POETRY IN MOTION

Yesterday I auditioned to be in a choir. It was such fun! The director was ADHD-status energetic and invited me to pick between two of his choirs--one with 180 members, one with 50 members. He said he never lets anyone pick but, "I'm a good alto that can read music and seems smart and pleasant--logic bids me welcome!" After he listed me the differences between the two, mostly related to scale, I chose the big one. This is my opportunity to sing in the largest, most professional choir I've ever been in so I'm taking it! It's the only choir in the NATION with its own orchesta, maintained by the nonprofit fundraising of the whole organization. Each concert costs $75,000 to produce, so the fundraising is very necessary, but the society has flourished. All the members sell tickets, plus they're available for purchase through the website. The Christmas concert in particular is so popular, they do two showings of it and had 4000 people last year! I'm very excited to be singing again, especially at this level! Rehearsals start at the end of the month and I just can't wait!

I vowed that, once married, I would keep a blog again because I wouldn't be as busy. But boy, I still feel like I can't keep up with the pace we've set for ourselves!

The wedding was lovely, though in 100+ degree weather. Erik and I had steeled ourselves for the hottest day of June, and we got it. We wanted to keep everything moving along so there wasn't much sitting around and roasting in the heat, especially when the cake was beginning to lean, and I think we did a pretty good job. We ate roasted chicken, sweet/sour Big Franks, green beans, black bean-corn salad, tomato-cheese salad, fresh melon, spinach dip, and jalapeño-artichoke dip. The cake was three different flavors: Chocolate with Nutella filling, white with pistachio filling, and carrot with cream cheese filling. By 3pm Erik and I were on the road to Tahoe.

Night one, we both slept just AWFUL. Overtired, overheated, and overthinking. We went to brunch that morning then went straight back to the room for a nap. Around 5, we saw "The Proposal," and really enjoyed it, and that night, we saw "Carnival Cabaret" which is Tahoe's longest running show, featuring men dressed as women. Three men took two each of a Celine Dion, Reba McIntire, Dolly Parton, Bette Midler, Barbra Streisand, and Cher. They lipsynced a medley of the pop hits and the best part was at the end, they all came out dressed as women, started singing, and slowly started removing their wigs, their dresses, their makeup, and put on tuxedos--Ta-da! Men. The show wasn't as good as I expected--impersonators would have been funnier, but seeing the power of makeup was really cool.

The next day was our hiking day. We started on a trail to Cascades Falls, which was just a nice, even hike to a waterfall. Then we went to Vikingsholm, a Scandinavian inspired castle built in the 30s. It started raining on the trek back UPhill, but we survived, with the thought of Thai for dinner as motivation!

Wednesday, we went to breakfast then started going through the list of things to do. "Beach? No. Movie? Seen it. Hike? Too sore. Shop? Not enough to see." It suddenly occurred to us that we'd like to be home a day earlier. So we talked to our hotel and they weren't going to charge us the extra night and off we went, happy campers. It's a good thing too! There was laundry to be done, sheets needed changing (some of his friends had used the bed when they were visiting), furniture rearranging, grocery shopping... It was nice to have that extra day.

Thursday night, my parents drove over late with the first batch of gifts and slept on the air mattress. We were up at 4am to drive to Southern California for the reception with Erik's family. The drive went by quickly with wedding photos to go through and details to discuss. We spent the afternoon at Erik's parents' house (Ana and Heriberto) and met a bunch of relatives. Saturday was more of the same--food prep in the morning, and the reception at 4:30. Delicious tacos for all, then the fun began. We had a Dollar Dance, which is when different people dance with the bride and groom and pin bills on their clothes. I thought it was literally a one-dollar-apiece affair, but it definitely was not! We accrued quite a chunk of change!

Next came the bouquet and garter toss. Erik and I stood on chairs facing one another and held hands, forming a bridge and all the single ladies and men, respectively, formed chains and ran all around, until they gathered to catch their souvenir. Much fun.

The cake was huge and pretty, and tres leches, which I really like. After some dancing, people drifted away around 11pm. The next morning, Erik's and my flight was at 9:40, so we were back in Sacramento by noon. The gifts were all opened by evening, when we got a call from my parents, saying they had driven up a day earlier and wanted to stay overnight again! We were surprised, but totally ok with it. They had the second batch of gifts, so we opened them that night.

Ever since then, we've been settling into a married routine. Erik's working 6a-4p Monday-Thursday and has Fridays off. He has lots to do a work, so comes home tired but feeling rewarded! I've been organizing cupboards and closets, but surprisingly, aren't even close to finished. I've enjoyed cooking and baking as well, and am so glad I have leisure time to pore over recipebooks and get comfortable with food prep. Erik's pleased too! He's a very capable cook, but the last two times he cooked, we had enough for probably eight people and had way too many leftovers! haha!

Most of our errands have been to Target (where we were registered) and home furnishing/decor stores. Our last piece of furniture was moved in on Sunday though! My grandpa made a curio cabinet for our dishes and it was the first piece of furniture we were expecting to have, but the last to come in! It's just lovely--made of pine, stained in walnut, with nice clean lines and ample space for dishes!

That old friend, the piano is here too! I had resigned myself to not have it and Erik and I never really discussed it but once, he said he was disappointed that I hadn't fought to have it. It made me sad to hear that and I decided then and there, I'd measure some walls and make it a priority! My mom brought it over two weeks ago and it's so nice to have! I'm in the habit of not playing anymore, but I've diddled around a few times and last night, talked almost entirely music with Erik. I could feel the excitement speeding up my voice, and I remembered how music was my life for awhile.

We've watched a lot of movies, and I have to say, a Netflix subscription is one of the BEST wedding gifts someone could give. We didn't receive it as a gift, but I definitely want to give it in the future! We've watched a good 20 movies in the last four weeks... that's a lot!

I'm planning to start some prereq courses at the end of August to get into a masters program for TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). Because I'm not officially enrolling in the program and until Spring, I'm applying as a guest student, so may not be accepted to the courses if they're full. We'll have to wait and see, but I'm not concerned since I can take the prereqs when I'm in the program. Just trying to get a headstart. Once I'm more certain of how that pans out, I'll search for a job more vigorously. Thankfully, we're comfortable enough for me to not need a job, but some extra pennies wouldn't hurt!

Tuesday was our month-iversary. I made a dinner of honey-lime salmon, a zucchini-tomato bake, and toasted focaccia with goat cheese. Then we road bikes downtown to a chocolatier. I got a piece of chocolate gianduja cake, which means it has hazelnut like ferrero rocher. Mmmm! Erik got a homemade ice cream sandwich that was uber-rich and just delicious!

This weekend we're headed to my grandparents' house to see some family we haven't visited with in awhile. I'm bringing cupcakes and will experiment with making cute ones. We'll sleep in the tent on their deck and head back Sunday, since I have a choir audition in the afternoon! Slowly but surely, we are building our life and routine!

Well, I'm racking my brain for any other details to share about married life, but that's all I can recall for now! Hopefully I keep up a bit better with this now, but if not, an update every few months can't hurt!

Erik had been asleep next to me no more than five minutes before he giggled in his sleep. Then, he started brushing his chest and, amid more giggles, mumbled, "Getitoffgetitoffgetitoffgetitoff!" When he opened his eyes, he looked straight at me and said, "There was a bunny on me." Apparently, I had taken it out of a box and set it on his chest. It was "just chilling" on his neck, looking right at 'im, but it was SOOO soft and fluffy, it tickled.

Today was the first time I have been blatantly hit on by a half-serious (maybe even seven-eighths serious), non-rico suave guy. He was normal, college-aged, bland, awkward, and asian.

[Setting: GAP. With Mom.]

[I browse the sales rack unaware that I am being approached.]
Guy: [Loudly] Hi.
Me: Hi...?
G: I um, just wanted to come over and tell you that you're pretty.
M: Oh, thanks!
G: Yeah, you're just... really pretty. Wanted to tell you that.
M: [Less enthusiastic] Yeah, thanks.
G: I'm John.
M: Marisa.
[Shake hands.]

[M turns her back and continues to browse sales rack]
[...]

G: So... you go to school at the JC?
M: No actually. I'm graduating from a school in Napa.
G: Cool.

[M turns her back and continues to browse sales rack]
[...]

[At the same time] M: You?
G: Wait, from high school or college?
M: Oh, college. Guess I have a young face.
G: [Chuckles] Yeah, guess so. Yeah, I go to the JC.
M: Cool. [Attempts to flash engagement ring by running hand over a pair of pants.]

[...]

G: So what do you study?
M: Spanish.
G: Oh, that's cool.
M: Yeah it is. You?
G: Art.

[Mom moves closer to protect daughter. M flashes ring again, flipping over price tag.]

[...]

M: What kind of art? [Kicks herself mentally for pretending to act interested.]
G: I don't really know.
M: Oh, that's college for you. No one really knows. [DON'T YOU SEE THE RING YET???]

[...]

G: So you're just here shopping huh?
M: [D'OH!] Yeah, with my mom. [Gestures over shoulder, hoping it will deter further attempts at conversation.]
Mom: [Turns and salutes.]
G: Oh hi. I thought you were sisters.
M: [Sarcastically] Yeah, nice try.

[...]

G: So any plans for the summer?
M: [BINGO!] Yeah, I'm actually getting married in a few weeks.
G: Oh... cool. Bet that's really busy.
M: Yeah, it takes a lot of planning.
G: Cool.

[...]

G: Well. Nice meeting you. Have a good night.
M: Sure thing. Bye.

[End]

I guess it was nice to be hit on when I wasn't feeling especially attractive. And I appreciate his gumption. But he's gotta learn to be a better conversationalist and to read cues before he tries that again. I mean, the ring was practically blinding him.

In case anyone even bothers to check my blog after almost a year of futility, I'm giving an update a shot. I'd love to get back into blogging this year. I have to say, as silly of an excuse as it may be, that having a boyfriend has taken up most of my free time. As we wind down from the hormonal talk-on-the-phone-til-4am, can't-get-enough-of-each-other stage of our relationship and start to breath normal air instead of gulping down pink-tinged, rose-scented soft-as-goosedown air, perhaps blogging will again get a spot on my weekly rotation.

That being said, Erik and I are as fabulous as we were that pivotal night we met for a movie in Fairfield. We're going on a year in November and suffice it to say that the end is NOT in sight. Thanks to him, my structured world has taken another chill pill and the transition from doing things MY way to doing things OUR way hasn't been very painful. (Though I confess, we still do a lot of things my way... bless his heart.)

Again I feel like a different person than I was a year ago, and even more so compared to the person I was two years ago. It's already been two years since I took off for Spain. To the week in fact! Crazy.

I'm graduating in June with International Communication and Spanish. And I shan't confess quite yet, but the future is shaping up.

This summer, I've been working for the Solatube company I started with two years ago. Only this summer, we lost a salesperson in June, so Marc had me step into sales. Let me say it's not ideal for me whatsoever. But I've learned alot. For one, sales (read: persuasion, helping people see your perspective, leading people to knowledge and decision-making) is part of every interaction. For another, it's based on conversation. Exchanging information until a mutually beneficial transaction takes place. It's been philosophical at times, and horridly dreadful at others, but all in all, it's been a learning experience.

