Update
Oh jeez. I let it happen again, didn't I? Sorry to those persons who check this frequently only to experience 26 straight days of disappointment...
The end of my first semester in college went by faster than I ever could have expected. The entire semester did, really, but the final three weeks are just a blur of motion and noise in my memory. I'll try to think back to the start of December, but it might be all out of order now... oh well. Dave took me to his hall formal, the "Dance Under the Dome" which, just as the title indicates, was held in the gorgeous space under the dome inside the main building of Notre Dame. Bryan and Arlene joined us, and it was really incredible. We had so much fun! However, there were some strikes against the evening. To begin, the dance took place on the same day that Better than Ezra had a concert at ND that I really, really wanted to see. Arlene and I decided that we'd try to do both.... great in theory, but it turned into a heartwrenching evening. We got there on time, but the opener started 40 minutes late. After they were done, we waited for another 45 minutes but finally had to leave. Right as we got outside, we could hear Better than Ezra starting. The bitter irony brought tears to my eyes. Half the reason I wanted to see them was for my dad's sake... it was upsetting. So we paid ten bucks to wait for about 2 and a half hours to not see any of the show. But I'm over it.
So we hurried over to the boys' dorm, where our dresses were waiting. Jessica had already done our hair up all pretty, but we needed to do the whole makeup/getting dressed thing over there to save time. Of course it was the coldest night of the year, so by the time we got there our noses were frozen solid. We ran inside and frantically tried to get ready. You ladies out there remember the whole process of preparation for a dance, don't you? The hours spent on hair and makeup, the last minute touches, the primping and waiting... try cramming it all into 15 minutes time. Subtract 5 minutes for putting in contacts. Yeah. Somehow we got ourselves ready, threw on our boots, hiked up our dresses and plodded back out into the cold. It was worth everything once we got inside though--I've never seen such a beautiful Christmas tree in my life! The whole place looked gorgeous, and I remember just staring up at the paintings on the dome in awe. But then we hit another bump in our otherwise enjoyable evening. College dances are about five times as... graphic, I guess, than high school dances. Good Lord. People do things at those that should definitely be left behind closed doors. With the lights out. Both Bryan and Arlene and Dave and I are pretty modest with our displays of public affection. Holding hands, great! Grinding to the same repetitive rap music with such intensity that we don't even notice our dresses slipping down? . . . Um, no. I saw a lot of things I'd have been better off not seeing.
But nonetheless, we managed to ignore the crude visions before us and have a good time. The DJ played a decently balanced mix of classics and modern hip hop earworms, but didn't play a single slow song until the very end. Dave and Bryan requested "Wonderful Tonight" and they finally played it! It was really sweet. The very last song of the night was Billy Joel's "Piano Man," and everyone in the room circled up with their arms around one another and belted out the words loudly. That was probably one of my favorite memories of the night. After that, we went back to the boys' dorm and sat watching a movie that I really don't remember because I fell asleep. We stayed up wayyy too late, as usual.
The next couple weeks were really good. That's all I can say about them. At one point in there, my tandem (the combined RLST/English class that I adore) had a lunch over at my English prof's house. She made us really good Italian pasta, and our RLST prof brought baclava and some Italian bread thing that was really, really good. And we had salads with good lettuce! It was to die for. We gave them their presents and played games and all got books with the best quotes from the year. I will miss that class so much next semester... those are some of the most incredible women I've ever met in my life. I'm sure we'll all stay close, though. A group like that coming together doesn't happen all the time, and we won't let it die away.
So finals week crept up, much to the chagrin of the student body. Personally, I didn't think it was all that bad. Then again I only had three official finals to worry about, compared to Dave's five. But oh well. The hardest part for me (and some of my friends!) was the declaration of 23-hour-long "Quiet Hours". I get yelled at just about every night by an RA for being too loud with the door open, so the extension kind of got to me. We survived though, and my finals went alright. After a really rushed goodbye, I left on Friday afternoon and was home by 10:30. As much as I was looking forward to being home, I didn't feel prepared at all. December 15th really snuck up on me.
But I survived, and the next day I got to sing at church, which was nice. The day after that I saw my Lauren, and the day after that I had surgery.
