Me, a winner?

I planned on doing a lot of things today. I thought I’d spend lots of time on this blog, prepping posts and editing the sidebar and other things. Because once I start thinking about it while I’m getting ready for bed, thoughts swirl and I say, “Well, I’ll save all this for later.” And later comes a lot later. It’s okay, though. I had a pretty good day. It’s finally cooled off a bit where I live, back down to the 70s from the 90s. It’s livable again. So rather than taking a true “day off” as I’d promised myself (it was a hectic weekend), I actually enjoyed doing some household chores. Did some laundry (and hung it outside to dry! so exciting). My big goal for today was to use up a baking mix that’s been around for a while: Mom doesn’t want me to try from-scratch bread baking until her mixes are used up. So we made cinnamon rolls. Yum. There are 12 of them and 2 people in the household that will eat them. Days like this I wish our neighbors were less insane so we could offer them some.

I also had my brother help me begin some sourdough starter following these directions, then put an avocado pit in some water to start growing for a tree. I thought it might be a good experiment to get me into gardening, and since everyone’s discovered a newfound love of the avocado, it’s something that we would use at least. ‘Course, the real question is, where would we put it…? Who knows? Also another question, why I am doing these water-based activities when we have to reduce our water consumption by 19%? Again, who knows? Water is needed everywhere; I can’t just give up on using water entirely. I think.

But that’s not the point here, and you know it. The point here today is that I won Katie’s recent contest and received the package Friday. I’d like to point out, first and foremost, that in my efforts at complete selfishness (but let’s look at my selflessness instead; no, that’s not hubris I smell…) I’ve entered quite a few blog contests but hadn’t won anything until this one. And this one? This one is completely fate, knocked-me-off-my-feet kismet. Convinced me that the current path I’m on is the right one, and I’m going to have a blast studying abroad in Germany next year. It’s all so right. It’s nice to have coincidental confirmation that you’re doing the right thing for yourself.

Also let me just say that that yarn is amazing. The colors are BEAUTIFUL. So cool! I can’t wait to use it and will have to look out for Tausendschön next time I’m in Germany.

Yes, I squealed when I realized this was in my mailbox Friday. And whoa! There are things besides the yarn?! Looking to the top right…

Haribo gummi bears are the best, hands down. And now I associate yummy gummi bears with Germany. Yes, my passion for all things German, it grows. And what’s that next to it? A book on Berlinerisch? Whoa, whoa, whoa! Stop the presses! Seriously?! That’s so amazingly cool! After telling Katie how winning this contest felt like fate to me, because it affirmed my passion for German and that a German major is a good idea for me, I also told her that I would be studying abroad next spring, starting in Berlin. Now I’ve been told more than once that the Berliner people speak an odd version of German, but I’ve gotten around okay the last couple of times I was there. But I was only there briefly those two times. This book tells you about the different slang and phrases used by Berliners, and how their German differs from others’. What a cool book! I couldn’t believe it when I saw it. Such a great resource, and totally unexpected. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: German students are the absolute best.

Also included was a cute pen set with my name on it. Aww! I was just thinking about how I needed some pens, too. (Must’ve left too many in my school’s storage for the summer.) These’ll get lots of use.

And now for a gratuitous picture of the yarn…

Absolutely dreamy, no? I will probably put up more pictures in my Flickr account later; for now I think it’s time to end this blog post. So thank you, thank you, thank you again, Katie! I am in love.

… And with that, I think I am out for the evening. Dinner and knitting calls my name…