Wow. What a crazy time the last few months have been. Crazy
on multiple levels. The holidays were interesting. I spent them with Ben’s
family in Stevens Point. So my time was basically spent going between Point and
Madison for work and then more holidays. Thanksgiving was fun. We went to his
Aunt and Uncle’s from his mom’s side. Funny story- his uncle was once my
landlord (the GOOD landlord, not the terrible landlady who did nothing about
the WALL OF MOLD and unfairly overcharged us for it resulting in not getting my
security deposit back last year). I met other aunts and uncles and cousins and
we spent some fun time playing games. Ben’s sister was also in town from
Minneapolis (where she also works as an AmeriCorps member), so I ended up spending
a lot of time with her and his cousin Abbey (we see/hang out with Abbey every
once in awhile, since she often comes into Pete’s- the karaoke bar Ben Dj’s at)
while Ben worked Black Friday. We also spent a little time at Ben’s Grandmother’s
house (on his dad’s side) and saw Ben’s dad, stepmother, and a random
smattering of other stepsiblings, cousins, aunts, and uncles.
I then returned to Madison for a few weeks to finish up my
first semester with Hawthorne. I planned Family Math Night which ended up being
AWESOME. I recruited A LOT of volunteers from UW and DEMCO (Hawthorne’s
business sponsor), as well as a few parents. We got a great response from all
the families. All in all, a success. Our daily volunteers enjoyed coming every
week and I HOPE at least of few of them will return next semester. I was sure
to give them thank you notes and MSCR mugs. J
I continued tutoring (which is probably what I enjoy the most in this whole
experience) and discovered that I am really quite a good math tutor (much to my
surprise! I always had to work hard for my grades in math).
I also enjoyed performing in She Loves Me with Four Seasons
Theatre Company. We performed at The Overture, which was great fun. Not the
biggest theatre I’ve ever performed in (we were in the more intimate, smaller,
thrust stage Playhouse at the Overture), but definitely the biggest performing
arts center I have ever performed in. We
got a GREAT review and I loved being able to do what I love. Plus, it is just a
charming show in general. Plus, I love being able to play the equivalent to the
Three Silly Girls in Beauty and the Beast. The cliché group of three silly
young women happens in more shows than you would think- and I LOVE it. Anyway-
I also met some wonderful artsy and talented people from doing this show, which
I think will help me in landing a role come summer time.
I also posed for the life drawing class again and had a
great time. They were all really awesome people with really awesome talent.
Speaking of art- I have four articles posted on the Madison section of
Art-City.org. You can check them out here:
I left two days early for Christmas because we were
expecting a HUGE blizzard the next day and I wasn’t sure if the roads would be
safe by the time I left. It was a good thing I left when I did. Both Madison
and Point received a lot of snow, but Madison just got DUMPED on. The city that
apparently NEVER takes snow days gave in and had two snow days in a row. So not
only would I have been stuck in Madison, but I would have been stuck in Madison
with nothing to do. So- good thing I left early! Ben and I enjoyed the extra
time together and he particularly enjoyed laughing at my anxiety when he drove
us places in the thick snow/slush and ice. We spent a lot of our time cleaning
(getting his apartment ready for Christmas) and watching The Office (probably
our favorite show to watch together. He has most of the seasons on DVD.) We spent
Christmas Eve with his extended family on his mom’s side again. Unfortunately,
because Ben had to work, we missed playing games. But I met a few more aunts, uncles, and
cousins, as well as saw the ones I had spent time with at Thanksgiving. We did
play one game and then Maggie, Ben’s Mom (Cynthia), Cynthia’s boyfriend
(Larry), Ben and I went to the hotel where they were staying and spent some
time in the hot tub and watching Too Cute on TV. Christmas Day- Maggie,
Cynthia, and Larry came to Ben’s apartment and we ate yummy food, drank
mimosas, watched Love Actually and Christmas Vacation, and opened gifts.
Then I traveled back to Madison to spend several very quiet
days at work/home. My housemate was gone, so I had the house and dog all to
myself. I enjoyed being able to take care of the dog by myself and spend a
little more time in areas of the house that are not my room and the kitchen.
Since it was Winter Break, the school was very quiet. But it was kind of nice
that way. I discovered just how much
Madison was dumped on and many of the residential streets were quite slippery.
I then traveled back up to Point for New Year’s. I have never really done much
for New Year’s in the past. The most I can remember is having a lock-In at
church one time in Texhoma for the event. Other than that- it has usually been
spent in my parent’s basement blogging and watching a movie. So…needless to say…I
was excited! Not only was I actually doing something on New Year’s, but I was
getting to spend it with some of my favorite Point people AND got to have my
first New Year’s kiss. I spent the first part of my evening with my old roomie,
Erik, at his new place. This also meant seeing a lot of other wonderful Point
friends/classmates and it was so nice to finally be back in that environment. I
miss them a LOT! Then I jotted over to Pete’s where Ben was DJing. Got my New
Year’s kiss! And then spent a little time at Pete’s until they closed early b/c
there was barely anyone there. So then Ben and I went back to Erik’s for a
little while so I could hang with my friends, then we went to the Congress Club
to hang out with some of Ben’s friends. The night was super fun and I had a
GREAT time.
New Year’s Resolutions? I don’t really have any this year. I
mean, I have things I want to achieve and do and work on, but I didn’t specifically
make them New Year’s Resolutions.
Then it was back to Madison for another few days of work.
Once again- it was still break, so it was pretty quiet. Nothing too exciting
happened. Basically just waiting until Ben and I were to go to COLORADO!!!
And that is where I end for now. I will do a January wrap up at the end of the
month. Which is sooooon! I am excited because I want more sunshine and,
hopefully, warmth.
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