Windup, Doll

And so it is that I am back in Al Birda, as is usual for this time of year. The remainder of exams was quite horrifying scholastically. The Middle East take-home exam got away from me a little, I'm hoping the professor doesn't think it's as bad as I suspect it is. It came out to about 30 pages, all told. Eek.

The last few days in Ottawa were pretty busy, not only with the paper. I also popped out to Kelly, Kyle, and Viv's "We're Going to Europe!" night out. This turned out to be quite good fun.Somehow all of the photos I have from the night, bar three, are of Kelly and/or Rachael. In the other three, Wulfric, Janet, and I have managed to sneak in. Rachael and I split cab fare back to her place, and I crashed there and went home in the morning. Partly this was because neither of us had a roommate that night, so it was better than sleeping in an empty apartment! Katherine was in Niagara on Saturday, winning the Best Daughter award for taking her mum to a bed & breakfast with gourmet lunch and wine-tasting tour. Quite the birthday present!

Saturday I had dinner at Steph's, which was a pleasure apart from my asthma acting up and giving me a vicious coughing attack. Steph came and hung out at my house, and Jacob came over later. They were very tolerant of all the packing detritus (viz. my entire wardrobe) festooned about my room.

Monday was more and more packing. And more. And then choir practice, which was delightful but I'm very sad to be leaving them before the 25th Anniversary concert (May 14, if anyone is interested! I can hook you up with someone who can hook you up with tickets). The Chichester Psalms are equal to or greater than amazingly cool, and it's been a blast just rehearsing them but it would have been quite great to actually perform them. Oh well -- next time! The usual post-choir gathering was lovely, as usual. The routine is that we take over the basement of a pub close to U of O, then sit talking, eating zucchini sticks and drinking whatever it is we feel like (except Johnathan, who always has "what she's having"). It almost always devolves into Monty Python references or Lindsay doing the Dying Pig Laugh. This laugh makes Jaime cackle, which Lindsay finds so funny that she keeps on laughing. It is a surreal and wonderful positive feedback loop, surely one of the wonders of the modern age. So we giggle hysterically for an hour or two, then go home. The difference was that this time I got hugs because I was going to the airport in the morning.

The flight back was routine. Since then I've gotten in a minor fender-bender (my own fault, stupid stupid). I've also had Katie, Keith, and Mike over for dinner, been to see Spiderman 3 (not bad, but not as good as the previous two), and been to a bonfire at Paul's. Vic and I took Tom and Paul down two times out of three at Trivial Pursuit, despite having no hockey knowledge.

That's about it from here, apart from an administrative announcement: I may maintain this blog during the summer this year, though I haven't decided yet. If I do, posting will probably be less frequent than during the school year. But I'm thinking about it! And so, to start dinner for my parents upon their return from France. Tah-rah!