Should be studying...

Ugghh. Two finals tomorrow. It's already after 11 PM. I've been gone from my duplex since 10:30 this morning, and I've been in the music building since 2. (made a quick trip across the street to acquire food and brought it back with me.) I sat in a practice room for literally 3 hours. Not practicing, I don't need to do that. But I was using the piano to work on learning the leadline for the first movement of Beethoven's first symphony. Yeah, that's right, I have to sing the leadline to the first movement while conducting and cuing an invisible orchestra in front of my professor for my final tomorrow. So yeah, I was in the practice room working on that and marking up my score, but kept getting distracted and played the piano instead. Now I'm blogging instead of focusing on my studying. This is so frustrating. I studied my German (for my other final tomorrow) a little bit while I was at work, but not terrible much. I also studied it a little bit before I locked myself away in the practice room. But I keep ending up on the piano, or online *ahem* or writing completely unrelated stuff. But I still have some final details to add to my score analysis and need to study for German. Sad thing is, I just don't care at all right now. Rather burnt out. But I have determined to stay here until 1 (AM), then maybe study a bit more before going to bed. Then rise and shine early in the morning to refresh the German before taking the final. Blah. I also need to pack..... but I have a final on Thursday I'll need to prepare for after my two tomorrow. But I'm flying home right after my Thursday final. Too much to doooo!!!!

Ok, now that I've wasted some time on that, have to revise stuff with my score and add to it for a while (whilst waiting for midnight to arrive so that I can be the first to wish a friend happy birthday), then focus on German for an hour. Then a walk in the extreme cold back to my duplex, more studying for a little while, bed, early rise to study more, then the two finals. Whoop! Or not.....

Life can be such a pain.

Why is it that the one thing you really need to do is the one thing you want most not to do? Why is it that the more you realize the need to do that thing the more you try desperately to avoid it? It seems that for every small step towards it is matched by another step away, and I'm just not really getting anywhere. Uncertain, hesitant, increasingly frustrated and frayed. Moody and tired of wearing a mask, but the mask is my safety, I can't give it up.

Thanksgiving with the fam!

I decided to surprise my family for Thanksgiving, and I'm so very glad I did! I haven't been home for Thanksgiving in three years. Last year I went to my best friend's house for Thanksgiving, and the year before I visited with my sister at her school. But this year, one of my friends at school, whom I have known since before college days, has a car now and we decided to roadtrip all the way from Indiana back to Connecticut for break. Of course.... hehe, I decided to do so without telling my family. I've been looking forward to this since the spring, when I started planning! It was such a long trip, even though we broke it up into two days. (we left Tuesday late afternoon, went as far as Pittsburgh, where we spent the night at a friend's place, then completed the journey on Wednesday.) But going back..... ugh.... we will drive the whole way in one long haul. Sunday is going to be the longest day of my life. But, anyway, it was so worth it to surprise my family! I wish I had thought to video-tape their responses when they first saw me! Oh it was so amazing! But the time is going by so fast, which depresses me. :(

But I don't want to think about that. Instead, I shall write about the good thingss of this break.

I am home! I am with my family, got to see most of my immediate family, and visited with my childhood best friend! I ate wonderful food and have continued to eat good food since then :) I have relaxed, finished a project, played DDR, and SLEPT!

It's been just enough of a break to make me want more. Like a teaser. I only get a few days, then I have to go back..... but soon enough, I'll get a nice long Christmas break! Can't wait!!!

But ok, this is just a very random, rather disconnected post, which I shall end now.

Busy busy busy.... here comes my recital!

So this will be brief, as I am only on lunch break between classes.

Life is soo busy, and especially this week. But Thanksgiving is almost here, and before you know it, the semester will be over! Yesss! The past couple weeks I've been averaging 5-6 hours of sleep a night, and it's starting to tell. I feel myself fraying around the edges, constantly worn out, and now I think I'm getting sick. Not good. Friday is my Junior recital, and I would really like to be healthy and rested for it. Problem is, Friday morning I have a test in German.... normally I will stay up till 1:30 or 2 studying the night before, then get up again at 7 to study some more before work. Can't do that this week, must sleep before the recital. I'm feeling pretty good about the recital itself, I'm prepared and surprisingly, not nervous. I just have to somehow manage to get through everything I have before that point in time.... but beyond all the crap that I don't want to think about, I'm really excited about my recital! I've never felt so secure and prepared on my music before! I have a lot of friends coming, including many wonderful people from the community, and many of my knitting group ladies are taking the place of my family (who won't be able to make it, too far away), and providing the reception. I have such amazing friends. :) Oh, and I get to wear a lovely dress. Always a nice thing. Problem is, I have to find shoes.... hate shoes. I always play barefoot, but I can't give my recital barefoot, unfortunately. So.... I am attempting to locate a pair of silver flats of some sort.... ugh. Maybe I will post some pictures here after the recital.... maybe. Depends on how good they turn out.