I wrecked my car in June. Well, I was hit when a lady drifted into me. It totalled the Honda del Sol (*wipes tear*) but I got a replacement Kia Sephia. It's not that thrilling, but it has low miles, four doors, and AC, which are all plusses.

The excitement of my summer consisted of two trips: Going to San Francisco with Erik's friends (who are twins), that came to visit from New Jersey, and going to Yosemite with Erik's church group. They were both very nice trips and awesome breaks from the ordinary, but not detail-worthy at this point.

My year won't be very stressful. My load won't go over 15 units I don't think, and I'm auditing Italian. It'll be a tie-up-loose-ends kind of year.

Thus ends my update. Detail-free and to the point, but for whoever's reading, that's the summer in a nutshell. Until next time.

I went home the weekend of February 1 just for fun, but I wasn't feeling very good. Aric was at bible conference so hung out with Mom and Dad, and it was really good. Talked a lot about the future, had Chinese food and when the power went out, we watched L'Auberge Espagnole. Sunday I drove back up to PUC but over the day, felt worse and worse. Slept AWFUL Sunday night, think I had a fever. Called Dad at 6am and he said it sounded like the flu, so I packed my bags and drove back home. My throat was killing me, and in the evening, Dad called a doctor friend who called in a perscription for me.

The rest of the week is relatively a blur of plain. I could barely swallow and it was impossible to speak. Sounded like I had marbles in my mouth, and I couldn't open my lips wide enough to accomodate a spoon. We didn't know if it was mono or strep throat, but after a few weeks, it became clear that it was only strep, thank goodness.

Wednesday, Dad said he'd found a puppy in Placerville he wanted to pick up. Since we'd pass through Sacramento, I wanted to stop and see Erik. At first it seemed unlikely that that would happen, but it timed out perfectly. Dad dropped me off as he was getting out of class, and picked me up 10 minutes after he went to the next. We had to take the hour really slowly since I was weak, but it was nice nonetheless.

Riding home with a puppy in my lap was fabulous and as a result, Echo bonded with me. Dad says to this day, he gets more excited when I'm home than he normally is. =)

I was able to get a few things done while at home since I'd brought my homework, and I stayed until Sunday. Mum whacked my hair off and I loved it, but most people didn't like it as much as I did. Whatever. I could still barely open my mouth when I got back to school, but at least I could speak intelligibly!

A real post will come over spring break...

Until then, here's some reading for your entertainment. This story dates back to the first week of December. It's undergone various stages of revision and contribution by a collaborative author, so although it is three months overdue, it's exactly as I want it. =)

THE GREAT MISTLETOE ADVENTURE

The great mistletoe adventure began on Sunday, December 2. The urge to do something nice (and/or funny) for Erik hit me and it did not take long for me to think, "I'll send him some mistletoe in the mail!" This was brilliant in my mind, and shouldn't have taken more than one phone call to one florist. I assumed it would be kind of expensive, but hey, for a nice gesture, I was willing to spend a little. Then, even better, the realization hit that on that Tuesday, we would have been together for a month. Even though we're not gaga about anniversaries, how apropos!

Little did I know, most florists are closed on Sunday. I called three or four before getting ahold of the first one, who informed me that there's a $25-minimum purchase, plus $10 delivery fee. Ouch. After trying a few other florists, I got ahold of a second guy who said he didn't have mistletoe, but would try to contact his wholesaler to see if he could get it in time. He promised to call me the next day, but said it wouldn't be worth it unless I incorporated mistletoe in a wintry bouquet and then would probably end up paying $30 or $40—so keep that in mind.

That's when I decided I didn't want a delivery. They don't force a minimum purchase if you don't have it delivered, so that would give me a lot more flexibility. But then how would I get the mistletoe to Erik? Easy. I'd call his close friend Charles. But how would I get Charles' number? After pondering this one for quite some time, I decided I would have to take a chance. I texted Erik saying it would be a good idea to have some emergency contact numbers for one other, just in case anything ever happens. I gave him my work number, my dad's cell, and Shelley's number. I crossed my fingers, hoping he'd give me some numbers too and ka-ching! I got Charles' number, among others. I didn't hesitate in calling Charles, but my sentences were disjointed, I was so caught up in this glorious plan. After I explained the deal to him, he said, "Wait, so, you want me to get mistletoe, and wrap it, and (bleep)?" I said no-no-no, just pick it up. He said he'd be willing to do that, as long as I ordered it in advance and had it ready. Success one.

So I had a delivery guy, now to actually get the mistletoe. Sunday evening, I decided I'd try a few places besides florists to see if I would get lucky. Three Safeways, two Michael's Crafts, a Raley's, an Albertson's, and an Ace Hardware later, still no luck. I'd have to hold out in faith for the florists. I figured they'd open at 9am the next day, so plotted until then.

At 9am, my phone was in hand. I called one florist--no mistletoe. The next one either. The third one said she'd have to check with their wholesaler. The fourth, fifth, and sixth said no cigar. The seventh said he'd have to check with his wholesaler, but it would come in a bag and I'd have to buy at least half the bag to be worthwhile. That would be three or four sprigs, 10-14 inches long. This was getting way way way too complicated since I wanted one silly little sprig in a silly little box, but whatever. I was on a mission.

Within the half hour, those two florists called me back apologizing, and an hour later, the guy from Sunday also called and said it was harder to get ahold of mistletoe than he thought. (As I had been learning going along, it's toxic to other plants. A lot of florists wouldn't carry it until right before Christmas. It doesn't keep very well. Et cetera. I knew mistletoe was a parasitic plant, but come on!) So this guy wouldn't really let me off the phone, insisting I get something else by him. I told him no, I'm a poor college student, don't press your luck, and he asked me, "How will you get your kiss in?" I retorted, "I'm sure we'll find a way." He chuckled and we hung up. Failures 1-23.

Oh, the disappointment. It was SUCH a great idea! I was bummed, but at least I hadn't hinted anything to Erik, and Charles had promised not to say anything.

So I started telling Priscilla my tale of woe during lunch Monday. She listened with sympathy but had to rush to class as I was finishing the story. I also had class so we split, but decided to meet in the library at 3:30, the way we usually do before Honors at 5.

At 3:30, when i got out of class, I remembered that I was accompanying Shelley at the recital, so had to run to the room and change, 'else I wouldn't have time before the concert. After that, I went to Paulin to run through her piece, and around 4pm, I started getting calls and texts from Priscilla. This is most strange since she gets NO service on the hill and her screen is broken so can't see what she texts very well either. After we finished the practice I checked my phone and saw her attempted contact. so went straight to the library to see what was going on. The moment I got there, she said, "Dude! I've been trying to get ahold of you for an hour! There's no time to explain. How do you feel about flower arranging?" I sat with mouth agape, and she said, "Yes. I have mistletoe. I've been known to work miracles but I can't explain now—we have to hurry to get it ready." I could have kissed her! But that would have defeated the purpose of the mistletoe, so I didn't. Success two.

We ran out to her truck and she said, "Here's the mistletoe, here's some pine branches and pinecones, here's some other green stuff, I also have tissue paper and ribbon, but we'll need a box. If we hurry we can make it to the post office before class." So we jumped into lightening mode and drove to the market. I said, "The bookstore will have boxes!" so we ran in there and asked the guy for a box, but he wasn't sure if they cost money. We asked another girl and she said they were free, so we hightailed it outta there with our box. Success three.

I started picking out the prettiest sprig I could find, and tied it with a pine bough when I remembered I needed a card. Pris kept arranging the tissue paper for me as I dashed back into the market. I wanted a tiny little card only, but I didn't see any. So I ran to the bookstore. They didn't have any there either. So I ran back to the market and that's when I noticed at the bottom of the rack, a little section with three kinds of 3x3 cards. The first one had a stork carrying a baby. The second had a car on it and said, "Keep your gorgeous eyes on the road, keep your sexy hands on the wheel... and keep your darling self safe until you get home," or something to that effect, and lastly, a plain, embossed card in the shape of... wedding bells. Wedding bells it was. Success four.

I frantically penned a message on the card that won Priscilla's award for worst card in the world, while she finished prepping the box, and we RAN to the post office at 4:55. Leave it to this little speck of a town to close the post office at FOUR and not FIVE like every other post office in the nation. A few choice expletives were running through our heads and might have slipped our mouths, but we sighed and decided to go to class. It took me about a half hour to get focused on the subject matter, because I was trying to come up with a solution, but since there was nothing I could do, I gave up until after class. Failure 23.

I had a few options. I could drive to the nearest FedEx or UPS store and try to ship it overnight. After checking their sites online, I learned that that could cost about $50. Worse than a florist. No way, José. I could drive to Sacramento and drop it off myself, but neither Erik nor I would like it much if I did that without seeing one another, but that, in turn, would defeat the purpose of the mistletoe. Or I could just wait and mail it the next day. It wouldn't arrive until the 5th, but then at least the box would be postmarked the 4th. So that's what I decided to do. Success/failure.

When Pris and I got out of class and went up to the room, I filled Shelley in on the grand adventure. We were both FLOORED at how Pris got mistletoe so she settled in to tell us the whole, hilarious story. Given her animated nature, I'm going to let her put it in her own words...

**********

my fifth birthday party where i received gold earrings from a neighbor, the day my high school volleyball team won its second undefeated championship, that great evening i spent walking the beach with “this one” guy… O MY GOSH! my life was really flashing before my eyes! i looked down and behind me, and found myself looking at a row of seemingly sharp and treacherous rocks, ahhhh!

i am standing on the top rung of a ladder looking down at an apparent demise… ok ok, FINE. it was a stepladder, but it was still high!

i look up and see a row of mistletoe berries mocking me, almost within reach but not quite, as if they were laughing at my diminutive stature. ok ok, i’m not THAT short, but i was not at the point of reasoning at the moment. i grit my teeth and think to myself, “i’m not even going to enjoy the fruits of this labor, aarrrgh, *expletive expletive expletive*!!” my mind flashes back to a few hours earlier when marisa had approached me in the campus center…

“pris! i really need to talk to you!” marisa was quite animated and seemed to be at the end of some kind of slippery rope (yes i tend to mix maxims). we hadn’t really talked that week, and she had wanted to tell me something, but i kept putting her off. i did want to talk but not during the five minute intervals we had between classes. i mean there is only so much we could say between the caf and irwin and besides the stairs are steep enough to suck all the air out of my LA atmosphere riddled lungs and restrain any attempt at language besides exclamations of “man this sucks!”

but we had finally caught up to each other in the campus center, although i only had a few minutes before class. it was late november and her one month anniversary with jose was coming up on the first. turns out she wanted to make it special, however all her attempts to be thoughtful were just running into problems and out of steam (expect these kinds of maxims all over the place ok). she had formed a rather brilliant idea to celebrate their anniversary – to send a little inspiration in the form of mistletoe. enter a little problem; as it happens, because of its highly toxic and hazardous nature, mistletoe is not carried by any florist within (it seemed) 100 miles from Angwin! oh disaster! ris had reached the point of throwing in the towel into the flames, along with several florists, i’m sure.

