Play, play, play!

This semester has been such fun! I have so much free time to play the piano, pleasure read, play Settlers of Catan, play Spades, journal, play racquetball! After last night's class let out early, a thought came to me while I was playing Catan (on the internet) and eating deer jerky- "Can life get any better than this? I submit that it cannot!"

My applications for graduate schools are occupying some of my time (but not too much). My application for University of Colorado at Boulder has been submitted, ACU's application will shortly follow, and then University of Texas at Dallas. It will be exciting to hear results so I can get ready for the next chapter in my life. In the meantime, I'll just enjoy playing my lovely piano, Catan, and racquetball.

should I be worried?

In class yesterday I learned a little about Aphasia... and I was shocked to be able to relate so well with the symptoms! One indicator is that you hesitate before answering a simple question.

Like the countless times that I hesitate and have to think about what my major is, or how old I am before responding to such basic questions. "What's your name?" "uh... what's my name?... oh! Caryn."

Another symptom of Aphasia is that you dramatically overreact emotionally to the stimulus through excessive laughter or tears.

Like the time when I went to get my oil changed and cried intensely because I went to the wrong building.

Or the time when my professor made a dorky comment in class and I laughed audibly for thirty minutes.

Or the time when I set off the fire alarm in Smith/Adams and started bawling at the thought of inconveniencing the firemen. Actually, the fire alarm malfunctioned- I was innocent!

hmm... should I be worried?

The holiday is over...

... so today I had to get out from under my five blankets to get ready for class in my frigid apartment. My truck is an icebox on wheels in freezing weather. Because my vehicle's defrost feature is a little lacking, I not only had to scrape the ice off of my windshield when I first left for school, but I had to pull over and scrape the newly acquired ice off after driving 1/2 a mile (which is half the distance from my apartment to campus). I offered someone a ride, and then thought, why in the world would someone want a ride when I'm driving with only a small circle (with about a 6 inch diameter) to see through, the windows are rolled down (for vision purposes), and the temperature in my truck is 10 degrees colder than the temperature outside?

Just in case you were wondering... my holiday was great! I had to work at 5:00am, but then I made cookies (which warmed up my apartment and my soul), practiced my piano, played Catan, did homework, prepared for my lesson at Kenley, watched Jonah (the Veggie Tales movie), and juggled. It was a nice, relaxing holiday, and boy, do I love holidays!

I Think I Can

A new semester is beginning... and it's my last one in undergrad! Last night I couldn't sleep; perhaps it was my nerves. Today and tomorrow I will be completely overwhelmed by the assignments in the syllabi, but I'll also be excited. I feel like the little engine that could- I think I can, I think I can, I think I can make it through this last semester. The spring semester lacks enthusiasm simply because all of the school supplies have already been purchased for the year. I love buying school supplies!

A Truly Productive Week!

This was my last week before my last semester in my ungraduate college career, and it was quite eventful! I was so busy, that I was unable to blog until now! On Sunday, Dad hired me to sell his books online and I have already sold seven books and made $100! Monday I started my biggest project... a quilt! All of my life I have had a desire to quilt, and my amazing grandmother (Happy) has helped me fulfill this goal! We worked hours upon hours this week to creat a gorgeous pink, red, lilac, and cream Valentine quilt! It's absolutely lovely! Thanks Happy for all of your work and patience in teaching me to do this fabulous hobby of yours (and mine now)! The top is completed (stay tuned for a picture), so now we need to make it fluffy and put a back on it! Thursday I got a job... a real job... as a real speech therapist!! Kenley has hired me as a substitute speech-language pathologist to work a couple of days a week with their learning disabled students. Woohoo! It will be a great opportunity for this very inexperienced senior studying Speech-language Pathology. Friday my Dad and I bought parts for my new car (Amber's wrecked one from the deer). Today, with the help of my burly father and buff brothers (Kevin and Geoff), I will become an owner of an upright piano from the turn of the century! Wowee! My apartment neighbors may not appreciate this new piece of furniture... or... maybe they'll enjoy having such an accomplished and talented (ha ha!) musician living near them. The truth is, I have short and stubby fingers that can dink out a tune as well as a duck could with its webbed feet! Perhaps all of the typing I've done in college has made my fingers stronger and more flexible! :)

My Hair is So Big

While getting ready for church this morning, I was inspired to write a song. For those of you with "Spann-hair"... this song is for you!

My Hair is So Big (to the tune of "My God is So Big")

My hair is so big,
So thick, and so wiry,
But there's nothing my Chi cannot do! (clap clap)

A Redeemed Babysitter

Last week I babysat for a precious family while the parents went to see a movie. Throughout the evening my nagging headache of two days compounded resulting in nausea. After the children went to bed, the aches in my head and stomach collaborated to make me vomit...which awoke the young ones and prompted them to call their parents. So, they left the theater before the movie ended (I caused them to miss the last ten minutes!), and came home to a house of awake children (it was far passed their bedtime- oops). Still feeling lousy and dizzy, they offered to drive me home which involved loading the sleepy children in the van which Scott drove, and Gayle driving my truck very full of random objects (from the newly cleaned garage) and very empty of gasoline. My truck chugged along and jerked... my stomach did the same... but I made it home safely. It was quite an ordeal and very embarrassing. I felt like a huge failure as a babysitter. But, this wonderful family gave me a chance to redeem myself this week with another babysitting job. This time was much better!