Reprisal: A Thanksgiving Tree

11-18-12

So, this is a thing we did today. It was actually quite warm outside. It's a reprisal of this, done by the estimable Curtis and Robby like five years ago.

I had lots of fun, especially since I was singing. That's not normally something I do with people, on camera. I'm very insecure about how I sound.

Anyway, it's a thing.

(P.S. This was also my 250th post. Epic.)

So Far This Break

12-23-11

On Monday, I traveled from Collegedale to Michigan City. It took 11 hours, an entire hour less than what it normally takes. I only stopped three times, once in each state. I didn't hit traffic in any of the cities that I passed through, the weather stayed clear, and my truck only spazzed a little (which Dad has now fixed, to my knowledge, with putting anti-freeze in the truck). Granted, I forgot how to run cruise control on my truck and therefore my leg was sore due to having my foot on the acclerator the entire trip.

My mom and I spent all of Wednesday out shopping. I bought her lunch at Red Robin, and she bought me dinner at Applebee's (I had some really good steak. Yum!). I ended up getting a dress suit thing that should work for Preparing to Meet the Firms next semester--the ladies at Dress Barn said that the law students at Valporaiso University come to buy clothes there--and I splurged on a jacket that looks like it's distressed leather, but no leathers were harmed in the making of the jacket. Everything was half off. Score! I also ended up getting Christmas presents for the siblings, and I really hope they like them

Yesterday I took my youngest brother out Christmas shopping. He always buys DVDs for everyone, and he was very clever about hiding which DVD was mine--he picked up two, said that they were for my sister and me, but he wouldn't say which one was for who. I also bought him McDonald's.

Today and yesterday I've been cleaning--vacuuming floors, scrubbing showers, running the dishwasher, etc.,

It might sound rather boring, maybe, to some people, but I've been enjoying my break so far.

What I've Been Up to

3-4-10

During Spring Break, I have

--watched a few movies and a few episodes of television.

--exercised at least thirty minutes on most of the days except Thursday (today I did fifteen minutes).

--eaten many of my meals in my room, but when I have felt the need to see other human beings I have ventured forth to the cafeteria (especially today, because it was Pasta Day).

--worked on my 19th Century British Literature term paper for about four hours (1 hour planning, three hours typing). I'll probably add another hour or so tomorrow.

--practiced my bass clarinet on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, and think I'm gaining proficiency, if not mastery, in the sections that are frustrating me.

--worked a lot on the second draft of one of my short stories.

--cleaned and reorganized the shelves above my desk (it really needed it).

--entered the list of my books alphabetically by author into an Excel document (look, nerd alert!).

--slept in, sort of. For me, 7:30-8:00 AM IS sleeping in.

--went over to the Coopers' tonight to watch The Office. It was very fun.

--read Dahveed on Tuesday. (Yes, you read that correctly.)

--worked on my master plans for the upcoming mission in the role playing game I'm in charge of (look, nerd alert!)

--wondered why it snowed on Tuesday and melted by sundown on Tuesday.

--went to Wal-Mart and the VM. For the first, I was glad that my van actually still runs, since most of the time it sits in the parking lot. Secondly, I was glad that I found a pair of flip-flops for SonRise that were marked down to $3 from $15.

--went to McKay's with Amanda and bought ten books for only $18.30. Totally worth it.

--helped people at McKay's who usually spend their entire time in the DVD section to find books, even though it was only like my third time at McKay's. I was glad to feel helpful, but it was depressing, in a sad sort of way.

--played way too many games of Bejeweled Blitz and got a score of over 500,000. I don't need to play it for like four more days, but who's going to probably play it anyway? (Answer: ME.)

--did my laundry last week, and will probably do it tomorrow.

--worked on plans for crafts and ceramics for camp this summer. Did you know that a little bit more of instruction in ceramics class equals the ceramics honor? Me either! But now I do, and that is sweet! Also, all those websites Mom found for me in December were REALLY helpful. THANKS!

--worked at some grading for Dr. Higgins on Tuesday, and so I will also get paid. Happy day!

--have just chilled and had fun chilling. What's it to you? :D

More later (since Spring Break Ain't Over Yet).

Productive Break and Random Thoughts

11-29-09

Productive. That's the word I would use to describe my Thanksgiving Break. That, and relaxing. I finished about 1/3 of my education portfolio and have made progress on the other 2/3rds. I'm almost completely caught up with education reflection moments on LiveText, and I wrote what is hopefully a first draft of my book review for American Literature (that's due Wednesday). I also spent most of Thursday at a friend's house (she insisted when she heard that I was staying in the dorm over break), didn't need to eat in the cafeteria until Sabbath lunch (since I had bought enough food to eat in my room until that point), watched Ironman, some Stargate SG-1, The Incredibles, and Pride and Prejudice. I jammed to the Matthew West CD I bought on Wednesday, and I slept in until 10 AM on Friday and went to bed that night at 7:00. I always sleep well on Friday nights. I have enjoyed my break, and it's sort of bittersweet to see it go by so quickly. Then again, it means that Christmas break is right around the corner--but also that our Christmas concert and finals are right around the corner.

