The first impression.

So, I’ve been at college for seven days now. And I’ve had three days of classes, so far. Here are the lists I’ve been coming up with about UB, and living on my own, in general.

I love:
The smell of Tide laundry detergent.
Lounging in the lounge with no shoes.
That the bathroom is right across the hall.
That I know the people down the hall.
The way our bathroom always smells fruity.
That I get along well with my roommate.
That my RA is just awesome, and majoring in Aerospace/Mechanical engineering.
That my engineering professor seems like a great guy.
The six different languages I hear a day.
That I haven’t even been to everywhere on campus to eat.
That people will stop by if I leave the door open.
That I can find my classes.
Knowing the way to the dining hall.
Being able to read at breakfast.
Having facebook time in between classes.
Meeting nice people in my classes.
Eating lunch and dinner with Tom.
Being able to see Tom every day.
Having Calc at 8 in the morning.
The cold/warm weather.
Whistling at anyone outside my window.
Yogurt or cereal at 8pm.
Having to go up and down only one flight of stairs.
Having free time to do what I want, and study where I want.
That the shower is so warm and nice.
That my World Civ TA seems really cool.
That my Chem proffessor seems to care.

I’m not crazy about:
All of my professors.
World Civ. at 10 am.
World Civ… at all.
The way old books have that armpitty smell.
The way cereal doesn’t really like to come out of those tubey things they put it in.
Laundry taking FOREVER to do (seriously 2-3 hours).
Hearing the city outside my window.
The broken fire alarm that went off three times within a four-hour period yesterday.
How they don’t always tell you what books/supplies you need before-hand.
Having to wait in a 30-minute line that spans the entire bookstore to get said supplies at a ridiculously jacked-up price.
Rooms so small that literally all of the seats are taken.
Having to watch my shows online (though I’m glad they’re available there!).
Having to walk a mile to get to Tom.
Having to leave Ellicott before it gets dark.
Being intimidated by the libraries.
How Tim Horton’s coffee tastes like mud. It’s seriously mud.
How I am comfortable here.

Thoughts for the road, though! I’m off to see how boring they can make Beauty and the Brain the first day! At least, I think that’s what I’m taking… we’ll find out soon! Have a great day, people. Support your local college kid, send her food and money! I’m outtie.

-Sandra-

Byeeeee!

Today was our last day at Comic Con :’( It’s so sad! But, yeah, last day. So, we got up extremely early, and ended up leaving late : ). Although, we did manage to talk to the front desk about our toilet troubles, and to check out the “continental breakfast” for the first time. Okay, so, the continental breakfast was orange juice, coffee, muffins, or pre-packaged danish, but it was free, so, Tom and I grabbed some for the road. As always, we timed our trolley pretty poorly, and ended up waiting around for it. When we did get on, it was crowded, as usual. And, then we got all the way to the Convention Center only to realize we forgot Tom’s book confirmation! And, today being the last day, we had no choice but to trek back to the hotel to get it! Yayyy…. not.

So, back at the hotel, we discovered that maintenance had fixed our toilet, or so we thought at the time (now it has graciously backed up again at the most inconvenient of times, and the maintenance staff apparently only works at select daytime hours). We found the confirmation easily enough and were back at the Convention Center by ten. Tom’s book was fairly easy to procure, and then we had to examine the line, or lack thereof, at room 32B, where there was to be a Harry Potter panel at 2. Now, anticipating that this would be a popular panel, Tom and I agreed to arrive early, probably even for the panel before it, even though ball-jointed dolls didn’t sound interesting to either of us.

For lack of things to do, Tom and I ended up catching half of a web-comic panel, which was fairly entertaining, and being stuck for the two-hour ball-jointed doll panel. In my excitement for Harry Potter, I had insisted we settle in a front seat early, and boy was that a mistake. I thought dolls couldn’t be too bad, and you know, when they started by setting them up for display, I was intrigued by the dolls themselves, they were interesting to look at. I don’t mind dolls, and I figured I might learn something about caring for my own dolls (I swear I have one very pretty porcelain doll and a few softer plastic ones and that’s it). So, I didn’t mind it, at first, I was even a little interested.

