March Wrap-Up

So, hi guys. I'm aware that it's not March anymore (by a long shot), but I had a request from a friend for me to wrap up my March, so here I am. (A lot of things did happen, some of which she knew about, so it wasn't a crazy request.) (Although she might have just wanted the quotes. Which is also fair, cuz I have a LOT of quotes from March. Enjoy them. :))

It's been a crazy time what with classes and Holy Week and all, so blogging has sort of fallen by the wayside--I wasn't intending to take a multi-week hiatus, but it just kind of happened. Sorry about that! It's tough, though, because in addition to school and general business, I think a lot of the people who ordinarily comment on my blog are really busy right now, too, which I TOTALLY GET (because I am, too, and I'm not always the best about commenting while in the middle of school), but it can be really discouraging to pour a lot of time and love into a post and then have almost no one comment on it. (This is, of course, amplified if Blogger just won't let anyone comment. XD Thankfully, that seems to be resolved. For now, at least.) So. We shall see what happens. But for now, I'm back for a bit. :)

(Also, Happy Easter! He is Risen!)

(Oh, and if you're wondering what happened to my cryptic hint that I might end up moving to a different platform...that's been tabled for now because of how busy I am, but I may investigate at some point, if Blogger starts being weird again. For now, it seems like the problems are fixed, so I'll be here at least for the foreseeable future.)

Now, thinking back to March...
-I had my first Tornado Warning (sirens and all) that resulted in evacuation (in the middle of class!) to the basement. (Technically this was in February, but after my February wrap-up.) I feel like my Midwestern experience is complete. 

-After that, on the last day of March, I had my second ever Tornado Warning, in the middle of a retreat that was taking place in an old school/community center in a town so small that the fire department transports themselves in a pickup truck (population 346, if you're wondering). Everyone who was on the retreat had to take shelter in the women's locker room, and the priest who was with us had the Eucharist in his pocket...it was quite the time. And then the power went out, but that's a whole different story...

-I had possibly the craziest week of my entire life the week before Spring Break, but God saw me through...even though the week was insane, each day was fine (which taught me that maybe I shouldn't look ahead *quite* so much, lol). 

-For Spring Break, I got to go on a hiking trip to the Smokey Mountains with eleven of my friends and acquaintances, and one of our priests (Father M). It was one of the best weeks I've had in a while! We hiked a total of twenty-six miles in three days (5 miles the first and second days, and then sixteen miles the third day, which, yes, was insane), ate much Bluebell Ice Cream, had fun cramming into a small airBNB cabin, teased each other, watched way too many WWII movies, ate kippered herring, and had daily Mass in the tiny living room of the cabin. (Also, I drank whisky for the first time. For medicinal purposes.) 

-At the end of that week, I also got to visit family in Maryland for a few days, and that was really restful and delightful, AND I got to watch the Extended Editions of Two Towers and Return of the King for the first time ever! 

-I spent way too much time hanging out with friends in one of our priests' office after the 8pm Mass. Much hot chocolate and tea was drunk; a good time was had by all. 

-I got to ultrasound pregnant pigs, which was probably one of the highlights of my academic career so far. 

-I explored an international food store in Downtown Urbana (they sell Turkish Delight!) and resolved to go back there more often. 

-I gave up fiction for Lent, resulting in fewer books read, but honestly more enjoyment of the fiction books I read on Sundays...

Quotes:

Kay: "You drive like your grandmother."
Father M: "She's dead!"
Kay: "Exactly."

Father M: "You're Anton's best friend, have you not figured that out yet?"

George: "That is not theologically sound, get away from me!"

Father M: "It's high culture. You need to be high to appreciate it."

Matt: "I know it's not a competition, but...he's winning."

Me: *takes a bite of Bluebell* "Mmmmmmmmmmm"
Thomas: "Happy Samantha noises."

Father M: "Should we do the official Newman Pizza Blessing?"
Us: "Sure?"
Father M: "Bless this pizza, amen."

Thomas: "That [deer] is muscular!"
Father M: *concerned* "Ooookay?"

Father M: "You need meta-context."
Peter: "I just need to wake up!"

Random stranger: *tries to open bear-proof trash can in Smokey Mountains National Park* *fails* *starts to walk away*
His friend: "Are you really giving up?"
Stranger: "It's locked!"
His friend: "No." *opens it* "It's animal proof."
Stranger: "Oh, well...I am an animal."

My cousin, after hearing the above story: "So...there's a significant overlap between the smartest of bears, and the dumbest of people?"

My aunt: "Ethan, your mail."
My cousin: "Am I?"

George: "Samantha, have you tried not knowing something?"

Music director: "So, Easter is in two weeks."
Lew: "Spoiler alert!"

Dr. Digger: "Anyone want to cuddle up with that wolf?"
*nods throughout the classroom*
Dr. Digger: "Please don't."

Dr. Digger: "When the cat's away, the mice will play...and spread the plague."

Diet Dr. Digger: "There are many reasons why you shouldn't be eating your skincare products."

Diet Dr. Digger: "Chickens have spindly little legs, like I do."

Worth Reading...

(I read several awesome books in March besides the ones I'm going to talk about today, but I want to post about a couple of them separately (we'll see if that happens), so I'm going to not talk about them in this post.)

...if WWII and imperfect love stories are your thing

The Castle on the Hill by Elizabeth Goudge 
Someone recommended this one to me in the comments of one of my posts, but I don't remember exactly when or why! So, I can't give credit, but I abundantly appreciate it! Goudge was one of my favorite authors when I was a kid for exactly one (1) of her books (The Little White Horse), and I've gradually been delving into her adult novels as I've gotten older. This one was beautiful and poignant on many levels--it's set during WWII when someone who was displaced from the boarding house she was running becomes the housekeeper for a castle with a lot of history, and with occupants who have Problems. Besides the overall atmosphere (which Goudge EXCELS at--her descriptions are unfairly awesome), and how real the characters seemed (also a Goudge thing) my favorite parts about this book were actually two of the themes. One was how important it is for one's humanity and one's sense of purpose to have what they call a "place in the pattern"--a job, a role, someone who needs you. And the other was a theme that I have a hard time explaining (and not just because of spoilers) of love as something that can grow, not something that you necessarily have already. Or love as allowing yourself to be loved by someone, before you can love them back in the way they love you. Or something like that. It sort of hearkened back to the post I did on the Fear of Tragedy. And that's really all I can say without spoilers, but I am very curious what others thought of those parts, if they've read them. I liked them, but they were bittersweet, and made me sad, in a way. 

...if an adventure story is what's right up your alley right now

Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini
I read this book for one of my book clubs, and it was fun because it was simultaneously something that was my thing (an old book) and wasn't my thing (a swashbuckling story...for some reason, I just don't find myself drawn to that kind of book as much), so it was a good break from the ordinary. Even though I'm not a swashbuckling person in general, I really enjoyed Scaramouche, mostly for the MC, who is like me in that he doesn't show emotions, and so people assume he doesn't have them. So, seeing his adventures and mishaps with that was a bit of a window into myself, in a way. The book also balanced comedy with sadness in a way so that it wasn't just a fun swashbuckling novel, but also had depth to it, and I liked that a lot. I don't feel I've done the whimsy of it justice, but take my word for it--it's worth a read!

So...what did you do in March, if you remember? Which was your favorite of the quotes? Do you like swashbucklers?