Which brings me to the story that most of you know, but that I never told on here. Way back at the start of October, I started to feel intense pain whenever I sat down. Yes, I had a severe pain in my butt. Laugh it up! It was extremely painful though. It started to affect more and more of my movements, but I just assumed that I had bruised my tailbone. It got so bad that the day after I returned to school from fall break, I went to Health and Wellness. Turns out I had a Pilonidal cyst near my tailbone, whether it formed on its own or when I was in the womb. It's relatively common at this age, so the nurse sent me to the real doctor's office that afternoon for minor surgery. I don't think I've ever felt such pain in my life, nor such humiliation. That faded with time though... for the next week, I had to go into Health and Wellness every day to get the gauze changed. The cyst was in such an awkward place that I basically had to just lie down on the table, pull down the back of my pants and say, "Howdy..." to whoever was helping me that day. They were wonderful about it though. It was the most humbling experience I've had thus far. Eventually the cyst healed up temporarily, but I still needed a major surgery to remove the whole thing.
So last Monday I had it. The first day was really bad, because the Vicadin I took made me throw up everything I ate. After that things got a lot better, though it's still a little sore. I've been carrying a squishy thing everywhere (even church and the movies!) to sit on. The week was really relaxing--all I did was sit at home and read/watercolor/play piano/make cards. I enjoyed it a lot. I got my stitches out yesterday, and am feeling a great deal better than before. Unfortunately, I traded that off to my mom, who had surgery on Wednesday and is currently in a lot of pain, the poor dear. She should get home from the hospital tomorrow, which is exciting! Our family has been pretty much beat up this year. The only person who hasn't had a surgery is Kristy, and even she managed to take a trip to Outpatient for cutting open her hand in August. Man.
But Christmas was wonderful! I got to see all my family, including the new babies. I can hardly keep track now... Quinn, Vito, Nicholas and Amelia (the twins!), Avery, Ali, and Maria. It was interesting, haha. And Kristy is engaged!! And it's so exciting!!
But I need to get going right now before my computer dies.... I'll keep going whenever I get back on. Love you all lots!
:-)
The end of my first semester in college went by faster than I ever could have expected. The entire semester did, really, but the final three weeks are just a blur of motion and noise in my memory. I'll try to think back to the start of December, but it might be all out of order now... oh well. Dave took me to his hall formal, the "Dance Under the Dome" which, just as the title indicates, was held in the gorgeous space under the dome inside the main building of Notre Dame. Bryan and Arlene joined us, and it was really incredible. We had so much fun! However, there were some strikes against the evening. To begin, the dance took place on the same day that Better than Ezra had a concert at ND that I really, really wanted to see. Arlene and I decided that we'd try to do both.... great in theory, but it turned into a heartwrenching evening. We got there on time, but the opener started 40 minutes late. After they were done, we waited for another 45 minutes but finally had to leave. Right as we got outside, we could hear Better than Ezra starting. The bitter irony brought tears to my eyes. Half the reason I wanted to see them was for my dad's sake... it was upsetting. So we paid ten bucks to wait for about 2 and a half hours to not see any of the show. But I'm over it.
So we hurried over to the boys' dorm, where our dresses were waiting. Jessica had already done our hair up all pretty, but we needed to do the whole makeup/getting dressed thing over there to save time. Of course it was the coldest night of the year, so by the time we got there our noses were frozen solid. We ran inside and frantically tried to get ready. You ladies out there remember the whole process of preparation for a dance, don't you? The hours spent on hair and makeup, the last minute touches, the primping and waiting... try cramming it all into 15 minutes time. Subtract 5 minutes for putting in contacts. Yeah. Somehow we got ourselves ready, threw on our boots, hiked up our dresses and plodded back out into the cold. It was worth everything once we got inside though--I've never seen such a beautiful Christmas tree in my life! The whole place looked gorgeous, and I remember just staring up at the paintings on the dome in awe. But then we hit another bump in our otherwise enjoyable evening. College dances are about five times as... graphic, I guess, than high school dances. Good Lord. People do things at those that should definitely be left behind closed doors. With the lights out. Both Bryan and Arlene and Dave and I are pretty modest with our displays of public affection. Holding hands, great! Grinding to the same repetitive rap music with such intensity that we don't even notice our dresses slipping down? . . . Um, no. I saw a lot of things I'd have been better off not seeing.
