life as i know it

It's spirit week here in high school again in preparation for a big rivalry basketball game. So far we have had Ugly Sweater Day, Toga Day (I politely declined from participating in dressing in bed sheets), Color Day (I wore blue...shocker) and Disney Day (gypsy Esmeralda!). Tomorrow is Green and Gold Day because those are our school colors. A massive pep assembly is in store, followed by the girls and boys b-ball games in the evening.

Cross your fingers that the weather doesn't interfere.

We got what I want to say is around 5 inches of snow fall last night. The roads were white on my drive to work this morning and the snow was still falling from the sky. It's grey out here in the pacific northwest - grey and gloomy and dead. TheBoy is in Puerto Rico on vacation and has been taunting me with pictures of warm sunsets and stories of snorkeling with giant sea turtles. I try not to be too jealous or miss him too much, but sometimes that can't be helped.

As I was driving through the snowy terrain this morning, I couldn't believe all the things going on in my life. I still have trouble feeling like I'm headed to work, you know? It just doesn't feel like this is my job... They actually pay me to show up everyday, and wow! I lucked out in that department.

I play volleyball during first lunch, hang out with some awesome upper class-men in second lunch and spend some quiet time in the library the rest of the day. It's nice to not have homework or tests or an impending sense of the coming semester.

Although sometimes I kind of miss all the fuss of being an actual college student. I looked at my degree audit online to see what classes I would need to take in order to graduate with BFA and it's three classes. Senior Thesis, Senior Studio and New Media. That's it. Maybe someday I'll go back and get that, but for now I'm going to try and enjoy my time just working.

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately I'm not sure, I have been very goal oriented - always thinking of what's next, what happens when this is over, and where do I go from here? I've never really learned how to enjoy exactly where I am and who I am at this very moment.

To not be constantly thinking of the future is a weird and slightly uncomfortable thing for me to deal with. But there's a lot of pressure to do more, to be bigger, to take that next step. Sometimes I feel like I'm stepping and I don't know exactly where my foot is going to land. I'm holding my breath that everything will just fit into place right where I need it to. So far that has worked for me, but you never know.

And then there's this whole business of stepping off of a cliff thinking you're going to set foot in one area but you actually land in a completely different part. Like how I told myself that after I graduated I was going to take a year off. Work a mindless job. Travel. Move back to Moscow with TLily and hang out with my friends. Then the library changed that idea right around and now I'm finishing out the school year at the high school until June.

From there I don't know what will happen to me, but I'd like to move back down with TLily and be closer to TheBoy also. Long distance is the worst.

wrestling with roxy

this fat little chunk is named Luke and he gets to come live at our house around Christmas

theMechanic, me, and TheSeester

my (not so ugly) ugly sweater

photo cred TheBoy in puerto rico

contrary to popular belief, we don't really like each other that much

finally finished the project TheBestFriend asked to do a long time ago

what i woke up to this morning

On Imagination

*mamakat's writer's workshop: Enchanted*

I remember when I was little I thought winter was awesome. I made pretend that our house was a cabin in the woods while I sipped my hot chocolate by the fire place and looked out the window into the backyard.

I had a broad imagination as a child, to say the least. I loved to pretend that my house was a ranch. I often thought I was Laura Ingalls Wilder as a little girl. She was my favorite! And I wanted to have animals and adventures just like Laura.

In the snowy confines of my back yard I would stamp little paths leading here and there to ride my imaginary horses around on. Each of them had a name and was a special breed. All of my horses were 17 hands high because I believed that all horses should be very tall. The tallest horses were the prettiest. I was enamored with Arabian horses, but Clydesdales were my absolute favorite. I loved the feathering detail on their feet, their enormous size, and how pretty they looked as a general rule. I knew Clydesdales were draft horses, and usually their work on a farm was to pull wagons and sleighs, but oh how I just wanted to ride one!

The front yard of the house I grew up in had a ditch in the front that ran around the corner of the yard, all along the street. That ditch is where my brother learned to ride a bike, where I taught myself how to do a back bend by placing my hands higher up than my feet. It was a place to sit and talk with friends in the summer time and our own personal sledding hill in the winter.

In my Laura persona, I would go to garage and pull out my sled into the front yard. Then I would go around back and my imaginary horse to pull me around. Mostly my horse just pulled me down our little ditch-hill. Once we had sledded enough times though, we got brave and started to stand on our sleds.

We pretended that instead of horse sleighs, our sleds were now snowboards! Ah!

We were professionals, you see. But of course, why wouldn't we be? And we would race down our pathetically tiny excuse of a mountainous hill. We would sled and sled and sled and build snowmen and snow-women with eight boobs but no carrot noses. We would play outside until it got late, with only the yellow glow of the house lights and the one street lamp to illuminate our playing field.

I do miss being little and not having to worry about paychecks and text books, passing final exams, getting good grades, relationships, and being clean. I miss being able to stay out until nine o'clock (oh wow how late!) sledding in the front yard after dinner. I like being a grown up now, but I do miss being a little kid. Maybe that's why all my artwork is very childish, you think?