Alright, must clean up from lunch and prepare to head out for class again. I just felt like posting something, since I haven't in a while.

Home! (with a touch of sadness)

For the first time in my college career, I went home for my fall break! Or for that matter, for the first time in my college career I went home at all during fall semester! Freshman and Sophomore years (and yes, I do say FreshMAN, don't give me any of that "politically correct" crap, I don't care! Sheesh, we are mankind!) I did not go home until Christmas break. Now granted, Freshman year I visited my sister out in Chicago once during the semester and stayed with her for Thanksgiving, but still, for my very first semester at college, I did not go home. Last year I spent fall break at a friend's house and spent Thanksgiving with my best friend. This year, finally, I went home. Gosh did (do) I ever need home!

I've underestimated how much home means to me. As a freshman, I thought I was so independent, that I wanted to get away from home for a while and would be just fine without my family and everyone else. At the end of first semester, just a couple weeks before heading home, I was hit by a long put-off wave of homesickness that strangely enough hit even harder when I actually was home. It was just seeing my Daddy's huge smile at the airport, being swept up into his big, loving hug, feeling his whiskery kiss on my forehead (from his new growth of what I call his Grandpa Beard), and the way he took my hand as we walked around waiting for my luggage. Just that overwhelmed me with a sense of all that I missed. And then going home to where my siblings where, having stayed up late to see me, I couldn't believe how much I missed them even as I saw them.

Even though that showed me how much I loved and missed my family, I still viewed myself as independent. I did go home for Spring break and the summer, but did not go home at all during the following Fall Semester. That time my sister was no longer going to school the next state over so I couldn't even go visit her a couple times like I did freshman year. Staying at school that whole time was a pretty stupid decision. But then what did I do? I went home for Spring break, but then spent the entire summer at school! Dumb reasons that I regret now, but there were some good things that came out of it.

Now I have finally learned from all my mistakes. I finally realize the value of home and all that it means to me, and I finally went home for break. But now as for why there's sadness. I've realized lately that when I left home for college, I truly left home. Anytime I go back now, it's to visit. I'm not just going to college as a temporary thing, then just go back home when I've finished. At that point, I will only "visit" home again before grad school, visit home on breaks, then after I graduate from there I will need a home and a job of my own. I wish things didn't have to change like that. I just want to go home and stay home with my family. But even that changes. My two older siblings are married and out of the house now. My brother is in school and will leave the house once he graduates. My sister will graduate HS when I graduate college, and will therefore head out somewhere for school. (The youngest brother still has a ways to go.)

Life changes, and I'm not so sure I like it. But I'm going to do my best to enjoy the time I have left with my family and make the most of it.

Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Plan me no plans, I'm in no rush.

So it seems that everyone wants to play matchmaker for Rachel right now. ??? *sigh*

Rachel has become immersed in the Greencastle culture and community since she spent all her summer here and really got to know the people. She now has many wonderful friends in the community (adults, she loves adults), that she has various activities, concerts, rehearsals, meetings, and church with. So now what happens to her? The women take deep interest in her personal life and ask her about relationships, some even going so far as to hint at particular people and try to set her up. Bah. Rachel doesn't need or want that right now. She is just too busy, not ready for all that, and is actually pretty happy with life right now. (plus she is going on for several more years of schooling after she graduates in '11, so why bother with a boy right now?) Tonight was the first time that a man tried to play matchmaker for Rachel. Yeah, interesting. Let me tell you something, no matter how nice a guy is and no matter how much fun you can have hanging out with him as a friend, a 20 year old girl and a 39 year old guy just isn't going to work. (there are other reasons, but that is definitely the most obvious.) It is, admittedly, rather amusing, but definitely not what Rachel needs right now.

