Hello Fine Family! It's been too long since I've posted anything! What to start with... Crew, I guess, since it's pretty much all I do these days. It's been a bit of a rough start to the season. Georgia was great! Exhausting, cold, and rainy, but very productive. It was wonderful to be back on the water (after almost a year!) and to be rowing with the boat. By the end of the week, we were moving well together and zipping across the water. I'm sitting 6 seat in the top 8+ this year, with Meghan stroking, Rebecca in 7, Brittany 5, Eliza 4, Christina 3, Catherine 2 and Kalie in bow. Our first race of the season was right after Georgia--we flew into Boston on Friday, stayed over at the Red Roof Inn, and raced in Worcester against WPI, Wesleyan and Smith on Saturday. We got creamed. Last by a lot. Pretty dissapointing after such a good week of training, but we moved on, and last week we raced 4+'s at the Big 3 Regatta against Bowdoin and Amherst, and won! We needed that victory for morale. Until Tuesday Lake Dunmore was still frozen. We were the only school in New England still holding indoor practice, and it's the worst to get back from being on the water for 6 hours a day and be stuck on ergs. Finally things seem to be getting back to normal! and then today happened... We don't have a dock at Dunmore yet, so we've been wading into the water. It's maybe 35 degrees (keep in mind that last week it was still iced over). It's not terrible when the air is warm, but this morning at 6am the air was also about 35 degrees. The puddles and sand had frozen overnight. So we had to walk our boats, barefoot, across the ice, to the freezing cold lake. We couldn't feel our feet, it felt like walking on stumps. Then all the oarlocks had frozen shut overnight, so we had to stand in the water an extra-long time trying to undo them. Most of us were crying at this point. If you know the team, you know we don't really cry. We get angry and frustrated, but never cry. I saw Christina cry for the first time in the three years I've known her (she's tough as nails). It was the kind of cold that makes you naseous. Of course we're all wearing shorts because wading in with long pants defeats the purpose, you'll be sitting in the boat with wet spandex for the rest of practice. Finally we got out on the water. Drops of water that were spraying up from the oars were freezing immediately. My jacket was covered in ice, my hair was frozen, the velcro on my shoes was frozen shut, and the seats were stuck on the slides because they were freezing, too. We couldn't feather our oars because we couldn't feel our hands. At this point we were all crying. Practice was short, but then we had to get back into the water to get the boat it. And derig. Have you ever tried to loosen a bolt that's frozen with fingers that you can't feel? It takes a lot longer than normal. Needless to say, when our vans rolled into ADK around 9:15 this morning they were full of a lot of cold, crying, hungry rowers, and I think Noel was questioning whether or not any of us would ever come back. But on the bright side, I get to wake up at 3:00 tomorrow morning to go race! yay... The day got better though, because a)we didn't have classes, so I got right back into bed (after a waffle and coffee, delish!) and b) I found out where I'm living next year! I got #11 out of 850 for room draw! Draw happened last night and this afternoon they told us that we got our top choice, a 6 person house! I'm living with Kelsey, Alex Margarite, Sasha Rivera, Hannah Epstein, and Tim O'Grady in 82 Adirondack Street. It's the cutest house! With huge rooms, a beautiful living room with a fire place, a dining room and kitchen, a screened back porch, a basement, and two bathrooms! WE'RE SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!! The group that I'm living with is great. I don't know Sasha and Tim super well, but they're really nice and relaxed (they're in Bobolinks with Kelsey) which is what we were looking for. Unfortunately for me I'm the only non-acapella person in the house...could get...musical. Since it's April, and that means summer's coming (even if it still feels like January), I've started to think of summer plans. One option is a rowing program in Philadelphia. It's called Vesper Rowing Club, an elite program that would train me to (possibly) be good enough to continue rowing after college. Noel expressed that he thinks if I really want to, and I stick with it, there might be a place for me on the National team!! I haven't heard back from the director yet, but I'm pretty sure that I'll get in because Meghan, our captain, emailed one of the coaches about me and he wanted me to come row for them (connections!). It would be a big commitment, working out 2 times a day all summer, with regattas around the country on weekends, and I'd have to figure out how to do it financially, I'd definitely need to get a job that would let me have the schedule I'd need to row. But I'll figure that out. The other option is for me to head West. I've decided I'm going to work on a Dude Ranch this summer. Too bad that most ranches do their hiring in November. I haven't had much luck. But I'm going to send my resume to every ranch, hotel, restaurant, bar and coffee shop in Colorado and Wyoming and Montana with the hopes that one will hire me. I have it in my head that I'd like to be out there, and now there's nothing stopping me from just doing it. Except Vesper Boat Club, of course. phew. I think you're all caught up! A very late Happy Birthday to Grandpa Jim! I did get to see him last Sunday to say hello, and now I'll get to see all of you this Sunday. Sweet Lornadoone! What a time we'll have!