Dawn's Blog

Contrary to what the title may have suggested, this post has almost nothing to do with shoes, except that I was wearing them during most of my adventures.

When I last posted, I was in the midst of a quarter-life crises. And while the crisis has not been resolved, I'm feeling a lot more at peace about my future. God has given me some really awesome people around me that have shared a lot of wisdom and been praying for me. Still no where near a decision, but feeling at peace about things.

I should probably tell you about Drum and Dance Camp. I spent 5 days last week in the mountains of North Carolina learning about African drumming, dancing, and various other things from some of the most talented African drummers in the world.  Highlights included:

• Learning to play the balafon (wooden xylophone) and performing it with a group in the talent show. 
• Learning new songs on the Djembe and just generally having an awesome time playing it. 
• Performing with our group from Douglasville (someone told us we won the Ms. Congeniality award)
• Learning African dancing and performing it in the talent show. Also, watching my friend Austin dance may have been the funniest and most awesome thing I have ever seen. 
• Experiencing some of God's most beautiful creation. 
• Successfully organizing a silent auction fundraiser. 
• Getting a small taste of some genuine West African culture. 

It was also probably the most time I have gone without wearing shoes in my whole life. So my shoes spent most of their secret life under my bed; not very exciting.

Shortly after my return, I went on another drumming trip. We took a group of the kids from Inner Harbour up to Helen GA (refer to previous posts) to perform for an arts festival they were having for the local school kids.  Highlight of this trip: my awesome drum solos got me the nickname "Thunder Hands".

In other news, wildlife in the woods is out in full force. We find scorpions in our breezeway a few times a week, and we've kept a couple as pets. We are still looking for good name ideas. They're actually pretty cool pets, we threw a moth in with them the other day and it was pretty cool to watch them catch it.

I think that's all I'll include for now. Happy Sunday!

It's my mom's birthday today!   You should probably tell her Happy Birthday if you get the chance.

As most of you know, I'm spending the week in DC with Ashleigh and Arick.So here's a little update on cool things (or not so cool things) that I've done and seen the past few days.

Flight
My flight left Atlanta at 5:45 a.m. on Sunday morning. So rather than sleep for a few hours and get up super early (not to mention making someone else do this to drive me there) I just went to the airport Saturday night and spent the night there. Not a bad experience. I was definitely not the only person doing this, and it was kinda cool to be part of a temporary community of people trying to sleep in chairs or find a good spot on a carpeted area. I've decided that sleeping on the floor every now and then is good for a person, helps you be thankful for what you have. Anyway, I got a bit of sleep, got on my plane ok, yadda yadda, ended up in DC, and there was much rejoicing.

Sunday
Sunday we went to Easter church (where there was also much rejoicing), and came back and made Easter dinner for the three of us. It was awesome. We had ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, rolls, pasta salad, and peach cobbler. We all chatted with our families a bit and then all fell asleep for several hours. This was also awesome. Apparently I hadn't gotten that much sleep at the airport.

Monday
Arick had to work (who does that?) so Ashleigh and I took the Metro into the heart of DC and walked around all day. We went to Ford's Theatre (no spellcheck, I meant to spell it the British way) and the Petersen house, the White House, the Decatur House, the WWII memorial, and the Lincoln Memorial. Huh, a lot of houses. And we didn't get to meet any of the people that lived in them. We did, however, see some protesters outside the White House, which I thought was pretty cool. I'm not even sure what all of them were protesting, and it may not have been the most effective method, but its good to see people standing up for what they think is right and doing more then just complaining about what they think is wrong in the world.

