How much is that doggy in the window?

Happy Friday, World!

This week has been a blur...I don't really know where it went.  But there were some definite highlights, so I'll just hit those up and let you go on your way.

Saturday, as I mentioned before, we went to Cambridge with the York St. John University international department.  We met up with Paul Chaplin, my RA from last year, who's been living there for five months, and he showed us around.  It was a great day, even though it was raining and freezing and I was wearing precisely the wrong shoes for walking around (I'd woken up five minutes after I was supposed to leave to catch the bus, thanks to my alarm clock being analogue and in Roman numerals...).

Sunday was church at St. Thomas with St. Maurice.  I love that church so much.  I wish I could take it with me back to the states.

After church five of us went to the Bratts' house for Sunday dinner/lunch.  So much food.  So much delicious food.  And I love those people.  Such a good day.

A little while after that was tea and toast (a fortnightly tradition at St. T's) which was mostly inhabited by Calvin students, but it was great to talk to everyone about their spring break plans, and talk to Stephen, Laura, and Hannah, who go to St. T's and organized the event.  Stephen used to work on the railways before he became a vicar, I guess, and he has some great stories about the old steam trains (including the Hogwarts Express!  He rode the real thing!) and is generally just a great and funny guy.

Monday, we went to Leeds.  [Insert excitement here.]  It was fun, but I'm kind of sick of talking about it. We saw the Royal Armoury Museum and the Leeds Art Museum, which were fun to see in conjunction with each other, because there was some interesting overlap between the wartime exhibits in the art museum and the parallel exhibits in the Royal Armoury.  And both were free.  Brilliant.

Tuesday...Wednesday...

Thursday! (This one's a long one...)
A bunch of us went to the National Railway Museum on Tuesday to ride the Hogwarts Express (just the engine was available, since the cars are just regular steam-engine cars, as I understand it), and while we were there, we saw that they had actors dressed up as Harry, Hagrid, and Dumbledore.  We didn't manage to get pictures with them, and some people had to leave to be on time for a meeting, so we left without any bounty.

But Lea and I weren't done trying.  We went back Thursday morning specifically to get pictures with Harry.  That's right; it's a half-hour walk one-way, plus we didn't know how long we'd have to wait for him...you only wish you were this hard core of a fan...of HP impersonators...

We got there around 10:30 because we knew that he would be in the 11:00 magic show and we didn't know if he'd be available for that first bit.  Turns out he wasn't, so Lea and I just hung around awkwardly, making jokes about how awkward we felt because this whole NRM wizard week was meant for primary school children on half-term holiday, and there we were, 19 and 21 years old, more excited about this than those kids, just because we wanted to take a picture with a guy who marginally resembled the guy who plays Harry Potter in the movies.

[The Magic show was awful.  Totally bastardized all the HP themes, made a fool out of Dumbledore, and made up all sorts of lies about Hogwarts and Muggle-Magic relations.  Very not okay.]  Then, after the show, the actors said they'd be right back to take pictures with people.  This was around 11:20.  From 11:25 to 12:00, we stalked Harry. Hard core (parkour! almost...).

[When they came back, Dumbledore was first, and he sot of knocked over the rope line around the little stage right next to where Lea and I were standing--everyone else had left--and he looked at us and said, "That's the Domino theory for you.  Except worse."  It was funny, but his voice was kind of creepy...]  Harry Came out eventually, and we just stared at him. Neither of us had the guts to ask him for a picture, so we were just staring.  [He asked if we were using "Muggle image capturing devices." Wtf?  Harry was raised by muggles.  He knows what cameras are...] He told Lea she looked like a Weasley.  Then he walked into the throng of children that had swarmed up behind us.  Lea and I, kicking ourselves for not being Gryffindors, followed him as best we could.  After a few moments, though, they said they had to go to the other end of the museum.  So they cut through the narrow path through the diner that stood in the middle of the room between Queen Victoria's train and a train marked "Winston Churchill" (whether it was his or not, I do not know).

The crowd of children was following them, so Lea and I made to cut around the diner.  As Harry Cut in front of us, he looked at us and said, "There are two girls who look just like you back there."  We started cracking up.  I felt so silly, but it was such a good feeling to laugh at myself for doing something stupid because of a book I've loved for half of my life.  I don't know how to explain it...

