What's Been Going On?

The snow is gone; ice has melted; School is finishing...and the blog has been neglected. The last few posts on this blog have consisted of running, and lots of snow, and sabotaging of research projects. Let me tell you now about what been happening recently ...or at least catch you up on the last month or so.
May 10th, almost an exact month ago, was our annual co-op presentation night. For the third year, my friend Bethany and I organized it. I always look forward to this night, and this year was no exception! As the second to last day of co-op, I also had my last day of Writing V, one of my favorite, if not my favorite, class this year. This was no ordinary class meeting...we dressed up (or attempted to dress up) as Roman citizens, headed outside, and snapped several pictures, formal class pictures and otherwise. I would post the final class picture, but I haven't yet gotten it from the photographer. ....but we did have fun in the glorious sunshine. King Arthur and the Knights of the Square Table of Opposition (Formal Logic) also successfully killed the fallacious dragon that had kidnapped the fair damsels in distress.

That Friday, after a week that seemed to never end, full of studying and tests, JULIE FINISHED HER SECOND YEAR OF SCHOOL!!!!! Three cheers for Julie!
...We hope the long week didn't
cause mental damage.



The next Tuesday (May 17), CO-OP FINISHED!!!!! We were all very excited about the lightening of our school loads. The last hour of co-op was especially fun as I and my fellow thespians performed the Shakespeare scenes we've been rehearsing since January.

The scenes were (Sorry the pictures aren't great quality...no flashes were allowed.)

Two Gentlemen of Verona (starring Emily Maynard and MeiLing Roberts)

Othello (starring Andrew Fischer and Mattie van der Swaagh)

As You Like It (starring Mr. van der Swaagh, John Gross,
and Emma Smith, and Lindsay Tamuzza)

and Macbeth (starring Bethany Seiter and Sheryl Carlson)

The next couple weeks were taken up with the non-co-op school and choir! Four practices and two performances later, the NJHSA choir had acquired a new plaque from the Rutgers Choir Festival to add to its collection and had learned a medley of Les Miserables songs in record time!

We enjoyed Memorial day at the town parade where the Boy Scout troop marched and at a co-op family's house for dinner.
This Sunday (the 5th) to Tuesday (the 7th) we enjoyed the company of good friends from Texas, the Simpsons...

or at least some of them. On Monday, we enjoyed traveling into the city and seeing the progress of the rebuilding of the World Trade Center.
I hadn't know how much progress they had made, so it was slightly shocking to see how far they had progressed! This building, according to plan, will be double the height it is now. We also enjoyed touring St. Paul's Chapel (the church which has withstood the NYC fire of 1776 and 9/11) and Trinity Church (to those of you who know and love National Treasure I, you'll understand my excitement of seeing inside the church! ....Also for the NT fans, notice the Picture of Wall Street and Broadway)

We also rode the Staten Island Ferry, from where Daniel Simpson took the amazing pictures of the Statue of Liberty. We also enjoyed seeing Wall Street and stopping at Starbucks. (For any of you who like Starbucks' fun drinks, I would recommend their Mocha Coconut Frappachino.....Yummmm.) The Simpsons spent Tuesday at our house recouping before heading down to Washington D.C.

The youngest Simpson, Hannah, and I really enjoyed getting to know one another. On Monday night and Tuesday morning, she contentedly sat on a swivel chair listening to Adventures in Odyssey on my mp3 player, keeping me company while I worked through the last two chapters of economics. Hannah reminded me quite distinctly of me as a little girl...all the way down to the love of Asiago cheese bagels.

And now...the summer has come. All of us at 38 Washburn Road are greatly looking forward to all of the different activities planned for the summer: next week Bethany Hammermaster is flying out for a couple weeks, a family conference (that Julie and I are going to), Boy Scout camp (which Julie and I are NOT going to), Grammie (or Mom) McCormick flying out, VBS, Pastoral Modules, and a grand finale to the summer with a trip to Seattle for the marriage of Emily Watts to Danny Villa! Stay Tuned! We'll try to keep you posted.

Note: Great pictures from NYC were taken by Daniel Simpson, Presentation Night pictures were taken by Mattie van der Swaagh, and Shakespeare scene pictures taken by Sharon Seiter