Music? No, me sick.

Wow, how did a whole week go by without a new post?

Well, the last four days of it, I've been pretty sick, so maybe that counts as an excuse. The other nursing student in my psych class gave me a medical diagnosis of, "The creeping crud." Devin, in our small choral ensemble, picked up the flu last week and helpfully handed out a copy to almost everyone in the choir (supposedly, anyway - not too many people have been missing rehearsals). I'm working with the preschoolers at the Sheridan YMCA now, so it's likely that I picked something up from them. And my mom's online declaration is, "invasive foreign Powder Bowl germs."

But, for having been sick for four days, most of it wasn't too bad. Thursday was positively wretched, and if my symptoms hadn't improved, I was probably going to make a run to the ER. After that, though, I was just feeling kind of under-the-weather and gradually improving. Didn't hurt that I spent about five hours of Saturday watching Scrubs. :)

Now, hopefully I'll be hale and hearty for class tomorrow!

Ultimate!

Well, that's it. Obviously, I'll have to retool my schedule.

I learned today that most of the college group from Cornerstone (and a number of the next generation, too) play Ultimate Frisbee on Sunday afternoons, in one of the pretty areas I'd been biking around. This weekend, I had too much homework to justify joining them, but hopefully there'll be an occasion before it gets snowy, when I'm free on a Sunday afternoon.

Today was another day for shorts and sandals, so maybe the frost will hold off for a few weeks longer than predicted.

And in the ongoing-additions-to-Davis-Hall, we got the blinds in our room last week (no more sheet taped up over the windows), internet's working (although my PC doesn't yet want to find it - doing homework on the laptop right now), and as of tomorrow I'll be able to do laundry!

Get Lost!

I am so, so grateful to Tony for fixing up the bike for me. Exploring a town is much more fun this way. Admittedly, from time to time I'll take a random trail or back alley, and by the time I come out again, I haven't the foggiest notion where I've ended up. But, usually before I go too much further, I'll see another street sign or landmark I recognize.

I-90 counts as a landmark - you can't possibly cross under it without knowing that you've done so, and since it pretty much runs through the college's backyard, I can usually find my way home without too much difficulty.

Thursday night was a little dicey - I went off without any particular destination in mind, though I'd heard that there was a Little Caesar's somewhere in town, and thought that that might be a good thing to locate (mmmm...cheesy bread). The individual in question had mentioned that it was on the other end from the college, so, when I took a very convoluted path involving two different bike trails (one that abruptly stopped in the middle of a...park?), three back alleys, several pretty little neighborhoods, and a few scattered sections that my old road bike would not have handled...I was surprised to find myself facing a Little Caesar's truck. Turns out it's inside one of the big chain stores in town, but at least it's located.

I realized about two minutes later that my class that evening was at six, not seven. I usually eat dinner around six (the cafeteria opens at 5:15), as it's not nearly as crowded then - so, I really didn't have so much time to work with. And since I'd taken such an interesting path out here, I wasn't at all certain of how to find my way back.

Fortunately, everything worked out all right. I spotted a random statue (there are statues on every corner of Main St.), and from there found the college, and simply had to book it on the way back. It was a good time, though. I'm hoping that this warm stretch (it's been in the fifties lately) holds - every time I go out, I see new things I want to explore.

Not Winter Yet!

Today was warm enough for short sleeves and sandals! Perhaps not shorts, but nonetheless, delighted to have it!

Definitely would have been a day for biking, but, I still have to figure out which gas station in town will let me have air for my tires. Yep, the bike pump is also on the list of items I forgot back in MN!

Apparently, it's been a day for napping, too. Ashley and I both took a nap before our noon rehearsal, and we were still tired afterwards. I tried finishing the reading assignment for tomorrow evening's class, and just about fell asleep on the floor with it. Maybe I'll try going to bed early tonight, and see if I can get a fresh start on tomorrow.

Cats DO Dance

I am delighted to have Ashley as my roommate. Yes, she's kind and pretty and a little bit of a goofball, she's a former saxophone and we're both in the same choral ensemble...but she also has a love for musicals.

Last night, she'd asked what Tony looks like, and the first picture my computer found with his name on it...he happened to be in a certain costume. This put her in the mood to watch Cats, so, of course, we did. This just had to be followed by Phantom of the Opera - this involved both of us singing along to it. This needed to be followed by Cats Don't Dance, as it's one of her favorites and I'd never seen it in entirety - but shortly after it started, two friendly people showed up and we all went to the back-to-school dance.

Both of us agreed, upon our return, that the time was much better spent singing to musicals than at the dance.

Random Sheridan Stuff

We had kind of a barbecue/concert tonight, celebration of the first day back to classes and all that. The lead singer for the band had a chat with the new students, and announced, "If you're new to Sheridan, you will probably notice within a few days - this is a town with more banks than fast food places."

Take what you will from that.

Snow fell to 5000 feet last night, almost reaching 4000, some people said. We're at about 3700 feet, so winter might get here before fall officially starts. We'll have to see. :)

Waiting in line for food, I was chatting with a guy who turns out to live about forty miles away from my hometown. He's not a student - rather, it seems that Sheridan was ranked as the #3 place to live if you're an outdoorsman, and that was all the motivation he needed to move out here. I learned about a few cool places to go hiking, but he recommended investigating them soon, otherwise I'll have to go snowshoeing instead. :)

I have precisely zero experience snowshoeing. This seems like the sort of thing best tackled with a friend along - if only for the entertainment possibilities.

The same guy mentioned that I apparently moved to the only town in Wyoming that has whitetail. Pronghorn (pronghorns? What's the proper plural on these?) are everywhere here, moose and elk show up around the next little town, and once you get up into the mountains, there are mule deer. For some reason, the whitetails like this valley, and not much else.

Really, it's quite pretty here. I can hardly blame them.

Didn't Make it Across the Universe

I woke up this morning a little after six, as that's when construction started outside my window. Three or four more buildings were added as housing options this semester, and they were just about finished in time for students to move in - but there's still a lot of work going on outside. Pre-class day off not going according to plan on this count. Ah well.

My roommate is obviously a wonderful, intelligent person - we discovered today that we share a love of musicals. While yesterday was hot and sunny with a bustling air of productivity among the halls, today is rather cold and drizzly, and everyone wants to stay in their rooms, wrapped up under a blanket, watching tv. Hence, "Across the Universe."

This was halted by the nice construction man coming by and nicely offering to make quite a bit of noise. We're able to lock the main door to the girl's floor of Davis Hall, but up to this point, none of us were able to lock our rooms. Tradeoff - I didn't get to see the end of the movie. Perhaps there'll be time later.

I took a walk in the rain today, between prepping for classes and such. I must find an option for sharing photos with you, because there were some very pretty sights to share.