a relaxing massage-and it was really needed after this crazy month
a few hours of work on Friday, but just enough to feel accomplished
boyfriend home early thanks to the government and their inability to work a full day before the long weekend
John's great grandmother turns 100 and the family celebrates
John's brother flew in from Florida-and is now staying with us before his early morning flight
a few crabs as an appetizer, made me hungry for a real crab feast
so much time with Caroline, my favorite baby girl- a few bottles and burping, pee on my pants, trying to roll herself out of her chair, full of giggles, spit up, rocking her to sleep, handing her off to grandma when her cold stopped up her nose and she wouldn't stop screaming, watching John be a fantastic uncle just made me smile and love him all the more (they are going to be an unstoppable pair as soon as she is mobile)
Monday, May 25, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
St. Louis Graduations Part 3
The final installment.
Tuesday was another boring day. But that night was Evan's graduation. In getting ready, Evan got frustrated with his little brothers getting in his way. Connor decided no one loved him, so he refused to go. Mom was very little help in solving the problem, so it was all me. Matt finally had to just throw him over his shoulder and put him in the car. He then refused to come in the church so we left him outside.
Then Evan went and passed out right before Communion. He had been sick since my arrival, but seemed to be doing better. But somewhere along the way he got overheated and dehydrated. So they called and ambulance and took him to the hospital, leaving me to deal with two kids and the grandparents, and to attend a graduation dinner without the graduate.
So first thing was first, I had to take Connor and Harrison to day care. Of course, there was the nastiest woman ever in charge of day care and she refused to let them stay there. She acted as if I had brought the plague into her presence, complete with a hysterical "No, no no!" rant as she rushed towards me, quite like a mad woman with a knife. She didn't even give a damn when I said my brother had been rushed to the hospital. And told me Connor was old enough to babysit, so I should just take them home. We won't go into more details-but she did make me cry. The most unchristian woman I've ever met, left in charge of a Catholic school's day care. Terrible!
Now, she was right in saying the kids couldn't stay there. Since they had been sick, it was school policy that they couldn't. But she was way over the line. So you've got me crying to the principal (who was my principal) and two of my old teachers, who were all appalled at how I was treated. A woman I've known forever offered to take the boys home and have her husband watch them so that I could go to the graduation without worrying about them. So that worked out.
So the grandparents and I went to the dinner without Evan, the graduate. We ate nice food, which was hard since I was still so upset, and got updates from mom throughout the evening. They did a bunch of tests on Evan to make sure he didn't have Swine Flu, or Strep, or any number of other things. Gave him an IV and he perked right up. So he was released later that night, but missed the entire graduation. Luckily I was there and his teacher was once my teacher. So she insisted I come up and accept all his awards, his yearbook, etc. There's going to be one funny picture where I'm standing on stage with about 6 of his classmates.
Mom called right as I was leaving school saying Evan was ready to go. SO we made plans for me to run home and get the kids, then go to the hospital to pick them up. Luckily Matt pulled in the driveway right behind me (he had been at the Cards game) so I sent him to get Mom and Evan while I waited on the boys and tried to call John for a little comfort.
Well everyone was exhausted once we were all home. Connor got sad again and refused to go to sleep. Harrison, who had seen his brother pass out, was still a little freaked out. Especially since I comforted him some but then sent him away to a babysitter. Evan was doing much better but still needed to get to bed. And oh yeah, Mom was sick too in all of this. So I was fairly certain I was not going to sleep at all that night.
Our table at Graduation
We recreated the table at home so Evan could enjoy.
He'd probably kill me for sharing this pic, as he's fresh out of the hospital, but here's our one photo of the celebrating graduate.
Matt came home around 1:30 and I finally got my phone back (mom had taken it to the hospital since she has no cell right now, then she left it in Matt's car) so I set my alarm and tried to sleep. Then Rocky wanted to play so I had to get him to realize how late it was. I don't know when I finally fell asleep, but I was up at 5:30 so I could get to the airport.
It took me about 45 minutes to get through security, which was worse than some Christmas travel I've had. But I was plenty early. The flight was fairly uneventful, which was a nice welcome after the previous trip. John picked me up and took me to lunch, despite my disheveled appearance. He went back to work, I tried to nap.