Anyway, Rachel will stop speaking in the third person, end her little blurb, and go back to her homework.

A fun night to close off a very stressful week.

My weeks are just a continuous cycle of stress, with this past week being the worst one yet. But last night I had a wonderful time! My professor for my Words in German music class wanted us to go see Die Zauberflöte together next month since we'll be studying it, but there was another opera this weekend called Ariadne auf Naxos. Neither are required, but Die Zauberflöte is highly recommended and Ariadne auf Naxos was just a good idea. Well, the prof didn't bring up the opera this weekend until Monday.... so it was difficult to figure out who wanted to/was able to go, and work out those details. Three of us wanted to go, but none of us have cars and I am the only one with a driver's license. So.... yeah, complicated. One of the girls thought she could borrow a room-mates car, but we found out last night that nope, no car. So... we got out of orchestra rehearsal at 5:30 knowing we would have to leave by 6:30, and had no car. The girl who said she could get the car decided not to go, so the other girl and myself were going crazy trying to find someone with a car that either we could borrow or who wanted to come along. (our prof lives an hour away so we couldn't get a ride from him or anything.) Finally, after a lot of asking and stressing, I was able to borrow one of my room-mates cars. That was 6:30. I then had to run from the other girl's house to go print up directions on my way to my duplex on the opposite side of campus. We both changed super quickly, I grabbed the keys to the car and picked up the other girl and we were off at about 6:45. (according to the directions, it's supposed to take 1 hour 7 minutes, and the opera started at 8. really cutting it close.) I decided I would have to speed the whole way, at least 5 miles over the limit. I don't like to speed. The worst part is that the highways here in Indiana are 70... minimum of 65. I had never gone that fast before. I also have a terrible sense of direction and hate driving when I have no clue where I'm going. But we were a good team. I had a great time getting to know the other girl better on the way. We arrived at the opera just barely in time to get tickets, but had to sit in the back of the ground floor for the first act since we wouldn't be able to get to our seats in the third balcony in time. At the end of the first act, we went up to the third balcony and showed the ushers our tickets, and they told us that if we wanted to, we could go down to the second balcony and take some of the free seats there. So- we ended up sitting in some box seats that would have been really pricey, hehe! We had a great view of the pit, but it was actually kindof awkward to lean over the rail a little bit to see some of the action on stage. But anyway, back to intermission, because this part is important. After we took our seats in the balcony, our prof started talking to us about our past opera experiences. He had already found out that I had never been before, and was asking the other girl what she had seen and where. Then he turned to me and asked where I was from. I told him from CT and he said yeah, I thought so since I noticed that your area code when you called me was 860. At first I thought it was my mom since she still lives in CT. It turns out that he grew up in Storrs and I live in North Windham, mere minutes away! We were both so surprised to find that out about each other and immediately started talking about the area and what we new about it. So cool!

After the opera was over, the other girl and myself headed out to find a gas station and then make our way back. (It was already 11 at night.) On the way back, we looked through some of my room-mates CD's and ended up listening to Michael Jackson.... after seeing a Strauss opera... and then found out we both listened to NPR shows and started talking about Prairie Home Companion, Car Talk, etc. So cool! Once we got back to campus, I watched the end of the Mask of Zorro with my room-mates, love that movie! Very strange sequence to the night though. Dress rehearsal for concert celebrating the 125 anniversary of the school of music, Strauss opera, Michael Jackson, NPR, then the Mask of Zorro. But heck, it was a lot of fun! (the to top it off I slept until 1:00. Loveliness! So yeah, it was a wonderful night to make up for a terrible week.

I am now listening to some more Michael Jackson... (whom I've never really listened to before)...writing this post, obviously, working on a crocheted hat, and waiting for the wonderful dinner two of my room-mates are making, after which I shall proceed on to the 125 anniversary, Old Gold weekend concert! Woot!!!

Why are we always in such a hurry? Why do we rush through life?