My interest faded when I found the panel was only about these super expensive ($300 is apparently cheap), kind of creepy little dolls, and that the panel was no panel at all, but only a lecture about these dolls, and I was surrounded by scary collecting women (there weren’t really many men) who all seemed to have pms at the same time, and I was afraid they might bite my head off if I touched one of their precious dolls, because I wasn’t part of the cult, erm, club. You know, I don’t mind doll collecting, seems like a nice hobby, and the outfits are kind of cool. But the environment this “panel” created was hostile, plus, the fact that you can pop the eyes out really creeps me out. Still, I would’ve liked to have heard more about the topic from the actual panelists (they seemed like interesting people who could tell me interesting things about these dolls) rather then have had to sit through that hour and a half lecture by a scary woman obsessed with dolls. Really, okay topic, badly executed. Although, I did learn that if I ever would buy a ball-jointed doll, it would be a tiny (the tiniest) dressed as a little fairy : ).

So anyway! Next was the Harry Potter panel, which was not what I was expecting, but definitely fulfilling. There were a multitude of panelists; a professor, a website manager, an art dealer, and others. The host was this funny little guy who looked like Matthew Broderick, and they talked about the HP fanbase, where the books fit in in classic literature, the evolution of story-telling in our society, how big businesses like WB relate to fans, among other things. It was extremely interesting to me. Plus, at the very beginning, we got to hear some lady singing wizard rock with her guitar! : ) That was entertaining.

After the HP panel, Tom and I wandered the floor looking for gifts and such for two hours before the hall closed. We picked up something for Schembari and Marcus specifically, just because, and I got Craig a nice little birthday present I think he’ll enjoy. Tom had been set on finding a nice Thor action figure or statue, but they were hard to come by and expensive. The one action figure we found was apparently not worth the $25 the guy was asking, and when I knocked him down to $20 (I have sweet bargaining skills… <.< … >.>… ), Tom still shook his head. I was running out of ideas, before noticing that we were steps away from 1232, with 15 minutes left of the Con. For once, one of my ideas worked!

For those of you that weren’t there, booth 1232 is where Cyanide and Happiness was. That’s where I got the plushie I have now deemed Frank, and where I went back to get it signed. If you have not heard of C&H, visit explosm.net/comics and check it out (except for you, Moms and Aunts, we’re not sure you gals would appreciate the humor). Anyway, point being, they were doing free sketches, and Rob was free. So, I marched right up to him and demanded a sketch that had to do with vikings. And thus, Tom has an awesome exclusive full-paper-sized viking sketch, done and signed by famed Rob of C&H. : ) Sweeeet.

So, to finish off our Con, we wandered aimlessly, said goodbye to a doorman, took sad pictures, and left. Horton Plaza cured our sadness by having an awesome food joint called Steak Escape that included subs, salads, and wings. They even grilled the meat right in front of you, it was like subway only twelve times better! Really good food. We also stopped by the arcade in Horton Plaza, and lost every game we played. The trolley home was delayed four times, but an adorable little baby across from us was entertainment enough. And now we’re back in our snug hotel bed, with our smelly backed-up toilet, awaiting our adventure to Sea World tomorrow! Good night all!

-Sandra-

It’s Magik!

Okay, so to start off, I’m sorry I did not blog Friday, but while Tom was on the computer with his homework and blogging, I started to read and then completely fell asleep. This Comic Con stuff is exhausting! So! I will start by recapping my Friday to you! (And, I do regretfully tell you that pictures, besides pictures of the day, will be limited due to Tom’s computer periodically crashing and the crap we go through to upload said pictures.)