We walked around the side of the diner, which had half walls with frosted glass at the top that were just at the right height to make it look like we were trying to be sneaky.  We probably looked like such creepers as we kept perfect pace with Harry.  Once we got to the end, they started taking pictures again, and we tried to get in, but were too cowradly.  After a moment, they started working their way back through the diner, so we walked around again, crossed paths yet again, and got funny looks from Harry and Dumbledore.  Once they reached the platform stage thing again, they climbed up and started posing. So dumb.  Weird looking, too.  Like synchronized slow-motion disco.

Then finally, as they made to walk outside, Lea and I both, at least, managed to yell, "Harry!  Can we get pictures?" He said, "Sure, just follow us."  So we did.

Out into the sunlight, onto the platform of the Hogwarts express, where we finally got our pictures.  There were still crowds trying to get pictures with them, but Harry pointed at us and said, "These girls have been following us for a long time."  Facepalm.  As I took Lea's picture, Dumbledore asked her, "Where are you from?"

"Michigan."

"Oh, that's a long way to travel by broomstick."

Best. Morning. Ever.

Later that night, I made scrumptious homemade mac and cheese using real cheeses, mushrooms, onions, garlic, oregano...ahhhh.  There's some left over that I'm having for dinner.  I'm exited about that.

And last thing...I cut my own hair.  Below is my demonstration of what it looks like.

Tomorrow, we're going to Fountains Abbey and Ripon.  And next Thursday, Katri's coming!

There is so much to love about this world.  Being this far away from the people and things that I care about, from everything that's familiar, and watching other people's lives unfold without me while I sit in England, feeling like I'm not doing enough to experience the culture...there have been a lot of downer times.  With everything awful that's been going on in the world recently, in New Zealand, Libya, Egypt, and daily awfulness that happens everywhere, it's been so easy to see the terrible.  Life has never been a squeefest.  But this trip is teaching me to appreciate the little things, like the sheer ridiculosity that happens when you cut your own hair, because sometimes they're all you've got.

Granted, England, Harry Potter, Katri's visit, and macaroni leftovers are no little things.  We can't forget those, either.

Tell me how your life is!  This blog is all about me, but I don't want my life to be all about me.  Email me!  Facebook me!  Skype me!  Send me a link to your blog!  I want to know what is going on in your lives, too.

<3 spadeALLcross

And the sea is just a wetter version of the skies...

Since we last talked, tons of stuff has happened.  About a week's worth.

Saturday
Our Calvin group went to Durham and Lindesfarne.  We visited Durham Cathedral (in which photography is not allowed, for anyone who was wondering why I don't have any pictures of the inside) which is the oldest Cathedral in Europe, built by the Normans in the Romanesque architecture.  Interesting stuff, but mostly just beautiful and kind of awe inspiring; I kept wondering how people in the 10th century could possibly build something like that, and how they could make it last for ten more centuries.  There were dozens of stained-glass windows, one of which was made up of broken bits of a medieval window.  The rest were all more recent.  Our conversation with the docent went like this:

"Are those the original windows?"
"Oh, no, those are just from the Victorian Era."
As if the Victorian Era was yesterday.

Then we went to Lindesfarne priory and Lindesfarne Castle.  I talk more about those in my snidgets, so check those out if you want information.

Sunday
I went to St. Thomas with St. Maurice church again this week, and I loved it again.  Everyone there knows our names already, even though they've only met us once or twice.  It's so great; I don't think I've ever loved a church more than I love this one.  Beautiful building, beautiful people, and refreshments after every service.  Is there anything better?
Then, for dinner, I shared a wonderful meal with a wonderful person.

We made our respective meals together (his was lunch), and then enjoyed each other's company while we ate.  A rather unorthodox way to celebrate Valentine's Day, but probably the best one I've ever had.

Monday
Spent this day working on homework.  Sadly, I'm not yet caught up.  You see, the first week.five or so of being here was such a whirlwind of emotions and activities, I hardly got any work done, and I'm paying for that now.  Oh well; I'll get it done in time.  Slow and steady wins the race. 
That night, I had dinner with Josh, Hope, and Ae Hee (Ae Hee made us Japanese-style curry...yumtastic, let me tell you) and then after, I went out for dessert with Josh, Gabe, and Abby, and then we all watched He's Just Not That Into You.  We hadn't planned on it being a romantic comedy, but it worked out pretty well.  I'm warming up to that movie; now that I can watch it with the lowest possible expectations, everything that I actually enjoy seems much better.

Tuesday - Wednesday
Class.  Meh.

