Catching Up

I have to admit...I'm not feeling inspired in the writing department these days. Probably because most days are exactly the same: babysit, beach, practice, ice cream, sleep. Sometimes we throw a movie in the mix too. So...sorry. MLIA. Whatev.

That's not to say, however, that summer is being wasted away. No sir. (Or ma'am.) It's been a long time since I've had a more lazy summer, and I'm really enjoying it. I guess I can't be completely footloose and fancy free just because - ya know - I'm looking for a job and all that. (Have I ever mentioned that before? Yes? Mmm. How redundant. Again, sorry. Chalk it up to networking?)

I've discovered a new-found love for lying on the beach with friends, even though it requires wearing sunscreen (which I hate almost as much as I hate folding laundry).

I've rediscovered the glory of ultimate frisbee, and I've eaten way too much ice cream for my own good (to the point where I finally ordered sorbet instead. Uncharacteristic).

My family is currently is Switzerland, and I miss them a lot. (As in more-than-expected-a-lot.)

I've cried too much. Also uncharacteristic. (Uncharted territory stresses me out, apparently.)

And I've seen so much more to be grateful for. Transitions really make me want to hold tightly to the things that I've treasured in the past, but I really can't do that forever. Thus being grateful for new things is imperative.

In the meantime (while I figure everything out - ha!) I will try to eat more Pinkberry than ice cream, I will try to gain more freckles than sunburn, I will try to branch out from frisbee to whiffle ball, and I will try to practice more than two hours per day.

What do YOU do on the weekend?

Have I ever mentioned how much I love construction paper? If not, here it is: I LOVE CONSTRUCTION PAPER AS MUCH AS I LOVE COOKIES.

[That's saying quite a lot. You have no idea.]

Do you still need an illustration? We'll assume you said yes.

Last Friday night, my friend Ali and I spent over three hours creating things out of it. After she left, I worked on my project for another two hours. Result? A chain of construction paper flowers. I was pretty proud of myself.

Mini Bread-Muffins

Hey, hey, it's been a pretty long while since I posted anything about food! That's terrible. I love food. But I'm living in a regular dorm again, so cooking food is no longer as easy as it was in The Apartment.

Today, however, I was babysitting, which meant full access to a usable kitchen!

(Aside: doesn't grammar dictate that you should use "an" before a word that starts with a vowel? Why don't words that start with u count?)

I decided that bread-baking sounded like a good plan to do with kids. They can mix everything together, and THEN!! they get to mush the dough all around with their hands! It was perfect.

I used the following recipe for Crusty White Bread:

2 packets of yeast
2 cups of warm water
2 Tbs. sugar
1 Tbs. salt
1/2 c. vegetable oil
6 - 6 1/2 c. flour

Dissolve the yeast in the water. Follow instructions on the packet.

Mix the sugar, salt, oil, and 3 cups of the flour together, then mix with the yeast mixture.

When it's well blended, add more flour until the dough is easy to handle.

Place the dough on a floured board (or counter) and knead for 8 - 10 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic.

Place dough in greased bowl, cover, and let rise for 45 minutes.

After dough has doubled in size, punch it down, separate it into two loaves, place in greased and floured bread pans, and let rise for one hour.

Bake for 35 - 40 minutes at 400 degrees.


That's a pretty simple recipe, so I decided to make it more exciting. When we were mixing up the first ingredients, I dumped some cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves into the dough until it looked spicy. (For this type of thing I don't use measurements. Eyeball it...whatever looks good is probably right.) Then, instead of separating it into two loaves, I decided that we should make mini-bread, and we baked it in a muffin pan! I made a mixture of some butter, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves and brushed it on top of each mini bread-muffin as a sort of glaze. Since they were smaller, I cut the baking time down to 20 minutes.

They turned out great!



And they're highly kid-friendly. Seriously. Beyond the kneading fun, the kids get to mix things, watch the dough "grow like a plant," smell the wonderful aroma of baking cinnamon, and feel accomplished that they made something. Also - IT'S HEALTHY! I mean, let's face it...even with the glaze it has no more than a total of 4 tablespoons of sugar. What's not to like?

