spring is coming… in the south, at least…

In reviewing my most “recent” blog posts, I can see that they all seem to revolve around breaks… fall break, Christmas break, etc…  In keeping with that, I have just officially begun Spring Break. At least I’ve tried to come up with a different title, though. If you recall back to when I started back to Clemson, I wasn’t so busy that I couldn’t write (or think) yet.

Crocuses were coming up in the yard before I drove north.

It’s possible that it didn’t have to be this busy for me, but I made a last minute change to my spring schedule, and ended up with three classes that involved a lot of writing. So, when I’m not writing, I’m reading for class. Or thinking about doing either. Or trying NOT to think about it, because my head needs a break. Know the feeling?

Ice-coated trees on the way north, made the mountains sparkle.

While spring is arriving here, it hasn’t arrived where my friends are, up in PA. I just got back from a weekend conference there, last weekend, so obviously I won’t actually be going anywhere during my “official” break. Too much reading to do. And sleeping. That’s the big difference, this time. I will be allowed to goof off, but in the back of my head, I do remember that I need to go start finding sources for my Theatre History paper. And reading for several classes, even when I have no official homework.

My dear camp was covered in a few feet of snow…

The trees are starting to bud, though, so maybe I’ll take my camera out to see the pear trees in bloom next week. I don’t think I took my camera out for anything, last year, because I’ve been using my camera phone for most things. Hey, whatever works, and whatever you have time for.

Spring Break will also be a time for applying to jobs, so that I actually get one for the summer. I waited too late, last year, and never could find one. I shall be on top of that, this year, if nothing else.

But the sun came out last Saturday, and made it safer to walk around outside.

Advising appointments begin soon, so I will have to think some more about what classes I want to take in the fall, so I can get the seal of approval from my advisor. I’ll be done with my German requirements, but I will probably take another German class, a history class (World War II, anyone?), and Music Appreciation (humanities requirements…). Beyond that, I haven’t thought too much, because I haven’t passed my math placement test yet, so I can’t even sign up for a math class.

And more signs of springtime greeted me when I returned to the south.

Someday, I will have interesting things to tell you again, and time to do it in. A long trip of some kind would be great… wouldn’t I just love to go spend a few months in Australia? But that’s a few years in the future, still. So, I hope you enjoy the arrival of spring and my few pictures. 🙂

havin’ some slow days…

I suppose I could cheat and just post lots of pictures from my phone, for Wordless Wednesday… but WW is only fun when there are one or two really quality pics to show off. It’s much more fun to explain what’s in them, when possible. For now, I just caught up on emptying last month’s photos off of my phone… even my Seabrook phone photos (with a few small exceptions) hadn’t been pulled for those posts. I had to go and review what pictures I had posted last… and it was all dessert and Seabrook and Asheville! Wow, those were some time ago… Well, since my time at Seabrook and in Charleston, I’ve been doing a few things around the house, searching for a part-time job, and enjoyed having my brother’s best friends over with their new baby. Not necessarily in that order. As you’ll see, I’ve included a few of my Instagram pics from my weekend in May…And then Jon’s friends came over with their little A, and isn’t she a beauty? My mom and I, of course, volunteered to hold her as often as needed, so that our friends could chow down on the homemade spaghetti and Italian bread (yes, homemade pasta, as well as sauce and bread). While at home, and in-between trying to remember that the pool is open, and I can also go to the gym again, I’ve been working on my spare room, rearranging things, and emptying more boxes. I found my old Barbie clothes (handmade, by my grandma, mostly) and took the time to wash them all. Then I discovered a past water leak had warped one of my shelves… and I had to empty them! Trashed the room again, in order to move the shelves around, but finally got that done. Some paint and plastic sheeting, and finally they were ready to go up again, which is what I spent some of today working on. But I either got a charley horse the other day, or pulled a muscle, so I’ve been moving slow for the last few days, and trying to get things back to normal.

Oh, and before I had to take the big shelves apart, I did manage to get another desk set up in the corner, with my Temeraire picture and Gandalf set up, as well as hanging another shelf in my bedroom. Trying to be good about getting rid of things I really don’t need, and find a place for everything that I keep. It’s not easy, is it?Hope you like the photos… I really enjoy how some of my Instagram pics look, so I’ve included them here, since I used camera photos for my last few posts. I hope you are having a wonderful summer! (Ok, if you’re in Australia, I hope you’re having a great winter!)Now, I’m going to get another cuppa, and go back to reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (again).  : )

asheville away…

Finally, a road trip! And now, I’m going to do it twice in one week! Whodathunkit? But on Tuesday, some friends and I drove to Asheville, NC, for the day and had a blast. I actually haven’t been to Asheville since high school, when I went to the Biltmore Estate, but this time, we headed for the downtown. And now that I realize I’m headed to Seabrook for the weekend, I really have to get on top of sharing some of the photos. : )

Let’s see, where to start? Some grad student friends of mine had time off, especially now that one of them successfully defended his Master’s thesis. I’d say that deserves a day off, wouldn’t you? We started the day early enough to get a leisurely breakfast at the Potbelly Deli in Clemson, and then headed for Asheville.

