Happy New Year's!

Hey all, I hope you're having a good celebration. As for me, there's any # of things I could be up to this night...but actually I'm hoping to not party so much but to go to church where they have Adoration until midnight.
I talked to FC online for hours this morning--then CJ came over unexpectedly and I had to ignore FC! He ended up running out of time at the cafe so now I never even got to say bye. :( See this is what happens when you don't put your foot down and when you multitask. Now I feel really sad, I don't know if I'll get to see FC tomorrow or not. :(
In other news, this has been my busiest week yet! The newsletter is coming along really well, but it takes a lot of meeting and a lot of time to sqaure up, more than I anticipated. I haven't even touched the DP work I have, and sadly that's been sitting here for over a week now. Maybe this evening would be a good time to work on that, since tomorrow I'm gone and then Sunday I have another newsletter meeting....
Talk to y'all later!

Still Christmas

It's still Christmas, everybody! It won't be over for a few more days yet.
So far, this really has been one of my most joyful Christmases ever. In addition to the very many blessings I have been showered with, I have been so overwhelmed with the way things are developing with FC. The best things we have to wait for, I guess,which is why this has been in the works for over a year now. But well worth it! I honestly have never met anyone who made me this happy all the time. I can't wait for the day when you all can meet him face to face...perhaps at the wedding? :) Actually, there's a chance the wedding would be held overseas for a number of reasons. But you all could fly over anyways! Yes, things are going very well with FC and I, and I can't express my excitement accurately! He is literally a dream come true for me. Silly as this sounds, as a kid I made up an imaginary friend; when I met FC, I knew he "reminded" me of someone. He looks just like my pretend pal! He laughs at me, but it's true nonetheless.
Now comes the time for confession. Not the Sacrament, that's another day! But I have to tell someone so I might as well put this on my blog. Some days ago, I was dwelling on FC and I as usual, and then in a dark moment I concluded that NO ONE is as pure and sweet as him, so he must he feigning something (I don't know what I was thinking.) So, I made up my mind to "test" him. I know this is a childish antic, but I was feeling very childish all of a sudden. So, I went online and registered as a member of this environmental site FC is on. Then, through the site, I contacted him with another name. I pretended to be a girl who had the same interests and who wanted to stay in contact via the site. I felt horrible doing it, as if I were throwing mud all over a beautiful painting. But I did it anyway and waited. I figured if FC was a creep, he'd write "her" back and my intention was to have the girl act "cute" and get him to act cute back like he does with me. Then, in my mind, if he were as pure as he seems, he'd just not write back at all. Well, FC surprised even me on this one.
The very next day, I saw him online. He brought up the email to me as soon as he got it.
"I got an odd email from that site," he stated. Then he copied the text of the message and let me see it. Imagine my shock and embarrassment--I had to re-read the stupid words I'd mailed him! Then, FC explained that he was not going to write back because he is focused on me and doesn't have any desire to speak with any other girls, especially over the internet. My jaw just dropped. I didn't know what to say. I guess there's a possibility he knows it was me, just by intuition, but he never accused me and we moved on. One day I'll tell him openly, I know he'll understand, but for now I've learned my lesson: sometimes things that seem too good to be true are true after all.
Also, I am stupid, stupid, stupid and need to put childish things behind me!

Merry Christmas!

Happy holidays all! I hope everyone is having the greatest Christmas ever!
As for me, what seemed like disaster turned into a lovely celebration! After having to stay in Athens for Christmas, at first I was obviously upset. But then, everybody each stepped forward and showed me some token of love, making everything perfect! I almost hate to say it, but I feel like I'm having a better Christmas now that I stayed in town. Strange, but true! To everyone who made my Christmas so wonderful, you know who you are! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Yet, the most exciting thing of all has got to be the fact that I *gasp* HUGGED Fr. Jack! While he was wearing vestments! WHOA! I told him "you're my favorite Father ever!"
Well, someone is a bit late for a "date" with me this morning--either that or I'm an hour early. Either way, I'm off for now! I'll see y'all tomorrow! I love you!