Thursday
Went to class and then attempted to be culinarily creative; I made a sort or weird stew stir-fry thing, with boiled potatoes and carrots, stir-fried onions and garlic, and white rice in a cheese sauce made from garlic, and orange and white cheddars.  I used too much oil to facilitate the cooking, so it was less healthy than I had hoped it would be, but I enjoyed the opportunity to experiment, and Josh ate half of it, so I didn't clog my arteries too much.
Then Josh, Ae Hee, Hope, and I all watched Mulan together.  That was brilliant; not only do I love that movie, but that is a group of people with whom it is just fun to watch Disney movies.

Friday
That's today!  Class, some utilitarian shopping for food and scissors and folders and hair products and the like, and, later tonight, a little shindig at the Bratts' house.  It's all very exciting.

Tomorrow we'll be going to Cambridge where my RA from last year lives, so I'll be spending most of the day with him and other people in the group who know him, which will be fun.  It's supposed to be rainy, though, and it's really cold today (my fingers are protesting typing all this out...) so I don't know how enjoyable the city itself is going to be.  I don't mind getting wet, though, I've found.  As long as I don't get sick afterwards.

Don't forget to check out my Flikr/Facebook photos and my YouTube account if you're interested and you haven't already.


<3 spadeALLcross

Hey ho, the wind and the rain...

Fun fact: 


Did you know that "trivia" is a latin word that literally means "three roads"? It encapsulates the idea that in a place where three roads meet, people often get together and talk...mostly about meaningless or pointless things, like gossip and...TRIVIA. Yes, yes, it's all very exciting.


So, I have some housekeeping items to get out of the way before I deliver a proper post.  


One is that I'm currently in a 100-year war with iPhoto and it's fancy-pants internet photo publisher doohickey that allows me to easily and quickly publish my photos to facebook and flikr.  Rather, it's supposed to allow me to do so easily and quickly, but my current struggle with it is that it's doing this rather clumsily and slowly and jumbling everything up like a big jigsaw puzzle, evidently just for kicks.  Please bear with me as I attempt to fix this.


Another thing is that I'm going to try to make a schedule for my snidgets so that I stop doing them just because I'm bored or procrastinating.  I'm thinking once a week, generally on Fridays.  Does anyone have any better ideas?  Are Fridays too weekendy for anyone?  My other thought was Wednesdays...  


I also think I'm going to try to update this blog once a week now, definitely on Fridays, because I have this huge awkward break between my two courses on Fridays around this time, and I'd like to fill it with something less scholarly than Boudica.  But there might be weeks when I don't post at all due to the need to do actual work (because Dreaming the Serpent Spear isn't going to read itself).  


No one ever really comments on what I say here, except to say, "Good job," or "Sweet photos," or "I liek ur stuphh, plzz chexzors out mi hott pixx at www.nakeyLOLcatzz.com!" so I don't know if asking for you to comment will ever really work...


Not that I don't appreciate the comments I do get!  I love knowing that people actually read this.  It's always a surprise and a joy, and you're all so supportive.  So thanks.  


...or should I say...Cheers!


No.  I don't think I should say that.


< / housekeeping >


< real post >


This week went much more quickly than the last, and it was both more satisfying and less.  It was more satisfying because I feel far less cripplingly homesick now, and I'm actually beginning to really enjoy the prospect of being here for four months, and I'm even getting the (sadistically excellent) sinking feeling that four months is actually too short a time to spend in this amazing country and on this amazing continent.  I'm definitely going to have to plan an extended stay in Europe after I graduate college, or between my senior and super senior years.  There's just so much to see and do here, and so little time right now in which to see and do it.


It was less satisfying because the stabilization of a routine has allowed me to settle into my good old self; content to be alone, happy to stay in my room all night, and shoving homework and exciting prospects of England off to the side.  In my heart of hearts, I really want to go out into the city and explore what life is really like here, but I'm really comfortable and really enjoying not doing so.  


In order to counterbalance my natural tendencies (which I'm not spurning, just pushing aside for now), my goals for the coming week are as follows:

1. Do at least 80% of the homework assigned to me.
2. Get to know some of the other people from Calvin and go out with them for an evening
3. Leave open the door to my room to better facilitate conversations with my flatmates
4. Buy fricking A4 folders in order to get my life organized

So, with you, Internet, as my witness, I swear to do these.  After all, there is no try.


I and a few of my Calvin-based friends went together to Manchester on Monday, since none of us have class then.  Manchester was an exciting city, much bigger than York.  It felt to be just a bit smaller than Chicago, but not quite so squished together with the buildings.  It was incredibly windy; Ae Hee, the smallest among us, almost got blown away.


