Gung-Ho for Senioritis and Such.

And so we bid our adieu to break as we once knew it. It's gone, having given way to what we've fondly termed "The Beginning of the End". Spring Quarter. Yep, this is is it, the last quarter of my undergraduate career. It's a strange feeling and one that is, for the most part, still a vague, distant thing that is by and large not real. But then there are those moments of clarity...like when I ordered my cap and gown or when I trip over my own tongue in response to that really insightful question "so, what are you doing next year?" Fear not, I too have asked that question many times and oft. Of others and of myself. Or when the kindly gentleman at the next-door ticket stand offered me a job application with a schedule that was flexible for students, and I replied with an aura of chagrin that it just didn't matter, "I wont BE a student, sir."

Despite the timbre of angst you may be gleaning from this post here, I really am excited. A few days off was just the ticket to the final stages of senioritis and the beginning of the steady march to the finish line - whereupon we will start a new race altogether.

Revival, let me tell you, is a great thing. The best remedies in the world include:

Coffee, Agatha Christy and snider bits at Nielson's.

Theatre, champagne and Steinbeck accompanied by only the best.

Thai food by the canal, almost being run over by Dan Armading and sunshine.

But now we have Shakespeare to look forward to. And capstones and sailing. And then to join the bandwagon of some of my favorite alums (mainly I'm excited about this so I can finally feel deserving of my Alumni mug.)

It's finally here.

Today I woke up to blue skies, the strange, unharried silence of my usually chipper alarm clock (My alarm clock is a morning person of the most annoying variety. The kind that is persistent, and sings.) and french pressed coffee. This can logically mean one thing. Happy days are here again. It is finally Spring.

Already I can feel the petals of my soul unfurling and my senses rediscovering what it is to be alive. The sky is once again an appropriate color. There are flowers starting to grace our midsts. Moods and temperaments are slowly but surely inching their ways up and out of the deep dark pit of winter despair. All is as it should be.

Despite winter quarter causing the appearance of a pitiful and possibly unbalanced state of being (brought on primarily because of the cold and a semi-translucent shade of specter-gray is my current skin tone), it was in all reality a rather cheerful collection of weeks. It was all about the creative and the introspective this quarter. I had a play writing class (I based my main characters on my parents - my dad has enough lines in his usual repertoire to supply an entire season of comedic theatrical productions, musical and otherwise - grandparents and of course Stephen Rickard) and a costume design class during which I learned that in order to successfully design a children's play, one must go big or go home. It was touch and go for a week or so mid-quarter but the former prevailed and I've never had a more fun and creatively satisfying class. I also had my English Capstone and a physics class that rocked my world. Iremembered why I wanted to be an architect for so many years - but then also why I changed my mind. Then also how it's cool that I can do physics despite my changed mind. College is kind of a great that way. Did you know that every color we see is because of light photons that only come in red, blue and green? They do the whole mix and match thing to trick us into seeing every thing else - yellow is 50% green and 50% red in real life. Also that it is almost impossible for men to stand up straight against a wall and pick up a chair but it's the easiest thing for a well endowed woman. Wudduuuup.

But now it's all in the past. The present means nothing but lounging in the sun filtering through my windows, sitting on the porch with tea and my girls, sleeping in and playing with my nanny kids at the park. Also spending time with my boy who survived the earthquake.

We celebrated the happier of the two equinoxes (equinoxi? just plain equinox?) by going down to Port Orchard to welcome Markus's brother Calvin home (also from Japan, also an earthquake survivor). Deciding that three plus arms, although practical, would be more undesirable than not, the Bulthuis's decided to get Calvin out of the danger zone and back home for a little while.

I always love my time with this family, and this time I got spend time with the Lynden and Japanese branches - including, of course, Ms. Ada and Ruby Jean.

We took Ada to the beach and learned how to throw rocks (Ada and I have about same level of rock skipping profiency - she just looks better doing it). I learned the beauty of mushrooms in food related things and how to correctly cut strawberries according to what one is cutting them for. Also, if you somehow failed to catch the phenomenon of the supermoon (for shame), keep in mind for 2022 that a. the biggest moon in 20 years is not to be missed because b. if nothing else, it really does offer ample opportunity for romantically lit strolls to sea-side bluffs and suchlike, if you're into that sort of thing. I freely confess I am.

I feel like I've gone on long enough for one day...I'm going to go bake pie.