After the usual driving round-about in order to find parking, we started off at Pack Square Park, and if anyone can tell me the name of that main sculpture/conversation piece, I would be interested. Yes, I do mean the big space station looking thing. But the memorial stones, designed like the buildings behind the “sculpture”, or to honor “Ellington’s Dream” of seeing those two buildings overlook the downtown and the lovely park.

We enlisted the use of our smartphones quite a bit, examining Google maps to see which streets had shopping and restaurants, and even veered off, curious to see what the Thomas Wolfe Memorial was. To my (possible) discredit, I’ve never heard of Thomas Wolfe, didn’t know he was an author, and had never heard of his books… so when we arrived at the memorial, the paintings on the walls were pretty cool, but we didn’t stay to view his boarding house. The people working the memorial were really nice, though, so I didn’t tell them we didn’t know anything about it.

My friends had decided in advance where we would eat, because there are two really good Indian restaurants in Asheville, so they voted for Mela over Chai Pani, but maybe we’ll go there some other time. The buffet food came with either a draft beer or a hot chai, but we voted for chai. To their delight, they found that Mela’s chai is just like what they get back home, so it was a good choice. It was delicious, but very gingery, which was a surprise to me. I didn’t know you could get all that ginger flavor into a drink… well, except for a ginger beer, maybe. They explained everything to me on the buffet line, and I’ve forgotten half the names, but I loved the fried eggplant and the chicken masala, as well as the lentil wafers and naan bread to go with everything. And the semolina pudding with cashews, cardamom, raisins and a few other things… it was absolutely scrumptious!

After stuffing ourselves, we had to walk it off, and made our way through the downtown. I’d heard there was some fantastic graffiti around, so I had hoped to get some good pictures. When we finally found these chickens, it was fascinating to see that the artists must have laid down canvas or tape of some type, over the brick, before painting them. If you look closely, you can see where the bricks become more visible on the edges.

From there, we’d heard that the Grove Arcade was a renovated historic building with shops, so we wandered that way, drooling over chocolate and ice cream shops on the way, as well as stopping at rock and mineral shops to examine geodes (all of us) and jewelry (me). It was a lovely building, but I think they tried to make it look older than it is, though the stairwells are obviously modeled on the Biltmore style. Which, in case you were wondering, we definitely didn’t have time to go visit. Biltmore Estate will have to wait for another day.

We decided to take the time to drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway, stopping at the Pisgah Inn to have coffee or eat, if anyone was hungry by then. I was, so I had a delicious chicken pot pie, while we enjoyed the view from the restaurant windows. And made sure we took some pictures on the porch before leaving.

I drove for the whole trip, but I enjoyed the twisting back roads and now and then, we found a nice pull-off zone to take pictures, like at Looking Glass Falls. It also had a sign explaining that it used to be part of the Vanderbilt property, even as far away from Asheville as we were, which is amazing even to someone who knows how much of that corner of the state was Biltmore land, back in the day.

So, I do hope you’ll enjoy these pictures from our trip, while I get to work packing for the beach. My Seabrook conference starts tomorrow, but unlike usual, I don’t think I have to get up early and meet anyone in town, beforehand. So, I can finish packing and doing laundry during the morning, before heading out, instead of rushing! So nice. If you don’t hear from me until then, have a marvelous weekend!

recent snippets…

Now that I have finished my paper for History 299 (hooray!), I should finally be able to download the rest of my latest pictures onto the computer. Not from my camera, of course, but from my phone. Somehow, when I was in PA during spring break, I took most of my pictures with the phone. I’ll doublecheck to make sure I don’t post any duplicates. But here are a few from that trip and from recently, until the next downloads come through.

And yes, I did see a lot of babies over Spring Break, why do you ask?  ; )  My trip was a hodge-podge of visits with friends and their babies, eating, snow, and lots of other things… and there aren’t even any snow pictures here! Yes, all on the phone, with no time or energy to get them. Later, later. Also, still having issues with the new WordPress photo editing tools, which makes this the second time I’ve attempted to put this post together. Frustrating. But I hope you enjoy the pictures just the same, and maybe I’ll have time to do some real blogging, soon!        

long time, no see…

Yes, school has been keeping me busy. And it will continue to do so, at least until the semester ends in April. Hopefully I’ll have found a part-time job by then, to continue to keep me busy. But for the most part, I don’t have the brain-space left for writing anything thoughtful on here, because I’m juggling classwork, studying, and writing/researching papers. And since I’m taking two history courses and a British Lit course, this semester, a lot of my classwork involves reading, reading, reading.

