Who Left First and Other Stories from the Past Week

I have been on a bit of a blogging hiatus for the last week or so, as can be seen, but I am finally back, and I have a few stories to show for this!

-Last Monday, there was a considerable amount of snow in the Enid area. Almost all of the schools in the greater Enid area were closed, with the exception of NOC. How does that happen? Pioneer was even out and announced it by 10 PM on Sunday night...that never happens either! What in the world? The good news about this snow is that I didn't have to drive in it, it melted quickly, and I didn't have to attend one of my Monday classes. Life goes on.

-Valentine's Day was great. On Monday, I received part of my present from Tevis (picture below), but I was surprised by the fact that he got off early on Tuesday night to be with me! The other part of my present, which he gave me on Tuesday night, was some Oreo Truffles that some people at his church sold as a fundraiser. It was a great night!

-I have somewhat taken to attending church with Tevis on Wednesday evenings. For the record, no, he isn't Catholic, but I have found that I don't mind attending their youth service on Wednesdays, seeing as none of the Catholic churches in the area do much on Wednesdays, besides Confirmation classes. I don't plan on converting, so don't worry about that! What I really enjoy is seeing the way that Tevis, who is a youth leader, interacts with his groups. It is a side of him that I don't usually see, and I love it. I also have been reminded about how small of a world it is, as two of the other youth leaders are from Pioneer, both graduating near the time of my sisters...it just goes to prove that everyone is closely linked whether you know it or not.

-We have getting ready for the Homecoming basketball game (which is tonight) in all of my organizations. The campus tradition is to make a decorated banner. I had fun helping with both, although my help for the PLC banner was limited to the design process. I don't think I mentioned this earlier, but I actually came up with this year's homecoming theme, which is "Jets Save the Day" (aka Superhero themed). I am pretty proud of this accomplishment, and I'll have to share a picture of the resulting t-shirt sometime soon.

-Last weekend was my mom's birthday, so we had a lovely celebration on Friday night. The menu included hot sandwiches (a recipe that I will share soon), a type of chicken soup with Mexican flavor (the name escapes me at the moment), cherry cake, & cherry jubilee cheesecake bars. I fell in love with the cherry cake that Emily made, and I am contemplating asking her to make it/give me the recipe so that I can make it for my birthday. (Or I'll stick with my usual Italian Creme, which is just as good...decisions, decisions...)

-The past week has left me feeling a bit burnt out in my Calc class. This whole having class four days a week business is starting to drive me bonkers. Well, it's not the class so much as it is the homework from the class. I have had very little motivation to do my homework, which I know has to change. No, the homework isn't necessary for a grade, but it is necessary to do well on quizzes and tests, which is something that I REALLY want to do. I suppose I shall plug onward.

-We watched a couple of videos about the Chernobyl incident in my Biology class last week. To be honest, I had absolutely no idea about it beforehand. I suppose that it is to recent to be in history books and it was during the time of the Soviets, so there wasn't much to be said about it. The second video was hard for me to watch, because it talked about genetic mutations found in children of the people who received too much radiation exposure during that time. (We are currently discussing genetics in Biology.) The film about the children showed some footage of an open heart surgery, which was the hardest part for me, for obvious reasons.

-On Tuesday, I had come to the realization that we hadn't done a speech in quite some time in my speech class. I thought too soon. On Tuesday, we were assigned a "speech" in which we had to basically make a commercial. Notice how loosely I use the word speech in that sentence, because we had a thirty second time limit, and there really wasn't much talking involved. I have lots to say about this class, but I will say more at a later time.

-Tuesday was also the day of Tevis's banquet in Tonkawa. I got myself a new dress/shoes for the occasion, and I was looking forward to it. Unfortunately, Tevis was not as enthralled as I, for whatever reason. I think it had something to do with the fact that he woke up at six that morning and was extraordinarily tired. Regardless, we had a nice time, although there was a slight surprise in the evening. We got to Tonkawa, went in the building, and were greeted by two extremely perky ladies at the registration table. Apparently, it was a nametag event, as there was a table that was filled with nametags. When Tevis told them his name, they told him that, and I quote, "We couldn't find a name on your RSVP card, so we just made one for your wife." They handed him our nametags, and mine said, clear as day, Mrs. Lounsbury. We were both speechless. And I was his wife for the night. It was interesting, to say the least. No, he didn't plan it that way, it was a total surprise.

-Today, after giving my "speech", we moved on to our next topic. We talked about reason within speeches. Apparently, part of this entails doing a logic puzzle. (I don't see too much of a connection myself, but who asked me.) This logic puzzle is one that includes five people doing five separate things at five separate times, etc. The kind that will make you go absolutely bonkers if you can't figure it out. The kind that you do in pencil. The kind that only work out one way. I about drove myself to insanity while working on it earlier. I also think that I might need a primal shriek after working on it, to rid myself of the tension I have built up by doing it.

I hope that everyone's week continues to go well!