This is a question that has been in the back of my mind for some time, but I've been thinking about it a lot more since the beginning of the summer. I did a lot of house-sitting over the summer, and therefore had the use of other people's cars. (I do not yet have one of my own.) I am from Connecticut and people are always in a hurry there, but I stayed in sweet little Greencastle Indiana for the summer, and guess what? People are in a hurry even here! The experience of driving to and from work everyday, plus trips to the store and to see friends, has increased my awareness of how impatient people are on the road, and due to that observation I've been thinking about how impatient people are in life as well. I'll start with the road, since I think that is a very obvious example, yet a very insightful key to other areas of life.

Greencastle is a sweet, homey little town, and is really very beautiful in the surrounding countryside. The homes I stayed at were all just out of town in lovely, friendly little neighborhoods. To get to the last home I stayed at you leave all the main roads behind and drive on a twisty little country road, and boy was it ever scenic! Once you leave town the landscape just opens up, there are a few hills with great views and little farms here and there. Oh I loved that drive. The road starts at 30 mph, later increasing to 45 mph, but cars would always pile up behind me because I was going the speed limit, then go roaring past me at the first opportunity. Why? Why were they so impatient? The summer was fairly mild, perfect for driving with the windows down, and the mornings were absolutely lovely. Why then were people in such a rush to get where they were going rather than enjoying the life around them? I've been teased about being a "cloud-watcher", and it is true that as a passenger in a car I spend most of my time looking at the clouds and all the scenery around rather than paying the slightest attention to how we were getting to wherever we were going. (Thus my wretched sense of direction.) I've always been a nature lover, but it doesn't necessarily follow that you have to be a nature lover to enjoy life instead of rushing through it.

Back to the road. When I would drive to work in the morning I could somewhat understand the impatience of the other drivers. They just wanted to get to work too, and this young girl was stubbornly going the speed limit, if not a couple miles under. But you know what? If they weren't always in such a rush and oblivious to the beauties of life around them, they could plan to leave just 5-10 minutes earlier and enjoy the drive to work! Is everything really about saving those couple minutes? People try to find all the shortcuts, "save" a minute here and there, shave off a couple seconds from this or that, but why? For what? What do they do with those few minutes of saved time?

So ok, people will be impatient on the road in the morning because they just want to get to work as quickly as possible, right? Well then, why is it that in the middle of a lovely afternoon, people are still impatient as ever on the road? Why is it that any time of the day at all, everyone's just in one big rush? You know, for many people, the time they spend on the road is the closest thing they'll get to enjoying nature. The rest of the time they're locked away in a little cubicle typing away on a computer, or glued to the couch watching TV. Why not enjoy the break from all that and take your time on the road? If I had a car I would totally go out on pleasure drives. As it is, I rarely use my bike and walk everywhere instead. (The best part about that is the opportunity to go barefoot... :D :D :D)

I just don't understand why people are so concerned with getting wherever they're going as fast as possible, and not only that, but why they are determined to do so while secluding themselves from all interaction with people and/or nature. I was talking with a professor earlier this week about how travel has changed over the years. Everyone used to use trains, and taking the train used to be a very social thing. People talked with each other, there were dinner cars, concerts, bars, card games, all kinds of stuff. Now if you take a train, you keep to your own seat and ignore everyone else. Same thing with buses and planes now. You may be forced to travel with other people, but you can still seclude yourself from everyone. Yay for technology... Phones, ipods, computers, mini DVD players, etc. And then we have the car. You drive to work alone in your personal metal cage, secluding yourself from all the others on the road in their own metal cages.

I guess I just don't really belong to this day and age. But I'm stuck here and there's really not anything I can do about it. Maybe someday I can live in a quiet little town similar to Greencastle. I'd like to be away from the bustle of life, yet still have people around and have some simple stores in the vicinity. I'd like to be friends with the people in my neighborhood and to have a friendly, close community. But I don't know if my prospective profession will allow me that life. I may end up needing to drive into a busy city somewhere to work at a hospital or some such place. I know that if that's where I'm needed, I'll go, but I refuse to actually live in a city. I would kill myself if I had to do that. But who knows, perhaps I'll end up working in a smalltown hospital or nursing home. I'd like that a lot. I'll write a post about all my career thoughts later on. (I realize that I never actually migrated away from the road and so did not talk about the other areas of life in which people rush and are impatient. Oh well, thoughts for another post.) But for now, I am going to enjoy an absolutely lovely Saturday in the fall.

Oh life.....

