You scored as Elizabeth Bennet, As one of Austen's most beloved characters, Elizabeth Bennet represents what most women would like to become: strong, independent, and loyal. Of course, she has her faults including a stubborn will of iron and a clinging to first impressions. Overall, Lizzie is bright and lovable...something to admire and aspire to.

Elizabeth Bennet		78%
Elinor Dashwood		69%
Marianne Dashwood		66%
Jane Bennet		63%
Emma Woodhouse		56%
Charlotte Lucas		34%
Lady Catherine		31%

Which Jane Austen Character are You? (For Females) Long Quiz!!!
created with QuizFarm.com

Harry Potter chat

Here is the transcript of a chat with J.K. Rowling, posted on the Leaky Cauldron website. She answers some amusing questions and fills in some gaps, especially regarding what happens to characters after the books. (Thanks to the people at Pemberley for the link.)

Style Tag

Courtesy of my mother:

Personal Style Quiz
Rules: You have to choose one of the two. You cannot answer "neither" or "both." You can indicate that you like both or neither, but you must state a preference.

Animal fiber or plant? Plants, please. I love my cotton.

Natural or synthetic? Natural

Ornate or simple? Simple

Color or Neutral? Color

Pastel or Vibrant? Argh. I want to answer "neither" but I'm not allowed, so (looking in my closet) I think I'll say vibrant.

Blue/Green or Red/Orange? Blue/Green

White Gold or Yellow Gold? White Gold

Gems or texture? I'm not quite sure what this one is getting at, but I'm going to guess texture

Watch or no-watch? Watch, simply for utility

Comfort or fashion? fashion (please, laugh at me)

Trendy or classic? Classic

Cables or lace? What season are we talking about? And what article of clothing? I love cable knit sweaters, but I also love light, lacy blouses.

Heels or flats? Heels

Flip-flops or sandals? Sandals! Flip-flops are anathema.

Skirts or pants? Skirts....long, swishy, girly skirts.

Geometric or floral? stylized geometric florals

V-neck or turtle-neck? V-neck (or, better still, bateau or boat neck)

Skulls or butterflies? Butterflies

Loose or snug? snug

Long hair or short? Let me think about this a moment. I'm going to say long.

Headbands or barrettes? Headbands, since barrettes don't work in my hair anyway

Shoulder bag or handbag? smallish shoulder bag, because it is almost impossible and certainly dangerous to eat while holding a handbag

Tagging Rachel, Emily, and Katie.

Blueberries

We spent this morning picking blueberries at a farm north of Fort Wayne with a few friends. By the time we left, our family had picked 23.7 pounds of blueberries.


It was a beautiful morning, starting off cloudy but clearing up by the time we got out in the field. The sun made it pretty warm out there, especially since the large bushes cut off any breezes. We were all a little relieved when the clouds rolled back in around 10:00.


I had never picked blueberries before, and really enjoyed my first trip out. I figured out that I could park myself in the middle of a bush and be within arms-length of hundreds of berries. Of course, I questioned my tactics after running into this guy:

Do I Know You???

Sometimes the crowd at the library can get colorful, but never, EVER have I seen anything like I saw today.

Striding through the gallery and into the genealogy department this evening, I saw a Roman legionary. I might have thought that I was hallucinating, but the old man standing next to me was also staring. The guy was all decked out in his shiny armor and helmet, clanking with every step. The best part of his outfit, however, was the pair of iridescent wraparound sunglasses he was wearing.

I checked twice to see if it was someone I know.

Return of the Internet

After weeks and weeks of inconveniencing my mother at every turn, I now no longer have to hog her computer when I want to mess around online. Having had its memory erased (yes, computers get amnesia, I am told) and the entire system reinstalled, my erstwhile computer is being reclaimed. I am trying to recreate all of my settings, remember once-stored passwords, and searching for all those sites I used to have bookmarked. This is quite an undertaking.

The truly distressing thing is that, even after all of the work that was done on my computer, the original problem it had (crashing while I play games) is still not taken care of. Hmph.

Incidentally, while I am writing this, I just want to say that watching Little Women with a carton of Ben and Jerry's is a wonderful, girly way to spend a tired and lazy evening. Have I ever mentioned that I adore Laurie? Well, I do.

Be prepared.... When I am really tired I either get completely witless or I turn introspective and philosophical. Tonight, it is the latter.


I have a confession to make.

I laugh at people. Hair, clothes or lack thereof, habits, and cliche-ridden speech patterns are all fair game. Perhaps it is the result of reading Pride and Prejudice a few too many times and trying to emulate Elizabeth Bennet, but I love absurdities and quirks.

Perhaps that will explain why the last two days seemed a little strange. It started yesterday afternoon while I was at work. My boss had assigned me to stick labels to a bunch of our microfilm cabinets, so I spent 5 hours sitting at a table in the back of the department, sticking tape on the backs of the labels, and being bored out of my mind. While I was thus engaged, a lady who appeared to be in her late-seventies walked in, wearing the old-genealogy-lady uniform (colored capris, T-shirt from Walmart, and white tennis shoes). Her face wasn't remarkable- it was rather worn-looking, but very soft. What set her apart was her hair. It was dyed a very light yellow-blond and curled and teased into something resembling this 40s style. She had combed it flat over the crown of her head and there was much more scalp than hair visible.

The overall effect was quite grotesque, but it didn't amuse me as I would have expected. Instead I was deeply saddened. Something about that old women and her hair really caught me. Perhaps it was because she was trying so hard to recapture something that is obviously gone forever- she will never be young again, her hair will never again be thick or naturally blond. Suddenly the genealogical records on the shelf next to me seemed completely different, as though all of the people listed in them had been personified in that one woman. Sitting there, bored out of my mind, it really hit me that the same thing will happen to me, to my parents, and to all of the people I love. This 20 year old was suddenly facing the reality of mortality, with even more force and awareness than at my great-grandparents funerals, when the emotion seemed to act as a buffer.

As I sat there thinking (still taping labels), I also realized just how comforting it is to know that, even should I become grotesque and ridiculous with old age, and my already flawed and weak body become flawed and weaker still, I can rely on Christ, who feeds me with his own perfect body and blood. When death comes for me, as it already has for so many, I will not remain as I was but be joined with Christ in Heaven, where I will be given a new and perfected body which will never grow old or bald or require Walmart t-shirts and old-lady shoes.

"Our life holds few distinctions..."

I just wanted to share my amazing accomplishment with everyone. At work this evening, I shelved 1000 books (plus 50 rolls of microfilm) in under 6 hours. I am pretty impressed, especially since our boss told everyone that 100 books an hour was the goal.

My pride in my mad shelving skills is competing with my sense of humor, which tells me that this entire post is pretty silly. (Typing "mad shelving skills" gave the sense of humor an advantage, and I think it wins now.)

Apparently my blog is in imminent danger of being hacked and deleted unless I start writing. Since I am tired, far too slap-happy write anything legible (let alone intelligent), and just a little cranky, I thought that I would just share something truely inspiring.

Baby names.

My mother and I have a weekly ritual. One of us will pull the birth announcements from the Fort Wayne paper and we will read the names aloud, sometimes spelling out the most impossible and ridiculous ones. My personal favorites this week were twins Xamir Asante and Sebastian Amadeus. I can't decide which one I would rather be. It could be worse, though. There was someone in there with the middle name Nimrod. I realize that it is a real name, but all I can hear is Bugs Bunny saying, "What a nimrod...."