Chess queen!

RAR! I just beat LJ at chess--well, OK, it was almost a draw and so finally he orchestrated his own death by telling me how to kill him. Hah! Yesterday I spent a while trying to get FC to play but he couldn't figure out something with his PC. Tomorrow I'll see him online and we'll set that up. I feel bad--he waited for me all morning to play and I didn't show because I was doing something else. :( He's so sweet--he made me feel really good about staying in GA over Christmas. I think FC is just about the only person who can talk to me these days and make me feel totally at ease no matter what. Two sentences from him are worth more than 1000 from most anyone else. His heart is gold. I wrote him a poem to say thank you, I hope he likes it. Yesterday he was telling me how he saw an American white lady wearing Igbo (tribal) dress. Her husband is Igbo. I keep telling FC that I'd like to marry an Igbo. He laughs in his sweet way.
The Igbo marriage ceremony is great. Before the wedding Mass, the couple meet with friends and family and the bride takes a sip of palm wine. Then she searches the gathered crowd where her groom is hiding, and when she spots him she gives him the palm wine to drink after her. An Igbo wedding can take 12 days to prepare! FC says he is going to save up to buy me an Igbo dress. I don't care what he doesn't say, that boy and I are going to be married! (If he doesn't become a priest and if he and I can be in the same country!) He knows how I feel; he must. The other day I came the closest to telling him. "Much love," I said, and he said it back verbatim. But there's no way I'm telling him you-know-what first!

...or not

Well, it turns out I'm not going to NY after all....I'll have a green Christmas here in Athens.

Exes

Yeah. So it's really weird talking to your ex boyfriend online....awkward. I mean, what do you say to a guy who probably doesn't want to talk to you, and you don't want to know what he's up to, yet you know each other really well but you can't mention anything that would reveal that obvious fact? Crazy. After you've told someone you loved him, then discussed marriage, then freaked out and took it all back and said you never wanted to see him again; well, there's not too much ground left to cover I would imagine.

17 Degrees this morning?!

Hello from the freezing...South!? It's actually going to be warmer for a bit in NY when I'm there this week. Crazy.
Last night was great fun as always when my buds from Texas come up. I got to meet Tatsu and Boo and they were as hilarious as the rest of us. Dinner at the GRIT then a conversation party at the hotel (where it was warm, sigh.) Helen Keller jokes! How evil is that!? But we couldn't stop laughing--Helen Keller had a brief stint on the Vaudeville circuit...but she didn't know it!!! Oh boy, I could get shot for that one....But that's how you have "fun" in Texarkana apparently. Of course there were little gifts and cards and some memories of Jess. Today would have been a great day for celebration if Jess were still with us--she might have come to Athens and we would have all been together.
We still remember you Jess! And I'm going to get you that "forbidden dirt" if it kills me! You deserve it; if anyone desrves to be "here" with "him" it's YOU! Much love to ya girlie, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY wherever you are....
Breakfast at 8am, ouch. That hurt! 17 degrees according to the radio when I got up. No amount of heat this heater is pumping can help it seems! Think I'll take a nap before Cinders gets into town...see ya soon for some fun--chilly fun, though, BRRR!

