"Oh no, a few years ago in a moment of blazing clarity, I forswore all ethnic folkdancing."

I'm in this strange mellow mood right now...I can't quite figure out if I'm contented or blue. I suppose I'll settle for a mix - joy/tenderness/sadness in Alba terms. And throw exhausted somewhere in there too. I think that would be nuetral. Can you add nuetral to a mix, I wonder?
So the last few days have been full of fabulous realities, which are SO fabulous they must be recorded at once. Check this out:
Fabulous Reality #1: A tiny little old lady in Wal*mart comes up to me and in an endearing Irish accent, asks me if Linda from Sporting Goods is here. I said she had the day off, and then the lady proceeds to tell me that Linda was supposed to come over at noon the day before to pick up a parrot. "A parrot?" I questioned. She explained that she has two, but she's alone now and "it breaks her heart, but she just can't keep up with the two of them." Poor parrot, and poor little Irishwoman. I would have hugged her, but she walked away and I'm not supposed to.
Fabulous Reality #2: At work, we each have a little memo-book in which we're supposed to keep track of how many boxes of freight we're putting out on the shelves. Right before lunch, Annie and I totalled the boxes we had done thus far. We were shocked to discover that we had worked the exact same amount of boxes. And what was the number of boxes? FORTY-TWO. (Only a few of you may have a full understanding of that number, but those who do should be appropriately awed.)
Fabulous Reality #3: This is the one that REALLY blows my mind. Yesterday, someone called our house, which was unusual because 3 out of the 4 of us have cell phones. Anyway, they asked for Amber, and when I said that no one lives here by that name, they said "Isn't this 552-8519?" I said "No, this is 552-8579." The person on the other end said "This sounds like Liz...is this Liz?" I said "Yes, who is this?" They said "Liz Whittaker?" I said "Yes..." The voice on the other end said "This is Sis. Vial!" It was my past YOUNG WOMEN'S LEADER from Medford, OR! I haven't talked to her for at least a year! Her daughter, Amber and I went through high school and young womens together, and now Amber's up here, but I've only seen her once. We couldn't believe how similar Amber and I's phone numbers up here were. It was so crazy! Anyway, we talked for about 10-15 mintues, and then she hung up to call Amber. It was awesome, and it totally made my night!
The last topic for today...I miss my family SO MUCH! I haven't seen them since February, although I did get to see Beckah and Mom a few more times. Everyone in my apartment is getting ready to visit their families and go home for a short vacation...Ella and Sarah leave tomorrow night, and Annie in 9 days. I have to wait the longest; until the 16th, and I only hope I can last that long. Just thinking about family and home and what it's like to have a house with parents and sisters and regular meals and chores and playing...I start to wonder how I've survived this long without it. What on earth made me want to leave it and stay away from it for so long? Sometimes, I start to think about my family, and our traditions, and games, and routines, which I'm no longer a part of, and I almost start to cry. I'm getting teary as we speak. I miss them so much it feels like I'm going to implode from wanting them!
I wish I could stay with them during the week-long break between summer and fall semester. I'm poor, however, and have to work. That will be a rough week...not only will I not be "home," I sort of won't have one. We've got to be out of Greenbrier but can't get into Beehive yet. Thus "the adventures of Liz, Ella, Sarah, and Rachel sleeping in the tent in Brant and Cindy's backyard" is born! We could stay in the house, but it's a small house, occupied by a Mom and two boys in their twenties. And we have a tent. And the weather should still be good. So we decided to play it safe.
That's all for tonight, folks!
PS: Check out my sister Isha's new hot-off-the-press blog in the links section!