Life after France...
It's hard to believe that I have been back in the States for two months now. I have accomplished a lot since returning. Just a few weeks after I returned, I attended my graduation ceremony. That's right, after studying and writing for what has seemed like an eternity, I now have a master's degree.
Graduation December 2006
Christmas 2006
This Christmas season was filled with family and reconnecting with friends. Did I mention that I had a root canal for Christmas; it went well, but I think I'll get myself something else next year. Being away for several months makes it necessary to catch up on the lives of friends, and the Holidays provides the perfect setting. I must say that after spending Thanksgiving in Paris, it was really hard to get e
xcited about Christmas in Lancaster. So, Laura and I tried to make the most of our situation and ran out and got ourselves a REAL tree to decorate.
A house rule is that the tree and the wrapping paper must match! Red and silver have been the theme for the last several years.
This year the Deller Family Christmas hosted a scavenger hunt. We were broken up into groups and sent off in our cars to wander the town in search of obscure trivia answers. The picture above is me jumping and hugging the street sign, because for extra credit we needed a picture with the # of our father's birth order. You guessed it... Dad is #9 of 15.
Laura and I found the scavenger hunt a very timely experience, because if you haven't heard... we tried out for Amazing Race the other week. We attended an open casting call in Harrisburg to submit our 12-page application and record a 2-minute video about ourselves. We are hoping to at least make it to the next round of try-outs. I'll keep you posted! I'm sure at some point in the process we will be sworn to secrecy (note my confidence in our acceptance)!
As for other happenings in my world... I'm working at the Hill right now while I figure out what the next step will be (ya know, Amazing Race or Laura's raise to support me!). A few weeks ago I went to the PA Farm Show to promote the new Duetto flavor of ice cream (very good by the way). Well, I have a story to share!
Typical Michelle Moment at the PA Farm Show
This particular day there were three of us manning the Hill tents, and we all happened to be female. The duty of loading the tent freezers with product fell to me because of my large muscles. The truck, filled with boxes of ice cream, was parked outside the complex not too far from the tents. Getting the ice cream out from the truck requires ascending some stairs and lift ice cream from the freezer and lowering it to the ground. I can pretty much handle this task with the ease and grace of a monkey.
So, I have two packages of ice cream in my hands and the next task is to place them on the dolly. I bend down for the transfer and throw the ice cream down on the dolly. The thing is... at the time of the release the dolly wasn't flat on the ground, so the weight of the ice cream quickly uprighted the top of the dolly, sending it straight into my forehead. The pain was intense, but didn't stop me from continuing my task of loading the dolly.
I wheeled the loaded dolly into the Farm Show complex to unload it into the freezers. At this point, my head was still throbbing from the blow. Jackie came to help me unload the dolly, so I took the opportunity to tell her of my incident. Lifting my bangs to show her where the dolly struck me, I immediately see blood covering my hand. For those of you that don't know, blood and I do not get along.
I cleaned up in the restroom and thought that all was fine. However, when I return to the tent with a napkin pressed to my forehead to stop the bleeding things got much worse for me. A woman announces that she wants to look at my head to make sure that I don't need more medical attention. When I pull the napkin away to show her, she declares that I might need a stitch. As the words pour from her mouth, I lose all blood in my head and all ability to hear. The room starts spinning and I know the next step is blackout and then usually kissing the floor with a smack from losing consciousness. Jackie, seeing my face turn extra white, comes to my rescue by leading me to the inside of the tent and getting me a bottle of water. She told me that I looked very pale, to which I said "I'm going to FAINT!"
I was able to regain composure without losing consciousness by sitting on the floor. I then made my way to the first aid station, because the medics weren't able to find our location, and had the doctor survey the wound. He said that I was not going to need stitches and healed me with a simple band aid and ointment. Good thing, because I would not have been able to handle the hospital without another major ordeal. (sorry no pictures of the wound or white face)
Well, thanks for tuning in! I will try to be more faithful with the updates, that is as long as the stories are worth posting!