“what can i do??” ris asked. i pondered the situation and realized the potential of ris’ great idea so i decided to help out, but looking at my watch i realized i was already late to class so i quickly grabbed my coffee and scuttled out while yelling over my shoulder, “i’ll think of something and maybe we can find some of this magical herb” (yes, i know mistletoe is not an herb).

i kept thinking about this quanda-rous situation; upon entering the classroom i figured the best way to find the answer to something is to let a lot of people know that you need help, and to hope that someone will come through. so i interrupted the teacher and exclaimed “i need help!” later i realized that this statement could have been better thought out; i had walked into psychology class and the topic of the day was abnormal psychology. in any case, i was given some attention by the interested students and peeved teacher.

“i need to know where i can find some magic herbs!!!” actually that wasn’t exactly what i said, it was more like, “does anyone know where i can find some mistletoe?” to my great surprise several people knew exactly where i could come across this elusive parasite! even dr. peeved joined the crusade and let me know where he had seen some. a fellow student, rob, was solicitous enough to draw a map in order for me to find the trees upon which the mistletoe grew. as soon as class let out i ran to get ready, and 5 minutes later i was armed with a stepladder from dean h., old jeans for climbing, and a backpack – and off to my near death. although rob’s map was great, my spatial abilities weren’t so i got lost in the only place i could. i wouldn’t have minded, except for the fact that i had a class at 5pm, it was now 3:30pm. once i was back on track (this involves me walking by the way) i found the trees in about 10 minutes. i had forgotten a minor detail before heading out, a detail which now reared its ignorant head – i did not know what mistletoe looked like! oh, disaster! but looking at the trees i figured that if it looked like an oak, and it had branches with little red berries on it, then it must be mistletoe. (just to be sure on the way back i pulled every plant that had anything berry-like on it)

a couple of minutes later i found the tree guilty of my near demise, full of big bursting beguiling berries, oh impending disaster! i decided that these small parasites were not going to beat me and i managed to obtain several branches, in fact they probably saved my life since i held on to them for dear life and ended up ripping them off of the tree (if anyone asks about a dying oak tree with mistletoe on it… i know nothing about it). i returned triumphant to main campus and went to the library, where i thought ris would be. alas, she was not. i ended up walking from one end of the campus to the other (this is true) trying to find a signal on my phone (yes, cingular has not raised the bar here) but i did not find one. i decided to wait in the library; it ended up being a good idea since ris came up a few minutes later. all i had to do was give her a big beaming smile in order for her to realize that i had most certainly come across the elusive plant. i don’t think i have ever heard so many “you are so awesome and great!”s since then… well, it was more like “thank you pris,” but potato, potahtoh.

as great as finding the mistletoe was, there was no point to the entire ordeal if the plant did not get to jose within a few days, preferably a few hours. so once i again i was off, accompanied by Marisa; we were on a mission to get the mistletoe wrapped and sent out before class, which was 15 minutes away.

we found free boxes in the bookstore and i had scrounged up some ribbon from a friend, which allowed us to wrap a sprig of mistletoe oh so beautifully. we ran to the post office as fast as we could, but we were stopped from completing our mission because sadly yes, the post office was closed! oh, disaster! try as we might it was not possible to mail the package that day. we returned ruefully to main campus, 15 minutes late to class and me smelling like a pine tree.

oh, and i still have nightmares about sharp rocks and elusive parasites.

**********

After Priscilla finished her story and we had a number of jelly-belly laughs, she said, "Well, now that you aren't mailing it until tomorrow, you have time to make a different card. Throw that awful wedding bells one away." I know it was an awful card, but I thought it might be more funny than anything. Nonetheless, I thought it was a good idea to MAKE a card, since I like doing that stuff anyway. I cut out the letters M-U-A-H from a magazine, kissed a piece of paper to make a lip print, and voilá, perfectly suitable. (Only it was less voilá than it sounds--took me an embarrassing amount of time to make the card perfect. My final caviat is, however, that I got the kiss right perfectly on the first try and didn't practice kissing a piece of paper!) The last ironic bit is that after I finished the card, opened the box, put it in, and replaced the lid, the power went out. All in the knick of time. Success seven.

The next day I went to the post office and as nice as you please, they mailed it for me. The next day, Erik and I were on the phone when he retrieved the mail and was absolutely surprised. He laughed and laughed and laughed and said I even beat him to the mistletoe since he was on the look out too. Success eight.

So all tallied up, there were about 30 failures to 10 successes total in the great mistletoe adventure, but taking into account the happy ending when I went to Sacramento on Saturday, the successes definitely outweigh their counterpart. =D

So this is going to be my one and only blog for November.  Sheesh.  *Whew* here we go.

Let's see, three weeks ago, Priscilla and I went to Spanish church on Sabbath.  The sermon was in English, translated to Spanish, and it was nice to hear Spanish sermons again.  Potluck afterward was great as well.  The night before, Erik and I had spontaneously decided to meet up for a movie.  We figured out what the halfway point would be, and coincidentally, there's a movie theater there.  So around 5pm we met at the theater to see Into the Wild.  Super great movie about a guy who decides to give up everything after college, donating $30,000 to charity and leaving his parents without warning, and move to Alaska.  He makes friends along the way and they all want him to stick around, but he wants to live alone in the wilds of Alaska.  By the end of the movie, he realizes that life is about community, not solitude, and it ends bittersweetly.  Afterward, Erik and I went to pizza and coffee and after Starbucks closed, we sat in the car for a few hours talking.  Since it was time-change weekend, I had an extra hour before curfew and quite took advantage of it.  Lots of fun.

The following weekend was a rather memorable one.  Erik came up Friday night so we went to vespers together, where the speaker was absolutely brilliant.  He was funny without trying, very sincere, and held my attention the entire time.  Just an all-around excellent public speaker.  I can't remember his name at the moment, but I'd be thrilled to hear him again if he were to come up the hill again.

Saturday, Erik went to the Green Fest in San Francisco because he'd volunteered for a shift (I think for his Environmental Science class? or just for fun...) so didn't see him all day.  Pris and I went to early church, where it was the same speaker, and then went to lunch at 11am.  Got back to the dorm room by noon and very quickly fell asleep.  In the late afternoon, Pris, Shell and I were all in the room reading, then went to dinner where the pickings were slim at the caf.  At 8pm, the wind ensemble had a concert, which was rather nice, but I felt bad looking at the size of the audience.  It was mostly old people and there weren't many--nothing like the ensembles when Doc led out.  Nonetheless it was a decent concert.  When Erik got back, the four of us played Cranium, which was rather hilarious.  Shelley "bloomed" rather nicely, she couldn't figure out 'Gesundheit,' Priscilla made a clay ashtray that Shelley thought was a spoon, and Erik did a lame impression that I miraculously guessed correctly as Yogi Bear.  I wouldn't mind playing that game in the future.

Sunday was a jam packed day.  For Honors, Pris and I were required to see the mass that weekend in San Francisco, since it was an actual performance of Faure's Requiem.  I'd never been to a real mass before, and since we sang this specific requiem in choir last year, Shell was excited to come.  Erik and I decided to go to the Green Fest afterward, Pris wanted to meet up with her cousin, and everything equated a day in San Francisco.  The mass was lovely--even for as large as the cathedral is and the vast number of people inside it, the place stayed reverent the whole time, and the music was very nice.

We split up after the mass and Erik and I went in search of an H&M.  The last time either of us had been to one was in Europe, so we were anticipating the stroll down memory lane.  It eventually turned out to be a stroll around San Francisco with no Green Fest whatsoever, but it was nice nonetheless.  We stopped in the Apple store to see the touch screen ipods, went in the biggest Old Navy I've ever seen, and found a location of a designer store I thought was online only.  On the way back to the car to meet with Pris, (Shell had gone home with some of the others from class after the mass), we found a Borders bookstore, so spent a good hour in there.  Somehow, there was a miscommunication with Pris about meeting up, so when we got to the car and she wasn't there, we went to a coffee shop to wait but when she got to the car, she got in to wait, and we were waiting for one another almost 45 minutes.  Oh well.  After getting back to school, Erik headed back to Sacramento.  Quite the nice weekend

Pris, Shelley and I have had a few funny moments over the past few weeks, usually in the room.  The first was when Shelley was doing a quiz thing, and was saying that she was kind of quiet and wanted to break out of her shell.  Pris jumped on that one and said she needed to break out of her shelley.  We just busted into laughter, and it was one of the funniest moments yet.

A second occurence in the room had a little bit of history.  Priscilla's taking an intermediate Spanish class to fulfill her language requirement to graduate and one boring day in class, they were talking about emphases and syllables and whatnot.  The word for syllable in Spanish is "sílaba" and Pris kept repeating the word in her head until eventually renaming herself "Priscilaba."  So she was telling Shelley and I about all this, which was funny in itself, but then we realized it also sounds like "Priscilla va" which means "Priscilla's going to..."  For some reason, this struck us as hilarious, and I eventually got to the convulsion stage of laughter with tears nearly flowing.  Sleep deprivation sure makes things funny.

This year, PUC's going to participate in the National College Bowl.  A few weeks back we were asked to submit teams and I thought it sounded like fun, so Pris and I decided to find two other people to be on our team.  Amy said yes right away, but Cara wasn't too interested.  So instead, we asked Dwight.  There are eight PUC teams competing against one another, and it's a two-loss version.  The first competition was last Tuesday and our team beat the match!  It was a tie at the end actually, and we got the tiebreaker.  Of all the teams, I think ours is very well-rounded and our biggest weakness now is probably history.  But it's the kind of stuff that I knew at one point in time, so I'm going to brush up and we'll be good.

Vacation could not have come any sooner.  I wasn't hitting a too-stressed point or anything, but still, a break was quite necessary.  So I was extremely happy to head to work Friday afternoon and not have to drive back to school.  Instead, we hurried home to tidy the house a bit since Erik was going to come over.  He made it in time for dinner and it was nice to just sit around talking to my family.  Stayed up kind of late talking, but it wasn't hi energy or anything.  Saturday morning, we were going to go to breakfast, but Nonna decided to cook an early lunch instead.  Then, the plan was to go downtown and wander around, but we ended up sitting around, reading, dozing, talking.  And it wasn't boring in the least, just relaxing.  In the evening, we watched a record-breaking three movies.  One, Malena, was Italian and rather funny, though more on the deep side, the next was How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, my all-time favorite chick flick, and finally Shrek 2, to end the night with comedy.  Sunday was just as uneventful as Saturday, only this time we spent some time with Nonna watching Italian TV.  Erik left around 5pm since he had class the next day, but all-in-all, a nice way to start a relaxing break.

Monday, Aric and I had dental appointments to fill cavities, then I went to work in the afternoon.  Tuesday, I worked.  Wednesday, we  laid sod in the backyard so there's FINALLY green grass out there.  Uncle Dino and Tia showed up so that was a nice surprise--they stayed with Nonna for the holiday.  Pris came Wednesday night to stay until Sunday since the dorm's closed and she wasn't planning on going home for break.  Thursday, we all headed off to Gram and Grandpa's where the house was entirely full.  The food was absolutely beyond delicious and I ate the most I think I've ever eaten in one sitting.  Mmm-mmm-mmmm!  All the usual dishes but since last year was away from home, this family meal was long overdue.  I was full all day and even today, I don't think I ever got hungry.  Just felt like I ought to eat.  Anyway, yesterday was a nice day spent with everyone and last night, Priscilla and I watched Coupling, a British TV show.

