Finito!! I finally finished my Disney Princess quilt! Now it's all ready to go for Alissa's baby shower April 9th. I think I will miss it, but to console myself, I've begun working on a superhero quilt for little Miguel. I already miss the big squares of the princesses - the superhero squares are much, much smaller and it makes for so much more work!






We went and saw Michelle's ranch over Spring Break. I'm just now printing and scanning pictures. Isn't it great how many things can be accomplished in order to put off homework? I took about six thousand pictures of her ranch, because it's beautiful there, and it took a while to sort through the awful and the ok.








Michelle with one of her four horses.










Two other horses Michelle owns. I can't remember the name of the one in the foreground, but the one in the back ground is Amigo, the horse she's owned since she was 16.

Let's say, just hypothetically of course, that you put off all your school work because you're a senior and therefore above doing such trivial things. Let's also say that next week contains four tests and two projects, none of which you have either studied for, read for, or started at all. On top of that, add a big move, a wedding, and a million tiny details that go along with graduating and starting life at a new school.
The cool thing about having a boyfriend is that if this situation happens upon you and you start to cry, he will totally put in a U2 dvd and rock out playing air guitar with the band until you stop worrying about next week and start realizing you may be one lucky girl.

In case you hadn't heard, it snowed several inches this week. The day after we got back from Spring Break to be exact. Yesterday the snow was utterly depressing because it was cold and gray outside. It felt like the middle of January instead of the end of March, and I really wanted to hop on the first plane out of here and go somewhere warm. Today, however, there's a lovely mix of winter and spring in Kirksville. The snow is still here, even though a couple of inches has melted off, but the sun is out and I keep seeing little robins jumping around on the snow. It's nice and cool out instead of bitterly cold. I have four papers I have to write and a project to complete before the day has ended, but I have a nice view out my window and I finally feel ready to work.

Accident

Monday morning before I left for Kirksville, I was slicing cheese for a sandwhich for Kevin to take to the hospital. I had sliced one piece when I missed the cheese, and landed hard on my finger. I looked down at it for a second and then it started to bleed. And bleed. And bleed. He had to go to the hospital, so I taped it up tight with several layers of paper towels and drove the three and a half hours to Kirksville. When I got home, I carefully unwrapped my finger and the silly thing started gushing again! Irritated, I called Crown Family Medicine and they got me in right away, despite the fact that it was a Monday morning. Of course, after bleeding for four and a half hours, it stopped bleeding as soon as the doctor entered. The nurse and I were trying to tell him about the gushing blood and the bloody paper towels, but I felt like an idiot. He said I probably lobbed an artery and that he was afraid that if he stuck a needle in there to stitch it up, it would start bleeding again. So he used those butterfly bandages to hold my skin together and then the nurse proceeded to wrap my entire hand in guaze. I looked like I'd had a serious accident, instead of a very small, well-aimed cut. I have never seen such a ridiculous amount of gauze in my life. When I went to class a couple hours later, I tried to hide that silly hand, covered in white sterile fluff, because I didn't even have a cool story to go with it. My research partner noticed, however, and asked me what happened to my hand. When I told her I'd cut myself with a knife in a little kitchen accident, she looked horrified. She asked me, in all seriousness, "Do you still have all your fingers?!?!"

Back at Home

I had a nice week with Kevin. As I predicted, there was a lot of dancing, cooking, X-box, and cards. I really got used to seeing him every day. I saw him this morning, but I can already tell it's going to be a bit of an adjustment going back to seeing him once a week.

Home's been nice so far. The drive was good - I stopped on Osage Beach and bought my new favorite shoes with a bit of birthday money. I still have enough left over to buy the NorthFace coat I've been looking at. Well, ok, two coats, really. One's really a lavender fleece liner, and the other is a jacket that goes over the fleece to block wind and water. It's so pretty - just the right color.

I got to see my new cousin today. They haven't named him yet, but I think he looks like a Conner, which was one of the three name choices (others included John and Joshua). It was so amazing to hold that tiny bundle of warmth - to feel him snuggle up next to me and hear his little sigh. I really didn't feel like sharing him, but eventually I handed him over to Will, who was much more willing to hold him than Michelle was, who is scared of babies. The reasons why I can't have a baby get so foggy when I have a tiny wonder cuddling up against my chest. Yet they become so clear with the stench of a dirty diaper kicks in and that tiny precious face screws up and begins to shriek. For now I'm content with the kind of baby I can hand over to a responsible party when things get grumpy. Lucky for me, I have already have a baby newphew, with two more one their way in the next month. There should be lots of baby to go around until Kevin and I are ready to have our own.

The coming week will be full of wedding business. I have to speak with the hotel, the restuarant for the rehearsal dinner, the caterers, the cake baker, and the Stonegate Chapel people. I also have a dress fitting, a hair appointment, and a invitation/favor making party. It will be busy, but I'm so excited!! It finally seems like it's getting close! I hope it turns out as beautiful as it plays out in my head.

I can already tell it's going to be a good week.

Kevin's spring break is this week, which means I get him for nine whole days. This is extremely exciting because it means someone else will be doing my dishes and helping me cook and throwing dance parties in my kitchen. There will also be a lot of cards being played, screaming at the X-box as one or the other of us completely fails as a ninja, and staying up late (for Kevin) watching movies and talking.

Friday night, I made Kevin watch Grizzly Man with me. If you don't know, it's a documentary about a man that went and lived with grizzly bears for 13 summers. He and his girlfriend were eventually eaten by a grizzly bear at their camp. Kevin, as it so happens, is terrified of bears. Any bears, and especially grizzly bears. Viewing this film with someone who hates bears and who just finished up his three weeks of rotations on the psych ward of the hospital is the best person to watch this movie with. We spent most of the movie diagnosing Timothy Treadwell (we decided bipolar, with strong manic tendencies), and then in the end decided never to go camping in Alaska. I would be lying if I said I didn't have a dream that night that Kevin, Michelle, and I were eaten by a ten-foot-tall bear in Grandma Mary's living room. We were bear hunters, you see, and we thought we'd killed it with our frying pan (our only weapon) but it woke up hungry from it's place as our rug.

Saturday night, we went out with Amber and Elizabeth. Kevin lasted an hour before the music got to him (he has a bad cold) and he drove home. The rest of us stayed behind to experience my English professors punk rock chick band. My old next door neighbor, who is now a rapper, opened. I got to listen to his beginning rapping in the dorms through the walls, so it was interesting for me to see how he had evolved. Right before the chick rock band, some guy started puking all over the floor, more puke than should come out of a human being, according to the people that saw it. I avoided looking at it like my life depended on it. The bartender grabbed the sick guy and escorted him out, but no one came to clean up the puke. Then the band started to play, if you can really call it that, and we had to leave because between the squawking of the lead singer and the incredible pumped up volume of the "music," we just couldn't handle it. So we headed over to John's to watch the end of a game of Solar Galaxy (a game I plan to never play) and then some cards. We finished off the night with a midnight rearrangement of John's apartment, which the three of us girls thought was a huge improvement. I have yet to hear what John's roommate thinks of our taste.

Today, the sun is shining and spring seems to be on it's way. It's a good day.