guess whooooo?!

I talked to Christine today :D

and worked on my Literature project. all. day. long.
will do Government later and Math tomorrow.

Oh, and ShopRite has absolutely killed any claim it had to efficiency and accessibility and niceness. SIGH.

Kathryne

semi-rest

Today after school I came home and took a large step into popular culture-- after much persuasion by trusted friends and fellow bibliophiles, I read the first Harry Potter book. It was actually pretty good. As I was telling Caleb earlier, I don't suppose anyone's diet ought to consist solely of steak and potatoes and broccoli. Sometimes a slice of watermelon or a Rita's ice is in order. This was accomplished quite handily.
Bonus: read it while listening to the Sherlock Holmes soundtrack. EPIC.
So that was good and worth 3 hours of my Friday afternoon. I felt rested.

Then I had the stupid idea to watch a movie with my mom. And not just any movie, but a movie that would make my heart rate go up and my hands sweat more than they ought-- that is, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. I guess you could chalk said symptoms up to the Mountain Dew I was drinking (caffeine and I don't get along well), but I think it's not improbable that they were because that is simultaneously one of the best and worst movies I have ever seen.
And yes, I did cry. a little.
And yes, I did wimp out and turn off the movie before the end and look up the plot summary on Wikipedia.
I am not that brave.
I am also feeling most definitely less-relaxed than after my first media experience this afternoon.
But I think it's supposed to do that.

Kathryne

Wouldn't it be loverly...

There is a Stephanie in my kitchen quoting My Fair Lady back and forth with my dad.

Day has been made.

Oh, and

Kevin: She stole my pillow and took a bite out of it!
Me: REALLY?!
Kevin: ...No, wait, actually that was me.


Kathryne

PS- also, I have the absolute best parents in the whole wide history of the world. end of story.

C. S. Lewis

I really love him. Mere Christianity and The Great Divorce are just amazing.

I may or may not be posting the next few days. My teachers are being fair, but there are too many of them being fair at the same time. :P
(this is a fancy way of saying: I need to step up my game, and I need to study for a math test for the first time in my LIFE ... ... ... okay, second.)

Also, the choir from England was phenomenal. It was *lots of fun* getting up with Girls' Ensemble for an impromptu performance after that sort of musicianship, in front of said musicians.  GAH. (no, it actually kind of was, because we didn't totally fail, for having 5 minutes to prep)

Kathryne

butterfly bites

today was lovely, I am sure.

as far as things happening it was not too awesome (Girls' Ensemble issues, mainly, not to mention I have THE most RIDICULOUS looking cast on my left hand), but I have been happy all the same. I don't understand why, exactly, but I am not going to be too picky.

the evening was nice. I laid out on my stomach on a blanket on the grass under our tree and did History/Math homework. the cat slept on my back for a while. and then there was small group, which does make me smile.

Kathryne

Easter Monday

day off, yay :)

spent far too much time on Facebook/blogs "catching up" on the past 47 days... rendering said 47 days pretty much useless.

that said...

Things I Learned From Lent 2011

1. I don't need Facebook in order to breathe
2. I don't need Facebook in order to maintain a social life
3. I miss reading people's blogs more than their social networking pages
4. There are many ways to waste time that do not involve recreational internet
5. ...and I will do my best to find each and every one of them, because I am a lazy girl who does not want to do work
6. My bedroom is very messy
7. I don't have as much self-control as I thought I did
8. Prayer journals are the way to go!
9. I like early mornings for getting homework done
10. I still don't like TV

...and as for the thing I learned today? Facebook is detrimental to getting things done, especially on a day the whole school has off and proceeds to spend commenting on/liking all of the pictures you posted from your trip to Europe, so when you sign off for 5 minutes and get back on you have 21 notifications, all from the same person. True story.

Thus, I have decided to make tomorrow a Special Circumstances Facebook Free Tuesday. Let's see how long that lasts.

