Goodbye October

October is over and I am very sad. It's one of my absolute favorite months. Fall leaves, chilly air, orange pumpkins, Halloween....

Over all others,
Ceasing never
To move my soul.
Oh sweet autumn smells, and rich, warm color
Beyond compare, be
Ever in my very essence
Reviving my love and joy for life itself.

Alright, so I'm a little crazy when I'm tired, but that's my sleepy rendition of a poem to October.

This month is also featured in one of my most favorite songs, "Moondance" sung by Van Morrison. I just love the combination of the base, the piano, the flute, and his voice. It moves me somehow, a little like October itself.

I found a site that will let you listen to it for free: lala. Select "Moondance" on the song list below the bio for Van Morrison. Just click the little play button beside it. Enjoy!

Here are the lyrics:

Well it's a marvelous night for a moondance
With the stars up above in your eyes
A fantabulous night to make romance
'Neath the cover of October skies
And all the leaves on the trees are falling
To the sound of the breezes that blow
And I'm trying to please to the calling
Of your heart-strings that play soft and low
You know the night's magic
Seems to whisper and hush
And all the soft moonlight
Seems to shine in your blush...

Can I just have one a' more moondance with you, my love?
Can I just make some more romance with a' you, my love?

Well I wanna make love to you tonight
I can't wait till the morning has come
And I know now the time is just right
And straight into my arms you will run
And when you come my heart will be waiting
To make sure that you're never alone
There and then all my dreams will come true dear
There and then I will make you my own
And every time I touch you, you just tremble inside
And I know how much you want me that, you can't hide...

Can I just have one a' more moondance with you, my love?
Can I just make some more romance with a' you, my love?

Well it's a marvelous night for a moondance
With the stars up above in your eyes
A fantabulous night to make romance
'Neath the cover of October skies
And all the leaves on the trees are falling
To the sound of the breezes that blow
And I'm trying to please to the calling
Of your heart-strings that play soft and low
You know the night's magic
Seems to whisper and hush
And all the soft moonlight
Seems to shine in your blush...

One more moondance with you
In the moonlight
On a magic night
la, la, la, la, there's a moonlight
On a magic night
Can't I just have one more dance
With you my love?


[Van Morrison photo courtesy of reactionarycentury.wordpress.com]

Ahhhhhh!

Sometimes I feel like periods of my life are so packed with action!

A sneak preview from these past few weeks includes...

Nights out with my ECEducation girls and classmates.









Family farm hay ride with cousins Scott and Nicole.













A trip to Albany NY, and New York City!



I will post more about these later. Now I'm back and school and at the grind stone. Oh well. Halloween is coming up! There will be even more fun events to blog about!
(Not that I need more, as I'm behind already.)

Weekend Trip and The Dunking of Christian

Two weekends ago, Natalie, Kaleigh, and I took a trip up to Cleveland to pick up Natalie's boyfriend CJ. He was coming down for Natalie's 22nd birthday. We drove up Friday, dined in Cleveland, and then took CJback to Delaware with us.



[Rain...waiting for us in Cleveland.]




[As the Rain Cleared....a Rainbow.]
















[Ghostbusters Building.]
Well, maybe not, but the castle-like piece of this building certainly makes it seem so.













[Severance Hall!]











[Bishops vs. Sparta!]
Our soccer team was playing Case's that same night. We found this flier on the ground as we walked to CJ's dorm.












[Chocolate!]
I got hot chocolate. Natalie got a double chocolate truffle.


I didn't take as many pictures as I should have, but I was distracted by a developing cold...

However, Saturday afternoon I was able to get a picture of my friend Christian being carried off by his fraternity brothers, and then dunked in the sulfur spring. Apparently this is a tradition carried out in Alpha Sigma Phi on our campus when a brother gets engaged. Chris' fiance Stephanie came for the weekend, so I got to see her too! I was very excited.
Stephanie has a blog as well. Check it out!















[Brotherly Song.]
The brothers sang a song to Stephanie before they dunked Christian.



[Dunked!]
The brothers cleared out pretty fast before Chris could get out and chase after them.








Saturday evening we played German board games! My favorite is Agricola. You build your own little farm in a series of turns, concentrating on crops, your house, animals, and more, hoping that after the last round, you have the most points out of any player. I won on my first game, a rare feat so I've heard. I just love building the little farm!

Natalie took CJ back on Sunday. It was a fun weekend, even though I got sick half-way through.

Nosebleed Section

This is what I've re-named by bed: The Nosebleed Section. Appropriate not only because I sleep on the top bunk, but because I woke up at 4 in the morning with blood pouring from my nose!

It is now 4:45am. I've stripped my bed of the bloody sheets, did my best to clean them with cold water (I'm letting them dry now and will wash them in the morning), woke Phoebe up in the process of these shenanigans (I did my best not to, but she's back to dreamland now), and am now sitting here, waiting for for the bleeding to stop with a tissue up my nostril. The blood's slowed, but is not quite done yet.

Wow, I do believe that this is the first time this has ever happened to me. I've had my nose bleed a few times before, but never quite this profusely and at so late (or early) an hour. I have no idea what caused it. Stress? Maybe. Or genetics. Apparently nosebleeds run in the family. That's all I can come up with. I take allergy medicine before bed, but this has never happened before and nowhere on the box is "nosebleed" listed as a possible side effect.

Well, this certainly has been a late night (early morning) adventure! But I really hope that this doesn't happen again any time soon.

5:05 am: I think the bleeding has pretty much stopped. I hope I can get some sleep now.
Aren't you glad you shared in this experience with me?

A Wave of Work

Oh my goodness, I haven't posted here for 10 days!

A wave of work and activity came my way. It's getting close to midsemester break and so everyone is piling on the assignments and exams. I've been swimming along in the wave, not quite surfing, but not drowning, doing just fine. I'm a little worried about this last week of the wave though. This is when we get closer to shore and the wave rises until it crests and rolls me in at top speed.
[Picture from Edisto Beach this summer]

To do this week:
Pizza delivery fundraiser for Horticulture Club tonight 10-12.
Write a lesson plan, due tonight, for my Wednesday field work, tutoring struggling readers in an after school program.
Prepare for a Psychology of Disabled Children EXAM Wednesday.
Prepare the final entries of a reflection journal for Corrective Reading by Wednesday.
Interview Orleia for a project my friend Lexie and I are doing for our Documentary and Ethnographic Film class. Project including editing, due Thursday.
Look for German folklore picture books for a project for my professor, hopefully finding many by Friday.
Start on a final paper due in Corrective Reading in two weeks, along with a presentation.

Doesn't sound too bad out loud, but a lot of that work takes time, especially the film project. Time is what I need and seem not to have much of.
On top of that, I developed a cold yesterday. I'm going to fight through it, but when I'm sick, I'm SICK, and don't seem to have much umph. I usually just want to go to bed.

So this is the story of my current college work wave. I'll let you know how it comes out, and then hopefully fill you in on some more exciting stories.

Meet you on shore.