Related to that thought, you’ll be thrilled to know that I got a smartphone. Why, yes, those two actually are related. I won’t go into the details that caused me to upgrade to a phone that allows me to keep track of phone calls AND Facebook messages, but it definitely happened. This allowed me to join the world of Instagram, because now I have a phone number to sign up with. I had tried before, in order to follow some of my friends’ accounts, but it would never let me without that phone number. Sigh.

And with the sudden ability to upload randomly interesting photos to Instagram, I’ve found myself sharing pictures of the books I’m reading for school. It makes me look studious.  : )  But it also gives me practice at taking a different type of photo, those snapshots that you can only take with your phone. And plenty of opportunity to yell at my phone for not focusing when I “tell it to”.

While most of my reading for British Literature is fun and interesting, because we’re concentrating on sea monsters, mermaids, and sailors, it’s not all joy. Somehow, the water theme was related to Helen Oyeyemi’s Opposite House. For those of you who have never heard of it, it was written in the genre of magical realism, and if you heard me complain last semester, I abhor magical realism. Google it, I won’t take the time to explain. While the author writes beautifully in spots, it just mostly doesn’t make sense. Sure, you read into it and analyze, but whatever happened to just writing a good straight-up story? Thankfully, we finished with it today, and will be moving on to some more normal BritLit.

On the other hand, The Eternal Paddy was quite interesting reading for Irish History, though it was a heavier read and took much longer. The author did a thorough study of Britain’s views on Ireland, as viewed from the newspapers, in the period of 1798 (right before Union) and 1882 (right before the Home Rule bills began). Seeing how Ireland was depicted in cartoons, as well as what the journalists wrote… it was rather fascinating. But now, we’ll be on to reading The Burning of Bridget Cleary over spring break, and while it’s a true story, I have no idea whether it will be easy reading or not.

But the main thing on my plate right now is a history project for HIST 299 (History Methodology), and I spend my spare time reading more studies on immigration in the South and newspapers on my hometown. That will continue to occupy my spare time, when I’m not studying for something else, until partway into April.

For the moment, I’m counting down the hours until I hit the road to go north… to see cousins in MD and friends in PA. Time to meet newborns and month old babies! Yes, and see my cousins and my best friends and anyone else I can fit in, during 6-7 days. I’m just about ready for a road trip… and don’t worry, I’m bring my real camera with me, along with my new phone.  : )  As much fun as my smartphone is, I fully acknowledge how much more awesome my Nikon is. I even took a bunch of photos of flowers, outside in a near windstorm this afternoon. Maybe I’ll get around to posting them after I get to PA.

I hope you have a marvelous week, just as I intend to!

pennsylvania good-times…

I know, I know, I’m behind! So sorry. I don’t really think I’ve been TOO busy since returning from PA, but between laundry loads, catching up on odds and ends, and unloading boxes… let’s say I’ve kept myself occupied.

As some of you may know, I left over a week ago for Pennsylvania, to meet up with some old friends and old stomping grounds, as well as to sort through my storage unit. The original plan had been to go rent a U-haul and get my storage unit stuff, but that’s been delayed for a few weeks, because of a better option. So, I’ll have it all soon, but not quite yet.

This visit allowed me to not be so pressured for time, while visiting people, and to leisurely do some sorting, in order to help out with the future move.

So, after my usual 9-10 hour drive to Chambersburg, I arrived at GWH. I lived there for almost five years, working as the full-time housekeeper, and occupied two different houses while there. My summers were spent chasing summer staffers and cleaning up between large groups of campers, while the off-season was spent doing all that on my own, during the weeks… but for smaller groups, usually. I knew all the camp buildings from top to bottom, and got to drive a golf cart year-round. What could be better?

Arriving right before a session of family camp allowed me get in some good local food with friends, at Benny’s Italian Restaurant, before seeing more friends. I love Benny’s, and I always have to get a calzone when I’m there. Not that there’s anything wrong with pizza or pasta… I just love all that ham, mozzarella, and ricotta cheese, packed into fresh baked bread.

Also, I tried bruschetta for the second time. I really do not like raw tomatoes, and I’m not a big fan of excessive amounts of tomato sauce, either, but I still eat that. 🙂  But in recent years, I’ve discovered a liking for fish tacos, which include raw onions and tomatoes, mixed into the fresh salsa. So, with that in mind, I chowed down on bruschetta… and liked it. Soaking those tomatoes in oil and spices really did them good.

And for the record, when we were at Olive Garden, the next day (we really weren’t intending to binge on Italian!), I ate a tomato in my salad. So there. But not the olives. I have a vivid memory of trying an olive, again, at a Greek restaurant, a few year ago. That didn’t go down well.

Enough with the food, for the moment. One of my first stops on Saturday morning was to go check out the new swings that they built during Boys Camp. The circle of swings was supposed to be a new hangout area for people, especially during family camps. Just a nice place to get cozy and catch up with old friends. I think it was a great idea, whoever came up with it.