We went to the Manchester Museum, got lost a bunch of times, attempted to use the free shuttle-bus system and failed miserably, and brunch and dinner, went on the Wheel of Manchester, and visited the John Rylands Library, which was a fantastic and nerdy experience, at least for me.


The rest of the week was pretty mellow.  My flatmates had a bit of a raucus party on Tuesday evening that went until Wednesday morning at around 8:30...which wasn't my favorite.  But they did apologize about it later, and I didn't feel terribly tired Wednesday, so it was generally not a terrible experience.


Wednesday we went as a class to the Yorkshire museum which had a ton of exhibits that told about the Roman history we're actually studying, so that's cool.  It's nice to be able to put faces (albeit without noses in most cases) to the names and eras we're learning about.


It's been very hard this week being away from my friends and family in America, though not because of homesickness so much as just feeling useless over here.  I want to be doing life with them--celebrating the good times and consoling in the bad--which is actually kind of ironic, considering I was never very good about doing that when I was with them, and I'm not really trying to do that with the people I'm with now.  But this distance has made me realize how little I involve myself in others' lives, and how much I owe to those people who have involved themselves in mine.


For those of you struggling this week/month/year with various world-suck, and for those of you enjoying this week/month/year of excitements and treasures, I hope you know I wish I could be there with you.  It probably doesn't mean very much, considering I'm going to post this and then go off to do my own thing, but we cannot always be torn in two.  We must be one and whole.


But know that I am praying for you.  That is one thing I've actually accomplished over here, as far as life-goals go.  I've finally started really praying, especially for the people I can't see daily.


I must be off now.  Ta!


<3 spadeALLcross

Word of the Week: Penultimate

I've seen this word around more often, I think, than I've ever seen it before...considering I don't think I've ever seen it before.  It was on the NaNoWriMo homepage this week, as this is the fourth and last full week of the month of reckless noveling abandon.  It was on a friend's blog in reference to the release of the seventh Harry Potter movie into theaters last weekend.

And it was in my life, as this is the penultimate semester before I finally venture across the pond to Europe.

And as I wrote the penultimate essays for many of my classes that require gigantor final essays.

And as fall made its penultimate attempt to stay alive yesterday, before finally giving way to freezing temperatures and a snowy forecast for today and tomorrow.

I actually have no idea if I used "penultimate" correctly in any of those contexts, as I haven't yet bothered to look up its exact definition and am relying entirely on context clues, which are sketchy at best in this situation.

Forgive me.  It was so delicious, so sweet, and so...long.  And I am sesquipedalian in nature.

Tune in next week for: Sesquipedalian, and oldie, but a goodie.

<3 spadeALLcross

EDIT: "penultimate" means "second to last."  So I was wrong.  Quite wrong.  About all of this.

But really...what is with all the breastfeeding?

I've seen an increase of bumperstickers, billboards, and television commercials advertising the advantages of breastfeeding and promoting public nursing (an infinite degree of increase, at that, since I now see some where I before saw none).  I personally don't want to watch people nurse their kids in restaurants, but I also realize I can just turn away if it makes me uncomfortable, so I'm generally okay with it, but when did this become such a huge deal?  I just don't understand the sudden urgency.

Also, I think I found out today that most American and Canadian men are circumcised.  When was someone going to mention that to me?

Probably never, and I should probably thank them for that....

One other, less "reproductive and progeny-related organs" thing that I've noticed recently: my desire to be a good friend often hampers my desire to be a good friend.

Let me 'splain.


Sometimes, my friends will be very disappointed by something going on in their life--it will make them sad, angry, frustrated, etc.  They will tell me about it, and I will do my best to comfort them.  Then we will both move on with our lives, and time will pass.  At some later time, I will remember them telling me about the aforementioned disappointing thing, and I will wonder if it has gotten less disappointing, or if they're still struggling with it.  However, most of the time, I decide not to ask them about it, because I'm afraid that, if it is still disappointing or they haven't yet gotten over that initial disappointment, talking to me will make them sadder about it and I will ruin their day, or if they're not still struggling with it, reminding them that they once were and that it once disappointed them so badly that they felt compelled to talk to me about it will also make them sad and ruin their day.

Examples always make things better.

