On Matilda

In the book by Roald Dahl, rather than the movie, Matilda's gifts are caused by an excess of brain power.  So, in the end, when she is challenged in the classroom, her ability to send erasers and china dolls flying through the room goes away.

I'm like Matilda.  Except my excess brain-power flowed into a blog.  I figured out the reason my posts have felt forced and uncreative lately: now that I am being mentally challenged in school again, my energy goes elsewhere and does not need an outlet.  With this pseudo-apology, I offer a Cliff's Notes version of adventures of the past few weeks:

Part I: The Crazy Weekend

*A few Fridays ago, right before the faith study that Victoria is leading, I got a text from Percy, asking if I wanted to travel to PA the next day.  So the next morning, I went to western PA to hang out with him and Mama and Papa Percy.
* While there, I visited the Croatian Club with a cousin of Papa Percy.  It reminded me of the Lodge in Everybody Loves Raymond or the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo in The Flintstones.  I didn't know places like that existed.  I played the Percy cousin in a brief game of Boccie on their indoor court.  (I won.)
* The Percy cousin is dating his high school sweetheart, fifty years after the fact.  It's adorable -- I didn't know things like that happened outside The Baby-Sitters Club!
* I, like the Magi, returned by a different route.  Not because Herod was following me, but to avoid tolls. I decided that when I am traveling through the middle of nowhere, I prefer state routes and back roads to highways.
* That night, I was supposed to see A Midsummer Night's Dream on campus, but they were sold out.  Instead, Thom (Are you keeping track of new characters?  This is his intro.) grabbed his pipe and we all went out star-gazing, then watched A Few Good Men.  The conversation after turned to the Penn State football sex-abuse scandal; the two are arguably related.
* The next day we visited the largest statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which is two hours north of Steubes.  She is 33 feet tall; with her base and sunbeams, she stands 50 feet above the ground.
* The story of how she came to be there is full of miracles.  If you want to hear, ask me!
* I left a few petitions of my own with her; I'll let you know if I add to her stories.

Part II: The In-Between

* I met a group of students starting a social justice group on campus, focusing on the fact that justice  goes beyond partisan politics.  I went to their first meeting and I'm excited to see where we go!
* Shelly and I found the one place in Steubenville open 24 hours!  Tim Horton's is the Dunkin' Donuts of Ohio.  Because Shelly is a die-hard Michigan fan, she got into some friendly banter with Ohio State fans, which resulted in our order expanding free of charge.
* Sunday with the day of "hypo-allergenic cake-pops."  Translation: egg-free, lactose-free, gluten-free chocolate-covered deliciousness.

Part III: Home Again

* I made it back to NoVA for Thanksgiving, despite the entire Atlantic Ocean dumping itself over my car for 8 hours of mountain driving.  I picked up my sister from her school on my way down, which added a little bit of time to my travels.
* I was blessed enough to have Julia and LB at my house that evening for birthday festivities!  And I saw Wendy the next day for the same purpose.
*Thanksgiving happened with all the family home!  We haven't been all together for years, so it was a momentous occasion.
* I brought home a mountain of books, but haven't done enough work.  Something I predicted, but which will make the next week challenging.