Winter

I'm so done with school. I can't wait for finals week to be over so I can go home.

The fact that it gets dark at 4:30 in the afternoon doesn't help either.

You Wanted To Drive This Winter? Ha!

Do you know what I love about Moscow in the winter time? Not the roads. You see, this is because no one in Moscow understands plowing.

You want to turn left? Forget about it.

You need to change lanes? Oops! Too late!

You wanted to park on the other side of the road when you got to work? Tough toe nails, punk. You're screwed!

Who's stupid idea was this anyway? What's the point of having a berm of snow in the middle of the road? Three laned roads now only have two lanes and forget it if you are in the wrong one because now you're stuck there.

You have to figure out how to get places only making right turns except for at stop lights because turning left is downright impossible. And the other problem to this is that a lot of roads in downtown Moscow are one way, so basically it's a big F U to all the people out there who would like to maybe park in an open parking spot that they have to figure out how to cross a giant snow middle finger to get to.

The only reason I can figure out this waste of a plow job is because there's parking along the side of most of Moscow's streets, so instead of plowing the parking spots as well they just plow all the snow into the middle of the road. Which is by far the stupidest thing I've ever seen.

Honey, It's Cold Outside

Is it really December already?

I feel like yesterday I moved into this forsaken dormitory, only to turn around to shut the door and find myself shivering my buns off in negative degree weather sans any sign of that white flaky stuff they write songs about.

Thanksgiving break snuck up on me like Sneaky Snake going after your root beer. (Please tell me at least one of you out there caught my reference to the Tom T Hall song?)

(And apparently snuck isn't a word? It's being underlined in red. But sneaked just doesn't right to me. Call me a bad grammar user (HA!) but I'm sticking with snuck because I'm stubborn.)

Anyway, back to Thanksgiving break - because it wasn't really long enough and then it seemed to thwart motivation for school with promises of "But we only have three weeks left!" And lemme just say, motivation to do three more weeks of work is like dangling chocolate in front of my sister and then telling her she has to run a marathon in order to scarf down said chocolate like there was no tomorrow.

The DP loves her some chocolatey treats. Doesn't matter what time of year, who made the chocolate delight, and the darker it is the better. She can be easily bribed with chocolate too - just keep that in mind if you ever find yourself on her bad side.

But November is Novemore and December has brought upon our college campus a reign of frozen terror. One can not venture out of doors without a numb sensation engulfing their entire being. One must also keep touching one's nose whilst walking to class in order to ensure that frost bite has not incurred and succeeded with leaving oneself nose-less. Because a face without a nose is just ridiculous. I mean, lets be honest.

And besides that fact that it seems 2009 has decided to be the fastest year ever, as well as this semester seemingly whirring past, it's only a matter of days before I embark on a trip to SoCal to visit with family for the occasion of the Christmas holiday.

Can I just say that it's still perfectly find to wish someone a Merry Christmas? I mean does everyone get offended when that is in fact the holiday that a majority of us intend to celebrate during this festive season? I know full well that there are other holidays during this time in which people tend to participate, but would you be offended if Christmas was your holiday of choice and someone wished you a happy Hanukkah?

Really?

Okay, so I feel like this post is slightly random and full of useless bits of fluff tied together under the assumption that December has moved in far too fast for my liking?

Oh yeah, I remember why I started this post.

My family already put up their tree! With out me! Oy! It doesn't feel like it's far enough into December to be putting up a tree.

I feel kind of left out.

But on the plus side, I think I've called my mom on the telephone at least once every day since I've been back at school. It's turning into a daily ritual. And since Tues. and Thurs. I walk home from the coffee shop sans company, it's nice to talk to her while my legs move back and forth trying to transport my torso back to my room while also not falling off at the hips because they are so numb...

Of All The Days

January 20, 2009. A day that made history when the first black president officially took office. Some people say that it won't last. Some people think that Obama will be assassinated before his term is complete. Others think this is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I think I would have rather seen McCain in office than Obama, but you can't change what's already been done.

January 20, 2009. The day that my Momma was born over 45 years ago. She is my Momma. She is a shoulder to lean on when times get tough. She is a sweet caring loving lady and life would be so different if I didn't have her. She's strong. She's independent. She raised four children. She's been married and faithful to the same man who is my awesome and amazing father for over 2o years. And she still loves him and she still loves us! I love you Mom. :-)

January 20, 2009. My Frozen Tundra. The walk to class is mostly silent, save the sound of the cars on the street and footsteps of fellow student. A few conversations linger in the frozen air and the trees are permiated in a beautiful white frost that makes their lovely branches look like contorted frosty fingers. They stand on the campus looking so majestic in their white robes and no one dare disturb them. The frost stands in spikes on the metal surfaces of railings and various other objects. It's beautiful. It's inspiring. It's somewhat poetic. It's peaceful. It's reassuring. And it's appreciated. Spring is coming, but for now I love me some frozen tundra frosty tree branch Idaho.