Let's pretend I had a friend named Yvaine.  I love that name, so I wish I did have a friend named Yvaine, but I don't so it's safe to tell a story about her.  She has a boyfriend (to whom, for the sake of fun and adventure, I will arbitrarily give the name Roland) and they have always seemed happy to me, though I subconsciously assume that they have their ups and downs like most relationships.  One day, out of the blue, Yvaine tells me, "Roland almost broke up with me yesterday."  I, surprised both by the out-of-the-blueness of the statement as well as its contents, respond, "Oh?  Why is that?"  Yvaine responds, telling me that they disagreed on a fundamental matter, and Roland would have rather have ended the relationship over it than tried to work it out.

A few days pass. I wonder, "Are Yvaine and Roland on better terms now?  Or are things still rocky?"  But I don't want to ask, both because of the above reasons, but also because, in this case, it might seem like I'm prying if I ask.

Am I just being stupid?  Should I just ask?

<3 spadeALLcross

P.S. Happy Autumn!

I need some sleep, I can't go on like this...

I've been having troubles staying asleep past five or six hours for the past few weeks, and the past couple of days it's been really catching up to me; I've been falling asleep at friends' houses, while using my computer, and even while eating. It hasn't been a whole lot of fun, so I decided when I got home last night, that I would try to catch up on all that "lost" (I went through most of the past school years on five to six hours of sleep a night without any problems, so I don't know why I can't now) sleep. I went to bed at 10:00ish and promised myself not to get out of bed until at least 9:00.

That failed. I woke up at 1:00 just long enough to look at the clock and roll my eyes. Then I woke up again at 5:30. If I had gotten up then, I would have gotten almost exactly 7 hours of sleep, and my body definitely wanted to get up then. My mind started churning about stuff I had to do today, expecting me to get up and start doing it. But I refused, and eventually, though it took a while, I got back to sleep.

Mistake. I had the worst dream of my entire life between 5:30 and 7:30 this morning.

In the dream, my mom and I went to a movie together. My mom had suggested we see it because she'd heard it was revolutionary film with a lot of really poignant social commentary, etc etc. (In real life, my mom would not recommend that kind of movie: if a movie is depressing, she doesn't want to see it. More and more, I'm finding that that is my view too. Revolutionize me with real life, don't make my escapism tragic) Anyway, so we went. But while we were watching the movie, we were in the movie. It was weird, and no one questioned it; dreams are like that.

In the movie, the US was going to war with Egypt for what ever reason, and the president had decided to fire a nuke at them. So, we fired one, and then everyone started preparations for someone to fire one back at us. The president went into his bunker and a bunch of people kind of stowed away with him (not the Vice President, oddly. He decided to stay above ground). My mom and I got into the bunker, somehow, and the First Lady showed us around, since she had been in charge of the décor.

For what ever reason, there were windows facing DC (which suddenly had rolling hills of open fields and camels...?) and holes in the ground to, as the First Lady said, "Let the smell out," whatever that meant. We were all milling about in the giant bunker, just kind of chilling. This part was funny; it felt like Dr. Strangelove a little bit; when dealing with the end of the world, all these people could do was fuss about the stylish curtains in the fallout shelters. While dreaming, I was thinking, yeah, this is quite the social commentary. Good movie, I thought. People should see how ignorant we all look.

Then the first bomb hit. We watched it out the window. For a dream full of surrealism and an American President of a different color, it got everything about nuclear warfare spot on. At least, the bomb that exploded maybe three miles away from the windows in our bunker acted exactly like the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs did, according to all the reports I've read. We watched from safety as the camels and random people who didn't have an in with the President were instantly incinerated, and the shockwaves tore at the landscape. Then the ground beneath us started to heat up, and (this part I'm not sure is realistic) the molten crust of the earth below the bunker started to boil and pop into the holes in the floor that the First Lady had been so proud of. There was a little boy there, I'm not sure who he was, but I grabbed him and he and I lay on the floor, my back to the lava pits that we were all too close to, me screaming in pain and promising him I would protect him. My mom got too close to one as it bubbled and popped and the skin on her arms...well it was gross. Then Ben's roommate, Luke Breems jumped into one of the holes. I'm...not sure why. Breems is probably one of the most sane people in that house he lives in...but it was a dream after all.

