Month: November 2007

There is one part of Southern culture without which I cannot function properly: sweet iced tea. Now, up North, sweet iced tea is about as foreign as ancient Hittite. One time, when I was visiting my family up here, I ordered sweet iced tea in a restaurant. The waitress looked at me as if I had ordered in fluent mandarin Chinese.

Well, when I went back to Georgia for Thanksgiving break, my mom bought me a half gallon of liquid gold – no, not oil, but freshly brewed sweet iced tea. Within the five days that I was home, I drank every last drop of dulcet goodness that came from that jug of gold. Since then, I’ve been in withdrawal because Kimball only serves that nasty Nestea stuff. I’ve been exhibiting common symptoms. You know, headaches, fevers, cold sweats, waking up in the middle of the night screaming “SWEET TEA!”

Tonight at Kimball, I came up with an ingenious plan to satiate my sweet tea cravings. I procured two plastic cups. I filled one with hot water the other I filled with ice. I brewed one teabag in the cup with hot water, and added one or two packets of sugar (well, more like six or seven). I then put the mixture in the cup of ice, and I bated my breath as I took a sip. Could this be a panacea to my sweet tea cravings? Would this be a relevant substitute? Was a henchman from Dining Services going to come after me for cracking plastic cups because I filled them with hot water?

And lo, dear reader, the drink was like liquid gold. The sugary goodness sufficed.     So, to any prospective Southern students, if the thought of no sweet tea fills you with qualms about coming to Holy Cross, put them aside, and I shall show you the magic of my ways.

Back to the real college world, this week has been going quite well. I accidently forgot my cell phone charger at home, so I’ve been living in the Stone Age without my cell phone (really – how did human civilization function before them?!). Other than that, classes are beginning to wind down, but my workload is increasing daily. I seriously cannot believe that this semester is nearly over. As Professor Kee said in class today, “You are one-eighth finished with your career at Holy Cross.” Now that was a more frightening thought than a world without sweet tea.

Well, I’m back on the hill after a very relaxing break. I spent Wednesday and Friday catching up with my friends and shopping. I don’t think I got out of my pajamas all day on Thursday. It was beautiful. Saturday was my Mom’s birthday, and my sister and I just hung out for the entire day. Unfortunately, I had to get up at 5:15 this morning to fly back here. I crashed right when I walked back into my room at 1:00, and I woke up at 5:00 to go have dinner with my friends. Ah, college life!

I can’t believe that there are only three more weeks left in my first semester of college. It really has flown. I don’t feel like I’ve been here all that long, but I feel extremely acclimated. I have four more Latin classes, three more CRAW and FYP classes, and two more Middle East classes. I have two papers and three exams until I go home for a month. That’s it!

On one hand, I’m excited to go home again, but I also don’t want this semester to be over!

SNOW!

Yes, that’s right. On the day that I’m leaving, it is snowing. The campus is absolutely gorgeous, and I’ll put up some photos when I download them.

Today ended the longest stretch of time in my college career. I turned in my last paper today. With all of the papers, assignments, and quizzes that I’ve had over the past week and a half, I’m quite excited to spend five days at home just relaxing with my family and friends.

I’m all packed right now. In a seven hours, I’ll be back home in Georgia (where it’s 70 degrees, by the way). It’s going to be strange not going to Kimball for all of my meals or constantly seeing my friends, but I am excited to spend some time back home and eat my mom’s food.

From the bottom of my heart, I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving.

Hey everyone! Quick update for today.

Today was Class Registration. I can’t believe that I’m already registering for second semester classes. It seriously feels like just yesterday I was registering for my first semester classes. Being the typical eager freshman that I am, I was logged into STAR right at 7:00 this morning. There were screams, jeers, and exclamations as people in Hanselman either got into all of their classes or not. I was one of the luckier ones because I got into my first choices. Next semester, I’ll be taking Introduction to International Relations, my FYP class, Freedom and History, Intermediate Latin, and US Intelligence Community. I’m so excited!

Hey everyone!

Well, today was just an odd day. I’ve been going to bed rather late recently (anywhere from 2:00-4:00), so I’ve been somewhat sleep deprived. Chai tea can only go so far. I went to bed this morning at 2:30 (whoops…), and I set my alarm for 6:45 for work. I woke up to my dorm phone ringing (it’s quite obnoxious), and I immediately looked at my alarm clock. It was 7:45. My Kimball captain, Erin, was on the phone, and wanted to know if I was all right. I hastily got ready and ran off to Kimball. As I was running out the door, I jammed my phone and my Holy Cross ID into my pocket. I went to sign in for my Kimball shift, and I couldn’t find my phone or my ID. I told myself that maybe I didn’t really take the phone and the ID with me; “Maybe they’re still in the room,” I told myself. After having my friends get me into Hanselman (you can’t get into a dorm hall without swiping your ID), I frantically searched for my phone and ID. Nope. They weren’t in the room. I called Public Safety and asked if anyone had turned anything in, and no one had. I checked my e-mail, and there was one with the subject reading “Lost HC ID/Phone.” Luckily, someone had picked up my ID and phone when he saw them on his way to Kimball. He had them in his room, and at 10:45, I was reunited with my most important collegiate artifacts. Thank you, Matthew Jackson! After that scenario, I went off to Latin class, did some work, had some food, and then completely crashed for two and a half hours. I cannot wait until the next time that I can have a relaxing weekend, sleep in until whenever I want, and just goof off with my friends (well, I do that on a daily basis).

