It felt so weird coming back to Virginia last night and it still feels weird even this evening. I spent three days in Texas, reveling in that special Texas state-of-mind. Then, Brad and I spent the entire drive home plotting out the details of our move to Kansas. We're so pumped about this move that it feels like we're Kansans already! So, to arrive in Virginia seemed a bit out of place, even though we love it here.

Another weird thing - Texas schools were out by the weekend and everyone was in summer mode. It was easy to think it was June and summer and all, but the snap back to reality is that I still have 2 and a half more weeks to go. It's an easy two weeks, but still - it's weird to be in school when so many people I know are on summer break already.

Sorry for the redundancy of the word "weird", but that's what it's been.

Gotta lotta news, but a little space so I'll be as brief as possible. We just got back from a weekend in Texas, which was awesome! Brad successfully defended his dissertation Friday afternoon and pending some minor corrections will graduate in August! Yipppeeeee!!! It was great to be in College Station again and to see so many old friends, even if just for a short time. I even made it over to the old school I used to teach in - it's been 4 years and I was floored at how big the kids have gotten. The elementary aged kids are all in high school now - some of them have changed so much I wouldn't have recognized them on the street!

With the completion of Brad's Ph.D. comes a new job - most of you already know that he got a job in Kansas and we'll be heading that way at the end of July. We've spent the last few days working through house-hunting and moving details. It's going to be a big change, but we're really excited about it.

I also found out (hours before I left for Texas) that I was awarded a fellowship to travel to South Korea in July!!!! I was so disappointed I didn't get the Japan one, but this one should be fun, too. I know next to nothing about Korea, so I'm anxious to see it and to learn more. It's going to make for a hairy summer, but it's worth it.

That's the Reader's Digest version of events. I'll keep everyone posted. Happy week!

What a wild and wooly weekend! Saw both Da Vinci Code and Over the Hedge. We enjoyed both emmensely. Laughed ourselves silly over the cute little animals in the latter and were scared to death of Paul Bettany's portrayal of Silas...

I finally got up the nerve to cut off my hair for Locks of Love. A bunch of kids at the high school and my sister did it, so I knew about the program, but it wasn't until I realized just how long my hair had gotten did I think I would actually do it. Quite honestly, for anyone who knew me back in grad school, my hair is pretty much just like it was back then - it's just such a radical difference from the mid-back length I've had here lately. I really like it better short, though.

Tonight was our end of year party for the Academic Team. I was able to use the funds from the last competition they had to throw a nice picnic for them. It was nice to say goodbye to the seniors and welcome the new members for next year's team. These kids are just so awesome! Here I am (with short hair) with my girls....

Yay! 96% of my kids passed the SOL test! Only four kids failed and three of them came so close to passing, they're allowed to retake it next week instead of waiting until next year. I'm so proud of all my kids and their hard work. Now I feel like the hard part of the year is officially over. We're doing a project and watching a movie and that's it - 15 school days left! Can't wait for the summer!

My pinko husband is offically a frat boy. Holy cow. Kappa Alpha was founded at VMI and even though the school no longer has fraternities, alumni are allowed to become honorary members upon graduation. Brad has never taken the time to do it, but he decided this year would be a good one for it. The initiation ceremony was this afternoon and he feels a little sheepish for doing the Greek thing, but most of his friends have joined in recent years so I think he's going to be happy he did it. It's really out of character, but what the heck? It's a nice thing for him.

My kids take the state exams for my class tomorrow! I'm keeping my fingers crossed they remember at least most of what they've learned this year.

Last night was our local Relay for Life event to raise money for cancer research. Since my aunt is fighting a nasty bout of the disease, I thought this year I really needed to particpate. I agreed to help chaperone the National Honor Society team. The kids are great, and a lot of it was fun - particularly when everyone got loopy around 2-3am! Parts of the event were really cool - you can buy luminaries in honor of cancer fighters, survivors or victims and they line the track with them. As the sun goes down, they light them and read off all the names - it's very moving. There are even luminaries up in the stands that spell out hope. I took a picture, but it's pretty crappy. Other than that, you're just supposed to keep people from your team walking on the track constantly. Because I was so cold, I just kept walking to keep warm - I think I walked between 10-13 miles! They had live music and different groups were selling food - there's nothing like a chili dog at 3 in the morning. My favorite group sold hot chocolate for 50 cents - they were my best friends, since it got down into the 40s last night.