Tuesday
Yesterday. Ashleigh had class (who does that?) most of the day so I went on what I called a "running tour" of DC. I ran from the apartment over to the Mall, where I checked out the Korean and Vietnam memorials, then went down to the Capitol building and got in line for a tour. I made friends with the retired couple standing in line with me who turned out to be from Philadelphia. They thought what I was doing with Americorps was pretty cool and told me I should get more involved in politics. Maybe I will. After the Capitol, I went to the Supreme Court, which I think is one of the coolest places to visit in DC because you actually get to go into the courtroom, hear a lecture by a cool old lady, and the wait isn't very long. Anyway, I also stopped at the Library of Congress and the Botanic Gardens and then realized that I only had about 30 minutes to make it back to the apartment before Ashleigh got back. She had given me the keys because I thought I would get back before her. I was pretty exhausted already from running in the morning and walking around in the heat all day, but I walk/jogged the 3 miles back and made it just in time to meet Ashleigh at the door.

Ok, that's about all I have to share right now. That was really long, I hope I didn't lose too many people in there. I know when I start reading someone's long blog I like to skim over things. So its OK if you do that to mine. I'll just put something in bold at the bottom to regain your attention, something you might see in a postcard.


TRIP IS GOOD. ASHLEIGH AND ARICK ARE AWESOME. I'VE SEEN LOTS OF COOL SITES. MET SOME COOL PEOPLE. HOPE YOU ARE DOING WELL.

Dawn

This past weekend my family (all 7 of them) came down to Georgia to visit and run a half marathon with me. I won't go into too much detail because about 50% of the people that read this blog were there. It was a pretty fantastic weekend overall, not very relaxing, but a lot of fun. The race was at Berry College in Rome, Georgia, which is about 1.5 hours from where I live.  Turns out that not only does Berry have the largest campus in the world, it's also one of the most beautiful. We decided to send Taylor there. Dad was most excited about the thousands of deer they had running wild all over the campus. Anyway, the four of us "kids" ran the race Saturday morning while Mom and Dad watched Taylor. We all did really well, Kevin finished in the top 10 and Julie, Keith and I all had PRs. We were pretty worn out, but we did some sightseeing/driving around in the afternoon (when in Rome . . .). Sunday we went to church, then on a tour of Inner Harbour and my campsite, and then went to a nearby State Park and did some hiking.The whole thing went by way too fast, and I was pretty sad when they all left to go home.

Yesterday was an amazingly beautiful day here, so a few of us took a day trip up to a place called Helen. It's a little town in North Georgia that has been made to look like a German Alpine Village. Needless to say, it was pretty awesome. Highlights of the day included:

• Eating Schnitzel
• Eating the most amazing funnel cake (see below)
• Using German phrases all day
• Seeing the largest pitch pine in the state of Georgia
• Taking pictures of all of these random activities
• Getting a sunburn in February (don't worry, I'm just a bit pink)

The really interesting thing was that it is basically just a big tourist attraction of Georgia, so alongside the Alpine village theme, they also have just about anything else touristy you could want, like redneck T-shirts and a haunted house. One of my favorite places was a Mexican restaurant right in the middle of the "authentic" Bavarian village.

Oh, and there was also this place:
which I think might be trying to be a knockoff of Giordano's.

Last night I began my first ever Dungeons and Dragons campaign. For those of you who are not familiar with this game (most of you, I hope), it is a role playing fantasy game where several people create characters for themselves and these characters become part of a narrative told by the Dungeon Master. Basically we sit around a table and role dice to see whether or not we get eaten by a six-headed horse. This game is also ranked somewhere around Star Trek conventions on the nerdiness scale.

In other news, the Colts lost the Super Bowl.  I was feeling pretty proud to be from Indiana (and still am) and glad that they made it that far, even though it was the only football game I had the chance to see this season. I did have to suffer a little ridicule when they lost; my favorite quote was, "Why is Indiana so bad at everything?" (This coming from an Iowa native, not really sure what she had to brag about).

In more positive news, our Americorps team is currently playing Assassin (aka Ambush, aka the best game ever). In this game, each player receives the name of another player and tries to assassinate that person, while avoiding being assassinated by the person who is coming after them. In our version, you assassinate a person by clipping a clothespin onto them (it can also be played with water guns). It creates a lot of excitement and paranoia in the community. Highly recommended.