Friday! Friday we decided to wear our costumes to the con. I woke up before 7AM with a little monkey jumping on the bed, a little monkey that goes by the name of Tom. He’s quite excitable in the morning. Anyway, we got dressed up and ready for our second day! It was exciting. As most of you know already, Tom went as Deadpool and I went as Magik. Although they make an awkward pair, the characters fit us both, and we were just excited to be dressed up.

So, we’re at ComicCon in costume. We find four other Deadpools, Tom had some photoshoots with them (two of which were ladies), and we even went to a sweet comic panel where Deadpool writer Daniel Way was one of the panelists (though he didn’t seem very interested in Deadpool). So, Tom was a big hit, and the bathrobe added to his character a lot; everyone enjoyed it. The one thing though that did disappoint me was the “Deadpool and company”. Yup, that’s right, she came out with a brand new series last summer, she appeared in new editions of New X-Men, and her big brother is one of the largest and most famed X-Men of all time, and yet, only six people at ComicCon knew and commented that I was dressed as Illyana Rasputin, AKA: Magik.

It was a disappointment to see that not a lot of people recognized Magik, but it was nice that I was the only Magik. So, I guess it all works out. Plus, it was still really awesome to be stopped all the time to have pictures taken. Not only that, but Tom had a lot of pictures taken when I encouraged him to be in the Marvel costume contest! He didn’t win, but he sure was cute (and the best Deadpool in my humble unbiased opinion)! The host also enjoyed that Tom was in his undies, thought it was the funniest thing, heh.

But anyway, that was the highlight of our day, that and sitting through a sweet Marvel panel where they talked about upcoming things, and accidentally catching the Batman the Brave and the Bold panel before that, which was awesome : ). So, we had a good day, we actually didn’t get to our frozen yogurt place and had to settle for the Mexican joint about 2 minutes away from our hotel. We found out it is an awesome place, great food and nice people, and we’re glad we went. All in all, it was a great day, but I was glad to be a brunette again by the end of it. : )

As for today, today Tom decided to leave me asleep while he showered and shaved, which was a great choice on his part. We got to the Convention Center earlier than usual, and we had decided to try to catch the Family Guy panel, which was in Ballroom 20, one of the biggest rooms with one of the notoriously big lines. Anyway, long story short, we were in an iumpossible line up and down and around stairs and pavillions and what have you. But! As luck would have it, the 4200 seated ballroom was still open after we had walked a mile to get to it, and we wiggled in and settled down in seats to see a Chuck panel. Now, I don’t watch Chuck, but that panel really made me want to; it was great! After Chuck, Tom and I moved up and settled in again to watch panels of Family Guy (Seth Green is really a funny little guy), The Cleaveland Show (yes, it is awkward), Futurama (I went to the bathroom during half of that), and the Simpsons! It was really a fun day. After that, we headed to Horton Plaza for some pizza and frozen yogurt. Frozen yogurt was a bust today because our favorite girl wasn’t working, and we had to move down to a small size anyway, due to us only wanting the two flavors we hadn’t yet tried, and from eating beforehand.

After Horton Plaza, we trolled around the Exhibit Hall, and found a sweet Japanese booth to hang out at. They were having a comedian show, with 4 or 5 comedians, and that was pretty darn good. But, before the show even started, they had some pointless trivia, and I answered the first question right to get a prize! And while everyone else got t-shirts (those are cool, too), I got this sweet anime action figurine statue girl thing. : ) Yeahhhh. And then tonight was the masquerade! Awesome costumes and great entertainment, but as you can see from the time of this, we got back to the hotel very late. We ordered some pizza (Dominos is pretty sweet), and we’re just getting ready for bed now, hoping that the toilet issue will resolve itself. Well, good night, New York! Or should I say good morning?

-Sandra-

 

PS- if you would like to comment on any of our posts, please feel free to do so via the rightmost link under the post.

Say cheeeese!

