#109: Listen to an entire song played by the Chapel bells

                           <http://subterraneanepistles.blogspot.com/2010/08/religion-uva-part-2-battle-of-buildings.html>

            It’s 5 pm when the bells ring, and I am sitting in the McGreggor room hashing away at one of my final papers with an empty cup of java juice to my right and someone else’s abandoned noodles to my left. The tune the bells loop through is well known to me, but I can’t place it, just anticipate it. It might be from a movie; I may have played it on the piano myself once. But it’s eerie and sweet and sad and I am grateful for the break.

Three hours later, I have come to the realization that it was "Chim Chimmery" from Mary Poppins.

#77: Use the 21 Box on the Lawn

           

            Happy Easter! On a spur of the moment stop on the way home from church this morning, Joe and I cracked open the 21 box on the Lawn and attempted to hit a few balls. Looks like those few weeks outside of practice have been detrimental to our skills!

            P.S. The 21 Box isn’t a suggestion box, it’s a box full of balls etc to play with on the Lawn and then return. It’s much more fun than I originally thought! I don’t know who started it (I’m assuming the 21 Society) but kudos.

"These things will not bite you, they came to have fun! Then out of the box came Thing 2 and Thing 1" -- Dr. Seuss

#42: Check out an event in the Kaleidoscope Room

            Oh darn, I’m so upset that Newcomb has been doing renovations this whole academic year and the Kaleidoscope room hasn’t even been open for at least the whole semester! (not). Have I checked it out? As much as the construction barricades would let me!

            Thirty days til graduation. Thirteen things left to check off on the list.  It’s Wheat Thins time baby…can you hear the crunch?

#56: Feed Your Soul at Mel's Diner

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            I’d been looking forward to this task but wasn’t sure that the small building would be able to accommodate customers in rainy conditions. Luckily for Joe and me, there are four or five tables inside for days like this cold, rainy spring one when sitting on the patio isn’t as optimal. I’m SO glad we enjoyed our dinner inside though, because Mel and his mother and the rest of his staff are absolutely the most endearing family to run a small restaurant I’ve seen in a long time!

            They were so welcoming when we came in, gave me helpful suggestions about desserts (even though I stuck with the yellow and chocolate cake haha), and interacted with the other customers (all local frequenters) like they were best friends. It was a great Southern down-home feel to the place, and there were pictures of the family all over the walls which made it so homey.

            Mel and his momma laughed when Joe ordered the big plate of wings with a double side of fries, roll, and a side of an 8oz mushroom burger. I got a 5oz cheeseburger (only $3!), shared the large heap of his fries and followed it up with that cake :D The prices are SO reasonable, and I thought the food was pretty decent. Joe absolutely loved the fried wings. If you go and you’re adventurous, you should try the “World Famous Sweet Potato Pie”, but make sure you bring cash or checks… they don’t take credit cards and they’re not open Sundays. Not gonna lie, I’m kind of excited that Mel’s is coming to the Ampitheater Thursday for the 4^th years… I hope they bring some mac and cheese to try :D

“One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.” -Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright

#8: Run or support a Charlottesville road race

             This weekend, UVA hosted several large-scale events to commemorate the inauguration of Teresa Sullivan as our eighth president. My favorite was Friday when VWC got to sing for nearly five hundred guests at the AFC luncheon (Casteen, the governor, and Tiki Barber were all in attendance). But today (Sunday), “Terri” held an official UVA Inaugural Walk and may have converted some Cvillians to the cult that is VOLKSSPORTING.

            This “noncompetitive sport” is awesome in that you get to experience some beautiful, scenic routes on a selected 5 or 10k course. But that’s just it… walking to earn a stamp or a “merit patch” that the real “noncompetitors” wear all over their jackets. Terri apparently did the walk early in the morning and I was a little disappointed I didn’t get to run into her (walk into her… gotta love “noncompetition sports”). I signed up to work the road “race” from 10am-2pm and got paired with my AFC friendly face Michelle who teaches cycling classes on Wednesdays! It was fun hanging out with her, and we got a beautiful spot right at the corner of University and Rugby by a lilac tree.

           It was a little cold in the morning, and all we had to do was stand there and smile at the passersby (which quickly became few and far between) and tell them to cross the street in front of the Rotunda in case they couldn’t read the maps. But there were dogs, occasional babies, Tug for the Town fratstars, sorawrity girls in too weather inappropriate short dresses, texts about last night, and great conversation to keep my mind preoccupied. Around noon we had a car drop us off a burger each and some cookies and I got a cupcake surprise visit from Joe!

            P.S. Sorry for the “everywhereness” of this blog. And for the whole not actually taking part in the running of a race… I have self diagnosed myself to have exercise-induced urticaria and refuse to run unless I really have/want to. But I supported it so it counts!

“Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far.” – Thomas Jefferson

#55: Play an IM Sport

1^st Year, Fall: Dan Allen organized an indoor soccer team and Jon recruited me as the token girl. Unfortunately, we didn’t know the rules about the guy: girl ratio and I ended up having to play the whole time while we played a man down. We lost EVERY game, but I definitely got to know Dan, Nick, and Mo better!

3^rd Year, Spring: San Sal Sluggers softball team with my Bahamas crew!

4^th Year, Spring: The Price is Right softball team!!

·        Pitcher: Charlotte

·        Catcher: Joe

·        1^st: Lauren

·        2^nd: Kelly

·        Short: Sam

·        3^rd: Kelly Ann

·        Right: me!

·        Right Center: Jon

·        Left Center: Jade

·        Left: Dave

·        New Addition: Alex

     We pretty much had the best season EVER: 3-0! Well, we essentially slaughtered the first team (Statistically Significant), got snowed out the second game (but still got a win!) and won by forfeit the third! We probably would have been great contenders in the championship games, but Jon forgot to go to the mandatory playoff meeting so we aren't allowed to participate anymore and lost our shot at the coveted IM Championship T-shirt that the girls were never given a chance to play for (this is for when Joe makes some snide comment about how he already has the t-shirt).

        Hopefully we can have a team barbeque next week with a picture to come!

“Go hard every play. You don’t want to leave anything behind and regret it years down the road that you didn’t give it all when you could have.”

--Ashley DeBuhr, pitcher, Univ. of Nebraska



#49: Make an Appointment at UCS

They tell you when you’re a first year: take advantage of all the resources around you! Go to UCS and talk about your future! Well, I went to Bryan Hall today, and the woman I first talked to didn’t even know what UCS was- ooooh athletes. (When you go into Bryan, turn left to get to University Career Services. The right side is athletics, and they don’t want to talk to you if you look like a normal person.)

After just a couple of minutes, I met this really nice guy named Aaron who apologized for making me wait! He was super friendly and tried to be helpful, but honestly all he could help me with on my resume was to point out one parenthesis that I hadn’t bolded. And then he basically said my cover letters were great! It only took 15 minutes of my life, but I left there wondering why I am still jobless [never having even gotten an interview for the dozen jobs I’ve applied for] if what I’m doing in my applications is actually pretty top notch.

Oh, ok fate. It’s one of those "it's not me, it’s you" things.