Fun at Work

Ok, so I know I'm supposed to be getting a real job and all, but honestly, babysitting is kinda fun. I mean, how often do YOU get to have someone do your hair, dress you up in a fancy evening gown made out of a large green blanket, and pretend that you're a movie star for 45 minutes at a time? I even had a photographer.

He was 4.

But still.



I felt so pampered.

Even if my hair was held in place by marker-covered popsicle sticks.

SUMMER.

Sooo...I'm sorry, world, for bein' all weepy and everything the past few days. I promise to get back to life as normal in the near future while the world proceeds to shift a little under my feet. (I thought that was figurative, but given the recent natural disasters...maybe it was literal. Heck, VT just had a tornado warning.) Life has to get back to normal, because it's officially summer now and that means it's time to do sweet summer things, including but not limited to the following:

-Going to the beach (aka "Avoiding Sunburn 101")
I'm Irish-Norwegian. This is no small feat.

-Eating ice cream
Although who says you can't eat it all year round?

-Getting outside work done
One summer, I painted a house. What should I do this year...?

-Voyaging
At some point in the next three months, a reunion is a must.

-Wearing summer clothes
Remember the green shorts? They're going to appear soon.

-Increasing photo quality
Summer goal: take sweeter pictures, maybe update camera once job is in place.

-Eat grilled food...no sub-point necessary.

-Oh yeah. And find a real job. That's part of the list too.

Last summer was good fun, even though I was mostly cleaning Gordon. We even went to DC, which was definitely part of the top 5 highlights of the season. I expect this summer to be equally as great. I mean, how could it be any less - the last installment of Harry Potter is hitting movie theaters in July!

WOO!

TODAY IS MY LAST DAY OF WORK! Elation abounds!

Sun. Burn. Ouch.

Today I went to the beach. I put on sunscreen, but I guess I missed a very large portion of my back. Thus, I am now the color of a slightly undercooked lobster from my mid back to my shoulders, down my arms, and on my neck. So far it doesn't hurt too badly, and I'm really hoping that I'll avoid peeling, which I think is one of the nastiest things ever. Note to self for the future: if you can't tan, apply sunscreen with extreme liberality, and make sure that you wear a snowsuit, regardless of the outside temperature.

A 4th of July to Remember

For the 4th of July, we (Nathan, Sarah, Chaz, Andrew, and I) went to Washington DC. We left soon after work - around 4 in the afternoon - and started driving, arriving around 1 in the morning.

Our hotel turned out to be right in front of a club, which must have been closing around the time we got there. Everyone was outside, which was a little nerve-wracking, but we got inside the air-conditioned hotel soon enough. The next morning, we got up and started sight-seeing. First we went to the WWII memorial, and then on to the Museum of National History. We saw some cool stuff like the costume worn by C-3PO in Star Wars, the earliest surviving John Deere plow, and some models that looked extraordinarily life-like. When we found them, we immediately decided to pose with them, resulting in some fun pictures....

We walked to a nearby food court for lunch, and then headed back to the museum for some more historical education. Unfortunately, lunch didn't sit very well with me and I ended up in the bathroom wondering if I'd make it through the rest of the day for about an half hour, but it passed quickly enough and life went on. We saw the Julia Child kitchen, some dresses of the first ladies, and, appropriately enough for five music majors, finished up with the musical instrument exhibit. That evening, Andrew and I walked to the capitol after dinner and found the Capitol Concert! We heard Lang Lang play variation 18 from Rachmaninoff's Variations on a Theme by Paganini. While it wasn't the best performance of all time, it was a fun walk and we took some great pictures of the capitol building at sunset.

The morning of the 4th, we went to church at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, which was a 1.5 mile walk from the hotel. The church was small but beautiful, the priest was English (complete with accent), and the choir was magnificent. Furthermore, the congregation sang heartily, making the service a very satisfying experience for everyone. After church, we ran back to the hotel, then ran to the metro station, from which we went to the National Cathedral. There seems to be a theme in some of my recent travels: whenever going to a cathedral, a long, hot walk uphill is involved. This trip was no exception. Yet again, however, the hike was worth it as the cathedral was beautiful, huge, and full of people listening to organ music. We didn't stay for the concert there (see photo as to why), but we did see a stained glass window with a moon rock as well as the grave of Woodrow Wilson.

