Power is Back On

The power is back on. It is most exciting and actually ahead of schedule. Derek and I ran to Ben's house last night to get a toilet, a TV, and some internet. And some heat! And then we came back. I'm now cuddled under like seven blankets with a big fire roaring beside me. 'Tis glorious.

Party in the Dark

The electricity went out...so we just hosted a paintball and surprise birthday party without light, toilets, heat in the house, etc. 'Twas grand fun!

Oh dear

Derek caught the garter at the wedding they all went to...
If you don't know who I'm talking about, don't worry about it.

Shopping with the Girls

Went shopping with some friends today. I believe it's the girliest I've been in at least two and a half years, since we went clothes shopping and to Bath & Body Works. I don't know that I can handle anymore! I came home and changed into guys jeans...lol. And washed dishes. Fun, fun.

Battle Creek Visit

I'm now visiting Battle Creek...get a huge paintball war on Sunday. 'Twill be grand. And lots of movies. And lots of books. And some paperwork. Yay!

Great Weekend

I had a fantastic weekend! Got to see my Mount Pleasant friends, saw some movies, ate some good food. Life was simply lovely.

Coolest Present Ever!

Daddy ordered me "The Lion King" and "Atlantis" from Syria with Arabic dubbing. They are SWEET! "Circle of Life" in Arabic. Amazingness! Happy Becca.
And Bubba got me Kristin Chenoweth's Christmas album. Fun fun!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, one and all! I've completely failed at keeping you all up-to-date. A report on the last few days will be coming soon.
Love to all!

Day Off

Thursday we sent the kids off to school and Barb and Todd took a day off. Barb and I worked on editing a movie in the morning. Then we went to eat sushi. Very, very good sushi.
We got the kids to bed decently early, and then had a fireplace and stayed up later than usual. We were planning on a snow day, so bedtime was not as necessary.
Grown-up discussion is wonderful every once in a while, lovely though three-year-olds are.

Snow Day

Like most of the rest of the world, Chicago schools and the surrounding districts are in a snow day. So I have munchkins and parents home with me today. We've snow blown the driveway, watched movies, packed for Grandma and Grampa's house, and worked on Christmas presents. This afternoon's agenda includes making Christmas cookies.

Sleepover!

The kids and I had a Christmas dance party last night. And then I decided the best way to solve the "two kids want to cuddle before going to sleep but need to go to bed now" problem was to have a massive sleepover in my bed. So we did.

MSU Squirrel

There really aren't any words...except that you should know this was taken by a friend of mine without any big photography experience or aspirations. I really, really like the shot.

Babies all to Myself

Barb and Todd have a concert tonight...so I get my babies all to myself! Bedtime should be fun. I have the feeling big brother is going to end up staying up longer than usual...

3.88

If anyone cares. There she is. Silly chemistry.

Snow Blowing

I did my first ever snow blowing today. Todd and Barb's driveway is beautiful. It's really quite fun...is mowing this fun? I should try. But obviously not today. Because the grass isn't really all that accessible...

Yay!

All grades are in but philosophy...I've officially four-pointed econ and Arabic. And I'm not worried at all about philosophy. So life is good.

Train Adventure

I had a 7:43 am train Sunday morning. I woke up at 5:30 am on Sunday - and then went back to sleep. I was supposed to have another alarm at 6 am, but technical issues arose...
So I woke up just before 7:30. And sprinted for the train. Oops. Ah, well. Such is life. I made it! And now I'm happily in Chicago.

Hmm...

Well, this is exciting. I definitely should have a 3.0 in Chemistry. But my StuInfo grade report has a 3.5. So I don't know if Morrissey changed the grading scale but didn't change it on CemScores, just gave me a 3.5, or a mistake was made. But I'm not complaining...

Amy and Kim's

I'm staying at what is affectionately known as "The Brown House." Dorms closed tonight, but my train for Chicago doesn't take off till Sunday morning. "The Brown House" is the property of the Wesley Foundation (or the church...I'm not actually sure). Kim's the Wesley Ministry Intern; Amy's a Peer Minister. The house is right next to the Church, which is very close to the Amtrak station. So I get to chill with Amy and Kim for a while before heading out for Chicago.

