Yet another day in the rut of paradise

Same old rush, same old me. Nothing earth shattering has happened lately, thank goodness. Isn't that truly a blessing? A bit odd to wrap my mind around but it is a blessing to have a rut, a beloved rut, to enjoy each day with the knowledge that every now and then you can hop the curb, take a little jaunt into adventure and then hop back into that rut. Beautiful.
The dogwoods and redbuds are blooming with the daffodils. I love spring! It's this season in Oklahoma that makes me remember a tinge of regret at leaving my botany "back-up major" path for my pharmacy college goal. Just a tinge but still...
Skronky has/had morchella mushrooms in his front yard (also known as morels) this past week. Didn't notice them last year so we assume the soil was effected by all of the downed tree branches from the winter ice storm that sat there and decayed in his yard for several weeks. They're edible but I didn't really notice that they were all that flavorful or terribly special. Perhaps the wonderful taste was obscured by the other flavors in the lasagna we made this afternoon?
Helped with the Big Event for the 4th year in a row last weekend. Our little group was sent to a community center that has after school programs for the neighborhood children to aid in cleaning their crafts room and work over the flowerbeds that had gotten a little overgrown. Always a good time.
Pharmacy Celebration this Saturday was interesting. The food was decent and the company was terrific but the flower centerpieces were... tactfully, I'll say they left a little to be desired. And calling them "flower" centerpieces would be more truthful as there were precious few actual flowers in attendance. I wore a truly vintage dress (a cute little black number that my lovely aunt got for me ages ago at an estate sale - it's been biding its time for so long but it was fabulous!) and my mum's pearls so I felt like a lady out on the town. Skronky escorted me and performed his duties as squire, taking the job so seriously as to help me reach the butter across the table when I was in distress over the naked state of my bread. Such a gentleman. Everyone looked so lovely and contributed such lively conversation that we hardly minded the awards ceremony in the background. (I jest, of course we listened attentively!)
Had out-of-state family in town last week. My cousins are growing up so fast, it's amazing. I remember the very day the oldest one was born (we were out of school for a snowday) and it's so strange (in a good way) to see her now, to see how much she's grown into herself and all the nuances of her personality that are forming. (That's the sort of realization that makes me scared to be a parent someday - that I could somehow be responsible, and purportedly qualified, for helping a child form into the person they will become.)
Well off to bed and dreamland... Love and best wishes to all!

"Shall I not call God the Beautiful, who daily showeth himself so to me in his gifts?" -Emerson

Pharmacy Week in Review

This past week saw lots of busy. So much busy, in fact, that it was frightening! Eeeek! (Okay so maybe it wasn't truly scary but I have to at least try to make my life sound thrilling once in a while.)
It was what my school calls "Pharmacy Week", which is a rather big thing for us considering we're *in* the college of pharmacy. (Note: the rest of the country celebrates pharmacy week in the fall... go figure that we'd be so much... ahead of everyone else...) The week had several big lunch events, including a 'Mexican food fiesta', another burger sale, and pizza with a pharmacy version of BINGO. Aren't we neat? Add that to a test in my "favorite" class, a long retail site visit, cold weather rolling back in, busy work assignments, and rain ruining a volleyball tourney [that I had been looking forward to for weeks] and you'll have a pretty good picture of fun, huh? (I even received a little award in recognition of my perceived leadership-ness. Yay for being involved!)
The festivities rounded out with the Big Event and a Pharmacy Celebration, both in Tulsa on Saturday. Rode up to T-town Friday with a few KY "brothers" - all female, of course - to spend the night so we wouldn't have to wake up really, really early and drive the two hours Saturday morning. [Our Tulsa native brother whose house we stayed at happens to have a dog of the same breed and coloring that the dog I grew up with had. He looked and acted so much like my dear departed doggie! --Also thank you for letting up stay in your room, Bandit. She shouldn't have kicked you out when all you wanted to do was snuggle with the pretty girls!] We worked at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, their resale warehouse that stores and sells their leftovers to help fund new projects and acts as a staging area for some of the prep work that goes into building the houses later. The other OKC KY gals worked with paint organizing while I helped with the lumber cutting, hauling, and hammering into shed platforms (yes, I hit my fingers purple, that's how great I am at DIY). Worked hard, got some lunch, and headed to the mall for shoes since one 'brother' forgot hers in OKC. After a whirl-wind of hairspray, shoes, dresses, and packing we left for the hotel where the Pharmacy Celebration was to be held. (I have to interject at this point to mention how truly beautiful we all turned out after such a dirty morning. We clean up good! --Thank you my pretty brothers for all the fun!)
The Celebration is really just a dressy awards ceremony for the upper classmen, like a combo of senior night and prom in HS. Dinner was sort of edible but the company really made the evening worthwhile. I sat with my fellow OKC P1s and we managed to laugh through most of the evening, perhaps even during a few parts for which we ought to have taken more seriously. ("I consume quickly!" and "So when are ya'll getting married? And ya'll? And you two?" as well as the waiter ninja who crept in to refill glasses or take empty plates with the stealth of night) Following the humdrum awards part, the after party included a DJ playing a mix of decent to horrible music, door prizes, and two of our professors dancing to a pop song in an unprofessional manner. Oh, and there was a chocolate fountain of which I a fan! Yum! Stuck around for a while then caught a ride south with Cory. Hardly any traffic since it was so late. Overall a very pleasant time in T-town.
Now I'm working on homework, club related issues, and reading. Such fun! Such glamour! Such hype!
Skronky's clematis plants are blooming! Yay!
The fish, shrimps, dogs, and cat are all doing well. The Family is enjoying a new game called Dance Dance Revolution... I can't say I'm good at it since I've only done one round but everyone else seems to be improving quickly so it should last a while here.
[Back to getting ready for the Celebration... I was reminded of parts of L.M.Montgomery's books about girls getting ready for dances and teas. Even though her girls are from the late 1800's-early 1900's and my lovely ladies are clearly modern gals there is still the hair-messing, dress-fixing, general worry and excitement. Made me smile to think that cliche about no matter how things change they still stay the same is so very true. We're still all girls at heart...]