Ok, we couldn’t really completely escape from food. I had Moose Tracks at the Chatterbox (snack shop) almost every evening, after the evening meetings. Usually while catching up with friends, or enjoying their kids’ gyrations on the table top. This particular charmer had just gotten her second wind, and I still think that photo is perfect for adding some hilarious captions.

One afternoon, I got in an awesome game of Ultimate Frisbee, though that game also proved that I needed to completely retire my old sneakers in favor of the ones that just arrived in the mail, this week. Aren’t they fantastic? And I couldn’t resist the urge to wander around and take a look at some of the main buildings on the grounds.

When my time with the friends and kiddos was finally done, it was Wednesday morning, and I got up at the crack of early to a very cool Pennsylvania morning. Which was great, because it had been pretty hot, for most of the week. I had planned to try and get some photos of the local views, so I made a stop at Norlo Park to check out the barn and the surrounding area. As always, I wished I could get up higher in the air, in order to show off the rolling hills of PA, in a much better form.

Then, at the storage unit, I loaded my car to the brim, and made one last short stop at the Goodwill store. These scary mannequins are what greets you at the back door. Don’t let the kids see them, they might have nightmares.

I drove over a couple more hills to arrive at Windy Knoll Creamery, but well before they were open. Besides, I was still going out to breakfast with someone, so it wasn’t really time for ice cream, yet. But that area is full of rolling hills to walk up, as well as a spot for me to park my car. The trick is that for all the beautiful views, you can’t always find a shoulder of the road to park on. So, a friendly neighborhood dog followed me up the hill, while I took some pics.

Then, I got back in the car, and proceeded to drive somewhat slowly, and take pictures through the windshield or out the open window (with my camera strapped wrapped around my wrist). Don’t worry, I made sure no one was behind me, so I wouldn’t hold up traffic. Some pics came out well, and some did not. But it’s truly beautiful countryside.

After that, I had some coffee at Starbucks, and a great breakfast at Perkins, and then hit the road for South Carolina. It was a great way to finish out the summer, right before starting school. Which starts in several days, by the way. We’ll see what happens on the blog, after things get going. 🙂

the flora of hawai’i…

In March of 2008, a friend and I flew to Hawaii to both see the island, and to see my cousin, who was stationed there. As I’ve been transferring pictures from my desktop to my laptop (I’ve been meaning to do this for a LONG time), I’ve noticed a few things.

Obviously, these pictures appear a bit grainier than my most recent photos, but that’s because I was using one of my Canon Powershot cameras. I’m not sure which one, though. Probably it’s the one I still have, but I can’t be sure. But mostly, I noticed that already, pictures of the local flowers were showing up, wherever I found them.

I’ve had to delete any number of fuzzy photos, or ones that were too distant to make anything of, but I’ve sorted through them, and done some editing. I would have been experimenting with the macro zoom option on my camera, at the time, which seemed to do a good job with closeups. But as I was using a point-and-shoot camera, I wasn’t looking through the viewfinder, but at the screen on the back of the camera. It’s also likely that I was taking pictures on the fly, as I tried to keep up with Joel and Carrie. Who knows?

But since I haven’t been out taking local photos in some time, I thought I’d revisit a past trip, instead. Perhaps you can see how far I’ve come with my photography since then?

Of course, I have any number of other pictures of our trip, but at this point, I don’t know how to sort through them and blog about them. I have my journal entries from that trip, but just like the FB Notes that I used to write, using my shorthand journal, they’re somewhat lengthy. I’ll see what I can do. If I have time before school starts, maybe I’ll formulate a description of that trip, but I can’t promise anything.  : )

Meanwhile, I’m getting ready for a trip to Pennsylvania, as soon as I’m finished with my job on Thursday. I’ll be hitting the road on Friday, and probably spending more than the weekend there, catching up with people, and sorting my storage unit. If you’ve heard anything about a previously planned trip to get the unit stuff, we’ve pushed the move date back, but it’s still sooner rather than later. More on that, some other time.

But I should have some pictures of friends, babies, and the PA locality, after I get back. Have a great week!

a fourth of rain & georgia…

Over ten years ago, a dear friend of mine got married. She was one of my first friends to get married, and of course, I was at the wedding. I think I helped with the punch table, or something of the sort. Unable to access my pictures from that time, I don’t remember a lot, but I do remember what I was wearing. In the intervening ten years, I still have that skirt and I’ve lost the jewelry. It was also right before I chopped off my waist-length hair, if I remember right. I’ve managed that length, twice in my life, and now I’m attempting to reach it again.

According to her kids, now, I not only have the honor of being considered the “Super Nanny from Australia”, but I was present when their parents met. Mind you, I only met him about five minutes before she did! But it doesn’t matter… the girls are enthralled to hear from someone else how I watched the two of them fall for each other, all in one weekend. I watched her having heart palpitations (but no, I couldn’t HEAR your heart beating!), and unable to believe that this was finally happening.

