Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot (read: Remembered)

Well good gravy.
It's been about ten years and a day since I posted here. Guess I should make my life count, or at least for the last day of 2012 by blogging today. So that probably includes like the 12+ events of 2012 or something like that. We'll see where that goes.

1) Baby niece Amelia born.  She's so suitably fat now and I'm such a proud aunt!

2) State 2012. I think I cried for the whole damn thing. Every moment and it was super. We get to do that again in 2 months? I'm so ready to cry for several hours.

3) Watching my friend Ch-low Rad-cliffee do what she does at AFA. That was neat.

4) Surviving NFA to the surprise and accolades that we didn't expect. I've never been so genuinely surprised and overflowing with pride for what we speechies do.

5) Baby nephew Pete born. Although he looked like a grumpy old man for a while, he's learning to smile and getting cuter all the time.

6) May 18, 2012. I have a voicemail of Vanessa giggling.

7) Duluth with Lady Chelle Chelle. It was more than a moment, but it was important. It includes the apple pie baking and the porch sitting.

8) Climbing trees. Want a new perspective? That helps.

9) Giving a bike to a new teammate. Warm Fuzzies all over.

10) Oreo died. I forever miss my giant feline who hated snow, loved any holiday with bags and wrapping paper, and took two arms to hold. Now my heart holds you.

11) NCA. Dinner theater. Nuff said.

12) CinCC. I successfully cried in every performance in front of large audiences because that's where you cry. Love me some Guh chuh-wire fam.

Bonus: Throwing Better Cheddars because they're worse, not better. The moments leading up to that one were good too.

Ok so I should tell someone and this is as good a place to tell people as any about my new goal to blog more consistently than this semester.  No point to having a blog that you don't use and there should be amusing things going on in my life that you may or may not appreciate.

To those of you going abroad this semester, blog because you want to read your experiences in full and not through collapsed memories that get compressed and diluted. Do it then so you can laugh about it later. Also, then I won't have to throw Better Cheddars (or rocks) at you.

So cheers to a happy survivable 2013.  Love you all.

It's Raining _____! Water....

Thunder storm!

So once upon a time, I decided that after having dinner at Kris's house, that I really should go feed the cats. So I walk back to my apartment, and decide that driving wouldn't be that bad of an idea- even though it's nice out and I should have some more exercise, but it's late, I'll drive.

Thank the lord.

Seriously, I'm petting the cats, and suddenly BOOM!
Thunderstrum. And it's pouring like no tomorrow. First thought: Woah. Gnarly. Second thought: Good thing I brought my car. Third thought: Then again, at this point I'd be soaked to the bone getting to my car. #lifeprobs

But I dodged the true rain bullet and managed to get back without too much wringing of clothes. Doesn't mean it couldn't have happened.

Preparation for an Adventure

So there's a whole apartment full of people here, and I'm catching up on letters, and I'm covered in cat hair. That's living the dream. Right there. I hope you caught that. Living the brilliant, beautiful, dreamymcdreamerson dream.

Come at me.

And the real trick tomorrow will be the beginning of an adventure. And by beginning, I mean that we'll also be ending part of this adventure. So Justin (teammate and coworker) are going to drive to the Twin Cities for 2 reasons: 1) to have a Barnes and Noble attempt. That includes meeting some freshmen and looking for lit. And 2) Pick up the hopefully less awkward kids for the Slam Poetry camp. That's probably going to be stellar. And with any luck we won't get lost, we'll make it there on time, and we'll have a blast. Doable? Yes. Probable? Maybe less so. Impossible: Certainly not.

Task on.

No, That's Not the Lecture Hall. That's a Mechanical Closet.

Michelle has composed some fighting words including that of "Sass."

And let me say, I can win this and bake cookies at the same time. How do I know? Because I made home made Chocolate Chip Cookies in under 20 minutes today. From scratch. GET AT ME. Yes, that means that I came home, made some bad ass batter, threw those beauties in the oven, and pulled them out in under 20 minutes. Boom. And they were quite delicious (if I do say so myself).

