Now Playing: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring soundtrack, Track 15, "The Great River."

A few photos from today are here.

It's been a long week. The saga of computer problems never seems to end! Last Wednesday, I locked myself out of my computer, launching my dad and me into a labyrinth of computer programming questions. We both spent what seemed like hours poking around on the internet and fiddling with my laptop. Finally, on Saturday night, with the help of Lindsay's old laptop and a blank CD, I managed to burn a program to solve the problem. My dad walked me through the process on the phone. Saturday night I went to bed with a functional computer, a slightly better knowledge of how it works, and a deeper appreciation for my dad's patience!

Then on Wednesday we woke up and the internet was mysteriously not working. I spent some time that afternoon trying to coax the router to work and ended up calling AT&T, but they were unhelpful. It took Laura an hour on Thursday night to get the thing fixed. In the meantime, I was biking around campus with my laptop, notebook, and Norton anthologies or Riverside Chaucer in my bag! Either helped my stamina or ruined my shoulders; I'm not sure which yet.

Computer issues aside, good things have happened this week, too. Lindsay and I both registered for library cards on Thursday, and on Friday I checked out a glorious stack of Bach and Brahms CDs that I've never listened to before. Friday was also the day I ate lunch with Cindy at the Runcible Spoon, and we spent a delightful couple of hours talking about Europe.

Last night Lisa and I were left to our own devices, Lindsay and Laura both having gone on short weekend trips. We worked dutifully (mostly dutifully, anyway) until nine o'clock, when we took a break to eat ice cream and watch Letters to Juliet. Chick flick, anyone? It was amusing. This afternoon we joined some people from the RPC on a short hike--more like a walk through the woods--at a state park an hour away from Bloomington. It was pleasant to be outside, walking under the tall oak trees, and laughing at all the wee kids scampering about.

Lisa is baking chocolate cake and lemon bars for Fireside Chat tomorrow night.

All things considered, I'm very thankful that tomorrow is the Sabbath.