The concert last night was amazing. The energy and music were unbelievable. We were too high up to see their faces but I do think we heard more of the music where we were. My favorite of the Celtic Women was not there, but the concert was still great. I even got a program!

The Younger Twin, sadly, finally figured out that Charlotte dies in “Charlotte’s Web.” After watching the movies for months, last night she realizes the spider dies. From all accounts, it was not a pretty picture. The play lasted an hour and twenty minutes, without intermission, and after a long day it was all too much for her. The Elder Twin did not fair so well either, as she was sick all night.

Needless to say, only the Maternal Grandmother and Younger Twin showed up for tee-ball practice this morning. Since there were only three other girls, they all just practice hitting and running the bases. Younger Twin is getting better at batting, which is good according to my Maternal Grandmother seeing as how our little girl has trouble remembering to run. Oh well! That is the fun of tee-ball.

What else? Two of my four book orders are in. I ordered them on Tuesday and already they are showing up. Nice. However, the stack of summer reading is increasing rather rapidly. And yet, the pile of homework is staying the same height. I better look to that.

so another day goes

Tuesday…well, the best thing was reading Andrew Marvell’s “The Garden” while in at the Botanical Garden. I completely bombed my presentation; all those speech-giving classes just ran out the door. Bye-bye, do send a postcard.

Yesterday, I answered phones then subbed all afternoon. I went to the Nurse Practitioner and got a shot.

And today’s highlights include: errands, cleaning out the yarn stash, and running to Mom’s because the Younger Twin was having a moment and called me. But look: despite the overabundance of yarn, the trunk still closes.

I found yarn I do not remember buying, luck would have it there was only one ball I cannot identify. It feels like wool but looks acrylic. Oh! I almost forgot; I found some gray acrylic that is the same color as the yarn my buddy bought me to make that chain metal coif (the hood). Ergo, I have taken upon myself to make a second one by Tuesday. It already looks much better than the first.

Tomorrow should be brighter, Celtic Women concert. Needless to say, they are the only ones on the iShuffle. The Twins are very excited about their pizza party pre-show event. Then the play “Charlotte’s Web,” well, what could be better than seeing it with all your closest friends? Me at Celtic Women, naturally.

In other news, Mom and the Maternal Grandfather took a trip to see a family member who is interested in putting a house on the market. (She is the Maternal Grandmother’s second brother’s ex who we still love and keep in contact with.) I opted to stay home and do laundry/clean. The Twin’s baton lesson took longer than it normally does, the Maternal Grandmother left early to go to a meeting of some sort.

Such a life we lead here.

Catch Up...Again

I ran away from home this weekend. It was very last minute. No computer or books, which was lovely. Of course that meant I came home early to complete homework. Ah well, only this week and next week. And all the things I have to do between now and the end. Not to mention the reading I have over the summer. One of my Fall classes has a book list out, and I only have about half the material. After examining the prices for the texts she is going to give out as hand-outs, I think I shall not buy them at all. One alone cost close to $40.

The Younger Twin was happy to see me; the Elder was too busy with a dirt pile to notice who was around and who was not. I was shortly abandoned by both of them to plant flowers. No big. At least Puppy was ecstatic to see me.

The Maternal Grandmother’s test/surgery has been pushed back a week, doctor’s choice not hers. Another week of delaying the inevitable is all it amounts to. Now I can enjoy the Celtic Women’s concert on Friday without having her in the hospital. Like there is anything I could do when she is there, but one does feel as though one should be there to do nothing. This also means I will be out of classes for the surgery.

All of my yarn from KnitPicks has been wound, despite me. I love having a reeling machine and ball winder, it saves so much sanity over here. I have given in and started knitting up socks again. Knitting socks just proves I love to inflict pain on myself. To balance out, I am knitting up some stash yarn into hats. Lots and lots of hats, ok so I only have about twelve. They are a great way to test out colors and textures on a larger scale than a washcloth.

Mom, the Maternal Grandmother, and the Paternal Grandmother all recommend me not knitting for the entire DC family. They point to the fact that we do not have a great deal of interaction and finding things to fit size and personality are difficult enough. I plan to finish two larger projects I have already started on, and then only knit for the younger two out there before taking their advice. Besides, I have not knitted a single stitch for charities or silent auctions this year. I enjoy doing that kind of stuff as opposed to just sending money.

not dead yet

No I am not dead. See, there is my pulse. But stars, I am beyond exhausted and the semester still is not over.