It was very gruesome, very vivid, and for a while, I forgot it was a movie. The President was scheming with his staffers on some way to escape the lava, and they recommended he lock himself away in the sub-bunker (that looked suspiciously like the fallout shelter from Blast From the Past) and he agreed to do so. Meanwhile, all the people who's started to burn alive were turning rapid, including the little boy in my arms, the First Lady, Breems, and my mother. I started yelling at my mom that I'd had enough, that I wanted to leave the theater, that I didn't care how revolutionary the rest of the movie was, I didn't want to see it or live through it. her eyes went wild and she bared her teeth at me and I started hitting her with pillows and trying to escape.

When I woke up, I started crying immediately and groggily made my way downstairs to my mom on the couch and started the slow process of forgetting the dream. But it's still as vivid to me now as it was when I was in it.

...

Aaaanyway...

After that whole fiasco, and while I battled the inevitable exhaustion that comes from waking up mid-REM-cycle, today was a full, fun day. I went out shopping with my mom, my aunt, and my niece: three generations of Rittenhouse women. We went to Meijer (yup...that's the fourth time this week) and then to the mall to visit the Apple store, f.y.e., Sam Goodie (or whatever...I wasn't there for that), and to let Annabelle play in their little play area.

Then we went home, put Annabelle down for a nap, and began watching the movie, Where the Heart Is, with Natalie Portman, among others. We didn't finish before my mom had to go to a party of a friend of hers who moved to Texas a while back, but is in town for a little while.

While she was gone, my aunt and I went to Barnes&Noble's, where I had an old gift card, and I bought far too many books...but they were all worth it. ... Hopefully. I really hate spending money, especially on books. It's all very counter intuitive, I know, because I love having books, and I love earning money so I can spend it. I struggle with the whole have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too thing. But boy, being around all those books, and holding them, carrying them around the store with me, smelling them, talking to them and about them to myself...it just put me in the best mood. And it smelled like fall outside; I love fall. I'm excited for when it decides to come and stay.

Then she and I went to Starbuck's, checked the air in my tires to discover that I may need to fill one of them up tomorrow, and came home. I played with Annabelle a bit, then put her down to bed, and my mom eventually got home in time for us to finish watching the movie. Very good movie; definitely recommend it. It's a chick-flick, but by no means a shallow, two-bit one.

Now I'm going to bed, with a full mind and sagging eyelids.

<3 spadeALLcross

Where my thought's escaping, Where my music's playin', where my...love lies waiting...silently...for...me...?

Not so much that last one. But yes, I'm home. We left at 6 am on the 31st, and got home between 1 and 2 am on the eighth. I didn't blog on the 30th because I forgot, and I didn't blog on the 8th because I was exhausted. I cried and was mopey for no good reason yesterday. I was able to control myself most of the day, but then my brother's girlfriend put coffee in my CUPPS mug and was going to take it with her down to Bloomington, and I flipped out and told my mom and ran upstairs and bawled my eyes out. It was really pathetic. Luckily my mom had her thinking cap on and simply told Claire that it was mine and not open for the taking, and everything worked out fine. And I got a fair amount of sleep last night, so all is well today.

As for last week, I will give as brief a synopsis as possible.

The [16-hour] drive to Idalia, CO was uneventful, but more brutal than usual. It was Annabelle's first long trip, and she didn't much enjoy being cooped up in the car that whole time. But by 9:00, we were at my aunt and uncle's house in Idalia, eating pizza with Jimmy, Kathy, and Jordan. RC, Annabelle, my mom, and I all left in our van around noon, following Jordan in his car to Denver to pick up his sister from her apartment, get Starbuck's and pick up some things from Target. Then we caravanned the rest of the way into the mountains, to a place near Twin Lakes, CO called Lakeview Campground. My cousin Heather, her husband, Eben, and my aunt and uncle Jon and Diane were already stationed there, and Dennis, Patrick, and Remy showed up pretty quickly.

It was raining pretty heavily. Wasn't a great time to set up tents...but what can you do?

Monday, my aunt Margie arrived, as well as Jimmy and Kathy. We played Gin, Tenlum, Rummy, Bananagrams, etc all day. Some of the menfolk went fishing. We had an amazing Chicken Braai (South African barbecue) as well as some Bathsheba (it has a real South African name...but I don't remember it now, since we called it Bathsheba all week, and I couldn't spell it anyhow) all courtesy of Eben and Heather. Katri and I roasted marshmallows periodically throughout the day. Needless to say, I took myself off my sugar-free restrictions for the week.