Over the next year or two, I think I visited two or three times. Once or twice before the baby arrived, and once afterwards. Since I always figured it would be “my turn”, sometime soon, then I was interested in learning anything I could about married life and what it’s really like when your first child arrives. She was a darling, that little E, of course. I don’t think I’d ever seen a baby born with a full head of hair, at that point, or one that seemed to be so alert! But maybe that was because I didn’t remember my brothers as babies… who knows?

Then, I moved to Pennsylvania for almost five years, followed by a year in Australia. Whenever I managed to get home for longer than a weekend, I had very little time or interest in straying very far afield. Family time was meant to be soaked up, and driving four hours anywhere (after the 10 hours it took to get home) was not in my game plan.

But though some people like to diss FB, whenever possible, it’s been a wonderful tool for me to keep in touch with my friends, over the years. Even when I couldn’t see a friend in person, I could see pictures of their children, as they arrived and grew up.

The Fourth of July weekend was approaching, when I realized that if I took that Friday off, I could get a long weekend to finally go visit my friend in Georgia. It had been almost 8 years since we’d seen each other, but we still longed to catch up in person. The time and money issue always seemed to get in the way, but finally, I scraped the wherewithal to decide to go, and then actually get there.

As you already know, it rained for most of the trip to Georgia, most of my time there, and most of the trip back. So, I waded through puddles to the house, and was immediately hugged by a 5 year old that I had never met. But they already knew who I was, because they’d read about me on my blog, when I was in Australia. I think reading about real Aussie kids was fascinating for them.

Without going into a huge amount of detail, I will say that my friends and I have both changed, over the years, but that doesn’t pull us apart, it just makes life more interesting when we get together. When I last saw them, they had a newborn daughter, and were facing life as almost-newlyweds and as new parents. I was single then, as I am now, but I still didn’t know what to do with my life. I was probably running my own cleaning business, at the time, and trying to figure out how to make a profit.

Since then, they’ve been married over ten years, have three beautiful children, and their house is a little bigger than last time. The baby E is now the eldest, with a flair for style and matching clothes. She was my mainstay, when I helped make barbecue sauce for a chicken dinner, or put together a pavlova for dessert, because I didn’t know where to find anything, in the kitchen. I’m still single, as I said, but instead of being a nanny, housekeeping manager, or business owner, I’m about to go back to college. What will be in store for me, next time I visit them?

While I’m including some photos from my visit, I should tell you that it took me about 2-3 days for me to even get my camera out. Some of you think that I travel with it attached to my arm, but that really isn’t true. I really have to be “in the mode” to get started, and even with several kids running around, I was just enjoying the ability to relax and not do anything important. I had started a book on the morning of July 4th, got hooked, and HAD to finish it while I was in Georgia, so that’s what I spent my spare time doing.

I found myself talking about Australia more than I have anywhere, since arriving home. They had read my blog, some, but not all of it, and had plenty of questions to ask me. It was very strange, after a year of spending time with people that never asked me about it, aside from “So, how was Australia?”. That general of a question will shut me down, completely. If all you want to hear is “Great!”, then I’ll give you what you want. You have to try harder, if you want to get more out of me.

Of course, the girls had to show off their crafting skills, and before two days were out, I had two door hangers to take home with me. Luckily, my new bedroom has two doors in it, so I can hang one on each side of the room, to enjoy my memories of E and the middle M.

After quite a few discussions about Aussie food and favorite things about Australia (that is a very hard thing to answer, find a favorite thing or experience from there), M decided to make an Aussie-style meal on Saturday. We went to the grocery store, and searched for patty pans to make meat pies, and eventually found them in the freezer section, with the dough already in the pans. For some reason, Publix didn’t have aluminum patty pans to buy, by themselves. M figured she would just make the top crusts, herself.

As we prepared for dinner, E helped me work on dessert. We had to start first, because we needed the pavlova to be out of the oven before the meat pies could go in. It was interesting to work off of the laptop, one page set to MY blog page with my pav recipe, and another page set to a recipe for Aussie meat pies. I now know that I can make them at home, too, so my Aussie friends will have to send me their favorite meat pie recipes.  : )

I still haven’t achieved that crispy outer crust on the pavlova, but the marshmallow-y inside is still perfect. Don’t worry, I’ll get it eventually. After the whipped topping was done, the little A got into the fun, licking the beater. He’s a charmer, that’s for sure. I unashamedly licked the spatula, after scraping the bowl to put some of it in my friend’s coffee. She had a Keurig, so I admit to drinking LOTS of coffee while I was there, experimenting with all the Kahlua, Macadamia Nut, and other delicious flavors.

The meat pies came out, smelling wonderful, and to my surprise, the asparagus was delicious, as well. I’ve always thought it was rather bland. The whole meal tasted amazing, and the dessert was a hit, except for the middle M, because she wasn’t a fan of the texture. There were enough meat pies left over that they could have them for lunch, or even breakfast, if they wanted.