Why the hurry for the cookies. Because I was hungry, don't ask stupid questions. Just kidding. We had our first family dinner tonight! What a delightful time. Over to Cadi's to play with the cats and have some grub and we each brought something. I brought cookies and we had a veggie platter (so healthy) and some chicken and potatoes. Noms ville. And then it was story after story and looking through Cadi's old yearbooks, and Ava rapping, and brainstorming. Just all beautiful things. Now if it wouldn't be so blasted humid everywhere, it would be magnificent. So let's hope that works.

In other news, life's good. I'm a busy little bee and volunteering strangely in unexpected ways to help with registration. And by that I mean that I help the lost looking individuals on campus find their way back to the herd. Or in some instances, show them class rooms in the building I'm in. Nice? You'd better believe it. Good Karma? I sure hope so. Likely to change soon? Sure thing.

Hop to it

When was the last time you climbed a tree?

Go ahead. Ask me.

TODAY.

BOOM. How did that feel? Yeah, I climbed that tree today... It wasn't exactly on the agenda, but it happened. So it went something like this. Kelsey's going stir crazy with waiting for really late people and having half of the apartment gone for the weekend, and so after a few grocery shopping moments, she decides to go for a walk. (I like that I've switched into third person there... we're going to roll with it) It's a nice cool dusk, the kind where you could have had a sweatshirt, or just been a little chilly. For the first time all week it's been dry enough (both in air and dirt) to make a walk seem warranted. So I drop off my groceries, and lace up my nearly destroyed converse, and head out for an adventure in the arb.

And what an adventure it was.

So I'm walking along... doobedoobedoo, and I start thinking about how sweet it would be if I could see how quietly I could walk. There is no one out here, and I'm crunching along on the gravel path, and then I'm tiptoeing around on the grassy shoulder, being all stealthy like. But that wore off pretty quick and I deviated from my chosen path to go wander around the meditation area and sit on a rock. Ladeeda rock sitting, ok enough of that. Moving on.

I'm wandering around, getting a little peeved that there is now gravel dust in my socks, and suddenly, there is a clearing... and in this clearing, there are trees. And I'm thinking, oh yeah, gonna climb a tree. So instead of attempting to focus and actually complete my walk uninterrupted by foliage, I caved and leapt into those branches. About 15-20 feet up I just stopped and looked out in all directions. Then, these two girls who I had heard talking from deep in the forbidden forest, starting walking up the path. Two options: 1) Scare the shit out of them. 2) Pretend to be Katniss hiding in trees and creeping on people.

2. Done. I just crept along the branch and watched. Much like the Cheshire cat. Grinning and staring, nearly giggling and all but disappearing. But they passed under my tree without anything super hilarious happening. Sort of worth it though.

After about 15 minutes in the tree, I made my way back down to find my second surprise of the evening. That's right, there are two parts to this story. There was a bunny in the path! But not just any bunny, a bunny AND A BABY BUNNY! The kind of baby bunny that you could hold-in-the-palm-of-your-hand-and-be-eternally-happy-because-it's-just-so-cute-that-you-can't-do-anything-else-in-your-life-ever-but-adore-and-coo-at-the-precious-baby-bunny.

I'm so smitten. They scampered off into the grass (I'm a cat whisperer, not a bunny whisperer. They are technically incompatible talents) and I skipped my way back home.

The end.

A Garden of Joy

I would like to kindly point out that Themed Thursday is a brilliant success. Such good ideas, such good things written and read. I'm loving every second of it.

So now that Thursdays have so much hype, what in the good name of goulash am I suppose to do with my Friday to top it off?

Answer: Probably do something other than what I did.

After my battle royale with print services (I won, don't worry. I'm not sure I made a ton of friends in the process, but there's this thing called "getting your shit done" that I sort of prioritize), and putting up the much later printed signs, I came back to the apartment and rested. Then the sneaky Ava convinced me to go to El Agave-the delightful Mexican restaurant in town, and then to watch Zoolander whilest playing with the cats. So that portion of my day was remarkably successful. However, the beginning 3/4 of it was pretty worthless. It's hard to accomplish much with the electricity turned off on your "office" so that you can't even get in the building, and print services taking a spa day in the back room. Displeased. But it all turned out ok.

