Post-"Schrock"

After going to the Hoffman/Schrock wedding, I had a little realization about the style of modern weddings. The mis-matchyness and the faded/friendly colors and the sillyness laced into the traditional... I wonder if the older generation approves? Look at a photo I found when I googled "old traditional wedding"... scary. Disclaimer: Please don't think I'm trying to call traditional weddings symbols of the Nazi regime. Traditional weddings are beautiful.

My friend Jessica posted photos on her blog recently of an UP-inspired wedding. And though I liked UP, I was delighted with some of the fun things these people did. There were picnic blankets and balloons. Click below for more.

I miss you THIS much

Tomorrow, I fly home

Yesterday, we watched the Lion King. Anna, Mary, Anne, and I really got a kick out of it. I can tell we watched it a LOT as children. A LOT.

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.

I'm a fan of TED talks

It began with a video I liked. I posted it somewhere in cyber space. I said I felt inspired. And I left it to soak. TED talks are about hundreds of different topics and I've realized that, as someone passionate about speech, I've been neglecting things that inspire me in the world of communication. Writers have books. And yeah, that means I have books. But there's something about a monologue that makes words come alive. Organic words. I'm going to keep my eye on these for anything good.

Sometimes creativity can be a cold, calculating, process. And the precision is needed, like a sterile glove on a doctor's hand. But sometimes I forget my doctor's hand should be warm and pulsing with blood. Inspiration is my creativity's lifeblood. Click on the photo below for a little plasma.

Why knock Mondays?

Yesterday was a Monday. The significance of a Monday for a pupil of Dr. Huckins' speech communication class is this: THERE IS A TEST. Which is awesome. Because the test is scantron, it's 100 questions, and it takes an hour to finish. After an hour, you turn in that puppy and you get the heck out of class -- 2 hours early. Bam.

The significance of Monday for a pupil of Coach Tonagel's tennis class is this: 61 degrees and cloudy. Which is gorgeous in comparison to 80 degrees and humid... humidity is evil. I see no innate good in humidity. Save some for the fishes.

The significance of Monday for a human being is this: Anne is back! She was at a wedding and now she is back. (Rabbit trial: EVERYONE is getting married and engaged. Holy cow. I'm going to two weddings this May, Kayla's going to a couple, Anne's going to a couple, Mike's going to four... May is the month to marry, apparently). Anne's presence perked me right up -- and as a team we worked to get Mike out of his Monday funk. We baked cookies, we sang, we played SORRY, we read. It's not possible to stay in a Monday funk after that. :D

The significance of Monday for Kayla's roommate is this: Skype date with Emily Larson. Emlar. Larsily. Emson. She is a bundle of joy, even when she's "trying" to "stay up late" for her "night shift" at the "hospital." Her heart for cancer patient children puddles me. The way she talks just delights me. The way Kayla tries to reach through screens to hug people also delights me.

Today was pie

and so was yesterday. The Berens asked Kayla and I to housesit. So we sat, petted the grimlin-dog, Juniper, read books, talked, and ate a delicious homemade Berens pie.

After Kendra got a thorough surprise from Eric, we went to sleep in the peace of a quiet house. Houses are great. May term has reminded me of that.

This morning, I popped out of bed (off the couch) and handmade some pancakes, which Kayla ate and Mike and Andrea devoured. After some Jacob talking and some Dinah dishing, the chicks spent two hours straight up defeating a 500 piece puzzle. It began with Andrea saying, "This looks like it would be difficult," and it ended with all of our fingers on the same puzzle piece, smiling. Then the warm afternoon passed with book reading, book borrowing, babysitting, card-making, and Noelle-visiting.

Today was pie. Tomorrow is wedding.

(This is one of those blogs that is more of a "log" than a "blog"... it just says what happened. I apologize for the lack of pizazz. There are always a plethora of mini-stories that encapsulate my blogs -- I just got an idea. Okay. I think I'll start doing that. Awesome.)