What did I do this week?

Sunday—spent the afternoon working on Renaissance Drama paper

Monday—finished my Renaissance Drama paper and went to the Twins’ t-ball practice. (see pictures)

Tuesday—turned in Renaissance Drama paper (11 pages) and spent the afternoon at the Botanical Garden reading for Critical Theory. And my Easter Yarn came in! yea. Much rejoicing in the land.

Wednesday—worked in the morning spent afternoon and most of the evening revising Medieval Lit paper

Thursday—finished Medieval Lit paper, turned it in, listened to Renaissance Drama presentations, went out to dinner with the Maternal Grandmother, got a call from Mom saying she had been stung by a yellow-jacket and was at the doctors, so I spent the rest of the day chasing the Twins

And now…I am going to run away. Somehow I’ll get things together enough in the next few hours to unplug completely and hide. Next week is tough and I am worn out and if I stay here I will not get much rest.

Next week look something like this for everyone here:

Monday—Twins: t-ball practice

Tuesday—Me: Renaissance Drama presentation

Wednesday—Nothing yet.

Thursday—The Maternal Grandmother’s surgery, they are cleaning out an artery in her neck

Friday—Me: Celtic Women Concert

Ah! Thankfully the semester ends May 1. I have a stack of books I want to read, a trunk of yarn to knit, and some major sleeping to catch up on. Speaking of knitting, apparently I have been obsessing over it these past two weeks. I promise to stop as I am the only one who knits compulsively. On the other hand, my buddies at school who are getting sick of me knitting have started chain smoking again. They smoke, I knit. We are all dealing with this time of the semester and trying to keep our sanity.

I am taking a short break from papers. This one for Renaissance Drama has got to be the worst one I’ve ever written. The reason? No motivation whatsoever. I am almost halfway through the first draft. Tomorrow afternoon is nothing but revision of it—should I ever get through the first draft. I know what I want to say, just not how to say it where it makes any sort of sense at all.

The only thing keeping me sane at this point is…knitting. No surprise there. I have been working very hard on a coif (that is the hood of chain mail armor) that one of my Medieval Lit buddies asked me to make for her nephew. Their family does a Ren Fest. I have learned so much from this project. Originally, I was going to modify a vintage ski hood but the gauge, needle size, yarn, and size was all wrong and I realized that it was not going to work in the time I have. So, I made up a pattern. It was not working like I wanted it to. Now, I am simply figuring it out as I go along; like where to add stitches and how to do it in the moss stitch pattern I am using.

The Younger Twin has not been feeling well at all. I know this because she has been whinny and cries at just about everything. The Maternal Grandmother is trying to rest up, as the mandatory state tests are being given next week at the local public schools.

Ah well. Back to papers.

The play last night was wonderful! It was opening night for As You Like It and over half of the Renaissance Drama class was there to see it. True, making it required probably had a hand in that fact. Humor me, and let us pretend they would have been there anyways. I meet several of my classmate’s abstracts, those people you always know exists but remain unseen for sometime. To that effect, one (who was seated several rows back from me) told me at intermission they enjoyed watching me knit more than the play. How that was possible is still baffling. I mean, As You Like It was on stage! Ok, so I am easily amused in the theater. But the audience was seated stadium wise and the actors ran lines up and down the aisles as well as the stage.

Yesterday was very long. It started, as it always does on Tuesday and Thursday, at 0545 and I did not get in until 2330. Then today, I subbed all day. Tired? No. Exhausted? Absolutely. And the papers due next week? Well…

Catch Up

This weekend was a bit of a blur. Papers. Wedding reception for the preacher’s daughter. Papers. Movie with classmates. Papers. Easter. Papers. Church. Papers. I am starting to detect a pattern here.

I subbed on Monday and registered for classes. Getting up before the sun is only worth it if one can get in to all the required classes. I did, hence the effort must have been worth it.