It's hard to believe that it has been almost six months since I arrived back in the States. I have been busy, busy, busy. In some ways, that's a good thing. In other ways, not so good. Not counting the days of Christmas Break that I haven't lived yet, I have spent only thirteen days out of this year in the same dwelling as my family (the first five months I was on Ebeye, then I was at camp, and now I've been at school). It's strange that I'm about to be finished with my semester back at Southern. It feels odd that Ebeye seems longer ago than it really was, and it feels oddly right that I miss it as much as I do. I miss camp, too, but I know I'll go back to camp. Ebeye--well, I don't know about going back to Ebeye. I would, certainly, but I don't know if I ever will. And that makes me sort of sad, because I miss my life there. And the friends I made. And the students I taught. Etc., etc., etc.,

I miss the fact that people wanted to hear about where I had been and what I had done there. Are my pictures and stories just for myself? I thought we were supposed to share the stories, the pictures, etc.,, not lock them away on hard drives and minds, not limit the stories and the passion to one week and one expo. Going is worth it, it really is. I believe that, I really do. But I don't know why people don't ask. I don't want to be all rude and in their face, but I want someone to listen about Ebeye. Not to pay attention to me, though I suppose that might play into it (if I'm trying to be honest, which I am), but to pay attention to Ebeye. Yes, it's a little island. Yes, it's crowded. Yes, there's not always a whole ton of things to do. But it has people in need of Jesus there. It has students in need of teachers there (and not just one or two teachers, but enough teachers for the whole school). It has need of student missionaries there, because everyone seems to pick the big islands with mountains and even more awesome diving and tourist attractions and a more spread out population. Ebeye's like the forgotten child of the islands, and people don't understand why I went there. Even though that should be plain. I went there because God called me there and because I tried to answer that call to the best of my ability and to God's enabling.

Midterm Break

10-26-09

We just started back with our classes after a long weekend called "Midterm Break." It began, for me, at 5:00 PM last Wednesday, after work ended and the library closed (since the Writing Center is inside the library). I got myself supper, and then went back to my room. My roommate bid me adieu, since she was headed off to Virginia, and then, I was left to myself.

I did most of my statistics homework (under the logic of that it would be stupid to leave it until Sunday), watched some of The Office, and went to bed. I slept in, got about eight hours of sleep. It was glorious. After waiting for one of the suitemates to show up (because she lives half an hour away, went home for break, but was chilling with me and the other suitemate; plus, her mom was driving us around because she knew where everything was), we went to the Tennessee Aquarium.

One, it's more like Aquariums. Two separate buildings, one labeled "Ocean Journey" and the other labeled "River Journey." Both are FANTASTIC. I had been to River Journey before, but that was like six or so years ago. Anyway, I took lots of pictures of sea creatures and river creatures, including sharks, sea turtles, sea nettles and jellyfish, otters, and penguins. I also splurged on a T-shirt, which I happily wore today to all of my classes. (It has sea turtles on it!)

 

Blue spotted stingray (with no stinger; it was a touch pool)

Shark. There were about five of them in the tank.

Sea horse.

Where is it hiding?

Otters in motion.

Those are just a few of the pictures I took. The otters were playing in the water, and they never quit moving the entire time we watched. After the Aquariums, we ate lunch at a place called the Mellow Mushroom. Retro posters graced the walls, and the wall on the way to the bathroom was an Alice in Wonderland mural. Very interesting. Anyway, I got a drink and a calzone for a tiny bit over twelve dollars. Actually, that was quite a reasonable price, because the glasses were huge (like the length of my forearm), there was free refills, and there was enough calzone that I had dinner later that evening off of it--and I didn't add any of the extra toppings that would have added cost. I had "The House" calzone: mozzarella, spinach, vine-dried tomatoes, and onions (it was supposed to be mushrooms, but I had it substituted). VERY GOOD. I so totally would go back to that restaurant.

After that, we drove to St. Elmo's, and then went up the Incline Railroad. Basically, it goes from the bottom of Lookout Mountain to the top (about a mile), and it's practically a ninety-degree track at the end. It got a little scary, I must admit, when it felt like I'd topple out of my seat and down toward the bottom of the car. Then we walked the two blocks to Pointe Park, to read the history signs (since the Battle of Lookout Mountain took place there), and to check out the awesome views of Chattanooga. My camera battery was being finicky near the end, but I did get some great shots.

 

Wonder what that sign says?

This:

 

"Danger: Keep Back" The picture's of someone falling. It's right on the edge. How'd that get there in the first place without someone falling? Seriously.

Then we raced back to the train station, because the last ride down left in five minutes or so, and because I arrived all breathless, the guy who'd conducted our trip up decided to tell me that it had left. Ha ha, very funny. I was like, "What?" and my brain started scrambling for ways to tell our suitemate's mom that we'd gotten stuck up Lookout Mountain. Then he laughed and said, "No, we haven't left yet." So I laughed instead of being annoyed, because I'm pretty sure that guy spends his entire day going up and down the mountain, and it was sort of funny, situation over.

Finally, we went back to school, where I watched more of The Office and went to bed. Friday I worked on homework a little, walked to the Village Market in a rainstorm (did you know the white strips on the road in crossings are SLIPPERY when it's raining?), watched some movies, and went to bed early. Sabbath I went to church, napped in the afternoon, ate dinner, and went to bed early. On Sunday I did history homework, went to work from 6-9, and wrote a lot on my newest short story. It was exciting.

I enjoyed my midterm break, and I didn't have to spend twelve hours in a vehicle to do so (which is what I would have done, had I gone to visit the family in Indiana). I look forward to future excursions into Chattanooga.

More later.