wednesday is the new saturday

Now that I've finished the ICT class I was required to do for my course I don't have to be at college until 2:30 in the afternoon. This is bliss! The same is true on Monday but I usually set Monday mornings aside to do any school work due in during the week. And now that I've started working I don't always have Saturday off, so Wednesday has become my new Saturday. Except for the hour and half I'm in class I spend it doing things like taking pictures of the beautiful flowering tree outside my window. (This is surprisingly challenging because the windows are not clean and they do not open.)

I'm so thankful for this tree! Charlotte, my home town, is absolutely covered with flowering trees and bushes and gardens definitely all spring and to a lesser extent all year long. Having a flowering tree right outside my window helps me feel more at home here, and it has beautiful red leaves in the fall.

I also do things like make big lunches, and then document them by taking pictures. I also baked a cake. A strange cake. A rosemary and olive oil cake. My feelings on this cake are undecided... I do not have any pictures of it because it took longer than expected baking and I had to rush out the door as soon as it came out of the oven as waiting for it had made me late for class.
After my class I head over to Starbucks. Wednesday afternoons are when my knitting group meets. This particular Wednesday was the launch of their new branding. Look at the fabulous new cups! It was also momentous because I discovered a new amazing combination; chai tea and caramel waffles. Y-U-M!!!
Once I sat down to knit I realised that my pattern had not made it into my knitting bag... thank goodness for free wi-fi and ravelry. I was able to pull the pattern up on my iPod and I successfully turned the heel on my first sock.
From knitting group I went over to Boojum's on Botanic to meet my lovely friend Laura for dinner. Boojums is a burrito bar. A burrito bar that actually bears no small resemblance to places like Qdoba and Chipotle. A burrito bar in Belfast. This. Is. A. Big. Deal. The whole time I lived in England myself and my American friend Rosie were desperate for Mexican food. It just wasn't available. But here in Belfast, they have burritos! It was a happy evening.
After Burritos I had home group, it was a lovely way to round out a lovely day, with old and new friends and some good, solid Lenten reflections.

Normally my Wednesday's aren't quite so full. And despite the cold and wind and rain, and the fact that my boots seem to no longer be water proof, it was a good day!

the great trip (mid) west

A little peak at where I've been and what I've been up to for the last two weeks!

Iowa

Illinois

Michigan

the end

I'm always so excited when I reach the end of one journal and get to start a new one. I started this one in October of 2008 so it's been just over a year. And now I get to use the beautiful one that Rosie made me for my birthday last year. Yeah!!!

having a laugh

So I realize that a true and proper update is very much needed around here. But I can't be bothered tonight. Thought I'd share a couple things that made me laugh this week.

This is from Rosie's blog:

"Why do we date? It's not in the Bible, and it makes everyone nervous...."

This is from Confessions of a Shopaholic (the book which I have read before, but not for a while and I found at The Book Rack for $2):

"I can do this, I tell myself firmly. I can be attracted to him. It's just a matter of self-control and possibly also getting very drunk. So I lift my glass and take several huge gulps. I can feel the bubbles surging into my head, singing happily "I'm going to be a millionaire's wife! I'm going to be a millionaire's wife!" And when I look back at Tarquin, he already seems a bit more attractive (in a stoaty kind of way). Alcohol is obviously going to be the key to our marital happiness."

Today, when we were playing Winnie-the-Pooh Uno, we decided to play a third round in the hopes that everyone would get to win a game. Sydney had won a round and I had won a round, Shelby was the only one left. Sydney said, "God made me win a round, and God made Miss Rebekah win a round, so God will make you win the next round Shelby."

(I did explain to her that we don't know if God made us win our rounds. I certainly hadn't asked him to get involved and so he may have just let the game go on as it was. But she was unconvinced and Shelby did win the third and final round. "See, I told you that's how it worked!" said Sydney.)

these free and independent american states

On Wednesday afternoon I drove for 4 hours and 40 minutes up to Williamsburg, Virginia to meet Rosie who had driven down from Michigan with her parents for vacation. What a wonderful time we had! We toured Colonial Williamsburg. We had high tea in a cute little tea shop. We had leisurely walks and delicious dinners. And we had tons of time to talk and catch up and enjoy being together.

Highlights of the trip in no particular order:

1) Rosie's curry and cookies. She even sent cookies home with me!

2) The acting was phenomenal. Both at the play house and the big street production that takes up most of the afternoon.

3) The dresses and hats were beautiful. Wish we could've tried them on.

4) I got some horehound candy. Laura Ingalls Wilder always used to eat this. It isn't actually very wonderful, but I got to try it!

5) We had a delicious lunch at the Raleigh Tavern.

6) I purchased Recipes from the Raleigh Tavern Bakery "a collection of the most tasteful and approved recipes in Virginia cookery." It has the 18th century recipes and then on the opposite page the 21st century "translation."

7) On Thursday morning the first thing we did was see "Fops, Rogues, and Villains." Which was a hilarious introduction to character types from 18th Century Theater.

8) We got the chance to try out an 18th century dance. That was good fun!

9) The mock 18th century trial was hilarious! The judge didn't even seem to be acting, totally and completely believable!

10) Revolutionary City was fantastic! The whole town gathers together from 3 to 5 every afternoon and reenacts historical events that happened in Williamsburg. Again, the acting was great and it was fun to be an 18th century crowd calling huzzah! and here here! and seeing someone almost get tarred and feathered!

11) High tea for lunch on Friday was so fun! We had all these little sandwiches and cakes and a little cup of soup and we didn't expect it to fill us up, but we practically rolled out the door as we left!

12) On Thursday we had dinner at a little local place called Food for Thought which was so cute. It had all these literary quotes on the wall and cards with quotes and questions and things on the table and the food was great. If I lived there that would definitely be my favorite restaurant.

So I basically left wishing I could move up there and become an artisan or one of the re-in-actors. Some kind of grown up version of running away with the circus. What fun it would be! At least for a year or two. The problem is that even if they let me do pottery (being a woman) I would have to learn how to use a kick wheel and a non electric kiln. I could always learn a completely new craft, like spinning and weaving (which I've always wanted to) but that would take a while. Oh well! I guess I'll have to be content with visiting some other time.