Midterms

We're almost done with our midterm exams here, my last few happen this week and I am very much looking forward to being done! UT has been such a good experience for me. I'm digging the weather here man. It's almost always perfect outside. We've had a little bit of rain, but only for 3 days. The fun thing is, it will rain at night, and then be warm and sunny all day. WIN! I'm also much more fit during the school year than I have ever been in my life, save for when I was doing basketball and Tae Kwon Do.

Bassoon is coming along, though I do find it more difficult to find serious practice time here than I did at Eastman. That might simply be because I'm taking 17 credits, which is more credits than I've taken for a while now. Next semester won't be so bad. I won't be taking any non-music classes, so I'll spend all my time in the music building. huzzah? I dunno man. At least I can practice in my Apartment after 2pm till late most days. Why do I have to wait until after 2pm to practice you might ask. WELL... that is directly tied to the nocturnal activities of the other college students the previous night. But whatevs. If I had I life I might be more sympathetic? nahhh

So I usually enjoy the thrill of living life on the fly, ie. running around with no actual formal schedule to organize my day for me. I reject the constraints of ordering my life into a box, it should just flow naturally. I've discovered the hard way that this doesn't work. After missing a few appointments, my teacher had words with me and I now have a nice daily planner that helps me to stay organized. A brilliant friend of mine pointed out that having a schedule doesn't put your life in a box, it illuminates where the perimeters of the box lie so that you can make your escape and not trip over yourself in the process.

So the few of you who are silly enough to suffer from the same anti-scheduling syndrome, let this be a warning and an encouragement. Life doesn't have to be this way, it can get better. Buy a small planner and keep it with you.

Today was Sunday. It was a good day. The Terpstras picked me up for morning worship and I went over to the Engelbrechts for lunch. Many thanks to both families for transporting and feeding me. And thanks to the Van Dams who schedule my Sundays for me.

So, halloween is coming up. I think I'll just do a toga or something. Pearson mentioned that I could go as a sorority girl buuutttt I dunno. He also said something about dressing up as Internet Explorer... that might be amusing. XD

But there will be a big party at Aaron's house, and I ACTUALLY got invited!!! YES!!! I only had to pry a little bit...

So last week was the shopping adventure. Without a car I rely on the bus system. I should have asked around before I attempted this, but instead I relied on google maps to guide me. Bad idea. The key word I used was "grocery store" and all that came up were a bunch of convenience stores, and at the very end of the list, Whole Foods. I checked it out on the website, it looked like a very nice place, there were no prices listed but it appeared to be a grocery store and not a convenience store, so I hopped on a bus and headed over. When I got off the bus to cross the street, a van pulled up next to me at the cross walk (very unexpectedly) and of all the crazy things that could have happened, a very small child was leaning out of a window thrusting a purple flower at me. I confusedly took the flower thinking that it was just some childish game and the best thing to do would be to humor the child and take the flower. The driver of the van, a younger lady in her late 20's, informed me that they were doing "random acts of kindness" so I said thank you and smiled as they whizzed off. It was very strange, and it happened very quickly! A few minutes later after bumbling my way around I found Whole Foods. When I went inside I was amazed at how large the store was, how clean and the fantastic array of exotic foods. Coconut water was one of the first things that I saw for sale, besides the fresh gourmet deli that looked and smelled amazing. But I went off to find more practical things like fresh fruit and pantry items. I soon found that Whole Foods it not geared towards people on a budget. This was very frustrating when you haven't had dinner and just want to buy something and go home to eat it. However, I saw an amazing array of fungus from all over the planet for the cultured, aristocratic taste buds of Austin's rich. I do find it ironic that people who have "made it" in our society end up eating glorified mold. It certainly has variety, but the irony stands. I've never seen so many types of mushrooms in one place. It was an experience. I ended up buying some apples and crackers and similar such items so that the trip wasn't an absolute washout. But on the way home I hit my now favorite cigar shop.

When you walk inside the smell of all those fresh cigars hits you. Probably one of the best smells in the world. I bought a few really small "hazel" cigars, and they are sooo good. I originally asked for cherry vanilla, but they didn't have that. However the richness of the hazel cigar is just fantastic. As long as I don't get hooked it will be ok, but I'm going to bring some home to my peeps in San Diego and expose them to the awesomeness that is the small hazel cigar. It's strange that after coming from a non-smoking family that I can even tolerate the smell, let alone appreciate the smell of cigars. But now the smell of those few cigars has perfumed my room for days now. Every time I come back to my room the cigar smell hits me, and I know it's a good day. ;)