The interesting frost patterns cover the handlebars of this motor scooter in the tower parking lot.

Students make their way to and from class beneath the shade of frost covered trees.

Random Fact: Mothers were originally named Mama or Mommy (in many languages) because they have mammary glands.

The Gift of Snowflakes

The weather is amazing. My mother has been awake since 7 o'clock this morning and said it has been snowing ever since she got up. And it's not just spitting snow either, it's full blown snowing. Like white-out blizzard, amazing, thick, fluffy snowflakes. She seems to think that the north pole has been transplanted south and placed in our neighborhood. I can't wait to meet Santa if that's the case!

The snow in the backyard is so high already that the dog can't get around, save the little trails my younger siblings have carved out for her. We've moved he little doghouse to under our deck because it's closer to the house, and there's less snow underneath the deck.

Mmmmm, all this fresh snow makes me want to go snowboarding. I want to go sledding. I want to build snowmen. But it's only almost noon here, so I still have the afternoon to decide what I want to do. :-)

The Journey Home

We started the morning off with daily showers and breakfast. Nothing unusual there. Packing and cleaning would have been a pain if I wasn't such of a freak that liked to pack her stuff up. :-) I had all my clothes packed and my stuff together and ready by 10:30 this morning. Then A and I loaded up her little Kia and decided we should eat before we hit the road. Egg salad never tasted so good. :-)

The snow was lightly falling as we headed north on hwy 95 towards home. And for the first part of our three hour trip that normally takes two hours, we followed a little red car who would refuse to go faster than 25 in a 60 mph zone. Woohoo for snail speed!

The weather is freaking out. Which I think is both hilarious and slightly scary. A fair amount of time the snow was coming down so thick we could barely see in front of the car that was in front of us, and sometimes the sun was shining so bright we could see for miles. It was indeed interesting. I felt the need to document our fascinating trip, as well as the snowfall that is so charming.

So I finally get back to CDA and A decides she wants to see Sherman Ave and look at how much snow is in the downtown area. Detour determined! We point the car in the opposite way from my house in search of the carnage that is sure to be found downtown. So many people. So many stupid idiotic drivers. So much irritation. And SO MUCH SNOW!

It was just absolutely beautiful downtown. I smiled and laughed and took plenty of pictures with my cell phone because my digital camera was packed away in a bag with my laptop somewhere in the back of A's car. But I think it acurately represents the sights we found downtown.

Then I arrive home to my screaming siblings who are all too happy to see me and my wonderful daddy who has missed me terribly the past couple of weeks since I haven't been home for a weekend in a while. Oh and how my sister can scream...a sound I have not missed at all....

Walking In A Winter Wonderland

The first snow is always one of my favorite snows because that's the first time of the year where you get to see everything sparkly white. Where you appreciate the wonderous beauty of winter before you get tired of it and say, "I wish it were warm so I could go to the beach!"

So I decided to take a walk around campus this morning and see what interesting things there were to photograph. The above photos are some of my favorites from this morning.

Hopefully I'll get a better camera for Christmas and will be able to take some amazing photographs of the snow. And possibly some awesome snowboarders and skiers as well. :-)

Snowmen, Snowangels, and Things of the White Fluffy Sort

I love the snow! And when I woke up Saturday morning with a stomach ache and the need to scavenge for ali's tums, the open curtain for her window caught me a little off guard.

It's funny because on friday I was just thinking - this is December already! Why is there no snow? December should have snow!! And then the very next morning - BAM! The snow is here!

So I stumble back into my room after swallowing two tums looking for a drink of water. The snow amazes me, and after my water is all drunk I pull a sweatshirt over my head. So exciting this snow!

The lounge is empty and so I sit myself at the piano and turn toward the windows to watch it become winter outside my cozy spot. I gingerly touched the piano keys and then decided to jam out playing Joy to the World and a so-so rendition of Silent Night which I only partially remember how to play. I butchered it thoroughly and was glad that I was the only one in the lounge to hear my horrendous attempt.

Bored with the piano after my failed song, I moved the to the benches in front of the window which are right over the heater. Hard to explain, but if you saw it, it'd make sense. haha. Anyway, the snow is falling thick and covering the whole world in white fluffy goodness. My heart is smiling and happy and joyous. I love snow and all of sudden I'm in the mood for some hardcore Christmas music. But I got nothing. So here I am, sitting in an empty lounge on a heater bench, watching it snow and I just start singing. Let it Snow is a good one and so is the one who's name escapes me...but it goes "in the meadow we can build a snowman and pretend that he is parson brown" yeah, you all know the song - don't lie. But I think I sang it like five times before I finally decided to return to my room.

Thank you Jesus for the snow! The only thing this complicates is getting back home. The road is kind of dangerous, but whatever happens I'll be okay. I'm sure of it. Mmmmmmm, I loooooooove snow!