A note for mumsies

Mom,

Thank you so much for a great Fall break. It was great to get rejuvenated, and I'll be seeing you before you know it in Chicago (and then New York!).

I love you so much. Keep fighting the good fight. You've done an amazing job so far.

Love,

Melissa

P.S. Look at our silly dog:

Birthday talk

Me: So, what do you want for your birthday?

Caitlin: Your hugs and kisses. What do you want for your birthday?

Me: Inner peace.

Caitlin: Well, I'm afraid Sharper Image is all out of that.

Check out that beauty mark.

Boris the cat was waiting for me after breakfast at Samatha and Melissa's. At least, I think his name is Boris.

Whatever, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

Southern comfort.

Ronnie and Melissa.

Ronnie, Melissa's boyfriend came up for the weekend, so she cooked an authentic Southern dinner last night for us (and about 15 other people) at our friend Claire's apartment. I got to help make the hush puppies. We were quite proud of out round they turned out.

Little spheres of perfection.

Everyone kept snacking on them, so by the time dinner started, there were only about 20 left. But that's quite alright because we had quite the menu that night. So besides hush puppies there was:

-Catfish

-Fried okra

-Fried potatoes

-Macaroni and cheese

And for dessert...

-Banana pudding

Claire and Melissa

I didn't go back for seconds, but I'm pretty sure that would have been impossible even if I had tried. This was by far the heaviest food that I've ever had in my life. In fact, it held me over so long that I didn't really eat anything until 7 PM the next day (with the exception of some green tea and some ak-mak crackers.) It's going to take me a long time to detox from this meal. But it was so worth it.

Kissy, kissy.

Colin (left) and Nikrad (right)

A particularly dynamic pair of friends.  Having dinner with them gave me a lot of energy to finish up the day.