Tilford Deadly

Tilford Dudley is going to bring about the destruction of the HA Class of 2008! Just kidding, but I think Deadly is a good last name for him. Being the only person in the class who knows how to use Photoshop has its advantages--it makes me popular, but it also has its disadvantages--it makes me the only one who can do certain things for the Dudley exhibit. Even though I'm not officially on the exhibit team (since I'm doing one of the presentations), I was recruited by them today because they needed some serious graphic help. We're feeling the crunch because we have to install the exhibit next Saturday--and everything still needs to be printed! I have to admit though, this is a very effective way to teach us how to do this stuff--we are all learning quickly, and if we survive this, we'll have some real experience under our belts. If we survive--that's the key. :-) I escaped earlier this evening, but I got a phone call from Kristen who sounded so utterly desperate that I didn't have the heart not to go back. I just got home, and it's now almost 12:30 in the morning--but I figure that we're all in this together so either we'll all go down as one or we'll help each other get through this program.

I am currently trying to read up on making brooms for tomorrow's fall frolic at the Lincoln Log Cabin. Did you know that the introduction of broom corn to the United States has been attributed to Benjamin Franklin? He gets credit for everything :-) In this article broom corn is referred to as "the plant that swept America." Ha ha. It has turned from fall into summer again here in Illinois, so I have a feeling that we're going to melt tomorrow--especially in our pioneer dresses! It's forcasted to be 92 degrees tomorrow! What happened to fall? Isn't this supposed to be a FALL frolic? I hear that it's been super chilly back home in Utah. Too bad it can't be nice mild, crisp, cool fall weather everywhere right now. I will surely have many adventures to report tomorrow after the festivities. I'm supposed to report to Lincoln Log at 9:45 a.m. at which time I will receive a 10-minute broom-making tutorial from Dr. Reid, then I will work until 4:00 in the afternoon. We will get to take breaks and walk around to see other people's crafts. They are also feeding us lunch and dinner cooked in a Dutch oven! Heck, I'd dress up like a chicken if it meant getting Dutch oven food! Dinner is at 5:00 tomorrow evening, so I'm thinking it will be quite a long day.

Speaking of a long day, today was a long day. This morning Kristen, Aly, and I went out surveying houses. Remember how I said that somebody got attacked in that neighborhood? Well, everyone there is a little edgy--and I certainly don't blame them. A lady wearing black Hawaiian shorts came out and questioned us today because she thought we looked suspicious. Aly did look kind of like an FBI agent in her shades and her black shirt. Then I worked with Dr. Hardeman all afternoon, and though we did make more headway than we have in the past (we made it through grading two papers and four tests in three hours!), he was falling asleep more than ever today. I had to keep waking him up, but the problem was he didn't know he had gone to sleep. So I would ask him if he wanted to stand up and walk around, but he would say that he was fine--then the next minute he would be snoring. Sometimes he would be telling me what to write on one of the student's papers, but he would be half asleep, so what he was saying didn't make sense. :-) Actually, come to think of it, what the students were writing didn't make sense either! In an essay about the events leading up to the Revolutionary War, one student was talking about Rosie O'Donnell--comparing her to the Whig party in reference to the Bill of Rights. This made no sense. Needless to say, by the time I finished today, I was a bit exasperated. Dr. Hardeman offered to pop out his prosthetic eye to show me, but I told him I wasn't really in the mood to see a prosthetic eye today. Now I'm so pooped that I don't really feel like going to bed. But I will because I know I need to. I think my days of having a normal eating and sleeping schedule are no more--at least until next April. It's all good though!