The Library and Other Exciting Things

If you are actually expecting exciting things in this blog entry, I would suggest that you close your browser or move on to someone else's blog. But there is only one thing going on in our lives right now (well, Jason's been in Africa for ten days, so that's something), and we could go many moons without an entry if I wait until something exciting happens before I write.

And that one thing? School. I find it fitting that, ten years after I holed up for a semester in this intimidating library-version Wonder of the World, I am again drowning in books and library lingo. Last time I had Oxford's Bodleian Library at my disposal. This time, I am even more grateful than usual that the Library of Congress delivers practically to my desk.

In addition to wrapping up the thesis, this semester I am taking two classes:

1. The Last Generation: My Tuesday class is a lit class focusing on great writers of the WWII era...and for the past five weeks, that has meant reading war novels. And not just any war novels, but novels anywhere from 600-850 pages. A week. Please feel sorry for me. Actually, after weeks of literally sitting in the chair in our living room with cup after cup of tea, I am going to be able to come up for air this weekend--the next novel is only 153 pages. (Ha! It's like an article in the New Yorker!) And, anyway, the thing is that the books have been really good--especially the most recent, The Young Lions, by Irwin Shaw. It lacks the guts-spilling-on-the-battlefield of The Thin Red Line and The Naked and the Dead, sure, but it's got a good story to make up for that. And only 661 pages.

2. Literary Research: Originally this class was supposed to be "How to Write a Thesis," which you'll note would be a complete waste of time for me at this point. Instead it is really "How to Write a Literature Paper." Also a skill I will never use again (please tell me why NNU didn't offer this class in 1998), but, surprisingly, I don't hate this class. In fact, in some ways it allows me to indulge briefly in a decade-old fantasy of being a literary scholar, ala the characters in Possession. For example, I get to read Kipling's Kim for the class, and reading something by Kipling was on my to-do list. And I'm doing a comprehensive bibliography of Margaret Atwood, one of my favorite authors in college, which is surprisingly fun. Don't get me wrong, this project is going to be the death of me, but at least I get to go out in style.

Meanwhile, starting at 10 pm tonight, Week Five of the Sprint to the Finish will be over. I'm feeling pretty good about that. As of 1 o'clock this morning, Congress is adjourned until after the election, and I'm feeling pretty good about that, too. It's absolutely pouring outside my Thursday-morning work window, and I'm sitting here with a lovely cup of huckleberry tea, and, to top it all off, Jason is en route from Paris as we speak. Really, I couldn't be happier.

Middle Earth under the Stars

The reward for a day of studying on Saturday was a trip to Wolf Trap, the National Park for the Performing Arts, that evening with our friends Jeff and Deanna to watch Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. We sat on the lawn eating picnicky goodies while the movie played on the big screen and a live orchestra played the score from the stage.

Soooo good. The music was phenomenal, the weather was perfect (you could even see a few stars, something I don't remember ever seeing in DC), and the movie (of course!) was as wonderful as ever. I loved it when the crowd spontaneously burst into applause when Aragorn came onto the screen the first time. My only disappointment is that we waited until the third and final movie to go to this event!

Bronco Nation

Dad started planning a trip to DC over Labor Day 2010 over a year ago, about the time he heard that Boise State would be playing its season opener at the Redskins' stadium against Virginia Tech. So on Monday afternoon, Mom, Dad, Jason, and I all donned our blue and orange and headed to FedEx Field in Maryland for the big game.

Ready for action!

With my friend SolaraJason, me, Mom, and Dad at the game.

I tried to warn my parents that there would be a lot a lot a lot of Hokies at the game--considering Virginia Tech is about three hours away and lots of alum live in the DC area. And, seriously, the stadium was rocking with maroon and orange on Monday night. But Boise made a pretty good showing, considering how far the fans had to travel. Hopefully the last person out of Boise turned out the lights--there were probably 8,000 to 10,000 BSU fans there, which made it a blast.

Blue tail-gating madness

We still like Brian, even if he's a Hokie!

We started off the afternoon with a tailgating party, attended by both Mike and the Governor, my former boss, which was fun. Then we climbed to the top of the stadium for a bird's eye view of the game. Dawn and Brian, who sported blue and maroon, respectively, and decided to call it a truce for the night, hiked up to say hi (they had way better seats!).

Mom and Dad with questionable BSU spud hats

Old office pic with the boss (Nate, me, the Governor, Brandon, Solara)

The game was a blast. The stadium was roaring, and the Broncos pulled out a win with a minute and nine seconds to go--my throat is still feeling tender from screaming so loudly! Such a good time, and so fun to watch with my parents and all my Idaho friends out here. I foresee a lot more letters, resolutions, and bills on the BCS in my future here.

Kaylyn, Ryan, Jeni, and Nate

Lots of blue!

While the game was the highlight, the other five days we had with Mom and Dad were great, too. We basically took a trip down our to-do lists, which was probably only marginally fun for them but made my life 1000 times better. Mom got projects done here that I wouldn't have dreamed of touching until January, and Dad helped Jason prune our out-of-control rose bushes and fix the trellis that had completely fallen over in, oh, June (it made us look like the neighbors with the couch on the front porch). I am so grateful! What a fun weekend!

Sprint to the Finish.

Ten years ago today I started my last year of school...I thought. This time, I really mean it. Yesterday marked the first class of my last semester of grad school. Today I submitted my (hopefully) next-to-final draft of my thesis to my adviser. It turns out that there is a light at the end of this long tunnel, people.

My friend Missy made me this awesome paper chain so that I can actually see the semester getting shorter. So sweet of her. It has been wonderful to have supportive friends who encourage me, offer to read my novel-length thesis and provide constructive comments (thank you, Andrea!), and can't wait to celebrate with me when I'm done! And then there is Jason. Do. Not. Know. how I would do this without him. Taking two classes in one semester is ugly for both of us, but his encouragement and willingness to make dinner means we will be ALL DONE by Christmas. Woo-hoo!