Or, there's little Uriyah Danyell. Uriyah, pronounced like, Uriah the Hittite, except that Uriyah is a girl. I was so moved by that name that I decided I would name my first daughter Zebedee, but (since all letters and sounds are now interchangeable) I would spell it Xebydii. Isn't it cute???
In case anyone had any doubts, that was completely facetious.

December, Amyah, Kateri, Mineee-Kae, Everlye, Jaiyr, Keishyeia, Nasiyah and Nysi, Aneciea, Reace, and Talon deserve special mention. I couldn't bring myself to type any of the many names that contained Xs, but know that they were there.

I can't decide whether it would be worse to be a Jaiyr who will go through life with a name no one can spell, or a Caiden/Kaiden/Kayden/Kaedyn/etc. who will be in a class full of boys and girls whose names are all pronounced exactly the same.


Incidently, this is way fun. Just explore.

New and Improved

I finally figured out how to change the look of my blog (with lots of help from my mother) and here is the result. The photo at the top is mine, taken at Foster Park last Spring. Let me know what you think of the change.

Playing in the Dirt

Today I (re)discovered the joy of running around barefoot in the dirt. My mother, brothers and I spent the afternoon putting in our vegetable garden, which involved lots and lots of dirt. Shoes were abandoned very early on. It felt like we were playing in a big warm sandbox. Patrick proclaimed himself Mr. McGregor, Andrew was named Peter Rabbit (so very appropriate), and Jonathan was Benjamin Bunny. They also said that I was Jemima Puddle Duck, but I just don't see it.

We now have several kinds of lettuce, a few different tomatos, red and green peppers, banana peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, squash, turnips, beets, and (best of all) a bunch of strawberry plants. In addition, I filled a planter with bougainvillea and nemesia, planted a few little beds of marigolds, and also a few dahlias. A few hours after everything was in, a series of storms came through and watered all of our little plants for us.

Michigan, Poisoning, and Wallpaper

(Warning: Longish post ahead!)

My mother, Andrew, Jonathan, and I spent Tuesday and Wednesday in Michigan on a choir tour, led by our friend Nancy Osbun. Jonathan is a member of a choir at one of the Lutheran schools here in town, and the rest of us went along for fun. It wasn't seeming like much fun when (after 4 hours of sleep) I found myself in the Unity school parking lot at 5:30 Tuesday morning. It got better. After a short performance at a Lutheran school in Dearborn, we spent several hours roaming around Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum. We didn't cover anything close to everything, so my mother bought a membership and is planning on taking the whole family back up there, along with my grandparents.

We drove up to Frankenmuth after finishing at the Museum. That evening while all the little school children did their homework and Jonathan studied his Greek, my mother took Andrew and me over to the outlet mall across the street. Mmmmmmmm. I have to admit that I was not expecting much, but these were niiiiiiice outlets. The first place we stopped (after squealing our tires and doing a u-turn in the parking lot) was the BCBGMaxAzria store. I didn't know they DID outlets. We stopped in for a moment. Tragically, we only had 45 minutes to shop, and it was decided that we would accomplish more if I were not allowed to go drool all over the way-discounted designer clothes. (Oh, but I wanted to!) Anyway, we did make it to the Fossil, Ann Taylor, and Le Creuset stores.

On Wednesday the choir sang at a few more schools and we toured St. Lorenz church in Frankenmuth. It was quite lovely, but the plasma screen TVs installed throughout the sanctuary rather ruined the effect, as did the stained glass window featuring Washington and Lincoln. After we were finished inside, Mrs. Osbun took us across the street to the cemetary, which was very lovely and picturesque. We spent the rest of the morning/early afternoon in Frankenmuth where we shopped and ate lunch.

Our last stop was at Concordia, Ann Arbor, where we were given a tour of the campus. They acted as if these 6-8th graders were seriously considering their school, not just kids being led around (in the pouring rain, I might add.) We left directly from the university and headed home.

The real fun started on the way home. None of us had eaten any veggies for the past few days, so we stopped at a Crakcer Barrel to find some. The service was awful, the food was cold and disgusting, and my mother and I left with food poisoning. I was sick all evening (and over night) on Wednesday, and ended up going home from work early on Thursday because I was completely unable to face walking around for 5 hours.

Anyway, I am all better now, and I had far more enthusiasm and energy than I needed today. I discovered that I do not know what to do with myself when I don't have schoolwork to worry about. I sat around reading for a few hours and afterwards I felt intensely guilty and antsy, and as though I should be DOING something. So I stripped our bathroom wallpaper. All of it. My family found it a little strange ("Most people would go shopping- she destroys something!" says Patrick.)

Literary Crisis!

I am having a problem of tremendous proportions. I started re-reading Mansfield Park on Sunday, and cannot seem to appreciate or enjoy it. I am not drawn to any of the characters, Edward (though nice) is dull, and I find Fanny insipid and boring. This is Jane Austen. I should like Jane Austen, and I don't remember disliking Mansfield Park the first time I read it. Have I grown more more picky? Am I more shallow and unable to appreciate these very quiet characters? I have no idea. All I know is that I have put the book down, unfinished, and am turning to my fluffy library books for amusement.

Perhaps if my copy had illustrations like this one I should find it more enjoyable!

Three down, one to go

I had two final exams this morning, the first one being at 8:00 am. It hurt, but I managed to make it on time. The test was comprised of 10 page-long "short answers" (short being a relative term) and two essays. I wrote for two hours straight and filled two blue books with facts about nationalism and reform movements in the Ottoman Empire, which is actually far more interesting and much less esoteric than it sounds.
My second exam was for my literature class, and we were allowed to have our books out and open. I asked the professor if it mattered that I had been taking writing my notes inside my book all semester, and that did not seem to bother her one bit. I wrote three essays for that class, over Dante, Chaucer, and Milton, and it turned out to be pretty fun- except for the fact that my right hand was getting red and swollen from the death-grip I had on my pencil all morning.
My third "exam" was a final German essay, due outside of class today. I wrote it last week, and emailed it to the professor right afterwards. Since her return email said that she had read it and couldn't wait to have me back in class next semester, I'm assuming it was ok.

After my literature final, I met my mother at Biaggi's for a celebratory lunch. After we had finished eating, we went over to Jefferson Point for some shopping. Our first stop was Barnes and Noble, where I picked out a whole new stack of beautiful, unblemished, and very delicious looking books. We also went to Von Maur to ogle the shoes. I very firmly believe that if I were to buy and wear a pair of these shoes, I would suddenly have the ability to sing and dance like Judy Garland. They are that cool.
We are such goofy girls that we also danced around while the pianist played Phantom of the Opera songs. It was somewhat ruined by this disgustingly loud woman, (wearing shorts that should not be worn unless one is with one's close family, and one's close family is blind,) who came up to him in the middle of a song, and announced very loudly that her daughter takes "pie-ana" lessons and lectured him on the importance of music.

After finishing with our real shopping (real meaning browsing) we went over to the Vera Bradley store to scope out anything we might want from the outlet sale today. My mother got a ticket to the pre-sale-sale from a friend, and that's where she is as I write this. Neither one of us is usually very into Vera Bradley and it is VERY strange that she went to this sale (really, really, super-off-the-wall strange) but she found some really cute and useful bags at good prices, including gifts..... The best part, though, is that she comes home bearing a bag of wonderfully yummy Nutty Bavarian almonds.

