And more catching up

So I got busy. Really busy. Really REALLY busy. Therefore, the pictures for the last week are a compilation. At least I'm trying to keep up!


Feb 9
I have been meaning to take a picture of the gas prices for a while now and I finally got around to it. Yahoo! :)

Feb 10-16
This weekend was a long, tiring one, but it was also fun. Katy wanted to participate in Truman Band day, which is an all-state, by invitation only, one day event at Truman University in northern Missouri. It's about four or five hours north of our house, depending on traffic and weather, but she desperately wanted to attend, so we made hotel reservations. This, of course, was after the weather forecast gave us the all clear, those dirty, rotten liars. Katy and I left Friday morning around 10, (it was considered a school event so the absence was excused), stopped to shop for a couple of hours in the civilized world, then headed north. As we got to the last ten mile stretch, a snowstorm hit. It was horrible and if I hadn't been so close to our destination, I would have turned around and left. We crawled along the interstate at about 30, slid a little turning, but safely made our destination at about 7 p.m. I was really worn out, so it was really sweet to walk in the door to find this waiting for me:
Go ahead, say "awwwwwww!" because I did. DH actually surprised me and that's not easy to do.

The next day, the blizzard was gone, so we got up really early and I dropped a very nervous Katy off. She had to audition for a chair spot first thing in the morning. Poor thing was so nervous she completely tanked in her audition. She said she went into the bathroom and cried for twenty minutes afterward, but she still seated 4th out of 5th in the trombone section. I had to remind her it was just for practice and enjoyment, but at that age things seem SO much bigger. I was still proud of her.

After dropping Katy off, I trudged around the campus, revisiting my old stomping grounds. I went to school at Truman back when it was still Northeast Missouri State University, and I hadn't been back there in almost twenty years.
It was kind of fun to tromp around snapping photos at 8 a.m. on a Saturday when no one else was out, looking around at how much things haven't changed.
Know what I really learned, though? I don't miss it. Ha! I really thought I'd feel some sort of sentimental mush about my younger days, but I didn't. I was honestly glad to leave it behind.

This is Centennial Hall, the dormitory I lived in way back then. I definitely don't miss living there. It was always too cold, too cramped and too noisy. Sheesh. I think I was just old before my time!


This lovely statue was dubbed "The lady with the bowl on her head and the big feet" by me and my best friend when we were living there. We never did find out the real name of the statue or her purpose, but we loved making fun of her, so it was great to pop in and say hi.


Now THIS is a place I missed. Pagliai's Pizza, home of the ronza. Katy and I ate there after we FINALLY found it (hey, it's been twenty years and I'm not known for being good with directions!) and it was every bit as ridiculously good as when I was there last. I even had to rub it in a bit and text my cousin that we were eating there. She was insanely jealous. If you love Italian food and ever find yourself in Kirksville, MO, you MUST stop in. And if you don't know what a ronza is, you do not know what you are missing.

So that's my update. I still have a stack of homework to plow through this weekend, so I'm off to work on that. Trips down memory lane are fun, but they wear a person out.