On Sunday morning, I got up and went to church with my friends, and before we went out to lunch, we had a photo shoot in the front yard. The girls really enjoyed making faces for the camera, and then we brought the little guy out to join in. What child doesn’t enjoy making faces, even if they can only stick their tongue out at you? He’d figured out how to do “fishy lips”, so he wasn’t being totally left behind.

We went to a local Mexican place to eat, and I wished a certain cousin of mine could be there to enjoy the queso cheese, as she loves it so much. But meanwhile, it was fun to watch the kids eat it, and get it all over their faces. And we finished out with a dessert that I’ve forgotten the name of, but which is mostly whipped cream. Just think, if you have the right “chips” at home, some whipped cream and sprinkles could turn this into an easy, but fun dessert for the kids! I suppose you could do it with graham crackers, or something of the sort?

I had driven my car to the restaurant, so after hugs all around, I hit the road. It was wonderful to get to know the children, in person, and see how they were like and yet not like their parents. What fun to discover their personalities, and wonder what genes they inherited, and how many generations back?

You’ve already heard about my trip back from Georgia, so I won’t go into it. I can happily say that my car has been completely bug-free for well over a week, and I hope none of you ever experience what I did. But I hope that I will be able to visit my friends more often, now that I’m permanently in the South. Perhaps next summer, as I’ll be very busy during the school year.

I hope you had a wonderful Independence Day weekend, too, wherever you happened to spend it, and whether the sun shone or not!

once upon a time…

Once upon a time, a young woman spent a wonderful year in Australia, working as a nanny and looking after five little girls. Before she went there, she considered the possibility of being able to travel for years and years, visiting several different countries, and taking care of children. She loved children, you see, and as she was still single (and therefore, childless), nannying seemed to be a wondrous idea. Unfortunately, she was past the cut-off age for work & holiday visas, in most countries, so Australia would be her only overseas gig.

Instead, when she returned home, she thought that she thought that she would soak up being with her family and friends again, and then find another nanny job in the United States. There were plenty of states that she still wanted to visit, and what better way to get to see them than moving there for a year at a time? During her first summer back in the U.S., she packed up her car and drove to Minnesota.

It wasn’t meant to be. She learned a lot from that trip, but two weeks later, she drove (the two day trip) home. Admittedly, she was a little down, after this “failure”. Why had it happened? Was she NOT supposed to go, or did the Lord want her to learn something from that short trip?

She began to apply for jobs again, but just like before she left for Australia, she wasn’t finding anything very high on the pay scale or any higher on the job “quality” ladder. Once, she had been a business owner  and house cleaner, and then a full-time manager of housekeeping for a camp. Now, she was ready to step up and work at the desk in a hotel (in business clothes, instead of scruffy t-shirts and shorts), or something that had nothing to do with cleaning. But with the problematic economy and a limited resume, she wasn’t finding anything.

Fortunately, she still had some good credit with a local company that she had worked with before, and was hired almost immediately. This took her to working as a cashier, at Clemson University. The pay wasn’t high, but the location was a definite improvement on her food service experience in the same company. Every week, she told herself that she would find something better, and this job would hold her over until then.

The weeks went by, and something strange happened. She began to find that she actually enjoyed her job. Not because of the job itself, because cashiering doesn’t call for too much skill, but because of the students and professors. Especially, the graduate students, who were closer to her age. As she also had a college professor for a father AND grandfather, and graduate students had practically lived in her home when she was growing up, she began to feel right at home with them.

But still, she knew that it wasn’t easy to make friends with people, in her position. When students only speak to you for a few minutes every day, they don’t really see you as a person, and potential friend. She wasn’t sure how to cross the line to becoming friends with them, either guys or girls. She didn’t have a lot of local friends, having lived away from Clemson for several years, so she was trying to figure out how to make some.

As she began to persist in learning the students’ names, they began to see her as a person worthy of friendship, and call her by name, in return. And as each friendship developed, she found herself less and less inclined to look for another job, though she knew she needed to. She needed to earn more, but this company was not the right place to do it. But abandoning her new acquaintances, before they really became friends… that was a hard choice to make.

Did I mention that she wrote a blog? I know, you’re stunned. At about this time, she was paying more attention to her photography skills, and began to take more pictures of flowers and buildings, instead of children (as when she was a nanny). Especially, buildings on the Clemson University campus.

This caused her to take an interest in Clemson that she had never had before, not even when her dad taught there, or when she had attended one semester there. Just like when you get a new house (or car), clean it, and place your things just so, making it your own… her wandering photography tours of Clemson were making their mark. Clemson (the city) was already home, and now the University was getting there.

She would tell you that it’s the blog’s fault, really. On some days, she would think about random topics, trying to think about what else to write about. And one day… she had a blog post idea. But she never wrote it. It would have been a fascinating post, I’m sure, but the reality was so much better. I’ll tell you about it, in a few minutes.