This adventure was followed by another walk to the metro station, then a walk to find food, a walk to other food after we found out Chipotle was closed, and yet another walk to the National Air and Space Museum. I found a funny sign in the women's bathroom there.

Finally, to cap off our 4th celebration, we went to the Air Force Band concert at the Arlington Memorial, where we heard some nice patriotic music, watched some fantastic fireworks, and met up with Nathan and Andrew's dad as well as some of Chaz's high school friends. We all thought the memorial was really cool:

In an effort to find some celebratory Mexican food or ice cream, we trekked around the city for another two miles or so until we decided it was time for bed and headed back to the hotel. Total number of miles covered on foot on the 4th of July: more than 13. Go us. Needless to say, we were all pretty exhausted by the end of the day.

On Monday, we said goodbye to Nate, who was staying in DC for awhile longer for a conference of the American Guild of Organists (I think?), got some breakfast at both the whole foods market and Starbucks, dropped of some Chex Mix and head phones that Nate forgot, and started driving back to Massachusetts. On the way back, we stopped in Philadelphia for some lunch (we finally made it to Chipotle!) and visited the Wanamaker organ in the largest Macy's store in the US.

After taking a few...ok, maybe several...wrong turns, we figured out where we were going and made it back home by 11:30 that night. All in all, I think it was probably the best 4th of July experience of my life so far. Maybe we'll do it again next year!

Observations

Things upon which to think for today:

-Surprisingly, I have the day off, at least until 3. This was unexpected.

-I keep getting sick. Still. It's summer. After taking allergy medicine, diagnosis ≠ allergies. WHY? Bring on the apple juice and vinegar...

-Lie to Me is on tonight! I was introduced to it at the beginning of the summer, and it's my new favorite show.

-I just ran out of milk! No!

-I need to be practicing more, because I have to do a recital in November. As currently planned, the repertoire could possibly include Bach (definitely), Molique (definitely), Mozart (maybe), Hindemith (maybe), some random modern piece whose composer I've forgotten (hopefully not), and the Herzogenberg oboe, horn, and piano trio (definitely). I also need to become sweet at making reeds, which means that I need to buy more cane, which requires spending money. Dislike. I'll go practice once I finish writing.

-Up until yesterday, it had been awhile since I did any landscaping-type work. I forgot that working with dirt means that it gets ground into the skin on my hands for days, and it won't come off just by washing. But I am washing my hands, so I guess that brings some new meaning to the expression "good clean dirt." And I also feel very productive, having gotten some good work done.

-I recently discovered a whole bunch of PhotoBooth pictures of my brother and me that are absolutely ridiculous. Example A:

To avoid the risk of exposing both of us to public ridicule for being quite un-photogenic and certifiably crazy, I will refrain from posting the rest of these pictures, despite the fact that I find them amusing. Maybe I'm the only one who thinks so.

-And finally, "Dude, DC on the 4th?" "Dude."

Life Lessons from the Custodial Closet

This summer, one of my two jobs is being a member of the custodial team at school. (Is it legal to discuss this at all in the blogging world? Or online? Or anywhere?) I thought it would be just a normal menial labor job....you know, the kind where you go to work, do stuff, and come home without really thinking about anything. I was wrong. This weekend, a large group (around 1,600) of members of one particular Christian denomination (to remain unnamed) came to campus for an annual conference. I was stationed in the campus student center for the past two days, which meant that I cleaned and re-cleaned and triple-cleaned the entire building after each meal. It was an interesting phenomenon, being on that side of the spectrum. I've been to youth conferences, and I know that I never gave the cleaning staff a second thought. I mean, I'm not asking for any credit; that's part of the job, really. Some people did comment, though. Three people said something to the effect of, "Oh boy! Do you hire out? Come to my house!" One lady went so far as to say, "Do you want to be adopted? I could use the help, and you'd really like it, I'm sure!" I laughed, though I wanted to say, "Well, no, actually, I rather like my own family. But if you want to pay me more than my current hourly wage and give me 40 hours a week of work, I'd be happy to become your own personal housemaid!" Then there were the people who took the precious time out of their own busy conference schedules to say in that lovely condescending Christian-ese tone, "Oh, dear, thank you so much for all your hard work!" Maybe I'm being to critical, but that usually led me to think something along the lines of, "Well, I was already aware that you are a Christian, seeing as you're attending a denominational conference, and while thank you for thinking of it, I don't really need to be witnessed at because I'm one too. This just happens to be the most convenient summer job around." There are also the people that observe that we're cleaning and somehow misinterpret the job as custodian/information central/carpenter/waitress/servant. As I was wiping down tables in the dining hall, one man asked, "Oh, would you mind just taking my plate and tray over to where you put them when you're done? I'm talking." Before I could answer, the man next to him told me to keep cleaning and he would take it, which was very kind of him. I was a little ticked off, until some verses I memorized a long time ago came to mind: "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus....Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life." So being a custodian hasn't turned out to be just a summer job after all. It's a daily reminder that I am a servant to a much higher authority - one who believes and specializes in outstanding customer service.