Today was a blah day.  We were tentatively planning to decorate for Christmas but there was tidying to do first, so didn't get much decorated.  I read, Pris graded papers, we sat around.  Typical vacatationy day.

Tomorrow Auntie Pam and her family are coming over since they haven't seen the backyard since things have changed.  Already the week is over and it's time to go back to school!  I'm sad to see break fly by, but I'll be glad to be back on the hill again.

Last weekend was simply a lovely weekend.  Erik arrived on campus just before church, so he found Priscilla and I and sat with us.  We went to lunch in the caf and ate with Andy, Angela (Priscilla's roommate) and Yaya (a close friend of Erik, Pris, and Angela).  We sat chit-chatting in the caf for awhile then went up to the dorm to play some games.  Pris brought down cards and we ended up playing SLAP most of the afternoon.  It's like Uno, as far as objective goes, only when a SLAP card surfaces, you don't want to be the last one to touch the deck.  Cozbi and Ana joined us, though Andy left, and it was really good-natured, even though we were kind of slow at picking up on the game.

Erik wanted to hang out with some friends he hadn't seen in awhile, so he took off and the rest of us girls decided to get pizza.  We went into town kind of late, but it was really good and nice to just relax in the room.  Pris and I ended up going to my room around 11pm and talking... for hours.  (Shelley was out of town, so Pris stayed in the room all night.)  We hadn't REALLY spent time together in a few weeks, so it was about time.  She was planning on going to San Francisco in the morning to see her cousins at a marathon and had to leave at 7am--only a few hours after we went to sleep.  I got up then too because Erik and I had made plans to go to breakfast.

Grandpa called while I was getting ready to ask about the turkey shoot.  I told him I'd be glad to go, if only for awhile, but it would be later in the afternoon.  I thought we'd be back from breakfast by noon or so... but knowing the yappers Erik and I are, I should have warned Grandpa that I might not have made it at all.

We got to Calistoga around 9:30am and ate at a cute cafe place.  I wasn't feeling well, gastronomically speaking, but it was still a great breakfast.  Fresh squeezed orange juice--m-mmm!  It took awhile for conversation to get rolling since it had been almost three months since seeing each other last (in Italy no less!) and we laughed a bit, but once we started talking, we didn't stop.  Wandered around Calistoga a bit, went into Hurd's where we found some boxes by Grandpa and doilies by Nonna, but when we found an empty street bench, we claimed it for a few hours.  It was nearly 2pm by the time I looked at what time it was, so at that point, we decided to head back.  It was a gorgeous day, so we put the top down on my car and took a slight detour to get a view of the gorgeous valley.  When we got back to school, Pris came downstairs to hang out, and we watched comedians online for awhile, until Erik left at 5pm.  It was a bummer to see him go, but such a nice weekend.

I don't rememeber much more of the week--just that it went by quickly.  So I'll skip over Monday and Tuesday and get to Wednesday night, when the festivities began.

I got a random call from Cara freaking out a bit because she was supposed to do a photoshoot Thursday night and her model bailed.  She was really concerned because she'd rented the lights and the photography teacher was ticked with her.  It was supposed to be '40s theme and she knew I liked that era, so would I PLEASE help her out?  I was like, well, it's my birthday, but... ok.  It was only going to be a half hour or so, so I didn't think it would be that big of a deal.  Pris, Shell and I had planned to make enchiladas for dinner, but the shoot would be done by the time we'd eat, so no biggy.

That night online, after telling Erik about this shoot, he says, "Speaking of photos, I don't have very many pics of you... could you send me some?"  I decided not to ask what was up his sleeve and just said Ok--and proceeded to send almost all of my favorite pics.  It ended up being around 70 photos after all was said and done... oops. =S  He'd also asked when I was born so I told him and he said he'd stay up and wish me happy birthday PROPERLY, at the right moment and all.

So I got my happy-birthday text at 1:42am, and in the morning, Priscilla came over and sang the Mexican birthday song--Las Mañanitas.  I think I'd better learn all the words, in case I need to know that song in the future...

I'd been asked to be a Spain representative for Spanish Emphasis Colloquy.  A bunch of latinos held the flags of their countries and I held Spain's--everyone in authentic dress.  After the recession of flags, a very talented guitarist went onstage and I was asked to be his "prop"--stand there and look pretty while he played.  After one song, I was done, but I must say, I felt pretty dumb without having anything to do besides flutter my fan once in awhile.  Oh well.  My advisor, Mrs. Collins said I "stood there" with great talent and not a bit of self-consciousness, which is more than most people could do. =P

Erik and I had been texting over the course of the morning as usual, and he said he was bummed he couldn't give me a real hug on my birthday.  His solution was to call after he got out of class, describe in great detail where we both were, and let that do the trick.  Not ideal, but I couldn't exactly expect him to skip class and drive two hours one-way on a weekday, just for me.  So after colloquy I went to the caf and met up with Pris.  Erik called a little after noon and after talking for about a minute, Pris asked if she could talk to him.  (She does that sometimes since they don’t keep in touch as much.)  After a few minutes of what sounded like boring conversation, they hung up and she told me he had to pee and would call me back in a few.  Not a minute later, my phone rang again and I answered with “That was fast!” only to feel a smack on my shoulder at that instant.  Who should it be but Erik!  I was soooo surprised!  How awesome is that though?!

There was no question that I was going to skip my afternoon class.  (Argumentation.  We’re granted two absences and this was absence two.  Lets hope I don’t really need one in the future…) Erik and I ate and I wanted to hang out but Pris said she’d need to start on enchiladas ahead of time if she’d have free time in the afternoon.  So we went to the kitchen and grated cheese and whatnot, until Erik suggested going to a pumpkin patch.  A month previous, I’d mentioned in passing that I wanted to carve pumpkins for my birthday and he totally wanted to stick with that one.  Pris said she couldn’t because of work, but Shelley opted to go with us.

The map made it look really straightforward… but somehow, we couldn’t find the patch.  So we just made a big loop and decided to go to Safeway for pumpkins instead.  It worked out, since Shell wanted to study for her midterm before we had dinner and she wouldn’t have had time otherwise.

I started to get ready around 6pm, when Cara called to make sure we were still on for the shoot.  I wasn’t entirely feeling it, but I went with it.  We’d decided to meet at Irwin at 6:30, but she was on her way to the bank so offered to pick us up.  She wanted to do some photos inside and outside, but wanted to start in one of the old classrooms.  Cara led the way and as I walked through the doorway… SURPRISE!  Fourteen friends were huddled together grinning at me.  The desks were pushed against the walls, balloons were tied up everywhere and swing music was playing.  I was so utterly shocked, my hands went straight to my face when they started singing, and I had no idea what to do or say besides smile ridiculously.

I went around and gave hugs to everyone, absolutely thrilled and completely unsuspecting.  They were amazed that I had no clue, but Shell and Pris did SUCH a great job hiding it, and I was simply not watching for any signs.  Some people had to leave right away, others came in late, but all told, here’s who came:

Warrie
Dwight
Andy
Lyndy
Phillip
Derek
Ryan E (from elementary school)
Erik
David
Martin
Jon (Shell’s brother)
Caitlin
Cara
Hannah
Shelley
Priscilla
Shondene
Kristen (my RA)
Lawryn
Vanessa. 

And the following are the ones that Pris & Shell invited, but couldn't make it:
Jenn (friends with Lyndy)
Tamara
Sara (was an RA in Spain from PUC)
Elaine
Angela
Yaya
Jayme
Danny
Kristen
Angelina
Valerie
Desiree
Katherine (from Honors)
Allison
Cozbi
James
JohnO
Billy (was out of town)
Craig H
Nathan M
Ricky
Lisa

We played a few rounds of ‘Feet’—a circle game where everyone looks down at another person’s feet and on the word ‘feet’, all look at the owner’s face.  If you make eye contact, you’re both out, but most of the time, everyone’s looking different directions.  Hehehe.

Dinner was delicious!   Pris had spent all afternoon making enchiladas alone and bought a case of drinks at the caf.  They put 20 candles on my cake and sang, and right after I blew them out, I said “These better not be trick candles!” but *poof* four of them relit.  I was feigning dismay and kept blowing them out until eventually, some people came and pinched them out for me (since the room got REALLY smokey—don’t know if there’s a fire alarm in that classroom?).  Andy said afterward, “Note to self: Marisa does not like trick candles!”

I actually didn’t eat any of the cake because I was so full, but I was soooo appreciative of Hannah and Tamara for making it.  (Tamara was at work so couldn’t come, but we share three classes this quarter so see a lot of each other!)  There were brownies too that Desiree and Cara made but I didn’t touch any of the sweets… everyone else enjoyed them though.

After eating, Shelley popped in a swing dance how-to (thanks to Cozbi and Allison for loaning the DVD player and screen!) and we coupled off, with nearly a perfect number of guys and girls.  People started to have to leave so it didn’t last long, but it was fun to just diddle around with steps and twirls and whatnot.

Around 8:30, I suddenly remembered the pumpkins that had yet to be carved, so we started cleaning everything up, tying balloons together, and putting the desks in place.  We’d only gotten three pumpkins since Shell thought she’d need to study, but Pris and Erik had never carved before, so they were excited.  They were pretty grossed out to scoop out the gunk at first, but it got fun really fast.  We decided to roast the seeds but I didn’t exactly know HOW besides putting them in the oven.  Luckily, we made two new friends who were hanging around and the guy, Zack, was an old pro at all things pumpkin, so he cleaned up the seeds for us and let us know how to get them started, even though we didn’t have time to soak them in salt water.

I carved a sideways-looking, toothy jack-o-lantern, Erik made one with a curly mustache, and Priscilla went ALL advanced and carved a batman.  They all turned out really well, I was proud of my pumpkin protégés.  When the seeds finished roasting, none of us even wanted them.  Pris took a handful and we passed them off to Zack as a thank-you for helping.

At 11:30, Erik took off and I promised to wait up until he made it home.  It worked out since I had a hugely messy room to clean since it had become a dumping grounds over the course of the day, plus I wanted to look at the cards people had given me.

Erik had a few pics of us from Italy blown up and framed, plus made a collage of all the pics I had sent him the night before.  The card is a hallmark hoops & yoyo one with a sound byte thing that goes off when you opened it.  It says “M-M-MMM!  You are looking FINE!  In one word: YUM! Happy Birthday you good lookin’ hunk of person you!  I just wanna eat you up!  Num-num-num-num-num!”  The funny thing is, there’s an e*card of the same thing, and it’s one of my all-time favorites to send to people.  Guess there’s a reason we’re friends. =)

Some girls, Lisa (I went biking with her two weeks ago), and Becky (an Honors classmate) gave me a card and a cute magnet inside.  I hardly talk to them during the week, but that was so considerate.

