I'm back...

Sort of. (Aside: I can't believe I've been dormant for over a month, but once you read about what's happened in the past month, my absence will be understandable.) So, from the top...

1) Ali graduated! It was excellent to fly back to MN for a weekend and see the family (even Bailey). I was a little nostalgic going back to Morris, MN, because even though I didn't go to school there, I visited many a time: was well acquainted with Don's Cafe, the Diamond Supper Club, the Salvo. A peripheral connection to be sure, but a connection nonetheless. Also, I still can't believe that Ali is no longer in college: this makes me feel really old.

2) Eric graduated! He now has his MA in English and will be starting applications for PhD programs (wouldn't be entering them until Fall 2009, though). His parents and grandma came out for the weekend, and we sampled the local cuisine, had our cookout at Look Park, went to the Mark Twain house, and enjoyed afternoon margaritas at Mama Iguana's.

3) Ruth and Adam got married! Congratulations, you two!

4) VACATION. Eric's parents rented a condo on Folly Beach (about a ten-minute drive from Charleston proper), and we spent a week there. Charleston is beautiful: the single-houses with their open piazzas, Palmettos, all the parks and monuments. Each day, we went to Charleston in the morning and early afternoon to see sights/go to the historic market, and we relaxed on the beach until dinnertime. (I also collected an ass-ton of shells.) I would never have classified myself as a "beach person" before this trip, but I would now. I'm tan! And loving it!
Even though I've been back for a few days, I'm still lamenting my necessary return from vacation. Here, I can't get sweet tea (excluding McDonald's sweet tea, which is OK but not as good as the other tea I sampled) and grits, nor can I collect shells or swim in the ocean or weave little place mats from Palmetto fronds. At any rate, I do have a plan: I brought home some quick grits and can cook them in times of trouble. Also, I'm going to find out how to make homemade sweet tea. Who's with me?



Also also, I'm moving in a few days! (Ten, to be exact.) I'm pretty excited about this - like a lot of you, I'm a fan of the sorting and reminiscing that go into packing, and also the streamlining of my collection of "stuff." I don't have too much stuff at present, but I have amassed a lot of books since I've been here, which are going to be hell to carry. Ali will be moving in with me at some point before the end of August - when, no one knows for certain.

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If that seemed like an ultra-quick summary, forgive me - it's been the busiest month of recent memory, but I will begin posting again with predictability (and hopefully more detailed accounts of what I've been up to).