With the beginning of the New Year, some of her acquaintances truly became friends. And during one online conversation, she discovered that Clemson University was hiring for a job. A job that was in the same department as most of her friends. If she had never made friends at her workplace, with the students, she never would have heard about it. Because when it was finally listed online, the listing was only there for a week, and you had to be ready for it.

Her friend had thought she would be interested in this job, for herself. As thrilled as she was by this placing of confidence, she knew that she couldn’t take it. Are you wondering why? I’m still coming to that aforementioned, non-existent blog post. Instead, she told her mother about this job opening, and encouraged her to apply for it. Her mother was so much more qualified, and it was about time she worked for a place that would appreciate her that much more!

When her mother applied for it, she was certain that her mom would get the job, though no one else was certain. And then… she did get it! Why had she been so certain? It didn’t really make sense, did it?

But then again… she (the daughter, not the mother) had gone through a long process of not finding employment, after coming home from Australia, and then developing an interest in an uninteresting job. An occupation that was made interesting because of the people. And if she had never gotten to know those students, she never would have helped her mom find her new position. She marveled at how the Lord must have had that plan in place, when she returned from Australia, but of course, she didn’t know about it!

Many people were excited for her mother, after she was hired for the new position, and encouraged her daughter that “they’d find one for her, too!”. She didn’t say anything about how she could have applied for that same opportunity, but that she knew it wasn’t the right one. The Lord had other plans for her, and she’d known it for a long time.

You see, once upon a time, she thought about how much she liked to read, and especially how she read a lot of history books. And because she was always working or taking photographs on the Clemson campus, she began to think about (for a blog post), what she would major in, if she ever decided to go back to college. She had hated college, the first time, and hadn’t had any subject that she enjoyed enough to keep her there. And she knew that you did NOT need a degree to succeed in life.

But while she was thinking about this imaginary blog post… it finally hit her. If she wanted to, she COULD go back to college. She loved to read non-fiction, everything from the subject of the Founding Fathers, the writing of the Constitution, and the forming of the United States, to the Civil War and the Cold War. She spent most of her spare time reading these subjects, for fun… why wouldn’t she enjoy getting a degree in history?

She did her research on getting a history major, and what jobs can result from that type of degree. She applied to Clemson, and was accepted. She jumped through every hoop they held out for her, and they moved those hoops around a LOT, for returning students! She wrote appeals letters for several committees, and scrambled to find out what information they had forgotten to tell her. And at the moment, she is still in the final stages of getting financial aid, and waiting to register for classes (because returning students can’t register until late July).

Think about it. Over a year ago, the Lord knew that she would NOT get a job outside of Clemson, but stay there, making friends. He knew that she would begin to like the campus and the people, and that her friendships would help her mother find new employment. He knew that her reading, blogging, and photography would eventually lead her to reconsider school.

He knew this, while she was crying over her “failure” in Minnesota. Was it a failure, though, if the Lord had His hand on the situation? He knew this while she was worn out by mono, and unable to even think about finding another job. He knew it, when she was unable to afford to travel anywhere, but slowly was becoming accustomed to staying in Clemson. He always KNEW where she would go, and what He had planned for her!

~

And now that you know, I might as well switch tenses to finish the tale. Barring any problems with financial aid, I will be starting undergraduate classes, in about six weeks. I may still be a little worried about the issue of funds, but I sincerely believe that the Lord’s been leading me this whole way, all this time. So, if that is true, then money should not be a worry. He has it under control.

I would appreciate your thoughts and prayers, as I am quite nervous about starting school. I don’t have fond memories of my lone semester at Clemson, and even if it was because I was immature and overwhelmed, the memories can spring up and swamp me, at times. Also, I was serious when I said that I had to jump through hoops, as a returning student. Every time I turn around, I’ve missed some important information, or they forgot to tell me that I need to sign another paper, or write another letter to someone.

Please pray that all the necessary paperwork will come together. That even if I’m nervous, I won’t be overly worried and/or terrified. Panic attacks are NOT welcome. And please, please pray that I’m not having a mono relapse (or that I will get over it soon), because I really want to have the energy to pay attention and even enjoy what I’m doing and learning.

~

I will be very busy, over the next four years, so my blog posts may become much more infrequent, and the subject matter of both word and photo may change (again). But please hang in there, because I truly enjoy blogging, and do not intend to give it up. Perhaps you will even come to enjoy my rambling about life as a 30-something college student. At least, I hope you will!  : )

the why-me? factor…

I should’ve known, I suppose. Or should I? When was the last time we had SO much rain that it occurred to me that I should move my car several times, in order to discourage intruders? I knew that bugs will head inside, sometimes, when there is a lot of rain, because they’re looking for dry ground, and shelter from what must be a global flood, to them. But how often do I leave my car sitting for several days? Not very often.