So the day has come when I once again have a computer.... except that I no longer have my power cord.... they have lost it. Meh. Hopefully going four weeks without easy access to a computer will help me to limit the amount of time I spend on my computer now. But you know, I just don't have any time on my hands anyway. This semester is sooo crazy. If I manage to survive with some semblance of sanity intact, it will be a miracle. I just may have taken on more than I can handle right now... but darn it all, I am going to stick with it all! But oh man..... 9 classes.... plus 12 hours of work a week..... plus homework, practicing...... eating..... sleep? *sigh* There's no way all of those things can happen, or at least not to a sufficient degree. But ack, can't start complaining. I have been having some fun as well. I love living with my girls, even if I rarely see them, and even if the dudes downstairs play their music so loud you can feel the bass thrumming through your bed.... but that's why I have purchased ear plugs. :) One thing that's helping me cope is my knitting group. (I'm a crocheter, actually, but they let me join them, haha.) I have planned into my schedule twice a week when we all meet, and even though I usually end up doing homework during our noontime meeting halfway through the week, it's still nice to relax with those wonderful ladies. I have really grown to love so many people from this community, and I'm so glad I have so many good friends I can go to if I need to, or to just know that they are there for me.

Other random tidbits, since my mind is wandering and I should go to bed soon.....
-First orchestra concert of the season is on Sunday, it's going to be fun! We haven't had as long to rehearse as we'd like, but oh well, we'll be fine.
-I'm back to my anonymous vandalizing of my professor's door..... well ok, not vandalism, but... mischief I suppose you could say. Harmless mischief. :P
-More people have been noticing my barefeet this past month than the past two years, it's pretty awesome! It's funny how you can go a couple years before people finally start to notice there's something a little odd going on...

Ok, that's all for now. I will have to write again later, and hopefully something substantial, unlike my posts up to date.

No computer :(

So I know I haven't posted in a while... even though I keep meaning to, and even have things to write about (which I promptly forget when I actually sit down to write), but I have been without a computer for a week now... The monitor is acting up, and I took it to the people at the help desk, and have yet to hear back about it. rawr. I guess it's good in a sense, since I can't waste time online, but now that classes have started, it would certainly be useful to have the internet available to me, and other functions such as word document and finale.

But anyway, let me fill you in (those of you who actually read this...) on a little bit of my life lately. I have started my Junior year at DePauw.... scary stuff. Yet, at the same time, I'm a lot more relaxed this year than the past two. I feel almost at peace, ready, and almost carefree. That's not to say that I don't care about anything this year, that I don't care how I do in school or anything, but I'm not worried so much, not so anxious, tense, and nervous. I think part of it is that I am kind of making a fresh start this year. Due to several different factors, I have realized the need to make a fresh start. The past two years, I allowed so many things, both personal and outside factors to distract me from what I should be focusing on, and to affect my work, how I spent my time and energy, and my personal relationships with people. Certain events and my own personal reflection have made me come to understand the need for a change. Of course, there's only so much that one can change at one time, and some things will take some time and work, but I have made the first step. I realize that I am being cryptic, but interpret this as you will. Just know that I am far more relaxed, relieved even, and anticipating a very good year. (Though hard.)
I think that is all I will say for now. I will have to come back at a later time to post on an observation I had a week or so ago, yet never had a chance to write on.

Fun with Chickens.

So here I am, my first night house-sitting for the Becks. I've been here since yesterday afternoon, but they didn't leave until this afternoon. The home is just lovely, about ten minutes from DePauw, out in the country, up on a hill with fields full of corn and/or cows around it. The yard here looks small, but there's so much to it! They have so many little gardens on the edges of the yard and tucked into nooks and crannies, have a greenhouse, a workshop, and of course, the chicken coop. So this summer, I have taken care of cats and plants, then cats, dogs, horse, and plants, and now I get to take care of cats, dog, and chickens...... and of course, plants. I have never actually seen a live chicken, believe it or not. My only exposure is through the TV, and I must confess something..... when I was trying to invision what the chicken coop would look like and what I would need to do to take care of the chickens, most of my mental imagery was inspired by Chicken Run.... I know, pathetic. Another thing I was trying to work out in my mind was how cats and chickens could possibly get along, since I knew they owned both. What I figured must be the case is that the cats are totally indoor, or else they have a really sturdy pen for the chickens so the cats can't bother them. What I found out was that they have two totally indoor cats, and two totally outdoor. And that's not all-- in the later afternoon, the chickens are let out of the coop for a couple hours to roam around and eat those creepy-crawlies and whatever else it is they eat. I was simply astonished when they let the chickens out yesterday and the cats just lay on the ground, lazily watching them. Or, even following us around and coming within inches of the chickens, and still do no more than glance at them.