Well, today begins my extremely busy week. I turned in my FYP paper today, so that’s one down, and two more to go. Professor Ireland wasn’t kidding when he said that the week before Thanksgiving is the toughest of the entire semester!

I would just like the time to say that no one can stop the Patriots this season. No one. Back to life on the hill.

Well, this next week is not going to be fun. I’ve got a paper due tomorrow (luckily, it’s the Latin paper that I thought was due two weeks ago, so it’s already finished), next Monday, Thursday, and Friday. I’m waiting for Professor Kee right now to go over my paper; luckily, the professors here are extremely helpful with assignments. For instance, one day, Professor Ireland and I spent an hour going over what I can enhance and change in my writing style.  It was extremely helpful!

In other news, it’s a brisk 36 degrees here. One of my friends, Ryan, is from Minnesota, and he is clad in nothing but khaki shorts and a tee shirt. I’m currently wearing a scarf, long pants, boots, and a jacket. While I might be a tad excessive, there is no way that Ryan can be warm – no way. My sister called me from Colgate yesterday to tell me that it started snowing there. That means that we should be getting snow any day now. I am quite excited!

Hey everyone! I thought I’d take a quick break from my four papers to update you all about life on Mount St. James.

Today is one of my hallmate’s (is that even a word?) birthday. Last night after 10:00 Mass, a lot of the girls from the floor got together to completely smother her room in decorations. We all had a lot of fun doing it!

Even though yesterday was the ending of Daylight Saving Time, I still found it incredibly difficult to wake up for Kimball this morning at 6:30. I ended up smacking my iHome a couple of times (much to Carrie’s dismay) and I ended up rolling out of bed at 6:50. I had ten minutes to brush my teeth, wash my face, hop into some clothes, and make it down to Kimball. When I got to Kimball, all of us were zoning out the entire time.

After work, I was completely exhausted. I’ve been staying up until 2:00 in the morning (due to all of these papers and assignments) and getting up anywhere from 6:30 to 7:00 a.m., so I think it’s finally catching up to me. I had to take a nap. I think June, Hanselman’s housekeeper, was kind of surprised to see me asleep when she came in to take out our garbage today. Usually, I have conversations with her about her weekend. Not so much today.

The last of my posters finally came in. Here’s a bit of a background: I forgot all of my posters at home, so my mom shipped some of them up to me. Unfortunately, my Harry Potter cardboard stand-up isn’t the easiest thing to ship, so I think I’ll have to wait until next semester for him. Anyway, I ordered a couple more posters from Allposters.com, and, after rearranging my room a little bit, I think I can finally say that my room is situated. It only took me three months to figure it out…

Shannon and Megan are having a birthday party for Caitlin (the birthday girl) in their room tonight, and they’re watching “V for Vendetta.” I might go join them in a couple of minutes (what better way to celebrate Guy Fawkes’s Day?!).

Well, good night, everyone!

Happy Halloween! Well, technically Happy All Saints’ Day, at this point!

Well, because my friends convinced me to watch Saw 2, I am now up at 1:40 in the morning. They told me to just look away, but that movie is like a train wreck – you can’t help but watch it. I absolutely hate horror movies, and I’m really beginning to wonder why I ever decided to watch it. Unfortunately, I have my CRAW: Poetry class at 8:00 in the morning. That’s about six hours from now. Hm.

I cannot believe that yesterday was the last day of October. I’ve been here for over two months now! I had my advising session for next semester’s classes. This just seems to be going way too fast for me. It might be cliché, but it really feels like I was just moving in yesterday!

There are only nineteen days until I go home for Thanksgiving. I absolutely love Holy Cross, but I do miss my parakeet, my dog, and my bed (oh, yes, I miss my parents too!).  Unfortunately, between now and then, I have three papers due all within a day of each other. Oh well – at least I don’t have to do any essays over the break! After those papers are due, I’m going on the Manresa retreat (which is held on Cape Cod!) with my friend, Ashley, so that will be a relaxing weekend. Then I only have two days left of classes before I head back to Alpharetta!

Speaking of papers – I thought that my Latin paper was due this Monday. When Fr. Vodoklys didn’t ask for them during class, I thought it was kind of strange. I convinced myself that my paper must be due on Wednesday. Again, he didn’t collect them today. Instead, he reminded the class that our papers are due November 9th.  Well, I’m not exactly sure how I mistook November 9th for October 29th, but at least I don’t have to worry about finishing that paper anymore!