A Little Rambling

This last week was long and wonderful and relaxing and just what I needed.  It was filled with fun and adventure, and so fair warning: this is likely to be a long post! Day 1: Phoenix - Ft. Lauderdale In the early morning hours, I met Marc at security and we boarded our plane.  I usually fly alone, and I enjoyed the single best advantage of flying with a buddy - trading massages throughout the flight.  Passes the time nicely and makes those chairs more bearable.  Once in Ft. Lauderdale, we caught a bus to the car rental place and met Chantel and Shantel and picked up our big ol' Ford Expedition, which fit all 8 of us and our luggage (snugly).  I was the driver, even though Matt's older, and I was thrilled to find it had a little back-up camera in the rearview mirror to keep me from crashing into anything.  Matt, Chris, Austin, and Sicily took a train from Palm Beach to meet us, and when they got there I got a running, jumping, spinning cinema-worthy-epic-a...

There you are: a photo of the last thing I purchased. This afternoon was spent at a Spring Training game with Austin, Chantel, and Matt. The weather couldn't decide if it was going to be too warm or too cool, but it eventually found a happy medium. (April, April, der wei ß nicht, was er will...aber es ist immer noch M ärz . ) Despite being up very early for observations (their spring break was last week!), the day was delightful. After the game, Austin and Chantel and I watched some more How I Met Your Mother and then headed over to Rebekah's for spaghetti and cupcakes with dinosaur sprinkles and games and movies. I learned how to play "Betrayal," which is a VERY spooky game, but lots of fun. The other table played Bang!, which made the night a true "spaghetti western." What makes me happy is our group began to form a year ago on Spring Break, on an outing we decided was a spaghetti western. It's so nice to have come full circle.

What could make me happier than time with some my favorite people and free pie on Pi Day? Time with ALL of my favorite people (which would, by necessity, include Rebekah ) and free pie. As it was, though, the evening was splendid, and I was quite happy indeed. Feeling a mite bad for descending on Village Inn mere moments before the end of the free pie period, and for being a group of 20(?), we wrote and sang a song to our marvelous servers Brandon and Mark. We also enjoyed lots of pie, and I am very sorrowful that I left my leftovers on the table. Alas.

I've been back in the USA for a whole week now, and what a week it has been! Jet-lag coming west isn't too bad, and the wide-awake-at-7-am thing launched me into a good schedule for school. I hit the ground running, as it were, and it has been a wonderful and busy week. Friday, I got to go see Shantel's horse show, even if I didn't get to see her ride. I still got to get out in the sunshine (walking around with no jacket? incroyable! ) That night, I got to celebrate my cousin Hunter's wedding to his beautiful bride Andrea. Saturday I was back to work, and oh how I have missed it! I really am fortunate to love my job so much, and it was nice to be back. After work I headed over to a choir party, and saw a bunch of my friends. I have MISSED them so much! Germany was wonderful, but no where in the world is good enough that I'd want to leave them behind for a long time. My heart was full and happy to be among such excellent and admirable folk. After the pa...

I always go on about how wonderful my friends are after we've been out having fun doing something particularly nerdy or awesome or spontaneous. They're fun and exciting and unique and creative and enjoyable. But sometimes it takes a night like this to really appreciate them. True friends care. They sit with you quietly when you're sad or sick. They reach out to touch you, a hug or a shoulder rub or a back scratch or holding your hand, or letting you just rest on them. They don't ask too many questions. They don't get impatient. They follow you when you disappear and set up camp on the bathroom floor till you're ready without a word of complaint. They cheer you up - but they don't force you to be cheerful. They love you with actions and words. They don't make a big deal of it. They accept and help and love. They pray. They let you know you're never alone. To all my friends, I love you dearly. Thanks for loving me.

I love my friends dearly. We celebrated Black Friday by having our first Christmas party of the season, complete with singing Christmas carols, doing a Christmas puzzle, eating pie (I baked a fool-proof cherry pie this time, no more pumpkin disasters!) sitting around the fire, and making s'mores. I don't know what I'd do without these lovely people.

Oh, goody, you clicked through to read my blog, even after I've abandoned it for so long! I'm so glad to see you again. I am writing to you now in a state of complete contentment. Let me enumerate the wonderfulnesses of my day. 1) I am still in my pajamas, wrapped up in a fleece blanket, with a purring kitten on my lap. 2) There are clouds in the sky! It is cool and gray and autumnal. 3) I am drinking a steaming mug of feiner rauchtee. This is a loose leaf German tea that I am particularly fond of because I shared it with Lauren in Germany as we talked and talked and talked, and we decided it tastes just like a campfire. Odd as that may sound, it's perfect. 4) My house smells like stoup , which is one of my ultimate comfort foods. (click through for the recipe!) 5) I am about to be eating a pomegranate, picked from Bex's tree. I also have a whole bag full of mandarin oranges (which I am munching on now)! And I'm going to make pie, and honey glazed pecans....

So, I feel badly that I neglected to post about my lovely Hallowe'en. I also feel a little guilty that I'm planning three separate blog posts today - but it's for a good cause! What cause, you ask? Not making you trudge wearily through one never-ending post. You're welcome. Halloween was celebrated on Saturday the 29th, as a continuation of our Shakespeare readings. Appropriate to the spookiness of the day, we chose Macbeth I mean, the Scottish play. In keeping with the theme, I borrowed some authentic Ren Faire wear from Aunt Lauri, and enjoyed my chances to read both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. We set up a huge bonfire, hung some lights, hauled out some couches and camping chairs, wrapped up in cloaks for warmth, and read aloud - mostly from pdf scripts on laptops. High tech, we are. There was marshmallow roasting, (a party was hosting! No caroling out in the snow...) and an enormous bowl of puppy chow, as well as my two pies. There were swords and cloaks, lea...

I love surprises! I'm sure it stems in part from the fact that I am rather difficult to surprise (scare is another matter entirely). I love when you get to plot sneakily for days or weeks, nearly bursting with a secret that you know will be better if you keep it but that you just yearn to tell so the person will know how happy they get to be. I have this difficulty with presents, parties, rainbow cakes , etc. For Labor Day, we decided we would go down to Tucson to surprise Ryan. We got ahold of his roommate - and his mother, who nearly spoiled it! - and managed to set everything up is surreptitious secrecy. Road trips with the Knights are fun - both cars independently sang Disney songs the whole way down. It was fabulous. We arrived much earlier than planned, so we strolled around and ate some lunch, mocking U of A as much as we could. notice Drew proudly sporting his Arizona State shirt! Back at the apartment, Ryan arrived slightly earlier than we were expecting, so there wa...

So far, my alliterative plan of school + sleep + social life (+ sanity) is working out just dandily. Fridays are my favorite days right now, because it's my day off and I only have two classes. After 11:30, I have freedom! (Until observations start...sigh.) This Friday was reminiscent of the best parts of summer in that I got to spend about 12 consecutive hours with the Knights of Ubiquity and friends. I went out to lunch at Pita Jungle, which was delicious - so much so that I went again tonight (although in Peoria instead of Tempe) with a very old friend to celebrate 17 years of friendship. (I am constantly in search of a döner kebap substitute, so I keep trying different gyros. Pita Jungle's was delicious, but it's just not the same! The shawarma I had tonight was delicious, too. I do so love middle eastern/Mediterranean food! I need to eat it more often. Oh so scrumptious.) The rest of the afternoon ended up being movie at Matt's ( The Italian Job ), dinne...