Saryndippity

A Fun Night

So, while in Saint Louis last weekend Endo suggested we get together for a moive sometime this week. We decided Thursday night would be a good night.

I drove up to Wausau and met Endo at DataWave. We then went to Best Buy. He had to fill out some paperwork for his job there and I had some shopping to do. We wandered around the store for about an hour shopping and killing time before the movie started. It was actually a lot of fun.

After shopping we went and saw Lemoney Snicket. I’ve recently finished reading the first 4 books in the series, so the events where fresh in my mind. The movie covered the first 3 books, and changed some of the events around. Even so, I really enjoyed the movie.

It was a great night. I’m glad that over 2 years of not having much to do with eachother, we could hang out and have such a good time together. It really does make me happy that our relationship is taking a turn for the better.

Trip to Saint Louis

Last weekend Joyce, Endo, Andy and I went to Saint Louis to hangout with the InstantCool gang. This was the annual trip to City Museum. Out of the four of us, Endo was the only one that had been before.

Andy and I went down together, and Joyce and Endo went down togehter. The trip down was quite the adventure for Andy and I. We took the senic route, through Chicago. There is no reason why we should have been with in an hour of Chicago, yet there we were. In fact we were minutes away from Matt’s house, Andy’s brother. Andy made a phone call to Matt and with his his help we managed to make it through Friday rush hour traffic and back in the direction we needed to be going in about an hour. All in all our little detour took us about 2 and a half hours. We still have no idea how we managed to end up in Chicago. I think it was a combination of us talking and Illinois road signs.

I consider myself to be a very shy person, so this was kind of a nerve wracking experiance for me. Besides Andy, Endo and Joyce I only knew a few of the InstantCool group. So I wasn’t really sure how it was going to go for me. I’m happy to say that I had a wonderful time. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming. :)

This trip also gave me the oportunity to try out my new digital camera. I was so glad to have a digital camera instead of a 35mm camera. It was nice not having to carry around extra film and mess with changing the film. I took lots of pictures. Andy helped me to set up a gallery and this weekend I posted all of the pictures from the trip.

Endo had to head back up to Wausau on Sunday, but Joyce, Andy and I were able to stay until Monday. Our friend Jeff was nice enough to let us stay at his house. Being at a house was a much welcome change to the hotel. Not that I didn’t enjoy the hotel, I did. It was fun and full of energy and new friends. But, by Sunday night I was ready for the peace and quiet that came with Jeff’s house and a smaller number of friends.

Staying at Jeff’s made me realize just how much I miss living in a house. I had lived in one the two years before my current location, but both of my room mates at the time graduated and moved on in thier lives. Matt’s in grad school in Idaho, and Manda has a job in a different city. So now I’m living in an apartment with Joyce and her son Alex. I really enjoy living with them, just not in the apartment building. To a certian degree I feel like I’m back in the dorms. There is just something nice about living in a house. When I think about it part of me wishes I was in a different place in my life, then I could think about buying a house of my own. Right now, I just need to concentrate on graduating. :)

Back to the trip. . . On Monday Joyce, Andy and I did some site seeing in Saint Louis. As far as sight seeing goes it was a bit odd. We spent some time in a couple graveyards looking for a friends realitives. We had luck in one and not in the other. I think we would have had luck in both if there hadn’t been snow covering almost all of the gravestones. It was very quiet and peaceful in the graveyards. It made you think.

Next it was off to The Arch. I had been there many years ago, but Andy and Joyce had never been. We decided to watch the documentary of the building of The Arch and then take the trip tp the top. The documentary was a bit disappointing. Not so much a documentary, but an exagerated comercial for the Steel industry. Oh, well. The trip to the top was pretty cool. We had to get into this little furturistic looking pod that slowly brought us up. Once there, we were able to look out from the windows at the city and the Mississippi River below us. I don’t have a fear of heights, but being that heigh up gave me a real appreciation for them. I think we were all gald to be back on solid ground.

Before we left Saint Louis we stopped at Union Station for lunch. The food was great, and the waitress was quite possibly the best waitressI’ve ever had. Lunch is when we found out just how incredibly cold it was back in Wisconsin. Although it wasn’t all that warm for Saint Louis, it was warm compared to Wisconsin. But we had to get back. And so we left.

Rant

I told him from the begining that I wanted to continue being his friend. He is the one that told me that he needed time away. He is the one that said last spring he was ready to be my friend again, and then a few weeks later at a friend’s wedding had a different friend tell me he just couldn’t deal with it. And when I suggested to get together this summer to give him back some stuff of his, he said I should just give it to a mutual friend to give to him. I realize he’s still dealing with things. But if he really does want to reconcile, then he should try sending clearer signals. I figured he still wasn’t all that comfortable with me. The last two times we have been at group functions he has managed to say things that make me feel that maybe he’s not ready.