Okay, so, we had a good day today. We spent the day at Comic Con and somewhat at Horton Plaza as well; it was pretty sweet. Tomorrow we’re wearing costumes and I’m excited! We managed to get into the “Physics of Hollywood Movies” panel, which was pretty awesome, and I’m sure Tom will brag about that later. Buuuut, he did surrender the camera to me near the beginning of the day, and so I decided that I would allow you all a glimpse of what we’ve been seeing for the past two days (graciously excluding the brave souls that somehow found spandex in a size spandex should not be made in).

Oh! And before I forget, I must mention two favorites of the day. First of all, there is this frozen yogurt place here called Tutti Frutti, and it is the best! Seriously awesome. And, we like to visit the one in Horton Plaza because the girl that works there is so nice and she’s the only one who noticed our shirts today (photo of the day 3). So, we moved up to a medium today and mixed four flavors for a tasty treat! And, my second favorite would be Cyanide and Happiness. I love them. I love them sooo much. And Matt was at their booth today. Tom encouraged me to buy a plushie (which is so adorable, by the way, he’s in one of the pictures), and Matt signed it! AND! He said that Rob and Kris would be along later in the week at their booth, and I could get them to sign it too! So cool. : ) Okay, enough talking, here are some pictures!

-Sandra-

And she had fun fun fun…

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let me tell you, as much as flying is fun, it almost wasn’t worth it. Sure, the little old ladies at the help desks in the Albany Airport are polite and helpful, and the Detroit area is big and beautiful with a decent McDonalds, but really, who schedules one flight barely 40 minutes after another, and COMPLETELY ACROSS THE AIRPORT?! On the upside, the Detroit Airport has a nice tunnel, lit up by these cool walls that change color, they’re fun!

So anyway! Puddle jumper from Albany to Detroit, wasn’t bad. I read my book the whole time (they gave us The Soloist for free in Buffalo, and it’s not too bad), and the lady next to me played a game. The turbulence was there, but I quite like it, personally. And then, after booking it across the Detroit Airport, we made the last call for our flight, ended up sitting there for 20 minutes waiting to take off, and finally got in the air. It was a smooth ride, I was stuck in the middle seat between a man who slept most of the way, to the disappointment of my bladder, and a five-year-old bouncing out of his seat… oh wait, that was Tom . The ride was smooth, and as Tom said, we even got near a thunderstorm, and lightening from that angle is nothing I’ve seen before. It was awesome and terrifying.

So, we got to San Diego, waited and waited and finally picked up our big suitcase, fixed our big suitcase, and got in line for a cab. The driver was the nicest little guy who’s first language wasn’t English, and thought we were soon to be married. He pointed out things on the ride (like that Mexico is 15 minutes down the road), but we were just happy to be in California finally. We got to our hotel, managed to check in, and another 15 minutes later found our room and crashed. Yayyy. The bed is big enough to where Tom doesn’t push me off, and the air conditioner is nice and easy to use.

Then this morning! This morning we went on an adventure to Bay Side Park, which apparently is impossible to get to. It took us wayyy longer than it should’ve, but I can now say I’ve touched the Pacific. Then we went to lunch. For any future reference, Chula Vista is the nicest place with some very nice people (they say good morning!), and El Pollo Loco has awesome food! : ) Tom and I had a good morning, minus the fact that it took us 5 miles of walking to get through it.

Back at the hotel, we killed and revived our key cards, I took a swim, and we took a break before we head out again to see the world. There is a trolley station about 4 minutes away, and we walked over this afternoon, bought some 4-day passes, and we were on our way to San Jose!-er-I mean, Old Town, which really was Horton Plaza. Amazing place, I wish I was in better shape to walk around all day. So, we walked around Horton Plaza, got some frozen yogurt, and then decided to pick up our badges at the Convention Center. We walked down, and that is an amazing place, also. Too many people for my taste, but I guess I should get used to it. We hung around for a bit before deciding food was more important and we weren’t too interested in preview night.

