Belay that!

So I realize that I said I did all of my shopping for Christmas in 2 hours and I recieved comments full fo awe for that accomplishment...but I did manage to forget to bring all of them home. So Christie, I'm sorry, but I guess you'll have a birthday present picked out about 9 months in advance. In the meantime, I'd better beat the mall for a present! *insert comment from Colleen about eagerness to shop*
Also, in the spirit of Christmas, I would like to note that I am thankful for:
~cheddar cheese
~a working oven
~a Christmas tree
~funny cats and dogs
~Christmas lights- especially those that I saw while I was flying in. They really made my day!
~advent wreaths
~stores with almost everything in them
~trees
~snow!!!!
~cold (It was like 40 in Rome the other day when a local told me it was their first cold day)
~ and the family... so very cute. I missed them all!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Just thought I'd let you know

I did all of my Christmas shopping for the family today in 2 hours. YEAH!

Heading home

I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while. Honestly, I know this sounds depressing, but I've been feeling a little downtrodden by the world, and the last thing I wanted to do was write about it all and relive that online. But an explanation is also owed for my almost monthlong absence from blogger, so I shall summarize. First, the bad:

I about killed myself on this last project we had to do. I volunteered to be a "master planner", so I helped do the standards for everyone's page layouts and colors, design the site, answer everyone's questions, make sure everyone's buildings coordinated and there were smooth transitions from building to building, make sure there was a good mix of functions within the site... and then show all that in a masterplan, another plan, several diagrams, a section, and three aerial perspectives. I worked on that with 5 other arkies, and it turned out really well, but I think I averaged about 3 hours of sleep a night for about a week and I've never done that before. It was really good to get a different take on architecture though because this allowed me to take a look at the bigger picture which I think I tend to do anyway and look at creating good pedestrian sequences and how to direct people along a route subconsciously so that they end up at a destination, instead of focusing on something stupid like how big a balcony is. I did however get my first A on the project, so I'm really proud of it, and glad that I found that I like working on the bigger picture.

Also during the project, my laptop was stolen. It was in studio, and then when I came back from my trip to Budapest it was gone; I put my passport in my locker and there was no computer! The lady in the office (Guiliana) helped me put up signs, but nobody returned it, so I went to file a police report. When I got back, I went to put the report in my locker... and there it was. Returned after a week without my knowledge...and I had the keys to my locker on me the whole time because I need those keys to get into studio. I have no idea how it happened, but I was pretty upset that it was gone, and the way it was returned doesn't really reassure me either.

The last thing that was really stressing me out was break. I had planned to go home for Christmas and then come back with my dad for a week, but there was so much yes...no...yes...no... that I couldn't make plans, and now I'm just going to head home for the whole break. Mentally, I'm really ready to spend some time relaxing in the US and not feel like I should run around and see places or do work all the time, but it was so hard to not know what my plans were for like 3 weeks as break came closer and closer. I still need to change my flight return date, which will cost some money... but oh well. I guess everything will work out.

Leaving tomorrow morning seems a bit closer than it did when I was working on the project. I'm packed and pretty much ready to head out, but I still need to find the train station and some gifts. So many people have left already that it's a little sad. Last night I spent time at the Trevi fountain and the spanish steps with the ND kids in the regular program that I went on the Assisi retreat with. They left this morning, so it seems a little strange that I'm here... but the US might actually seem stranger. I never thought that I would have culture shock going back, but I think I will. Not necessarily in a strange sense though. I really want to go to a huge store like Target and know that they have everything! Here you have to go to a specific shop to find what you want... there are sewing stores, card stores, purse stores, umbrella stores... give me Walmart! Yay for materialism! (just kidding...)