. Fortunately, this being such a small Catholic world, I'm sure we'll all meet again someday.