But let me tell you about my first experience alone with these chickens. As I was told, I went to let them out a little after 4, they were quite excited. Since I knew they would roam around until it started to get darker, I decided there was no point in my staying outside that whole time, even though I felt really uncomfortable leaving them alone. The Becks don't stay outside, but there are two of them, and only one of me now that they're gone. See, I was anxious about the safety of the chickens. The Becks showed me this tree out behind the coop within which at least one coon is known to live. Also having been informed that this is the season for the predators, especially the coyotes, coons, and hawks, made me quite anxious about the chickens. Right around six, or a little after, I went outside with a book and say on the porch so I'd be closeby the chickens. Let me tell you some of my experiences this evening.

After I let the chickens out into the yard, I went around to the little door next to the two nests, to see if there were any eggs. There weren't any in the first nest, then I tried for the second. Slight problem.... I wasn't quite large enough to reach it! By stretching my arm out to the side, I could just come to the mouth of the nest, but I couldn't see in it or even reach in it. I was stumped for a minute, then I tried climbing up onto the little ledge, but stopped, fearing it would break. (but in first attempting, I noticed an egg in the nest.) It just figured that there'd be an egg in the very nest I couldn't reach. I did find a stool shortly afterward and through a very awkward procedure of standing on said stool, lightly balancing over the window sill, and leaning my upper half totally into the coop, I was able to reach into the nest, and found not one, but two eggs within it.
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I was sitting at the little table, looking out at the backyard. Mama-Kitty (yes, that's her name) was wandering through the yard, slowly making her way in the general direction of the porch. A group of about 5 chickens came around the corner and headed up the pathway towards the porch, coming up behind Mama-Kitty. And just guess what she did-- Mama-Kitty moved to the side of the path and just lay down in the ivy so that the chickens could go by. Well, the chickens didn't go very far, they mostly stayed right there, around the kitty. But mama-Kitty just lay there in the ivy, didn't complain, and didn't try to get the chickens. I couldn't believe it! One of the chickens even went up to the very edge of the ivy, within six inches of Mama-Kitty, and just stared at her for several long seconds.
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I was wandering the yard a bit, heading in the general direction of the coop, when some of the chickens saw me, and started coming towards me. Now, as I said, I've never been around chickens before. I didn't know what they wanted or what to do! They look all cute and soft, and I just want to scoop them up and snuggle them... but I doubt that would go over well. So anyway, they were walking towards me, and I didn't know if chickens can be like pets, if they liked attention, if they were good natured, if they thought I was invading and wanted to attack, or what. So I just turned around and headed back to the porch.... and they followed me there. They didn't actually come on the porch, but they came right up to the edge, and a few chickens would always see me whenever I went into the yard and end up following me around. (Mama-Kitty also follows me around, and it's really funny to see a cat and at least one chicken both following me.) I still don't know what the chickens wanted or what I should do, but oh well.
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Starting a little after seven it was just starting to get darker, so of course, I was getting anxious about the "predators" out there after the cute little chickens. I was very alert, and hoping the chickens would head back to the coop soon. See, those chickens apprently know when it's time to go in, will congregate in front of the coop, and then head inside at the right time. Well, I didn't know what this "right" time was, and just wanted them to get in soon before it started getting the least bit dark and I'd really start worrying about predators. Those chickens didn't want to go in yet, and there was no making them. They just continued moving around the yard, pecking at the ground, and avoiding the entrance to their pen. I gave up for the moment and sat on a chair out in the yard, and waited....after half an hour, I started pacing around, saw a couple chickens go inside, and was starting to get hopeful.... but the others just wouldn't go inside yet! I took to going around the pen, trying to get the chickens to walk in front of me and therefore force them into their pen, but that didn't really work. Over the period of another half hour, it came to be that all but five chickens were inside, but those five just didn't want to go in. The worst part was when there were just two left outside, I ducked around the back to make sure there weren't any still out there, then went back to the front to see of those two had gone in or to make them go in.... but just then, the other three went back out and joined the two, forming that stubborn fivesome once more.... *sigh* They finally all went in, I closed the doors, and made my head count. At the end of my first night, all twenty were safely acounted for!

