Words, Words, Words.

I've only been back in the States for about two days, and already I'm back to grad school! My summer session class will eat up the next week - which means lots of online research, but little online fun.

I would be remiss, however, if I didn't at least pop in to thank two lovely ladies for going out of their way to visit with me during my time across the Pond. Thanks seal_girl and realmlife! I had such a great time meeting you both! Edinburgh wouldn't have been nearly as much fun without you! As soon as I get my photos together, I'll be sure to send them your way!

*HUGS!!!*

I'm taking off this afternoon and I'm so excited! I hope very much to touch base with some of the wonderful ladies I've been corresponding with for so long! If not, no worries. I'll just have to hop the Pond again! (Yep, already planning for it!) :)

I hope everyone else enjoys the next two weeks as much as I will!

Because you can never have too many good things in your life, and because we tend to overlook the good stuff far too often, here, in no particular order (and for no other reason than I felt like it), are 101 things that make my life awesome! I was surprised by how short a time it took me to list them all. (The best part was I probably could have kept going!)

( 101 Things That Make My Life Awesome! )

I'm going to Europe this summer! I was booking a trip to visit my friend in Phoenix in May, and my travel agent told me about a cruise he's running from Dover to Norway to Scotland. 24 hours later, I'm going!

SO EXCITED!!!

I'm off to Phoenix tomorrow, and I'm concerned about my layover in Detroit - especially after hearing about all the awful weather across the Midwest. My trip is only 4 days, and I'm really hoping I don't have to spend them all at the airport. *fingers crossed*

In other news, I've been posting loads of info regarding the upcoming Treasures of Tardos Fanfic Awards. But rather than spam my flist more than I already have (since many are already members of tardos_treasure and danddtoon), I thought I'd just post one list of links here. Anyone who's interested in nominating, feel free to check it out!

1) Fic Categories

2) General Rules and Regulations

3) Assorted Fiction Archives for the D&DC Fandom

4) Guidelines for Nominating a Story



Happy reading to all! I'll see everyone when I get back!

I'm taking off for Ocean City, Maryland today with the brother and a few friends for some pre-school-year fun.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! I'll see you when I get back!

*hugs*

It's only about 10:45 right now, but it feels like 2:00 in the morning. That's how tired I am. But I had a really nice day in NYC with my mom.

We made the rounds from Canal Street for knockoffs, Little Italy for lunch, and Serendipity 3 for dessert. In between, we went to see "Wicked."

Now, I'd heard the show was excellent many, many times. I'd also heard it was very different than the book, which I was happy to hear because really, when all was said and done, I didn't like the book very much. ( I wasn't prepared for just how different, however. (spoilers) )

So, yes. It *was* excellent. Very!

Plus, The Gershwin was actually the most - dare I say - comfortable theatre I've ever been in. Wow. Leg room. That's rare.

All in all, a great day!

Whoa. Jetlag.

I love to travel, but it's always so nice to come home. Arizona was great, record-highs notwithstanding. (That always seems to happen when I go.)

I got up way later than I usually do this morning, and although I have a number of things to do, I'm trying not to think about them too much -- or the skip-800 that I'm probably going to have to wade through if I want to see what my flist has been up to. *G* Let me know if I missed anything!

I hope everyone has been well this past week. Once my brain gets back on East Coast time, I'm sure I'll be back in the swing of things.

Since I'm going on vacation tomorrow, I've been a little behind on the things I wanted to do. (It's amazing how even all that free time doesn't seem to be enough once the summer starts.)

Tomorrow begins my annual trip to Phoenix -- yes, in the heat of summer! But this year my bestest friend is having a baby, and this will be the first opportunity I've had to see her since I found out she was pregnant. So, heat of Arizona, here I come!

I did manage to accomplish some things in the few days I've had off so far:

- Finished 15 credit hours for my pain-in-the-neck continuing education requirement. I managed to find some free online courses. Long, tedious, and sort of make me want to spork my eyes out, but at least I won't have to take full-blown graduate courses that I can't afford at the moment. Did I mention these were free? Only 46 hours left to go.

- *Finally* started reading jimbutcher's latest, Small Favor. Like *that* didn't take an eternity to get around to! I should be able to finish it tomorrow on the plane. It's pretty good so far, but there's so much going on, so many characters popping in, and so many references made to the previous books that I read *so* long ago, that I'm finding it necessary to really go slowly with it -- if only to try and remember what the heck is going on.

- Started two fics and some art for the D&DC Summer Fic Festival. I actually sort of like them so far.

- Watched the BSG "mid-season" finale. ( Spoilers, naturally )

- Got caught up on Doctor Who, finally. I particularly enjoyed the two-parter. ( Re: Forest of the Dead )

- Went to see The Incredible Hulk this afternoon. ( Minor Spoilers )

- I went shopping for a gift for my friend's baby. Among a few other things I found what is probably the Most Adorable Book Series Ever! Forget the baby! I want to buy the rest of these for myself!

Probably the most important thing I still have to do:

- Finish beta'ing Chance's story! (I'll try to get some of that done tonight once I've finished packing.)


Hope everyone has a great week! I will be internet-less, so don't have too much fun without me. Be back next Tuesday! ♥

I'm hoping that Dad takes a little pity on me and lets me sleep in just a bit tomorrow. We're scheduled for our 20-mile run, but if I have to get up at 6:30 for the seventh straight morning this week (and even with being sick, no less), I may just fall over and stay there.

Granted, I'm feeling much better, but a little more sleep wouldn't hurt.

This morning, thanks mainly to some pleading on the part of my mother who had signed up for a bus trip and had no one else to "buddy" her, I took an impromptu trip to New York City for the Feast of San Gennaro. We basically ate our way down Mulberry Street, and now -- one lobster tail pastry, one New York Special hoagie, one Mozzarepa, one stuffed artichoke and a shared order of fried calamari and fettucini alfredo, one "Prada" purse, a deep fried Oreo, and a chocolate gelato later -- I'm home and ready for as much extra sleep as I can possibly get away with.

Though, looking back on all that, it's probably good that I'll be attempting 20 miles tomorrow! (At least some of it was carbs. I may just need them. *G*)

I'm happy to say that, while some of the sniffles linger, I'm mostly feeling a lot better.