Blogging Guilt

I accidently clicked on the link to my blog a moment ago, and realized that it has been almost 3 months since I wrote anything. This is vey sad, and something I should like to remedy.

The only excuse I can offer is that I have been unwilling/unable to think of intelligent things to say, and I would rather not say something pointless, just so that my blog can look updated. All of my mental energy has been going toward school work and making fun of my neighbors (oops.)

Most importantly, finals are next week and I'm looking for an excuse not to study, and my blog offers me an excellent opportunity to do so.

Anyway, now that my most excellent readship has deserted (and rightfully so), I believe I will start using this again.

I always knew I was royal....

Thank you, Katie.

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Countess Bethany the Herbaceous of Leg over Wallop Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

I'm posting right now because I'm tired of seeing the same thing every time I open my blog. That, and I haven't posted anything for almost a month.

Unfortunately, I don't have time right now to write anything that makes any sense, so I'll just save that for later, when I'm procrastinating about studying for my German exam.

Pancakes for Dummies

After I got off of work this afternoon, my mother and Patrick took me out for lunch at IHOP. I had been hungry for pancakes for a few days, so I was ridiculously excited by the prospect.

I got a lovely plate of yummy, fluffy, whole wheat pancakes, which I covered in butter. I decided to use syrup, something that I never do. As I was pouring the syrup, I was amazed by how thin it seemed. It splashed all over my plate and soaked right in. As I was eating my pancakes, I was surprised at the lack of sweetness- I had just drenched my pancakes in syrup. I was setting down the jug, thinking, "I like this syrup. I don't like overly-sweet syrup...." when my mother asked me to pass the coffee. I looked around for the coffee, and she pointed it out to me... right in my hand. I tried to explain to her that that was the syrup, but as she was pouring it into her cup, I realized that, yes, it looked much more like coffee than syrup.

We spent several minutes laughing at me.

There are two lessons to be learned from this. The first is that one should always read the labels before one dumps something all over one's food. The second is that coffee tastes pretty good on pancakes.

Up too late, with access to a computer

It turns out that I'm a lazier blogger than even I knew. I have had weeks off of school and haven't managed to write one stinkin' thing in all that time.

On a side note, the break has been wonderful. I enjoyed all our Christmas celebrations, although I have come to the conclusion that I am officially a disenchanted twenty-something type. I discovered this when, upon waking on Christmas morning, my first thought was not, "Ooooh! Presents!" or "Yay! We get to attend another beautiful church service." No, my first thought was more like, "Mmmphrrrrm. Still sleeping."

I worked every morning this last week. The library is finally moving to its amazing new home, and the process started in the Genealogy department on the day after Christmas. I spent 4 hours every morning shifting books from the original set of friendly, smooth, stable shelves to the vicious, nasty, cruel, unsanded-plywood moving shelves. For some reason, no one else seems to have had much of an issue with these beasts. I, however, don't seem to be able to approach them without my hands being savaged.
It could be worse. I am being paid for my trouble, after all.

In honor of the New Year, Patrick and I are watching our favorite Tivo-ed episodes from the past year. I discovered in the course of the evening that Patrick had missed the series finale of Alias last Spring, so we're in the middle of it right now. Jack is dying, Irina deserves to die, and Sark is awesome in his $500 shoes. That was one great show.

Long Day

I'll get the semi-depressing part out of the way first. It would appear that my Spring Break trip to Germany has been cancelled. I got a $250 refund check from the IPFW Continuing Studies dept. (the dept. that works with the travel programs) in the mail today with a note attached saying,"Full Refunds are given if the university cancels a program." Sniffle. Really, though, it is almost a relief. Funds were going to be very tight and I was a little stressed over the cost. Now that I won't be spending every penny I have, I feel quite well off. ;o) My mother is even talking about a family trip to Siesta Key for Spring Break.....That could definitely make up for any suffering.

Andrew and I started this morning much earlier than we would have wished. He and I had to be over at church for Christmas program practice (he's a Wise Guy and I'm the accompanist.) I like to moan and complain to my mother about taking part, but really I enjoy playing for it, even on the dreadful piano in the church basement.

After practice was over and I had wrapped some gifts, we headed down to Anderson for an (early) Christmas get-together with family. My grandparents, and maybe some aunts and uncles, are going to be gone for Christmas, so we had to celebrate a little early.
We got to my grandparent's house a few hours before the festivities were supposed to commence, so my mother and I helped out a little in the kitchen. I got to assist my grandpa in making the beef brisket for dinner... a VERY important job.

Back at Thanksgiving, all the cousins exchanged names to decide who was buying gifts for whom, and so "us kids" had our exchange this evening. Since I'm technically an adult I also got to take part in the adult's gift exchange (the sort where you can steal presents and everyone gets really wild.) I contributed a set of Starbucks demitasse cups and saucers which I fell in love with yesterday (nothing like waiting until the last minute.) My mother scooped them up and was able to hang on to them all evening. I got a gigantic, soft, fluffy, warm fleece blanket which is my new best friend. In fact, we're hanging out together right now.

Speaking of soft and warm, my grandparents got me a cashmere sweater which I am completely in love with. It's a pretty sort of sea-blue and oh-so-soft.

Tomorrow, after church and the Christmas Program, we have the Bach Collegium-sponsored Messiah sing-along, which should be fun.

Finals are OVER!

I am sitting in the library computer lab right now, heaving many sighs of relief. I just finshed my piano final, and before that completed my psychology final.

The piano one went fairly well. I flubbed my way through Mozart's Rondo alla Turca, but they judges decided not to hold my memory problems against me because, "it was a gutsy move to even try to play that piece." (I didn't know I was being gutsy. I just liked the music.) My other two pieces went off beautifully, and I got very high marks. Now I can go back to playing the piano for fun, and maybe even pull out some Christmas music sometime soon.

I now have a month of freedom before me.... a month to get excited about next semester and, most of all, a month to spend NOT thinking about when my next paper is due. Yesssssss.

Now I just have to wait for all of my grades to come back. ;o)

Saturday Photo Hunt

Today's theme is Red.

Grab the Scavenger Hunt code. Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

I just love taking pictures of the flowers at Foster Park, especially the tulips. They have so many "good sides" to get pictures of, and the colors are just fantastic! For some reason, this one always makes me think of a dragon.



I love this picture, which I took while staying in Australia. That's my aunt in the red coat, and my uncle is father up along the path in his red shirt. We were on our way to see some Aboriginal cave paintings (which, incidently, were also red.)

Last day of class!

I just thought that I would share some of my glee. This afternoon I had my last class for the semester. I still have to make it through a few days of finals next week, but actual classes are over. I think that when finals are over I'll throw myself a party.

On Monday I'm getting together with some friends from my honors 20th Century class for some pre-final studying time. We got together before the midterm and it was incredibly helpful. Our professor tends to talk very quickly, and it can be difficult to write down all the necessary points, so meeting to compare and compile notes helps to create a much more cohesive picture. We'll be meeting at a classmate's house and there will be food and coffee, plus a fire in the fireplace. Cozy.

Oooooh! Blog Update!

I just realized that my blog has been sitting there, gathering dust-bunnies since Thanksgiving. The poor thing. I'm sure it has been feeling incredibly neglected, but I do have a good excuse for my desertion. My perfect excuse is that I have had many long, disgusting, boring, school-related papers to write. When I have long, disgusting, boring, school-related papers to write, I find myself completely unable to even contemplate writing for fun.