Eeeeeee! I'm sooo happy right now! I feel like shrieking at the top of my lungs and then running around in circles but that might freak the neighbors out. What could make me feel like such a silly school girl? FC! And none other!
OK remember how a certain person at Oxford would annoy everyone by saying "He's the sweetest boy in the whole wide world!"? Well, I'm not there yet, but...ahem...
Anyway, FC excites me (emotionally, not in a gross way!) over a cold computer more than most guys do face to face. I squeal and do all kinds of nutty embarrassing things that none of you want to hear about. But anyway, I have to vent my girl emotions on you all because otherwise I'll explode.
So, FC is sweet and cute and you already know that because I rant about it all the time; but he is more stressed than I've ever known him to be. He and 5 other Nigerian students at his university are working together to organize a society for engineering students and it's a real drain on him, exciting as it also is. But here is the thing: he was telling me about tracking the package he sent me (yay!) when he ALSO mentioned that his brother (the one who wants me but whom I don't like) was visiting when he mailed the thing so the BROTHER added a few lines to a note or something inside! Urgh! This sounds innocent to you all, but really, over the past 2 years I've learned that this brother, as FC's elder, does make it hard for FC to really see me in a non-friendship way. All was cool, then one day FC said, "I've told my family about you, here meet my brother who's a med student...." and I said "Sure." Then, suddenly FC was going out of his way to call me a friend and the brother was making his moves. (Not in a gross way, these people are traditional, but it was obvious he was thinking about stuff....)
That's when I blew up at FC over Christmas. So that's the history of the thing and why I get weird when FC mentions his brother to me. He must know how his brother feels! :(
But, that aside, my whole day is prettier now that I've finally communicated with him again. I know it sounds paranoid that I get so worried about him living over there, but it does seem like every time I turn on the news they're mentioing some crazy thing about Nigeria. :(
Oh, and this is sign #251 why FC and I are "meant to be married": He and I both started learning Church Latin around the same time. Coincidence? Whatever! It's so obvious that he and I are going to get married with 12 children. Any day now really. :)
Oh yeah, and one of my close friends is marrying a guy from Cameroon (a country bordering Nigeria) so that seals the deal right there. Clear as can be, folks!
Oh, one funny/ironic thing that happened when I was talking to him online. We have to use yahoo messenger because he doesn't have AIM and on there you can choose these random cutesy backdrops for the messenger. This time I chose one called "Love Me, Love Me Not." And this CONTRACEPTION AD pops up! That was the backdrop--an ad for the Pill! And I couldn't figure out how to change it, so I kept apologizing and he said, "No, it's pretty," because it had a flower on it. But then I told him what it was and finally I got it off. It's ironic because he and I are big on the whole no sex and even with sex in marriage no contraception thing! :) Ha! Just imagine me freaking out and trying to get rid of it and him thinking it was a nice little flower scene. Ah, I guess you'd have to be there to appreciate the fullness of the comedy, but trust me.

Yikes! It's too cold to take a shower today. But I must, otherwise when I show up for the newsletter meeting tonight I might get kicked out. Last night I was cold! I have this idea that I'm not going to turn any heat on at night; also I have plenty of blankets but not all are clean yet. So I made due with only a few. I was trying to see how much willpower I have. I was reading a story about St. Charles Lwanga and the Ugandan martyrs before bed. These kids had courage! Their king was intent on killing anyone who prayed, so they all said, "You'll kill us all!" And happily trugged off to various tortures and executions. 22 of them! There were about 30 Anglicans too I should add, who underwent similar treatment. Anyway, I got to thinking about martyrdom and how if I can't even go through one chilly night in GA, I'd never make it with St. Charles and his brothers. I take religion for granted sometimes too much. More recently though I've tried to understand, by reading history, that at any moment the Church might have to go underground again in this country--even now there are multiple countries where you can't practice your religion in public. And the US is already partly there. I wouldn't be one bit surprised if it suddenly became a crime in this country to attend church. But then the hypothetical question becomes, if that happened, where would I stand? Would I be one of the very many who would balk at church in fear or would I be one of the few and brave ones to go anyway and get thrown in and out of prison? Truthfully, I'd be in the former group as of right now. But the trick is to somehow grow to where I'd fit into the latter. What about you all?
One funny thing: Last week, the "bad" week, the day all my irritations began, I awoke to my neighbors playing REALLY LOUDLY the Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want." Haha!

