Weekend Update & Snow!

SO much to update!! Bear with me, guys.

We just got back from a most excellent weekend in South Carolina. And probably the fastest of my life. We had a layover in Atlanta on Thursday night, then landed in Charlotte and picked up the rental car... we rolled into Columbia around 1 am on Friday morning. After a bit of sleep (Casey more than me... it was the same snoring/Peanut dancing scenario I'm getting so accustomed to...), we woke up around 7:30 on Friday morning to get ready to go to the Chemical Engineering department. That was after picking up Bojangles for breakfast. :)

We got to the Department around 9, and that was the beginning of a crazy marathon-style day of seeing as many people as we possibly could. I waddled all around that place, and probably saw at least 40 people (and probably more) that I hadn't seen in at least a year. The best part was just standing out in front of the main office, having people come to me. Many of them would see me and 1) do a double take because it was me and then 2) do another double take because of my baby bump... it was fun to watch their facial expressions as they realized what was going on! we took about an hour for lunch, then went back and did it all over again. We even got to see Dr. Amiridis for about 3 whole minutes. He's the Provost now, so we saw him in between meetings. It was a pretty intense and insane schedule for us. I convinced Casey to take me back to Billy & Clay's place so I could take a nap before going back out that evening for dinner. Our friends Zahra & Kaveh brought their 5 month old baby girl (who I got to giggle and smile!) and Jan & Eirini brought their 15 month old daughter, Artemis. We had fun playing with the kids (and I especially had fun watching Casey with them... he's going to be such a cute and fun dad!!!) Seeing the kids made me even more excited for Peanut's arrival. :-D

Saturday, Casey got up and played racquetball with Qiang & Jay, so I waddled around Five Points for an hour or so before I heard from Sean and his pregnant wife Stephanie. We met up around the time Casey was done with his game, so we headed to Rockaway's for lunch. Jenny and her fiance Colby met up with us there. It was a nice, small group, and we got to hang out for about 1.5 hours. Then we did some shopping and went back to Billy & Clay's house. They ordered dinner at their place, which was nice because we got to spend some quality time with our hosts. Then we met up with Eyma, Wes, Amy, & Jason at our friend Candy's house while they were watching football games. We didn't stay long since we were both pretty tired and had to get up fairly early on Sunday. Went back to B&C's, then pretty much crashed.

We woke up Sunday, went to breakfast at the Gourmet Shop, and headed to Charlotte to catch our flight. Luck was on our side because although we underestimated how much time it would take to drive up there, we managed to JUST get the right shuttle after dropping off the rental car, JUST make it through security, and arrive at our gate to hand over our tickets and jump on the plane. If any of those things would have taken even a few minutes longer, we probably would have missed our flight. I was absolutely exhausted by the time our plane was in the air. It was a quick trip to Atlanta, where we actually arrived around 30 minutes early, so I was happy to have a few minutes to sit before jumping on the next plane. The strange part was that when I was taking a bathroom break, I ran into a girl named Yvette that I had been in elementary school, middle, and high school with! We chatted for a few minutes which was nice. Very random.

We made it home last night around 4:15 pm. It was then that all the energy completely ran out and I ended up napping on the couch while Casey took Charley Brown to get our dinner. We ate, and then my best friend Lindsey called (we haven't talked in a LONG time!) so we ended up talking for about 3 hours on the phone. It was great catching up again!! Shortly after our phone conversation, I went to bed. I woke up this morning to what the weatherman called a "light dusting" of snow. BS!!!! There is about 2 inches and counting out there now. So, I am basically terrified now because I have to drive around in this crap. I was not ready for this. It's supposed to get worse, as a winter storm is headed our way Tuesday night. I hope it doesn't ruin any plans for the Baird & Warner Christmas party on Thursday night. More than that, I hope that I can make it to class this week. I am pretty nervous about driving all the way there, but I have a lot to work on for my final project that's due a week from tomorrow. I know my teacher would understand, and I won't be surprised if he cancels class if it gets too bad... I'm hoping for the best. I will just go really slow and try to be extra cautious of people around me. One of my biggest fears right now is getting in a car accident and something happening to Peanut... but I know worrying about it is not going to help, so I will try not to.

Today I am going to try and get laundry done before I go to work at 2. It's my second to last time there... I don't work again until the 17th! The baby shower is on the 15th, so I guess I'll be there again, just not on the clock. :)

I guess that's about all... I could write a ton more, but this is more than enough. It was a great weekend seeing wonderful friends, and I'm really glad everything worked out that we could go. Seeing friends was my favorite birthday present this year. :-D

Love,

Ash