There was a card from Kristen (the RA), one from Jenn, Andy (with a postcard from the Marshall Islands inside—a year belated!), and one from Tamara and Hannah in Spanish and French respectively.

Jerhet called and left a message on my phone and I talked to both my parents, so those were my phone wishes.  I had 22 myspace comments and 11 facebook comments.  Suffice it to say that people made me feel quite special on the day of my two-oh. =)

This weekend was an academy volleyball tournament and besides seeing some Redwood kids, I also saw cousin Ashley!  She’s about four inches taller than I am now and as leggy as ever.  She just turned 16 a few weeks ago but I was so glad to see her.  Also saw her mom and chatted a little while, even though it’s been about 15 years since seeing one another.  I would have loved to see Ash play an actual game, but the times coincided with my classes unfortunately.

After work yesterday, I came home for the weekend.  It’s the first time in six weeks and definitely a long overdue visit.  Last night we had Chevy’s for dinner and I told the family about my birthday, and that’s about it for the evening.  Uncle Dino came and it’s always nice to see him, but I crashed at about 9pm.  Slept solidly until 7:45 this morning, with Phoebe keeping me company all night. =)  Uncle Dino left pretty early and the rest of the day has been a diddle-around day.  I’ve needed it.  The schedule at school is so rush-rush-rush, it’s amazing to simply relax once again.  Not that I’ve been doing NOTHING exactly… I’ve been reading Dostoevsky for Honors, but it’s a novel, so a more pleasurable read.  And of course, I’ve just typed this blog, which took time enough.

Gram and Grandpa have just gotten here with three kinds of cakes—pineapple upside-down cake, (my request), angel food (Mom’s request), and plain ol’ chocolate (Aric’s request).  Now it’s present time. =)  Thus closes my entry for the week!

I've found myself in a moment when it doesn't FEEL like I have a thousand pressing matters to attend to.  I guess it's the character of the day.  After colloquy, Martin asked if I wanted to pick up the school newspaper with him--it's about a 50 minute drive one-way and he wanted company.  I totally jumped on the chance, since we haven't spent any time hanging out since before I went to Spain.  About twenty minutes down the hill, he called the company and they said the paper wouldn't be ready until 2pm, but I have a class at 2:30.  So we came back up the hill to have lunch and he was going to go alone, but I decided to skip class.  We're permitted two absences and I probably won't use mine, so why not?  It was just nice to have an ongoing conversation that wasn't interrupted by class or homework.  We talked a lot about his new girlfriend, Caitlin (who I approve of 200%), mutual friends, plans for the year... I'm going to write for the paper once in awhile, hopefully for the next article, so that'll be really fun.

So as a result of skipping my one class today, I'm in the unusual jaunty mood, unplagued by stress for a time and am totally channeling the feeling and typing a blog while I can.

The last few weeks of school have run together entirely.  My days don't vary much, and there haven't been any fun events, punctuating my weeks.  I can't really complain though.  I've been studying a whole lot more than has been the usual throughout my educational experience, and that can't be a bad thing.  Every time I've seen friends around campus, they ask where I've been, and the response is, unvaryingly, studying.  I don't really mind though.

One would think I'm missing out on hanging with friends all the time.  The thing is, I'm not.  But even so, every once in awhile, the thought crosses my mind that everyone around me is dating.  A number of my guy friends have girlfriends, and I suppose that percentage (though in reality, probably small) seems ridiculously inflated, which makes me feel a little hopeless.  Not because I'm unhappy--I like being single--but I wish other people were single too.  haha.  Funny complaint, I know.

One of the biggest campus issues the past few weeks has been this Urban Bubble deal.  Let me be brief:  PUC's land was zoned back in the '60s with a certain area allowed to be commercial in nature.  When the school started shopping around for ways to "urbanize" that zone, a number of community members got very riled up, and it's been a hot issue for months now.  So just a few days ago, Tuesday, the county board was having a public meeting, and to allow for attendance, class was cancelled, busses were chartered, school logo T-shirts were handed out and lunch was provided.  The meeting was packed, with probably around 300 students, plus a number of faculty and community people.  For two hours, each side alternated 3-minute speakers presenting their reasoning for their cause.  There were convincing arguments, but I have to say, I'm in agreement with the school.  The issue is really a lot smaller than all the commentary that went on, and my list is going to contain points beyond the issue, but I want to keep track of this for the future.

• The land belongs to the school and they ought to be able to do as they wish with their property. 

• The community would be nothing without the school, and that shouldn't be how it is.  They need a little place to BE a community.  By allowing for building in the future, there could be a lovely town green with a small shopping center, some shops, a fountain, a park bench, where people can congregate.

• This would also benefit the students since they need to be able to get off campus and not be limited to the usual hangouts/eating spots.

• This would also provide job opportunities to students, keeping them on the hill, keeping traffic down and the sense of community more evident.

• Some of the opposition don't want increased traffic, if we were to build more houses.  However, by building these houses, commuters from down the hill could be nearby, actually reducing traffic.

• By maintaining the bubble, we're capable of more options for increasing our endowment in the future.

• In comparison to other small private schools, our endowment (what the school is worth) is at about $12,000, while theirs average $97,000.

• Faculty could be better paid by increasing the endowment.  Tuition wouldn't have to be raised drastically every year.

• If the urban bubble is taken from the school, little can be done but to sell it to agriculture (aka vineyards) and this would compromise our religious beliefs.

• Agriculture is simply not a profitable career for the school, so the fact that we aren't using our land for that purpose means its going to waste.

• WASC has certain requirements for us and if we haven't met them by the next visitation, we could lose our accreditation.  No accreditation means no one will want to come here, which means, essentially, no more PUC.  No more PUC means no more community.

• Many faculty can't afford to live here, but more housing would enable them to stick around.  It also would provide a place for students out of school who might need a transition living place.

• "Urbanization" in the skyscraper sense is simply not going to happen up here.  It's not plausible (it simply is absurd, given the topography of our location).  More housing and an improved shopping center would solidify the future of this town and school.

The board didn't come to a clear conclusion because it's such a split issue, but it looks as though they were in our favor.  One of the board members was very practical in stating that housing cannot be left to towns in the valley--everyone has to pull their load.  Others weren't quite so candid, but the general sense was that it was a successful meeting.

Moving on to less critical issues...

Classes have been good.  A lot of work.  I had a Spanish presentation on Monday, one in Argumentation on Tuesday, and in Media Comm Careers on Wednesday.  All went well, though Media Comm was my favorite.  My group had to present the chapter from the text on magazines creatively, so we did a drama of a game show.  I was the host--Maggie Seen--and the show was called "We've Got Issues" (like magazine issues... haha?).  It went off really well, we had magazines for props, game show-y music, and one of our girls spoke only Portuguese the whole time which was a comic element, so I'm really happy with how it went.

We have a big project for our Advertising class.  Basically, it's pick a product/company, and pretend you're their ad agency.  It means we get to do all the creative stuff of designing ads, as well as the tech stuff like contacting various media to find out prices, but it's going to be good.  Tamara and Seth are in my group and our product is backpacks.  Specifically, Crumpler brand backpacks.  I found this brand last summer when I was searching for a backpack and we're really digging them.  Stay tuned for more info.

Christianity is a great class.  there are only nine students in it but I'm loving it.  The professor is incredible as well, I totally adore her.  We've had two classes at her house already when dinner and dessert was provided, and for every class on campus she's brought fruit and goodies as well.  Our first epic was Dante's Inferno.  Really interesting actually, and a surprisingly easy read.  It's very imaginative and rather gruesome... but I liked it.  Now we're reading Milton's Paradise Lost.  Talk about long-winded.  But it's also a good one.  I'm going to do some reading after finishing here actually...

Saturday night, Shelley, Pris and I decided to cook.  We went to Safeway and picked up stuff for ravioli and bruschetta and two hours after getting to Safeway, we were eating.  Mmmmm was it good.  We did the math, and it cost the same amount as a meal at the caf, but tasted way better and was more satisfying, since it was the fruits of our labor.

Last night, I was thinking out loud in the room about doing laundry in the morning.  I wanted to be able to finish it before colloquy, but didn't know if I'd have time.  Without coming to any resolution, I went to sleep.  This morning, I woke up to a sticky note by my computer saying Shelley had started a load for me.  It was completely dry by 8:30 and I was an uber-appreciative roommate.  That was one of the nicest things ever. =)

We're really enjoying being roommates.  Besides the fact that we talk a lot more than we study when we're in one another's presence, I have no complaints.  In fact, Shell mentioned the fact that we never see one another around campus, so if we weren't roommates, we'd be at a total loss.  I'm glad we're roommates, in that case.

This weekend, Erik is coming to visit.  Hooray!  I haven't seen him since we parted in the Rome airport, so a visit is long overdue.  I think he's missing PUC and all his friends here, so it'll be great to hang out a bit.  I also think I'm going to a turkey shoot this weekend.  (By the way, that doesn't mean you shoot turkeys--you shoot FOR turkeys.  Clay pigeons are the actual bullet recipients.)  That could be a cultural experience in itself.

Awww, I just read the blogs I typed this time last year.  One is about my professors which made me miss them a bit, and the other is about how I was actively deciding to be positive, since I'd been feeling negatively up to that point.  I'd been wanting to move out of my room with two Spanish preteens, but decided not to.  Looking back, I can't believe I didn't just take advantage of that opportunity to get to know REAL Spanish people... but in that moment, I know it was too hard.  (And probably if I went back, I'd still feel that awkwardness of having a 12-year-old roommate!)  Also, little did I know, but I'd have an emotional breakdown about two weeks later... *sigh* hindsight is 20/20.

On that  note, I'm set for blogging for awhile.  It might be another three weeks before I blog and by then, I will have turned 20-years-old and gone home for the first time since school starting.  Oh, Time.  How strangely you pass.

(See entry below to read about my trip to Southern California.)

The week after my trip quite flew by.  Priscilla came up Wednesday night and stayed over since the dorm opened for moving in the next day.  Thursday morning, I went to work but at noon, left to move in.  I thought I’d have to make countless trips, hauling things into the room, but the process went quickly with four bored girls willing to help carry boxes.  I had only brought about half my stuff, but I would not have liked moving everything in at once, so I’m glad I made two trips.  Throughout the afternoon, Pris would stop by, or I would go by her room—it’s nice that we’re in the same dorm.

After getting things under control, I went down to lower campus and ran into Jerhet, who was moving his sister in.  Her name’s Lawryn (not Lauren—accent’s on the second syllable) and her roommate is Vanessa—two really great girls.  Their families were going to dinner and I was invited, so off we went to Tra Vigne’s.  The girls had to get a move on since there was a freshmen orientation thing they were late for, but the rest of us took our time.  Vanessa’s parents speak mostly Spanish, so I got to practice with them, which was fun, and it was great seeing Jerhet again and meeting his family.  They’re a nutty bunch, but not in a bad way at all.