Perhaps after finals are over next week I'll post more. In fact, I'll make myself post more.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm sitting in my grandparents' living room right now, having chopped **9** cups of celery in preparation for the best stuffing in the entire world. My grandmother's stuffing is legendary.... People start dreaming about it on the day after Thanksgiving and crave it all year. It makes chopping cups and cups of briny water chestnuts bearable.

Photo Scavenger Hunt

Theme today- Plush

Grab the Scavenger Hunt code. Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

This is my little brother, cuddling with his bears Toby Keith and Firebreath. (Yes, those are the names he gave them.)

I changed my mind

I do have the brain power to write something.

I spent the entire day today in my pajamas. I didn't have school, work, or anything responsible to do, so I vegged. In this case, vegging meant entering 336 books into my Library Thing account (that would be Rachel's fault.) It was nice to just relax and waste an entire day. I've been so very useful lately, and it was starting to catch up with me. ;o)

I'm getting ready to start on my final paper for the semester. It's for my 20th Century class, and I'm writing it on government-sponsored eugenics and social engineering. As I'm sure you can guess, it's going to be a very uplifting paper...almost as uplifting as the one I wrote last year on physician-assisted suicide. I honestly don't know what makes me choose such dreadful topics. Maybe I should have a talk with my psychology professor.....

My history class has been really interesting lately, mostly because our discussions keep going off topic, so that when we're supposed to be discussing communist China, we're actually having a philosophical discussion on human rights, which morphs into isolationism v. internationalism, which somehow turns into a discussion of why we hate Wal-Mart (and not for the usual PC reasons.) Somehow, with all of that going on, we still manage to learn about Communist China. And, on one in the class, including the professor, tries to argue in favor of Communism or Socialism

Of course, there are some of the usual flakey people involved in the discussions...the sort who try to tell the class that everyone in America hates the US military, and that all good Americans should move to Australia. Apparently Canada is no longer an option... something about Canadians being too American.

My American history class is quite different. For the two weeks we've had the pleasure of hearing the professor rhapsodize over Johnson's Great Society and whine about the evil Vietnam veterans and all the problems they caused for us. We're talking about Nixon on Tuesday, which should be... interesting.

Because my mother wants me to post...

...and I'm lacking the brain power to actually write something:

In One Word-

1. Yourself: hungry
2. Your spouse: hah!
3. Your hair: up
4. Your mother: dancing
5. Your father: bald (good thing he doesn't read this...)
6. Your favorite item: books!
7. Your dream last night: weird
8. Your favorite drink: water
9. Your dream car: convertible
10. The room you are in: bedroom
11. Your ex: hah!
12. Your fear: failure
13. What you want to be in 10 years? rich.....
14. Who you hung out with last night? my mother
15. What you’re not? energetic
16. Muffins: poppyseed
17. One of your wish list items: horse
18. Time: flying
19. The last thing you did: LibraryThing
20. What you are wearing: pjs
21. Your favorite weather: sunny
22. Your favorite book: Pride and Prejudice (so I can't answer that one in one word...)
23. The last thing you ate: cereal
24. Your life: busy
25. Your mood: cranky
26. Your best friend: my mother (aww)
27. What are you thinking about right now? dinner
28. Your car: hah!
29. What are you doing at the moment? breathing
30. Your summer: short
31. Your relationship status: fine
32. What is on your TV? : movie
33. What is the weather like? cold
34. When is the last time you laughed? just now

New Blog

One of my very favorite people now has a blog, and I am CERTAIN that it will be very interesting when he gets around to posting on it.

Patrick's Gallimaufry is the blog, and if you couldn't guess, it is my weird and wonderful little brother.

This is what your taxes pay for

I am now officially a government employee.

Please, no one disown me.

I started today at my job as a shelver in the genealogy department of our library. I'll be working 10 hours a week, and after my first 5 hour shift, I'm exhausted. My legs and arms are sooo very tired, but they feel good. A few weeks doing this and I'll be in good shape!

So, I may also be the slowest shelver in the history of libraries, taking care of about 175 books in 4 hours. The aim is 100 books an hour. I'll get there...someday...maybe... ;o)

My coworkers seem very friendly and gave me lots of advice and help today.

Oh, and I have a locker. I've never had a locker before....

If you can't tell, I'm tired AND excited, which leads to semi-incoherent writing. Good thing I don't have any papers to write tonight.

When books collide...

This evening, as we were sitting in the family room relaxing, my mother discovered an interesting connection between one of our favorite books and our favorite author.

The book is Katherine, by Anya Seton. It is about Katherine Swynford, the third wife of John of Gaunt and 5th great-grandmother of Henry VIII. One of the lovely things about our copy of this book is that there is a beautiful family tree inside the front cover, showing John's family (Edward III, his brother Richard II, etc) andalso Katherine's.

While perusing this family tree, my mother noticed that Lionel of Antwerp, brother of John and Richard, married an Elizabeth de Burgh. Lemme think. Where have I seen that name before? Hmm.... A little down the line, Katherine's son Thomas, by her first husband (Hugh) married a Miss Margaret Darcy.

And, hey! Katherine's daughter Joan Beaufort married a Sir Robert Ferrers.

As though I didn't have a hard enough time telling my real historical characters from my fictional ones, now Jane Austen names are popping up in real, historical families. :o)

Photo Hunt- Dreaming

Grab the Scavenger Hunt code. Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

I'm posting this is conjunction with my mother's post on the same topic. We both dream of being on the beach on Siesta Key, my favorite place in the entire world. This is a picture of my brothers and me from the last time our family was down there, and as you can tell from the date on the photo, it has been entirely too long!

Planning....

The semester is about half-way over, and 2007 schedules are floating around. This is always the most exciting part of the semester for me, but also the hardest- I just want my current classes to be over with!
Over the weekend I sat down with my schedule book and my mother (both indispensible) and figured out which classes I want to take in the spring. I'll be taking second semester-second year German for sure, Weather and Climate (clouds! storms!), a lovely "Western World Masterpieces" lit. class, Ottoman history, and 20th century British poetry. And THEN....the best part of all.... GER320 "Berlin and Beyond," involving a 10-day trip through Germany over Spring Break! I'm so excited!

I've almost decided to try for an English minor, and depending on how the classes fall, a double History/English major. The classes just look sooooo yummy. I'm just crushed that the Elizabethan Poetry class conflicts with the classes I need next semester....But maybe next year.

Or maybe I'll just stay in school for a really long time.....

Photo Hunt

Today's theme: Sleeping

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Another picture of my killer Callie-Cat. This time, she has shoved all my music boxes out of the way, and is sleeping on a shelf....safe from the other cat. (Incidently, she had just come out of the rain and was soaking wet. Just what I wanted. ;o) )

Next Week's theme is "Lost."

Next week:

As anyone who knows me well can tell you, I am not a "math person." I don't enjoy math, which I find boring and, in many cases, irrelevant to my life. As such, I was not looking forward to taking a math class this semester, even one as nonthreatening-sounding as "Math for the Liberal Arts Student."

To my very great surprise, I have been getting perfect grades in this class. In fact, I've been getting perfect grades without even needing to study all that much. This has been freaking me out more than a little bit.

