Tagged

My mother has tagged me!

Four jobs I've had:
1.) babysitter
2.) babysitter
3.)babysitter
4.) babysitter (Ok, so I've never had a "real" job....)

Four places I've lived:
1.) New Berlin, WI
2.) Island Lake, IL
3.) Columbus, IN
4.) Fort Wayne, IN

Four of my favorite foods:
1.) chicken tetrazzini
2.) crab cakes
3.) oysters
4.) my mother's enchilada casserole

Four TV shows I like to watch:
1.) 24
2.) Alias
3.) Lost
4.) American Idol

Four movies I could watch over and over:
1.) Sweet Home Alabama
2.) The Philadelphia Story
3.) Ocean's Eleven
4.) Pride and Prejudice (if only I had TIME to watch it over and over...)

Four places I would rather be:
1.) Siesta Key, FL
2.) Sydney, Australia
3.) some Carribbean island
4.) Southern Italy

Four websites I visit:
1.) www.imdb.com
2.) www.acpl.lib.in.us
3.) www.redeemer-fortwayne.org
4.) www.ipfw.edu

Four people I want to tag:
1.) Rachael
2.) Katie
3.) Rachel
4.) Lynea

Let's all sing "Kokomo"

Ghengis Khan has nothing on my grandpa in the "cruel and unusual" department:

"Hi all you goose bump people, 14deg in Anderson, 72 deg here as we speak. Oh well, the bad news it’s only going to get to 81 deg today, the temp tied a Sarasota record of 84 deg yesterday."

That was the email he sent out yesterday. We've been getting daily updates on exactly how warm it is down in Florida and what the temperature of the pool is. (90 degrees as of yesterday....)

I'd like to think I've done fairly well this winter. I haven't gotten cranky or stir-crazy because of the weather. In fact, as far as winter weather goes it's been amazing; plenty of 40 degree days and several in the 50s. Unfortunately, NO Indiana winter weather can compete with the Gulf of Mexico and I'm starting to feel more than a little "homesick" for the beach.

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE....If I lived in Florida I probably wouldn't have been around last week and definitely would not have had friends staying at my house. I also couldn't go to church at Redeemer (kind of a long commute) and finding a church to attend down there is...uh....difficult.

But a vacation would still be nice.

Having everyone around this week was awesome, and now I'm trying to adjust to our very quiet, empty-seeming house. 5-12 extra people hanging around make a huge difference.

The bits of the symposium that I got to attend were good. I went with my friends to hear Dr. Rast and Dr. Scaer, got to matins every day and vespers a few times, and hung out at the HT booth with big-shot merchandise person (and Triplette) Naomi.

Unfortunatly, real life interfered with my week and I had to spend most of Tuesday and Thursday afternoon and evening at school. Any other week of the semester I would love my classes and enjoy being on campus, but this week it was just a big pain.

On Thursday evening we all went to church at Redeemer, and then Katie drove all us wild teenagers to the Sabre of Boldness ceremony. Bishop Walter Obare of Kenya won the award, and Pastor Olle Fogelqvist of the Swedish Mission Province accepted on his behalf. Lynea and I met Pr. Fogelqvist before the ceremony. He asked us if we were part of the HT group and if we would be in Colorado Springs this summer, and told us about the group he is planning on bringing. (At the risk of sounding totally frivolous, I have to say I had never heard a real Swedish accent before and his was great!)

I am very glad to say that after everyone left I did NOT crash and I did NOT spend most of the day crying into a pillow like I have every year. I went to my favorite class and talked about Bosch paintings, talked on the phone with Rachael, went out and made $15 an hour babysitting, and talked to Naomi. All in all, a much better end to the week than a sore nose and puffy eyes.

See ya, Soccer Hair!

Everyone who was at the Sabre of Boldness ceremony and thought that my younger brother Patrick's hair was too long can now breathe a big sigh of relief. He got his hair cut early this morning. A guy from church came and picked him up at 5:30 am and they went to the barber together. Five cups of coffee and a few inches later he came back.

Before: Awesome, curly, soccer-player hair

After: cute cut that allows people to see his eyes


Now his friends won't have to threaten him with drugging and shaving anymore (and I'm sure they're all disappointed.)

Totally Brainless

Thank you, mother.

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Bethany!

1. Carnivorous animals will not eat another animal that has been hit by Bethany.


2. The colour of Bethany is no indication of her spiciness, but size usually is!


3. Bethany is 984 feet tall.


4. Influenza got its name because people believed the disease was caused by the evil "influence" of Bethany!


5. Bethany is picked, sorted and packed entirely in the field!


6. The military salute is a motion that evolved from medieval times, when knights in armour raised their visors to reveal Bethany.


7. Bethany has little need for water and is capable of going for months without drinking at all!


8. Over 46,000 pieces of Bethany float on every square mile of ocean.


9. Bethany does not have toes.


10. Bethany can live for up to a week without a head!

I am interested in - do tell me about
herhimitthem

After seeing #10 I kinda think it's on to something....

Excuses, excuses

I have excuses for not posting in days and days. Good excuses too.

Firstly, I was in Michigan skiing and having a marvelous time (with the exception of sleeping on the very cold hotel room floor. That wasn't so marvelous.) Despite my reputation for being less than coordinated at times, I managed to not injure myself. No one else got injured either, even Patrick, who managed to run off of a slope into a tree. Or Winston, who took a jump and didn't land on his feet.

My second excuse is that classes started again yesterday. I was actually looking forward to it, although who knows how long that will last! I'm sure I'll enjoy my classes this semester. They're all things that are of particular interest to me, with the exception of my communications class, but I have friends in that class, so it's not too bad.

I had my first rehearsal as a member of the Bach Collegium tonight. I'd been wanting to join for a while now, but just finally decided to go ahead and do it. We started working on several lovely pieces, including Brahms' "German" Requiem. Patrick is dreading the concert. He is strongly prejudiced against ANYTHING Brahms, thinking it's all "nap music." Or, in the case of the Requiem, "music that puts you to sleep. Forever." (Although, he has an even bigger problem with Bach arias. He compares anything that is ridiculously long or repetetive to an aria. No one tell Kantor, but I agree with Patrick!)

Incidently....

For any girly-girls who might potentially read this (and Rachael, even though she doesn't think she's girly....):

Online "paper dolls."

Now I know I have a problem. I'm 19 and I am still in love with paper dolls. ;o)

Anniversary Bash

My great-grandparent's 70th(!!!!) anniversary was today. (My mother talks about them here.) We helped give a reception for them this afternoon. Great-Grandma Beery kept telling me she couldn't believe how many people came and that they must not have anything better to do.

She was definitely right, if not in the way she thought. I can't think of much that could have been better than being around there today. Besides getting to visit with my wonderful great-grandparents, I had the chance to meet second and third cousins (never mind how many times removed...that just got too mind-boggling after a while.) I got to watch my grandma chit-chat with an old school-friend, sharing inside jokes about old teachers that she probably hadn't thought of in years. Patrick, being the charmer that he is, went around introducing himself to EVERYONE and making EVERYONE fall in love with him. It was also really cool to see all the parts of our family together (which my mother is getting ready to blog about....here.)

Now if only I'd had the foresight not to wear high heels all day....