Dr. M’s concession to Thursday night Thorning was to schedule our Friday morning meetings for 08:30 instead of 08:15. Um, yeah. Pfbfpbft. And both my damn research blocks are still on weekdays… She’s not budging on this “you need a partner [in person] in lab” bit. Ah, well. This is what I signed up for, I suppose. At least my schedule is fairly finalized.

I finished deck building at something ’til 23:00 last night, and went to bed around 23:30 after skimming the notes for the freshman laptop orientation, which I was due to assist with in the morning. Come 06:30, I happily bang my head on the deck, then stumble over the computer and monitor Hillary left right next to my bed. As though, you know, they’re mine. As I was crawling back under to find my glasses, I realized just how bruised and battered I felt–my knees feel like someone’s been rubbing them firmly with sandpaper for hours (I wore shorts in the deck-making), and they are bruised something fierce. Then I…

There was the moment in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, when I got behind the wheel of the car and onto the highway, and realized that I was heading to the closest thing to “home” (in the sense of comfort and relaxation) I feel like I have right now. There was the lengthy moment after dark en route to Lexington (Kentucky) when my mother and I talked about writing and memoirs and talking, and she revealed to me her struggles to communicate with me–we’re both coming to the realization that we don’t live in the same worlds anymore, and she doesn’t know how to step into mine. There was the moment in Paris…

“Why we enjoy telling people off”. What are the odds? T minus 1.75 hours.

We’re heading out for Rose this afternoon, rather than tomorrow, so that Mother-dear can rest up for a day. I have directions from Charlotte to the hotel in Lexington we’ll visit tonight. I don’t need directions from Lexington to Paris, should I choose to visit my grandmother and brother. Then there are directions from Lexington to Luke’s, should we choose to stop by, and directions from Luke’s to Terre Haute. If not, I have directions from Lexington to Terre Haute. I have phone numbers of hotels and people I may visit. What I don’t have is all my shit packed. Le sigh. At least I can travel “light”, since the…