Sorry for the long post about chickens..... I'll find something more interesting next time, I promise. :)

The end of summer is here.

In just over a week, everyone will be back on campus (including me), and classes will start. I am not ready for that. I've been "on" campus all summer, but I have not lived on campus, and that fact has made me quite happy. Over the course of the summer I have lived with my rector and his wife, in the basement apartment of one of my knitting ladies along with a friend from school, house-sat at my violin professor's house, and am about to go house-sit for another family. Considering what a good experience I've had at these various homes, I don't want to go back to campus living. I don't want to go back to campus, period. I miss my friends, but I do not miss everyone else. (And I certainly do not miss school.) I guess you could say that in some ways, this summer has spoiled me. (Both spoilage and damage have occurred this summer.) I want to go home. I've had enough of this whole school thing.... *sigh* I guess it's too bad that I'll have a few more years for further schooling after DePauw. Despite the stress that the upcoming crazily busy semester holds for me, I am determined to enjoy the rest of my summer. I have actually enjoyed this past week, even though I didn't think I would. It helped that I have been staying with my rector and his wife again, so I'm not all alone in a great big ranch like I was for the past month. Plus they have two absolutely adorable kittens, *squeal* who are such cuddle-bugs. Another good thing is that I haven't been all alone at work like I have been all summer. The guy who helped me catch up during the first week of summer, and who worked last week while I visited home has been helping out, since we are receiving a lot more mail now in anticipation of the students' return to campus. So that's been fun. He is a brat, teases everyone and causes trouble, but it's been fun. And he got me a free bike! He found out that I walk 20 minutes to get to work everyday, and that I have no car or bike. So he called up the service center (where he usually works), and asked someone to see if they still had those random bikes in the storage room they wanted to get rid of. Then after work, he took me over and helped me find the one that was in the best condition. It's an old Huffy Saratoga 3-speed bike. Apparently a classic. It has a nifty little basket that I can put my backpack in, and an awesome little bike bell! The bike itself is a nasty yellow and has this hideous leapard seat cover, but oh well. At least it works. I was a little sad to know that my housing situation this coming year has me so much farther away from everything on campus, but now I have a bike! I'm sure I look pretty dorky when I ride it around, but oh well. So that is something good from this week. Another bit of fun has to do with my knitting ladies. I came back to Indiana Monday afternoon and visited with a wonderful friend, before going to knitting that evening with her and the other ladies. It was great to see them all again. That night, most of us decided to get together the next evening and go see Julie and Julia at a nice, really big theater together. I had my reservations about the movie, thought it sounded pretty lame, but we actually had a wonderful time, and even stopped for icecream afterward. :D Then on Wednesday I met with two of the knitting ladies again after work, and saw many of the group that evening at a concert. Yesterday I got to see a friend who was visiting campus, and that was nice. I dind't actually have anything to do yesterday evening, so I was able to sit around with my rector and his wife, chat, watch tv, and finish reading King Lear. (I have also been doing a lot of practicing this week.... trying to prepare for Sunday, when I will be the pianist at a church in town..... eek!) Today after work, I had the chance to strengthen a new friendship while figuring out a commissioned hat I will be making soon.

Gosh, I just realized that I need to pack up tomorrow morning and move yet again... I should get to bed now. I will try to write more coherent posts in the future.

yet another blog....

So.... this is my sixth blog.... we'll see how long this lasts. Hopefully I can keep this longer than the others. I actually had two different blogspots in the past, but didn't like that you couldn't subscribe to your friends. (I wasn't too good at remembering to go check their blogs. well, I'm still not.) But they've made some improvements since the last time I was here, and I do have several friends on here. But anyway, decided to start up a new blog, since I enjoy writing out my thoughts and sharing them. Work has been a bit slow today, so that gave me the time to set things up and write this short post. Pretty soon I'll have to close things up and head out for the day. (I'll be off to the music building to lock myself away in a practice room for a couple hours.) I'll write a more substantial post later on, I promise.