Bed Bugs, Boston, and Best Friends

The last few weeks have been full of work, play, and other interesting things like bed bugs in the room next door. Gross. The bed bugs entailed the removal of everything from the surrounding rooms (ours) so that they could be sprayed with bug killer. That would have been great, except for the fact that they checked our room for bed bugs and determined there weren't any...before they sprayed. Oh well; better safe then sorry, as the saying goes.

After church this afternoon we decided to go into Boston to walk around the Prudential Center. While there, I tried on a pair of jeans, costing exactly $155.00. INSANITY. But I figured I'd try them on anyway, just to prove to myself that the extra money didn't necessarily make them better. So much for that. They proved to be the best pair of jeans I have ever tried on my life, fitting exactly the way every pair of jeans should. If I'd had $155 in my pocket at that moment, I would most certainly be $155 poorer than I was when I'd walked into the store. (http://www.lordandtaylor.com/eng/womensapparel-Denim-New_York_Dark_Wash_Bootcut_Jeans_-lordandtaylor/136909, if you're curious). So I have a new life goal: become rich, buy nice jeans. Possibly the most superficial, materialistic life goal I have ever had, but they were really nice jeans.

I also had Cold Stone ice cream for the first time in my life today. While it was delicious and the mixing process was rather fascinating, I have to say that my loyalty still lies with Ben and Jerry's. It just tastes better.

Finally, I think I have the best friends in the world. I visited a best friend who has a new apartment in Danvers the other day, and it was absolutely wonderful to catch up with her a bit since I hadn't seen her for a long time. I'm visiting home next weekend and I get to bake with another best friend for a bridal shower - super excited! I haven't seen her in an even longer amount of time, which is really quite sad. And I get to hang out with my other best friends pretty much every day, which is the most phenomenal way to spend a summer break, in my opinion.

Summer vacation? Montreal!

It's been awhile since I've updated anything here. The lack of writing is mostly due to the fact that summer started, and life, believe it or not, got crazier. I guess in a sense it just got different, but the amount of time I spend in my room has significantly decreased, thanks to the 6-day-per-week work schedule that organizes my time. It looks like this: physical plant work on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 7:30 am until 3:30 pm; babysitting Monday and Tuesday from 10 until 3, babysitting Thursday from 9:30 until 5, and church on Sunday. I guess that means I don't have too much time for a Sabbath rest, but Sunday afternoon can count for that, most likely. The rest of my time should be spent practicing, but I have yet to figure out how to work that in as the music building closes a full five or six hours earlier than it does during the school year. Inconvenient. Luckily, I should be able to practice tomorrow morning from 7:45 until 9-ish, which should help my embouchure get back in shape.

Since the last time I wrote anything, I journeyed to Montreal! It was lots of fun. We visited several churches including one with the second largest copper dome in the world (St. Joseph's Oratory), saw the Bodies Exhibit (I would strongly recommend it for anyone who is not squeamish about the human body), and ate lunch at a very good restaurant next to the underground city. Getting to St. Joseph's turned out to be more of an adventure than we planned - including a uphill 15-minute hike - but the views, the church, and the organ (!) were totally worth the sweat and inhalers involved in the arrival. It was gorgeous:

And the organ was magnificent!

We got a bit lost on the way back to Vermont, but the GPS saved us and we got back in time to see the sunset over Lake Champlain in Burlington.

Overall, a most excellent day trip.