The Final Leg

Hello all!

Well, another week out, and ready or not, here come the finals. I've already taken my Biology written portion, and I think I got a good, square B on it, so I'm satisfied. Tomorrow afternoon, I'll have my oral for Biology. Unfortunately, we won't have nearly as many orals this year, since they're revamping the exam system. Hopefully orals will be worked in more later, but not right now. So I only had five exams instead of eight. Honestly, I'm disappointed. I love the orals. But they'll be back. And it's good for the Freshmen; there's a panic that comes over you when you realize you have seven or eight exams before you, and half of them involve talking to the teacher instead of hiding your head and writing something. It's intimidating, but the feeling you get after finishing all of them is fantastic. I think it's a good thing to be so overwhelmed and then realize you actually survived. Oh well.

This week was really nice, for being the week before finals. It passed rather uneventfully, but in a good way.

Tuesday, we went to school, passed two gas stations, compared the prices, and filled up at the second one on the way home, since it was cheaper. Then, when we passed the first one, I started laughing because, during the two and a half hours we were at school, they had significantly lowered their prices. Go figure. Once home, though, I did get to do something I'd never done before, and that was operate a table saw in a skirt. One of my classmates needed slats for her bed, and she knew the Fraziers have a scrap wood pile they're trying to get rid of, so she asked me to look for some slat-ish pieces on the right dimensions. I found the slat-ish part easily, but the board was long enough for five pieces. So, I measured them out, turned on the saw, and got to work. I hadn't even considered changing until I was half finished, and realized, "Oh, this probably looks silly. Oh well. Who's here to care?" No, I did not lose fingers, eyeballs, or any other assorted limbs. I didn't even get sawdust on my school clothes. And Dad, I have to say I like this table saw better than yours. It's got the blade set into a slot in the table, instead of on an arm that you pull down. So if you're ever looking for a new one, check this kind out. They're pretty cool. But that was my fun little project. I took them to choir and dropped them off at her house afterwards. The best part was the fact that they actually fit. I can measure AND cut correctly, which is always a good thing.

Thursday evening was loads of fun. Ashley and I went to Claire's so we could get our hour of Latin conversation in for Recitation Friday morning (we'd been taking turns doing dinner at our houses). This time, since it was the last time, she invited James and Dane, too, and man was that a fun dinner! I'm sure the people in the apartment below us thought we were crazy. I've discovered that I really do love Latin. And when you have to speak it for an hour as homework, the best way to do it is around the table. Food is one of the best catalysts for enjoyment. After dinner, we acted out the chapter, as per the syllabus, and discussed the poems. We've finally gotten into Latin poetry, so we're reading snippets of Catullus, Ovid, and Martial. It's hard going, but very worthwhile. We'll be doing more with it next term, so I'm excited for that.

Friday of week seven is NSA Spirit Day, which means you get to show up in a nice pair of jeans, so long as you're also sporting some school clothing, whether it's a T-shirt or a hoodie. It felt kind of weird to be at school in jeans, and seeing classmates in jeans, when we've all been in the 'Business' category. It was the first time all term I'd worn a pair of pants. I don't want to wear my dress slacks yet, because that's acknowledging that it's too cold for most of my skirts. I'll probably be forced into it pretty soon, though.

Today was a really nice day. Mrs. Frazier and I volunteered to help with set-up at church for this month, so today was our first day. We had to get the front table ready, get the wine poured into the cups for Communion, etc. I'm really glad to have a chance to help in some way; as a college student, I'm very much a part of the community here, but at the same time, I'm mostly on the receiving end of everything. This is a chance for me to give back to the people who have given so much to me, and I'm grateful for that. Today's sermon was fantastic, too. We're going through 1st Peter, and I think it will be a great series.

Today for lunch/dinner, we caught up on birthday celebrations. Ruth and James (daughter and son-in-law) came with the kiddos, Esther, Hannah, and Peter (and number four is on the way, too!), Josiah and Afton came up from the basement (son and daughter-in-law), and Emily and Toby came, too (Emily is Afton's sister, and Toby and Josiah are really good friends, so they're like family). Josiah, Afton, and Peter all had birthdays, and Ashley's is Tuesday, so we celebrated all of them today. We had salad and bread, followed by steak, baked potatoes, and steamed artichokes. I'd never had anything other than hearts from a can in whatever Mom was making, so this was quite a new experience, having something resembling a giant acorn dropped on my plate to eat. It was fantastic. We had garlic butter to dip it in, and oh boy! Good stuff. Dessert was individual chocolate-peanutbutter cheesecakes, and they were marvelous. This evening, we went over to Ruth and James' for a birthday party for Peter, since it was his first. I never really understood before why people had birthday parties for tiny kids, but I think I get it now. Sure, this was a family party and everybody lives less than ten minutes away, but still, everybody wants to give the cute baby something to make him smile. Everybody wants to make the baby laugh and coo, especially if they don't have any of their own, yet. So I think that's why people bother having parties for babies, not so much for the babies, but for the people that want to have an excuse to spoil the baby. So all of us met at their house again, with the addition of James' parents, little sisters, and grandmother. Esther and Hannah were being good older sisters and helping open the presents (gee, where have I seen that before?), and we weren't sure if Peter or the girls were happier with the new dinosaurs Toby brought. Peter knew what to do with them right off the bat. They were prancing around to growly sound effects (seen that before, too!). We had a great time, and had homemade ice cream to go with the cake. It was just as good as last week's ice cream. So between that and the cheesecake, I'm set for desserts for awhile.

Well, since a picture is worth a thousand words, I've uploaded 160 to FaceBook, which saves me about 16,000 words to try to describe this place. My camera is awesome (thanks Uncle Mike!), but even it can't fully capture the beauty of this place. The varying shades of the sky, the shadows of the clouds on the fields, even the quaking of the aspens doesn't come out quite right. But, you can see them there; I have a link that lets non-FaceBook users see them, too. So this is a little taste of the terrain. I don't have many town pictures yet, or anything from school, but it's a start. So please, enjoy the wild beauty of the North West (now I sound like a tour guide).

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=327286&id=618290187&l=7560e8c14d

Well, I should get to bed. Ashley and I have to go in tomorrow morning to listen to some of the Seniors present their theses, which is always interesting. Take care!

~Kathleen