We have also begun here in the apartment, a "quote" wall (to use the vernacular) of the splendid things said in an around this location. So far we have 4 star stickynotes, and 2 flowers (back tracking, you know) but I envision this to be covered with memories and laughter.

Side note, a giant massive congratulations goes to all of those beautiful individuals at the HS National Forensics League Tournament. Your accomplishments are incredible and will be remembered by your peers, your coaches, and your alma mater. Continue to find passion to do what you love, in college and beyond.

And now, I think I'm going to reward myself with extra sleep. Look at that for a Friday night champion lap.

"No Need for a Chair, I've Got This" or "Here Kitty Kitty"

The one thing that's always surprising is finding out that there's a latent lap cat. Usually cats are either prone to loving people and sitting on their laps as a constant need for attention, and then there are the ones that just couldn't care less what you were or were not doing. I was blind sided by Sophie today. Here I thought that Ira was the "Love me all the time no matter what" kind of cat, and Sophie was the "Uh, I don't want to be anywhere near you because you're scary and I want to look independent" sort.

My world is a lie.

Ira is still the love bug, but Sophie threw me for a loop. Before I had to work pretty hard to even convince her that I was nice enough for her to let me pet her once before she ran away. The next time I got her so that she would sit on the end of the couch while I petted her. And today, I could hardly get her off of my lap. She'd stay there for long periods of time, just letting me pet off handfuls of hair for minutes at a time. The she would leave for a few, and then right back at it. Basically I'm renting out my lap as a cat timeshare. When one is doing something else, I'm busy petting the other one. And vice versa. The only real downside is that it severely restricts my knitting, but meh, I'm not too worried. I've completely given up on that pattern and am in the hunt for one that isn't written in hieroglyphs and smears of fecal matter. (sorry that was a little abrasive. I'm only kind of bitter. Is it that obvious?)

Back to the point, I'm the official cat whisperer. I figure if I can convince the most elusive-you will probably never meet her because she's scared of everything-cat to be a lap cat, I really should just go into the business. Oooo, new profession, lion tamer. I'm obviously cut out for the job. I already travel with odd groups of people across country in funny vehicles listening to cryptic music while wearing out of the ordinary clothing, and I have a way with feline friends. Lion tamer makes the most sense.  Why haven't I thought of this before. Uh, what a konk head.

Read or Not to Read-Revelations of a Pet Sitter

I would like to call this the day of the ark. Not because I'm collecting pairs of animals, but because I seems to be taking care of them. Take care of ALL of the animals! From Kris's dog Rudy, to the pair of Cadi's cats, it's been a fur filled day.

After an early morning with Rudy in the company of Justin Feit, I managed to hang out around the apartment for a bit and write a few letters. Which reminds me, if you want letters, speak now. Then back for an afternoon of fetch and dog wrangling.  To Econo for grub, dinner and some Farkle (yes, all very exciting) then to see the felines and watch a movie and one last time to check on the canine. 

I'm not saying but I'm saying that cats are the way to go. I love dogs, I really do. But the cats honestly couldn't give the rear end of a mouse whether you were there or not. The dog on the other hand, cannot possibly function without your attention and effort. Low maintenance is really more my style. Leave, stay, pet the cat-don't pet the cat, whatever floats your boat. Not so with the dog. You'd better figure out when you can be there so that you don't have a terrorized house, or a really unhappy puppy. Just saying. 

And that's about what my life is going to be like tomorrow too. Throw in some laundry and maybe another letter or so, and it's pretty rock solid. Living the dream, you know, being a Hufflepuff and all. 

"And Sheets With Holes in Them...And Regular Sheets"

I'll admit it. I caved. I'm actually playing Pottermore. And if you're not familiar with this advent of my childhood breaching its way back into my daily life, it works like this: children of the 90s and regular children get to play an online computer simulation that gives you inside information about Harry Potter and what JK was thinking at all hours of the day. This, of course, is done through becoming, essentially a HP character-getting a wand, being sorted into houses ex cetera, ex cetera, ex cetera. (Name that musical for 10 points) (Ten points to Ravenclaw!)

