Started packing this evening. OK: so I only actually packed one suitcase full of clothes and three boxes of books, but just this little bit of packing made me realize how much stuff I actually have. I mean, I found a belt in my hanging shoe rack that I'd totally forgotten I own. Ack! Granted, the belt was a gift, and is not the right size (so I never wear it), but still...Still. I don't want to be the kind of person who forgets what she has because she has too much.
Another day of heavy rain, though not as heavy as yesterday. Not as heavy as the Midwest. This summer needs some sun.
Tomorrow: continued/accelerated packing. Bicycling. Work, of course. [Just reverse the order of these three, and that will about sum up my day.]
Monday, June 23, 2008
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Bloomsday.
(Borrowed from Maria and Dan)
1. What were you doing 10 years ago?
Ten years ago, I was fourteen and preparing to enter high school. The summer after I graduated from eighth grade, I worked as a sort of guide/receptionist for a program for gifted students (Summer Academy). My only other coworker, a boy who was also in orchestra, would commit suicide our senior year of high school.
I was terrified for three weeks before high school began: the thought of all those random people (about 3,200 students, in all), many of whom might not like me, only five minutes of passing time, cliques, etc., etc. That summer, I spent most of my time reading and rollerblading.
2. What are 5 things on your to-do list today?
(a) Buy groceries for the week
(b) Do laundry
(c) Send forms to the guy who's subleasing my room
(d) Go to the gym
(e) Read
3. Snacks you enjoy...
(a) Cinnamon and brown sugar pita chips
(b) Cheese and crackers
(c) Raw veggies (baby carrots and snap peas, especially)
(d) Homemade popcorn
(e) Various and sundry other things
4. Places you have lived...
Champaign-Urbana, Bismarck, Denver, Coon Rapids, Galesburg, Berlin, Northampton
5. Five things you would do if you were a billionaire?
(a) Buy a home for myself in whatever city I wanted, and pay off my mom's mortgage/buy my sis a house, too
(b) Start a no-kill animal shelter, quite possibly a Cocker Spaniel rescue
(c) Donate to Knox: in particular, the English Department, library, and Gizmo
(d) Organize a week-long reunion of some sort for all of my friends
(e) Travel
6. People you want to know more about...
Like Dan, I'd have to say people who don't (or rarely) read. People who remain truly calm in crisis situations, and people who would categorize themselves as having balanced lives - I'd like to get their advice. Also, David Lynch.
***
In other news: man, I should learn how to add photos to posts - those in the last post were supposed to be in the opposite order that they are now. Thursday night, using a borrowed hacksaw, I cut my bike free from its place of entrapment! (Lacking indoor storage space and generally not thinking ahead, I'd left my bike locked outside all winter, and when I tried to unlock it this spring, my key broke off in the rusty lock.) Went for an hour long ride that night, and one of my other plans for today is to clean the little bits of rust from the handlebars and the tire release levers.
Spent most of the day at Taste of Amherst yesterday. It was a small festival, only occupying the town common, but was surprisingly fun: Eric and I got wings from The Hangar (YUM) and apple pie from Atkins Farm, sat in the sun and listened to the local bands, and stopped by the petting zoo. Also stopped by the ABC tent for one beer in a commemorative pint glass: I am a sucker for commemorative pint glasses.
And I'm back on the homemade popcorn train; it had been a while (2 years?) since I'd made popcorn from scratch, but I got the materials last night and made some, and it was excellent.
1. What were you doing 10 years ago?
Ten years ago, I was fourteen and preparing to enter high school. The summer after I graduated from eighth grade, I worked as a sort of guide/receptionist for a program for gifted students (Summer Academy). My only other coworker, a boy who was also in orchestra, would commit suicide our senior year of high school.
I was terrified for three weeks before high school began: the thought of all those random people (about 3,200 students, in all), many of whom might not like me, only five minutes of passing time, cliques, etc., etc. That summer, I spent most of my time reading and rollerblading.
