The crazies always catch you in the end...

A weekend home alone.

Julie, Kelly, Zach & Alice are in Iași.

Kadie, Dana, Brandi & the kids are in Bucharest.

Tad & I are in Lupeni.

I am in Apartment Lucy.

And here're a few weekend thoughts:
I never want to live alone long-term.  If only because I cannot concentrate when there is such a pervasive layer of quiet!  Plus, I give myself far too much credit when it comes to self-discipline.  As in, I thought I had some.  So far I have accomplished precious little.

...unless I get extra credit for eating half a package of petite beurre crackers, sleeping for 12 hours straight or trimming my own hair 3 times.
I read Ephesians and the Peters.
I watched the makeover clips from 4 seasons of America's Next Top Model.
I fell down the stairs and acquired 3 blisters from cooking oil burns.
I made French Onion soup, fried potatoes and an awesome avacado/red pepper grilled cheese sandwich.
I chatted with Daniel via facebook and chatted with tad in person.
I wore the same clothes all three days and will probably wear them again tomorrow.
I napped two days in a row.
I read Sara Moser & Kelsey Plummer's blogs and wrote my own post about fall break.
I washed the dishes, hung Julie's clothes and forget to sweep the floor until now...it needs it.
I added 5 mosquitoes to my tally on the kill chart and managed to make myself sick on coffee.
I took out the trash, after staring at it for days.
I tried to pack all my belongings into my suitcase and decided that I probably can't go home with 1 less piece of luggage than I came it, after all.
I purchased ice cream and left it out on the counter all night.
I listened to 5 great podcasts, while cooking/washing dishes/cleaning.

I have had a great time...good thing there is one more day left for all the things I actually had to get done...

Go watch this video that Tad sent to me.  Its my weekend in a nutshell.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItMFWpKofSg&feature=channel

I don't think this could go on much longer than a weekend, though, without insanity setting in.  Because I can't seem to focus when I have this much time and space and freedom to loaf around without invading someone else's territory or time or whatnot.  Especially because I left my shtuff all over the bedroom (because I can!) nd even caught myself taking a 4-hour nap this afternoon...i don't think that could be ok for daily life.

The relaxation ends at some point and the crazies set in...I've been belting Viva La Vida and Wunderkind by turns, and depending on what iTunes shuffle starts crankin' at me.  My hairbrush has served as a microphone. Not that this is unusual in my "real life"...but its a little goofy for Marit-on-her-own and is usually reserved or bouncing on the couch with Sarah Fisher or Rebecca Dix.

Focus is hard, though, dude, when I have what looks like unlimited time.  Maybe the clock will seem to start ticking tomorrow...  =/

Apartment Lucy

Kelly tells this one better, so check out her blogpost "Morning entertainment" here: http://wwww.kellyhasablognow.blogspot.com

For now, though, here's the general jist of the story,

Apartment Lucy is home to Kelly Larsen, Julie Adams and myself for the post-homestay portion of our semester.   From our new location, 5 stories above street level, we have the delightful opportunity to enjoy some fantastic people-watching.  The balcony affords a great view across the street to the Pentecostal church and the river.  But our living-room window recently provided one of the most entertaining spectacles yet.  Take for instance yesterday…

I could not concentrate, due to a chainsaw buzzing away outside.  And so I moseyed into the living room, peered out the window and found the source of the commotion. “There’s a man in that tree,” I announced to Kelly, who was happy enough to abandon her research and join me at the window.  Because, you see, there was a man in big galoshes with an orange chainsaw on a string in the tree directly outside our window. 


A red car, parked beneath, had a large dent in the roof… perhaps this explains why the tree was undergoing demolition.  More probably, the dent was a result of the demolition. 

The man clambered around in the tree in the most precarious manner, exactly the sort of situation which a chainsaw never improves.  He cut down huge branch after huge branch using the good old “cut toward yourself instead of away” method, stabilizing himself by wedging his galoshes between branches and propping against his elbow.

The chainsaw’s string didn’t appear to be horribly helpful in keeping the process streamlined (at one point, to our consternation and peals of laughter, Man-in-tree even passed the chainsaw between his legs to untangle the string) and we were tempted to assume it superfluous...until he began to lower the chainsaw down and up, to and from his friend on the ground who was apparently heading up the safety committee and in charge of brilliant ideas, to boot (who, in turn nearly cut off his leg while messing around with the saw).  

 At one point, the chainsaw was replaced by a cigarette and the man proceeded to smoke in the tree.  He continued smoking through the next several branches.

Kelly and I soon took to yelling “Timber!” out our open window, as the branches fell, and a crowd gathered on the ground near the site of this wonderful spectacle.  Everyone seemed to be enjoying the entertainment, but none more than a little old man in a brown jacket who we have become friends with and who runs a small store just outside out apartment building.  He wandered in and out of the work zone, smoking, chatting with the Idea-man and just generally enjoying the proceedings. 

At one point the Man-in-tree got his chainsaw stuck halfway through a limb, where it stuck out horizontally.

Mr. Ideas on the ground came up with a great plan and got the attention of the chap in the tree by throwing a stick at him.

The great idea: Ideas coiled up a rope and on the second try Man-in-tree caught it. 

He then shimmied up the half-cut limb from which the chainsaw was sticking out (oh, that’s smart!) and tied the rope on some 8-feet above the saw. 

When he had slid his way back down to sawing-position, Mr. Ideas and our friend in the brown jacket strung the rope out across the yard (effectively tangling man-in-tree) and pulled, lifting the branch slightly. Success!  Man-in-tree was able to wiggle with saw loose and finish the final branches.

Sadly, the tree now stands, forlorn and branchless, a stark, ugly trunk in our yard.  But I’m glad we had the good fortune to witness the more humorous play-by-play of its demise, instead of simply returning home to the sad remains.  

We shall see what delights Apartment Lucy’s windows afford in future… =)