Back at Horton Plaza, we had some good eats in the form of organic burgers, they were awesome. We picked up some water bottles, walked the two or three blocks to the trolley station, and settled down for our ride home. We got to the hotel, and, after picking out a movie (shhh!), we decided we were hungry again, and forgot to pick up something for breakfast. So! We ordered Dominos. If you ever order delivery from Dominos, order online, it’s a great system. We built a small pizza, and ordered some cinnamon sticks for tomorrow morning’s breakfast. They track your order online, which is SO COOL, and then we had it delivered. And that was our day! Now I suppose I should surrender the computer to the monkey jumping on the bed. Peace from California, it’s already tomorrow in New York!

-Sandra-

On our way!

I’m sitting here anxious to be gone. I’ve been cramping all morning and blegh, but hopefully that will clear up this afternoon for the flight. Tom is eating, and Steve made burgers, so I’m going to eat one before getting going. I’m excited! I love flying. We have to fix our seating arrangement with the airline first, which will be fine, and then we’re off! I can hardly wait! There’s still a few things I have that go in the suitcase Tom has, but that will be easy enough to pack. My daddy came home for lunch just to talk and see me off, and it was nice to say goodbye to him again. I know our parents will be worried, but I have confidence in us and our travelling abilities. We can try to blog tonight (wayyy late on the East Coast) when we get there, but no promises. I still have to blog about my parents’ surprise anniversary party (boy were they shocked), but that will have to wait. So! Until tomorrow at least, so long, readers! We’re off to California! Continue to check back here this week for more Comic-Con Experience updates! Much love!

-Sandra-

What I learned at orientation…

Well, let’s see. I learned that if your battery light in the car is blinking on and off, it could be your alternator. I learned never to tow a truck with a rusting cover backwards. And I learned that orientation really doesn’t prepare you for much other than being thrown into awkward situations.

Okay, seriously now. I had my UB (University at Buffalo) orientation this Monday and Tuesday. Tom and I went up to Syracuse Sunday to his grandparents house so that my ride would be shorter to orientation in the morning. They had sweet fireworks in Syracuse, and amazingly no one got burned (by fireworks or marshmallows). So, anyway, I got up real early on Monday, Tom’s grandma was gracious enough to make me breakfast (that woman is crazy in a good way : ) ), and I headed off to Buffalo. Well, after about 45 minutes, the battery light in my truck started blinking and the meter kept jumping. Afraid for my life, I texted Tom, the fastest responding resource I had, who wisely counseled me to turn off all the accesories in the truck. I did so. Fortunately, I made it to Buffalo without further problems, minus the fact that I was cruising the Thruway at 75 mph and stopped once to have a nervous breakdown.

Buffalo orientation, all in all was… lame. It really wasn’t that great. I mean, the people were okay, and our OAs (orientation aides) tried really hard to make it a good time, but really it’s just an information thing, and you can’t make that much fun. On the downside, I sat through a three-hour lecture on I don’t even know what, I didn’t make very many friends, I didn’t feel well, the bathrooms are kind of awkward, and I skipped out on any kind of tour that might have let me know where the hell I was going. On the upside, I saw the school mascot (go bulls!), the food was decent, OAs make funny skits, I learned a little more about ridiculous things, and the head of the graduate education deparment is a really cool guy.

It was alright, really. It could’ve been worse. The people were okay, and the dorms were nice and big. And, you know, I like that school. I’m ready to just be there all the time and find places to hide and chill. There are about 3200 kids in my class, which makes for good people-watching odds. I’m not used to that many kids. I’m also not used to not being one of the smartest, one of the advanced kids. Given, I was at the Honors orientation, and I was in a group of Honors engineers, so, I shouldn’t expect to be much. It’s just different. Not that I mind, I think I’m completely ready to blend in. Yay.

So anyway, that was orientation. And then I came home! Hahaha. That’s an understatement. So, like I said before, my alternator was dying, really dying. So, Tuesday, getting on the road in Buffalo, heading back to Syracuse, I was terrified my battery would die and I’d be stranded. But really, I was fine. I got on the Thruway and I was doing well. There was no gas at the first rest stop, which worried me a little. But I got to the second rest stop and got ripped off filling my tank. My battery light was off (nothing was on), the meter was up, and I was off to Syracuse!