Then I had to field phone calls from Connor, who wanted to come live with me because everyone there was mean. I swear, the go in cycles. Next month it'll be Harrison. They've all been through far too much. No wonder they have off days. Still, I was too overwhelmed to still be dealing with the drama.
But I am home now and all seems to have calmed down on the home front.
Tuesday was another boring day. But that night was Evan's graduation. In getting ready, Evan got frustrated with his little brothers getting in his way. Connor decided no one loved him, so he refused to go. Mom was very little help in solving the problem, so it was all me. Matt finally had to just throw him over his shoulder and put him in the car. He then refused to come in the church so we left him outside.
Then Evan went and passed out right before Communion. He had been sick since my arrival, but seemed to be doing better. But somewhere along the way he got overheated and dehydrated. So they called and ambulance and took him to the hospital, leaving me to deal with two kids and the grandparents, and to attend a graduation dinner without the graduate.
So first thing was first, I had to take Connor and Harrison to day care. Of course, there was the nastiest woman ever in charge of day care and she refused to let them stay there. She acted as if I had brought the plague into her presence, complete with a hysterical "No, no no!" rant as she rushed towards me, quite like a mad woman with a knife. She didn't even give a damn when I said my brother had been rushed to the hospital. And told me Connor was old enough to babysit, so I should just take them home. We won't go into more details-but she did make me cry. The most unchristian woman I've ever met, left in charge of a Catholic school's day care. Terrible!
Now, she was right in saying the kids couldn't stay there. Since they had been sick, it was school policy that they couldn't. But she was way over the line. So you've got me crying to the principal (who was my principal) and two of my old teachers, who were all appalled at how I was treated. A woman I've known forever offered to take the boys home and have her husband watch them so that I could go to the graduation without worrying about them. So that worked out.
So the grandparents and I went to the dinner without Evan, the graduate. We ate nice food, which was hard since I was still so upset, and got updates from mom throughout the evening. They did a bunch of tests on Evan to make sure he didn't have Swine Flu, or Strep, or any number of other things. Gave him an IV and he perked right up. So he was released later that night, but missed the entire graduation. Luckily I was there and his teacher was once my teacher. So she insisted I come up and accept all his awards, his yearbook, etc. There's going to be one funny picture where I'm standing on stage with about 6 of his classmates.
Mom called right as I was leaving school saying Evan was ready to go. SO we made plans for me to run home and get the kids, then go to the hospital to pick them up. Luckily Matt pulled in the driveway right behind me (he had been at the Cards game) so I sent him to get Mom and Evan while I waited on the boys and tried to call John for a little comfort.
Well everyone was exhausted once we were all home. Connor got sad again and refused to go to sleep. Harrison, who had seen his brother pass out, was still a little freaked out. Especially since I comforted him some but then sent him away to a babysitter. Evan was doing much better but still needed to get to bed. And oh yeah, Mom was sick too in all of this. So I was fairly certain I was not going to sleep at all that night.
Our table at Graduation
We recreated the table at home so Evan could enjoy.
He'd probably kill me for sharing this pic, as he's fresh out of the hospital, but here's our one photo of the celebrating graduate.
Matt came home around 1:30 and I finally got my phone back (mom had taken it to the hospital since she has no cell right now, then she left it in Matt's car) so I set my alarm and tried to sleep. Then Rocky wanted to play so I had to get him to realize how late it was. I don't know when I finally fell asleep, but I was up at 5:30 so I could get to the airport.
It took me about 45 minutes to get through security, which was worse than some Christmas travel I've had. But I was plenty early. The flight was fairly uneventful, which was a nice welcome after the previous trip. John picked me up and took me to lunch, despite my disheveled appearance. He went back to work, I tried to nap.
Then I had to field phone calls from Connor, who wanted to come live with me because everyone there was mean. I swear, the go in cycles. Next month it'll be Harrison. They've all been through far too much. No wonder they have off days. Still, I was too overwhelmed to still be dealing with the drama.
But I am home now and all seems to have calmed down on the home front.
Friday, May 22, 2009
St. Louis Graduations Part 2
So Sunday John and I woke up surprisingly early, considering how busy the previous day had been. We were lazy for awhile, since the fam wasn't coming to pick us up for awhile. We went home to eat then were headed to the Cardinals game.
We won't talk much about the game. We did get Lou Brock statues (umm yay?!) but that was about the best part of the game. Actually, it was a great day for baseball. But things were bad right from the first inning. Our pitcher was horrible and we never caught up from his mistakes. Of course my one game in Busch and it sucked.
