tomorrow is the first day of my last year of undergrad. hopefully, it won't be my last year of school ever.... I went to Waco this weekend for Jennifer's birthday and it was lovely. I got to see several people that I missed while in Ireland. I really missed getting to talkt to jennifer while I was away so it was nice to spend the weekend with her.

things are going to be very hectic for the next few weeks. I have a meeting every day this week except for wednesday thus far. i love the first days of school--- it's always nice to learn what you will be studying and who you will be spending hours with every week. ooop the dryer just buzzed! meh i'll get it in a moment.

i am currently on the warpath against my apartment. why? because it stinks.

I don't know where the stench comes from--- but my guess is the carpet. i have baking soda sprinkled all over it and will clean it up tomorrow at some point. i really hope this helps. i'm doing every thing i can think of---when some of my guy friends lived in the dorm they clipped dryer sheets to the air vents to freshen up the room so i have followed suit. i also bought febreeze which i figured could be applied after cleaning up the baking soda and then i have an air freshener to mask the smell if nothing else works.

the official switch has happend--- i no longer talk about exploring foreign lands but battling smelly carpet. readers, brace yourselves.

i did get to visit the elizabeth barret browning library in waco. jennifer lives very near campus and we were able to walk. the stained glass was absolutely beautiful and there were several very interesting items exhibited throughout the rooms. i will never understand the desire to keep a lock of someones hair---- seems gross to me.

okay i have to get the laundry now...

I am not sure if I will be successful in maintaining a blog back at home. So far I have failed brilliantly, but in my defense--- I spend very little time on the internet in Longview because our home connection is dreadfully slow and I do not have internet in my apartment yet. I am currently typing in Hastings--- thank goodness for free Wifi.

I have been to visit the OPAS staff and have accomplished quite a bit with the other execs as far as preparing for the semester. An Atlanta update.

Atlanta was amazing. It was very exciting to handle real live archives--- I got to see Alice Walker's drafts of The Color Purple and see her notes on the screenplays and musical scripts. It was very interesting and I was actually giddy at times. Although, it also sort of felt like I was cramming for a test because I spent so much time in the library. I hope I got everything that I needed. I took a lot of pictures because that was free and it cost 25cents per photo copied page... yikes.

I also got to visit the coke museum and Menlo, Georgia where the Mackeys lived before coming to Texas. We didn't really find any long lost relatives in the cemetary, but it was still very interesting none the less. As a whole, Atlanta was cooler than Texas, but still warm. Oh, our hotel was very pretty and right next to the campus. It was designed by William Lloyd Garrison, I believe that is the designers name and was absolutely beautiful. Mama and I met the author of Doc Hollywood, which was made into a movie with Michael J. Fox--- he was a very interesting man. He gave me the contact info for the playwright--- that's right it is a musical as well.

I'm sure there is more to say on the matter, but it's hard to focus in here. There is now a croud gathered around me........

There and Back Again

So, I am now typing this in the ever so comfortable study in my house in Texas. Much has happened since I last typed. I met up with Jacqueline in London and we had a wonderful time. It was very nice to visit London and experience all of its greatness, but I am so happy to finally be home. Jack and I mostly went to plays in London---which was wonderful! Final count is six: Helen (in the Globe Theatre), Billy Elliot, Avenue Q, Oliver, Les Miserables, and Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. They were all wonderful, but my top three were Billy Elliot (wonderful dances), Les Miserables (we sat in the front row--- it was epic), and Peter Pan. I did not know Peter Pan was on, but once we got there and I learned it was showing in Kensington Gardens no less, I knew I had to see it. Peter Pan was always one of my favorite stories when I was little and I have recently read the book ( a couple years ago) and worked with the play for a project last semester. If you don't know, Kensington Gardens is where Peter first lived with the faeries before going to Neverland. There was this tent set up in the park and it was staged in the round---the flying was amazing.

Jack and I also took a bus tour to see a lot of different sites. I was kind of burnt out on tours and spending money--- London is expensive--- so we didn't really pay for any tours or anything. Jack wanted to go shopping so we did that a little bit--- she found a lovely dress--- and we went to Hamley's (the finest toy store) and enjoyed looking at everything.

Our hotel was very nice and located near Buckingham Palace (that's right, we were neighbors to the Queen). It may be odd, but I love beans and they served beans with their breakfast (yay!) so once again I enjoyed tucking in a delicious hotel breakfast every morning.

No misadventures come to mind at the moment---and I'm afraid I'm too tired to record this in greater detail. It was splendid though and I enjoyed it greatly.



The flights home were rather uneventful--- Philadelphia to Dallas was exhausting though (the lady next to me spilled her soda on me. awesome. thanks turbulence)--- it was the middle of the night my time. On the long flight I sat next to a guy named Ricardo. He is from Mexico City but is studying for his PhD in anthropology at a university in Arizona. We chatted a little bit, but since my education on rituals and the Hohokam only go so far I didn't try to engage him in any anthropological debates. Jack sat next to me across the aisle and we watched XMen Origins: Wolverine on the plane (glad I never got to theatres to see it...).

Emily and Jess picked me up from the airport--- Emily is pretty sure she spotted a man in the crowd that had been a bachelor from NY in the last bachelorette. Jess would not follow him into the bathroom to get a picture though. The next morning I was wide awake at 7:15 (since it is like past noon dublin time) and Jess drove me to Taco C to meet up with Jeanna and Jeri who then ran their leg of the race to drop me off in Canton from where Mama and I completed the journey home.



I have received a new hairstyle from Cara and am currently off to visit my grandparents.

I do not know what is to become of my blog--- I may keep it up through my trip to Atlanta or it may fall into disuse... only time will tell. Thanks for reading!