Fall Break

It's hard to believe, but last Wednesday was the beginning of fall break for me. And what a wonderful break it was. I left Wed. afternoon. Two friends from the math lab, where my GA is, went with me, so that made the trip way faster. We left about 2:45 and after dropping them off at their family's houses, I finally met up with Tricia, Holly, and Aaron at 8:15. We went to this great BBQ place. I know they were starving, so it was great of them to wait. Then afterwards we went to Denny's and got pie and coffee. So good. I love dessert and coffee after a meal. :)
The next day I went to school with Trish. That was a blast. Her kids love her. That we look alike was confirmed by all of her students. Some mistook me for her and some of them were doing double and triple takes between the two of us when they walked into class and saw me. I told them some about Korea and they aske questions. One kid asked me how to say blood in Korean. I was obliviously about to answer, but Trish was signalling to me that I should not, as he was making a gang reference. ha, I'm totally naive about all that stuff. Also, the word for blood in Korean is "pee", so it was good I didn't go there. Since they had the next day off, she did a game day with them, so we played games with them the whole time. She is doing an amazing job teaching them. Definitely a job that will wear you out. She is invested in those kids even after being there a short time, and they know it. That day was her birthday, so I would tell the kids and they would get excited (usually about half of them) and sing her happy birthday. Right after the day ended we went to a gas station and got some dp and peanut butter m and m's to celebrate and went back to her apt.
We walked around the pool, which is in the center of her little commune ha/apt. complex and visited with her friend Adrienne for awhile. I had met her at ACU a couple of times, but didn't really know her. She and her husband are awesome. There are a lot of cool people at this place. It's a great atmosphere -- safe and quiet, especially considering that Trish lives in the hood.
For dinner, Holly made soup, that was very tasty and we watched the Office. After that, Holly (aka Andy) and I (aka Michael Scott) womped up on T and A in Spades, again!!!! We also got to see and play with the new puppies. They are adorable! Little Jessica Jr. is especially cute. Yes, I named a dog after me. They let me, and what better name?
The next day Trish and I got up and went to get a bagel and coffee at Einstein Bagels. Delicious!! As usual, food plays a big role in life enjoyment -- that's why I'm mentioning it. The coffee was vanilla hazlenut. We then went to White Rock Lake aka Exercise Maniac Land to exercise. By the time we got there, I was hyped up enough on coffee and Tricia's inspiring talk about running, I decided to run/jog. I went maybe a 1/2 mile to a mile and walked the rest. The people who exercise there are serious about it, so for a brief time, I experienced the rush of being one of them plus the beauty of the lake. It was a nice time. Then came the aftermath of having sprained my foot or something. I'm not sure what I've done to it, but it's still sore and kind of swollen. Walking the next morning at the lake and then at the fair didn't help, I'm sure.
We met Alex for lunch at Freebirds, a burrito restaurant and had a really nice visit with her. We sat there for several hours talking and catching up.
Next we went on to Holly and Aaron's to meet up with Nat, Ethan, and Holly G. They got there an hour or two after we did. Holly G's little puppy is way cute also. We played card games for awhile and then had dinner. Amazing spaghetti. Seriously, it is some of the best I've had. David got there towards the end of dinner. The rest of the evening we hung out and played games and ate great pumpkin pie and drank coffee. I haven't laughed so hard in awhile as I did while we played this name game that I love (now called Dumb Freakin' Boo) and brought back Write a Book. It was hilarious. Matt and Brittany got there just in time to hear the books that had been written. It was great to see them.
Next day Trish and I went to the lake again to exercise while D slept in. We came back and woke him up so we could walk around the corner to "Taco Joint" and get some breakfast tacos. Wow, we ate out a lot. It worked out well though, as T has just moved into her apt. and is getting settled in still. Came back and got ready to go to the fair and everyone came over so we could walk over. It was about a mile walk from her apt. to the fair, so wasn't bad except for T and Matt, who went back to get T's ID so she could get into the fair. They really did a lot of walking that day. The shows were fun. Most everybody didn't care for the light show, but I really enjoyed it that evening. The huge flames were amazing. Anything that is timed well with music and lights is entertaining to me. Even if it's not timed well, I wouldn't know! I enjoyed it. The food was also a big highlight. After hunting for forever I found the Fried Guacamole which had been recommended by a couple of people. It was actually fried avocado chunks, so it was kind of a let down. The chicken-fried bacon was surprisingly good and so were the spicy olive bites. Those were excellent. Also, the turkey leg was so good. I didn't get all of these, but just tried them. The corn dog I started the afternoon out with was the best corn dog I've had. Again, mixed reviews, by others, but I really enjoyed it. At the end of the day we finally found the building that had the crafts and canned goods. I always like to see how talented people are and think that maybe someday...probably not, but it's fascinating to me what some people can do, especially with quilting.
By the end of the day my legs were about to fall off. I haven't walked that much in forever. We went back to T's and then over to H and A's where we hung out for awhile before D and M and B went back to Oklhoma. It was nice to sit. I think we depleted H and A's coffee during the weekend. We had that and some pumpkin bread she had made. Holly knows how to bake. I've never had anything she's made that wasn't good.
Trish and I spent the night there so we wouldn't have to drive up in the morning. We all went to church at The Branch. Chris Seidman (sp?) had a good lesson on forgiveness. He covered a lot of material and then had kind of a lengthy invitation, but the principles were good. In my opinion. :) On a different note, he reminds me of Jim Carrey. A dramatic, articulate, and entertaining speaker. After church we went to the BBQ place once again. Then it was time to go. I went to pick up the friends and made it back to Monroe by 8:45. I fell into bed exhausted. It was a really, really wonderful fall break. Just what I needed to make it to the next little break, which will be in a couple of weeks. Couldn't have more fun family to hang out with. I'm planning to go visit friend Heather in Nacogdoches, TX and I think (dare I hope?) Rachel is coming also?!!! Can't wait! If you've waded through all this wordiness, have a great rest of the week!