I hate the cold. I wish it would go someplace where it's really hot. ;) But Indiana isn't exactly the most tropical state. Somebody is blaming the most recent cold snap on a typhoon out by Japan. Chaos theory and all that (except when you can use computer models to make educated guesses at effects, it's not so chaotic). But I'm pretty sure this is just how Indiana likes to spend its winters, trolling the populace. "Hey, look, one random warm day. PSYCH! It's gonna be cold for a month!" I turned the heat on in my house back in October, probably three weeks ago now. I'm a cheapskate so the thermostat is set at about 67 degrees Fahrenheit -- that, friends, is as cold as I can take it. And even now, my fingers feel like icicles with central nervous systems. This is where blankets come in. I have a blanket -- no, two -- on my bed. There are at least a couple strewn about my living room and another one on my reading chair in the sunroom. There's ev...

I'm a good driver. Snow doesn't scare me. Snow that drifts across the road in depths higher than the front grill of my car, however, causes me to think twice about driving. I met my cousins and some friends for lunch today after church, then headed over to their place after a couple hours of shopping (during which I found four fun belts at Goodwill, yippee!). A few episodes of Doctor Who and Sherlock later--not to mention a lot of browsing Pinterest for pictures of Michelle Obama's and Kate Middleton's styles--my cousin and I decided it was time for me to head home. So it was 11 p.m. or so and I stepped outside--still wearing my church shoes (a cute pair of heels)--into several inches of snow. There was definitely no snow on the ground when we came back from town around 5 p.m. It can't be that bad, I thought, so I backed my car into a slightly shallower portion of snow so I could walk around the car, brushing the snow off the windshield and headlights wi...

I came down with a cold over J-term break. Not the best way to pass the time, but it could’ve been worse, I suppose. Today’s goal… has not been developed yet. I suppose I might do some writing, whether in my journal or on my computer; I might also find a good book to start reading. And I do have a very messy desk I should clean up. But sitting and doing nothing feels like a really good idea right now. At least, my sinuses seem to think so. Coming next week—actual thoughts!

It's snowing again. Which means I'm rather cold here, sitting in my living room. But it's fine... I get to go to Spanish class later, which will brighten my day, on top of the happiness of singing in choir this afternoon. :-) My roomie took me to Wal-Mart last night to get a few necessities, and on the way back we stopped by the public library so I could borrow a book for one of my papers. It's "The Power of Logical Thinking" by one Marilyn vos Savant, and its sole purpose for my paper was to point out that the sentence "snakes only eat green frogs" can be interpreted at least four or five different ways. Try it.... 1. Snakes only eat green frogs... they don't eat anything else. 2. ...Or, they never eat blue frogs. 3. ...Maybe, they refuse to drink green frogs. 4. ...Perhaps snakes are the only animals that eat green frogs? 5. ...Better yet, snakes probably just don't eat green dogs . Ain't it fun? :-D

The nature of a J-term is peculiar. The student has only one class, but this class lasts only three and a half weeks. It's an intensive course, but at the same time J-term is the most relaxed time of the year. And a snowstorm will affect a J-term more than a normal semester, because any snow day is bound to cancel at least one hour of class, more likely two. (We had a snow day this past week; 'twas quite fun.) And between the J-term and the spring semester is a break for a few days; mine lasts from today through Wednesday. It's a time to go back to visit family for the first time since around New Year's, and to remember anew how cold one's family keeps one's home (it's like sixty-six here, if that! And my room at college is much warmer than that!). I've delved right back into the little affairs of the family. I'm probably going to help Mom some today, and I've already talked to my sis about books and given her a couple that I picked up from...

There was an open-mic performance thing last night in my college's student union. A rare thing, that, but at least we get some use out of the little stage there! When I and my roommate first talked about it a couple days ago, we found that we had each been thinking about participating, and had planned on asking the other to do it together! With such unity of mind, we picked a song (one she wrote last semester) and practiced it a bit. We needed a tenor for it, too, so we roped a fellow choir member into it on Wednesday night. Wednesday night after we finished practicing and he left, the two of us batted around the idea of wearing matching clothing. But of course, yesterday morning my roomie wasn't up, so I just put one something I liked and figured we'd discuss the clothes later, if we were actually serious about it. Last night before the three of us got together to practice again, my roomie went to find a shirt to match mine, and realized she also had a hat like mine, t...

