eat, drink and get graded

i get to write a short story and get graded on it...
that's like saying
here elizabeth, eat this macaroni & cheese and we'll grade you on how much you eat

hmmm...ok well maybe it's not that easy, cause now that i get to write whatever i want and turn it in, of course every story idea that randomly pops in my head has abandonded me. but i think i've got a good one...

i got to watch it snow on thursday
and
i realized all over again
that there are few things in this world that captivates my attention as long as snow.

e!

one if by land, two if by c

School is back in session.
This chilly semester i am taking geograpy and writing fiction. The writing fiction class has proven to be just as exciting as i thought it would be. Writing short stories is something i want to do for a living thus this class, i'm sure, will prove to be very benefitial.
Geography has also proven to be captivating. My teacher is a very funny, very intruiging older gentleman who has been teaching the subject at UT for fourty years, so i'd say he knows a little something or two about it.
On our first day of classes he informed us (much to my chagrin) that we don't really need the text book because reading it will not help us pass the tests. He did say one thing that would help us pass (and please briefly excuse my language as this portion of the story would loose it's luster if i were to edit his words..)
he said,
"how do you pass this class? you pass this class by taking notes.
what kind of notes should you take? Damned good notes."
Yeah i laughed for a long time over that one.
I did however have an unfortunate experience yesterday in class as i arrived after all the good seats were filled. Normally this would not bother me as much, but yesterday was the day where we find a seat and stay in that same seat for the rest of the semester. This is problematic in that i'm very picky when it comes to where i sit. partly because i like a perfect view of the classroom, and partly because i'm left handed and therefore have special needs :)
long story short i ended up next to a boy who disliked the professor enough to audibly utter complaints and at one point after the professor had made a joke the boy replied with murmering,
"that is precisely why europeans hate americans"
to which i almost replied,
"and your attitude is precisely why some americans hate other americans"
looks like it's going to be a good semester :)

twothousand&eight

as avril lavigne sings to me through my computer speakers, i hear the lyrics "there's always a brand new day" which is just what i was going to write about.

not that i'm in the habit of making resolutions but this year i've decided to make a daily resolution...(and since i love to combine words to make new, funny ones..a "dailution" if you will)

a good majority of people around the world have already resolved to do different things differntly this year. which is commendable...but let's face it, most likely they will fail.
my "dailution" however has a greater success rate. instead of biting off the entire year and attempting to chew it all at one time (i don't know what's with me and the chew metaphors recently but whatever, they work) i've decided to bite off one day at a time.

for example...wednesday was my first day back at work in about a week and a half and my resolve was to start showing up on time rather then the five-to-ten-to-maybe, sometimes-fifteen minutes lateness i had been pulling off all last year.
thus wednesday morning broke and i unlocked the office door at precisely 9:00am sharp. my goal: reached.
today however, was a different story. waking up at 8:50 doesn't immediately launch one into the capability of being somewhere right at 9:00..therefore, 9 turned into 9:20. goal: failed.

the bright side? the bright side is where some people would have given up thinking they've already broken their ability to fully carry out their resolve, i say i get 363 more "new years" to reach/exceed my potential.

so happy new day to you! and may you live each new day like you just stayed up the night before partying like it's 2008 ;-)

chew & savor, but most importantly...swallow

I'm all about savoring the moment.
Sometimes this feeling, however, can be greatly inhibiting. Last night as i lay in bed watching the lights on my christmas tree dance back and forth, i realized that it would be the last christmas eve i would spend as a "child". Next year will be my first Christmas as a married woman.

A huge part of me was excited at the thought of sharing such a hallowed holiday with the love of my life, but at the same time the idea that this Christmas was the end of something, caused an immediate rush of pressure to enjoy.

I lay there almost in a panic, thinking of how important it was that e-v-e-r-y m-o-m-e-n-t of this Christmas eve and Christmas MUST be enjoyed to it's FULLEST extent...but...how?

I tried at first to think of every Christmas from my childhood and play it back in my head like a movie montage or series finale but all i could think about was whether or not the lights on my Christmas tree were bothering my sister who was sleeping beside me. then i moved to forcing profound thoughts into my head while attempting to form this great life lesson that could mark my passage into adulthood but then i started wondering if my Christmas tree lights were bothering my sister who was sleeping beside me.

this was a beautiful Christmas. although the gifts weren't as exciting this year and i even have to take a few back i realized something in trying so hard to make it the "perfect" Christmas...
i learned that when i try so hard to savor the moment i often ruin the moment entirely. it's like chewing on a piece of meat for too long-it tastes good at first but eventually it gets soggy and limp and altogether gross (graphic, i know but it works).

that's what i started doing with Christmas. i was forcing the enjoyment and fun and importance of this particular one in my head so much that i got stressed out over it being the perfect memory. i didn't even know what i needed to make it perfect, just something magical like birds singing carols outside my window or every gift being made of gold...i don't know...i just wanted to enjoy it so badly that i chewed it over and over and over again squeezing every last flavor of the season out until it was limp and altogether gross. but that's no way to enjoy the holiday. i'm incredibly blessed and even though this Christmas didn't contain a chorus of heavenly hosts belting the benediction to my childhood, it was a beautiful time of enjoying family and friends.

so this Christmas i learned to let go, to savor then swallow and as i do, let the sweet aftertaste of my blessed childhood remain in my mind for years to come.

Nog: defined

Merry Christmas!
Among the many things that fill my head this time of year (i.e.-presents, family, love, peace, joy, yada, yada, yada...) eggnog, is defnitely high on the list.
I'm amazed at how i've never questioned this creamy, delicious drink before but this year i stopped to think about the name.

Eggnog?
What is that? nog? egg? an egg's nog? if an egg had a nog it's not something i'd curl up on the couch and sip.

so i decided to do some research...
turns out the british word for beer (what eggnog was originally made with) was "nog" or "noggin". another possible explaination is the fact that colonists in America referred to thick drinks as "grog"-thus eggnog: egg+grog.
you can choose which origin you'd like to throw out at parties, i'm just satisfied in knowing a nog isn't something that falls off an egg and is thrown in a drink at Christmas time.

speaking of parties...if you find your self at one with everyone's glasses of eggnog held high in the air, recite this quote and you'll have pleasure to spare :-)
"Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love." H.W.Mabie
(say it in an english accent and you'll have the whole room wrapped around your little finger)

Thanks for reading and Merry Christmas!

(all the facts about eggnog were found on about.com...although making something up and passing it off as facts did cross my mind)

verbal h'orderves

usually i go into posts with a plan, a writing blueprint if you will, but this one is off the cuff...

well it seems that i've had so many post ideas since i started writing this that i'm going to have to refine them and come back.
so consider this little "ditty" (haha funny word, say it out loud-go on say it, you'll laugh) just something to wet your proverbial appetite :-)

later!

Finally Finals

It's finals time, which means it's truly beginning to look a lot like Christmas! (at least that's what Johnny Mathis is currently crooning)

I do love this time of year. Not at all because it involves endlessly pouring over books and straining your brain to remember every minut detail the teacher has stressed over the past four months, but because you automatically have the pity of everyone who knows how stressful finals time can be!

I do play the "i've got finals" card more then i should and it's simply because i love the pity look i get in return when i do.

haha evil, i know.
i will really miss it when i graduate...until then, i've got to study!!