I just want things to be easy. But I guess they aren’t supposed to be. And I don’t know how I’m supposed to deal with this. I guess it’s up to me to approach him. But I don’t know what to say to him. I know things are better now than they where last year, or even this summer. But I’m scared that I’ll end up saying the wrong thing and all the progress that has been made will just crumble away. I don’t want that. I want us to be friends again. I’ve always wanted that. I just don’t know what to say that will fix this. . .

Catch Up

Two days before Chrismas I fianlly got my officail Student Teaching placement letter. :) I was very happy to know where I would be and when I would be starting. I’ll be teaching in Wautoma, which is about a 30 minute drive. I start on the 26th of January and am there until June 10th. I graduate on May 22nd! I’m quite excited and a bit scared to start the next past of my life, but I know I’ll be ready for it. :)

CHRISTMAS
I love Christmas, it’s so much fun! I saw friends and family, played fun games, watched movies, and ate very yummy food. :)

I got to my parents house late on the 23rd and just hung out at home. The next afternoon, my mom, my friend Sam, her mom (Mary), and myself went to Eau Claire to do some last minute Christmas shopping. I didn’t need anything, so I was just along for the ride. Considering it was the day before Christmas, it really wasn’t that crowded in any of the stores we went to. This made for a much more plesant shopping experiance. Once we got home we had homemade chicken soup for supper. Then I wrapped my Christmas presants. And before I knew it, it was time to get ready for church.

Every year we go to our churches 11 o’clock Chrsitmas service. This it the candle light service. There is a short sermon and lots of carols sung and at the close of the service small candles are passed out to everyone in the congegration. We all light our candles and all the lights in the church, except for the angle tree lights and those over the alter are turned off. Then we sing Silent Night. It is truely beautiful. :)

By the time we got back from church it was midnight. My parents went to bed and my sisters and I stayed up until 3 playing Chrismas Elves. We decorated the tree, the livingroom and the kitchen. It looked wonderful when we were done. Then we went to be so Santa could come. That’s right, even though I’m 26, Jenna is 22, and Aimee is 17, we still have Santa in our house. And we love it.

We woke up on Chrismas morning and did not rush downstaris to the Chrstmas tree. Instead we waited for hours until Dad said he had finished wrapping his gifts, then we finally got to go down. It was well worth the wait. Everything looked beautiful! We all opened presents and then started making our Chrsimas supper. We had clam chowder, Irish soda bread, greek salad, and this year we had brownies and fudge for dessert. After dinner we played Apples to Apples. I love this game! :)

I was in Menomonie the next two days. I didn’t really do anything on Sunday. My family went to supper at the Laird’s. After supper everyone there played Apples to Apples. It was enjoyed by all.

On Monday I followed Jenna to a friends house in a nearby city. She was having car issues and her friend said he couls fix it if she could get the car to him. Since it was about a 30 minute drive our dad had me follow her in case Jenna’s car stopped working. It didn’t and I was able to get back to Menomonie in time to meet my friends Sam and Shannon for coffee.

Then it was time for me to pack-up and head back home. It was good to be back and get everything unpacked and to sleep in my own bed again. :)

Baby it’s cold outside. . .

Well, winter has finally come to Wisconsin. Not with snow but with freezing temps. I think it’s in the single didgits today and last night I think it dropped below zero. Wheeeee

I’ve been busy the last few weeks finishing up this semester of school. Last week I presented all of my final projects and on Friday I had my one “final.” It really wasn’t a final. My class met at the local alternitive high school and took a tour and then our prof. took us out to eat. :) It’s nice to know that I’m done with classes for a bit, and when I do go back in January it will be my last semester. I’m hopping that by the end of this week I’ll know where I’m student teaching next semseter. The waiting is really beinging to bug me.

The last two weekends were filled with Christmas parties. Last weekend was JoAnn’s annual White Elephant and Potluck. I made the biggest bread bowl in the world and put all kinds of yummy bread inside of it. It was rather silly. ;) But everyone thought it was cool and most of the bread was eaten. And at the end of the evening we took turns wearing the bowl as a hat. There are pictures, but I don’t have them. As soon as they are posted I’ll link to them. I brought a Star Wars Trivia game wrapped in a Powerpuff Girls t-shirt for my White Elephant presant. It was a hit. I think three or four people made a grab for it. I ended up with a pen and key chain, and cool little speakers that I can use for my laptop. Yay me!

This weekend was Lairds Annual Christmas Caroling party. As usual it was wonderful. This is the first year in a long time that it’s been cold out when we’ve gone. I think we only stayed out singing for about a half an hour. In years past we’ve been out for as long as an hour and a half. After the caroling it was back to Lairds wonderfully warm house for food, drink, and visiting. I got a chance to talk to my friend Amy aobut student teaching. She shared some of her stories from when she was student teaching and gave me some advice on what to do in certian situations. I also got to chat with my friend Lance. That was really cool. We haven’t done that for a really long time. I learned all sorts of neat things aoubt his job.

And this week, well the next two days, I’m doing my Christmas shopping for my family. And after Christmas I’ll do my shopping for my friends. ;)