But here's the big ticket item. I've told you that I've started playing, now you're intensely curious as to what I have for a wand, and what my house is right? I thought so. Well, my wand is English Oak with a Unicorn core. It means a lot of things ok? Deal with it. And [Drum roll please] "Who has two thumbs and is a Hufflepuff?

I'm a Hufflepuff!"

Surprised? Me too. I figured something more in line with my intense sense of honor and loyalty-Gryffindor. Or my extreme intelligence and love for books-Ravenclaw. Or my competitive edge and keen sense of plotting-Slytherin. My Hufflepuff traits are as follows: I always have the best lines, I make people laugh, and I do character pops?

Yep. That's all I've got.

Well that and this video:

Top notch cinema, really. Hufflepuff is obviously the highlight of the clip, so I'm the life of the party? I have an intense knowledge of random semi-mostly non-hostile magical creatures like house cats? I think house-elves are the shit?

Basically all things that describe me to a T. Good work JK and your magical hat of the sorting, you know me too well.

Chances Are, You Won't Live to See it Again

What an eventful day. Truly. Did you know that today is an especially unique day? Ava enlightened us all as she informed us about the Transit of Venus across the Sun. Fun fact, so this is the only time this will happen in like, a super long time? For instance, no one alive has seen this happen (until today) and (technology permitting) no one will be alive to see it happen again. Look at that, you learned something today. Boom.

So Mariecus and I hiked up to the tippytop of Olin where some industrious nerds had positioned some telescopes to look at this strange occurrence. It was bright, there were a fair amount of people (I'll be honest, not a lot of them looked like people who would be fun to invite to a dinner party....  but maybe that's just me...) (Or maybe I would be the odd one out at their dinner party.... hmmmmm things you ponder when you see Venus cross in front of the sun).

But more exciting, was that after that I packed up part of my kitchen and ventured down to the center of St. Pete's and forced Cadi to shred zucchini. All in the name of cupcakes. Honestly. First we went for a walk, and I had to get some more fancy-ass cooking things like ground cloves (who cooks with ground cloves? oh well) and the rest of it. Then we made zucchini cupcakes. I realize I should have snapped some pictures, but the important part is that my current attire is covered in a lovely mixture of powdered sugar and cat hair. What a lovely combination? Yes, I thought so too.

Oh other big news, so Cadi has two cats. Ira and Sophie. Ira, is the love bug. He adores pretty much anyone and everyone who will even tolerate him. Consequently, he spends a lot of time climbing into people's laps and begging for attention in anyway he sees fit. Sophie on the other hand, doesn't like any people. She's terrified of everything, sudden movements-and she goes running. So, when any number of people are over, she's usually hiding while Ira laps up the attention in all of the laps. But, since I was over there baking, Sophie decided that it was ok and quiet enough to look around for a bit. So I talked to her for a little bit, and she didn't seem overly concerned by my presence. After a while of cooing and letting her figure it out on her own terms, she let me pet her. What a summer accomplishment. I now know that I'm not quite as terrifying as I originally thought I was. Good to know.

So cupcakes are baked (thanks Grandma for the recipe!) and I think I'm headed to bed.

Lake House-Fun House (or why is your foot on the ceiling)

Now blogging from a new and "improved" location! I am currently at the Lake of the Ozarks in these strange little octagonal cabins. How nice!  Maybe I'll give a thorough description of how there are mirrors everywhere, and all of the walls are windows. Oh wait. That is basically the descriptions. But that's true. The mirrors and the window outer wall thing. That's most of it.

And now I'm working on new knitting projects, reading new books, watching new movies, and living all of the dreams. The rents are enjoying Modern Family, and being about as productive as myself. In other words, "very." I will say that there are a few things missing here: Oreo, Minnie, and Tonks... But there's something about driving for several hours with unhappy cats that seems unappealing. Strange.

I'm sorry there is less to report. I have survived all of the games of the hunger so far. I mean, I don't even know who the other tributes are... I'm an only child.

Summer Accomplishments? What are those?