Smile: I have my frizz-halo back! :D

Kathryne

change

1. Back from Europe
2. Back on the internet
3. Seriously jet-lagged
4. Sudden distaste for American-Italian food
5. Officially attending University of Notre Dame next year
6. Sprained and/or fractured my wrist* when I skipped the 8:30 service this morning to eat and go hiking... karma.
7. Otherwise, really enjoyed the 6:30 sunrise (c.f. #3) and 10:30 regular Easter services
8. THIS WEATHER <3
9. Is it not frustrating yet wonderful when someone much cleverer than you articulates an idea you already had but in a more beautiful way? (see: C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, "Time and Beyond Time")
10. Must have lists of 10. So here are some pictures. (click to see larger)

Kathryne

*It was actually really funny. I was doing just fine... in my ankle-length skirt and flats, along nice little ledges of mud approximately the width of my foot... until we got to a wide flat easy part. I stepped over a log, onto some leaves, and fell completely flat on my side/face/leg in less than a second. I'm pretty sure it was the least graceful thing I could have done, and, to top it off, afterwards one wrist bone was (is) pointed about 15 degrees from where it ought to be. As I said... KARMA.

dear, dear life.

My thesis is finished.

I got nine hours of sleep.

I think I know where I'm going to college.

I certainly know where I'm going tomorrow (!!)

It is Spring! We left some windows open last night and now the house smells faintly of cherry blossoms and Morning.

I love this. Life. It's so great right now. And it's only 8 o'clock in the morning.

Kathryne

:D :D :D :D :D

Let's just say I never want to go from scratch to a 35-page paper in 2 months, ever again. Next time I will do the work that I am supposed to do ahead of time.

But God was really really good to me. I meant to get up at five tomorrow and write the conclusion (because it would take at least 2 hours), but instead it just kind of... came. I didn't even think I was writing the conclusion until I was halfway through it. that may or may not reflect itself in the quality of it, but for right now I am happy regardless.

Wait, did I mention that I FINISHED MY 35-PAGE SENIOR THESIS?!
okay, now I did :P

I also had my first legit heat/humidity-hair day today. whew.

Kathryne

PS- please vote in my poll on the side! it is a legitimate question!

a request

this is not a post to say what made me smile today-- I know I did, I just can't remember when :P

After spending far too much time thinking about the future and not quite enough time thinking about now (that is, thesis), I have accomplished all of NOTHING but further confusing myself about college.

I need a decision made by Tuesday, and I feel further from one than I was two days ago! Please pray for me. (<<request referred to in title)

I am still not checking personal, non-life-changing emails, so do not be worried. I have not died. I will get back to you all, hopefully, Tuesday.

Kathryne

theplaytheplaytheplaytheplayyyy!!!! !!! !!! !!! !!! !!!

Okay, so the school play was tonight, Cyrano de Bergerac.

Oh. my. goodness.

1) Casted perfectly. Per.fect.ly.

2) DOOUUUUUGGGGGGG!!!! </fangirl>

3) Kristina, and neighbor-Megan, and neighbor-Megan's-cousin-Silas came!

4) EPIC. Oscar Wilde-level EPIC. and in rhyme nonetheless.

5) I got teary-eyed. That alone merits a standing ovation.

On a somewhat more sober note, I have been henceforth grounded-for-my-own-good from emailing and chatting and phone*. Until after-school Tuesday, maybe, if my thesis rough draft is done. :( boo.

On a somewhat more depressing note, they spelled my name wrong on my graduation announcement draft. Kathryn. sigh. All three times. Thank goodness they didn't get it printed. They also messed up "its" and "it's" a few times >.<

And on a somewhat more tragic note, my shampoo went out of production. That was my inexpensive, sulfate-free, yummy-smelling shampoo, and just like my conditioner and my styling mousse, they don't make it any more. The hair product market hates me.

but STILL, I am happy, and Cyrano was great, and my life is most wonderfulEEEP, and I am going to Europe on Wednesday! ! ! ! ! !

Kathryne

PS- I am going to walk to the stone wall tomorrow!

