Mary and Martha

Last week, inspired by Alana , I rewatched the first part of the knitting DVD I purchased ... what, last year? ... and began knitting a scarf! Garter stitch all the way, nothing fancy, (and, I'll be honest, it's starting to get rather monotonous), but we've all got to start somewhere and I'm SO glad I finally just bit the bullet, bought some yarn, and began knitting!

I went to bed around 1:00 a.m. Sunday night (EJ is on swing shift, so I maintain his schedule). At about 4:30, I wake up with the cold, demonic fear in the pit of my stomach indicating there are Others attacking me - it is, unfortunately, not uncommon. I try to go back to sleep, but then realize I'm hearing more noises than usual and begin to think my mind is playing tricks on me above and beyond what the demons normally do. I have to use the restroom and decide it will be the perfect way to clear my head. As I get up, the noises to do not go away - weird noises unlike apartment complex babble. As I near our bedroom door, the light in the hallway flicks on, seemingly by itself. The fear grows stronger and colder, and it dawns on me that this may not be the work of demons, but of an actual intruder. My heart beats faster and I take a step closer to the hallway, just one step more and I'll be through the door. Suddenly, I see a shadow moving on the carpet and my heart jumps into ...

Well, hello kids! I've been home now for five days - by home, I mean in Michigan with my family. I've tried posting something twice in that time, but, my mom's MacBook froze up on both occasions and I had to restart it. We'll see how this posting goes. It has been WONDERFUL being back in this state. You don't realize how much you love something until you've left it and come back. My family is the same as ever, with the exception of a little 13 pound liver-and-white bundle of energy: their most recent acquisition, Lucy the puppy . She is so cute , if a bit bitey. Alright, now to quickly post this before anything goes wrong. 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... POST!

22 years ago today, I was born 40 years ago today, we landed on the moon. 56 years ago today, UNICEF was made a permanent world agency. (>. 65 years ago today, Count Claus von Stauffenberg, with the help of many others, tried and failed to assassinate Hitler. 83 years ago today, a convention of Methodists officially allowed women to become priests 106 years ago today, Ford Motor Company shipped its first car. 145 years ago today, the Civil War Battle of Peachtree Creek was fought near Atlanta, Georgia. 271 years ago today, the french explorer Pierre Gaultier de Varennes sieur de la Vérendrye reached the western shore of Lake Michigan. Yep, lotsa stuff happened on this day. =) EDIT: I just found out it's Anna's birthday today, as well. =)

Holy smoke, I mentioned for the first time to my mom today how I still needed three credits to complete my degree and she nearly blew a gasket! She wasn't angry at me, but at the school for letting me graduate and then telling me after the fact that I still needed these credits. I completely understand why she was so upset though, she and my dad footed most of my hefty bill for four years and expect to be treated better than this. I'm still upset at the school as well, but I'm also upset at myself for letting this slip by. I should have caught it. Seriously, Hillsdale is a good college, better than most, but it is not the savior of the world most conservatives think it is. It has its hypocrisies, its surrenders to the culture, etc, and it spends altogether too much on making itself look good to the outside, rather than making sure its dormitories are up to code. No school is perfect, I just wish I wasn't on the receiving end of one of the things that doesn't make it...

(Like the word I just made up?) It seems like my posts are getting shorter and farther apart. I don't know why. It's not like I don't have things to blog about - but ... I just don't know if I need to share everything I'm thinking or that has happened to me. I just want to be quiet for now. While I'll probably never shut down this blog, and I think I'll still post links to articles, movies, etc. (basically what I'm doing now), I don't know how often I'll keep making original posts. Still, I do have one story to relate: After a long 4th-of-July weekend (or a "96" in military parlance), EJ is finally back at work today and the apartment simply reeks. We had two of his friends from the shop over from Friday to Sunday morning and they, all three of them, smoked, fried up burger after burger, didn't bathe, and now I'm left desperately trying to get some of the stink out. Even after two days I'm still smelling it, a testament to ...

Well, I went and failed again. I drove to the mall today expecting to pick up five or so job applications to different stores, but, once I got there, all of my old fears and insecurities kicked into high gear and I ended up walking out with only two. And then came home and cried - I'm still wiping the tears off my cheeks. When I got to the mall, I was actually so nervous about going into certain clothing stores that I've avoided like the plague for my entire life that I sat in a bathroom stall and prayed and felt like throwing up for a few minutes (this is what modern advertising does to some people). Once I was finally able to will myself out of the toilets, I found that, just like old times, I was physically unable to walk into most of them. I wandered around and around that mall, trying to drum up the courage to face my fears and get it over with, but, no, it wasn't going to happen. The only two stores I felt even close to comfortable in were Victoria's Secret (odd...