Saturday and Sunday is a blur of bringing Nonna home (she’d had surgery while I was in SoCal), getting a new dresser and moving the old one out, breaking my armchair, getting rid of a lot of junk in my room, and packing to get up to school for good.  I made good time and was up the hill by lunchtime Sunday.  Shelley and I spent all afternoon chatting, unpacking, and rearranging and finally found a set-up that works for us.  She has a huge keyboard that needs a place and there aren’t many ways to have enough wall space for it.  So we raised the beds as tall as they go and pushed them together, creating a place for storage underneath, an open area by the closets, and getting a lamp right by our heads.  And since they’re two completely separate beds, no kicking involved. =P

The rest of this week is a blur that took forever to pass.  The Get-Acquainted party was western-themed.  I dressed as a cowgirl of course, but didn’t become acquainted with many.

Wednesday night, Priscilla, Lawryn, Vanessa, Nathan and I shared a pint of chocolate Hagen Daas.  Good eats.  Afterward, Pris and I went to the campus center where they’re having live jazz once a week, performed by three guys I know.  AWESOME.

My classes are going to be really cool:

Argumentation:  I still haven’t quite found out the purpose of this class, but it’s fascinating.  It’s not about ARGUING, rather, ARGUMENTS.  It’s supposed to teach you how to hold two contending opinions in your head without your brain exploding.  We’ve talked about how arguments are formulated—around claims, propositions, issues, grounds, warrants… it’s quite legal, but I like it.

Advertising: I think this is going to be one of my favorite classes, surprisingly.  It’s just fascinating to me, and just so practical, especially since I do a bit with Advertising/Marketing at work.

Honors Christianity: There are only eight people in this class!  It’s a senior level course, and after registering, I got an email from the professor asking if I was sure I wanted to be in it.  I emailed back saying yes-I’m-sure in so many words with so many reasons, and it’s worked out just fine.  Two others from my ‘regular’ class are also in it, as well as Dwight and Valerie, friends that were in Spain, and I knew two of the remaining, so only one stranger, who I’ve already started to get along with.  This is going to be like a Great Christian books course with a few heavy epics (Dante’s Inferno, Dostoyevsky’s Brothers Kamarazov) but I think I’m going to get a lot out of it.  Plus Dr. Westerbeck is extraordinary.

Media Communication Careers: Intro to the Comm major, essentially.  We talk about what Communication is, and the various media that are used to communicate.

Spanish/Latin American Civ & Culture:  Reminds me exactly of my Spanish class before Spain.  Which means, it’s interesting, but not my most intellectually involved class.

Friday night, we had a Language Department Pre-Vespers, where I talked at lengths with Dr. Petersen, the German & French professor.  He’s had a fascinating life—born and raised in South Africa, came to the US to get his masters and went 14 years without going back home, even though his wife was there, lived in France for a year… he speaks Afrikaans which is like Dutch, so he can speak Dutch too, English of course, German, French, learned Russian in France, conversational Spanish, and is interested in learning Korean since he’s practically a black belt in a Korean martial art, though four days into his 50th year.  Quite remarkable.

It was nice to go to a Vespers again last night.  I missed the big song services, since those are nonexistent in Spain, though the service itself was kind of blah.  It was an introduction of the ministries around campus which is cool, but more information than anything else.  After Vespers, I ran into Kristen and Angelina for the first time all week so we caught up for awhile.  When I got back to the dorm, Priscilla was waiting for me since she wanted me to trim her hair.  I did so and it turned out pretty good, though I’d need a pro to check my work.

First service, choir was singing so I went to hear them.  I half-expected to feel the urge to join after hearing them, but no such urge was felt.  I’m not in any ensembles this quarter which is rather sad, but there are so many other things I’d like to try out—writing for the paper, joining a club, doing a ministry, and heck, just plain having time for myself and my studies—so I’ll be ok for awhile.  Though a music class or two is on the agenda for next quarter.

Went to Sabbath School, which was mostly getting set up for the year, and I’m not sure I’ll keep going to that Sabbath School.  I’d really like to find one I resonate with, so I’ll be hopping for a few weeks here.  Second Service was quite contemporary, maybe a little too much so, but I’ll give it a few weeks and see how it goes.

Sabbath afternoon, I’d planned to go to my grandparents house for lunch.  Grandpa’s son Lenny was visiting from Korea, where he teaches, and I wanted to see him before he took off again.  My cousin Ben and his roommate Spencer were also invited, so the three of us headed out after church.  Mum was there, as well as Uncle Chris, Kimberly and Nicolaus so it was quite a nice group.  After a yummy lunch, we did puzzles, read, and played the card game “Oh Wilderness!” which is much easier than I remember it being a few years ago… we had sandwiches for dinner before deciding to head back to school.  

There was a pool party slated for the evening, and though we would be late in getting there, we thought we might make it anyway.  WRONG.  Twenty minutes after leaving Gram’s house, the road was closed for electric wires.  I told the guys I knew a way back to school but it would take at least an hour… they thought that was better than waiting for ‘hours’ before the lines were fixed, so we took off in the other direction, toward Middletown.  An hour and twenty minutes later, we were back on campus.  It wasn’t such a bad trip—we talked the whole way—but I feel bad for Ben and his 11 miles/gallon Bronco.  I think I’ll give him some money for gas, I feel kinda bad about that.

Now, it’s Sunday morning and I’m finally caught up on blogging.  Homework time!

I left on the shuttle around 7am Thursday, September 13 and got to the airport with time to spare on my noon flight.  Got to Ontario without any problem, where Cara picked me up with one of her friends, Matt.  The plan for the afternoon was to go to lunch at a cute place called Martha Green’s and on the way, pick up Warrie.  This bit of information delighted me because Warrie and I communicate semi-regularly and I hadn’t wanted to let him know I was going to be around since I might not have seen him.  But we drove to his house and stood in the driveway and surprised him when he came out the front door.  Hehehe, such fun to surprise people.

Martha Green’s was an adorable little restaurant/bakery decorated in the ‘country clutter’ style.  They give complimentary sugar cookies as dessert, so after a chicken salad sandwich, I was quite satiated.  Warrie had to get back home because he had to pack for school yet, and Matt had to babysit, so Cara and I were on our own for the afternoon.  We ended up driving around town and looking at the ADORABLE houses.  There are little cottage-types built in the ’20s, and huge mansions built in the ‘70s, but very few ‘blah’ houses.

When we got to Cara’s house, we messed around with the piano, clarinet and drums and she made some fancy-looking limeade (complete with sugar around the rim of the glass).  She was going to help host her cousin’s baby shower the next day, so we were enlisted to pick up candy bars for a game that evening.  Went to Walgreen’s and grabbed Chinese for dinner, then went to Market Night, which is a conjunction of booths set up along old town.  It had practically ended by the time we got there, but it was still cool to wander a little while.

After getting back to Cara’s house, Warrie called and asked if we wanted to go to coffee—it was already 10pm, but we said sure.  No one actually got coffee, but it was cool to sit around and chit-chat awhile.

Friday morning, we got up early to drive to Priscilla’s house.  The plan was SeaWorld for the day, so had to get going right away.  After a half-hour drive to Priscilla’s house, it was another 1.5 hours to San Diego.  We got there soon after they opened, and the rest of the day consisted of wandering around, feeling a bit like a kid again.  We saw the dolphin, whale and seal shows, went through the Arctic display and aquarium, ate an expensive lunch and were exhausted by the time the park closed.

So for dinner, we met up with a family Priscilla’s good friends with, and went to Mexican food.  Rich was a professor of Priscilla’s a few years ago, and through random interactions, taking classes, student teaching and reading, she got to know the family and loves them to bits.  Colleen, his wife, is a lot of fun and is taking Spanish classes, so we had a few discussions on the joys of saying such words as “tenedor” (fork) and “alrededor” (around).  Julia, their daughter, is only 15 and apparently, one of the most popular girls in high school.  She’s a great dancer and is remarkably pretty and even though she’s a little on the crazy side, she’s a fabulous kid.

Friday night, we crashed with exhaustion at Pris’s house with plans for church the next morning.  She’d warned me about this “conservative, Latino church” but boy, she wasn’t kidding.  It was sort of like Spain, only MORE conservative, but everyone was rather nice.  We had potluck, (“five kinds of beans!”) and while hanging with some church friends, Mrs. Gomez (Erik’s mom—remember my friend from Italy?) came up to us and was like, “I have some clothes at home that might fit you…” so we went to their house to try clothes on.  Haha.  This is apparently commonplace in Latino households, but Mr. Gomez was embarrassed for me, asking his wife if she thought I LOOKED like a beggar.  haha.  I tried on a few dresses and two fit pretty well, so I took ‘em (which is the courteous thing to do).  Pris also got a skirt and some boots out of it, so it worked out for everyone.

We went home to take a nap and when we woke up, back to church again for youth events (which, by the way, is not like my home church in that you dress casually… nope, church clothes back on).  This evening was “Round Table” where four men involved in the church sat onstage and preteen kids asked them questions… only the questions were preforumlated and VERY interesting.  “Why can’t I rub a buddha’s belly for good luck?” “What’s so wrong about having two boyfriends at once?” “Is it possible to be a sincere Christian if you’re a hip-hop artist?”  It didn’t take long for us to leave the sanctuary but we were not alone.  Rosa, Erik’s sister was outside with her (adorable!) 3-year-old son, and Mr. and Mrs. Gomez wasn’t slow to join either.  Cara showed up around then, ready to hang out for the evening so after the program ended, a big group of us went to In-N-Out.  Then, instead of going to the theater, we just grabbed some movies at the movie store and went back to Rosa’s house.  We watched “Take the Lead”—and inspirational teeny-bopper movie featuring Antonio Banderas teaching high school rejects how to ballroom dance and gain confidence in the meantime.  Cute, but forgettable.

Sunday flew by, which is surprising, since my Sundays are usually slow.  When we woke up, Priscilla’s aunt was making pancakes, so we watched some TV while chowing down.  Eventually, it was time to make enchiladas.  I’d never made them before but I’m amazed at how EASY they are!  I learned to roll tortillas like a pro and hopefully, will make some at home once in awhile to keep the skill in check.

In the afternoon, family started to arrive.  Pris was having a going-away party of sorts since she wouldn’t be home to see people for a while, now with school starting, so it was a nice get-together.  Rich, Colleen and Julia came too, and it was just an evening of fun, frolic and food.

Monday morning, my flight was at 10am, so had to get going right away.  It was easy to say goodbye though, because I was going to see Pris again in only two days.  All in all, a really nice trip.

It wasn't all that exciting of a week, as usual, but it was even weirder since Marc (boss) was on vacation one day, Jennifer has switched to three days a week, and the salespeople went on vacation Wednesday.  So mom and I manned the fort alone part of the week.  Calls didn't come in as much as usual but that was neither good nor bad.  It was just a few days sandwiched between two weekends.

Sabbath, Mom and I went to church together.  It was a much better weekend to go since a lot more friends had come, and a lot of my mom's contacts were there too.  Some guys from PUC had come down (to visit Kristen mostly) but it was nice to meet them.  I saw Nicholas finally and got to talk with him completely in Spanish too.  (He's the one with a Chilean girlfriend who's never taken a Spanish class, yet is practically fluent.)  Didn't do much the rest of day, but it's always nice to relax.

