A Little Rambling

I love the fourth of July! I love red white and blue, I love America, I love fireworks, and I love time with friends. It always manages to be a memorable day. Last year was my first back in the United States, and I spent it with my parents and Amy on Coronado Island, enjoying life immensely and watching fireworks over the bay. The year before, I celebrated Army Style in Baumholder and Rammstein, lots of grilling and volleyball and fireworks. The year before that, we didn't really get to notice the 4th, as we were embarking on an epic bike trip , all along the Rhein and Mosel rivers in Germany. Last night, we went over to Shantel's house for a massive amount of food, including very patriotic desserts. Julia had never had a hot dog, so we introduced her to that most American mixture of miscellaneous meats. We played games (our favorite seems to be 'human knot') and went swimming, waiting for the sun to go down and the fireworks to start. While in the pool, being th...

I know I have mentioned before that one of my biggest fears is that I will stop playing . Sounds silly, perhaps, but I really love to play. I think that's why I so deeply enjoy time I get to spend with my friends this summer. Yes, half the time we watch movies, but we also play . Monday night, we were all in the pool, and there were all kinds of games being played, both real and made up. And then playing sardines in the dark, stuffing ourselves into pantries and under tables and squealing at sounds in the pitch-black storeroom in the basement. And the tskaa! game - couldn't be sillier. Simple things, childish things, but they make my heart happy.

I look forward to a lot of things! I look forward to not being so tired that I start crying at random moments [like today]. I look forward to days when I don't have to wake up to an alarm clock. They are rare jewels in the treasure box of my life. I look forward to buying a house and having my own place! (Keep praying for that tomorrow!) I really look forward to being done with B's Feast, and 20th century theory. But there are two things that come up in my hopes more often than others. One you can probably guess - I really look forward to falling in love, for keeps. The real thing, the one I can lean on and support in return forever. The one whose arms will always be there for me to fall into on days like today. The other is adventure. I LOVE adventures. I've had a life pretty full of them, what with moving to a foreign country at 18. I mentioned my love of playing, and I mentioned my sense of hope as I leave each day. One of those hopes is that, though when I lef...

Though I generally do not consider myself a fearful person, there were many ideas that crossed my mind when starting today's entry. I am afraid I will be single forever. I have an irrational fear of pool vacuums. Actually, I am afraid of most anything underwater. I am afraid I will never get married - wait, did I mention that already? I am afraid I may never finish school. Or at least it feels that way. I am afraid of bugs. However, I didn't feel like writing much about those. Well, I thought about the fear of never getting to spend the rest of my life with my true love, but I already know all the cliches and reassurances by heart - and usually believe them - so why waste my breath typing? I am afraid of not playing . Sounds odd, perhaps. But I love to play! And unfortunately, it's not something I get to do often. I'm not talking about board games or toys or with my kitten. I'm talking person to person - grown-up to grown-up - playing. When we're little, ...