I'm excited because I only have a couple things to do before this weekend, and then a bunch of my friends come up from Texas, and the day they leave, Cindy comes into town for an evening! Yeehaw! Then I've got a day to pack before I'm off to the great white North for a week or so. I'm excited to see my family of course, but as of yesterday I found out my mom and brother are both really sick with the flu so...now I'm worried about them but also that I might catch it! I jokingly told my mom that if they're still sick by next week I ain't comin'. :)
My PC seems to be doing much better now. Looking back, I'm humiliated by how crazy I got over that whole thing. Even if it had totally crashed and I had lost ALL my songs and ALL my writings, life would have continued. I need to grow up. Sometimes I am such a suburban brat. I did go to Confession but I can still be embarrassed. I had just had to confess a couple weeks ago that I'd become a pain to be around. Then last week I had to recover the same ground only I must have hit it home this time because Father actually seemed to buy it! ha ha! Usually he's so nice, you know, "No, no, don't be too hard on yourself" THAT whole vibe--but this time he didn't argue with me much. :) I really HAD been a pain!
Somehow I made myself docile as a lamb again. I even sat tamely by last night as one of my friends went on and on about how stupid everything was, latently implying that I too was part of the stupidity. I bit my tongue about a thousand times but the key is...I bit my tongue, not his head off. I mean, he even went so far as to declare that the Loch Ness Monster was only a fat drunken Scotsman bathing in the loch! *gasp!* I think I did challenge him somewhere along those lines though--them's figtin' words!
But honestly, it is amazing how many people will believe random stuff they find on the internet over tried and true testimonies ranging from every learned civilization over the centuries, then call the religious people nuts and themselves "reasonable!" You have to admit that's funny. "Forget what Plato, Socrates, Augustine, and Aquinas all said! Bill Maher said religions are silly!"
No, no, I'm not equating Nessie to God in any way! heehee But there was a link there in the conversation somewhere: something about how dumb people believe in things there is no scientific proof for. I always smile because a few thousand years ago, and for a LONG TIME afterwards, it was "scientifically proven" by Aristotle that frogs came from mud and maggots came from meat. :)
Anyway, I have my own "proof" for Nessie. Cindy remembers well our trip to the loch: Nessie partied with us, embarassed us by getting drunk and dancing with the locals, so we left in a huff. But we brought home pictures so everyone can see and know that Nessie is a fact and we met her!

Happy Our Lady of Guadalupe!

Viva la Virgen de la Guadalupe! Viva!

Thanks to Our Lady my horrible 3 day stint is finally over. Yesterday was great and today all has been quiet and well. Whew! I won't even bother recounting the past week for all of you, some of you already know, but suffice it to say I was stressed out about a zillion things, and snapping at everyone who talked, and losing my sanity. Everything seemed to break down and go wrong--however, I feel like a million bucks today! Hurrah!
Part of what was making my "bad week" unbearable was the fact that FC was busy with finals so he really couldn't communicate with me much. Usually, a simple email from him would keep me in working order. So I felt all alone in some crazy way. But today I got a bunch of messages from him and then 2 ecards promising his prayers! Also, he put out a package in the mail for me to get before Christmas, so I'm just so excited over that. That actually takes dedication for him to do because he is paying through the nose for it and there's a good chance it wil never even get to me. Nigeria isn't really known for its um, well, honor? I think they were discussing stoning a lady there last week, too. Anyway, yay to my FC for being such a sweety; but boo on the whole distance thing in general and boo to the fact that he never expressly said, "Renee, will you marry me? Now. And have 12 children with me? Now." :)
He can never see or read any of this by the way. Our little secret. :)
But in one of his ecards he wrote that although he was busy, he couldn't stop thinking of me so he hurried to a computer to send me the card. Awww.

