Two Grand Slams!

Jamie, Megan, John and I went to the Phillies game last night. They were playing the Nationals and things looked a little grim at first. But, oh how the turntables...
Two grandslams put the Phillies in the lead and gave them the win. Very nice. Also, Dollar Dog Night (I ate two) was a success as always. An unfortunate circumstance marred the evening a bit though. The weather has been hot for the past few days which is in itself not a bad thing. But some drainage pipes in the ballpark were perhaps not working as they should so Section 313 kept getting whiffs of warm sewage. Unpleasant is how I'd describe it. Nevermind though. It was fun and the game was good.

Dodgeball: Our first game last week was outstanding! Well, I don't know about outstanding but we did win. I attribute this win, in part, to the fact that we were playing a team made up of all girls and one boy. I don't mean to be sexist but most of the girls couldn't throw the ball as hard so it was easier for our team to dodge and catch. I will include myself in the category of girls not able to throw the ball hard. Anyway, this week's game will be a little more difficult and will be down a player (male). Still, we have some serious weapons out there. My confidence is way up on this; it's not hard to play and it's fun. Although, embarrassingly, I tired very quickly and my legs were sore for much too long after the last game. Perhaps regular exercise would be beneficial.

Vancouver Visit

I finally booked my ticket for Vancouver. I'll be there for the first week of May. Boy, do I hate booking flights/hotels because it's expensive and a commitment. Not great. Still, I am excited to see the place where I will be living for the next two years. I am hoping I can meet some faculty and other grad students, figure out financial aid stuff, plan my registration, and hope of all hopes, find a place to live. Also, learn Canadian things like public transportation and moneys. (When I type moneys, it often comes out as monkeys. Reason why I should just use proper English.)

Other than that, life is inching along. Villanova classes are nearly over; I'll be taking my two exams next week before jetting off. I'm also going to a Phillies game, my first of the season, with Jamie and John. It's Dollar Dog Night and they're playing the Nationals. Cheap hot dogs and an ok chance of a win? Count me in.

I have an awesome thing in the works right now that I can't reveal to you yet. But you should be excited because it will change your life. It is allowing me to hone some skills that I don't really have but it'll be good. I should be able to reveal it to you within the next 3 weeks.

Things that aren't fun: finding a place to live in Vancouver, finding John a place to live in the Philadelphia metro area, fidning a low budget job when you're over-qualified.

Thing that are fun: sunshine, reading in the sunshine, naps.

Dodgeball

In a bold move, encouraged by Jamie, I joined a dodgeball team through the Philadelphia Sports Network. Jamie and a bunch of her friends were getting it together and they needed more ladies to meet the quota. So I said sure. Anyway, the league starts on Thursday and we have the first game. Naturally. Ah well, it's a social/recreational thing so hopefully nobody takes it too seriously. I know my team doesn't. It's every Thursday for six or eight weeks. I can't quite recall but I don't think we'll make the playoffs (unless all the teams make the playoffs) so our season will be shorter.

Now, I don't want to sound defeatist and like I have no faith in my team. But none of us have many skills, at least not that I'm aware. Team spirit? Yes, plenty of that. Not so many skills though. Our color is red though so I'll have to find some red socks and maybe shorts. Face-paint? Potentially. I think I'm the tallest person on the team though. Very nice.

Moral of the story: if you have some spare time on a Thursday night, come down to the 12th St. Gym, wear red, and cheer for my team, Balls to the Face. You'll make friends. Philadelphia Sports Network told me so.

Family Tree

I picked up the genealogy project again and have had great success. Using DAR tools, it's much easier to organize lineages but it doesn't leave much room for who these people were. Fortunately, census records have details about occupations and relocations and people connected to the family (i.e. workers who lived on the farms). A somehow related individual by the name of Wilbur L. King wrote a book over 50 years ago that deals with the original Kings (Konigs) who immigrated here which I ordered and should arrive in a few weeks. I hope that fills in the personal details of these names and can give some interesting facts about the family. I also think I'm going to order a copy of the most recent DAR application that names Jacob King as the patriot ancestor so I can use that in my application. It's the documentation portion that takes the most time. But at least I'm in Pennsylvania now and if a need arises to actually visit any archives, I can do so fairly easily. Mom has to decide on what kind of format she wants this to take though. Hopefully it'll be an informationally dense and interesting look at the King family.

Facebook

De-friending people on Facebook is my new hobby. I don't really want Facebook in my life but I feel like I can't get out entirely. So I'm gradually reducing use until it will simply be something that is around but doesn't actually affect my daily life. Sorry if I've offended you by not being your friend anymore, but chances are that if I have removed our "friendship" we never really were friends. I have no interest in knowing what you're doing and if you have an interest in what I'm doing, I am uncomfortable. So that's it, Facebook, you're not running my life anymore.