Reasons this was the Best WeekEver:

1. Oxford's first play date with Tim's ducks Daphne and Dwayne

2. Volleyball on Wheeler lawn

3. NO MORE COLLEGE CLASSES! (at least not until grad school)

4. Cliff diving at Panther Falls yesterday


5. Tubing down the Appomattox River with Durbin and her duck Maxwell (and escaping from aggressive water snakes)


6. Cheddarwurst on the grill and Bocci Ball

They grow up so fast...

Oxford sure is getting big...he's about three times the size he was when I got him. He's still got his baby down but I can feel a few real feathers coming in on his tail. I think if I were to compare it to human stages he's about to enter his awkward teenage phase. The weather was gorgeous this past weekend so he spent a lot of time swimming in the Chi fountain and basking in the sunshine on Brock Commons.

Adventure Skills

I took most of my classes for my Outdoor Education minor out of order, and this semester I'm wrapping it all up with intro to adventure skills. A little odd to be taking an intro class at the end of it all, but its given me an opportunity to help with some of the climbing instruction which was a lot of fun. We took two trips this semester, a canoe trip on the Hardware river and a climbing trip this past Friday to Little Stoney Man Cliffs near Luray, VA. The weather was absolutely perfect...60 degrees and sunny (I've got the farmers tan to prove it.)

We set up all of our anchors at the top of the cliff band then rappelled down and climbed back up. My favorite climb was my last climb of the day, this 60 foot crack with a lot of opportunities for hand jams and lay backs. Cristen, Vic and I had climbed there last semester with the wilderness pursuits class, so Dr. Koesler had us set up a couple of beginner climbs while she took the class down the trail to do a little last minute climbing instruction. While we were setting up Cristen snagged this great shot of the three of us...look closely at my sunglasses.

Happy Easter

In the spirit of the season some friends and I dyed eggs and made mimosas last night. I didn't get to go back to DC for Easter because I had to work at the climbing wall yesterday, so I bought some candy and eggs and set up an Easter egg hunt inside the wall for when everyone gets back.

Welcome to the Motherhood

Through a very strange set of circumstances, I have recently become the mother of a 2 week old baby duckling that I've named Oxford (Ox for short). He's a domestic, or "house duck," meaning he was bread from a long line of captive ducks and will most likely never learn to fly.


I've been caring for him since Sunday night and he's already hopelessly imprinted on me as his mother. If I take two steps away he follows me, trying to stay right between my legs. For anyone who thinks it would be cute to get a duckling for Easter, my advice would be to think twice. They don't stay ducklings for long...Ox will be fully grown in about 30 days. Having a baby duck is a lot like having a baby human. I have to clean his container and change his water twice a day, he cries whenever I'm out of sight and is only quiet if he's sitting in my lap or tucked in his nest under a heat lamp. He also wakes me up every 4 hours because he's hungry and will only eat out of my hand. Still, I don't mind the extra work...how can I say no to such a cute face?

Favorite Picture

I think it's interesting how strongly emotions are linked to images. Today I ran across my favorite picture of all time, from my baptism last July in the Chesapeake bay. I can't help but be overwhelmingly happy every time I look at it, and the video definately makes me tear up a bit.

I want to be a construction worker when I grow up!

I was a bit sore this morning when I woke up, but I spent another 7 hours working on the houses today. They won't be completely finished tonight, but by the end of the week the families should be able to move in. This morning I went up on the roof and helped lay the shingles, then I got back up on the ladder to help finish the siding on the back of one of the houses. Everyone who worked on the house signed the back of the final piece of siding and we all cheered as Tom nailed it in place... now there's a little piece of all of us in this house.

Hanging the final bit of soffit

Stop. Hammer Time!

Today I built a house.

Actually, I spent 10 hours working with Habitat for Humanity's Blitz Build. We're building two houses for two families in one weekend and I must say, its amazing how quickly things get done when lots of people come together. It makes me wonder why it takes contractors at home 6 months to finish a house. I really enjoyed learning all the little tricks and construction terms, and I could spend hours swinging that hammer. Here's a picture of some of my handy work...I helped hang the siding, the F and J strips and put up the soffit. Tomorrow we'll finish off the last bit of siding then hang sheet metal to cover all of the exposed ends.

I spent most of today up on scaffolding and ladders hanging backwards to nail the soffit into the eaves, or leaning over to hang the siding. Everyone thought I was crazy, but I just love being up so high. I'm more focused and aware of my body when there's a 20 foot drop below me, I just feel more alive. When we moved on to the second story in back of the house it was just me and one other woman up there, all of the men wimped out! Then again, it is a loooong way down...

I'm going to go back again tomorrow from 8-5...I"ll be sure to post a picture of the finished product!