On New Year's Eve, I spent the entire evening (until one A.M.!) playing group games with a couple other homeschooling families (whom I hardly get to see otherwise). I narrated a couple games of Mafia, and participated in a game similar to both Charades and Catchphrase. We had snacks. I visited with cousins the past couple days. It was lovely. I caught up with the cousin I used to be practically best friends with... I don't get to see her nearly enough! And we had our final Christmas! So, I got some amazing gifts, over this whole Christmas season. I shall relish writing my thank-you notes--of which some may become letters (one at least will). candy the pocket edition of "Daring Book for Girls" earring-necklace set, handmade by my roomie :-) earrings two hatboxes a cute rustic-y wreath of fabric and wire money from my grandparents a DVD of three Audrey Hepburn movies a baby-doll shirt (the kind with the shirred elastic) an Audrey Hepburn-esque dress thing an SD car...

On my Flickr ! Including snowdrifts, stuck bikes, and an IGLOO!

You would not believe what I saw out the window this morning.... More photos forthcoming when I venture out at noon for lunch!!

Wow. This has been one of the most important weeks of my life; it will probably be the most important week of this year, and we're not even out of January yet! My grandmother died... I'm going to D.C. for the first time in my life... I found out I've made the cut for the select voice ensemble here... And I've just been offered my first minimum-wage job. Now doesn't that sound like a huge week to you? Not to mention my two parts in a one-act play here, for which I will be practicing four hours today; it's my first ever theatrical experience (not counting cute, no-budget Christmas programs at church). Man, I didn't know my eighteenth year would carry with it so many changes....

I can't believe the wind chill yesterday dipped below zero. But anyways.... I really can't think of anything to post, but since I'm sitting in the computer lab across from the classroom in which I have an exam in about twenty-three minutes I might as well post something. I already did three online practice quizzes, so it's not like I'm procrastinating as far as study goes. In fact, I actually learned a little from the quizzes, I think. Slingshots are cool. A friend showed me one last night that has an arm brace so it's easier to hold it still when you're aiming it and pulling the rubber band thingy back. Over break I'm going on a TRIP!!! I love trips. Hence, I went home this past weekend because I won't be home on break. (Oh, yeah... this is a college with a J-term in between semesters, so there's a comparatively short Christmas break before J-term and a teensy little break between J-term and the spring semester.) This will be a very inter...

I tried out for my first theatrical production last Thursday! It was fun! And I actually got a part! Two parts, actually; one named "villager number two" and one named "Mr. Fox" who shall hereafter be known as "Miss Fox." And, added together, they actually have a decent amount of lines. Of course, there are basically two stars of the show--the Witch and the little girl who saves the day--but everyone else has roughly equal amounts of lines, perhaps partly due to a little doubling that had to be arranged. Since there are four or five village people in a group, in this particular play, we are contemplating the different occupations we should have... maybe you see where this is going?... and have nearly settled on the policeman, the construction worker, and the Indian for three of them. We might try to work in a little "YMCA" movement during some down time too.... wouldn't that be hilarious? :-D And the Witch! She's a friend of mine, o...

1. Not busy. 2. Except when you make it so. 3. Psychology has a lot of reading (~50 pages a night) fortunately. And tutorials as homework on top of it. 4. Still, evenings/nights are free to goof around. 5. A lot of people go on some sort of class trip (like art or psych, but not my psych class) 6. Me, I spend nights watching movies with friends (and doing a lot of talking in the meantime), videotaping friends lip-syncing to a song, and running around campus about midnight wearing preposterous makeup and hairdos. (One friend looked eighties, one friend looked goth, one friend looked rocker-chick--as she put it--and I resembled Stephanie Tanner from Full House , at least according to the three friends . Only because I had a pastel sweater, and wore my matching barrette on the very top of my head as opposed to at the back of my head like normal. I did put on an excess of blue eyeshadow though, and lipstick which was not blue. I don't have any pics--two of the friends were the on...