Now for some "personal" stuff. Hee hee, nothing TOO personal though, for everyone's sake and my own! :)
I was happy to learn that my mom may be coming down for a bit to stay with me early next year. (Of course I'll come back up with her to NY for V-day!) She hasn't been here since before the Oxford program! Or stayed for a while anyway, I mean. So I'm really looking forward to that. She's getting a semester off from teaching to do research and stuff like that.
In FC news, I'm going cold turkey! I only get emails now sporadically from him this whole week because he's swamped with finals work and all that. He says he can't talk until next Sat. Can you believe it? Oh, the humanity! How can I possibly deal? Brit boy is off with his Baywatch and Star Wars girls this whole week and FC is off with his school work. I feel so unloved! Wah! I'm so needy. I feel like Blanche off Golden Girls. If I'm not the center of their attention my whole world spirals out of control.
Well, not really, but it's kinda like that at moments.
We recorded the second song for the movie last weekend and it's still being mixed and mastered to sound perfect. On the side however, I've been recording my own weird stuff and making it sound great with some helpful advice from SV. Plus, my parents have promised me recording stuff for Christmas so by next year I should be all set up in here and ready to do almost anything. Maybe it was a good thing my 4 track broke. It gave me that final push towards doing stuff right.
Leave it to Beaver quote of the day:
"I thought you had to clean up your crummy room?"-Beaver to his friend.
"Oh, my dad came home in a groucy mood and couldn't stand the sight of me."

Explanation

Hi gals! As you can see I added to the story, but you have to read them backwards--in other words "Story Time" is to be read first, followed by "Part 2." Pretty obvious, actually, but I figured I'd mention it anyway. Also, my PC has been infected with a virus which I'm trying to clear out right now, but on account of the fact that I kept thinking I'd be thrown off at any minute, I made some typos but didn't bother to fix them. I don't think they're that bad, but I wanted to apologize anyway.
I'd have liked to add more but I'll pass it over to Sali for the next portion. It seems that the sands of time kinda threw us off in all different directions: Venus went two days into the future but Psyche only went one day ahead while Sali probably went a day into the past. I didn't write that one specifically. In any case, Venus is the one farthest in the future so that's how come she figures it out. The question is how will she get word to the others, who are in her past now but think they're in sync with her?
It also seems that our mission has something to do with combating 'bad guys' we've known in the past but who still have a creepy hold over us in some way.

Part 2

As for Psyche, she had only come one day into the future, so Venus's shell-calls wouldn't reach her for another 24 hours. Things were becoming more and more awkward around her old flame, Eros. And he was pushing his boundaries. He made a smirk and tried touching her cord again to see how much she would let him get away with. For some reason, Psyche was forgetting why she was here in the first place. Her knees began shaking, followed by her tiny white hands.
"I need to--" she began, but Eros shushed her by putting a light finger to her lips. But then she sucked in a deep breath and gathered her courage. "My husband won't like this!"
"Oh yeah?" Eros countered suavely. "So where is the brute? Are you threatening me?" He let out a hearty laugh and took a step backwards. He looked her up and down, giving her a disgusting feeling. Why was she here again? She had to think, she had to get it together. Oh yeah--the time travel, the spinning, the . . . mission. What mission!? It seemed to have something to do with him, Eros, with the way he was making her feel at this very moment. a rage began to rise up within her stomach and then into her heart. A frantic rage at first, but then quelled by reason and a quiet certainty that she was now the one in control. Not him. She had a mission to end this all, forever, and this time she was not alone.
Unbeknownst to her, however, she was a bit out of sync with the others.
She grabbed her shell that was hidden from his view under a piece of clothing and rattled it. Nothing happened.
"Uh, excuse me," she said, stepping away while eyeing him warily. He was still grinning as if he had her in his grasp. She tapped the shell. Again nothing. What is going on?
"Foxxxy?" Psyche whispered. "Sexxxy? This is Hottie, come in! I'm in a bind...."

Meanwhile, the demur Aphrodite exchanged glances with the dashing Snape as she went up to his desk after class and after all the other students had cleared out.
"Professor Snape?" she smiled sweetly.
"Yes?" His black piercing eyes looked more handsome and intelligent than ever.
"About that potion we went over today. . . ."
"Did you have trouble understanding the assignment?"
"If you could just take an extra moment to explain it. . . ." she asked innocently. She may have been mistaken, but thought she saw a flicker of a smile cross his lips as he consented.
"I don't have anywhere to be for a moment," he said, and pulled up a chair next to him for her to sit on.