But nonetheless, we managed to ignore the crude visions before us and have a good time. The DJ played a decently balanced mix of classics and modern hip hop earworms, but didn't play a single slow song until the very end. Dave and Bryan requested "Wonderful Tonight" and they finally played it! It was really sweet. The very last song of the night was Billy Joel's "Piano Man," and everyone in the room circled up with their arms around one another and belted out the words loudly. That was probably one of my favorite memories of the night. After that, we went back to the boys' dorm and sat watching a movie that I really don't remember because I fell asleep. We stayed up wayyy too late, as usual.
The next couple weeks were really good. That's all I can say about them. At one point in there, my tandem (the combined RLST/English class that I adore) had a lunch over at my English prof's house. She made us really good Italian pasta, and our RLST prof brought baclava and some Italian bread thing that was really, really good. And we had salads with good lettuce! It was to die for. We gave them their presents and played games and all got books with the best quotes from the year. I will miss that class so much next semester... those are some of the most incredible women I've ever met in my life. I'm sure we'll all stay close, though. A group like that coming together doesn't happen all the time, and we won't let it die away.
So finals week crept up, much to the chagrin of the student body. Personally, I didn't think it was all that bad. Then again I only had three official finals to worry about, compared to Dave's five. But oh well. The hardest part for me (and some of my friends!) was the declaration of 23-hour-long "Quiet Hours". I get yelled at just about every night by an RA for being too loud with the door open, so the extension kind of got to me. We survived though, and my finals went alright. After a really rushed goodbye, I left on Friday afternoon and was home by 10:30. As much as I was looking forward to being home, I didn't feel prepared at all. December 15th really snuck up on me.
But I survived, and the next day I got to sing at church, which was nice. The day after that I saw my Lauren, and the day after that I had surgery.
Which brings me to the story that most of you know, but that I never told on here. Way back at the start of October, I started to feel intense pain whenever I sat down. Yes, I had a severe pain in my butt. Laugh it up! It was extremely painful though. It started to affect more and more of my movements, but I just assumed that I had bruised my tailbone. It got so bad that the day after I returned to school from fall break, I went to Health and Wellness. Turns out I had a Pilonidal cyst near my tailbone, whether it formed on its own or when I was in the womb. It's relatively common at this age, so the nurse sent me to the real doctor's office that afternoon for minor surgery. I don't think I've ever felt such pain in my life, nor such humiliation. That faded with time though... for the next week, I had to go into Health and Wellness every day to get the gauze changed. The cyst was in such an awkward place that I basically had to just lie down on the table, pull down the back of my pants and say, "Howdy..." to whoever was helping me that day. They were wonderful about it though. It was the most humbling experience I've had thus far. Eventually the cyst healed up temporarily, but I still needed a major surgery to remove the whole thing.
So last Monday I had it. The first day was really bad, because the Vicadin I took made me throw up everything I ate. After that things got a lot better, though it's still a little sore. I've been carrying a squishy thing everywhere (even church and the movies!) to sit on. The week was really relaxing--all I did was sit at home and read/watercolor/play piano/make cards. I enjoyed it a lot. I got my stitches out yesterday, and am feeling a great deal better than before. Unfortunately, I traded that off to my mom, who had surgery on Wednesday and is currently in a lot of pain, the poor dear. She should get home from the hospital tomorrow, which is exciting! Our family has been pretty much beat up this year. The only person who hasn't had a surgery is Kristy, and even she managed to take a trip to Outpatient for cutting open her hand in August. Man.
But Christmas was wonderful! I got to see all my family, including the new babies. I can hardly keep track now... Quinn, Vito, Nicholas and Amelia (the twins!), Avery, Ali, and Maria. It was interesting, haha. And Kristy is engaged!! And it's so exciting!!
But I need to get going right now before my computer dies.... I'll keep going whenever I get back on. Love you all lots!
:-)
posted by Sarah @ 7:57 PM
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