Me, in 30 Years

Yesterday, I attended a reception for new faculty. I met a woman in the art history department who graduated from Gettysburg in 1968 and with a Ph.D. from the University of Delaware in 1973. (We went to different places for our master's degrees.) Cool coincidence.

Beginning to Feel Like Christmas

Frank and I are still trying to find some good restaurants in Lexington. Today, we tried a Chinese buffet, which is like most other Chinese buffets you've been too--perhaps a little smaller. They were playing Christmas in My Heart. As soon as it starts getting a little cool, people start thinking about Christmas. (It was at least 95 degrees today.)

Frank explained that it wasn't really a Christmas song--it just felt like Christmas in her heart. Then, he noticed the Christmas tree with lights in the front of the restaurant. Hunh.

I am guessing it was Sarah Connor's song. I think Sarah Connor is popular in Germany, but I don't really know her.

Breaking My Promise

I left my camera in my parents' car, so I can't upload the photos from our adventure. How dippy yet totally predictable.

Some highlights:

Monday, we went to the Stonewall Jackson's house, take a horse carriage tour of Lexington, visit Lee Chapel, wander around W&L and VMI, and visit the VMI museum.

There were rugs in Jackson's house that weren't original. The guide told us that the rugs were woven in Red Lion, PA. Mom was all, "Dudette! We're from Dallastown!" The guide was impressed. Not really. I explained to the guide that we go to church in Red Lion, which is right next to Dallastown. I can't believe the guide didn't know the famous Dallastown/Red Lion rivalry.

The visit to the Lee Chapel would have been a bust because of a poor tour guide, but, luckily, the ghost of Lee was also on our tour. Actually, the "ghost" was a descendant of Lee who could probably make a lot of money pretending to be Lee or Lee's ghost. Lee's descendant told us a little more about Lee and the family's history than our tour guide had read about in his study materials.

Tuesday: Mom, Dad, and I tour the Natural Bridge. Thomas Jefferson said it best when he said, "The Natural Bridge, the most sublime of Nature's works." True dat. Dad said:

After Jefferson, I don't know why anyone bothered to say anything about
Natural Bridge. Noah Webster said, "If you look up 'sublime' in the dictionary, you will find a picture of Natural Bridge." And everyone was like, "What's the point, bro? Just stop talking."

I thought the Bridge was going to be a narrow, rickety thing that had the footsteps marked for where to step to get across. But, US-11 runs across it, so thousands of cars cross it every day. Not quite so fascinating. But, our pictures, whenever I get my camera back, will be fascinating.

The Parents Come to Lexington, Part 1

My parents visited me this weekend. This first entry is about Sydney's journey with them. I need to buy myself some time to upload photos.

My parents had the unenviable job of driving Sydney 5 hours from Pennsylvania to my new diggs. Dad thought Sydney traveled surprising well, considering her previous longest car ride was 2 hours. She didn't seem too sedated by the time she got here. After the first two hours, she got into her litter box for protection from the big trucks that were passing by.

Sydney isn't sure what to make of the new place. We have mostly hardwood floors, which means she kind of slips across the floor with each step. Our apartment echoes too, so we can hear her walking down the hallway, as if she wears lead shoes. Our floors also creak, so she hears every movement from us or our neighbors. She is on high alert and needs to investigate every sound. She is suspicious of things like the kitchen door's hinge. She acts like it could attack her. She often looks behind her, to check that it's not coming after her.

Our apartment is on a busier street than she's used to. She doesn't like the noisy trucks that pass by. She sits in the office window, which looks out on a small parking lot and a grassy area. Last night, we heard a loud thud as she jumped out of the window. Then, there was another noise, and we saw her, with a huge tail, trying to round the corner and run to the back bedroom, to safety under the bed. We're not sure what happened--or if anything actually happened. Under the bed, Sydney is safe from everything except her imagination.

My parents were probably about ready for her to leave. She can only behave for so long. She caught her first bird and brought it into the house. Somehow, my parents were able to separate her from the bird and the bird was able to fly to freedom. We're not sure how she was able to catch the bird or if the bird could survive its injuries. Mom offered to bring me some of the feathers to put into Sydney's album.

Work Environment

I'm getting settled into my office digs. Derek, the administrative assistant, is a Yankees fan and had his Yankees hat on the hat rack. I politely explained to Derek that the hat creates a hostile work environment--it makes me angry. He shielded the logo from me on his way out at the end of the day.

Hip-Hopopotamus vs. The Rhymenocerous

Courtesy of Andy, clips from Flight of the Conchords, sort of like a New Zealand Tenacious D:

Hip-Hopopotamus vs. Rhymenocerous

Jenny

Mixin' Paint

In my most recent visit with my grandma, she told me that my cousin Jason has a girlfriend. She was sketchy on the details, but she knew that the girlfriend worked at Home Depot, was married before, and was from somewhere in the South, possibly North Carolina.

As always, we have trouble distinguishing fact from fiction in Grandma's story, but we believe that, since Jason and his dad are painters, he met her at Home Depot. Grandma said, "She knew what he wanted... She knew how to mix his paint." Mom and I howled with laughter. So that's what they are calling it these days. Grandma was being literal, but her phrasing made it seem like it was going to be dirty.

Settling into Lexington

Frank and I are slowly getting settled in to Lexington. The movers unloaded our stuff on Monday, and we've been unpacking since then (Frank only at night because he works during the day). The only room we have completely finished unpacking is the kitchen. We're getting closer on the other rooms, but we have a lot of crap.

Since we arrived in Lexington late on Sunday night, we've been to WalMart three times to pick up various supplies. We were advised that we'll have to do most of our "big" shopping about an hour away in Roanoke. This weekend, there is a reprieve on sales tax on clothing and school supplies. To start playing the part of professor, I'll buy some professorial apparel, like tweed jackets with arm patches.

On Monday, the cable guy set up our cable. While he was here, our pizza arrived. The cable guy and the pizza delivery guy knew each other. The cable guy advised us to be careful what we say about other people because the town is small and every one knows everyone else.

Our bathroom is really narrow. I bonked my head yesterday on the towel rod. I couldn't see the bump, but after I whined about it for the umpteenth time, Frank looked and saw that I had a bump and a bruise. When I hurt, I like having a bruise or some proof.