What a Terrible Tragedy

Not really.

But, I am at a terrible impasse.

There are two travel studies this summer that I'm interested in.  One is to Italy for two weeks, and it's a whirlwind of art and the literature of "famous Victorian British travelers, including Charles Dickens, Robert Browning, George Eliot, and others, who wrote about Italy in travel narratives, novels, and poetry."  From what I remember, the cities we'd hit are Milan, Venice, Rome, Florence, and Assisi.  Two weeks of nonstop action.

Words About That Great International Holiday, Valentine's Day

Well, my dear noodleheads, it's that day again.  Valentine's Day.

I'm not going to spend a whole post talking about Valentine's Day, because, frankly, all I care about is the candy.  I've never been on a romantic, candle-lit dinner date on Valentine's (...ever, actually), never been presented with a gift of expensive jewelry, never had an anonymous valentine slipped in my mailbox.  The last part might be a good thing.

Today, I woke up to the gift of candy just inside my doorway.

"GOOD MORNING, BEAUTIFUL!" it shouted at me as I stumbled to the door.  There was a wee baggie for me and each of my roommates, and no morning had ever greeted me so happily.  Needless to say, my day started off well.

Finding this made it even better.

Miraculously awake for my 9 o'clock class, I sat through a mind-numbing 50 minutes of history on America and the Enlightenment, glancing at the clock every five minutes.  It makes my eyesight fuzzy sometimes.

After my history lesson, I trotted to the dining hall to devour some nourishment, quickly gaving up on my wrestling goal to be 105lbs by Friday.  I ate two bowls of Honey Nut Cheerios, a poppyseed muffin, and an omelet.  And drank some water.  I probably won't even make it to 112 at this rate.

Then I came back to my room and ate all of the candy from this morning, which tasted partially of soap, partially of chalk, and partially of delicious, delicious chocolate.  It's a gorgeous 60 degrees Fahrenheit outside, which only added to my happiness.  That's how my wonderful morning came to a close.

What do I have to look forward to today, then?  Homework, wrestling practice, denying myself the relief of gorging on dinner after practice.  :(

And then Valentine's Day will be over, just as uneventfully as usual, and it will be Tuesday, February 15th, and all of the unsold V-Day candy will go on sale but because I'm a poor college student I won't be able to get any.  I'll just salivate unattractively until I get pulled away by some sympathetic soul, and I'll sigh and complain, and then it'll be over.

Another day over, and a new one just begun.


Oh hey, I did just write a whole blog post about V-Day.  Would you look at that.

The Snow, The Sled, The Big Red

Yeah, you're right.  I haven't blogged in a while.  I have an excuse: this week was finals week, so of course I was super busy.  But now I'm at home, all alone in my room with my heated blanket and my queen sized bed and HECK YES I just found my iPod, the little bugger.

The first semester of college is kaput, and now I'm getting my long-needed break.  Life couldn't be better.  It's kind of hard to believe that it's only been 1 semester of college.  I feel like I've been gone a lifetime already.  I've changed so much from all of my experiences.

Speaking of experiences, imagine a quaint, slightly Southern college town.  Imagine lots of hills and a very pretty red building, on top of the greatest hill in town.  Now imagine a few inches of snow, and a bunch of college kids that have just finished finals for the day.

This is how my last day before heading back home was.  I played in the snow like it was nobody's business.  Sure, I cleaned my room, did my laundry, packed to leave, but I had a few precious hours to spend with my friends, and so of course we went straight for the snow.

I forgot how much fun sledding is.  Sledding down the gargantuan hill in front of Main Hall, soaking my pants and the tips of my hair.  Making a snow angel for everyone to see; throwing handfuls of the cold, powdery stuff at other people.  I might have been freezing, but I had fun.  I didn't worry about what other people would think of me, or wonder if sliding on the icy, slushy roads after taking a running start was really the brightest idea.

I'm so glad that I can be a kid sometimes.  That even though I'm an "adult", and "adults" think about "serious matters", I can still take time off from my laundry to roll in the fresh snow outside.  I love it that I have friends who I can share that moment of kidhood with.

I'm really glad for the lessons that I've learned while away at school for the first time, and, more importantly, the appreciation I've gained for the things I have at home.  I will never underestimate the beauty of a stocked refrigerator and the luxury of a room to myself again.  It makes me happy beyond compare to be able to get into a car and drive, instead of hearing the whistle of the biting wind outside and thinking Do I really need to go somewhere right now?  I think I'll just stay inside, where it's warm.


But, as much as I love being home, I miss college, too.  It's my home, whether I want it to be or not.  Sometimes that makes it hard for me, because I can't feel completely peaceful here, in the house that I grew up in.  There will always be something missing, just like there's something missing when I'm away.  It's impossible for me to be completely content.

So, look sharp, University Hill.  Your steep slopes and big red historical landmark on top will always have a place in my heart.  You are my home away from home, and as much as I may hate on you, I think I love you just a little bit, too.