All good things

1. I woke up this morning to my dad dancing a letter into my hands from one Michael Conner. Yes, I did wake up late. No, the mail never comes at 9 am. Yes, I love getting letters. No, I needed to put another "no" to parallel the second "yes."

2. One Kayla Maree Johnson blessed me with a phone call this morning. For those of us who were with Kayla during her "rainforest-frogs-text-beep" phase, you'll understand the humor of her ringtone being "rainforest-frogs." We chatted and I missed her. I even did a GREAT job of not being jealous because she, Anne, and Mike all got to hang out this weekend. I'm so happy they're friends. :)

3. Shelty took me on a date. She texted me and asked me if that would be okay, and I said yes, not realizing she was SERIOUS. She picked me up and presented me with a rose. We then went to family church (Matt abandoned us for REAL family). She then took me out to Thai because she's just a great date. Don't let her tell you stories about how I say "HUH!" in the big auditorium when the Pastor says something interesting about the history of Bethlehem. Don't let her tell you how silent the rest of the room was. Don't let her tell you she laughed about it for 5 minutes straight. She then walked me to the door after she dropped me off, like a gentleman. Gentleshelty.

4. I picked up canvases and paints and a giant purple crochet hook. The beginning of Lodge dec prep has begun. Lodge dec prep. LDP. Serious business. Our Lodge is going... to be... LEGIT.

I told Anne I was making a HANDMADE rug like this. Anne asked if the cats were included.

Remember when? Find jokes you were in on...

(I got all this stuff off my cell phone)

Remember when...

Danielle was Gandalf?

Music made us want to fly through fire?

Danielle creeped on South hall from under the ping pong table?

Art night was always a success?

Eric Price was silver in McConn and it was the biggest thing in weeks?

I had shingles?

You creeped from the study room?

You used your sock to clean up coffee in the library?

Danielle dutch-boy patched her soup bowl with spinach?

Emily lied about taking exlax for "the contest" and Danielle panicked?

There were Christmas lights strung between North and South hall?

Kayla was ashamed to be using a Malone blanket?

Noelle had a random piece of clothing hanging on her door? Do not disturb.

Emily texted the world over Christmas about footies.

Emily had her FIRST face surgery?

We used Emily's face to frame our welcome-back-Danielle-note?

Nick helped Anne pick outfits from her wardrobe and it became a unit event?

We Snow-Dayed on the retention pond?

Lindsay used a snuggie as a blanket when we nomadically camped out at Grace?

Anne and I combined our spanish and french powers and desecrated the game of Scrabble for lab credit?

The phone cord got stuck... and then Ashley got stuck... and then Mary Beth was stuck?

I bought my 4th mailbox key, only to find the original under my mattress?

We concentrated for two hours, working diligently, to finish this puzzle, just because?

Throwback Dedication: Emilie and Katelyn

Emilie Schrock-at-the-time and Katelyn Barnhart serenaded Anne and I during midterms this past semester.

The acoustic set and dance was a much appreciated change of pace for the Annster and myselfster.

What could we do during their impromptu Skype show but take screenshots?

What good friends. Livin' with KatelynKatiebeeKaybsKayblee this fall!!

This is the HMS Whirlwind:

It was a warship in World War II.

If only it were shaped more like Armoral or an oven mitt or a lemon or a comb or a storm cloud or a puzzle sphere... it could embody my day perfectly. Phew.

Me harping

Lindsay and I are leaving tomorrow. It was originally going to be 6 am, but she was gracious enough to push it back to 6:30 ;) So I'm pumped to leave! Ready to go! Wooo!

One of my favorite 9 hour drives happened to be when I was at the wheel and Matt and Shelty were with me. Matt, the not-people-person introvert, took it upon himself to ask questions like "What house would you be if you were in Harry Potter?" and "If you were a musical instrument, what would you be and why?" Matt honestly asked those questions for a good 5 or 6 hours. And we all played. The whole time. On that trip, I got one of the biggest insults and the biggest compliments in one answer, by Shelty Price.

Shelty told me she had a GREAT answer for me about instruments. She told me not to be offended. I held the wheel 10 and 2, and shut my mouth. She said,

"Bentie. You're a harp. You wanna know why, Bentie? Bentie, it's because when people first see you, they're like 'What the heck is that? How do you even play it??' But then after they get to know you, and learn how you work, you make the most beautiful, unique music. ... See, Bentie? You're a harp!"

Matt didn't hear a single word after "What the heck is that?" He spent the next 20 minutes laughing. Ever since that moment, I think I knew Shelty was one of my best friends.

So at moments like this, when I feel like I'm especially awkward, tall, nerdy, and uninteresting, I remember Shelty's words.