Oh the accomplishments of the day run rampant and are only really considered accomplishments when you don't have to write them on resumes or have nothing more exceptional to do. Regardless, they make me feel like I've done something other than read, cook, watch hours of television, and knit. Therefore, they are much appreciated and should be listed here in full. Ahem.

I finally, after literally months of self restraint and effective prioritizing, have finished The Help. Yes, yes, I know. "How long could it possibly have taken you? You're an English major, you read all the time." Sort of. I read for class, yes, but my days of reading things for kicks and giggles seems to have dwindled down to spare moments and the free things I can find on the app store. So this little paperback, traveled many miles more than it had pages. Let's face it, I brought it to Europe last August, and finished it the next May? Not exactly the quick read I wanted it to be. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed it and will now permit myself to watch the movie.

I finished 2 (count them 1, 2) knitting projects in the past two days. So to Andrea, I'm shipping your scarf either tomorrow or the following day. I finally managed to find both the right yarn and the right pattern. Huzzah! And (drum roll please) I HAVE FINALLY FINISHED THAT BABY BLANKET!!!! (Cheers and applause, cheers and applause). As many of you know, both of my darling siblings decided that it was a good idea to have children two months apart. As thrilling as this is for them to grow up at the same time, it's absolutely killing my knitting.  When I was home during Christmas break after I got back from abroad, I managed to whip out a scarf and one blanket. But the second blanket (and that previously mentioned scarf for that matter) were sorely hampered by this whole school thing. So for that I'm sorry, and it's all done now! Baby Pete! You will overheat this summer in Texas, but if you ever come up to visit, it'll be nice and toasty! I'm actually kind of surprised my fingers are still functioning. I thought they would fall off from the hours I spent knitting tonight. I'll let you know if I'm typing my blog with my nose in the morning-sometimes gangrene takes a while to really set in.

Past that my mother reconfirmed that I'm kind of blind, but that's what she does for a living, so brava. I asked for a seeing eye dog, that was a no go. All I'm saying is that seeing eye cats are extremely unreliable. When was the last time your seeing eye dog spontaneously chased a mouse? Or climbed a tree and refused to get down even for the nice attractive fireman who showed up out of the kindness of his heart? Or slept for hours and refused to be moved from the lovely couch cushion? Hmm? Oh, your seeing eye dog has never done that? Well, if I employed any one of my cats for that, I'm sure my adventures would be far more entertaining than me completing knitting projects.

But in all reality... Now that I've accomplished most of the things I set out for the summer... I'm probably going to have to begin a "Choose your own adventure" Blog.... I begin a story, set out the options, and you have to pick what happens next.  Who's up for a challenge? Ready to participate? I'll let you think about it for a while, but it's a real possibility with this Blog-off with Michelle (Yeah, this Michelle: Just a Chef's Daughter--Basically check it out... Or be very sad you didn't).

So look at your life, look at your choices. And maybe, just maybe, you'll be able to make some of your own.

[Insert lyrics to Rascal Flatts Song Here]

I was chastised this morning for not posting yesterday. So I aim to remedy that now. Happy Pea B?

I would like to tell you a little story, and it goes something like this.

I am blessed to have some of the best friends in the world. This might get a little sentimental, so bear with me, but I'm dead serious. My dear roommate from the other side of the world has the remarkable ability to make everything make sense. And after type-exhausted fingers, my world seems just a little brighter in the mornings.  So to Bethany, I hope to eat chips and homemade salsa with you upon my immediate return. Also some Doritos.... and donuts.... and other delicious things that I can't seem to adequately find in Europe. Oh, and we're watching every Disney movie we can find within a 25 mile radius. So get ready.

Part two is dedicated to those who actually put up with my obsessive absence.  This means something like, I am over 5,000 miles away, and I continue to pester people about what is going on in places like Minnesota.  You know who you are. But for those who don't know who you are, Alecia (I will write you back TODAY), Brady, Cadi (rhyme much?), Sonja, Mariecus, Moua, and even Chloe (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctJJrBw7e-c&feature=grec_index) (because I said I would).  Thanks for putting up with me. You know you miss me Brucetifer, don't try and lie your way out of this one.

