Spring break is growing closer, but it cannot come fast enough. I've got a wicked case of spring fever, finding little interest in my school work and much more interest in my mind-numbing new habit of watching The Young and the Restless. It serves as a very effective sedative when I just can't take any more knowledge. Don't judge me. You don't know the stresses of a doctoral program. And you probably cannot imagine characters that are the same age as their offspring.
An evening out with school chums last Friday night really did help chase the mid-semester blues away. It began with Minami, Chantalle, and I meeting in the library. First stop: Girl Scout cookie table outside the library doors. Thin mints purchased, it was then into Stella for a drive to the nearby Cracker Barrel.
Ah, Cracker Barrel. What can I say about this little piece of heaven here on earth? The first people who ever told me about this amazing fairyland of food were CSUS friends Tim and Steph. Huge fans of the CB, they encouraged me to visit the restaurant chain whenever possible. I went during my first week here in Knoxville, then again in Montgomery with my Aunt Mona. Last Friday night, it was Chantalle, me, Minami, Alicia, and Adrien enjoying breakfast for dinner. Well, except for Adrien. This guy can't get enough fried food in his diet. If there's fried catfish on the menu, my Frog friend from Calais will order it. Chantalle also went for dinner but the other three of us had the most delicious breakfasts.
Our waiter took his own picture as well as ours--nice!
Feeling uncomfortably full, I dropped Chantalle and Minami off at their apartments on campus, then headed to the Fountain City part of Knoxville for a third round of bowling with the party office. Unlike the first two times, however, I actually did O.K. Not as many gutter balls, and one game over 100 (during that same game, I beat Matthew, but that was really just a fluke). Catching on even faster than I am is Annie, who is now bowling up near the Matthew level. Heaven help J and young Matthew once that girl get more practice.
With spring break nearing, I'm even more homesick than ever for my babies--and my beloved dingo. I asked Heidi to snap a pic of Penny with herself, Randi, and Maddie. Here are the pix I received.
WTF, Maddie? What did you do to Penny and Michonne? Dang, I miss that dingo!! Even when she's clearly possessed by aliens.
I guess that's all from here today. Gotta get back to work to finish strong before the break. After the break comes the difficult, scary, and stressful work to finish the major assignments for the semester, two syllabi and an annotated bib. Having never prepared a syllabus before, I'm sure it's going to be an eye-opening experience.
Yikes. I almost forgot. Last night, I had a dream (thank you, Dr. King for spoiling that line for the rest of us). I was at a fancy party with long-time friend Amy Ellis Scheid. Amy told me, at this party, that her aunt could arrange for she and I to have our photos taken with some of the famous attendees. We did pose for a picture with a celebrity who I couldn't remember this morning--but seemed mildly impressive during the dream. Then suddenly it was my birthday, and I was ushered into this other room to find that my family had arranged for Tony Stewart to appear as a surprise.
I was certainly surprised when Smoke came over to give me a terribly awkward hug. When I apparently appeared disappointed in his hugging abilities, he grabbed me around the waist and made what can only be described as a "humping" gesture toward me. Hmmmm. Not what I expected from the man I adore. I was soon distracted from my bitter disappointment over Smoke's behavior by the news that Amy's aunt had arranged for me to have my picture taken with....wait for it....
That's right. The King of Rock and Roll. And it wasn't old sweaty Elvis. It was Viva Las Vegas Elvis. We sat down together on a little bench thing and had our picture taken. Then he rested his head on my shoulder because he was tired. He was so much more of what I wanted then poor Smoke.
Now that I've described my dream, I'm off to my therapy session....
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