Today, at the end of class, the professor suggested that the class share phone numbers, so that we can call each other to conferr on our homework assignments. She finshed by saying, "...and this does NOT mean that you can all take down Bethany's number and call her to find out the correct answers...."

:cue Twilight Zone music:

I am the smarty-pants in math class? Did someone swap my brain? Has my psychology professor been doing covert experiments on me? Anyway, it is WEIRD.

Saturday Photo Hunt

Today's theme is "comfy."

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This is my darling little brother getting comfy in his jammies (and hamming for the camera!)

Next week's theme is "sleeping."

Fridays are the Best Days

School is over for the week(end), and even if I have some studying to do, it is much more comfortable to do that studying on our very comfy couch, rather than in some squished chair of questionable cleanliness over on campus!

This afternoon we took a drive down south of Fort Wayne. We stopped at an apple orchard in Ossian and picked up a bushel or so of apples. Half of them were from the seconds heap and are destined to become applesauce. The other half are for eating, and I can't wait to try them.

From Ossian, we took off through the country toward Decatur. It was beautiful day, and the soybean fields are at their most lovely- all golden and glowing. Since we weren't really in a hurry, I had my mother stop so that I could get out and take some pictures. I loved getting to walk around out there, even if it was only for 50 ft or so. The grass was full of grasshoppers, so that every time I took a step they would hop all over my feet. There were also lots of great wooly caterpillars along the sides of the road, and their "fur" was looking pretty thick....Cold winter coming? I hope not.

This spot in particular caught my attention. The fields were such a bright gold, and the grass is still so green. And the clouds! I love clouds.

We stopped to visit with my great-grandma for a little bit before we came home. She was very happy to have visitors, and chatted a great deal. Grandpa even woke up for the entirely of our visit, and was able to recognize us. My mother is planning another visit, after we get Patrick back from our grandparents, who kidnapped him Wednesday.

Photo Hunt

So, I'm a little late getting my picture up today, but I've been out of the house all morning.

Today's theme is "Eyes"

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This is, of course, the Mighty Huntress Callie-Cat. She doesn't like this picture very much- she thinks it makes her nose look big.

Indolence in Blogging

I really really haven't felt like writing anything recently, even though there were a multitude of topics I could have covered. Perhaps it is because writing has once again become something I do for school- something I try to get through as quickly as possible. If so, that phase shouldn't last long. Within a few weeks I should feel like writing again, if only to complain. :o)

Ok: my current excuse for not writing anything of substance is that I am dead tired. I woke up at 6:00 this morning, and spent the entire day on campus. I held my eyes open through 6 straight hours of class, and tried desperately not to fall asleep while studying for a couple hours. I thenNow

Now I have four days to relax, write a history paper, study for a few tests.....

Photo Scavenger Hunt

Today's theme... "Looking Up"

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One of my personal favorites (of which I seem to have quite a few), I took this one in April. The bulbs were all blooming at Foster Park, which always makes for good pictures. This one I took from the middle of a tulip bed, looking up.

Pride and Prejudice Humor

Teeheehee.

It's really painfully stupid, but sometimes stupid is just funny.

Miss Bingley: "You write uncommonly fast Mr. Darcy."
Mr. Darcy: "Of course I do, I have a light saber! Get out of my way.

Saturday Photo

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These giraffes, at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, are enjoying a late-morning snack. And everyone else is enjoying watching them!

And I thought I was unique...

While poking around and spying on everyone who visits my blog, I discovered that my blog had come up on a Google search for "bethany beppy." That in itself wasn't surprising.... What WAS surprising was that I came up 6th. Apparently, I am not the only Bethany nicknamed "Beppy."

Bummer.

Photo Scavenger Hunt

The photo theme for this Saturday is "On the Road."

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This is my favorite "road" picture. I took it at the top of a mountain, just outside Akaroa, NZ. To the right and left are sheep pastures, and that stretch of blue out there is the Pacific. This photo brings back memories of total silence and a very peaceful stillness. It was the first time I can remember where there were no man-made noises to be heard, just the wind and the rustling grass.

Next Saturday: Food (hahaha!)

Book Tag

Apparently I have been tagged by my mother, and also by Not Worthy. I like this one...anything that requires talking about books sounds good to me!

1. One book that changed your life: I'm going to be like my mother and not give the obvious answer (The Bible.) I think I'll have to say Anne of Green Gables. It is largely responsible for making me a goofy, overly-romantic, poetry-reading, girly girl, prone to fits of nostalgia. ;o)

2. One book you've read more than once: Ha! One book.... I'll say Pride and Prjudice, since I've read it more than any other (probably 15-16 times)

3. One book you'd want on a desert island: The Bible

4. One book that made you laugh: Most books make me laugh, at some point. I'll agree with my mother and say Life with Jeeves

5. One book that made you cry: The first book that made me cry was Little Women. I also cry when I read depressing books like The House of Mirth

6. One book that you wish had been written: Time Travel for Dummies

7. One book that you wish had never been written: The Koran

8. One book you're currently reading: In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson

9. One book you've been meaning to read: War and Peace (if I ever find time!!!)

10. Scariest book you've ever read: Oooooooooooooooooooooooh.... Thunderhead, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. That book was terrifying. Anything that involves witchcraft-ish activities scares me. A close runner-up would be Relic, by the same authors.



Who to tag, who to tag.... Rachael, Katie, and Lynea, and anyone else who wants to do it.

Here it is...the finished project, under construction for just about a month and now FINISHED.

This was my first real knitting project, since I don't count misshapen doll-scarves as anything real. :o)

Now that I am done with the blanket, I can get on to my next, slightly less challenging project- making scarves for allllll my little girl cousins!

Photo Scavenger Hunt

I decided to join the photo scavenger-hunt blog, just like my mother. :o) The theme for today is "Blue."

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This was the tent at Katie and Nathan's wedding reception. I liked the blue and white-ness, which reminded me of the Greek flag. Not that that has anything to do with anything....

Sigh.

School is starting in the morning for me. I've been looking forward to the start of school for weeks, but now that it is actually here, I'm wishing that todday could drag on and on! It doesn't help that the weather has been completely gorgeous for the last few days, and I spent the entire afternoon sitting outside and reading. After a nice relaxing day like this, 4 months of papers, german homework, and actually doing (gasp) math just doesn't sound appealing.

I know that by tomorrow evening, once I have my syllabi in hand and have seen some of my school friends I'll be happier about the whole thing.

Now, I'm going to go watch a movie with Andrew and enjoy my last day of complete freedom for the summer.

I am officially a wimp...

...I suspected as much before, but it has been proven.

One of the problems with having all my boys out of the country for more than a week, is that the grass does not stop growing in their absence. The lawn needed to be mowed the day before the guys left, and Patrick "forgot" to do it. It's been several days now, and our lawn is decidedly scraggley.

My mother and I decided that it would make sense for me to just buck up and do some physical labor, rather than paying someone else to come do the lawn. We knew that the job would be difficult. Our mower used to be self-propelled, but at some point that function disappeared, leaving us with an extra-heavy push-mower. I, however, didn't grow up with three brothers for nothing, so I headed outside this morning, thinking to myself, "If they can do it, I can do it."

I have been disillusioned.

I made it through about 1/5 of our yard before giving up, my wrists aching and my head about to pop. I came stumbling into the house, and my mother decided that it was time to give up and call someone else. Now, I am sitting in a comfy chair, freshly showered and wearing my girly-girliest skirt, with a new appreciation of Patrick, who has to wrestle with that mower on a regular basis.

