November Wrap-Up

How is November almost over? That means we're almost to December! And didn't we just start 2021 like a month ago? Maybe three months? XD 

In any case, my November was really amazing! It was busy, yes, insane, yes, I had a lot on my plate, yes, but I got to do a lot of amazing things, watch a lot of amazing things, read a lot of amazing things, and write some things that I hope will be amazing someday with a lot of editing. 
Let's get to it!

1. To get the obvious question out of the way first, yes, I won NaNoWriMo! I in fact won it before we were 2/3 of the way through the month. *hides* (What can I say, I'm really good at getting things done when they're for fun and not school related. XD Not that I'm not good at getting school things done, too, I just...yeah, anyway. I'm good at making myself do stuff. Moving on.) But after I won, I just kept going, because the story wasn't done, and there is no cosmic rule that once one has written 50k, the rest of the story writes itself. Which is quite irritating, in my opinion.

So, my story is still not quite done yet, and its being very obstinate in stopping and refusing to tell me where it wants to go next, but I'm confident I can coax it along. *cough* At least semi-confident. I have slowed down a bit in my progress, because I can't figure out how I want the ending to go. Which is not ideal. XD

I'd give you stats for the month, but then I might have to include how many characters I killed, and we can't have that, now can we? 

Image credit to owner.

2. So, I got a job! I believe I mentioned that in passing, but to give you some more details...I have a part-time job with the Meat Science Lab (basically the campus butcher) on Tuesdays and Thursdays! I'm getting a respectable level of pay, and learning a lot! 

I've gotten to grind meat, sort meat, vacuum seal meat, make sausage of all kinds, label meat, season meat, cut meat (wearing a chain mail glove. For real. Also, I have my own set of knives), sort cuts of meat, sell cuts of meat, clean meat, cut bones out of meat, and even assist in slaughter (which, yes, is a bit of a lot...I've only done pig slaughter so far, and that's even less intense than cattle and lamb slaughter, so.). 

One of the coolest things I've gotten to do so far was this past week when I was told to cut the bone out of a ham, and when I extracted the bone, I realized that it was the femur-tibia-fibula-patella complex (aka the knee) and the tendon-y things were still attached, so I could make the joint move like it was still alive. #onceahomeschooleralwaysahomeschooler

I'm taking 20 hours of credit  next semester, though, so I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to keep going with the job, especially since one of my 4 credit classes requires around nine hours of in-class time per week. XD

3. Quotes of the Month, from Various Sources

"Chickens...are not the brightest lightbulbs on the planet." --My Animal Science prof

"Oh...I just bit C. S. Lewis." --George

My supervisor: "Do you need me to help with packing [online] orders?"
My boss: "No, I have Samantha. Samantha is better than you."

Thomas: "Bring me back some snack sticks [from work]."
Me: "As a reward for driving me to the airport?"
Thomas: "That would be acceptable."

"You always need a CAPE to survive!" --The little kid behind me on the plane [I mean, he's not wrong]

"I'm not only their absentee mother, I'm their ESTRANGED absentee mother??" --Sara [I will give you no context for this. Actually, never mind, I will--context is later in the post, if you can figure it out. Virtual cookies if you figure it out. XD]

4. In September, I got to go on an amazing retreat through the Newman Center called Koinonia, and for some reason didn't write about it on the blog? It was a new experience for me, and was a great blessing, especially in growing closer to my friends and other people I know at Newman! This month, I got a chance to help out with the next Koinonia retreat with a bunch of my friends, who were both on the retreat or also volunteering. Which was an amazing way for me to re-engage and get away again from the hustle and bustle of school, and I couldn't believe that I got to do it again so soon! And I met some new friends who I'm looking forward to getting to know. So, moral of the story, go on random retreats that you find through your Newman Center! :)
(It did snow as we were driving to the retreat center. In the middle of November. Illinois is weird.)

5. This...may require some background. This background is not strictly necessary, but I think it's funny, so I will share it in any case.

So, at Newman, there's a complicated genealogical system among some of the people in my friend group wherein there are currently three pairs of parents: Alphonsus & Fia, and then two other pairs, JC & Jen, and Calum & Sara. Peter & Sarah are the children of Alphonsus & Fia, George is JC & Jen's, and Lewis, Thomas, and I are Calum & Sara's. Peter, Sarah, George, Thomas, Lewis, and I are all cousins (except the ones who are siblings, obviously). The siblings defend each other in the chats, the cousins tease each other relentlessly, and "Don't talk about my cousin/sister/mom like that!" is uttered unironically on a fairly regular basis.  

So, my cousins and brothers and 'dad' and I, along with another friend of mine, decided to start watching Band of Brothers, an HBO series based on a book about a squadron [?] of paratroopers during WWII who were involved in the invasion of Normandy. 

And it is excellent. The way the men relate to each other and take care of each other is so sweet, and there are funny parts and heart-rending parts, and all of it is very accurate, and I have definitely not gotten attached to some characters who will probably die...

