pcbelleza

Mon, 06 Mar 2006 13:04:35 GMT

it's amazing, there's almost no -time- when the trees are weighed down by the damp snow, and the sidewalks are still covered. no one has shoveled, the plows have passed through the street hours ago and the street is blanketed again. now it just looks so calm. none of it's black, yet. it continues to fall.

Thu, 02 Mar 2006 01:31:38 GMT

Katie, Andrew, Mom, and I drove to Ash Wednesday service at Marquette, and met my dad there. After the ashes were smeared across my forehead, we took a pew closer to the front- Katie, Andrew, Mom, and I squeezed in along the side, but then my dad got stuck, and we all started laughing as everyone else in the Church was praying.
After mass we went to their simple soup meal in the shelter. It wasn't bad: bean soup + rice. The plus? It's all vegetarian on Ash Wednesday.

extra fat tuesday

Wed, 01 Mar 2006 05:02:04 GMT

i made the decision to give up what i crave most during the day: chocolate. so, starting tomorrow, i won't have mochas, chocolate soy nut butter, late night dark chocolate bars, or banana chocolate Alterra muffins. ive just finished more chocolate in one evening than any sane person should ingest. i look forward to the next 40 days; im up for it!

Wed, 08 Feb 2006 03:31:31 GMT

i know, the shock and horror, the pity you now have for the lowly one who's updating twice in the same night.

but, honestly, WHERE am i supposed to find this?

"The grad students will also have read Chapter 6 from Peter Freund and Meredity McGuire, Health, Illness and the Social Body, "The Social Meaning of Sickness.""

w.h.o. k.n.o.w.s...

tisket a tasket

Wed, 08 Feb 2006 03:08:21 GMT

My day thus far has two identical bookends: Alterra. :-) In honor of the last day of the Water Challenge, Julia and I met this morning at Alterra (the new one!) to drink coffee and read Faulkner. Of course talking played an integral part in the whole experience as well.

Perhaps it was the reintroduction of caffeine into my system, or the equally satisfying e-mails I recieved this morning (you can smell the cynical fumes from me)- oh, yes you can- but, I had jittery energy all day.

My meetings went fine after school. I can roll with the punches.

At Alterra at 7pm (the other bookend) I met, Jamie, a psych major at UWM. She's helping me teach the art of group facilitation to the youth committee for the Breaking Boundaries Creating Connections program. It was very interesting talking to her about perception, and the best strategies for effective discussion. PLUS, I heard about her Civil Disobedience class. There's still a lot to prepare for the meeting, but I feel like we're on the right track.

I just helped my sister with her trig, and among other equally enlightening comments, she just said: "I used to find math rather exciting, and now it's just downright miserable. It's kind of depressing." :-( Oh, Katie. I'm on duty all evening.

I'm still not sure why I'm commenting on this. lol.

prep

Sun, 05 Feb 2006 19:09:52 GMT

This morning I started my history reading, and there was this section about how the Roman Catholic hierarchy reacted to the government's support for expanded worker's rights during the Mexican Revolution. I guess the Church decided that in protest to this HORRIBLE display of justice, the officials went on strike: no where in Mexico was there to be Communion. Yeah, wonderful Church politics.
Then, my dad comes downstairs and says, "Ready to go to Church?" What? Okay, in all fairness to him he just had bad timing, but honestly, the politics aspect of our religion is very difficult to overcome. When I wanted to discuss this with him, he became so defensive. He still doesn't understand that part of me.
Alas, Church was fine. Afterwards we managed to expand the size of our Superbowl party exponentially. My dad saw his doctor and his nieces; they're coming. The Church organist and his partner are stopping by. Two families from Religious Ed, etc, etc. EVEN, the man who was our tourguide at the Ten Chimneys, back in September or so, remembered our family, so my dad invited him. I'm looking forward to good conversation, and watching the domination of the Underdogs. (Go seahawks!!)
After Church my sister, brother, and I went down to Brady Street. The sun was out, and there's always bustle down there. I exchanged my pants at Detour (for the more expensive pair- I'm rotten, I know) and we walked over to Scortino's. We picked up some bread, rolls, and cookies. We "worked together" to choose 3 dozen, but Katie and Andrew kept on fighting. The woman who was helping us looked up at me and asked, "You're the oldest?- just like I was." And then she winked. After we picked out ours I asked her to put in some of her favorites. We tried the Amaretitos as soon as we left- awesome- we'll have to add those to the regular canon of cookies.
... prepping for the par-tay...

two halves, more than whole

Sat, 04 Feb 2006 21:54:28 GMT

For lunch I graduated from only broth to soft solids. Oh yeah!! My mom made rice and black beans, topped with fried plantains. Yummy! It was perfect to eat in front of the window: the light powdered sugar snow outside. I didn't think I'd see it again this year. All's well.
Haha, Eva called me from the middle school forensics tournament to report on the poor quality of the dancing she was witnessing. Oh my, I remember those tournaments- we all loved dancing; and making fun of the suburbanites. "Don't mess with the best cause the best don't mess..."
I'm on my way to Brokeback Mountain with my sister and mom. I think we're going to Mexican tonight. Ojala qye yo pueda comer un burrito!

4 less wise

Sat, 04 Feb 2006 04:22:03 GMT

A month ago, if you would've mentioned pulling wisdom teeth to me, I would've scrunched up my nose, turned my head to the side, and closed my eyes.
Amazingly, it wasn't bad at all.
This morning at 6:00 I had four impacted wisdom teeth extracted. Perhaps I was cool becuase I was still asleep. Before the needles poked and the saw rolled I breathed in the laughing gas for about 5 minutes.
The surgeon and his assistant very funny, though he mentioned something about the Red Sea ferry, and the war in Iraq, and I wanted to chime in, but couldn't speak comprehensibly. It was strange: I could still think so clearly that I didn't realize how numb I had become.
I wonder if I realize when that happens and I'm not in the surgeon's chair.
Mr. Willis made fun of my chipmunk cheeks. My brother asked if a basketball had hit my face. AND, for all that, I can't laugh, becuase it hurts. My sister says I finally have to shut up. haha.
On whole, it's fine. No vicodin needed, yet. :-)

And, Lixx everyday? What's not to love?

the life of a sleep-deprived child

Fri, 20 Feb 2004 23:22:50 GMT

Words describing who I am, and how I feel right now.

frus·trate ( P ) Pronunciation Key (frstrt)
tr.v. frus·trat·ed, frus·trat·ing, frus·trates

To prevent from accomplishing a purpose or fulfilling a desire; thwart: A persistent wind frustrated my attempt to rake the lawn.
To cause feelings of discouragement or bafflement in.
To make ineffectual or invalid; nullify.

That's how I feel now about school.

am·bi·tious ( P ) Pronunciation Key (m-bshs)
adj.
Full of, characterized by, or motivated by ambition.
Greatly desirous; eager: “I am not ambitious of ridicule” (Edmund Burke).
Requiring or showing much effort; challenging: an ambitious schedule.

sav·vy ( P ) Pronunciation Key (sv) Informal
adj. sav·vi·er, sav·vi·est
Well informed and perceptive; shrewd: savvy Washington insiders.

n.
Practical understanding or shrewdness: a banker known for financial savvy.

(That's sav vy, not sawy.)