"back to school...to prove to dad i'm not a fool"

ohhhhh....Billy Madison, that song will forever be imprinted in my brain when i think about going back to school.

yes, this girl has started up coursework again. no, it is not a PhD. we are not that ambitious around these parts, at least not for the time being.

it is another masters because one is seemingly not enough. seriously, let's think about this. by the end of this course i will be able to say that i am a master squared, to throw in a little math terminology. awesome, right? i think that will be what i sign my name as in the future: first and last name, M ²

"what's it in?" you ask. i'll limit the suspense element. it's in psychological therapy for children, young people, and families. yes, it's a mouthful. you need to have one master's already to be able to remember such a convoluted title. the first year is a foundation year, and therefore called something else. i haven't bothered remembering it though. something about multidisciplinary studies or some such thing.

anyways, i've been doing some reading for my child development course and we're starting from the very beginning - as in conception. it is absolutely fascinating to me reading about the studies that have been done on foetuses, and how personality and temperament can be seen from such an early stage. (fully aware of my geekiness.) then i remembered when my nephew was only a wee little one, and how even 10 years ago we could tell what a sweet dear he was. it just amazes me.

the hair? that's what happens when your aunt is 16 and you've been blessed with a double crown that encourages your hair into a mohawk anyways. he'll "thank" me as he gets older, i'm sure of this.

zombie finger

ummmmmm.....let's just say that after a fabulously fun game of "clap catch" with a football (translation for you americans out there: soccer ball) yesterday with friends my left ring finger blew-up into a swollen, fat mess. now, it's not like my finger just magically had an adverse reaction to such an activity. the ball did bash into it, and it hurt like a mother. however, i didn't think it was too bad.

we hung out at the park afterwards enjoying the last rays of sunshine, and after a couple of hours i started to notice that my finger was HUGE!!!! and i could no longer fully bend it.

my thought, i'll wait until tomorrow to see what happens. maybe it'll go down by then.

right, so my finger had other plans. this is what i woke up to this morning.

(The colours are a lot more teal/purple than they appear here, and the swelling...well...that's actually smaller than what it was the day before.)

i emailed my zombie looking finger to my sister, on the other side of the pond. she informed me that i couldn't avoid the doctor like i was hoping to because it looked "gnarly." so, i rang up the GP and they told me that i would need to go to A&E just in case they needed to take an Xray.

(That is about as far as it bends at the moment....whoops...)

after 2.5hrs of waiting at A&E, and several interesting people to watch i got called in. low and behold, Xrays were called for and numerous comments about the "colouring" of my finger, the size of it, the inability to make a fist, and overall condition of it were given it.

diagnosis: extreme hyper-extension of the left ring finger. no apparent breaks or fractures at the moment; however, if there is no improvement in 2-3 wks times i'm to return as fractures may have appeared(?)

treatment: take anti-inflammatory medicine three times daily, do "exercises" for my finger, and to wear this "sling"

(Yup, it looks ridiculous.)

which makes my hand look like a limp fish hanging out on my right shoulder.

prognosis: i'll live.

in the meantime, my finger looks like it should belong to a zombie. it's pretty awesome.

(Can't wait to see what shade of yellow it turns.)

matchmaker matchmaker, make me a match

so i went to dinner with my sister and nephew tonight.
at one point nate looked up at me and asked, "sooooo...emmy? when are you going to get married?"
ele and i looked at each across the table...trying to figure out how best to answer this.
nate proceeded in our silence to ask, "like, are you going to have a baby? ::softer, and more to himself:: i hope so...so i can have a cousin"
ele and i chuckled.

ele explained to him, "well, it's not that easy nate. she first needs to meet someone before getting to the point of marriage, and that it can't just be some random guy."

somehow this lead us into all the various traits that nate thinks i need in a mate. since it was entirely too amusing to keep to ourselves, here they are for your own entertainment!

some are quite humourous!

someone who...

• likes to read books
• is nice
• is not bald
• is born in 1982, so they are turning 28 this year
• doesn't wet their pants
• brushes their teeth, so they don't have bad breath when i kiss them
• is not short, they can be 5'8" and 5 inches
• has a good heart (we clarified that he didn't literally mean a good heart, as in won't have a heart attack)
  
• makes me laugh because i'm a laughing kind of person
• gets along with my family
• isn't drunk, so they won't crash when we drive
  
• likes me
• knows good restaurants, like for birthdays and other get-togethers
• is british, so they know about tea and stuff

for a 9 year old matchmaker, he's not too shabby.
glad he is looking out for my best interests :D

hitchin' party

yeah....i've been M.I.A. for quite a while...work had been rough there for a bit.
for the silence, apologises to my few bloggy followers.

there is more important news to share though.

dear friend aly, she had herself a hitchin' party this weekend here, in rural Indiana

and it was glorious!

the happy couple are complete stunners.

congratulations Mr. and Mrs. M.C. Winter!!!

crafter?

Just wanted to spread the word about a great way to use your crafty instincts (if you are so inclined) and also help out those who are otherwise without. Check out Craft Hope whenever you get a chance, and you'll be able to see what the new project is and who will benefit.

It really is such a neat concept!