Spring!

Yesterday was that day that you wait for all winter, the one where you wake up with birds chirping and the sun is out and you can't wait to get outside. It was 80 with a side of 60 and a nice breeze blew all day. All the teenage girls on campus broke out the halter tops and short skirts, as though it was 95 outside and had been for weeks. The cherry blossoms have bloomed and are almost done, so fleeting. As soon as I got home, I had to go right back outside again, I couldn't stand it being light out and warm and being inside with homework and housework. I walked around for an hour and a half, just enjoying the fact that I was wearing sandals and no jacket and wasn't at all cold. This feeling doesn't last long, maybe as long as spring lasts, or even shorter. But it's enough to know that winter is behind us, the semester is almost over, and life will begin anew.

Today

Today was a pretty regular day. Except I had half a midterm (it went fine), tennis was canceled (what a surprise) and I ordered my cap and gown for graduation. I'm actually pretty giddy about that last part, and I teared up a little thinking about it, so on the big day, you just lookout.

Lookit. Steve Madden, who's shoes are for teenagers, but not so much anymore, lets you design your own shoes! Well, decide what color the components should be. I can spend hours on this site, and I want all of my creations to come live with my shrinking feet. Here are some of my favorite creations:

Evidence of Spring

Ah, now is that time in Washington where spring is starting. It's only the middle of March, and surely it will get cold again, but it's been in the 60s and 70s, and things are starting to bloom. Joe and I walked around the National Cathedral garden the other day, and it was obvious that spring is almost here for realsies. The Cherry Blossom Festival starts in two weeks, so stand by for more pictures soon!

for the super geeks among us...

If you can't wait for HP7, like me and most of the rest of the Western World, know that if you read 2 chapters a day of the entire series starting Monday, it will take you up to the release date of the last one. I need to find the first one again. And yes, I am blushing.

Do you think we could put one of these at the West Side boat basin?

Click here to see my new favorite thing. It seems like the ideal apartment, if you ask me.

I can't wait for the future

I really hope this place gets built soon. My friend Julia said, "It looks like space!" China, where it's at.

Joe in a kilt

For realsies. Plus all my relatives in a kilt too. Males at least. From left to right, my dad, my cousin Mike, Devon lifting his skirt, Dan smartly hiding directly behind him, Joe, my Uncle Jack, my cousin Raymond, my cousin Matt.


So that's my dad, my mom, Joe, me and my brother on the left, my aunt Linda and her daughter Penelope in the front, Dan, Mike, Candy and Kathy in the front, and Jack, Sheri, Raymond and Matt on the left.


And this is a pic of Joe at the Marshalltown Wal-Mart. That place was scary. This is a display of bananas, and in case you can't read it, it says, "BANANAS! Cool at home or school!" That's some marketing campaign.

Grandma, you're the best.

I'll miss you, Grandma. You were a marvelous lady and the sweetest of all people ever.

Joe and I came back from my grandmother's funeral this weekend. It was in Marshalltown, Iowa. It was a lovely ceremony that my Uncle Jack gave, and my dad delivered a beautiful eulogy. They asked me to do a reading, but I knew I wouldn't be able to keep myself together enough to do it. My brother did one, and my cousins Matt, Mike, Raymond and Penelope. It was really wonderful to see everyone, but I worry that we only get together for major life ceremonies. It would be nice to see everyone some other times. Hopefully, my mom's family reunion idea will take off better than my family chat forum did.

Marshalltown is a weird place. No offense, Dad, Jack and Linda. It's like zombies invaded in the 1950s and it never recovered. I've never seen so many churches in any place I've ever been, and that includes Italy. I have relatives there that I haven't seen since I was about 14, but I re-met them all this weekend. My Great Aunt Nita may be the most notable characters of all of my extended/unknown family. She has giant grey hair, loads of makeup and somehow, a Southern accent. She's writing a book about the history of her Evangelical church. I mean chruch. I haven't been to Marshalltown in about 15 years, and I don't anticipate getting back there for any reason again. It made me uncomfortable, a little, and Penelope and I commiserated at Perkins about feeling like a foreigner. She's quite chic.

It was excellent to see my cousins, and Devon stayed our room and Matt came to hang out. Saturday after the funeral, my cousin Mike and his delightful wife Candy introduced us to geocaching, which means looking for stuff that people leave out and post the coordinates for it here. I want to do it here in DC to see what kinds of stuff people leave in squaresville.

Anyway, I'll miss my grandma who was a peach. It was great to see my family, but weird to be only a short distance from my hometown and never make it there. Alas, the conundrum of living far away. At least Devon and fam will be out east in less than a month! Pics of Joe in a kilt, soon to come.