When comes the morning...

Way too soon - once again, I don't have much to say and I'm very sleepy and will be getting up in approximately 5 hours to fly up to MN for the family get together. But I thought I should say HI before I left, because Rhonda said to. Christmas was nice. I went up to my aunt and uncle's in Michigan and had a very nice and relaxing time. We didn't do anything too strenuous -- sat around, played games, fun stuff like that. This weekend I'm going up to the Falls - it'll be a quick trip - coming back Monday. It seems as though some things raced through my mind that I could share, but now I seem to have forgotten all of them. Oh here's one - My name is Rachel and I compulsively lose things. I recognize that I am powerless to change. I acknowledge that I need a higher power to help me. And I can't remember the others... the latest that I have lost is my memory card and card reader for my camera. It's gone forever. I had it in my car when I was enlarging pictures and I have torn the place apart looking for it. I'm rather annoyed at this development. Now I can't take any pictures this weekend. I guess I can take some with my phone, but it's just not the same. Okay, I need to run. Happy New Year! Oh, I almost forgot - Today we got DSL! Oh happy day in the morning! It's so phenomenal! What a beautiful thing. Now I can talk to 2 people on the phone and be online at the same time. This is such a great time to be alive.

Okay, I guess I'll try to eek out something

I've been very unmotivated to write lately. Life has been very busy, but I'm not really sure any of it is worth writing about. Last weekend there were some Christmasy things going on that were fun - get togethers and things of that nature. I wasn't feeling very good all weekend and this week I'm been dragging around half asleep every day. See, nothing too exciting going on. I've procrastinated with the Christmas shopping more this year than probably ever before so now I'm stressing a bit about that. Hello. Very bright. I also discovered a fun little pool game on my cell phone, but who has time for that in December. Well, I need to run and brave the stressed and cranky Christmas crowds (full of yuletide joy and good cheer). Just wanted so say HI, and Merry Merry Merry Merry Christmas... (you know, the song) May your days be merry and bright, and all your Christmases be white... unless you live in IN, grab your umbrella. Okay, I'm really leaving now.

Notes on my "cultured" weekend...

Oh yes, we are high society around here. Some are clamoring to hear about my exciting weekend of plays and tea parties, so here ya go. Friday night, somehow we got playing Twister. Lucky for me, I was always the first one out so I got to take pictures of the others. (do you think I would post pictures like this of myself??) Saturday night myself and a couple friends went to see "The Sound of Music" at the local theater (where you are never more than 10 rows from the stage... in case you care). It was pretty good, but I think the productions the college puts on are just as good (and cheaper). A couple times I remember thinking, wow, there's a lot of guys here - Matthew would HATE this... odd. Oh, and who can name this movie - (other than Jenni) "A MUSICAL??? Are you aware that the performers will periodically dance about and burst into song?" Okay, that was Saturday - then Sunday, a friend of mine was going to Notre Dame to hear Handel's Messiah. So I went along and that was also pretty good. It wasn't really professional quality (again I thought, Matthew would really HATE this!) but the choir was really good. At one (actually 2 I guess) point I slipped into a slumber and my program slid off my lap and hit the floor and I had no idea a piece of paper could make that much noise. It sort of reverberated. I was a bit embarrassed but the shock of that kept me awake for awhile. So that was my exciting weekend. My friend and I, after watching "The Sound of Music" play, sort of felt like watching the movie again, so that's what we did in the evening. I hadn't watched the movie in ages (I think Matthew hates it) and that was fun too. Then I drove home without getting lost and today I drove both to AND from an all day training 50 minutes away and didn't get lost and that always excites me. Okay, I think I'm done. Merry early Christmas!

It's a bit better now...

So, it turns out we can use the waterpark afterall... I found some friendly ladies to hang out with, went to Walmart (no, I did not drive), got some swimwear of sorts, and went down a freaky waterslide and sat in a hut tub. It's been quite enjoyable acutally. I guess that's all for now. Except this - in the last 2 weeks I've heard so much about baby's brains developing that it makes me think we should all have developmental delays (someone must have missed something important) ... but it's pretty interesting how all the connections work and how if you miss a window of opportunity, it might be gone forever. Like there was this woman who would have been a kid awhile back and was always different. She was treated like she had mental disabilites. But here the whole time she possessed normal intelligence, but was deaf. No one figured it out until she was 31 I believe. Then she got hearing aids and could hear. So this whole new world opened up for her. But the amazing thing was that although now she can hear, understand, and has a normal IQ and all that, she can't form coherant sentences and never will be able to! All because her language never developed during the right window of opportunity, so now those connections can never be made in her brain. How weird is that. Anyway, I'll leave now - go play Motzart to your babies...