"Oh no!" Venus howled suddenly from her spot behind the bush, "Psyche! Eros! Nooooo!"
It had just occurred to her that if no one was getting her shell-messages, that each must have gotten displaced; and that meant that Psyche was on her own with Eros, but didn't know she was on her own with Eros. Trouble must be brewing, but the sands of time could only be used once, and how to get a new bottle-full?
"And Aphrodite!" She too would assume that the others were only a shell's-call away--where was she in the span of time, and what was she doing with Snape!?
"Battling evil, especially evil where men are concerned, is no easy task!" Venus lectured her dog friend solemnly. "Especially when you're dealing with us three! How do we get ourselves into these situations?" she moaned. The dog yipped then ran off as if he were about to be late for feeding time.

Story time my sisters!

"Foxxxy! Come on! This is Sexxxy, are you reading me?!" Venus began snarling, almsot a perfect imitation of the neighborhood dog that had found her hiding spot inthe bushes. "This isn't a time to be lounging! Hottie, what about you? Anyone? Is anyone anywhere!?" She shook the shell for good measure then put it back to her ear. She turned to her canine companion and grimaced. "Can you believe this?" she asked the dog. "All I hear is the ocean in this thing!"
She sighed and brushed herself off while trying to sit up tall enough to see over the bush into the neighborhood. She didn't want to be seen but she knew she had to get her bearings. Time travel is a lot worse than it sounds, she thought silently, I can't even think straight. Plus, it's too early in the morning for my brain to work properly. She yawned widely and tried to get smart. She glanced up and down the street, carefully ducking whenever a car drove by.
"Where am I? And what day is it?"
The dog, as if understanding English, began to whimper and took off for a second. When he came back, he held a fresh newspaper in his mouth then dropped it at her feet. Venus stared amazed at him.
"Good dog!"
She unrolled the paper and checked out the date. So she had moved two days into the future and landed in a suburb of Syracuse, New York: home! But why?

Hello again folks! This week has been crazy-hectic so I haven't been doing any blog stuff. But now I'm back into the swing of things.
Yesterday was really frustrating. CJ and I went out to the East Side for lunch and then we watched that movie Saved. Surprisingly, I wasn't offended. I thought it was just a re-telling of the Good Samaritan parable, really, about how faith comes from the strangest places. However, the overwhelming "moral" of the story was just really dumb. In sum: Whatever feels good is good and there is no absolute truth.
But I was just shocked that I wasn't shocked, you know? Especially after my big blow up not long ago.
Anyways, it was fun with CJ but he brought up this marriage stuff again which freaked me out, plus he couldn't keep his hands off me and I was almost late for a meeting at 7pm. I left him feeling really gross and now I'm thinking he needs to be ignored for another few months until he either cools off or finds a permanent girlfriend and takes his sights off me. Then we can be friends. I also didn't think it was cool how jealous he got over Brit boy.
So now I'm just daydreaming about Brit boy and FC. I sort of idealize FC, and that's really easy now with him so far away; however, maybe it's not such a bad thing. Whenever I have a particularly bad run in with a guy (like CJ) I get all down about guys in general. I'd probably give them all up if it weren't for the fact that I know that guys like FC do exist. Honestly, even if I never see FC again, or even if he were to change around and become a big sicko--I'd still idealize him because it helps me get through life. As stupid as that sounds, I'm happy knowing that he exists, even if he never actually dates me or whatever. Someone like him gives the whole world hope I think. That hope is that you don't have to let a guy grope and slobber all over you to get on good terms with him; that you can actually be respected as a human being and a friend and then at some point down the road make serious decisions with him. Dick Gregory wrote in his autobio "Nigger" that a stupid little crush on some girl in grade school he never talked to motivated him through the first half of his life. Everything he did was spurred on by that superficial crush somehow. Even after he was married. My stupid little crush on a young man in Nigeria somehow helps me make it through a day. Go figure.
Tonight I have dinner with Keshie and I also rented 2 DVDs that I should watch. Then I have to make up my mind whether I'm going to death row next weekend or not. Usually I'm a shoe-in to make the trek, but this time isn't so easy, so I'm praying on it and will probably make up my mind near the last minute.
Story in a bit, guys! I gotta figure out what our mission is....