Yesterday, I workshopped the Medieval Lit paper…all nine pages of it. I conference it with the prof tomorrow at 10:00. Not too surprisingly, I escaped campus for an hour at the Botanical Gardens. Yes, I read for Renaissance Drama at the same time. But it was a nice cool day with overcast so the Gardens were not overrun with after-schoolchildren until I was leaving. Somehow, Shakespeare is better when read outside. I know; how could Shakespeare get any better outside of a theater performance? But it is true. Also true is the Canadian geese there have absolutely no fear. I was close enough to touch several. Like these gentlemen.

My classmates were not overly surprised to see me pull out my knitting during the movie. They thought it was strange that I could not see well enough to find a seat but I could knit while watching 300. I confirmed that my hands do not have eyes, only my face. The same people are interested to see what the prof’s expression will be tomorrow night when we go as a class to see As You Like It.

It seems everyone in the family went to the doctor's today. The Maternal Grandmother goes back on the 26th for another test. They have also penciled in surgery on that date. Good news for the Elder Twin: her JRA (Jr. Rheumatoid Arthritis) is looking a lot better, though she still has it.

The Twins started t-ball this week. The Elder enjoyed herself to bits. The Younger played in the sand after her turn at bat. Apparently all 10 girls on the team had fun.

Oh look! I am on page eight of my Medieval Lit paper. It has only taken me 2 days to get here. Only seven pages left and I am out of points to talk about. Not fun at all.

Great. When is it due again?

Last night, the family went to the carnival instead of church. Even the Maternal Grandmother skipped. Gasp and shock. It was fun. I went up with the Twins on the Farris Wheel since no one else would but it got me out of the Bumper Cars so I could catch up with someone I hadn’t seen since Girl Scouts.

This week has been really long. My prof shot down my second paper proposal but finally approved something. “He with the most madness wins,” looking at Bartholomew Fair and Shoemaker’s Holiday. By that time, if I hung around another ten minutes I could attend a Grad/Faculty Q&A with Louis Menand. So I worked on a scarf project that was in my backpack and listened to Menand talk about research and writing methods he uses. That was cool. Too bad I could not attend the lecture tonight or that I did not have time to pick up a book for him to sign. But I heard him speak at a Grad/Faculty Q&A. That should count for something. Oh, and I got cleared to resister on Monday. Yea me!

Mom called me around lunch when I was stressing and pressed for time. By the time I processed what she told me it did not make sense. The Maternal Grandmother went in for a regular heart checkup (which she did not tell me about). While she was there, they looked at a vein in her neck and became excited. She spent the afternoon at the hospital for a dye test and talks to a surgeon on Wednesday. Other than that, no one knows anything. The preacher lectured Mom about not being at the hospital, but the Maternal Grandmother did not want anyone there. The Maternal Grandfather deified orders and showed up. Like I said, it did not process until the ordeal was nearly over.

I went with the StepPaternal Grandmother Monday night to the Orpheum’s production of “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.” The acting was not bad at all and it was refreshing to witness the audience’s active participation. It would have been nice, however, if the Younger Twin (who sat in my lap the entire time) had not rammed her head into my chin every time she made a comment or asked a question. It was one long hour (no intermission). I was ready to die.

Yesterday was not so great. I woke up and was very uneasy about Ren Drama’s paper topic. Turns out, it in no way fulfills the assignment. Great. Guess what I did today? Started all over.

But I did take the afternoon off yesterday. I just had to get out and go away. Here is one of the many pictures I took at the Botanical Garden. Her name is Iris.

And another major assignment gets done. Next!

It is Sunday night after a weekend spent researching and I am seconds away from completely insanity. EMP the neighborhood and lets pretend we do not exist. Who am I trying to fool? Pass some reading not required for class and a new ball of yarn. Only one week left of Lent and it looks like I might actually complete Lent this year. But let us not carry ourselves too far away; after all there are seven days left. And upon examining my yarn stash in the light of day, I need to diet.

The Twins found many Easter Eggs on a hunt today, yet in all honesty the new tire swing in the front yard was just as appealing. They have spent the past few Sundays in the Sunday school class Mom teaches. The Elder Twin does not like the lady that teaches the class for their age. The Other Twins in church, are having a party next week; everyone is very excited.