We didn't have much time between the game and John's flight, so we went home and played with the dog some. I got ready for my evening. Matt and I dropped John off at the airport-an oh so very sad time- then headed to meet our aunt and uncle.
We had appetizers and dessert at Granite City Brewery, which is a very nice place. Though we didn't have any beer-weird-so I imagine I will go back some day for that. The desserts were huge! My aunt and uncle gave me a very nice pair of earrings- to go with the necklace (high school graduation) and ring (college graduation) they had already given me. Now I have a very nice set of jewels. Yay!
I pretty much crashed when I got home. I was feeling ill, pretty sure I was getting what Evan had, so I was curled up on the couch with a fever and chills. Luckily this was the worst I ever felt.
Monday was nothing too exciting. Lounging around the house, playing with the dog, etc. I went to pick up Connor and Harrison from school and saw some of my old teachers. That evening Matt and I went out with our other aunt and cousin.
We went to a place called Little Hills Winery. We got our 3 free samples then went to sit down for a meal. We were just in time for happy hour, so we got 3 glasses of wine for pretty cheap, and a load of appetizers. Then we ordered a bottle of this spiced wine to share. So much wine! But it was really great.
Now, I wasn't expecting my 14-year-old cousin to come along on this trip, but he was there. And I almost hit him and my aunt a few times. He was smoking, right in front of us. He was really rude and anti-social. He was bored and tried to rush us into leaving. And my aunt actually poured him a glass of wine form our bottle. And bought him flavored cigars on our way home. This is the cousin who has already been to rehab. And she wonders why he's not "all better."
We won't talk much about the game. We did get Lou Brock statues (umm yay?!) but that was about the best part of the game. Actually, it was a great day for baseball. But things were bad right from the first inning. Our pitcher was horrible and we never caught up from his mistakes. Of course my one game in Busch and it sucked.
We didn't have much time between the game and John's flight, so we went home and played with the dog some. I got ready for my evening. Matt and I dropped John off at the airport-an oh so very sad time- then headed to meet our aunt and uncle.
We had appetizers and dessert at Granite City Brewery, which is a very nice place. Though we didn't have any beer-weird-so I imagine I will go back some day for that. The desserts were huge! My aunt and uncle gave me a very nice pair of earrings- to go with the necklace (high school graduation) and ring (college graduation) they had already given me. Now I have a very nice set of jewels. Yay!
I pretty much crashed when I got home. I was feeling ill, pretty sure I was getting what Evan had, so I was curled up on the couch with a fever and chills. Luckily this was the worst I ever felt.
Monday was nothing too exciting. Lounging around the house, playing with the dog, etc. I went to pick up Connor and Harrison from school and saw some of my old teachers. That evening Matt and I went out with our other aunt and cousin.
We went to a place called Little Hills Winery. We got our 3 free samples then went to sit down for a meal. We were just in time for happy hour, so we got 3 glasses of wine for pretty cheap, and a load of appetizers. Then we ordered a bottle of this spiced wine to share. So much wine! But it was really great.
Now, I wasn't expecting my 14-year-old cousin to come along on this trip, but he was there. And I almost hit him and my aunt a few times. He was smoking, right in front of us. He was really rude and anti-social. He was bored and tried to rush us into leaving. And my aunt actually poured him a glass of wine form our bottle. And bought him flavored cigars on our way home. This is the cousin who has already been to rehab. And she wonders why he's not "all better."
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
St. Louis Graduations Part 1
If you ever start thinking that I cannot experience any more drama, just stop yourself. Because chaos apparently follows me around. If it's just me and John life tends to run smoothly, but add in anyone else and something is bound to go wrong.
So after not really recovering from my own festivities, it was time to bail on work some more and head to St. Louis for Matt and Evan's graduations.
Friday night flight. Was delayed slightly but that was no big deal. Then, 45 minutes into the flight the turbulence started. It was on and off, but no fun at all. I am not a fan of unsmooth flights. Not really a fright issue, like the woman next to us, but more of a "it's too much like a roller coaster and I get lightheaded and nauseous" kind of problem. So I had my head buried in John's arm most of the flight. And just when I was thinking "man, we should really be starting our final decent soon, if not 15 mins ago, what the heck?" the pilot comes on. The severe weather in St. Louis called for the closing of the airport, so we were just gonna hang out up in the sky (in the bumpy clouds!) for about 25 mins, and hope something changed then. Well, we got lucky and only got stuck in the holding pattern for about 10-15 minutes and then were on our way to land. All together, only an hour late to arrive.
