10 things i did today

10. learned about australia.
9. ran with children back and forth across australia.
8. laughed like a kookaburra.
7. asked nina how to spell kookaburra.
6. sat on a couch with her australian friend/laptop twin.
5. cooked garlic chicken.
4. read stories that children wrote.
3. sun bathed.
2. read the remainder of peter pan.
1. began getting even more excited about the turlock bbq.

as you can see, most of my day revolved around australia. which was exciting.

nighty nite. sleep tight. don't let the bed bugs bite. and sweet dreams of sour pickles.

the portervilleian chronicles

there once was a girl who grew up in sunny california. there was never snow on the ground, and the only ice was either high up in the mountains of the sierra nevada or else in her freezer. all was well with the world and often one could find her following around her bigger, more intelligent brother, christopher robin. he could do everything in life better, faster, and in a manner of much more creative fun. they played many games together like 'put clean underwear on their heads and run around the house' or 'war of the universal invasion: g.i. joe versus barbieopolis'. they rarely competed against one another, preferring to double their efforts by playing on the same team. a great many adventures were had in the california sun.

many other things happened in her life.

eventually she moved to the grande babylon...chicago, hoping to meet God in books and the eyes of homeless people. there, it snowed day after day after blustery day. she worked in the basement of a large, brick building during the harsh winter serving mash to young people she could hardly comprehend. at the end of her long days she would put on her vest and she would put on her coat and she would put on her boots [tying up the laces all the way to the tip top]. she would wonder to herself why she cried so often and felt so numb, as she put a hat upon her head readying herself to trudge home in the snow. she missed the underwear adventure days. alas. nothing was to be done, largely because there was no sun. and so she kept on keeping along.

then one day, the sun came out. and it was almost hot in her new place. warmpth and exuberance filled her heart to the tips of her fingers and toes. she felt like dancing. she felt like singing. she felt like going home.

and so she did.

and here she is.

in the california sun. well, not right at the moment, because night has fallen.

but she DID swim in the pool today. and will most certainly be searching out adventures with the aforementioned brother in the days to come.

---
in some small way, inspired by the narrations of queen estherachel the great.
---

bon noche.

terminada

almost. just one more project.

basically done with another semester. it's a weird feeling to be finished with a semester so busy, so...tiring. i don't want to rush this time at school, it's too precious. it's a rich experience. so then, in my busy-ness, what has happened?

i've started 'doing music' with a guy from church. pretty interesting. we have really different tastes and incredibly different natural rhythms, but it's a fun collaboration.

i've been the assistant to one of the faculty here, the amazing dr. j. he and his wife april are both just phenomenal. not perfect, by any means, but i feel totally blessed to be in the midst of their lives. in being his assistant, i get the family too - so that's a nice bonus. they all had me over for two days in the height of the busy season. a much needed break.

i've been watching the graduate school's soccer team. every game in fact. we made signs. nina made them beautiful. at the end of the last game, which they WON, they gave me a championship t-shirt and it was delightfully wonderful. as are they. and the other fans.

i've been wearing a very large hat that says "food service" on it. which has been thrilling. okay, maybe not, but i have gotten free school food all semester for working in the student dining room. i can't even guess how many times i've scrubbed icky milk yuck off of the milk machines. mmm. icky milk yuck.

i've discovered that i think i'm one of those 'depressed in the winter' people. when the sun came back and the ice went away, i felt like a new person. i felt alive again. like ice was melting off of...my soul. mmm, emo.

the only man i'm interested in is claiming 'single for the kingdom' and i want to respect it. i respect him, so i think i need to respect his decision as practically as i can on a daily basis. i see him often. this is difficult. pray for me :D

i'm looking forward to the summer. it's going to be wonderful. miss you. can't wait to see you.