Tuesday, my cousins Kaleb, Joby, and Erin, as well as Erin's children, Charlie and Robert, and Kaleb's girlfriend Kathleen arrived. More fishing, more gaming, we added Monopoly to the mix this day. Katri got whooped by Dennis and Jordan (well, it was one of those things where Jordan was really sucking, but Dennis was pulling him along, making deals with him to get his monopolies) and then we all got whooped by Jordan in a later game. Baggo and Horseshoes were also played by all. For dinner, we had Jimmy's world famous Chili and Kathy's squash casserole.

Wednesday it rained a lot. We played more Monopoly, (Katri won this time, and so was in a much better mood) and more Gin and more Tenlum and more stuff etc etc. We had brats and chili for dinner.

Thursday, Margie and Joby went home. We had steaks for lunch, cooked by Patrick and Eben. Fantastico. Roast corn as well. Mmm...so good. We all took turns chopped wood. I owned. It was great.

Friday, we left around noon. Jimmy, Kathy, Jordan, Dennis, Patrick, RC, Annabelle, my mom, and I all caravanned back to Idalia and arrived around 5, ate leftovers for dinner, and showered. Ahh, sweet showers. We reminisced for a little while, then hit the hay.

Patrick and Dennis left at 12:30 in the morning. Heaven only knows why.

RC, Annabelle, my mom and I didn't leave until 9:30 or 10:00. I drove about half-way, RC drove the rest, and my mom and RC took turns keeping Annabelle occupied. She didn't really like me. We listened to HP 2, which I happened to have on my iPod. So good. We had listened to some of Playing the Enemy on the ride up. I want to hear the rest; it was really interesting. We unpacked yesterday, vegged out, celebrated Denny's birthday, had a good time.

And now it's over.

Today, I babysat for my old English teacher, Mr. Schaefer. His son, Dylan, is adorable, if a bit drooly.

Also, today, I set up a tumblr for NaNoWriMo 2010! A little early, I know, but I want to get a lot of pre-season work done this year, since my schedule's bound to be packed, and I want to make the writing as smooth as possible, so I can both win and sleep. Check out the blog. It's kind of cool; you can add stuff if you want. I really want your input, whoever you are. I've got some ideas, but they're very rough, and I'm not sure if they go together.

Well, I'm off to...find something else to do. I'll probably elaborate on some of the past week's festivities at some later date.

<3 spadeALLcross

Lucky I'm in love with my best friend, lucky to have been where I have been...

Saturday. Whew. Saturday.

It started at 6:30 in the morning when I woke up to a thunder crack, scared that my plans were going to be foiled for the day. Because I had a big day planned, you know. Ben and I had decided to try to meet halfway between Grand Rapids and Chicago (approximately New Buffalo, MI) and go to the beach for the day.

I checked weather.com, which told me the worst of the storms was going to pass within the next hour.five, so I calmed down and leisurely got ready to go. Around 8:15, I popped into my new car(! that's right, I didn't tell you about it so that it could be a surprise for Ben, because I know he reads this stupid thing, even though I tell him not to) and drove away.

However, thanks to aforementioned thunderstorms, in under an hour.five, Seamus and I looked like this.

Yeah, it took us about five hours to get to Michigan City, IN, which was three hours more than I'd planned for. (Really, the highest water we drove through was only about two feet or less. And Seamus is made of hearty stock. I'm proud of him) But then the day went up hill. It was a gorgeous beach day, and we spent most of the good sunlight lying in the rays and playing in the waves. As my RA from last year says, "So good!" And we went north to New Buffalo for dinner and we watched the sunset from the dunes, and we sat in the rain and watched the clouds (including those issuing from the natural gas steam things) and had a lovely day/night. I left around 11:00 and got home around 1:30, too tired, smelly, and sandy to want to blog. So there you have it.

While we walked around New Buffalo, we saw a lot of water fowl. Including this one that was hanging out with all the mama and papa geese, but was definitely not a goose.

Poor little gangly teenaged swan. Reminds me a lot of myself in Junior High. Luckily, I'm far more graceful and elegant now...

Anyway. Very awesome day.

<3 spadeALLcross

Ocean Mother

    My aunt lives in Westerly where the Atlantic is just a hike or a short drive away, and, though on this trip we're taking advantage of that less than we have in past years, I still am getting to see my one true love, and that makes me happy.

    I've been feeling a bit under the weather this whole trip, so I didn't get out to immerse myself in her embraces, so the two of us have been content playing a sort of far-away game with each other.  The game goes like this: she shows me her glories, and I sit back and feel small, overwhelmed, and amazed.