At which point I was sick from the ride, not eating, and having taken a pill to try to calm my nerves (on an empty stomach). So I just wanted to get food and go to bed. But we visited with the family for a bit once we got checked into the hotel.
Saturday was Matt's graduation from Mizzou (or Missou as John calls it since he cannot understand how "University of Missouri" was shortened to something involving z's), which was 2 hours away. Of course frustrations started early because Mom was running late (though not too late) and we had to make far too many pit-stops for such a short ride.
Matt (yellow) and his friend Shawn. They once played high school football together. Now they're both biologists. Aww.
We met up with Matt before he had to report. Found Grandma and Grandpa-went with them to find seats while Mom made a quick run to the store to prepare for our after part. John and I went outside to wait for Mom and another frustration began-because her quick trip to the store took forever and we were just waiting and waiting. Right up until graduation was supposed to start-we just made it in time. Somewhere in there my Father (ah!) called and I had to find him, take him to sit with the family, and go back outside to wait for Mom.
Of course, Mr. Amen was a whole other rant. I was happy he came, for Matt's sake, but really frustrated. Because I had long ago decided he wasn't worth my trouble. I was completely nuts about him being there...I believe I was ranting about the fact that he didn't deserve to meet John. Ever. But he was fine and normal and it was good that he was there.
So we went back to Matt's frat house and had a BBQ. We had a few grills going, lots of other food to eat, and it was just nice. Matt had to work at 7, so we wrapped up and prepared for home. We stopped by his bar to check it out, then were on our way.
I won't go into all the details about why, but I ended up beyond frustration with my mother for stuff that went on that day. I could not get home soon enough, though we had a 2 hour drive to make it through. John was a saint for many reasons in the fiasco that was the day. And I think I need to tell him again how grateful I am for his support.
But Hooray for Matt, the college graduate!
Ok, I am still exhausted so I will continue this later...
So after not really recovering from my own festivities, it was time to bail on work some more and head to St. Louis for Matt and Evan's graduations.
Friday night flight. Was delayed slightly but that was no big deal. Then, 45 minutes into the flight the turbulence started. It was on and off, but no fun at all. I am not a fan of unsmooth flights. Not really a fright issue, like the woman next to us, but more of a "it's too much like a roller coaster and I get lightheaded and nauseous" kind of problem. So I had my head buried in John's arm most of the flight. And just when I was thinking "man, we should really be starting our final decent soon, if not 15 mins ago, what the heck?" the pilot comes on. The severe weather in St. Louis called for the closing of the airport, so we were just gonna hang out up in the sky (in the bumpy clouds!) for about 25 mins, and hope something changed then. Well, we got lucky and only got stuck in the holding pattern for about 10-15 minutes and then were on our way to land. All together, only an hour late to arrive.
At which point I was sick from the ride, not eating, and having taken a pill to try to calm my nerves (on an empty stomach). So I just wanted to get food and go to bed. But we visited with the family for a bit once we got checked into the hotel.
Saturday was Matt's graduation from Mizzou (or Missou as John calls it since he cannot understand how "University of Missouri" was shortened to something involving z's), which was 2 hours away. Of course frustrations started early because Mom was running late (though not too late) and we had to make far too many pit-stops for such a short ride.
Matt (yellow) and his friend Shawn. They once played high school football together. Now they're both biologists. Aww.
We met up with Matt before he had to report. Found Grandma and Grandpa-went with them to find seats while Mom made a quick run to the store to prepare for our after part. John and I went outside to wait for Mom and another frustration began-because her quick trip to the store took forever and we were just waiting and waiting. Right up until graduation was supposed to start-we just made it in time. Somewhere in there my Father (ah!) called and I had to find him, take him to sit with the family, and go back outside to wait for Mom.
Of course, Mr. Amen was a whole other rant. I was happy he came, for Matt's sake, but really frustrated. Because I had long ago decided he wasn't worth my trouble. I was completely nuts about him being there...I believe I was ranting about the fact that he didn't deserve to meet John. Ever. But he was fine and normal and it was good that he was there.
