Jasmine

NOT the Disney princess. It's a pretty white flower that grows on a climbing evergreen shrub. The plant (more commonly known as Spanish or royal jasmine) is originally from China and northern India but was brought to Europe by the Muslims when they entered Spain. It has a history of being used in teas, as an anti-depressant, to aid irritated skin, and aid with respiratory problems.

So I'm feeling much better! Only took a week to recover from that nasty cold. And just in time too. This past weekend was apparently visit Erin at school weekend! My friend Chris was passing through and my friend Hannah also stopped in! It was nice to see them, even if it was only for a little bit. Plus I got to go swing dancing this weekend for the UIUC Swing Society's "Vintage Affair" event, which was a blast. Pics are up on facebook if you want to check them out.

So far the weather is slowly improving. It's been very bipolar lately (no surprises there) but it's on the up and up. Supposedly this coming week it's going to warm up. I am SUPER excited.

Daylight savings has thrown me off, again. Curse you Daylight Savings.

Good thoughts go out to the people of Japan and all those affected by the tsunami that came after the monster 8.9 earthquake. According to the U.S. Geological survey, it's the 5th largest earthquake on record. The largest is the 9.5 off the coast of Chile in 1960. They're also saying that because of this ONE earthquake coastlines in the area closest to the epicenter jumped THIRTEEN FEET CLOSER TO THE U.S. COAST. Here are some pics from NASA of the Japan coastline before (top pic) and after (bottom pic). That's in addition to sinking Japan two feet lower, tilting the Earth's axis off by six and a half inches, and shortening the day by a few microseconds. Geology is cool man. Scary destructive, but cool. Again, good thoughts to the Japanese people right now.

So March Madness is here! Hopefully the Fighting Illini will make it a decent way through the tournament, if not to the top. Go Illini! And failing that, Go Duke.

Running is doing all right. Again, I took time off because I was sick. Bad run today, I started cramping halfway through and my ankle jumped the "Let's make this run miserable" bandwagon and started to hurt. How very inconsiderate. Soon I'll start my official training for the half marathon! Woo hoo!

So apparently I was wrong and I should know about the secondary education program at the end of March. So in the next two weeks. This sucks. I want to know!

Reading for this week is once again Red Mars and Hard Times. I'm loving Red Mars because it's so complex and interesting. I'm hating Hard Times because Dickens goes on and on...and I hate all the characters. I understand there are some people who like his work and I'm sure other works of his are fine, but I don't ever want to read them. I might implode out of boredom.

Knitting again tonight! Still working on that baby blanket and I started on the gloves for my friend Ashlyn. If you're able to see my ravelry account, the gloves for Ashlyn are titled "Burnt Magnolias" and the blanket is titled "Morgan".

FUN DISCOVERY OF THE WEEK! The new season of Doctor Who begins April 23rd. I'm so excited since I'm finally starting to get attached to Matt Smith (the new Doctor) and they filmed in the USA for once! I'll get my bow tie, fez, and sonic screwdriver!

Spring Break Countdown: Four Days!!

Song of the Day: Telphone by Lady Gaga featuring Beonce (Don't judge me. It's a fun song.)

<3 Erin