Today's Accomplishment...

I applied to graduate school!

I hit a final "save" and "print" on my application materials last night, and marched them down to the post office this morning to mail off to School #1. I was grinning a goofy grin as I sealed the envelope and handed it over. The postal worker did not seem to grasp the weightiness of the moment; to her, it was just another Global Priority envelope to process. "Would you like to purchase any stamps today?" she asked. No, no stamps for me. (A handshake and/or pat on the back would be nice, but not if I have to ask for it.)

Many thanks to my editorial staff for reading over my Personal Statement before I submitted it; hopefully I can just recycle that bad boy for all the other schools' applications. But in the words of Scarlett O'Hara, "I'll think about that tomorrow." Other schools and their application processes can wait - tonight I just want to revel in the relief of crossing School #1 off my list.

Little Bro, Honkey Chateau

Living in NY apart from my family means that I don't often get to play the role of Older Sister in my daily life. When I was home over Christmas, however, I made up for lost time and dove into the role with gusto: I gave my brother unsolicited advice, sat on him, changed his name to "Honkey Chateau" for no discernible reason, made him smell my breath after eating pickles, frequently ordered him to bring me snacks from the kitchen, and just generally exercised all the rights and privileges that come with being the oldest sibling.

Honkey Chateau, to his credit, bore my sisterly treatment with much patience. He even got me this thoughtful and tasteful gift:

That's right - it's a Buddha statue/lamp. The lamp's instructions promise "a frenzied display of ever-changing arcs of lightning" and boy, does it deliver! Buddha also came with instructions specifying that he should not be placed within 3 feet of electrical appliances - not an easy feat in my tiny New York apartment. However I did manage to find an appliance-free spot for him in front of a window. Something this lovely should shine for all the world to see; it would be wrong to keep his light for myself only, so I choose to inflict my Buddha lamp on my neighbors as well.

In exchange for this generous gift, I agreed to make my brother this:

Yes, it's a large cross-stitch wall hanging of Pope John Paul II. Just what every twenty-something guy wants! I just hope Honkey Chateau still wants it three years from now, because it is going to take me that long to finish sewing it.

I haven't cross-stitched since I was 9 years old, but I figured "How difficult can it be?" I began the project last night. After one hour & fifteen minutes of solid work, I had managed only to separate the string by color and put it all into the thread sorter. There were 40 strands of Burnt Red #13013- colored string alone! Too tired at that point to continue, I packed it all up again and put it away for later.

Tonight I soldiered on, and made my first stitches! However, progress slowed dramatically when I somehow got the thread badly caught in my hair. It was a little embarassing and required my roommate's assistance to get me untangled. I'm not off to an auspicious start.

I will keep you posted on the progress of Cross-Stitch John Paul II in the days/weeks/years to come. Meanwhile I will stitch away at this gift for Honkey Chateau, probably going blind, but nevertheless pleased to have an activity that lets me be Older Sister for a little while each day.