So we went back to Matt's frat house and had a BBQ. We had a few grills going, lots of other food to eat, and it was just nice. Matt had to work at 7, so we wrapped up and prepared for home. We stopped by his bar to check it out, then were on our way.
I won't go into all the details about why, but I ended up beyond frustration with my mother for stuff that went on that day. I could not get home soon enough, though we had a 2 hour drive to make it through. John was a saint for many reasons in the fiasco that was the day. And I think I need to tell him again how grateful I am for his support.
But Hooray for Matt, the college graduate!
Ok, I am still exhausted so I will continue this later...
Friday, May 15, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Long Weekend Recap Part 2
Ok here's the rest.
The plan for Sunday was simple. I would take Julie to the airport, drop Mom off at mass, John would go see his mom while we stayed home, and the 3 of us would go to dinner later. That's not what happened, exactly. John and I had briefly discussed our parents meeting, but he didn't seem to want to complicate things so we just decided against it for this trip. But, I got home from dropping Mom off at church and he brought it up again. After an hour of discussion, he decided it really was important for them all to meet (because we're that serious *smiles*). So we all went down south.
The day was nice and relaxing. The parents met and all was happy. The Cooksey's were all very proud of my book. Caroline was smiling and cooing all day long. We grilled and sat outside talking. John took me and Mom down to the creek where he used to play and we took a short hike along it. I did not find crayfish though!
Monday John had to go back to work. We will now have a moment of silence for Oscar, the spider who lived in our coat closet, who John found dead on the floor Monday morning.
Mom and I headed to Annapolis for the day. John, in all his sadness over Oscar (and the drama of losing his ID, which he did find) forgot to leave the GPS. I wasn't worried about getting there, it's easy. But I was worried about making it out again after. But, all was fine.
We had crab sliders and crab dip for lunch. Then we took a trolley ride around the city and learned a lot of history. Woo! After a coffee break we took a boat tour.
We also did a bit of shopping. I got the most adorable wind chime... to one day reside in a cute seaside-inspired bathroom. And we found a great tea shop. (complete with a chatty owner who is going to STL this summer (maybe) and knows of a great place for John and I to have our wedding).
Tuesday mom and I were bums all morning. I started cleaning the house a bit while she packed. Then it was off to the airport.
When Mom got home, the boys immediately wanted to see the book. She had told Harrison that one of my poems was about him, so he wanted to read that. While I was on the phone, Connor wanted to know which was about him. So he read that one. Then they just started reading. And Connor found the poem where I wrote "fuck" so I told Mom to do a little censoring before they read any more.
Harrison now has some elaborate plan that involves me coming to read poetry to his class next week. Hmm.
The plan for Sunday was simple. I would take Julie to the airport, drop Mom off at mass, John would go see his mom while we stayed home, and the 3 of us would go to dinner later. That's not what happened, exactly. John and I had briefly discussed our parents meeting, but he didn't seem to want to complicate things so we just decided against it for this trip. But, I got home from dropping Mom off at church and he brought it up again. After an hour of discussion, he decided it really was important for them all to meet (because we're that serious *smiles*). So we all went down south.
The day was nice and relaxing. The parents met and all was happy. The Cooksey's were all very proud of my book. Caroline was smiling and cooing all day long. We grilled and sat outside talking. John took me and Mom down to the creek where he used to play and we took a short hike along it. I did not find crayfish though!
Monday John had to go back to work. We will now have a moment of silence for Oscar, the spider who lived in our coat closet, who John found dead on the floor Monday morning.
Mom and I headed to Annapolis for the day. John, in all his sadness over Oscar (and the drama of losing his ID, which he did find) forgot to leave the GPS. I wasn't worried about getting there, it's easy. But I was worried about making it out again after. But, all was fine.
We had crab sliders and crab dip for lunch. Then we took a trolley ride around the city and learned a lot of history. Woo! After a coffee break we took a boat tour.
We also did a bit of shopping. I got the most adorable wind chime... to one day reside in a cute seaside-inspired bathroom. And we found a great tea shop. (complete with a chatty owner who is going to STL this summer (maybe) and knows of a great place for John and I to have our wedding).
Tuesday mom and I were bums all morning. I started cleaning the house a bit while she packed. Then it was off to the airport.