2. What are 5 things on your to-do list today?
(a) Buy groceries for the week
(b) Do laundry
(c) Send forms to the guy who's subleasing my room
(d) Go to the gym
(e) Read
3. Snacks you enjoy...
(a) Cinnamon and brown sugar pita chips
(b) Cheese and crackers
(c) Raw veggies (baby carrots and snap peas, especially)
(d) Homemade popcorn
(e) Various and sundry other things
4. Places you have lived...
Champaign-Urbana, Bismarck, Denver, Coon Rapids, Galesburg, Berlin, Northampton
5. Five things you would do if you were a billionaire?
(a) Buy a home for myself in whatever city I wanted, and pay off my mom's mortgage/buy my sis a house, too
(b) Start a no-kill animal shelter, quite possibly a Cocker Spaniel rescue
(c) Donate to Knox: in particular, the English Department, library, and Gizmo
(d) Organize a week-long reunion of some sort for all of my friends
(e) Travel
6. People you want to know more about...
Like Dan, I'd have to say people who don't (or rarely) read. People who remain truly calm in crisis situations, and people who would categorize themselves as having balanced lives - I'd like to get their advice. Also, David Lynch.
***
In other news: man, I should learn how to add photos to posts - those in the last post were supposed to be in the opposite order that they are now. Thursday night, using a borrowed hacksaw, I cut my bike free from its place of entrapment! (Lacking indoor storage space and generally not thinking ahead, I'd left my bike locked outside all winter, and when I tried to unlock it this spring, my key broke off in the rusty lock.) Went for an hour long ride that night, and one of my other plans for today is to clean the little bits of rust from the handlebars and the tire release levers.
Spent most of the day at Taste of Amherst yesterday. It was a small festival, only occupying the town common, but was surprisingly fun: Eric and I got wings from The Hangar (YUM) and apple pie from Atkins Farm, sat in the sun and listened to the local bands, and stopped by the petting zoo. Also stopped by the ABC tent for one beer in a commemorative pint glass: I am a sucker for commemorative pint glasses.
And I'm back on the homemade popcorn train; it had been a while (2 years?) since I'd made popcorn from scratch, but I got the materials last night and made some, and it was excellent.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
I'm back...
Sort of. (Aside: I can't believe I've been dormant for over a month, but once you read about what's happened in the past month, my absence will be understandable.) So, from the top...
1) Ali graduated! It was excellent to fly back to MN for a weekend and see the family (even Bailey). I was a little nostalgic going back to Morris, MN, because even though I didn't go to school there, I visited many a time: was well acquainted with Don's Cafe, the Diamond Supper Club, the Salvo. A peripheral connection to be sure, but a connection nonetheless. Also, I still can't believe that Ali is no longer in college: this makes me feel really old.
2) Eric graduated! He now has his MA in English and will be starting applications for PhD programs (wouldn't be entering them until Fall 2009, though). His parents and grandma came out for the weekend, and we sampled the local cuisine, had our cookout at Look Park, went to the Mark Twain house, and enjoyed afternoon margaritas at Mama Iguana's.
3) Ruth and Adam got married! Congratulations, you two!
4) VACATION. Eric's parents rented a condo on Folly Beach (about a ten-minute drive from Charleston proper), and we spent a week there. Charleston is beautiful: the single-houses with their open piazzas, Palmettos, all the parks and monuments. Each day, we went to Charleston in the morning and early afternoon to see sights/go to the historic market, and we relaxed on the beach until dinnertime. (I also collected an ass-ton of shells.) I would never have classified myself as a "beach person" before this trip, but I would now. I'm tan! And loving it!
Even though I've been back for a few days, I'm still lamenting my necessary return from vacation. Here, I can't get sweet tea (excluding McDonald's sweet tea, which is OK but not as good as the other tea I sampled) and grits, nor can I collect shells or swim in the ocean or weave little place mats from Palmetto fronds. At any rate, I do have a plan: I brought home some quick grits and can cook them in times of trouble. Also, I'm going to find out how to make homemade sweet tea. Who's with me?
Also also, I'm moving in a few days! (Ten, to be exact.) I'm pretty excited about this - like a lot of you, I'm a fan of the sorting and reminiscing that go into packing, and also the streamlining of my collection of "stuff." I don't have too much stuff at present, but I have amassed a lot of books since I've been here, which are going to be hell to carry. Ali will be moving in with me at some point before the end of August - when, no one knows for certain.
***
If that seemed like an ultra-quick summary, forgive me - it's been the busiest month of recent memory, but I will begin posting again with predictability (and hopefully more detailed accounts of what I've been up to).
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