Nightmare Before Christmas | Equal Parts of a Whole

Yikes, I have been crazy busy! As you can imagine, ever since getting back from Thanksgiving Break, school is in full-on crazy mode with papers, presentations, tests, and final exams looming ahead. I’ve made countless lists of tasks I need to complete by the end of the semester, but it is so hard to keep everything straight. Especially with organizing courses for next semester, lining up an internship, coordinating with family, blah blah blah. Life is hard.

(Photo credit: snorlax’s cafe)

This Friday, in order to keep myself moving forward, I’m going to list my five favorite things about the end of the semester.

By far, my favorite thing about the end of the semester is that everyone goes a little crazy. Sure, everyone shows it a little differently. Some people wear their pajamas to class, others can be seen bleary-eyed and typing furiously in the student lounge. Some send around ridiculous memes of cats in costumes while others still maintain a steady diet of coffee, granola bars, and fruit snacks. While none of this is necessarily healthy, it is all very common. I love walking around campus and seeing other people stressed out about finals, because it reminds me that we are all a little crazy.
If there is one thing that kills my productivity at the end of the Fall semester, it is ABC Family‘s 25 Days of Christmas. Every single day there are at least five Christmas/Holiday movies that remind me of my childhood. While I would love to sit in front of the TV wrapped up in a blanket, dipping my piece of bread into my Christmas mug of hot chocolate and watch Home Alone, followed by The Nightmare Before Christmas, followed by Elf, a small part of me knows that it just isn’t possible anymore. So I resign myself to turning the TV on mute, huddling at my desk with my cup of tea, and finishing my work as quickly as possible so I can catch the end of The Polar Express. Curse you, ABC Family.
One thing that gets me through the end of the semester is the promise of at least three weeks where there is nothing on my calendar. I’m very lucky to still be in school and to still have a Winter Break, and I plan to take full advantage of it. Maybe I’ll get some work done, but right now the only thing I’m planning to do is a ton of reading. The promise of that glorious and unscheduled time is pushing me through these last two weeks.
Winter is coming. Game of Thrones reference fully intended here, people. If you know me, you know I love winter. I am seriously disappointed any day that I wake up in December and don’t see snow on the ground. Just wait for the first big snow to hit the Ann Arbor area. You’ll probably be able to hear my squeals of joy from wherever you are right now.
And finally, I truly enjoy reflecting and taking stock of how far I’ve come this semester. I think I’ve accomplished a lot in the few short months since I moved up to attend the University of Michigan. I’ve learned a lot of valuable lessons, made some foolish mistakes, but come out wiser (and possibly more stylish) than when I arrived. I can only hope for three more semesters that are just as exciting and jam-packed with knowledge.

What are your favorite parts about the end of the semester/school year? Do you go a little crazy during the holiday season too?

XOXO

Thanksgiving and the holiday season means spending a lot of time in the car.

This weekend alone, C and I have driven from Ypsilanti three hours south to a small town in northern Indiana where we both grew up. Then we’ve headed two hours north to Grand Ledge to spend some time with my family. Tomorrow we’ll make the 90 minute drive back to Ypsilanti. That is a lot of hours spent in the car.

Some people get bored in the car, but I’ve always been pretty decent at going on long rides. The only downfall I have is my tiny bladder that makes us stop at nearly every rest area along the way.

C and I have developed some strategies for helping the time to pass by quickly. Sure, we sometimes just talk to each other, but other times we rely on these new and old methods to keep us from hating to travel.

Whitetail deer in winter (Photo credit: GlacierNPS)

Zip is a family game that my mom has passed on to us kids. It’s a goofy game that is just supposed to take your mind off of the road and make you look outside. The goal is to get to 100 points. You get points by “zipping” things, but there are only certain things that you’re allowed to zip. Cats are 10 points, dogs are 5. Deer are 25 points, as are little boys in red shirts playing. Cemetaries are 50 points, but they also wipe out everyone else’s points, and white horses are 50 points, too. So, it’s not uncommon, especially in the winter, for our car to be filled with the sounds of “Zip a deer!” or “Zip a cemetary!” There are even epic tales of Zip passed around. Like, when G was too young to really play, we mistakenly told him that he could zip weeping willow trees and even now, whenever we pass by a weeping willow, he will sing this little annoying song. Or when my mom was playing against my dad, who had already racked up a deer and a cemetary, so my mom was knocked back down to zero points. They rounded a bend in the road and passed right by a baseball diamond full of little boys in red shirts playing. My mom won that game.

The Nightmare Before Christmas (soundtrack) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Other times, when C and I don’t necessarily want to play a game, we’ll throw on some music and sing along. Movie or musical soundtracks work the best for us. Our go-to is definitely the Pick of Destiny Soundtrack as performed by Tenacious D. We can sing every single word to every single song. It’s actually pretty impressive. I also love to sing along to the Les Miserables Soundtrack or the Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack.

Other times we like to solve little puzzles, much like those tweeted by @ShakespeareSong on Twitter. This fantastic tweeter will translate modern song lyrics into funny archaic phrases. C and I love to read them randomly and try to solve them. One of our favorites is, “We art not required to remove our garments in order to experience a splendid outing.” Or, “My pelvic bone is unable to fabricate false statements.” Can you guess what songs they are?

How do you and your family kill time in the car?

XOXO