When Mom got home, the boys immediately wanted to see the book. She had told Harrison that one of my poems was about him, so he wanted to read that. While I was on the phone, Connor wanted to know which was about him. So he read that one. Then they just started reading. And Connor found the poem where I wrote "fuck" so I told Mom to do a little censoring before they read any more.
Harrison now has some elaborate plan that involves me coming to read poetry to his class next week. Hmm.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Long Weekend Recap Part 1
I should say this is a recap of the last week, since it almost has been a week, but we'll still call it a long weekend.
Last Wednesday was my last night of class. I didn't really want to go talk about my book, which is odd because I've been wanting to do nothing else. We had champagne and all got to say what we loved and hated about the book making. Of course, I was distracted because Mom was flying in while I was at class, so John was picking her up. I was right to be concerned. Mom was on the top floor of the airport and John was down below at baggage claim. So they both wandered around for an hour looking for one another, with no success. Of course, Mom is without a cell phone right now, so she couldn't just call him. And I wasn't smart enough to give her his number. I was obviously not in the right state of mind to be organizing anything outside of my book. So I'm getting texts from John and calls from Mom (from a payphone) during the last 45 minutes of class. Once I was finally out and could use the phone, I told John to stay at baggage claim, and when Mom called back I told her to go down there. And the crisis was over. I actually ended up making it home before them.
Thursday Mom and I took care of errands I hadn't gotten to yet such as grocery shopping and a liquor run. We had lunch at Panera and went to Rita's for Italian Ice. Grilled for dinner. All very laid back.
Friday I picked up Julie from the airport in the morning. Took the wrong road out and ended up on 95. Which was ok, because I could still figure out how to get home. It just took longer. She napped for a bit while I printed my poems and did some other organizing for the evening. Mom was very into reading on the deck. I tried to breath as I was starting to get anxious.
Mom, Julie, and I went to lunch at Brian Boru, an Irish place I recently discovered. It was pretty good, though I think the atmosphere would be a lot better on the weekend when there's live music.
Came home and got ready to head to Baltimore. John called and said he WAS coming home early (yay for home finally realizing I knew what was best) so we waited for him. Got to Baltimore at 5:00, as planned. I went to help set up for the reading, sending the rest of the gang to the bar.
A lot was already set up, but food needed to be put out, books put on display, programs put on chairs, etc. At some point, a tray of rotten vegetables filled the room with stink, so we made a run for incense. Body spray was also used, so the room had a lot going on. But it all evened out and was fine my the time people started getting there.
The reading went great. I had a lot of support there (thanks guys!). I was nervous for awhile, but had enough wine that I was chilled. I would have liked to have gone earlier (I was 12th) but someone really needed to switch with me. Of course, I was wonderful. Hopefully no one noticed (much) when I messed up. I know I did a few times, but some of them may not have been noticeable unless you were reading along. Hopefully we get a video one of these days.
Went to Dionysus after for drinks. We all drank way to much. I was singing Mama Mia all the way home. Poor John! Also when we got home we had a minor plumbing problem which ended up causing the fire alarm to go off. So drunk Melissa (though I was quickly sober when there was a flood) and sober John were taking care of the house at 1am. Still, we try to forget this part of the evening.
Saturday was mostly a recovery day. We were lazy all day, though we did try to get a massage. They had no openings, though. Had a very nice cook out of BBQ chicken and corn on the cob. Then Mom, Julie, and I went to see Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. Kind of cute, but I feel like something was missing.
To be continued...
Last Wednesday was my last night of class. I didn't really want to go talk about my book, which is odd because I've been wanting to do nothing else. We had champagne and all got to say what we loved and hated about the book making. Of course, I was distracted because Mom was flying in while I was at class, so John was picking her up. I was right to be concerned. Mom was on the top floor of the airport and John was down below at baggage claim. So they both wandered around for an hour looking for one another, with no success. Of course, Mom is without a cell phone right now, so she couldn't just call him. And I wasn't smart enough to give her his number. I was obviously not in the right state of mind to be organizing anything outside of my book. So I'm getting texts from John and calls from Mom (from a payphone) during the last 45 minutes of class. Once I was finally out and could use the phone, I told John to stay at baggage claim, and when Mom called back I told her to go down there. And the crisis was over. I actually ended up making it home before them.
