moved in, beached, and back to FU!

moved in at last.

::deep breath of fresh, recently decorated air::

the last few days have been intense.. filled with adventure, boxes, and amazing conversations with old friends. it's strange to be at furman right now -- an odd mix of older and newer friends, crazy experiences, and the desire for a little breath of summer peace and quiet. camp naptime, if you will. a daily moment of sanity.

the drive up wednesday went well.. stopped at the infamous abc in columbia where the buick had his incident to commemorate with the new (yet still unnamed) grocery-gitter. got to furman and went to check my mail in case my ipod came (so i could jam and unpack at the same time)... and instead found an entire piedmont skills workshop eating by the lake.... over a dozen campers, smiles on their faces, filled with questions about camp and my summer and other campers and their friends...

i've never been part of such a beautiful little community.

so that was wonderful -- got to catch up with a woman i had in my cabin twice, then another camper pulled out a few dollars and declard himself rich.. at which point one of our favorite nonverbal campers (always dressed fratty as could be... sportin' adorable catch-me-if-you-can-ish glasses) quiety riffled through his fannypack and slowly held up three crumpled dollar bills.

"i see you're rich, too, fratty.."

so the move in to the apt was hot, sweaty, and a moment of independence... i did it by myself! after showering and running to the grocery store, i was graced with a very wonderful visiter, who arrived bearing beautiful gerbera daisies (my favorite!) and that wonderful smile that i'd begun to really really miss... it was lovely. absolutely lovely.

so cory time was wonderful -- grabbed dinner at olive garden and ran into some more wonderful old friends, then came back to the apt and hung out with scott and simon (while i unpacked)... hooray for fantastic nights with the boys!!

saturday was the beginning of the ostaff retreat -- 2 nights at myrtle beach in this kick-behind house with a pool and tons of bedrooms and a gameroom... twas fantastic. the weather was a bit dreary, but the company more-than-made-up for it all. aside from a massive attack of jelly fish (i think 4 staffers got stung.. one really really badly that culminated in a post-retreat trip to the ER), the weekend was filled with a lot of laughs and good conversations and hilarious ice-breaker games.

ever played celebrity with 30 people? good times.

one of my favorite parts was dinner on friday night -- we grilled out, which was yummy as anything.. and then just sat around talking. about everything. any time you throw together a bunch of furman students and sit them facing each other, you're going to get quite an array of conversations. everything from parents to abortion to racism to diversity to growing up to friendship to gay rights to politics... especially on OStaff. it's an ecclectic, wonderful group of fascinating people. and i love those deep, soul-searching conversations that really challenge your world. i was in bliss.

the staff is really wonderful this year -- respectful, hard working, energetic, and a tad insane. wonderful combination.

and carol's advice.. "if they're breathing, we can fix it" ... stellar.

quote of the weekend: "a man's girth is very important to a woman."

returned today, then spent time with the roomies who were ALL IN TOWN TODAY (eep!).. then tailgated with the RAs and FRADs and headed off to the FU game vs. PC (which i'm still watching.. left early because i was EXHAUSTED)...

... yet again, ran into a ton of people at the game. and it was wonderful.. but i'm so not the type to be all jumpy and screamy when i see someone i havent seen in awhile (with some exceptions)... i like to just pick up where we left off. i dont' do goodbyes, either -- i refuse to spend any significant portion of my life saying goodbye to people. been there, done that. any situation where the person comes back doesn't merit the distress. better off giving a high five, a "safe drive," and a "see you soon"... much more accurate.

so today was wonderful.. got my room semi-decorated (pictures to come!).. just need to do those personal touches of photos and quotes and the usual. busted out the tacky Catholic bling, so that area of my life is right again :) exciting, right?

i'm not homesick, but i miss my family... a whole bunch. i never thought i'd feel like home was less crazy than school, but this week will be an exception. most mornings i'm up before 9 and not done until after midnight... not exactly relaxing... but super fun. i look forward to o-week all year.. it's 5ish days of absolute insanity with the most fun group on campus... deepening friendships, meeting new people, making the freshies feel at home, carrying on the traditions.. it's fantastic. after tri-delt, it's my favorite thing i've done at furman.

so with that, i'm off to bed... at 10:30. up for Mass and meetings in the afternoon, then hopefully some time for play later that afternoon. jessie moved in yesterday, al moves in tomorrow, mandy moves in monday... so H206 will be up and kicking before we know it ;).

goodnight!