As chaperones, my friend and I had to stay up all night to keep an eye on the kids so they wouldn't do anything stupid. So, I actually found the event a little tiring and I don't know that I'll do it again - at least not all night, maybe just a couple of hours. The luminary ceremony was really nice, though. I left this morning around 7am (the event went until noon) so I didn't get to hear the final total of money raised, but the last I heard it was about $103,000! I came home and crashed. I've been completely useless all day. Not only am I wicked exhausted, but I can't feel my legs and so I'm relatively immobile! :) We're going to watch a movie tonight and then I'm off to bed...

Brad found out that at the awards ceremony tomorrow, he'll be getting recognized as an outstanding cadet mentor. It's a nice honor for him because he genuinely cares about these guys and puts so much effort into being there for them. The award apparently comes with a bit of cash, so it's extra cool! Fortunately, the ceremony corresponds with my planning period, so I'm planning to sneak away from work to see him get this. Should be nice.

Nothing else too exciting going on. We're still on standby about this job Brad applied for and it may be another few weeks before we hear anything. I hate the waiting game.... Hopefully we'll have good news soon!

Remember my student who got involved with an older man about a month ago? Well, I found out today that the relationship did not end - in fact, it had progressed into more physical encounters. Even better - the scumbag's married! This time, the girl's mom is pressing charges and has already called the police. This thing is about to get really big. I spent an hour on the phone tonight talking (at different points) to both mom and girl and I'm sure I'll have many more conversations with both. Ready to strangle girl - ready to castrate dirty old man. Anyone have any more crises they want to dump on my lap right now....?

My mother in law is in town. So, that's a lot of fun.... We took her out to dinner tonight and then went to see Ice Age: The Meltdown. A cute movie, but I'm really in it for Scrat - the poor little creature who never seems to get his acorn. The movies are worth it just for his scenes. I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe at one point! I simply adore him!

So, Brad and I decided we had nothing else better to do last night than bathe the cats. Granted, both were filthy - Stitch's underside, which should be white, was brown. So, we ran out to the nearest store and finding they didn't have pet shampoo we just bought baby shampoo. Brad, as the official cat holder got suited up - long sleeves, raincoat and winter gloves. Threw Stitch into the bathtub. She wiggled but wound up resigning herself to it, while meowing the most heart-wrenching cries of despair. It was so sad! But she's clean. Shadow, however, wasn't going to just sit and take it. He thrashed and bit and hissed, but again, he's clean. When we took both of them out they were so cute and clingy. They just held on to us for dear life, probably thinking - what the hell was that?

Despite the fact we made their lives temporarily horrible for an hour last night, we're back to being friends and all is forgiven. Plus, they both smell so nice and have such clean fluffy fur!

Public Service Announcement for all who read my blog: Don't die. I really mean it. I've about had it with death. He's on my shit list. We've had all we can take for a while. On Sunday, we got word that one of our favorite profs from grad school was killed in a car accident on Friday. He was 75 and the cutest Hungarian medievalist you could ever meet (and I'm sure you've all met dozens). He was a dear man who really liked both Brad and me, encouraging us every step of the way through our degree programs. He's a member of Brad's dissertation committee, so we're waiting to see how that plays out. Oh, yeah - I didn't mention that earlier in April an older friend of Brad's died. He was in his 80s and died of natural causes, but Brad had known him since he was a cadet and they'd been working on a project for VMI together.

So, anyway, death is yucky. Sunday morning, we attended Charles's memorial which was really nice. I think it was good for closure. Brad and I walked there and back, which is a couple of miles. We have some really nice nature trails and the exercise felt good. Glad we did it.

On Saturday, I got to go on my first garden tour of Lexington. Basically, you get to tour the homes and gardens of several posh places in town. One house blew me away. It's owned by the widow of somebody Brown who founded UPS. Yeah, she's loaded. We walked in the foyer and were told the boards beneath us came from beams in a Boston warehouse where they used to store the tea. Oh. Guess I shouldn't spill my wine on it, huh? Holy moly. Every inch of the house was immaculate. Amanda and I were the youngest ones there by easily 20 years, but we had a great time.

Brad and I are about to attempt something really crazy. We're going to bathe our cats. I'm sure that will be super relaxing....