I was doing well, until it started to rain. And of course, in New York, if your wipers are on, your lights are on. And turning things on with a bad alternator is a BAD idea. But, inevitable in my case. So, about an hour from Syracuse, my battery light is flashing, the meter is dropping, the ABS light is lighting, the RPM gauge drops, and my truck dies. On the Thruway. In the rain. I managed to pull over on the right to a decent part of the road. I could barely read the sign to the next exit (it was far and it was raining!). So, I called Tom, told him the deal, and then hunted for the raincoat I had packed. I slipped it on and ran out to read the sign. I called AAA, who deferred me to the Thruway people, who sent a truck after me.

After waiting about ten minutes (it was a decent time and I was content reading my book), the tow truck pulled up. He was a nice guy. It had stopped raining a little. Unfortunately, my basic AAA covers 5 miles free and every mile after that is $4. So, I call my parents, and take the tow to Syracuse. Thankfully he would take my brand new debit card. And we were off! Riding in a tow truck is fun stuff, man. We had to stop for fuel, and he wanted to pull my truck backwards, so we had to flip it around. But, after that stop at exit 42 (that’s where I was, and I read the sign right), we were ready to go!

Until he got a gas call. Some guy ran out of gas like a mile before the exit, poor guy. But! He was on the other side, so! Illegal U-turn! Yay! They’re fun! (I swear, I hit the rumble strip more times in this one trip than I have in my entire life before it.) So, we fill the guy’s tank and then get on the road again. Another illegal u-turn! And we’re back on the road in the Syracuse direction! So, we’re driving along, and, the tow truck man (I never caught his name) notices that one of the lights he wired to my truck is loose. And then he says it “Did you have a cover on your truck?” And of course I respond with a “Yes, why?” “Because it’s not there anymore.” “Oh shit.”

So! Two more illegal u-turns later (they’re actually legal because it was a tow truck, it’s just fun to say), and we’re staring at the cover that was on the bed of my truck in the median between exits 41 and 42 of the Thruway. After a call to my father, and a few groans staring at my poor truck and the cover that remained in one piece but shattered on top. And of course, the gash that my truck now had above the back window. Poor thing. No windows broke, and the truck had minimal damage, it’s just the fact that my cover was now useless and dead. So, I moved the netting in the back to the cab, double tied my spare tire, and we set off again to Syracuse.

Nearly an hour later, I was at the Shaw household, exhausted and broke. Of course, Tom’s family treated me like I was family, and if it hadn’t been for them, I don’t know what I would’ve done. Uncle Bobby pulled some strings to get me another alternator the next day, and even took out the one that killed my truck, on his anniversary! I swear these people are awesome. And, the next day, Grandpa took us to NAPA to pick up an alternator (not a very nice experience), and he installed it for us! And then Grandma made us a chocolate cake, Grandpa rigged some plants to the bed of my truck, and Tom and I were off home! (Am I allowed to say where home is? This is public, you know.)

Anyway, we got home safely, after stopping for some party details (wooo…), and here we are. I’m sunburnt, Tom’s bald, and we’re preparing for Comic Con in less than two weeks! Yayyy! : ) Alright, that’s all for now. Peace, people!

-Sandra-

Bwana read about my trip?

So, I spent the weekend and part of the week in Pennsylvania. It was pretty fun! Scranton University is beautiful. Except that damn hill, haha. Anyway, I was there for a bell conference. And, in case any of you don’t know, I ring handbells with a choir from our church. They’re a really unique instrument, and I very much enjoy them. So, anyway, every other year the AGEHR (American Guild of English Handbell Ringers) Area II (NY, NJ, PA, Ontario) has a big conference that our choir likes to attend. There were over 400 ringers there! It was awesome! We got to see free handbell concerts by known and lesser known choirs, emsembles, and soloists, and take classes, and we had a huge concert of our own at the end of the four days!