PPS- I found an online Russian fairy-tale-novel which I am reading and is awesome (http://scarletsails.gollandia.com)

*that phone was included means that Christine is very unfortunately subject to this as well :( sigh

dancing things

Rachel came over today and we edited her dance footage... I love how she can say "OH that is HORRIBLE" and I'm like... "ooh, pretty ballerina!"

and swing dance was wonderful. 

I got to talk to Christy for a long time... and I have decided that she makes Katie's Book of Awesome People... also known as journal number 5... also currently AWOL :P (read: I need to clean my room)

and I did get to dance a good bit. hopefully it will hold me until May 20... EEEEEP!!! :D :D :D :D :D

May 20. :giggle:

I love the sort of laughing that just bubbles up, not because something is funny or silly or deprived of reason (e.g. singing groundhogs), but because you are just HAPPY.

I am very glad tonight.

I need a better word.

beatific.

blissful.

content.

How does anyone go home from dancing and sleep?

Kathryne

PS- Guess who is in the good old USA?! Like, with cell service?! :D

grace upon grace... and YAYs

:D

Important update.

My parents pulled me away from my (very dedicated) thesis-writing to talk. They said they had a big surprise and a little surprise.

The little surprise was an early graduation gift from them... PURPLE luggage! and I can use it in Europe! :D (I kind of saw that one coming because of certain comments from my mom I overheard, but that is beside the point... :P)

And the big surprise is too big to put on a blog. Way too big. Way too wonderful. I am pretty much overwhelmed, and my thesis is suffering because of it. So, my dear future-readers-slash-editors-of-thesis, if around page 32 things start to go something like seoviuthawericuafncwieiclakercaliulaclw!!!EEEEP!!!!!!avelawiefunraoiu, you will know why. Or perhaps not, depending on whether or not I ever feel like telling you. :D

but anyway, yay purple luggage, and yay family, and just... yay.

Kathryne

guess what?!

a) It is stone-wall-walking weather! This Sunday, I am going there. I most certainly am.
b) I came up with a genius way to motivate myself to write thesis... after every page I finish, I get to spend 15 minutes straightening my hair. I already straightened the first half, so there is no going back now.
c) Tomorrow is the LAST swing without Christine! :D
d) All of my thesis points seem to be saying the same thing. Even if I started out with a new point, by the time I'm halfway through the section it relates with everything else I just said for the past 30 pages. I think that's good... maybe? :P
e) I get to talk about entitlement and escapism without even trying.
f) Speaking of not even trying, I love how I happened to have my camera AND tripod at school the very day Rachel needed a camera to record a dance for an audition tape... God knew so much better than I did when I forgot my camera yesterday and needed to have it today :) He is amazing like that.
g) Wolves eating mountains? :D hahahaha. best class ever. but we are so very bad when we get slap happy. I never want to see another singing groundhog ever again for the rest of my life. ever. I was literally crying I was laughing so hard. and trying really hard not to laugh during Apologetics so I just sat there with my hair wall, shaking. actually shaking, and my eyes had tears because I could not laugh. it was great. laughing makes you happier, you know?

Kathryne

various things

I was looking through old photos, looking for things to put in my scrapbook/photo album, for college, and may I just say... 

I want my hair to look like that every day. of course, at this point that is unlikely because it is about 10 inches shorter and just all-around less. sigh. (I am not going to bother saying that I am the one in the purple paisley dress with really insane hair on the far right... because you knew that already.)

Also, Megan's story about work yesterday... PAHAHAHAHA. I won't repeat it, but it made me laugh.

Also, I decided that I Really Want Christine To Come Home Right Now.

Also, I am officially 77.9% of the way through my thesis! Holla! ...just kidding. really, really, really kidding.

Also, I ordered Democracy in America to read in Europe. An analysis of the American by a Frenchman... I think it's an appropriate, don't you? (also, I need to find page numbers for about a page's worth of quotes I used in my thesis without ever actually reading the thing.)

Kathryne

faring well

Went on a long rabbit trail during my Latin homework time today, researching passive periphrastic participles ...:D!... and that was fun. *cringe*

Also, I am in a love/hate relationship with Dalvin and Caleb's horrendous puns from To Kill a Mockingbird today... but irrepressibly a very SMILEy relationship. They make me laugh.

