Boredom Busters

I am finally at the end of my week, and at the beginning of a three-day weekend! I made it! (And I didn't even wither away from boredom!) I'll give a few updates from the last half of this week...

Shortly after I posted my last Ten on Tuesday talking about how extremely bored Carissa and I were, Carissa got the idea to take a short trip to Hobby Lobby. I decided to join her, mostly so I could look for a beginner's guide to crocheting. (Yes, I really do want to learn how to crochet...see #2) We hopped in her car and headed across town. Wouldn't you know that as soon as we got pulled in, the store closed for the night. Neither of us was ready to come home just yet, so we decided to go over to Cherry Berry. Once again, if you haven't been to one, you should go! (Enid's is located in Sunset Plaza. It is also the same thing as Orange Leaf in Stillwater, so I have been told.) After enjoying some fro-yo, we walked down to Ross, which is a few doors down. We only window shopped, but we had an awesome time hanging out. We enjoyed some much-needed roommate bonding time. After perusing the entire store, (minus the men's and children's departments), we decided that it was time to go home. Such a great end to our Tuesday!

Wednesday, as you might remember, was Cody's birthday. I began my day by giving him a call on his way to school. He was uber-excited to talk to me, and I was glad I called him. Later that morning, I happened to run into my cousin Liz, who also attends NOC, and I received an invitation to supper at her house. Her mom, Vickie, told me a long time ago that I was always welcome to come over to their house for supper or just to hang out. I decided to take Liz up on her offer for three reasons: 1) Carissa had plans to visit some friends in Fairview that night, leaving me alone. 2) I didn't feel like eating in the cafeteria by myself, and a home-cooked meal sounded nice. 3) Liz's house is always a fun place to be, and I needed some "picking up".

While I was waiting to go over to Liz's house, Emily called and told me that she and the boys would be coming over. It turned out that Emily, Scotty, Scotty's parents, and the boys were going to go out to eat for Cody's birthday, and Emily didn't want to go all the way home, just to turn around and come back. Naturally, I was happy to see them. The boys were, of course excited to come over, mostly because they are in love with my stairs and the loft...and throwing things from the loft. During their time here, Cody finished his homework, and Kyle got to play Purble Place games on my laptop. (Mostly so that he wouldn't pester Cody during homework time.) Purble Place is an awesome game for kids that can be found on most Microsoft operating systems, and it teaches shapes, colors, matching, and lots of other skills!

After they left, I headed over to the Chermack house for supper. Vickie made an amazing roast with roasted carrots and potatoes and peas. We also had some pie and ice cream for dessert. All of it was delicious! I found out in my time there that Evan (a Freshman, who is the youngest) recently won a Charlie award at the Gaslight Theater, Jakub (a Senior, who is in the middle) is the first-chair trumpet at Enid High and is on the band court (the coronation is tonight), and Liz (she's my age, and is the oldest) coaches 7th & 9th grade (I think) volleyball teams for Enid, and her teams are pretty successful. I am so proud of all of my cousins!

During our supper conversation, I happened to mention that I wanted to take up crocheting. As it turns out, Evan knows how to crochet, and told me that he would be more than happy to teach me how to crochet! He wanted to teach me that night, but Vickie reminded him that I would (hopefully) be there plenty more times this year, and we could crochet then. The rest of our night was filled with lively conversation, and lots of laughter, as could only be expected with their family. I had a great time at their house, and plan to return soon. (I hope they don't get sick of me!)

Last night, Carissa had plans to meet a friend for supper here in town, so I was left alone again. Thankfully, I planned to go to the observatory to complete one of my night labs. I was going to see if Tevis wanted to join me, but he happened to be with his friends last night, so I bucked up and went by myself. When I arrived, there weren't many people there, but, it was only dusk, and the night was young! I began by getting to see the moon through the telescope. The observatory telescope is AWESOME! I was able to see the moon in such great detail that I could even see the craters on its surface. A short while later, Bob Killam, one of the head honchos of the observatory, pointed out the Summer Triangle constellation, one that I know I have seen, but never realized that I saw.

Bob was going to show me a few more constellations, but we had to wait a while, as it wasn't quite dark enough for his laser pointer to show. While we waited, he and his student assistant, Jackie, moved the telescope, and we were able to see M57, the Ring Nebula. It had a grayish-green color to it, and was a sight unlike any other that I have seen. Shortly thereafter, one of my friends from my Astronomy class arrived, as did two other classmates of mine. When everyone had a chance to look at M57, we walked out to the parking lot, so that we could see a few constellations. We were able to see the Big Dipper, Polaris (and, of course, the Little Dipper), and Cassiopeia, which is actually shaped like a W.

After talking a while, Bob moved the telescope again, and we were able to see M13, a globular cluster that is located in the constellation Hercules. It is an old cluster that is held together solely by gravity. It is also located many light years away. It was nothing extremely spectacular, but was still beautiful nonetheless. It reminded me of glitter. As we sat there, I became curious as to why these comets were named with M's, so I asked Bob. I then learned that all of the M Objects are named after a French astronomer by the name of Charles Messier. He discovered a total of 110 comets (hence the numbers). The last thing we had a chance to see through the telescope was a double star, which actually just looks like two extremely bright stars, but, once again, it was still interesting to see.

If you are in the greater Enid area, and have the desire to do so, I would highly recommend going to the NOC Observatory. We have one of the best observatories in the state! It is open to the public each Wednesday and Thursday, and admission is free; however, they accept (and would appreciate) a small donation for the Horn of Plenty (i.e. canned food or other nonperishable items).

After the telescope was technically closed, I stayed and talked with my classmates. I hadn't ever talked to two of my three classmates who were there, until last night. I made two more friends, and we had a great conversation about life, the stars, and everything in between, with lots of laughs in between. Although I was pretty bummed that Tevis wasn't able to come with me last night, I realized that had he been there, I might not have made those friends and had the great conversation that we had. Sometimes things work out like that for a reason, I think.

Now, I am finally finished with all of my homework for the weekend (I walked over to the computer lab just before writing this to print off my lab report.), and now I am waiting for 6:30 to get here so that I can join Cody for his bowling party with all of his friends from school! I still need to pack my things up for the weekend, but I know I have time to do that! In other news, Carissa and I will be working the NOC booth at the Garfield County fair next week, as one of our PLC duties. Soon enough, Quiz Bowl will start, and I'll have other things to do. I surely won't be that bored constantly. Of course, I could always go work out in the fitness center across the street (I don't want that Freshman 15 to sneak up on me!), or maybe not... Needless to say, it is only the tip of the iceberg, and the best is yet to come!

I will quit rambling, and end it here. I hope that everyone has a safe and pleasant Labor Day weekend!