Each episode starts with interviews with some of the actual men who fought in the squadron [?] and that is very strange and fascinating to see and hear. And the things they say often play into what happens in the episode. 

I never really thought I would be a war movies person, but I really am at least a war show person! I can't wait for each episode, to see what happens to the men, to see how they cope with it, and to hope my favorites don't die.

It also does an excellent job of demonstrating that War Was Not Romantic. We romanticize war, but there in the trench, or trying to take over the town, or lying in one's own blood? That's not romantic.

(It does have quite a bit of graphic violence and some swearing...it's TV-MA for a reason. Watch with caution.)

One thing that caught me by surprise as I was watching was that many of the boys are really young. Like, eighteen. And we got to a part where someone mentioned his age, and I looked around at the guys I was watching with (my own band of brothers...and cousins) and realized...if we were living in a different time, it could be them in the trenches, trying to take over the town, lying in their own blood. It could be me at home, watching the newspaper for any news of them, hoping they'd make it back alive, if not in one piece.
And I was suddenly very grateful that that was not the case. And honestly, I also felt a little protective of them! Of their ability to sit in a dorm room watching a war show without experiencing it themselves. 
So, so, so.

6. For Fall Break, instead of going home to the West Coast, I went out to the East Coast! I stayed with Eowyn and her husband near DC, and as of the time this post comes out, I'm staying with my cousins about an hour away from there. It's been a really good rest for me--I've been able to do nothing, or just read, and not feel guilty about it--and I've gotten to see some really interesting stuff as well! Eowyn and I saw a bunch of the monuments in DC that we've been talking about in my Landscape Architecture class, and we also went to the Natural History Museum, and the National Gallery of Art, and she took me to her favorite used bookstore at which I purchased an obscene amount of books (15? 18? I don't even know)! 

The art gallery was especially amazing--we went through half of one floor (it was mostly the Middle Ages Catholic art), and I still have enough art to think about for the next, oh, year? It was a glut of art, and I am satiated. :) I love going to art museums, but for some reason, it's mostly the Catholic art that interests me? The other art, unless it is incredible, just doesn't hold my attention as long as a well-done Pieta or Assumption or Resurrection. I'm curious about this. Does art have to have a personal connection for the viewer? Does it help in interest to know that what is being depicted actually happened? I may write a blog post on this at some point...along with reflections on the tactile, apropos of Catholicism. :)

On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, we also got to go to Mass at the National Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, which was absolutely amazing! There are so many beautiful side-chapels and altars that it's almost mind-boggling...we kept thinking we found all of them, and then finding some more! I especially loved the Our Lady of the Rosary, Our Lady of Africa, and Our Lady of Czestochowa ones. I would definitely recommend a trip there if you ever happen to be in the area!

With my cousin and aunt, I got to go to the Air & Space Museum at Dulles, which had such amazing things as a Messerschmitt, the Enola Gay, a Blackbird, the Discovery Space Shuttle, and a bunch of WWI planes and WWII American, German, and Japanese planes. I was a bit sad that there weren't any English planes--didn't get to see a Blenheim, or a Spitfire, or a Tiger Moth--but I still got to see a lot of amazing things! 

Today (Friday), we're going to the zoo, where my cousin works, so hopefully we'll get to see some behind-the-scenes, and on Saturday, we'll hopefully get to see Father TA!

7. When I was at Eowyn's, I found a book on her shelves (she has beautiful bookshelves, the kind that I might want to have when I grow up) that I had heard about when my mom read it, yea these many years ago, and so I randomly picked it up off the shelves to read, to my friend's approbation (apparently it was a good choice).

I was not prepared for the sheer wonderfulness that was within these pages. It was incredibly well-written and well-charactered and well-set, and GAH.

The writing style, first of all! It was the right mix between showing emotions and telling action, but not entirely--it's such an interesting way of writing, because a lot of the action is very understated, and leaves you wondering "did that really just happen"? And it usually did. Also, each chapter weaves seamlessly between the past and the present, bringing a picture of Ove much more clearly into focus throughout the narrative. It just works so well, and I don't know how to describe, really. But I want to learn to write like that. :)

It also is such a remarkable book in that it is horribly sad and wonderfully hilarious in equal measures, and that is very strange. 

All of the characters are marvelous. Ove himself is deeply understandable, despite being a character who, seen from the outside, would be hard to understand. Crotchety old men often are. Parveneh and her girls are delightful, and most of the other characters become sympathetic in the end, and it's lovely. Especially the Cat Nuisance.

The setting, also! I could almost see Ove's house, and the setting of his daily inspections, even though it was not described at length.

And the plot! It was nondescript, sort of slice-of-life, but it really did move the characters through their arcs so very well, and even though it didn't seem like much was happening...much was happening.

In sum, Ove is one of those fantastic Scandinavian books that have been popping up so often, and I think you should read it immediately and tell me what you think. :)

What did you do for Thanksgiving? Have you ever been to DC? What was your favorite book that you read this month? Have you ever been on retreat?