Sunday, December 7, 2008

"I get by with a little help from my friends"

The weekend before finals has consistently been my favorite weekend of the semester. Some would say that this is one of the worst weekends- having to cram and study the time away, but I would disagree. There are always numerous study breaks (often so many that studying takes a back seat to them) during which I get to spend time with friends. And there are few times you appreciate your friends more, than when you realize you will be spending awhile without them. (Note: I realize you also tend to value them highly when it's been awhile since you have seen them, but we'll address that issue when we come to it). Given, there have definitely been some other great weekends this semester: Halloween, Thanksgiving, the weekend before Thanksgiving, ect. ect. I enjoy holidays even more now that I am at college. And I suppose this is the weekend before Christmas (break) so that counts...

Often I also find that just before a good weekend I tend to have at least one particularly rough night. This past Thursday was that night. My classes were stressing me out and I just did not want to have to put forth effort. This semester's classes have not been my favorite.
1- turned out much more difficult than I thought it would be... such so that I have grown tired of it... and being not good at it
1- was just a general education requirement which makes it harder to put serious time towards
1- I was really excited for, but ended up being a disappointment. I did not learn nearly as much as I had hoped to, but I blame less of that on myself and more on the class structure
1- I did not get as much out of as I should've because I didn't do as much of the reading as I should've. I shot myself in the foot.
1- I enjoyed, but did not get to put as much effort into because I was worn down from my other classes
I was very ready for them to be over and on Thursday night I just became overwhelmed and apathetic (not a good mix). I called my sister and she answered and put her busy schedule on hold and tried to help my irrational self calm down. The second time I got off the phone I was ready to get back to the world. And I did. I wrote my paper and then got a good night's sleep. Friday went fine; I made it. After my classes I considered going for a run, but slept for three hours instead.

Directing 1's 10-Minute Scenes had their second night on Friday. Often the schedules of the directors and the casts are too busy to put on two performances, but some how it worked out this year that we could. Both nights we filled the studio and Friday night we had to add extra chairs! All the scenes turned out really well. I was particularly proud of my actors. The scene, Betty's Garage was tough. It was 1000xs heavier than anything else on that stage and handling real issues in a surreal fashion can be particularly confusing. However, I think it turned out great and have received plenty of positive feedback. Yay!

After Directing Scenes we gave Katie our props and cleaned up the studio. Then some kids went to 84 East and I came home to get myself organized for the weekend. Then I went over to the Yellow House to hang out with runners. Then a bunch of theatre kids came over and it was theeee greatest. I can't remember the last time I had so many quality friends in one living room! At social gatherings I like to move around a lot and normally I only have 1-2 groups to go between and then I use the kitchen ("getting some air") as a buffer. But there were so many of my friends there, ah! It was definitely the greatest. Plus I had hot chocolate and other delicious drinks. By the time I left we had done "Send me on my way" and "All these things that I've done" so my out-of-shape-calves were sort of tired from all the jumping. Yet, it was a great night. I spent time with friends, was reassured about study abroad by Sarah, danced, laughed... you get the general idea.


Today (Saturday) I worked The Nutcracker which was SOLD OUT. Congrats to the ballet club on that. Afterwards I had dinner and then worked on lighting with Andrew. We took one break and played ping-pong, which was wonderful-- except I need to practice my hand-eye coordination because I have very little :) We also visited Andi and Mama which was lovely. I hid things in their pillow which has a rip in it. I was in a small fit of giggles about this. Eventually Andrew and I became tired of lighting and decided we would finish it tomorrow. On the way back to his dorm to pick up my book bag we heard singing! We stopped and saw 3 girls standing outside a house singing loudly. They were amazing (amazingly hilarious) and when they finished one verse of Jingle Bells we shouted across the street for an encore. They sang more and spread a fair amount of good cheer. As I was walking home in the snow (I'm not sure of the exact measurements, but it averages out to around to above my boots -- although there is some blowing so there's more in some areas) I started to think about how bitter we often are towards snow. I detest driving in it and only enjoy it before it's been touched and only as long as I do not have to venture out into it. However, this snow looked surreal. It was light weight and fluffy. I wanted to play in it!
I went home and called a few people. I heard plenty of voice mails and no-thank-yous, but then Susan said she would play frisbee in the snow with me and she would bring her friends! Joanne also called me back and said she'd come out for just a little bit! And ah! What great times we had. The snow was not as bad for packing as I thought it would be. We threw snowballs and slid and fell in the snow numerous times. Playing frisbee in the snow did not work out so well, but the idea at least got people outside. We then brought snow in to Claire, Emily and Emma. Emma then joined us outside for a bit before we went into Kollen bringing Jackie B. snow cheer too :) By this time both Joanne and I were tired. Emma talked with me on my way home and as we were approaching Timmer we saw Josh and Tim. We through snowballs at them and I tackled Tim in the snow before sending them on their way :)

And then I returned home to sit for awhile. Maybe some would say I should have studied more today, but I did make progress on both lighting and directing. Tomorrow's goals
-Strike
-Finish Lighting Design
-Study for Geology Lab
(for some ridiculous reason I have 2 geology finals. I think this is a bad plan)
-Practice HSD

It's going to be a full day.
Thank goodness for good friends <3


Added Note: I think one of my favorite things about yesterday was all the hugs I received. I think some people must've read my last entry <3 Yes!

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