Okay, so, that being said, let me just share some stories and pictures! Okay, so, for those of you that haven’t heard of the Raleigh Ringers (that would be me last week), they were there, and their conductor actually conducted our concert! His name’s David Harris, and he’s a genuinely great conductor. I truly enjoyed working with him, he’s a funny guy. But seriously, guys, youtube the Raleigh Ringers, they’re amazing. They have 7 octaves, and they have people offer to arrange music specifically for them! One of their own even arranged “Don’t Stop Beleivin” for them (and they put on a show with it too, which was just awesome)! And and and! They played “Flight of the Bumblebee” which I love and I’ve wanted it for my clarinet for a long time (graduation/birthday/Christmas/justbecause present perhaps?).

Anyway. Our director was great. Listening to that many bells play at once is a phenomenal experience. And Scranton University has a pretty awesome dining hall. But really, I had a great time. Bell music is just different. It calms me so much, and it’s always interesting. I took a few classes, too. Bell trees was pretty cool, and the arranging class was kind of interesting also, who knew arranging music for bells would look so easy? So, yeah, I had fun. Really, you had to be there. Of course, if you were there, it rained and thundered, and David made jokes, and the old ladies counted out loud, and the squirrels became logs, and there was way too much food, and the hill got old after the third time up, and the dorms were brand new, and the elevators beeped, and Malmarks became easier to love, and the sound of one bell could give you the chills.

So, here. I will show you in pictures what conference was like. We have sweet Hudson River Bells dark green polos that we wore for the concert. And, when you go to conference, they include a conference T-shirt, which I absolutely loved this year! There’s also a video here, I took it solely for the sound. Some of it’s hard to hear because of the placement of the camera and the pitch of the bells, but it’s still pretty cool. The song in the video is Fantasy on Kingsfold, it’s my favorite one that we played.  : ) Here’s some pictures now.

One of my favorite lillies : )

Represent.

View from the dorm.

They had some sweet statues.

Area II Banner

That’s an inverted bell tree!

It’s like destiny or something.

Brand new dorms, seriously nice.

S is for Sandra!

I love handbells.

Who wouldn’t like this shirt? Seriously.

Ah, just look at them. There’s so many!

It’s love.

Yay!

 

 

 

Oh, and, I graduated Friday! I’m finally done, thank goodness. Graduation was okay : ) And there’s a picture of me with my parents you can see above and here’s a video of my speech in case you weren’t there (again, really just for sound). Enjoy!

 

Dance to the Music!

And open back! That’s Richard Simmons for you! Yeah, so, Tom and I did another Richard work-out this morning; I tell you, it’s fun! And after that we were sweating and hot, so we had decided yesterday that we would go for a swim. And we got our towels and wandered out to the pool with Sharky (Tom’s brother) on our tails, and Tom made me go in first to tell him how cold it was. The thermometer said 74, but I don’t really believe that. It was pretty cold. But, once I got my head under, I couldn’t stay up. I love the water, and it was nice and refreshing today, and I’m glad I got my first swim of the season in. Tom, on the other hand, was chilled to the bone and out in a minute. -shrug- I guess some of us were meant for water and others for land. Maybe I’m half-fish. …maybe not.

So anyway, other than swimming briefly, I finished the majority of my thank-you notes and had my last bell rehearsal today. Thank-yous took awhile, and the ones I have done are for teachers, who will hopefully be at graduation. And bells? Oh bells is always fun. As I said before, we’re preparing for conference in Scranton Saturday-Wednesday. I play handbells in a choir with a bunch of older women and a few kids, with my church. It’s a ton of fun, and I’m game for most musical things. And conference is really an experience. The whole AGEHR area II is there, and that’s a lot of bell choirs! One massed rehearsal is completely incredible. So, yeah, I’m excited. And practice went pretty well tonight. It’s different because there’s a guest conductor that will be conducting us at conference, so our normal conductor rings in the group. It’s a bit harder to follow the music, and the tempo is hard to keep, so rehearsal tonight ended up being almost two hours. But, I feel prepared, and excited to be in that big of a group again. Plus, I get to take classes! They’re fun business! I still have to get through graduation first, though.