Spending several days with friends in Georgia was wonderful, and I’ll talk more about that part of it, later. But I was expecting a leisurely drive home to Clemson… when I saw an ant on my dashboard. I squashed him, thinking little of it. And then I saw another. By the time I had seen four or five of them, I was getting worried. Because it had finally occurred to me what MIGHT have happened, while Georgia and South Carolina were getting drowned in rain, and my car had been sitting in the same spot. I was hoping I was wrong, however.

You can never find an exit, when you want one. I’m sure it took another half an hour to find an exit, and then pull off at a gas station. The second I opened my car door, I almost freaked out. Ok, I wanted to freak out, but had to keep it under control. A stream of ants was running around the door jamb of the driver’s side door. So, I opened a different door… and it was even worse. I ran into the gas station, hoping they would have bug spray, but no such luck. I ran out, slightly panicked, and NOT wanting to get back into my car, but reminded myself they didn’t seem to be getting on the carpet or anything fabric. Just on the plastic stuff, in the door.

I managed to find an Ingles, and hurried in, just as it began to pour down rain, once more. Here I was, wearing my sundress that I had worn to church, trying to keep from slipping in my wet flip-flops, carrying an umbrella, and all I wanted was ant spray for my car! When I saw the Terro ant spray on the shelf, I took a brace, momentarily. Terro ant traps… my family and friends swear by that brand, so the spray must be fantastic.

Back out into the rain I went, where eventually, I had about three doors open at a time, to keep from soaking the inside of the car, and to deter anyone from making a grab for my purse. Not that any sane person would be out there in the rain, purse-snatching. But I had swarms of aunts in the back door jambs, which made me want to do a dance of disgust and run away, not deal with the problem. Holding an umbrella in one hand, I stomped through the puddles, spraying my doors, the door jambs, parts of the floor, and even on my dashboard (while trying to protect the CD player).

Once I was back in the car, I tried to convince myself that nothing was crawling on me, as I drove away. You know how it is, you get any creepy-crawly on or near you, and you feel like there are more. About an hour later, the rain had stopped, and I needed a break, so I pulled over at a Starbucks. Then, it was time for the next step. With no rain coming down, I popped the hood, and looked inside. And had to take several deep breaths, before calling my dad.

With a stream of ants running around near the battery, I wanted to know if it was safe to be spraying ant spray near the engine, while I continued to resist the urge to run away and cry. Or scream. Or something. So, after getting the go-ahead, I sprayed down everything I could reach (aside from the engine itself), and left the hood open. Then I went inside for coffee, and stayed there for a while. Just keep breathing. Coffee will help.

For the rest of the trip home, I had an occasional invader come into the car, and crawl out on the dashboard. So I kept the spray handy, and kept my windows cracked, whether it was raining or not. Because it was extremely humid and I have issues with the smell of exhaust, I could never go long with the air cycling from the outside, so I finally just kept the AC running, with the windows partially open. And yes, it was raining for a lot of this.

There were so many wrecks on the road, because of the slippery roads, and the traffic kept slowing down and speeding up. But I was doing fine, if a little uptight over the bug problem. And then, I still don’t know if the van didn’t have brake lights or if I just missed it. I saw a license plate at such close range that I’ll never know how I didn’t hit that vehicle. I hit the brakes and threw my car into the other lane. Had I somehow remembered that that lane was empty, because of an upcoming police car (helping someone with a flat tire)? Or would I just have hit whoever was in that lane? I’m sure what almost happened to me is why so many people were in the ditches, even when it wasn’t raining. So much traffic, and cars stopping and starting.

That near-miss just about gave me a heart attack, and for the first time, when I got home a road trip, I told my mom that I never wanted to get into the car again. Or at least, for a very long time. I proceeded to hose out the engine of my car, even as it began to rain again, and then hose out all the crevices all around my car. The ants kept looking for any non-poisonous space they could find. By the time I was finished with the hose, the rain was really coming down again, but I just stayed out in it, cooling off and calming down further.

It was  a crazy trip. One of those trips where you want to ask the sky, “Why me?”. What did I do to deserve that? Nothing, of course. These things just happen, and it’s just life. But though I’m usually the kind of girl that isn’t overly bothered by bugs, I’ve been extra antsy about them, all day today. And no, I’m not intending a pun, though I know where the word comes from, now. When I woke up, I had to take a deep breath and go check my car, because I had this dread that it would be just as bad, again.

Thus far, the spray and the hose seem to have done their work. But I don’t think I will be very “trusting” of my car, for some time after this. So, if you see me staring hard at the door jambs of my car, any time soon, you can be sure of what I’m looking for. Any unwanted visitors, so I can be rid of them, right away!

Now, feel free to laugh and squirm over this, and the fact that you didn’t have to deal with it. And I’ll get ready to tell you about the rest of my fun, though wet, weekend in Georgia. The trip home was the only bad part!  : )