What reference frame are you using?

So sorry there wasn't a Thanksgiving post. This one will be extra long to make up for it (and because this weekend was hilarious). As much as I dislike straight documentation posts ("here's what happened"), it changes what you remember so much. Trying to tell Emma what I did this weekend I could hardly remember which day was what and had a bit of "What DID I do Friday night?", so there will be some of that. I need all the memory help I can get.

I checked my email a couple of times this weekend, but took some time off from Facebook and blog reading and general procrastination. I also didn't take any work home with me (scholarship applications included) and that was -so- nice. I put aside the "I should be working on this" - it has been a long time since I've been able to do that completely.

Tuesday
Tuesday I went to lunch with Christie Barchenger, and ran into her roommate Christine. Hilarious. And not nearly enough time with Christie.

Wednesday
Wednesday my boss told me I could leave work after our meeting at 11:30. I had agreed to pick James up at the airport at 5, so I ended up going to the mall. And running in to Rita, one the recruiters from Accenture Chicago. Very very random. Teavana tea is very good, I am slightly addicted. Seeing James was great, since he's now in Phoenix and who knows when I'll see him next. We had dinner at his parents' house in Troy, IL and then I drove 5 hours home to Kentucky. My bed in Kentucky is very comfortable.

Thursday
Thursday started off with a lot of family. My aunt and her 6 year old adopted vietnamese kid came in to town which was great - I hadn't seen them in a couple of years so that was pretty incredible. It was definitely good to be home with family, and playing apples to apples is pretty awesome. Thursday night I hung out with Ben - we went and saw Beowulf in 3D and played with his mom's foster puppies. Later that night Hendrick and his host Mark Whittman came over to Ben's - which was especially funny because Hendrik is German and I met him in Brazil in September. Mark and Ben had actually had a class together... like 8 years ago. How crazy is that?

Friday
Friday was lunch with Ben and Evan at Pad Thai... delicious! Evan went off to work and Ben and I decided to make cookies. Then we went to dinner at Outback with Brennan and his friends and Grace, went out to see the movie Hitman, and then had an adventure. Brennan drives a Subaru WRX STI. It goes fast. We got pulled over in a church parking lot (luckily Grace was driving at the time). Hilarity. Thank goodness Ben wasn't driving at the time. Because, you know, driving what's essentially a race car around a church parking lot at 1 am isn't suspicious at all.


Saturday
Coffee with Carolyn and Grace for 3.5 hours. Lots of talk about being single, nerdy, engineering, etc. Followed by live comedy at Comedy Off Broadway, dinner at Ruby Tuesday's, and drinking at Shamrocks. And watching Weeds at Evans. Really really good night, and was up until 3am.

Sunday
Met up with Taylor and Marcia for brunch at Waffle House, then drove 5 hours to Urbana, dropped my sis off at her dorm, went to dinner at Mandarin wok, hung out at my apartment for a few minutes, and rode with Emma back to St Louis. Looooong day in the car but still good overall. Very grateful to have Emma or Stacy in the car for the entire ride.

This weekend was hilarious. A lot of funny quotes and memorable lines. "It sounds like a good idea until you're holding a flaming gas can"...

Also, I started a gratitude journal. Of the handwritten kind. Here's to hoping I'll actually keep up with that daily.

I'm slightly obsessed with this blog on sustainability.

I probably owe a whole post on One Laptop per Child, but for now, bookmarking this article for myself. The whole ordeal pisses me off.
I also need to go back and fully explore Bigsight.
I miss fruit chugs. And fruit chug people.