Today was a baseball game.  Boaz had given me a heads up for the game two months ago and after lots of flip-flopping between going today and tomorrow, he bought tickets for today.  Only there was some miscommunication and only four of us could go.  But no matter, it's how the cookie crumbled.  So at 11am, Boaz, Ricky and James came to pick me up.  Boaz graduated a year behind me, Ricky and I graduated together and he dated Kristen for almost a year, James and I knew each other though didn't hang out freshman year and he's good friends with Boaz and Ricky.  So that's how we ended up hanging for the day.

Pre-game, we stopped at Safeway and got some vittles.  Fruit-by-the-foot and peanuts for Ricky, applesauce for Boaz (he just had his wisdom teeth out) and a sandwich for James, leaving me to mooch off whoever.  The applesauce was actually strawberry sauce and not very good, but it was good filler, along with peanuts during the exciting game.  It was Giants vs. Dodgers--the rivalry--so quite the crazy game, and a great one to sit in the 7th row bleachers for.  Barry Bonds was right in front of us!  It was pretty much a tie until the 8th inning, when the Giants scored two runs, putting them ahead and after the Dodgers struck out top of the 9th without scoring, the game was over.  Pretty neat.

My high school had gone to the same game for a banquet so I saw some of my brother's classmates and teachers, but they were in a different section entirely, so it was shortlived.  But it's not like we were lacking for entertainment--Ricky is one giant laugh in himself.  He talked to people all around us and was just a goon all day, and James and Boaz go along with it entirely.  When Rickles and Boaz disappeared to try out the Coca-Cola slide, James and I had a whole music discussion, since he's  quite the music geek himself.  (His reputation usually precedes him at PUC as 'the bass player' though he claims his heart is with the guitar.)  The game ended after about 2.5 hours, and we were outta there.

It took a long time to get out of town, which seems to happen every time I'm in the city.  I think it's a general rule that one uses a map going into the city, but act like he knows the way and gets lost on the way out of the city.  At one point we passed a Chinese restaurant and James was like, "Are we entering Chinatown?"  Boaz and I thought that was a dumb assumption to make, so when I saw a Mexican restaurant, I said, "Hey, are we entering Mexicantown?"  And James retorted, "Hey, there's a Volvo dealership, are we entering Europetown?"  hahaha.  We didn't remain lost for long though, and even so, we listened to some jams and had a lot of laughs so it was ok.

Borat jokes were tossed around all day, as has become the norm with a lot of my friends.  Apparently, James' round compass on the dashboard is a titanium ball floating in gypsy tears.

When we passed a trolley truck there were a bunch of preteen kids on it, and Ricky rolled down his window and shouted, "You're number one!" and flipped them off.  I was as shocked as the little girl whose mouth dropped open, but it was a pretty funny, spontaneous act, albeit impolite.

Stopped at In-N-Out on the way home, which is always a good way to punctuate an eventful day.  I'd ordered a burger and shake, but the shake machine broke down, so that was a bummer (though they fixed it right before we left).  So to help me feel better, James offered me some fries a la airplane, making the motor sound and everything, hovering the fries right in front of my mouth until I ate them.  Gosh, how lame, but how funny!

Our last stop was REI since James had to pick up a coat that had been repaired.  We still had one cup of applesauce that no one wanted to eat, so on the way into the parking lot, Ricky rolled down the window and threw the cup straight down to see it splatter.  Only, it didn't.  So he picked it up and at a red light after leaving REI, he opened the door and put it on the ground right in front of James' back tiire.  We heard it splat as we rolled away--"Ew it sounded gushy!"--and laughed, stupidly like it was the funniest thing that happened all day.  The joy they find in such miniscule things sometimes HAS to be one of the reasons I like hanging with guys so much.  Take that as a compliment, all you guys out there. =D

And to top off the day, I received an unsolicited compliment from my dad's best friend.  Sam and Dad have been friends practically since I was born so he's watched me grow up, but he was over when the guys showed up and after waving a quick hello-goodbye, I got in the car.  When I got home tonight, Dad said that as we were pulling out of the driveway, Sam turned to him and said, "She could be a model."  What a nice thing to hear, especially from man my uncles' age who isn't actually related and expected to flattering me. =)

So that was my fun-filled SF adventure.

Me, Boaz, Ricky above, James below.

I better start typing before I ADHD-illy think of something else to occupy my time...

It's not even that I've been busy.  Just that there's not been much worth blogging about.  So I'll talk about the highlights of the past two weeks.

Monday, August 20, Uncle Dino and Tia came to visit.  It was the first time I saw them in a year, as well as the first time they'd seen the backyard since we began work on it in April.  They said I was as beautiful as ever and they loved my Spanish.  We sat by the pool until after dark talking and laughing, sharing stories about Europe.  They've always been two of my favorite aunts and uncles so it was really great seeing them again.

I had a bit of a run-around last week because of my eye prescription.  Last summer, I had my eyes checked and they had worsened, so ordered my glasses off that prescription.  I also got new contacts but for some reason, they were the old prescription, so they gave me little headaches when I wore them.  I went all year with my six month supply and of course, was out of them by the time I got home.  I ordered a new set from the Kaiser lab but the first day I wore them, I got such a headache I had to take them out after a few hours.  So I went to Kaiser to pick a bone with them, thinking they messed my prescription up and it turns out that my contact prescription expired in June and the lab was in error to have sent me anything.  So I scheduled a same-day appointment, had my eyes checked, sure enough they've worsened (even since my check-up last summer) and we finally sorted it out.  The only bum thing is that the lab wouldn't take my freshly ordered, wrong contacts back because I'd opened the box.  Which is dumb since they shouldn't have sent them to me in the first place, and I wouldn't have been able to have a contact appointment if I WASN'T wearing contacts.  Boooo.  But it's all straightened out.

Friday, my grandparents and grandpa's daughter, her husband and their kid all came over.  The son is 13 now, Conor, and since he was three he's LOOOOOVED his big cousin Marisa.  It's amazing seeing him become... well, a teenager, and it was nice to see Cindy and Steve again too.  After pizza for dinner, we sat around and talked, much as we did with Uncle Dino and Tia and before everyone left, I pulled out the harmonica and passed it to my grandpa.  He plays reeeeaaaally well, lots of little tunes as well as accompaniment, all on the same harmonica.  Aric's been learning guitar so he was trying to strum along, and I soon brought out the accordion too.  My only regret is that we didn't capture it on film but next time there's a family get together...

Sunday, I went to my mom's hairdresser.  Finally.  It was the first time I'd met her, and I was getting so frustrated with my hair that it was definitely time for a visit.  The first moment she saw me she said "you have a great cut!," knowing my Mom normally cuts my hair.  But the moment she touched it, she said "Eeewww... ok, you need a clarifying shampoo."  Whatever gunk was in there (bad conditioner?) was making it uber-tangly and gross feeling.  She also cleaned up my dry ends and FINALLY my hair is back to it's natural color.  Afterward, she walked straight to the shelf with me, picked up two different shampoos and a conditioner, and off I went, a happy camper.  I washed my hair immediately after getting home... and let me tell you, it's NEVER been that clean or soft or shiny.  AMAZING.  I love it.  Rachel also recommended some care tips so I'm excited about all of this. =)

Monday, I had scheduled an appointment with my Communications advisor--FINALLY--at PUC.  Since switching to International Comm, I've had such a hard time trying to get my schedule together.  But I headed up the hill in the morning and it was SUCH a nice drive.  I've always loved the drive but there's nothing like being away for a year to make one appreciate it.  Mrs. Collins had forgotten the day of our meeting but luckily I found a phone and was able to reach her at home.  When she got to the office, she started printing resources out like crazy--Comm class schedules, cognate class schedules, my fall-winter-spring schedules, the Comm guidesheet, the Degree Audit printout... it was unbelievable!  But we worked out just about all the courses I'm taking this year, which leaves a few for next summer and next year, but I still have to see what remains to know how many quarters I have left.

After talking with her, I attempted to find Dr. McDowell and actually DID.  We discussed Honors and how it would play into Int'l Comm (since it's been looking like a pointless obligation so far) but he helped a lot and I straightened things out with him.  Next I was on my way to the records office but they had closed ten minutes previously for lunch so, since the caf was closed, I went down to the market to get grub.  I walked through the door and two of my old coworkers are still there--Tiara and Lyndy!  It was great to see them and to chat awhile, especially since Lyndy was in the Marshall Islands all this year, and while I was talking, I heard someone say "HEY!" right behind me... Danny Hopgood!  He was covered in dirt from head to toe and really sweaty, but it didn't stop a vigorous hug from taking place.  Not a moment later, I heard another "HEY!" and it was Derek!  Equally filthy but equally great to see regardless.  We chatted enthusiastically for a few moments before they went back to hauling wood (hence the grime) and we decided to hang out this weekend.  I was positively beaming after they left--it was so nice to see good, good friends.

I finished my business at the records office and headed to work.  Unfortunately, I have no free afternoons to work during fall quarter, but plenty of time winter and spring quarters... so we're going to have to work something out.  But they want to keep me around and I want to stay around, so we'll see what happens.

Tuesday night, we had a little mini Redwood party at Jimmy's house.  He's been at the Culinary school in San Francisco for two years and is now working full time at a local French restaurant, Brad nearly joined the Coast Guard but decided not to, Boaz is still his Asian self, Jeremy's almost finished with Aviation and dating a nice girl named Dana, Jon's going to PUC for his first year this fall, and Kristen is pretty much the same.  Jimmy cooked for us of course and even though he was doing barbeques all through high school, there's a finesse about him now that leaves us way behind.  It was so great to reminisce a little and laugh at new stories.  We went to Coldstone for dessert and Kristen and I rode together, talking at 100mph to get one another a half-step ahead in the catching up we have to do.  After some ice cream, we said our goodbyes and see ya around's and parted ways.  Quite the fun evening.

So I've been going down memory lane all week, especially about high school.  It's been nice though.

My boss's dog had puppies Tuesday night.  She is smaller than a cat and is normally 10 pounds, but that morning they took her to the vet and she was at 15 pounds--gained half her weight in puppies!  And when they did an ultrasound, they saw SEVEN babies in there!  So that night, they did an emergency C-section on Chica and sure enough, out came seven squirming, healthy puppies.  However, since Chica didn't go through the whole birthing process and this is her first time, she hasn't been taking very well to the babies.  Didn't want to lick them, didn't like them nursing, didn't care much about stepping on them so Marc (my boss) and his wife have spent the past few nights sleepless, trying to keep the puppies fed and getting Chica to be motherly.  That made it a long week for everyone, since the company operates out of their home property, but puppies are ALWAYS exciting.

We're off work tomorrow, so the long weekend is extra long.  Hurray!  I can't truthfully say I'm in need of a vacation but there's no way I'm going to complain about it.  This time last year was my official last day of work before leaving for Spain... pretty trippy.  I'll have to blog on September 13, the day I left last year and see how that goes for retrospection.

So I get to sleep in tomorrow morning.  Don't know that I WILL actually, since there are lots of things I'd like to do to be productive, but it's always a nice thought, sleeping in.