I'm Exhausted

The problem with having a lot less to do than usual: When one suddenly has to do actual work, one becomes exhausted.
I met a friend at 9 am for breakfast.
I had a 10 am meeting with the Chautauqua folks about MLK Day and next semester.
I babysat Kamden again for several hours.
I had a 4:30 meeting with my undergrad research project on peace and justice groups in the area.
I had a 5:30 meeting with Amplifx (alternative magazine and peace group) and Steve Sharra to discuss how Amplifx can get more linked in to campus.
I came home.
I ate dinner.
I took a bath.
I sorted some paperwork.
I washed dishes.
And I'm exhausted.
And that's absurd.

Sleeping Children

Are the most wonderful thing ever! They're just so warm and cuddly. Kamden slept/lounged in my arms happily for a solid four-plus hours today. Life was grand.

Christmas Break Plans

Chicago December 14-20 to see my babies! (Referring to family friends, the kids of whom are just full of adorableness. See below.)

I'll be taking the train to Chicago this Sunday morning, and then Barb and I are driving up with the kids to her parents' house in Lansing on Saturday.
Sunday I'll sing with the choir at Music Sunday at University United Methodist Church in East Lansing.
That afternoon, Gregory will have to come see the babies at the Ellises' to pick me up...poor boy.
Some time in Mount Pleasant (yes, I'm actually going home for Christmas, shock of shocks).
And maybe some time in Battle Creek somewhere at some point? Still working on actual arrangements there...
December 29-31 I have a church meeting in Alma. Mum, Dad, and Gregory will be going to Florida for a week or so. I'll stay with the dog for much of it, go to my church meeting for some of it while finding a friend to take care of Reilly, and maybe appear in Battle Creek sometime. But I'm not sure how it's all going to work...Ah, well, we shall see.

Baby-sitting

The good news: I get to see Kamden. The bad news: I get to see Kamden because Kamden is sick and Kennetha needs to get into the office. Poor baby. :(

All Done!

Just had my Economics exam...so we are done with academic work for the Fall Semester of 2008. I have some meetings tomorrow evening and won't actually be leaving campus until Sunday morning, but no more deadlines for a while. I'll be doing some philosophy research and quite a bit of cleaning over the next few days.

"Stranger than Fiction"

Highly recommend! SO good! That's all I'm going to say, because I don't want to ruin anything. But I think you should see it.

Left-Brained?

Eric was bugging me about being left-brained today...it's kind of true. As in, very slightly. I took a bunch of online quizzes...very slightly left on some of them, exactly in the middle on one. But such is life. I just thought I'd let everyone know...don't know why I'm bothering...but the joy of a blog: when I have nothing to do, you all are privy to every random thought. lol.
(The "not having anything to do" thing is a lie. I should be doing philosophy research. Ah, well. We'll get there.)

Oops

Oops...it's not a 3.5. It's a 3.0. Unless the professor does a crazy curve, which I'm not really expecting. So there you go, folks. Becca didn't just not 4.0, she seriously blew it. Tee hee. Might as well do it in style.

Sims News

Update on life in Sim world: Chris, Bailey, Kelsey, and Lena are either already or well on their way to being engaged. Lena recently got a hot tub as a gift from her fiance. The college mascot and my stalker professor (that's what the rest of the group calls him, I think he's just my professor friend, seeing as how we play football) were hanging out together in our hot tub. We've all passed midterms and are now in our senior years of college (time goes rather quickly...). And I think that's about it.

Well, Humbug

Granna and Mum will be pleased. I'm fairly certain I just didn't four-point chemistry. If only I could take points from the chem lab class and put them in the actual chem class...but alas. I cannot.
Oh, well. Such is life. I hope you all enjoy living as the friend/relative of a chem failure.

There are People in Here!!!

The cafeteria has never seen so much 7 am traffic. It's pretty crazy. Good for them for eating before exams, though.
Anyways, here we go...CHEMISTRY at 7:45! Yeehaw!

