being sarah marie

I am back at school for my final semester. Ever.

My time at home was lovely. I hemmed four pairs of pants, altered four skirts, and fixed two shirts with ripped hems and such. I like my Mom and I like her sewing machine. When I wasn't at work with my Dad or sewing with my Mom, I spent most of my time during break either playing fun games with my family or trying to clean out all the drawers and shelves in my room, pack things into boxes, and... figure out how to grow up.

Christmas was nice... among many wonderful gifts, I received a digital camera! - a gift from my parents and grandparents combined. I love it and am so happy to have a way to record memories of this, my final semester of college. I shall no doubt post pictures in the near future. I also received the word game Quiddler - which brought back memories of Wheaton. It's a great game, and my family did a lot to break in the new deck of cards - we all love it!

Emily and Baby Jonathan (aka my adorable nephew) came to visit! We all adored him as he deserves, and it was a lovely time having them for a visit.

My cousin and his family also came to visit - his wife Amber and their two children, Emma (3/almost 4) and Greggory (2 weeks). It was very fun having them as guests, and it was truly wonderful to see what good parents Matt and Amber are. Emma is the most delightful little girl I've encountered in a long time. She said "please" and "thank you" and "excuse me", and she asked questions like, "Is Emily processing the salad?" when Em was mashing vegetables for Baby Jonathan. She and I "baked cakes" for many hours together, and I also read her some stories. It was all so much fun. Also, my cousin has me in perpetual awe of his Quiddler-playing prowess.

On Wednesday morning Mom drove me to the airport to catch my 9:30 flight to Cleveland. Upon arriving, we heard that the first leg of my flight was cancelled. After much confusion, they put me on an 11:10 red-eye that same night; Mom and I went back home and made the trip again that evening! It was a little crazy. I arrived in Cleveland at 8:15 Thursday morning, where FavoriteBoy met me at the airport and drove me back to his house where I spent the next 24 hours - less, actually. We watched Cinderella Man (which I recommend), played cards, and relaxed. He also gave me Christmas gifts - including extra small things in a stocking, just from him! He gave me the DVD's for the A&E Pride and Prejudice as well as some more memory for my computer. (Pride and Prejudice is now sitting on my bookshelf, and the memory is installed; it has already lowered my blood pressure significantly - my computer now actually responds when I click to do something!) In the stocking I found some of my favorite candies, and a huge bottle of Excedrin for my headaches! Funny and practical - what a nice gift. Anyway, it was nice to be at FavoriteBoy's house - very cozy.

Friday morning we boarded the train from Erie, PA to Boston, MA. I have decided that train travel is really quite fantastic. It was comfortable, spacious, quiet, classic, enjoyable, and relaxing. We ate breakfast together on the dining car, napped frequently throughout the trip, read several chapters of Eats, Shoots and Leaves (a Christmas gift from my parents - I love it!) together, and played several games of Quiddler. We arrived at South Station at around 6 in the evening, and we then took the Red Line to the Orange Line to North Station, hauled our luggage a few blocks, and then took the Commuter Rail back to school. What a day! It was very nice to be back in my own dorm room after all of that.

This week is operetta week - I'm playing in the pit for a production of The Doctor In Spite of Himself by Gounod. Most evenings this week will be fully occupied by either rehearsals or performances. I'm looking forward to it.