    There's nothing small about the ocean.  Even the microscopic life that lives there gathers together in large pools, and the tiniest grain of sand helps comprise the most unfathomable shorelines.  When the surf comes up to dance around my ankles, it looks like whipping cream, and I always sense a strangely honored feeling about myself when it decides to stick itself to me instead of washing back into the waves.

    But this year, the southern coast of New England is recovering from a hurricane that sailed too far off the shore to do any damage on the coast, but too close to allow safe sailing.  By the time anything reached our beach, Bill had taken the form of giant waves that kept surfers and swimmers at bay, but felt to me like my Mother was stretching out, like a cat, like she wanted to play or show off, and she refused to be interrupted.

I miss her whenever I leave her, but whenever we reunite, I feel like no time has passed, or ever will again.

<3 spadeALLcross

Sprezzatura

    I realized a lot of things today about me, my faith, my relationships, my family, my friends...Wow, and it's only 2:00 on Sunday.  What will the rest of the week bring?

<3 spadeALLcross

You would cry too if it happened to you...

    My my my, only 11:15 and it's already been a long day.  

    At 4:07 am CST on this day 19 years ago, a miracle was brought into the world.  

    And sometime also early this morning, a miracle was brought to Grand Rapids. 

    Hello, Sun, this is Mary.  I haven't seen you since I was 18 years old.

    In other news, my skin is drier than Luke Danes' sense of humor.

<3 spadeALLcross

Someone must save this sweet...braided-haired maiden, though surely the cost will be steep

    Today's Headlines:

OTHERWISE NOT-DEXTEROUS GIRL LEARNS HOW TO FRENCH BRAID OWN HAIR

GRAND RAPIDS WONDERS: 

WHEN WAS LAST TIME IT WASN'T SNOWING?

THIS JUST IN--

HEAT DOES RISE, THEN PROCEEDS 

TO STIFLE THOSE ON TOP BUNK

J.K. ROWLING PUBLISHES YET ANOTHER BOOK,

MARY BUYS YET ANOTHER J.K. ROWLING BOOK

DISCOVERY OF THE WEEK: 

MARY CAN WRITE ESSAYS SANS PROCRASTINATION

DECEMBER IS STILL BEST MONTH EVER

Thank you for tuning in to this update.

<3 spadeALLcross

April is the cruelest month.

    That's why you should cast your vote for December for best month of the year!

<3 spadeALLcross

Lead us not into Temptation...

    This was outside my window this morning.

    This clip is going in my Music History project.

    This song was stuck in my head when I woke up.

    

    But I  must resist.  It's not Thanksgiving yet.  Stay strong, Mary.  Stay strong.

<3 spadeALLcross

Past the point of no return, the final threshold, what warm, unspoken secrets will we learn?

    I can no longer delude myself into believing that it's fall, as the ground is playing hide-and-seek under a threadbare doily of snow.

    Enjoy the tree.

<3 spadeALLcross

Be happy for what you have. Hope for what you lack.

    I've decided to embrace fall.  I don't know if you could tell.

    Fall is my favorite season, so I don't know why I didn't start this earlier, except that maybe it hasn't really seemed like fall until now; the leaves have started to turn and fall, I've had to pull out more long-sleeves and layers than before, and I have massive cravings for pumpkin carving and apple cider.  Ah, fall.

    I've had a lot of poetry on my mind lately.  I don't know if you could tell that, too.*

    Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the lilies that fester smell far worse First - Chill - then Stupor - then the letting go now, you and I, when the evening is spread out against the sky like a wandering bark, whose worth's unknown, although his height be the way the world ends, this is the way the world ends, this is the way the world ends, when the world is puddle-wonderful the queer old balloonman whistles far and they enter the new world naked, cold, uncertain of all save that they did not come at the dawning, he did not at the left and right across the lines of straighter darker trees, I like to think some boy's eaten the plums that were in the icebox and which you were probably saving for l(aleaffalls)oneliness.  And that has made all the difference.  Just to name a few.

    I re-realized this week how much I love poetry.  Poetry that moves and stifles you in one shot.  Poetry that makes you dance undignified on the inside, when you're in a room full of unsuspecting people.  Poetry with lines and thoughts and ideas that stick with you like songs that get stuck in your head, but are far less annoying, as they don't lose potency or gain redundancy over time.  I think poetry and fall are for me one in the same.

Happy October, everyone!

<3 spadeALLcross

*I will love forever and unconditionally the person who knows what I'm referring to here.  Whether or not my love is worth the struggle is up to you.