Oh. Canada.

For the next 9 days, our house will be guy-free. (With the exception of the he-cat, Ben.) My father and brothers left at 6:30 this morning for their annual fishing trip in Canada.

My littlest brother Andrew is going for the first time this year, and he was thrilled to be going. He gets to be one of "the men" for a week, and the fact that there will be no bathing all week is just gravy. (Smelly gravy, if you ask me.) What I don't think he realized is that this week also entails hours and hours in a dirty boat, waiting for the silly little fishies to bite. He also doesn't comprehend the idea of "no running water" or "spider-infested outhouse." The darling little arachnophobe may have a nervous breakdown. Or, he might just find that he enjoys being a filthy little hooligan.

Patrick, who has gone every year since he was 7, is completely aware of what a week at the cabin entails. He spent the last week detailing for me so that, even though I have never gone and never will go, I have a rough idea of what he was facing. I don't think he was looking forward to his week in the wild. He's the sort of civilized person who thinks that fish is best when served as part of sushi, and that his sister is better company than giant mosquitos.

The person who this trip really suits is Jonathan. Not bathing, sitting around doing nothing, and being generally uncivilized fit him better. He's more the typical young ruffian. He likes spitting and urinating out of doors.

They all, however, were looking forward to spending a full week of uninterrupted time with our father, away from his usual concerns.

And, as for my mother and I, we are enjoying our girl time. Today was spent shopping, eating out, and seeing Pirates of the Caribbean once again. I know she misses the boys already, and I'm sure that, by next Sunday, I'll be ready to see them too. Just as soon as they have showered.

This is what happens when I have too much time on my hands and a nice camera.

Those of you who were at The Wedding (;o)) might recognize the picture on the left. I guess I just couldn't leave it alone.

Dr. Pepper gets a makeover.

So I'm a shoe freak...

...but if you've ever met me you probably already knew that.

Here are my two new favorite pairs, purchased on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.


They're actually much less painful than they look, although they do make really good weapons.

I am a bad blogger. I haven't felt like writing anything for quite a while, so I...haven't.

We got home yesterday from our trip to Turkey Run state park in the west-central part of Indiana. We went with a group from our church and met up with Pastor Fickel's group from Chesterton and Pastor Foy from Valparaiso (and his children.)

We sang Matins and Vespers daily, as well as some great bible study time with Pastors Petersen, Fickel, and Foy. My mother was in charge of cooking, and armed with a cast iron skillet and dutch oven, an aluminum camp pot, and a charcoal grill, she was able to concoct yummy and filling meals for 30+ people with very little left over afterwards.

The park is lovely, and we were able to enjoy the scenery on our first day. We went on a hike through the woods, along Sugar Creek, and through ravines and gorges. Being the nervous older-sister type that I am, I was very watchful of the younger children we had hiking with us. I know they wouldn't have been allowed to come were the trail not safe enough for them, but I still worried and held little hands whenever I could.

On Thursday we took a short canoe trip down Sugar Creek. It was easy going, and the scenery was beautiful, so it was a very relaxing way to spend a few hours. We stopped halfway for a picnic lunch on the beach. The food went quickly, so we spent the rest of our onshore time skipping rocks across the creek. I found a couple of interesting rocks that I kept, and also a piece of beach glass that I strongly suspect was once part of a beer bottle.

I finally got a tan, after a whole summer of being a glowing, brilliant, shining white. I look much healthier now, and not so much like something that just climbed out of a cave.

Thursday evening we played games in the common room of the inn. Mrs. Fickel, Mrs. Petersen, my mother, Thomas, and I played dominos for the longest time, although it might have gone more quickly if we hadn't been laughing so hard. It was Pastor Fickel's fault. (Incidently, I don't think I'll be able to read anything about Mr. Darcy for a few weeks now. It will conjure all the wrong pictures.)

On Friday we went horseback riding, something I had been looking forward to for months.
My horse was a large brown mare named Grace, although I'm not certain how deserved that name really was. The trail we took was about four miles long, and snaked through the woods. I enjoyed my ride, but found myself very envious of our guides who continuously cantered their horses back and forth next to us. A walking horse is well and good, but I was dying to let loose and run with Grace.

Force-fed Football?

Second post in a matter of minutes, but oh well. I thought of something to write/rant about.

I am so tired of hearing people complain about the World Cup being "shoved down their throat." When last I checked, I don't think that FIFA, ESPN, or ABC were forcing people to watch games at gun-point. If there has been a big deal made about it, it's because the World Cup is a big deal. It is an international event, with a far greater audience and wider fan base than any American sport or even the Olympics. Yet one never hears anyone accusing the networks of "force-feeding" us golfing tournaments.

One of my favorite radio personalities, Mark Belling, filled in on Rush's show this afternoon. He was driving me a little nuts. He kept saying that he "got" soccer and still found it boring and lacking any sort of strategy. It seemed to me that he was mistaking a knowledge of the rules of the game for an understanding of the game. I know the rules of golf, American football, baseball, NASCAR, and hockey, but I don't "get" any of them. I know how one would score in a game of American football, but the strategies and intricacies of the game are completely lost on me, and so I find the game incredibly dull. Having played and watched soccer for most of my life, however, I can see all of the finer points which are, apparently, lost on most of the American public.

I miss having World Cup games to watch already. I'm glad our satellite provider carries Fox Soccer Network and Telemundo so I can still get my FOOTBALL fix. ;o)

Incidently, Italy stinks, even if they are good-looking. Frace totally should have won....

Where I've been

We had the pleasure of seeing Uncle Sean and Aunt Anne-Nicole last week; a pleasure that was far too short-lived.

Our family drove over to Plymouth (IN) on the 4th, where we visited with my grandparents; aunt, uncle, and adorable cousins from South Bend; bummy Uncle Scott the Golf Pro; and, of course, "the foreigners." We hung out, had a go at just about everything, and played a few rousing games of bocce ball.

My mom drove us over again on Friday for another visit, and they came over to Fort Wayne the next day. My mother and I fixed a splendid brunch for our visitors (omlettes, lox, several different baked goods, homemade granola & yogurt....mmmmmmmmmm.) After we had finished eating, we all sat down and watched the World Cup semifinal- France v. Portugal game- cheering on France.

Uncle Sean and Aunt Anne had to leave far too soon (to me, at least) and go visit other family members. I know the time will go quickly between now and when we see them next, but as of right now, it seems like an eternity.

He's just a chick magnet

Comments directed (or screamed, rather) at Patrick by some girl, who happened to be driving past as we were out walking with our mother:

"I love you, boy. Get used to it. This thing happens. It's love at first sight. You'll love me in a week."

I very nearly fell over laughing after that. His face was ABSOLUTELY priceless. I'm not sure he'll ever hear the end of that one.

Nice cart!

I'd like to say at the outset that this is not meant to be a slight to all teenage boys. If you are one of the many intelligent guys I know, this probably doesn't apply. But honestly. Some of you are idiots.

I was at a golf course yesterday where my mother was doing a presentation. Since it was a beautiful evening, I spent most of it sitting outside in the car with the windows rolled down, reading. I just happened to be parked near the golf cart cleaning station, and this particular golf course appeared to be staffed almost entirely by guys between the ages of 16 and 23.