So now I'm actually going to start my list of things to do for the day. And thus far, it's extensive. Wish me luck, and if I find something interesting (of if I have dreams about vampires,) I'll let you know.

Not voted off the island this week

I survived!  With almost no tears! Aren't you proud of me?

Ok. I'm not being entirely honest. One test was postponed. Now let's get something straight, I had prepared to take 3 lengthy midterm exams today. Not even kidding. One for Italian High Renaissance (51 slides, for 2 comparisons and and essay), Gaga (2 comparisons and an essay), and Philosophy (choice of essay). I was ready for all of them with only the allotment of time to review some things before I actually took the test! Girl Scouts' honor.

So I arrive in plenty of time to my first class of the day, and begin looking over the dates of the slides that I had just learned last night, and after about what should have been ten minutes into class (note, this is not unusual for JCU or for my professor in general. She is often a few minutes late and frantically trying to turn on the projector and usually talking about how her cat is still sick.) a woman from the front office comes in and says that Professor Smyth is going to be late and that the midterm is postponed until next week. How late? About an hour.

The reactions of my class are as followed:
Furious 50%
Relieved 49%
Laughing 1%

I am the 1%.

I just laughed. Seriously, what kind of day could this possibly be? My first test had been postponed, the class would start late, and I just couldn't stop laughing.

For many of you this is not a surprising reaction. Eventually, when you don't sleep enough, or the stress levels just get to you, laughter is the only real response to have. So the other 99% of my class hadn't reached that point and were absolutely no fun what so ever. Boo.

So I spent the next hour sitting by myself dancing to Britney Spears and studying Gaga... (well that's a strange sentence).  Professor Smyth (no, I'm not spelling that incorrectly) showed up, WITH HER CAT. Go ahead. Read that sentence again. I'll wait. Ok, yeah, so the sick cat came to school. Not that I'm complaining, I want to bring my cat to school all the time, but apparently with a flooding kitchen, and a sick cat, and being an art history prof, things just got out of hand and we were just going to go to the library instead.

The library across town.

Granted, it's supposed to be a fantastic resource for our projects, and we wouldn't have any idea how to a) get there, b) get books, or c) what do do with them once we found where they were (which is a process, believe me). So we trooped and tram-ed over to Piazza Venezia to find this specialized Art History international library. Good idea? Yes. Different from a midterm? Very much so.

This library can best be compared to a labyrinth. For example, it has many rooms. But not just any silly old rooms, these look like the Beast's library in Beauty and the Beast.  You know, filled to the brim with books? Floor to ceiling, covering every wall with steps and a platform to go up to the second level of books. There are maybe 5 of these such rooms, folded in on each other and stacked carefully. The tricky thing is not just figuring out how to get to the upper level of the shelves (there's only one way up, and that means it's only in one room and you have to wander your way around the edges until you get to that one corner of that one room where your book should be).  The other tricky part is that not every book is somewhere that you have access to. That means that you have to go through the process of actually finding your book (read: find title and author of book that maybe useful for your research, go outside the library to another room where the card catalogue is, riffle through cards in little bitty baby drawers, (my prof described this process as 'sensuous' but I'm not sure that's the same word I would come up with) find call number, attempt to figure out whether it is somewhere you can get to it, ask librarian who only speaks broken English, they say that you have to fill out a request form) then going to find the place/forms to make your request. Whewf. By the time we got to that part of the tour, my professor was adding extensive editorial remarks about the process which included that idea that once you made your request that little elves, who you never see, wearing funny hats scamper off to find your book and bring it back to you in 30 minutes.

So instead of taking a test, we learned about the Italian Librarian version of Santa's little helpers. Good work.

After that little excursion, I caught pizza with Kate, studied for my next test, rocked it, then decided that anyone with two tests in a day deserves a Nutella Crepe. So I got one of those before looking over my Philosophy notes. Otherwise known as looking at random pictures of Moua that I hide in my wallet. What? That's strange. Oh well.

Back to the apartment where I had the lovely pleasure of skyping dear dear Chloe. We plan on making this a regular occurrence, you know, after she finishes reading the news paper.

And that was my test of survival in Rome. Tomorrow's task? Water obstacle.