May Daze

     I'm feeling a lot like Kansas right now. (It's a Laurie Keller reference; from The Scrambled States of America. Look it up sometime; it's in the children's picture-book section of the library.) How do I know this? Because I"M NOT FEELING HAPPY AT ALL!
     Sorry for the shouting, but it's part of the quote; it simply must be shouted. I'm feeling frustrated and worn-out at the moment. And really hungry.
   
      Monday was a night to remember, for sure. It started out pretty typically; with school and classes and everything. There was a picnic scheduled for Ja Li Si's birthday, which was moved into the BCM basement due to rain. So the "Plan B(asement)" worked out pretty well; we just spread a couple blankets on the floor and had the picnic indoors. And we picked out the design for next year's SWAT shirts.
     The Monday-night meeting(known as "Impact" for some reason I don't know) was scheduled to be held outside, since it was the last one of the semester, but then the weather decided to be all Oklahoma and rain on us. After pouring down and drenching everything in sight, leaving every flat surface a three-inch-deep puddle, the rain cleared out and BCM leadership was faced with a quandary: Hold it outside as scheduled and brave the rain, or play it safe, hold it indoors, and risk the weather turning nice again? The meteorology team of Stephen, Ashleigh and Justin studied their radars and predicted the rest of the storm would miss us, but everyone else wasn't exactly sure. If they were wrong and it started raining....most of the technical equipment would probably be ruined.
     So Stephen and Justin and I found some brooms and team-swept the stage of the ampitheatre curling-style while waiting on word. They decided to take another look at radar and talk to other people, while Susan and I decided to clean the water out of the seats while waiting on word. It was hard work, yes, but it was so much FUN! (I GOT TO clean SOMETHING!! And it was NECESSARY!!)   And besides, whether we used the space or somebody else did the next day, someone needed to clear it out. It felt like home; like I was in the family room cleaning up after a flood or ripping up carpet. Anyway, when we'd gotten almost finished we get word from Daniel P. that Project Outdoor Impact was a go, so it was minor touch-ups and getting set up without missing a beat schedule-wise.
     It went all right, except for a chilly wind freezing everyone. After cleaning up, there was a bunch of ice cream in the fridge that needed to be eaten, so....well, you can't waste perfectly good ice cream. Especially when there's peanut butter sandwiches and chocolate syrup and other toppings to accompany the ice cream. Bob revealed that the intensity of the set-up was because, well, it was a set-up, in a way. A sort of test of the ability to take calculated risks and trust leadership, and then as a team accomplish that goal to see what the results might be.
     Anyway, the ice cream was then cleaned up and most people left; leaving me, Stephen, Elizabeth, Michelle, Jordan, James, Ja Li Si, Ashleigh, Bucky, Haley A. and Caitlyn. So Bucky and James tried to teach two-step lessons, I found myself DJing the small dance party that resulted, and then eventually with it being close to midnight, and nobody wanting to leave until it was officially Ja Li Si's birthday, Jordan grabbed James' guitar and we had a 90's/early 2000's singalong. (Picture a bunch of folks doing "Sadie Hawkins Dance", including the part in the chorus where you sound like a pack of barking seals.)

     Everything after that has been working frantically on final projects. (And exhausted spacey looks between studying and sleeping.)
     This morning we had our final presentation for MMP, and so are anxiously awaiting final grades on that. And then the afternoon was filled with beginning shooting for my music video for the Advanced Video Production final. I think most of the shots I got were crappy and I'll need to redo them all. But I'm not sure, because the computer lab was locked early, so I couldn't upload the files yet once I checked the camera back in. And that's after switching cameras midway through due to technical freakout problems.

     Finals next week; and then moving out and heading back for the summer. Probably I ought to work on the recaps of this school year.
     Amanda's been pestering me incessantly in an exasperating little sisterly/friendly way without end.
     I've had a lot of Mitford quotes running through my head recently. Among them: "No rest for the weary, and the righteous don't need none!" (Mitford saying, originally from Uncle Billy)
"I like you. You're simple." "I'm probably the only woman in the world who would consider that a compliment." (Father Tim and Cynthia)
and "Philippians four-thirteen, for Pete's sake!" (Mitford saying, originally from Olivia Davenport)

     Also tons of Captain America quotes, from both movies. (NEED to see Winter Soldier again....) And the sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man comes to theaters tonight. And the Thunder will probably lose to the Grizzlies in an overtime game and be eliminated from the playoffs. Don't get me started on the Donald Sterling or Oklahoman-headline stories...

     And my birthday is four weeks from today.