Comfort Food

It's been a busy but sunshiney day, and sunshine usually makes everything better. I'm about over this cold weather, though!! I'm ready for spring!

I had a momentary freak out today because our oral history project at Bryant High School begins in less than a week. We've got most of our stuff ready to go--now it's just time to wait. I have such high hopes for this project, which started when I told Dr. D-W that I wanted to "teach kids how to not suck at writing." She mentioned in passing that she'd always wanted to start a writing or literacy program for high school students, and I said, "Okay, let's do it!" That's all it took; I said I'd help, she got the grant money, and here we are, a year later, ready to go.

We will be teaching three classes at Bryant about oral history (basically interviewing people and recording their stories, some ordinary and mundance, some surprisingly interesting) and helping them produce oral history projects about civic leaders, specific decades, and the Vietnam era (a different topic in each class). The teacher in me is eager to get started and see what great work the kids will come up with. The planner in me gets a little freaked out when we're pushing the deadline limits. But all the groups came through today, and we're ready to roll!!

A great day was topped off by a great dinner with fabulous friends. I love these people, my Wesley peeps. We had a huge pot of Alicia's *awesome* chili, cornbread muffins (made by moi...courtesy of Jiffy), and super cute elephant brownies from Lauren. How wonderful to have a group of friends who loves to cook AND eat. One of the things I will miss most about college is all of our impromptu dinners and late-night chats, even if we get into (fake) heated arguments about who's the worst friend ever. Current leader is Alex, but she loves it!

A few photos from dessert time because by the time I realized I forgot to photograph our feast, it was gone!

Ali scooping ice cream with a plastic spoon: FAIL.
Lauren and Justin are so stinkin' cute!!

Ellyn and Alex show off their adorable elephant brownies.

Ali and I *love* the Tide--and brownies!

"You better put this all over the internet!" -Alex

A weekend full o' love

I've always loved the idea of Valentine's Day. A single day devoted to lovin' sounds great. I love the cheesy Hallmark hype, the mylar balloons, the ginormous teddy bears. Sure, it all seems excessive any other day of the year, but on February 14th, it's all good. But with no boyfriend, Valetine's Day can be a downer. Luckily, I've had the best Valentinefor the past four years, one of my very best friends, Alicia. Neither of us has been dating on Valentine's, so we've always done something together. Usually we take up two seats and a table at a restaurant and giggle about the mushy, lovesick couple who can't have either. Once both of us fall in love with our Prince Charmings, we'll look back and laugh about our (slight) bitterness, but for now, I couldn't ask for a better friend to wish a Happy Heart Day.

This year Alicia and I went to see the matinee showing of the star-studded Valentine's Day on Saturday. The verdict: I loved the cheesy predictability; Alicia "didn't love it." But we had fun! Then we hit up the uber swanky Jason's Deli (it sounds more chic if you say it with a French accent) for a quick "lupper." It was so great to hang out with my BFF because she's leaving soon for her nursing preceptorship in Huntsville, at which time I will "cry every day of my life." We're all trying guilt her into failing school and staying in Huntsville. Unfortunately, Alicia is super smart and has a great opportunity in Huntsville. I'm so proud of her even though I will miss her SO much!! Not too long before we all have big girl jobs and will be back in Huntsville/Nashville (fingers crossed for Alicia's Vanderbilt interview), close to each other.

On the real Valentine's Day, I went to church with the crew and then Mo, J, Susan, John Adam, Philip and I went to lunch--just a regular old Sunday. I love Sundays because I get to see some of my favorite people after we've all had long work/school weeks! There's nothing better than sitting around enjoying a meal and laughing with good friends. We all looked pretty sharp!

Mr. and Mrs. Page's first Valetine's Day as a married couple!

The girls!

Morgan and Jeremy (Mo and J) lookin' schnazzy!

Heather ran her Mercedes-Benz half marathon on Sunday morning, so she and JK got back to Tuscaloosa in time for all of us to get together for dinner at Susan and John Adam's. We had a homemade Mexican feast, and then we had more time to hang out. Heather's big kid job is in Huntsville, but since she's got a sweet government gig, she had Presidents Day off and could spend the weekend with us. I love having all my "peeps" in Tuscaloosa at once!!

Revamped for 2010!

Wild Magnolia Waiting has undergone a makeover for 2010, and this magnolia is promising to keep up with my blog this time! I had great intentions to blog my whole senior year, and then a little thing called Methods got in the way. Last semester, arguably the most difficult semester in an education major's college career, I was taking a class on top of Methods and trying to keep up with the ever growing stack of reading.

This semester, however, I feel like I have some breathing room. I'm taking 12 hours of classes--albeit challenging classes--and have a bit of time to keep myself sane. I'm back in the gym for the first time in a year (slacked off when I had mono and didn't feel "normal" for months afterward) and am enjoying what little time I have left with some of my college friends. Since I'm trying to soak up the last year before I graduate, what better place to document it all but here?

I'm back!

My life since Jon and Kate split!

I realize it's been nearly a year since I lasted blogged about college life, and now I'm in class creating a blog for a project we're starting. I read back over my entries from 2008--crazy how things change. I was excited about meeting Jon and Kate Gosselin this time last year, and anyone who keeps up with People or Joel McHale knows how quickly their marriage went to pot!

I'm not really keeping up with the Gosselins these days. I spend more time studying, reading, and lesson-planning than sleeping or eating anymore, but alas, these are the woes of a preservice teacher. Some days I wonder why I ever chose this major . . . okay, most days. But then there are classes like Dr. Scherff's where we all come together--vent and stress and nearly (or actually) cry--and then feel better . . . for a couple of hours. The classes are long, the reading is longer, and the stress is high, but we're all in it together! Plus, the kids make me laugh, and what's life without inappropriate jokes from high school seniors who should know better. Or whisper quieter!

