Losing my identity.

I've been warped into a Canadian. Three or four people in the last day have made general observations of "those Canadians," including me in this. Oh boy. I have nothing against Canadians- I've loved all the ones I've been able to get to know. I am, however, very happy to remain an American, eh.

There's one inside each of us

Friday night, and Student Senate planned a Revenge of the Nerd Rollerskating event. Too much fun. It was great to go out and make a fool of myself- both in costume and out on the rink. I made it through without eating it- but just very barely. I do, however, have nice blisters which will make tomorrow's hike just that much more interesting.

Warning- by Jenny Joseph

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple

I was talking to Dave Monday night, and telling him how I was kind of excited to be old. I want to move to the South and sit on my porch with my shotgun. I want to throw pottery in my barn, and I want to spend nights camped out on our trampoline. And I want to splatter paint and not worry about washing the paint off the walls. Just once I want to chase children off the grass- just to see what it feels like to be a crotchety old woman. I want to drive a beat-up, old Chevy. I want to sit out on my roof at night and watch the stars above, and the cars file past below. I want to pretend like I can't hear, and holler into the telephone. I want to go wading in a river, with my dress hiked up well beyond my knees. I want to sneak candy to the children who sit in the pews in front of me at church. I want to hog the swings at the park, and chase the little dogs with my umbrella. I want to wiggle my toes in the grass, and sit in the trees with the birds. I want to cover my walls, and ceiling for that matter, with art. I want to squeeze the life from oranges and drink the juice each morning, and I want to brew coffee each morning just for it's pungent odor. I'll whistle at the boys playing basketball in the park without their shirts on. I want to stroll under the trees while holding my husband's hand, slowing down the traffic. He read this poem to me- it captures what I want PRECISELY- and sent me off on a tangent of what I'd like to be like. I love, love, love it.

I left my heart in Sacramento

Seriously, I'm completely enamored. What a wonderful trip to visit with Mary and Luke. Ben is at Calvin teaching a class for a month so they are home alone; I went up to visit and fill time. The weather was quite cold, so we didn't end up doing much- at least as far as outside goes.

Wednesday Morning I arrived (After waking up at 5:30!!!) early, around 8:30. I think we went to the park- where some adorable old men shared their crumbs with Luke and helped him feed the ducks. We ran general errands, and I got to babysit while Mary had some time out of the house. Thursday was a lazy day- we lit a fire and enjoyed that so much. We did go to the train museum where Luke emphatically pointed to every train and shouted "choo, choo!" We made Indian curry (which I have been wanting to do all break!) for dinner- so simple, and so yumm. I again babysat that night so she could go out. Friday morning I dropped Mary off at an appointment and took Luke to a church where there was an organized class full of jungle gym equipment- but for babies. Saturday we again went to the park- this time equipped with our own food for the ducks.

The whole time, Luke was so fun. He decided to try standing on one leg, hiding all his toys and making you ask where ______ was (difficult when you don't know what he hid in the first place), and he was even trying to say my name! Granted it sounded more like Dedus, but it was definitely what his name for me. He introduced me to another kid when we were at the park. :)

"Yo, yo!"

Looks like I'll be sending out 2010 making yo-yos. Actually, I'm quite excited about it. It's my latest project. I doubt I'll have enough to make a quilt, but maybe a pillow cover? :) We shall see.
A yo-yo is one of those individual circles.

Not a bad way to send out the year, considering. I'm not feeling great, so going out was out of the question.

I can't believe how long of a year 2010 was. I feel like the past 4 months of school made up the whole year, but there were 8 months previous to that! It hasn't been the easiest of years, but I've learned a lot. I think the overarching theme of the year would have to be learning to trust in God. I have had bookend experiences at the beginning and end of the year which rounded the year off nicely, giving it a balanced feeling.
I never really have any new goals for the new year. Rather, I always seem to have the same goals that I've never quite reached. Funny how that happens. :P
This year I hope to continue to:
stay true to myself as much as I can,
use the opportunities put infront of me to learn,
be a blessing to people if that is possible,
remain cheerful,
realize the little blessings that go so far to make a day wonderful,
and go out of my box to experience more.