Oh goodness, I suppose I should blog before time moves forward much and I forget what has happened.  Not that things have been exciting--quite the contrary!  Now that life is back to 'normal,' you readers might be disappointed by upcoming posts.  Thank you for reading throughout my year abroad,(even those of you that never made yourselves known by mentioning the fact that you kept up to date, which creeped me out!) and if you continue to keep up with my blog, fabulous... if not, well, I can't fault you for finding life in the states more boring than life in Europe!

Since coming home, I've been eating pretty much nonstop.  And eating anything I can lay my hands on.  It's been the most unhealthy two weeks of my life I think.  And the excuse is, "But I haven't had [In-N-Out, big franks, cheezits, orange julius, Panda Express, brownies, apple pie, root beer floats, hot fudge sundaes] in a year!"  I should probably slow down now.  But it all tastes soooooo good!

My new favorite food is chili dogs.  This probably sounds strange to those of you that know my tastes.  For 19 years, I've hated chili and related flavors.  I had chili dogs one time in March when my roommate's family and my family sent chili beans and hot dogs respectively, and since getting home, I canNOT get enough of them.  Hands down, my new favorite food.  The same goes for food of the Mexican sort.  I've NEVER liked Mexican food.  Downright hated it for years.  I don't know if it was Mexican Cooking Club in Spain, or my newfound Latina-ness with Erik and Priscilla, but I've been craving it now.  Had enchiladas for dinner a few nights ago, tamales for lunch the next day, and made fresh pico de gallo salsa that night.  Mmmm.  So trust me, tastes change.  I'm living proof.

Oh yeah, so remember how I weighed myself the night before I left?  At that point, I was at 109.5.  I weighed myself the day after I got back... 112.  Not bad at all.  Especially considering I KNOW I gained and lost at least 10 pounds over the year.  Blergh.  Balanced meals, walking, and sweating on our family trip and in Italy helped a ton with that and I hope to stay right around my current weight for a looooong time.

Goodness, what have I done in the past two weeks besides eat.  The first week, I stayed home and did a lot of cleaning.  I went through the MANY clothes in my cloest and bureau and ruthlessly pulled out everything I hadn't missed all year.  It finally gave me the heart to part with things I'd kept since junior high that had never stopped fitting, but had worn out.  A lot of stuff is going to Salvation Army and I can walk into my closet again!

My second day back, I DROVE for the first time--which took no effort at all and came back quite naturally--to the mall.  I realized with some joy that it's a pretty cool mall and even after working there all last summer, I never browsed or shopped.  So I had fun wandering into American Eagle, Anchor Blue, Forever 21, and Aeropostale.  Bought a boba smoothie (my typical break-time drink when working at Apple) and stopped by the old job site too.  Five of my old coworkers are still there and they all did a double-take when I walked past.  Caught up a little bit with my favorite guys and promised to stop buy once in awhile.

My dad reminded us that our phone contract expires soon, so now he wants to switch to AT&T.  I didn't really want to give up on Verizon since it's rather popular among my friends... but he found the iPhone absolutely necessary.  So we got new phones on one of their specials, but aren't using them until September 2.  So mark that date, all of you, for when to stop calling my current number.  I'll email the new one out soon.

As usual at our house, my folks have been plugging away, working in the backyard.  Currently, they're building a deck where the old Redwood tree used to be.  But all last week was sprinkler wiring and guess who did about half the work on them?  Yours truly.  See, I can get my hands grimy and be a she-woman once in awhile. =)

On Friday, Josh and David came to hang out.  Martin was supposed to come with them too, but he had things to do in preparation for his 5-week trip to Kenya.  So David, Josh and I went to pizza and chilled all afternoon.  Josh had been in France all year and I met up with him New Years Eve in Paris, so it was good to hear how the rest of his year had gone after that.  David went to Italy last summer, so he knew everything I talked about regarding Florence.  I couldn't help but comment on how cultured we all were, among us we speak 3.5 languages. (English, French, Spanish, and combining David's and my Italian makes 0.5).  Plus we started discussing Renaissance artists, David and Josh got into a fight about who was the worse French King, Louis XIV or Louis XVI, and we debated on whether beauty was innate, in the eye of the beholder, or a standard for all people (ha! Honors class right there).  I mused on the fact that they were uncultured punks back in high school but the guys are growing up. =)

Saturday morning, I finally made french toast.  I found this recipe for stuffed french toast back in April and have been dying to make it... boy was it good!  You spread cream cheese on the inside of two slices of raisin bread, batter the sandwiches in a mix of eggs, maple syrup, cinnamon, vanilla extract and milk, and make them like regular french toast.  You can put dried fruit in the cream cheese but Dad wasn't keen on that.  But it turned out REALLY good so if you want a special Saturday breakfast... try it out. =)

Monday, I started work.  The company I worked for last year that installs tube skylights (now called tubular daylighting devices) asked me to come back, so even though someone else currently has my old position, there are lots of extra projects they've put me to work on.  It's not an exciting position, but it makes the day go by and it's income.  And I like the coworkers.  For one, my mom is there.  The boss, Marc, is really flexible.  The sales people John and Kathy, are excellent (and have 12 of those TDDs in their home).  The installers are friendly, one of them really liking me, and the girl with my current position is really sweet, even though she's leaving in a month.  So I can't complain much, if at all.

Tuesday, Andy and I met for lunch.  His summer classes finish this week then he's going home, so we had to meet up while there was a chance.  It was nice, conversation lapsed naturally like the way it did before I left, which is always good after long absences.  We didn't have much time since he had to tutor and I had to go back to work, but we got to catch up before parting.  Made for a nice Tuesday. =)

This morning, I talked to Kristen.  She's been at summer camp and only just got back two days ago, but it was so nice to catch up.  I marvel at best-friendships.  Even though she and I have started going our own ways and haven't been in school together for two years, haven't even seen each other but six or eight times since I graduated, it's completely natural to laugh together and share detailed accounts of experiences.  We didn't talk long, but are going to hang out in a few days.  I'm looking forward to it.

Today, we had a big group of people over.  My mom's Aunt Millie and Uncle Milton (M&M) came with their daughter Jill, and her kids Andrew (17) and Holly (14).  (So that's my great-aunt and uncle, first cousin once removed, and second cousins.)  We hadn't seen any of them for almost six years, so a visit was overdue.  Uncle Chris, Aunt Kimberly, and cousin Nic came too, but we've seen them the past two weekends, so that wasn't as *wow* as the others.  It was so great to see Andrew and Holly though.  Andrew and I used to chat online all the time, but he stopped signing on so we haven't been in touch.  But he's such a handsome, nice kid, and he wants to go to PUC, hurray!  That's part of the reason for their visit--to stop by the school.  And Holly was a scrawny little girl before, but now she's taller than me and possibly curvier too!  Such nice kids though.   M&M have been missionaries abroad a ton, so they could identify a lot with my summaries of Europe and culture differences and whatnot, and Jill's just a ball of energy, so it was a great afternoon.

And now... I'm tired.  The week's gone by quickly, but it wasn't one of those that catches you unawares, more like the kind that you come to the end of and sigh hugely.  It's good to be back though.

I made it!

The train ride... wasn't that awesome.  We decided that if you WANT to be excited about a long flight, take an overnight train beforehand.  It'll really make you count your blessings.  Erik and I left from Florence at 12:30am and decided to stay awake until we got to Pisa (only 1.5 hours) and traded to the 4-hour train to Rome.  Halfway to Pisa, the train stopped randomly, and didn't go again for 20 minutes, and that's about when we started regretting the decision to stay awake.. We were positive we'd miss the Rome train but luckily when we got to Pisa, the train had been waiting for ours, so we hopped on and it pulled out of the station almost immediately. 

Being some of the last ones on really ruined the ride.  All the booths with seats were completely full so we had to sit in the corridor the whoooooole way.  It was barely three feet wide and even though there are little fold-away seats in the side, it is NOT ideal.  But there was no other option, so with our two suitcases, backpacking-backpack and two regular backpacks, we sighed to ourselves and parked.  At first, there was the consideration to stay awake but after I told two of my infamous, characteristically-Marisa jokes, we were both beat.  I wrestled with the big backpack to try and make it sleep-friendly which was rather ridiculous now that I'm picturing myself, but ended up finding another remedy with my smaller backpack.  Somehow Erik managed to find a not-completely-uncomfortable position too and we both slept, though not more than two hours all night.

In Rome, we had one last train connection to the airport.  Caught it without a hitch and were to the airport by 7am.  My flight was at 10:30 and Erik's at 11 with completely different carriers so we had to part ways at check-in.  I wasn't looking forward to travelling alone from then on, but we agreed that it was nice to have company overnight.

Things were uneventful all the way to New York.  I slept most of the plane ride and was fine.  Landing in New York was a hassle because of Customs and all, plus you have to recheck your baggage and go through security all over again.  But I had a long layover and it wasn't stressful in the least.  I was watching for "Wow, I'm in America!" reactions within myself, but there was only one thing that really hit me.  I happened to glance over at the wall, and noticed American plugs.  I stared at those plugs for a full three minutes.  It's ridiculous, I know, but I've subconsciously become accustomed to European plugs.

After boarding the plane for the flight to San Francisco, the captain announced a delay because of planes ahead of us on the runway.  I fell asleep after that and awoke about an hour later to the captain announcing again, that there were only 12 planes left ahead of us, so that would be about 40 minutes.  Quite a long delay, but oh well.  The rest of the flight was great and as the plane landed, I teared up a little bit.  I was home.

I practically ran to baggage check, and who should be standing on the other side of the security glass but my dad.  Exactly where he stood when we last waved goodbye in the same airport 10 months ago.  Got bags and drove home, stopping at In-N-Out on the way. =D

The house is just as I remembered.  I would expect no less, considering I've retraced the rooms in my memory countless times.  I cried as soon as I saw my room though.  MY room.  With Lexi sleeping at the foot of the bed.

It took awhile to wind down and go to sleep, but boy do I have a comfortable mattress. =P  Woke up a mere 5 hours later and got to chattering, as I tend to do.  A few hours later, my grandparents came, as well as Uncle Chris and Aunt Kimberly with cousin Nic.  Soooo nice to see them, and so nice to just sit at the lunch table like normal.  That's the key word.  Normal.  I've been missing out on normal life all year and though I wouldn't trade my experience for the world, I really did miss the normal stuff.  We ate stroganoff (my favorite food) and some other yummies, and relaxed all afternoon.  Uncle Mario and Tina also showed up with my 4-month-old cousin Vinnie, so it was good to see them and meet the cuz too.

The backyard looks INCREDIBLE.  In April, changes started being made to put in a swimming pool and it's been go-go-go ever since.  Some drastic changes have been made now and it's amazing.  We swam yesterday afternoon and I can definitely get used to that. =)

Was in a daze all evening, being completely exhausted.  I tidied up a bit to keep awake and at 10pm, went to sleep.  Woke up at 6am, wide awake (darn jetlag!), read awhile, and hear I am blogging.  Mum and Dad just got up and we're going to make french toast.  It's good to be home.

In two hours, Erik and I are leaving for the train station.  By 7am, we'll be at the Rome airport where we'll part ways.  My flight's in the morning and Friday night, I'll be sleeping in my own bed.  I've been dreading this round-the-world flight for 10 months, but home is on the other end.  I can't believe I've made it to this night.  Pray hard and see you soon!