John Ruskin and made-up cuss words

This post is brought to you by dual sponsors Diet Coke and I-just-banged-the-ever-loving-shizzzz-out-of-my-knee. Why is Little Leah up so late on a school night when she knows she has an 8:00 class tomorrow? (And why is she typing about herself in the third person?) Because it's Sara Beth's 21st birthday, and I thought I'd splurge on a Diet Coke at Iguana Grill for the occasion. Now, I know how well my body tolerates caffeine, especially after about lunch time (read: I'll be up all. night. long.), but I didn't care; we were celebrating! (Happy Birthday, Slum!)

Iguana Grill was fantastic. The food has replaced *gasp* Jalapeno's as my favorite Mexican food, but the atmosphere was to die for! I drooled over the paper lanterns hanging from whimsical twine (ish) trees in the middles of the tables and the dangling star lamps were just... too cool. Mustn't forget the dozens of sparkling shaped-metal iguanas crawling on the walls. It was like we were outside...but we were inside. Very almost Dr. Suess...if he were an authentic Mexican.

And John Ruskin... Well, he appeared in the title of this blog post, but I'm sick of him. I'm reading about him for Dr. Dublin's class. He's an awesome teacher, but I'm just too tired to get all this reading in all the time. The rest of the class shares my sentiment. I did actually like the reading for tomorrow, but am dog tired so I'm heading to bed!

Jon and Kate!!! (no eight)

Alex, Heather, and I ventured off to Birmingham today to the Southern Woman's Show to see Jon and Kate Gosselin (of the TLC variety) speak. We left after class so we got there only a few minutes before they spoke and were in the back, back. I didn't get to hear them speak because Alex and I got in the autograph line when it was still short while Heather went to snap photos and listen. This is a shot zoomed all the way in from our place in line. Heather got much better pictures from her spot so I'll add them when she loads them. All we were able to hear was Kate saying they liked sweet tea and that they were moving to Birmingham (just kidding!!). Heather gave us a recap of the rest of the Q&A session when she found us again.

I don't know why I became so enthralled with the Gosselins and their show Jon and Kate Plus Eight. Maybe it's the absolutely adorable kids (okay, it IS the adorable kids!) and the hilarious things they say ("Hannah pooped....in Hannah's unnawears" -Leah) or the fact that I'm in awe that a woman could carry surviving sextuplets after twins or that Jon and Kate just make their lives work everyday! No matter what critiques I hear about the family or the show, I still love them! I think it'd be pretty tough for anyone to chase after eight kids, much less let the world have a glimpse of their lives every week.

I was so excited when we started to get close to the front of the line - especially after the security guard kicked the line-cutters out. Honestly, who teaches their preteen daughter that it's okay to cheat and lie by saying "WE WERE HERE! I don't care what you say, lady!" in front several people who clearly knew you weren't. None of the three parties claimed this woman as family although she tried to say she was in line with each group.

Anyway, back to getting to talk with Jon and Kate. We were allowed to take pictures of them but not with them, so we managed to get one of Heather near them! The plan was to have Heather snap a photo of me and Alex too, but we were so enthralled in our conversation that she forgot! That's okay, though, because I got a chance to tell them I'm called "Little Leah" just like their Leah. They chatted back and seem to be genuinely nice people! There's hope their Leah will indeed stay little forever, too, since Kate said, "Oh, and you *are* little!"

(Heather did get a picture of Kate talking to me. I'm just not in it.) Also, in my stuttering nervousness (I felt silly later. They're a normal family, not scary people!) I grabbed an autographed page off the edge of the table that read "& Kate plus our 8"....didn't give Jon a chance to sign. Whoops!

This totally made my day! I'm even more convinced that Jon and Kate really are fantastic people who care deeply about their family. And we kept remarking about how pretty Kate is, even more in person than on TV! Obviously, the only thing that could have made the day better was if the kids had been there, but I'd be worried people would get arrested for trying to "Grab A Gosselin" because they're all so stinkin' cute!!

A few other pictures from the day:

Jonkristjen left us a note on the car!

Alex's awesome pink glasses....what a disaster!

Me and Alex waiting in line

Jami lost the goose...and where I found it.

I hope Karl Marx will excuse me as I ditch his Consciousness Derived from Material Conditions to relay a story I find particularly amusing. (I reading quit at "orohydrographical," but preach on, brotha!)

I recently sent the following Facebook message to Jami:

So I had the weirdest dream last night. You were in it so I thought you'd get a kick out of this! It was Alabama Action meets Wesley Foundation meets Wathen family Christmas! All my friends from Wesley are sitting around at my grandparents' house with all my family as well as Michael, Phillips, and Trey. Random assortment!

Enter Jami Gates like a frantic mad woman. First you apologized to us for not making the Prater Auditorium Conference (party code name)...you'd have showed up if it weren't for all those freshmen. (haha!) But you said, "I'm here now, but there's a huge problem!" We're all still kind of looking at you dumbfounded when you come over and whisper, very seriously, "Leah, I can't find the goose." RANDOM!!! But you're searching high and low for some missing goose. Michael Emery guesses Grey Goose...but you say "No, a GOOSE goose." And then I woke up shaking my head. So...if you find the goose, let me know!

I found the goose this afternoon when Josh, in true Jim Carrey-starring-in-Liar, Liar style, fashioned me a goose from a crumpled sheet of paper.

I'm pondering these questions after the last few days:

1) WHY did I dream that Jami lost a goose???

2) Isn't is such a coincidence that Josh just happened to do the paper goose bit - we haven't done that in many months - the same day!?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhR126555NA&NR=1