Can you believe it? It's a new day... a new month... and of course, a new year. But the new month is what always gets me! It snowed finally. No snow for Christmas, but a little for New Year's. That's okay, I suppose. My brother is currently playing some game on his new (but classic, as in old) Pac-Man thingy (I almost want to call it a module or a console, but I'm not sure that would do--it's simply the joystick box plugged into the TV). A racing game, one of five games on there (of which the first is Pac-Man, of course!). The noise is the funniest thing! It reminds me of old Mario Brothers games, a little, but different I guess. I'm not sure what else to write. It may be New Year's Day, but all we're going to do is visit my grandparents. And I will also eat lots of olive & cheese ball!! My grandmother has this incredibly appetizing recipe for a cheese ball which calls for black olives, bleu cheese & cream cheese, and nuts, but all mixe...

So I've been at home on break; it's quite nice. I'm getting pretty lazy though, or at least I'm not nearly as busy as I have been at college. I hope to remedy that soon. I have lots of projects up my sleeve.... books to read, journal entries to write, songs to copy into my songbook, meals to cook, Christmas shopping to do, relatives to visit, a Christmas letter to write, blogs to keep up on (*grin*), photographs to take, poems to memorize, and something in the bottom of my suitcase that I'm forgetting at the moment... dangit, I wish I could remember what that was! I remembered last night... and my sis would probably help me remember, but she's not around at the moment. Grr. I'm keeping up on my (relatively) new dancing hobby. I taught my brother the basic steps and two moves of Hustle today, believe it or not. He's one of the last people I would have thought interested enough to learn. But he wasn't bad at all, and admitted it was fun once yo...

...it is the official beginning of Thanksgiving Break. And, to commemorate this momentous occasion, I shall.... ...wash a load of laundry? Anyhow, I'm quite excited to go see my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. I'll get to exchange notes with my college cousin and my seamstress cousin; and I will probably get to entertain the various members of my extended family who will ask lots of questions about college (just like last time). Doesn't that sound fun? Well, it will be. I will also get to eat lots of GOOD FOOD! In fact, I'll probably help make a good portion of it. In addition, I will be investigating stores for a good black skirt. My beloved Mafia has appropriated my current one for several months now.

Invariably , that is the line I think of when I see the first snow of the year. Well, seeing as last year's first snow was halfway through October, the sixth of November is pretty good for having the first snow of the season. As before, no accumulation; it's cold enough though, and I'm rather glad I found a ride to Wal-Mart instead of biking into town as I had planned to do. I'm also glad of head, and sweaters, and coats, and various other garments intended to keep one warm. :-) So yeah; half the vivid leaves still cling to the tree branches, yet the clouds have decided to hurry their demise.

I don't feel like doing anything. Unfortunate. Because I know I had several things I was going to blog, and they've all just escaped me simultaneously. You know what I mean? Oh, they're coming back.... we got snow today. AND LOTS OF IT!! What in the world is God up to, I wonder? So, our dining room is filled with... one large vase (the kind that you get with those huge bouquets), two bud vases, and three champagne glasses filled to the max with daffydowndillies (aka daffodils to the uninitiate). I scrambled to pick 'em all last night, between Mom getting home from her 1st job and having supper before we ran to church for Wednesday night services. The poor things were freezing (obviously), but they were still blooming this morning, so I think we've saved 'em for now. Sorry, no digital camera = no instant pictures, or I would show you the profusion of daffydowndillies that has overrun the flat surfaces of the room. So much for spring. But I have faith. ...

Now that would be a hilarious title for a post on Valentine's Day! Don't you think? er.... *grins* But I wasn't referring to that. I was referring to the snow that God dumped on us yesterday and overnight. We had a snowdrift in our driveway that was at least three feet deep. So Dad, my brother and I went out this morning to dig the cars out of the drifts, and when we had gotten about ten percent of the snow cleared, our neighbor offered to remove all the snow via his snowblower. It went much faster, and was much easier on my arms & back. Some of our neighbors may be less than friendly (it's the town...), but these are nice. They even have a nice dog, an Alaskan Husky I think.

I don't know.... almost every time I get on here, my mind immediately goes blank and I have nothing to say - even though I could come up with five things before breakfast that I wanted to post here. Oh well.... I owe my cousin a letter. In fact, it is completely written, but I am also sending her a fingering chart and an essay of mine. One of which was supposed to be copied yesterday, and one of which needs to be printed out. My fingers are freezing. And we've had snow on the ground for the past 2 days. Amazing! My bro and my dad finally put up the tree yesterday!