 (This was written last night)
I’ve been getting a lot of criticism lately for not updating my blog. And I guess it has been a while.
So, to make up for it, I’ve decided to give you not only an update on what’s going on with me, but a story about an awkward situation I was put in today. First, for the update:

I went home to Indiana for Christmas. It was awesome. My family is great. I spent the night in 5 different cities (and 2 states), including a night at camp during which I hid in the bottom of an industrial refrigerator and someone (won’t mention names) broke a hole in a wall. We also went sledding, and coined the term “snowy face”. I built a snowman on Kevin’s car, participated in the 3rd Annual Over the River and Through the Woods to Grandmother’s House After Christmas Run (3rd place, by the way), ate a lot of unhealthy food, and got to spend some time with Taylor.

The day after I got back to Georgia a few of us decided to use our day off to do a little exploring in Atlanta. It was a great day, except that it was about the coldest day that Atlanta has ever had, and we spent most of it walking around outside. But we saw some cool stuff like this:

Last week it snowed here. We got about a half inch. They closed school the night before just to be safe. Which I thought was a little ridiculous, until I went for a drive the next day and saw that the roads really are pretty icy when you don’t have any trucks to put salt out. Anyway, since my students had the day off, I just got to hang out with them for the day. We ended up watching the first two Harry Potters and then had a snowball fight. Sooooo, pretty good day.

But my job is definitely not all fun and games. With the upcoming MLK Day, we have been assigned to do a 3 hour activity/lesson/etc. with our students tomorrow morning. All of us have been working pretty hard on getting this ready, and right now most of us are getting together last minute stuff. Which is what I should be doing right now. Hopefully I’ll let you know how that all goes in my next post.

Oh, and the awkward situation.

So one of the teachers here is known for her, well, outgoing personality and uniqueness. I don’t really know her that well, but she reminds me a lot of Ms. Frizzle.  Anyway, I was walking out of the cafeteria today when I saw her alone talking on her phone behind the building. In the midst of her animated phone conversation, I heard her say, “How are you doing?” and turned to see if she was talking to me. Turns out she was, so replied that I was doing well. As I kept walking I heard her say, “Oh, William, now there’s a nice girl for you.”  Slightly confused, I turned around again with a puzzled look on my face, to which she replied, quite matter-of-factly, “Oh, I was just recommending you to a wonderful, good-looking, wealthy young man,” as if this is something she does on a regular basis.

I mean, I appreciate the gesture, but I’m just not sure if I should trust her judgment.

 It's been a little while since I've posted on my blog, so I hope this is a good one. In fact, I've decided that my vocabulary is a bit lacking, so I'm going to make use of my favorite dinosaur, the Thesaurus.  I stole this idea from an episode of Friends where Joey uses a thesaurus to beef up a recommendation he is writing, just to give credit where it is due. So, as my Christmas Eve special, here is my version of  'Twas the Night Before Christmas.


Twas the hours of darkness before Yuletide, when all through the abode
Not a varmint was stirring, not even a mouse.
The pantyhose were suspended by the flue with care,
In expectation that St Nicholas would be at that location in a jiffy.

The offspring were burrowed all skintight in their futons,
While hallucinations of sugar-plums moshed in their noggins.
And the female parent in her hanky, and I in my turban,
Had just settled our cerebrums for a seemingly endless winter’s siesta.

When out on the front yard there arose such a rattle,
I vaulted from the futon to observe what was the matter.
Away to the window I traveled through the air like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and chucked up the sash.
 
 Earth's natural satellite on the breast of the new-fallen white stuff
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering peepers should become visible,
But a wee sleigh, and eight diminutive reindeer.

"Now Runner! now, Prima Ballarina! now, Skipper and Ill-tempered Woman!
On, Ball of Dust and Gas! On, God of Love! on, on Thunder and Lightening!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

And then, in a twinkling, I perceived with my ears on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the smokestack St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in pelage, from his head to his foot,
And his threads were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his vertebral column,
And he looked like a door-to-door salesman, just opening his pack.

He was big-boned and full-figured, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not an utterance, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the hosiery, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his digit aside of his proboscis,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all traveled through the air like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Yuletide to all, and to all y'all a good-night!"