There was a little girl, she had a little curl, and when she was good, she was very, very good

1. I went for a run in a nearby park yesterday. There are a lot of honeysuckle bushes growing there. It smelled wonderful. It smelled like something that has the power to save your soul.

2. I gave my dog a bath yesterday. He was quite filthy and smelled very strongly. He smelled like something that had the power to make you pass out.

3. I am still in the process of researching grad schools. Much to my surprise, Penn State has an information science grad program. Penn State has many grad programs, in fact, and it seems so easy to go to school for a mere year and have a master's degree in something really useful. Then again, I may not need to get a master's degree (though I rather suspect I do). I want to work in a library. Why?

4. I need to be around books. I really do. I've determined I need a few things to be really happy:
a. Books
b. Woods
c. Time alone to think

Besides, I've worked in a library before. How beautifully low-key and perfect for someone who compulsively organizes, like me. So there's that.

5. Jasmine drew a picture that she was very proud of. It was entitled "Caterpillar Pooping". Sure enough, it was a caterpillar, pooping. That's right, ladies and gents. Possibly the best part is that Jaz has a minor speech impediment and spells things like she says them, so "ornaments" is "oddiments", "disturb" is "distewb", and "caterpillar" is "catipidor". So really, it said "Catipidor Pooping".

6. I have four friends from high school who still live here: Amanda, Don, Ryan and Rob.

7. Rob is getting married.

8. Now it starts.

This is How I Know I am Home:

1) My sisters and brothers still retain the ability of not cleaning the bathroom and inexplicably keeping empty shampoo bottles around, full of water, rather than recycling them. It's kind of like in that movie Signs where the little girl keeps glasses of water around and it saves them from the aliens, except my siblings aren't saving us from aliens, they're just plain weird.

2) There are a number of squirrels that live around our property. They do not cavort and play squirrelly games. They play games in which it looks like they viciously try to kill each other for setting foot on the wrong tree branch. We all just stay out of their way. They've been known to throw small objects at us.

3) There is also a pair of hawks that live in a tree next to our house. My mom feels that this is normal. It's not. She also feels that they could attack and kill the yip-dogs that live behind us. They might.

4) My dad showed us a few coats of arms from the history of the Leyde family. This might have been fun except that this is how they went:
Half blue and half yellow
Half blue and half yellow with some stars on the bottom
Half blue with a lion and some stars
Some stars and a bird
An angry bird killing another bird
A really rabid dog

The last one he pointed out as my grandmother's family. My grandmother is a crazy catholic hellion. I had to leave the room so no one would see me laughing quietly and hysterically.

5) My other grandparents, the non-catholic, ones, got two kittens. One is dark and patchy and is named Morrita, (or "little blacky"....oh god the originality) and the other is names Wesley. My grandfather refers to him as "The Minister". They are horribly cute and frequently climb the drapes, but my grandmother takes pictures rather than trying to get them off with a broom, which leads me to believe that my grandmother has been replaced by an alien and that perhaps my siblings have the right idea after all.

6) My own cat, Clawdia, has been friendly towards me, which leads me to believe that she has been replaced by an alien and that perhaps my siblings have the right idea after all.

7) My mom gave me a list of about ten different and huge home projects that I will apparently be in charge of. This leads me to believe that she for sure not been replaced by an alien.

I have to go sleep more. I got up at 8 to walk the dog, and ohgod that's early for me.

Graduation Day

I hate slow-moving crowds.
I hate formal ceremonies.
I hate wearing black robes and a hat that makes me look like an escapee from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Dignity Loss.

I do like my family.
I do like my graduation present: a pair of wooden stakes.
I do like the chance to do something new and good with my life.

The End is so Near

I am happy to report that, even through my best efforts...and by best I mean worst...I did not fail any classes. I passed them all, I will get credit, and I WILL GRADUATE. There was a little fear near the end. Sometimes I wonder how amazing this semester would have been if I hadn't worked on Sud's film, but what's done is done. Also I'm the first person in my family to get a degree, so it's kind of a big deal for the fam. Additionally I am happy to report that I have spent the better part of the last week in a state of light intoxication.
but...
Now I just have to face the crap reality that these are my last days with so many people that I love, as well as the fact that home is always so iffy. Of course, I have no job of any type lined up, but my mom is having surgery on one of her legs soon and I'm just as happy to be home to help her when she'll need it most.



College: if nothing else, it was worth it for the people. Imagine if you had gone to a different college and not met the people you know now. Scary, isn't it?