WHY GOD?? WHY???

Why oh why can't I just have a normal, grown up brain? Why do cities have to be so confusing? Why does the interstate have a mind of it's own - why does IT get to decide where I drive and not me? Why can't I function in the normal world of adults? Why oh why oh why? Ohhhh my -- well, greetings from the city. Where to even start - I left this afternoon, and was sick to my stomach freaking out about getting here okay. You know the whole waterpark deal? Well, 2 things a) it doesn't just come with the room - you have to pay a bunch more money. Which isn't a huge loss because my limited involvement with waterslides only made me freak out a lot and pray for the rapture, and b) I remembered about an hour out of town that I forgot all my swimming gear, which is a huge loss because I do enjoy hot tubs and things of that nature (which on the other hand might not be a huge loss because as I passed it this evening it was full of teenage boys and was rather small - a bad combination.

So getting here was a nightmare. I made all my exits and and had actually arrived at the point where I could see my motel in the distance. But it was so confusing - how do people just know what road to take? The roads were terribly marked (as in not at all) and I was frantically trying to figure out which way to turn. I think I ended up just going straight and all of a sudden before I knew what hit me, I was being shot out onto the big main interstate again! And there was nothing I could do other than freak out - couldn't stop and turn around. WHY DO THEY DO THAT?? It's like they decide for you where you want to go and they never guess right with me! Oh man, I was what you would call FREAKING OUT!!! So I'm once again merging which is in my top 5 things I hate, despise, and loath in life. So I'm thinking I'm just going to stick to the right and get off as soon as I can and hope I don't end up in the heart of the city. So I drive and drive, exiting here and there, where ever I can, trying to find some type of town where I could just stinking PULL OFF!! (what a concept) Finally I ended up somewhere off the beaten path and pulled into this amazingly ritzy neighborhood. I was actually contemplating trying to find someone that I could just pay to drive me there and pay his taxi back or something. I knew I was done for - had no clue where I was and if I had to get back on the psycho by pass and by now it's dark... Anyway, I decided to call my big bro and see what he could do for me, beings as how he's so friendly close in Northern MN and all. So anyway, I gives him a call and was freaking out that my phone battery would go dead cause it was on it's way out and I couldn't find my charger. Well, in all the hullabaloo, I did find my charger (sorry for the excessive details...) and plugged her in and can I just say... HALLELUJAH for cell phones!!?! I don't know what in the world I would have done - there was no gas stations or anything like that where I was. So I called Sheldon and drove a bit further so he could figure out where I was. Then I had to go somewhere so I turned onto this road in the middle of no where and pulled of in the parking lot of some organic milk producing place. The area was really freaky though - all dark and lots of bush around, so I felt like getting out of there in a hurry. Well, Sheldon was able to sort of figure out where I was after while I did some more driving in order to locate a main street and that seemed to do it. Thank goodness that in all my aimless wandering around, I ended up pretty much a straight shot away from the motel. I didn't have to get back on the bypass or anything, which was very very nice. So my amazing and wonderful brother was able to guide me to the motel using my amazing and wonderful cell phone. I wanted to kiss the pavement when I finally found the place. I thought I might collapse into a heap and when I was driving the wrong direction I kept thinking that having a heard attack or passing out would be of no use to me right now so pull it together woman. So anyway, I finally made it here and they have computers which is really nice. = ) Don't have a lot of other things do to... and I'm pretty sure I will NOT be leaving this building since it's humanly impossible for me to get myself anywhere in one piece. So feel free to write, call, drop by... you know... = ) Well, sorry this tirade became so long. If I have put you to sleep, I apologize. Hope you all had a great Sunday and week. Oh, and has anyone else ever found themselves forced to enter a road they don't want to and unable to turn around, or is it just me? I dunno - it's sort of a way of life with me, but it might make me feel better to hear some of your stories if you have any... alright, goodnight.