Now off to finish my ACTUAL Latin homework, which is kind of miserable! whee! (or, if you want to go the Latin route, that would be, "Huiii!!!" ...I'm not joking, it's in Wheelocks.)

Kathryne

At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light,
And the burden of my heart rolled away,
It was there by faith I received my sight,
And now I am happy all the day!

yesterday...

I got home from yet another college visit and went to bed, because at that point I had been awake and walking around for about 15 hours.

It was a good day. And they had awesome brownies at lunch.

And in the 5 hours I spent in the car I got to
a) talk to my parents
b) completely FAIL at Boggle on my dad's phone
c) work on some secretsecretsecret but fun things :D
d) work on my thesis, because when I got basically a week extension on the rough draft I promptly stopped stressing/purposefully writing any for about a week, thus rendering the extension useless. :eyeroll-at-myself:
e) eat pretzels

As for what made me smile the most, definitely this poster... which may show up at any place in the blog post; attaching images when email-posting is something I have yet to figure out.

And also talking with neighbor-Megan after we got home. about how she will introduce herself to her Spanish classes this week "Hola. Me llamo es Seniorita Megan. Bienvenidos a la clase Espanol." Now read that again but pronounce all the letters like you would in English, including the h in "hola" and the ll in "llamo" and the annoying American ah (like "cat") in "clase."
We were all very tired and I laughed so hard my stomach hurt.

Kathryne

I'm a failure, but that's okay!

I'm posting early today because I have had enough smiles to last me all day.

-Washing my hair only took 10 minutes today, as opposed to 20, thanks to it being shorter! However, I now feel like less of a hippie and don't know if I will be able to pull off my hippie skirts so well. I realized today that if you have curly hair much below your shoulders, it is pretty much impossible for it to be down and look professional or sophisticated or anything but hippie. Unless, of course, you are Christine Daae, but then you just don't count.

-Neither Kristina nor Blake really got mad at me for my haircut... Kristina said, "It's long enough that I'm still smiling... barely." and Blake said, "I know, isn't it terrible?" But I think they secretly like it. It isn't triangular or past my chin!

-I got to meet with Rachel and Megan and Marina at Panera... and it was wonderful. We just talked about where we are in our walk with God and in our personal growth this year, and how we can pray for each other, and where we can be conscious of potential pitfalls. It was officially agreed that I am now "bossy." The way Rachel said it made it a little less unflattering, but I think it is an unflattering trait and ought to be expressed as such :P [this is all to say: when I start taking over, feel free to slap me on the back of the hand. or head. just don't mess up my hair.] We also talked about struggling with control issues and needing to be perfect all the time, hence the title of this post. It was very encouraging time. 

-...And then we went to Payless and talked about shoes and Europe, which are always fun topics of discussion.

-Daddy gets home from his Emmaus walk tonight! :D

Kathryne

the Lord gives wisdom, and from His mouth come knowledge and understanding

deeply desiring wisdom at this juncture. waiting. waiting. waiting. praying too. but it feels like more waiting.

on an unrelated note, today I learned a little lesson. That is, check the receipt BEFORE you leave the store, or else they will overcharge you enough to be significant but not enough to warrant the 20-minute drive there and another 20 minutes back. And then you lose five bucks and are very sore about it because you barely would have paid five for the stupid thing, but it's for a gift so you grit your teeth and get over it.

I did go shopping with neighbor-Megan today. we went to the best consignment shop in the world and I found a pair of three dollar jeans that I love. And the most adorable photo album ever. Which I came home and promptly filled with as many pictures as I own.

Kathryne

Wizard of Oz

I went to see Kristen in her school play today :) she was Glinda. she was beautiful. but they had to add about 6 inches of extra fabric to the bottom of her dress to make it long enough :P

I also had a relatively good day at school today. three periods of math, but the last was interrupted so that I was able to teach Ave Maria to the drama people. That was fun. I like teaching language pieces. And I got to do my clap-metronome because we didn't have a real one.

Kathryne