Good Morning

Happy seventh of December, everybody. What a beautiful day it is. Yesterday was a beautiful day too...I got some work done, lazed around a lot, and generally enjoyed the fact that I was alive. 'Twas joyous. And now I get to go sing a pretty song in church! Yay! Hope you have a good day as well. Lots of love!

"Winter Solstice"

Sad/happy movie I watched today. Allison Janney! It's really good. But only watch it if you're in the mood for a cry. Which I needed. Very healthy "flush" of emotional system.

"Tropic Thunder"

I watched it! Kelsey told me to cover my eyes at the beginning a bit, but it wasn't anything too bad. And I LOVED it. Though I was sad about Tug's "baby" at the end...

Sims

Oh, no. We've found another geek activity in which to engage. The group has now created Sims of all of us. For those of you who don't know what Sims are, they're simulated people in a computer game who walk around. You can make them interact with each other; they have goals and aspirations. So Chris, Bailey, Kelsey, Lena, and I all live together and are interacting. And it's terrifying how realistic they are. (We custom built bodies to look like us and were able to custom decide their aspirations to be similar to ours.)
Last night, my sim was playing football with its professor. I wonder if I should take this as an indication of a possible problem?

There are other people like me!!!

There's a huge group of girls watching "White Christmas" next door right now. I can't tell you how happy this is making me...

More on Drugs

So...the saddest part of this whole thing...I sent a check with John James to pay for drugs. And it was only $1.81. Oops. Probably could have handled $2 cash. Oh, well. Such is life.

The Drug Saga

The doctor prescribed a combination of anti-inflammatory (to make the lungs calm down) and antihistamine/decongestant. I biked back to the dorm. Biking hurts the lungs like heck, as does walking, because of the cold, harsh air. So I get in my room and ask my roommates if anyone is going to Meijer's. "Why not CVS?" they ask. I didn't know if it was a full pharmacy or not. And then they tell me there's a pharmacy in Olin. This I did not know. So I very sadly biked back to Olin. I ask for my drugs. They ask for my drivers' license. I don't have one. They can't give me my antihistamines without a government-issued photo ID. I almost cry. Not really, but it was sad. I bike home, very depressed and very pained. Luckily, John James loves me and went to get my drugs. So now I have them. Yay!

Here's the fun news, though: The reason I couldn't just get drugs was because what I'm taking is a precursor to crystal meth! Yay!

Doctor's Appointment

I finally caved in...and went to the doctor. Diagnosis: VIRUS! Yay.

Arabic Final

The test was today...it went decently well. I spent more time sleeping and less studying than was initially planned, but it didn't hurt me too much.
But now...Arabic is done. For an entire month-plus! And Arabic with Miled is done FOREVER. Oh, the finality of finals. I don't like it. I don't like it one bit.

Oh, the things that we do.

So my friends are a bit crazy...

Jelly Belly Lab

This Wednesday's lab work was really difficult...we had to analyze the flavorings in Jelly Bellys. Talk about stressful.
And the lab report was essentially a fill-in-the-blank. Dr. Severin clearly loves us quite a lot...

I'm Officially Sick

The time has finally come for me to admit that I am, in fact, sick. I was fighting it for a long time...but can no longer do so. But I'm fine. Don't worry about me.
Though Bailey and Chris claim that I'm dying and have already divided my possessions amongst them. Mum, Dad - Bai is threatening to burn Fred. So please rescue him at least. The rest of the stuff can be dished out the way they'd like it to be.

(Can electronic transmissions needing a password in order to be performed count as legal wills?)

Boiling Water is Hot

I discovered this when I dumped the contents of the water boiler all over my thumb right before chemistry. It was amazingly talented. And warm. As in, hot. Just thought I'd let you all know.

Class Scheduling

Ah ha! I finally found an open spot in the MC 241 (Politics and Markets) class. And I grabbed it! I've been trying for like three months, so this is very happy news.

Tardy!

I was late for my first class today. Thought you all might be proud of me. lol. I think it's literally the first time in my life I've ever been unexecusedly late to class...

Tea!

Lena has a small water boiler. I stole it. And am now using it in class. Yay, tea!