Maybe instead of yo-yos I should stitch these on a pillow to remind me. :P

"Fee, fi, fo, fum!"

Playing "monster" with Luke has to have been one of the best parts of break so far. I'd stomp after him, chanting in a deep voice "fee, fi, fo, fum!" He'd run squealing into the living room, looking over his sholder, until I got to "phum." Then he'd turn around and come straight into my arms, when I'd launch him into the air, and pretend to eat his belly.

Words of Wisdom?

"One of the secrets in life is know how to do everything yourself but not advertise it, so you don't have to do everything yourself." :P
and from my grandpa:
"share 90% of what you know with your friends/coworkers, but keep 10% for yourself."

So. Good advice or is it being selfish?
I guess they can take you far in the business world.

Everything Fall.

It's been a bit, but a while ago, I went up to an apple farm. Technically orchard, yes, but lets not be technical. We were hoping to find an event that was "all things fall." Danielle and I found the apple orchard and everybody else was on board, so we hit the road! It was a perfect day- slightly cloudy- but not raining, and we found apples, pumpkins (rotting by this time), hills, tractors, and a whole lot of fun. Go figure.





Afterwards, we found a cute little place to eat. They had super yummy food- and Amy was brave enough to order (and nice enough to share!) an apple grilled cheese. Pretty yum, actually.

Story of my life

While You Were Sleeping. Funny stuff.

Boo Radley

Just last week I was talking to Dave (an RD) about how much I love To Kill a Mockingbird. It has to be one of my favorite books- and the movie did a great job of capturing parts of the novel. He throws a movie night every once in a while, and he said he'd put To Kill a Mockingbird in for me. Well, I kind of sort of forgot and went down to Hollywood instead. Boy did I hear about it! But he forgave me- eventually. He was gracious enough to lend the movie to me before it had to be returned. So I watched bits and pieces of it Monday/Tuesday. Then, on Tuesday, my school offered the amazing opportunity to go watch the move at the Museum of Tolerance! And Boo, Robert Duvall, would be there! Well, I skipped history and went! I watched the move for the second time in three days, and afterwards there was a Q&A session with Mr. Duvall. We kind of hoped to get a picture with him, but of course he was escorted out of the building pretty quickly afterwards. The line to the elevator was too long, so we took the stairs down to the bottom floor. I looked to my left, down the hall, and there he was! They must have taken a wrong turn- anyways, we got our picture and were able to talk to him for a few minutes before more people gathered around. It was totally an awesome night. He was such a 'real' guy, as far as actors go.

PS- Disregard the cheesy Sea Beggar flag. Some of our "advertiser" people take their job seriously :). They even gave him an electrically orange t-shirt. I have no clue what they expected him to do with it?

Hollywood!!

Beverly Hills- that's where I want to be! Livin' in Beverly Hills. So my title says Hollywood, but this song is totally running through my head, so I decided to include it.
This past weekend a friend, and former student at PCC, came down to visit.
Friday night the Drama team performed A Mid Summer's Night Dream- which was simply incredible. They did a wonderful job.
Saturday, I was settling in for a long day o paper writing. I have quite a few, 2 paged papers due this week, and presentations that go along. Well, THAT didn't happen. A group of the most random people (Karolina, Christine, Ali, Amy, Bryan, and Justin) headed down to the metro. We spent about equal time on the metro and on Hollywood Blvd, but whatev' it's all good :P. It was cool to get off campus, see all the interesting people, and what not. And boy are they interesting. Break dancers on the street, drummers, homeless, and soccer jugglers..... We were so hungry afterwards, on the train home, we decided to go out to eat. Well, the others never showed up, but Bryan, Justin, and I went to TOPS. Wonderful of wonderful, I had a great gyro.

Election Day!

Nothing quite like running into vote with three other people 10 minutes before the polls shut! :)