After about 10 minutes, I noticed that the path the carts were taking had changed, from running behind the car to running right in front of the car.... Then, the guys started really gunning the engines just as they got in front of me.... Then, they started squealing their tires. When they reached the station, they would climb out, swagger a little, and look over at me.

Yeah, they were really hot stuff. In their golf-carts.

I know I'm heartless and mean, but I just laughed at them.

I'm having anger issues this afternoon. The object of my frustration and ire? Ignorant people- racists in particular. Racism is one attitude I have never been able to understand, especially in today's world.

We have a neighbor who in most ways is a lovely person. When she discovered that we are considering moving to an urban neighborhood here in town, however, she was very concerned, and wondered if we really want to live there. What she meant is that there are non-whites in that area and we couldn't possibly want to live around anyone who isn't white. Give me a break.

We've also gotten this reaction from some extended family members. They make cryptic remarks about how "dark" the south side of Fort Wayne is. This is coming from otherwise intelligent, sophisticated people of whom one would expect more.

It's not just interracial-racism either. While Jesse Jackson and his ilk have certainly directed their vitriol against whites, they are also prime examples of how members of the same ethnic or "racial" group can propagate the very stereotypes they claim to rail against. Every time someone refers to a woman like Condoleeza Rice as a sell-out or traitor, they contribute to the idea that all real black people (and women in particular) are downtrodden, unsuccessful, and incapable of helping themselves without selling their souls. Apparently, if a black person wants to "make it" they need the help of their benevolent and caring government. I find the entire idea completely odious.

So that's my rant for the day (week, month, whatever.)

WOOHOO

We have wireless! After months and months of having a useless router sitting upstairs gathering dust, everything is connected. A HUGE thank you to Pastor Gehlbach who helped my father get things figured out.

Oh yeah, Gehlbachs are here today. They are on their way home from vacation and, on their way through, they came to visit and go to church at Redeemer this morning.

Because some happenings are too weird not to share

Have you ever heard of anyone being attacked by chipmunks? You know, the cute little furry things that run around parks, dig into flowerbeds, or sometimes raid birdfeeders? They're harmless....aren't they?

I was attacked by chipmunks.

I don't know why it happened. I was just outside yesterday evening, crouched in the garden, tending to my roses, when I heard a skittering-chirping sound rushing across the street and up the driveway. I looked over my shoulder just in time to see two chipmunks rocketing toward my bare feet. I was very startled, so I screamed, and started waving my skirts around at them. They must have decided I was too much for them to handle because, after charging my feet, they circled around and headed back across the street.

Andrew thought that this was the coolest thing he had ever heard, after being assured that I hadn't caught any diseases by being in close proximity to the little darlings.
I can't decide if being attacked by chipmunks qualifies as cool, weird, or just pathetic.

This is probably my favorite photo that I have ever taken. The angelic-looking girlie is my little cousin Gabrielle. I snapped it this afternoon while at Jonathan's belated 13th birthday picnic at Mounds State Park.

Feeling USEFUL

(Be prepared- I've been shut away from all human companionship since 6:30 and as a result, I am feeling....chatty.)

I have been lamenting the paucity of tasteful sun-dresses this season. Despite the fact that they are supposed to be very "in," it is incredibly difficult to find a dress that is neither skanky nor frumpy. Anything I have found that looks cute initially tend to end up being waaaay too short/tight or just plain transparent.

In order to solve my problem I've resorted to desperate measures. I'm FINALLY teaching myself to sew. This is a skill I've been wishing for as long as I can remember, but never had the time or the patience or the plain ol' will to practice. So. On Monday I pulled the sewing machine out of the basement, dug the box of fabric out from its cob-webby dungeon, and took over the kitchen table. I started off just cutting up pieces of old fabric and sewing them back together. I probably did that for 3 hours that day, just trying to get the feel of the machine and getting closer and closer to perfectly straight seams.

My mother and I went out to the fabric store, where we picked up several patterns. One is a very simple, straight sleeveless dress. The other is slightly more complicated, and involves a full, swirly skirt. I had such a good time picking outfabrics (blue tropical print for one and brown/cream Eiffel Towers and Poodles for the other. ;o))

I've been too scared to cut into my lovely fabrics yet, so I spent most of yesterday and today making an apron which I started last November. I've been feeling a great sense of accomplishment ever since I finished it. It's a little large for anyone but Patrick (here seen modeling said apron) despite the fact that the pattern said "SMALL," but it is well-made and my seams are very neat and straight.

Sewing isn't all I did today. After getting home from my work-out with my mother, and before changing out of my grubby work-out clothes, I had a serious job to attend to.

We have 4 gorgeous rose bushes on the side of our house, one of which reverted to its pre-hybrid self and went wild this year.
It has been producing myriad brilliant pink blooms, and seems to want to climb up the side of our house. My (self-chosen) job has been taking care of the roses, pruning and dead-heading them whenever they need it. I was doing my rounds last night when I discovered that in the last week my darling roses had been taken over by a fungus, which was spreading black splotches across all the leaves, which would then fall off at the slightest touch.

Having diagnosed the problem with the help of my trusty garden manual, I turned into a rose-doctor this afternoon. I removed the diseased limbs ( I love saying that) and CLEANED the bed....literally. All the mulch, leaves, and old flowers left and the entire area, including the bushes themselves, got a soaking of anti-fungal Sol-U-Mel. My brothers were none to pleased with this process, as they were drafted into service and had to clean up after my ministrations. (This included picking little pieces of moldy, centipede-ridden mulch out of the grass. Sorry boys.)
My poor little rose bushes are considerably smaller now than they were when I set out this morning, but they should at least survive to bloom again.

I FINALLY realized that there is an easy way to post pictures to my blog! That took long enough. Too bad I didn't discover it while I was on vacation!

Anyway, in lieu of a nice, interesting post, I'm sticking these photos up. I think I got spoiled by always having something interesting to share...suddenly I can't think of anything to write about that anyone might possibly be interested in.

I took these a few days ago, in our backyard. It was one of those perfect, warm, bright days where any excuse to be outside was welcome.

recovering

I seem to be well on my way to full recovery from my trip. I've gotten a few good nights of sleep, and have been outside enjoying the sunshine. Today we went out for lunch at Coney Island, and after that, to see a movie.

I admit...I'm not overly thrilled to be home. I'm incredibly gald to have my mother and father and brothers around, but I don't think I've ever been glad to be home after a trip. I'm sure that after a while I'll sink back into normal life here and everything will be comfortable again, but right now I'm feeling slightly disconnected.

I'm afraid I haven't stopped talking since I got home. (For all I know I've even been talking in my sleep.) Any time now my mother is going to get tired of hearing, "Oh, and Uncle Sean did..." and "Anne-Nicole said that..."

Home Again

My trip home was not nearly as pleasant as my trip over. Apart from the usual end-of-vacation let down, I had the sort of flight that makes people swear off air travel.

It started when, as I was getting situated in my seat on the plane, I saw a very hefty woman walking down the aisle. There were tons of seats left, so I figured the chances of her sitting anywhere near me were slim. Huh. Slim or not, she ended up having the seat right next to me. She also had a terrible cold and (I suspect) hadn't showered very recently.

I was ok for a while, but I realized the full extent of my problem when I tried to get to sleep. I wasn't able to get in more than an hour in the full 32 hours I was traveling.

