Dancing in the Rain

I was going to complain a little bit tonight about my classmates and the train cars, but then I read Lindy's blog and saw the quote from Grandma Barrett, who has waaaaaaay, waaaaay, way worse trials than just having to deal with annoying classmates! The quote she likes says: "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass . . . it's about learning to dance in the rain." I realized that even if it's rainy and cold here, and my classmates are mad at me and drive me nuts, there are still a lot of things to be happy about, so I need to do a lot less complaining and start doing more dancing in the rain. Last night and today were really, really fun because Greg came!! We hadn't been able to see each other for a few weeks because of our busy schedules, but luckily we were able to spend some good time together this weekend.

Last night we enjoyed some Thai food and watched a movie, then Greg headed back to Sullivan. This morning he came back to Charleston and I made some breakfast burritos. And then, we got to go see the cutest little puppy ever! My classmate Sarah just bought a little beagle puppy named Ivy. Sarah's boyfriend Adam surprised her by bringing Ivy down here from Chicago this weekend--Sarah didn't think she'd get to see her until next weekend. Ivy is totally cute with her big paws, her floppy ears, her little droopy eyes, and her white-tipped tail. Greg and I then took a little excursion up to Tuscola to the most wonderful restaurant in the whole world: Flesor's Candy Kitchen--which has the BEST Reuben sandwich in the universe! Their Reuben is so delicious, that I have found that I don't enjoy Reubens anywhere else anymore because nothing compares to the one at Flesor's. Greg even agreed to stop at the antique mall in Arcola with me on our way back! We were able to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing and watching TV and movies. I did do some homework and we even went over to school for a minute to work on some things, but for the most part I was able to have a much-needed break from school stuff. (It's back to the exhibit construction grindstone tomorrow right after church.)

Yesterday before Greg came I had to go over to the studio to work on train car stuff, and I ended up having to paint the rest of the crate--which Kristen was supposed to have done the day before, but she didn't. It was okay though because honestly, the part she painted didn't look like wood at all--it didn't even look like fake wood! So I was able to finish it how I wanted to. There is still so much more stuff we have to do before we start installing the exhibit on Monday, but I will not worry about that tonight. I also don't even want to think about how we're going to get all of the stuff we made from the studio over to the Tarble Arts Center! But it's all good because no matter what happens in the next few days, one week from today Dr. Rugh will be here to speak at the exhibit opening, the exhibit will be up, and life will be good.

Yesterday when Mr. Riccio and I were moving a big 8-foot-tall piece of plywood, we almost blew away (literally). It's been really windy for the last couple of days, and a big gust of wind picked up the plywood. We would have both blown away had there not been a pole right by where we were walking, which stopped the flight of the plywood. :-) It's supposed to be pretty stormy tomorrow, but I'll try to remember my new resolve to dance in the rain (or snow)!