Ah, yes, graduation, I have rehearsal for that tomorrow. I have to print out my speech and read it to a few of the administrators so they can say it’s appropriate, blegh. And after sitting and standing and walking through that, Tom and I have a date! We’re going out to dinner and a movie (among other things) for graduation. I’m excited. I got to pick the movie (you really thought he was so excited to see Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds?), and we’re going to a fancy-ish Italian place. It’s exciting, right? Yeah, so, yeah. That’s about it for today. I’m still busy, and I’m sure you all read about Tom’s new shield project (haha, shield project, that’s irony). Have a good day, everybody. And, if you’re in the area, graduation is Friday at 6! Yay.

-Sandra-

On My Own Again…

Okay, so that is definitely not how the song goes, but it’s fun to sing. Tom just left a little while ago and now I’m stuck here alone with nothing to do but write! So, what’s new people? This blog, duh! So, ComicCon is in less than a month. Our costumes are finished and they’re pretty sweet (check out the pictures if you haven’t already). Tom’s so super excited; it’s like a five-year-old in a candy shop, really. But, it’s cute. And I am dreading graduation Friday, excited for bells Saturday-Wednesday, party times, worry-warting about Syracuse and Buffalo, and then I can start to worry about California.

Yeahhhh, California. That’s where we’re going, in case you haven’t picked up on that yet. San Diego Comic Convention 2009, yayyy! : ) I am excited, I’m just busy first, that’s all. I’m also really excited for Seaworld, which I don’t think Tom realizes yet. But really, dolphins, whales, they’re adorable! Yes, the excitement is building. I just have to officially finish high school, thank a bunch of people, and get a bunch of stuff done first. Woooo. And then we get to chill in California for a whole week! The sun will shine and it’ll be fun fun fun!

And really, who doesn’t want to be a superhero sometimes? And, I really like Magik. She’s one of the X-Men, and not that you can really see my belt in the pictures, but I have the belt with the X in it. She’s Colossus’s little sister, and really she’s supposed to be blond, Russian, and like 12, none of which I am. But still, it’s fun to be someone else for a day, and you can bet I’m excited to run to random men yelling “Piotr! Piotr!” Although, Tom was telling me that ‘Piotr’ actually is a Polish name and has completely different phonetics than expected. So, maybe I won’t shout that at every Colossus I happen to see. Oh well!

Speaking of ComicCon, Tom and I have developed a “lifestyle change” (it’s a better term than diet) that is going quite well so far. We walked all the way in through Sleepy Hollow today, to a place I’ve never actually been, for over an hour. That was fun and exhausting! We’re working on toning up to look good in our spandex (or lack thereof)! Seriously, some of those people you see at ComicCon really shouldn’t be pretending to be superheroes in spandex and we don’t want to be those people. And, the way it’s going right now, we won’t be! Richard Simmons really works. And no, I’m not kidding. As much as Tom might want to kill me for this, we’ve been working out to Richard Simmons tapes regularly, and they turned out to be a fun and sweat-worthy work-out!

So, we’re eating right, we’re working out, and we’re excited! That’s where we are today. We went for a great walk that put small blisters on my ankle, Tom is working on his shield (an extra project I’m sure he’ll talk about later), he’s doing his Astronomy (>:O), and I’m stuck… writing this : ), and I have to start on Thank Yous soon, too. Okay, I’m going to grab a healthy snack, peruse the ComicCon site for my must-sees (Cyanide and Happiness, anyone?) and get a start on those Thank Yous I’ve been putting off. Graduation in 3, ComicCon in 28, Buffalo in 66. Ending in 5…4…3…2…1…gone.

-Sandra-