Thursday Mom and I took care of errands I hadn't gotten to yet such as grocery shopping and a liquor run. We had lunch at Panera and went to Rita's for Italian Ice. Grilled for dinner. All very laid back.
Friday I picked up Julie from the airport in the morning. Took the wrong road out and ended up on 95. Which was ok, because I could still figure out how to get home. It just took longer. She napped for a bit while I printed my poems and did some other organizing for the evening. Mom was very into reading on the deck. I tried to breath as I was starting to get anxious.
Mom, Julie, and I went to lunch at Brian Boru, an Irish place I recently discovered. It was pretty good, though I think the atmosphere would be a lot better on the weekend when there's live music.
Came home and got ready to head to Baltimore. John called and said he WAS coming home early (yay for home finally realizing I knew what was best) so we waited for him. Got to Baltimore at 5:00, as planned. I went to help set up for the reading, sending the rest of the gang to the bar.
A lot was already set up, but food needed to be put out, books put on display, programs put on chairs, etc. At some point, a tray of rotten vegetables filled the room with stink, so we made a run for incense. Body spray was also used, so the room had a lot going on. But it all evened out and was fine my the time people started getting there.
The reading went great. I had a lot of support there (thanks guys!). I was nervous for awhile, but had enough wine that I was chilled. I would have liked to have gone earlier (I was 12th) but someone really needed to switch with me. Of course, I was wonderful. Hopefully no one noticed (much) when I messed up. I know I did a few times, but some of them may not have been noticeable unless you were reading along. Hopefully we get a video one of these days.
Went to Dionysus after for drinks. We all drank way to much. I was singing Mama Mia all the way home. Poor John! Also when we got home we had a minor plumbing problem which ended up causing the fire alarm to go off. So drunk Melissa (though I was quickly sober when there was a flood) and sober John were taking care of the house at 1am. Still, we try to forget this part of the evening.
Saturday was mostly a recovery day. We were lazy all day, though we did try to get a massage. They had no openings, though. Had a very nice cook out of BBQ chicken and corn on the cob. Then Mom, Julie, and I went to see Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. Kind of cute, but I feel like something was missing.
To be continued...
MFA Reading!
I'm officially finished with graduate school and now have my MFA! My book of poems, River Under Metal, made it's debut at our final reading.
Flowers from my brother and sister-in-law
My book on display
Me reading
Me and my professor, Kendra
Me and John
At the bar, after, with Julie
more from the bar
Flowers from my brother and sister-in-law
My book on display
Me reading
Me and my professor, Kendra
Me and John
At the bar, after, with Julie
more from the bar
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Last class
Tonight's my last class in grad school. How crazy is that? As a classmate pointed out, it's not yet real. I have my books and that's exciting. But I have so much going on that I haven't digested anything. I know I had all kinds of plans for what would happen when I finished school, but at the moment I don't know what any of them are. And I haven't yet started to think that some of these people will no longer be a part of my life.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Wow
My mom will be here tomorrow!
Julie will be here Friday!
I wonder if anyone is going to buy me a cake.
I got Cardinals tickets for when I'm home. (Though, wow, way to be expensive, Cardinals.)
My grandparents lectured my mom on all the things her kids are doing wrong. I think I was a large part of that. Bring on the drama.
I biked 4.5 miles last night. That makes up for my lack of physical activity all weekend, I guess.
I really need to practice reading my poems. Don't want to sound silly.
I need to get a lot of wine for this weekend.
I still don't know what to wear on Friday.
Or to Evan's graduation.
Today I was thinking how much my books are like my babies. And I am ready to send them out into the world. Somehow I picture my books going off to their first day of Kindergarten. So exciting!
Julie will be here Friday!
I wonder if anyone is going to buy me a cake.
I got Cardinals tickets for when I'm home. (Though, wow, way to be expensive, Cardinals.)
My grandparents lectured my mom on all the things her kids are doing wrong. I think I was a large part of that. Bring on the drama.
I biked 4.5 miles last night. That makes up for my lack of physical activity all weekend, I guess.
I really need to practice reading my poems. Don't want to sound silly.
I need to get a lot of wine for this weekend.
I still don't know what to wear on Friday.
Or to Evan's graduation.
Today I was thinking how much my books are like my babies. And I am ready to send them out into the world. Somehow I picture my books going off to their first day of Kindergarten. So exciting!
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