Mine was FAIR to middlin’! I had so much fun today! To begin my day, I went to the Blue Bottle and had coffee with my friend, Molly, who I volunteer at the Mission with. We sat and talked to a woman who I will just call Amanda Galbraith’s grandma, and it was fantastic. I got caught up on Amanda, Cristin, and Tara and their lives, and their grandma was pretty amazing, too! And Molly and I always have fun, so it was a great way to start the day.
When I left my coffee date with Molly, I went to Sarah and Daniel’s house to pick up Elizabeth. We spent the whole afternoon doing zany things like going to a new seedy little restaurant called Thai Kitchen. I must admit that I liked it better than Thai Smile for several reasons. First, the restaurant itself is sort of small and used to be some kind of greasy spoon diner. Elizabeth and I sat at the 1950’s style soda counter bar instead of a table. Second, our waitress was amazing, telling us all about all the cool stuff of the restaurant and giving us sweet chili sauce to accent our Lemongrass and Tofu lunches. Third, the food was great. It wasn’t filled with sugar, but it had great flavor, especially the dipping sauce for the spring rolls. Fourth, Elizabeth got a Thai Iced Coffee, we split spring rolls, and we each had a good portion of lunch for only $18. Stellar.
When we left Thai Kitchen, we went just up the road a few blocks to Sally’s Ice Cream. I had the best Slushie I’ve had in a long time. They serve the kind that has the syrup at the bottom, the cup is filled with icy sugar-water, and then they mix it with a milk shake machine. You know, the best kind of Slushie ever! Elizabeth got a chocolate covered cherry sundae that looked amazing. All of this for only $4. Of course, when we were finished we had to go thrifting: Meow and Mutt Market, Glass Factory Outlet, and Meijer to purchase clearance items. Essentially, I got two polos and a funny sweatshirt, some mugs/glasses, and a water bottle. I think I spent about $12 or so, so it was a good day.
The crowning glory of my day came this evening when Ed, Abbie, Izzy, and I went to the fair. Bec stayed home because Dave decided to grace us with his presence, and they watched Heroes and ate steak and corn on the cob for dinner. When we got to the fair, we were a bit disappointed because the animals were all gone. We went into every barn and only saw a few calves and steers. Our adult disappointment didn’t stop Izzy from jumping up and down in her stroller—as best she could with her little seatbelt on—and laughingly chanting, “Diddle, diddle, diddle.” Pretty sweet. We played games, and Ed won tons of little animals for Iz. Abbie won a little purple whale, which I must say was cute, and I didn’t win jack. I have never been able to play Carnival games.
Our favorite part of the fair by far was the food. I know, everything’s food! I got fried mushrooms that were huge and tasty, Ed had the biggest turkey leg I’ve ever seen, and Abs had the biggest corn dog in the world. The gluttony was fair-time magical. I also had a great lemon shake-up and some pretty good cotton candy. All-in-all I would say it was a positive experience.
The one draw back was that my two good friends seem to place wagers on whether or not I will see people I know. Apparently, that is quite a sport among my friends, including Becky. I can’t say that I blame them, since I DO see people I know absolutely everywhere. It DOES border on ridiculousness.
Finally, I came to the stark realization today that there are only 5 weeks until school starts. I haven’t written my syllabus, I haven’t finished the books I wanted to finish, I haven’t ordered my books for fall, and I haven’t taken a break. Literally, there are five more weekends before the first Monday of school. Good thing for Florida. The prospect of going back to school so soon is sad but exciting, because this is my last year of classes. I am a bit nervous about comps and that pesky dissertation, but I think I can, as Bob says, “Saw through it.”
Reason Breeds Insanity 