"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door."

Well, this is it! One more day before I get on the shuttle that will take me to the plane that will take me to the limo that will take me to the cruise ship that will take me to the sunny Western Carribean! I can hardly grasp it, really. I've been counting down the days for so long, it seemed like the cruise would never come! But it has, and not a moment too soon!

After the mildest fall semester I've ever experienced here, winter has finally caught up with Rexburg and is making up for lost time. We've gotten several inches of snow...the kind that's not going anywhere for a while, and its been well into the negative temperatures. But ah, the sunny sands of beaches in Mexico and Sur America await me!

I've been making all sorts of preparations for weeks now, including buying a new suitcase, researching ancient cultures of Mexico, and having my legs and bikini line waxed. I'll spare you the details of that experience, but I'll share some non-specific thoughts on the whole thing, since I'd never done anything like it before.

I've tried waxing my legs at home before, but it was painful and didn't even work, so I decided to not waste any more time or money on trying to do it myself. However, I didn't want to have to worry about shaving on a CRUISE, so I forked over a somewhat exhorbitant amount of money to Sage Day Spa to have them do it for me.

I was a little nervous, because it seems like a painful process, but other than that I had no idea what to expect. Since I was at a SPA, the whole atmosphere was very...tranquil? After I checked in, the receptionist led me to the bathroom and gave me a robe and sandals to change into, then had me wait in a room with low lighting, meditative music, and faintly scented candles. She said someone would be right with me, and would I like any juice or water while I waited? I said no thank you and sat and contemplated the experience so far. In a weird way, it was a little creepy..."Please take off all of your clothes and put on a soft comforting robe. Then wait in this comforting room while I offer you comforting things, even though in a moment, we're going to lead you into another room, close the door, lay you on a table under a surgical light, spread hot wax and cloth on your flesh and yank it off again very quickly, over and over again." Which is what happened. (Although for the sake of being dramatic, I did exaggerate slightly. The table was more like a bed, with a headrest, and the surgical light was only turned on to check for stray hairs.) It was actually less painful than I expected, and it got easier after awhile...I sort of got used to it. It wasn't exactly pleasant, but it wasn't a tooth-gritting type of pain either. More of just an "occasionally-squish-up-your-face-for-a-second type of pain." Anyway, I'm now hair free. Although a little sticky. Wax isn't easy to remove.

I also feel it necessary to make it public knowledge that earlier this week, the theatre department put on a Christmas Festival, with puppet shows, skits, musical numbers, poetry readings, and "The Second Shepherd's Play." I played Legolas in a skit entitled "Middle-Earth's First Christmas," written by my friends Dave and Jenny. (Hence the Tolkien quote as the title of the blog.) It was ridiculous, mostly improved, and one of the sillier things I've ever done in my life, but we all had a blast, so oh well. Isha, me and Beckah sang "An Ode to Boromir" and added a verse to introduce the show. The last verse went "Aragorn isn't in our show, Why that is we just don't know, but here's the Christmas story of the one ring of power's birth." The basic premise of the skit is that the one ring was forged by Sauron as a favor for Sam and Frodo, who needed last-minute gifts for the Christmas party "Gandalf the Red" was throwing. For awhile, Smeagol got ahold of the ring, but after several gift exchange games and a few incidents of minor violence, it ends up on Sauron's finger. J.R.R. Tolkien is spinning in his grave at this moment, I'm sure.

I conclude with a somewhat boring top ten list, but I've been a "to-do list junkie" the last couple of weeks, so it only seems appropriate that as an expression of my life lately, I share with you my Top Ten Things To Do Before the Cruise:

10. Return my library book. And decide which books to bring on the cruise.

9. Take my British Literature final online, so that I can then sell my book back and have $30 extra bucks for exciting things.

8. Withdraw a little spending money in cash from the ATM. Which I will be carrying with me. Which worries me a little bit, until I'm on the cruise ship and can put most of it in my luggage.

7. Pack. And possibly move all of my stuff that I'm not bringing (which is MOST of my stuff) down to #212, where we're living next semester.

6. Clean. Even though I've made a solemn vow to never again completely do White Glove clean-check as long as I'm living in approved housing. Its just not worth it to me. I'd rather fork over $50 than spend hours wiping down walls and scrubbing the grill behind my fridge. Especially when I'm trying to pack and make travel plans and take finals. But I'll wipe down counters. I'll scrub the microwave out. I'll leave it decent.

5. Figure out where to leave my car over the break. Which may require a special parking permit of some kind. As a matter of fact, I'm sure it does.

4. Acquire the required parking permit.

3. Change my voicemail message on my cell phone to something witty that says I'm on a cruise and won't be returning phone calls until the 23rd.

2. Eat all of the perishable food I have, or as much of it as possible, so that I don't have to throw it away or find someone to take it and eat it.

1. Hang out with people I'll miss lots, before going to see other people who I miss right now.