When I FINALLY got to LAX, I wasn't able to find my tickets for my next flight. I spent 30 minutes sobbing to my mother over the phone before I discovered that the lining of my purse had split and my tickets were hiding inside. After that little mishap, the trip went very smoothly. I only sat by nice, well-groomed, relatively small people.

My whole family was waiting for me in Indianapolis when I got there, as well as my cousin Kate. My brothers charmed the other people waiting there by being exceedingly sweet and mobbing me as soon as I was through the gate. We drove all the way home, and were back in Fort Wayne by 2:15...am.

Maybe when I'm feeling slightly more capable of abstract thought I'll say something about the trip as a whole. Right now, I just need coffee.

Saturday: LAST full day

We had another cold day today. This time, we took off up the coast north of Sydney. The surf was at 6 ft. (that means, in the water, you get a 12 ft. wall of water rushing at you) and we went out to the beaches to watched the idiot surfers get pounded. We sat in the car, all snug and warm and Uncle Sean gave a running commentary on the waves, and we oohed and ahhed over the size and power of them.

Eventually we had enough of the cold and wind of the coast, so we headed back down toward the city into Chatswood, the home of several malls and many many stores. We shopped for a little while and drank some coffee before heading back home. Anne-Nicole took a nap, Uncle Sean went for a swim (crazy man), and I finished packing.

Tonight, we went out for dinner with Uncle Sean and Aunt Anne's friends Graham and Janelle (sp?). First we went out for drinks at a pub, followed by dinner a Vietnamese place. Both were in Newtown, a rather coloful/seedy area of Sydney. (Colorful meaning even the old men had blue hair and nose rings.) Dinner was wonderful, and afterwards we went out for more coffee and dessert-Uncle Sean and I split a huge piece of heavenly chocolate cake.

After we got back from our night out we hada calm evening in the nice, warm family room. Uncle Sean broke down and watched P&P with us and wasn't even annoying! One thing I found very peculiar is that there is a different ending in the Australian version. It just doesn't include the last 10 minutes or so of the film. Very disturbing..... We found the REAL end eventually, in the bonus features menu.

I'm leaving tomorrow. I can't believe my 3 1/2 weeks are gone. I spent most of the day today trying not to think about it, but I couldn't help it. My brain was going about a million miles an hour, concocting all manner of dramatic scenarios and story lines about leaving, how the cats will miss me (yeah right ;o)), how empty my room here will be....just generally being quite silly. But them, that's me. Apart from the fact that I get to see my parents and brothers again-little thing that that is ;o) - the thing that is making everything much easier is that I'll get to see Uncle Sean and Aunt Anne in less than a month when they come over to Indiana. I already can't wait!

Now, I'm going to go to my room and get ready for bed, have a good cry, and get a good night's sleep so I'll be perky and cheerful tomorrow.....

Friday: Manly when it rains

Yesterday, I made the wonderful decision that, despite the low-hanging clouds and cutting wind, I was going to the beach! Brilliant, right? I figured that since it was my next-to-last full day here, I should see Manly one more time.

I took a ferry over to Circular Quay, and then caught the 11:00 Manly Ferry with abt. 100 other crazy people. The trip over was a little choppy, even in the harbor, but I spent the entire half an hour with my nose buried in my book, so I hardly noticed.

I got to the beach absolutely famished (those ferry rides can do that to you...;oP) so I quickly found a relatively cheap Indian restaurant where I was able to get a platter of nice, warm curry and rice. I ate outside with the seagulls who, oddly enough, were not the slightest bit interested in my food. Silly birds- I guess they just don't know what they're missing.

After lunch I walked down by the water for a little while, taking pictures and people watching. The beach and the ocean looked completely different this time around. The water, instead of glowing turquoise and shimmering, was a wonderful milky-looking blue, eventually changing to iron grey. The sand looked like suede- a light tan color and very soft.

After I felt that I had more than enough sand in my shoes, I went back up to the promenade and found a bench. Before too very long I was joined by an elderly man eating a slice of pizza. Or perhaps "eating" is an exaggeration. He took about 4 bites, and proceeded to feed the rest of the pizza to the pigeons. The seagulls wanted a piece of that action, but the man was determined that the seagulls wouldn't get anything from him. Any time they got close, he would swat them away. Everytime he gave a crumb to one of the legion of pigeons gathered around him, he would break out into a lovely, beatific smile.

When the pizza was gone, the old man left. His spot on the bench was soon filled by two punks who amused themselves by kicking at all the remaining pigeons, and cursing when they missed (which was very often....I was glad for the birds sake, but my ears weren't so happy.)

Eventually I just got too cold sitting out by the water, so I moved into the Corso, an open shopping area that stretches from the wharf on one side to the beach on the other. I found a bookshop filled with good browsing material (albeit a little out of my pricerange at the time) which was, above all else, WARM. When I came out of the store it was beginning to sprinkle, so I high-tailed it over to the bus station, where I immediately caught a bus back to Cremorne.

When I got off, it was pouring. Thank goodness I had had at least a little sense when I left the house, and there was an umbrella in my backpack. I stopped in at the bakery on my way home and picked up a lamington, by way of apology to myself for getting stuck in the rain. (So it's a terrible excuse. I just wanted a lamington.)

When I got back, Anne-Nicole was waiting for me with a cup of hot tea and the heaters cranked up.

The weather continued to be nasty the rest of the day, making us decide that maybe going out for dinner wasn't the best plan in the world. We ended up running to the newly opened Woolworths (grocery) and picking up some gourmet-type snacky foods (brie and soft bleu cheeses, french bread, smoked trout, pate.) We ate a lovely, light dinner by candlelight while watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. (Our other option was Pride and Prejudice, but I'm not sure I could take watching it with Uncle Sean. That's one movie I take waaaaay too seriously.)

Wednesday and Thursday

Yesterday was my lazy day. I basically sat on my rear all day and watched movies. I was very popular with Calvin and Hobbes (the cats) who think that people are just big cat warmers, and a stationary person is their favorite sort of person.

Today I didn't feel like doing much either, but Uncle Sean made me a cappucino and after that I at least had the energy to leave the house. It's amazing what a little coffee can do for a person.

I took the ferry into town for some shopping. I started off in The Rocks, which apart from being really neat to look at, houses some great shops. Not that I bought anything at those great shops. Louis Vuitton, Coach, and Gucci are all a little out of my price-range! I did find a really great little bookshop where I purchased a book of Australian children's stories and poems. I'm not sure exactly who it's going to yet. Some lucky kid.

I made my way from The Rocks, up George St. to the Queen Victoria Building, a gorgeous old Romanesque building, complete with a Grand Staircase and lovely stained glass windows. Apart from being absolutely spectacular in itself, it also houses some really great stores. Many of them were out of my price-range as well (Dolce and Gabbana, anyone?), but I found several really wonderful stores with just what I was looking for.

By the time I got out, it was growing dark, so I speed-walked my way back down to Circular Quay to catch a ferry back to Cremorne. The sun was setting when I reached the water, and the white "sails" of the Opera House were reflecting the sunset, and glowing a brilliant rose. The water's edge was lined with people, both tourists and locals, trying to catch a photo of it. I took a picture, but it didn't come anywhere close to capturing the radiance of the light.

Uncle Sean is going to be playing badminton tonight, so Anne-Nicole and I are going to watch a movie, whether at the cinema or here, we have yet to decide.