Graduation

The end of a relaxing weekend.  Friday night was the JSU graduation and I borrowed Linda and Donald’s camera to take some pictures.  A couple of faculty members were giving me a hard time and asked if I was getting a diploma since I had my picture taken.  Well, I guess this is the closest thing that I will have to my own graduation.  The ceremony itself was amazing with the thousands of guests filling up the entire stadium.  The weather was perfect for the ceremony and surprisingly quick (just under two hours) given that this was the largest graduating class in JSU’s history (over 800).  A video of the ceremony is available here … if you fast forward to about 1 hour, 50 minutes, and 30 seconds, you will see me as I am walking out.  Riveting stuff.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I did not go to Baton Rouge.  I felt bad since it was a bit last minute letting my teammates know that I was not attending, but I know it was the right decision.  It probably was a wise decision not driving through the night to make the game.  My team won the game anyways, so I don’t know if I could have contributed much more to that effort.  Perhaps it will be a different story in two weeks when we travel to Tampa to play Florida. 

Not much going on this week.  I have a dentist appointment tomorrow and I will be interviewed to start the process of being an “Entered Apprentice” to become a Freemason.  Donald got me interested in this as he has been a Freemason for several years now.  That should be an interesting experience.  Besides the action tomorrow, not much should be happening the rest of the week.  Temperatures are supposed to be in the upper 80’s for most of the week with the first chance of rain coming this weekend.  Consequently, I have had to drag the hose out back to water our vegetables several times.  The tomatoes and peppers are coming in very well and the pumpkins are also well on their way.  With all of the attention that I have given them over the past few weeks, I am hoping for big things this summer and fall.

Road Trip Cancelled

After doing a bit more thinking on the trip to Baton Rouge this weekend, I decided against it since the timing would not be right.  I have the graduation ceremony at JSU tonight, would end up leaving for Baton Rouge early tomorrow morning, getting there just in time to play the game, only having a few hours in the evening to relax before driving back.  Most of my driving would be done in darkness and likely in a rush, which is just too much of a chance to take.  Thinking about it even more, I think I would have a better time if I was traveling with someone else too.  Perhaps next time.  That will give me time this weekend to continue working on my research and also to watch the Talladega races with Donald, which should be a lot of fun.

Case of the Wednesday’s

Well, I have reached mid-week and things have seemed to slow down quite a bit without Jet and Ben here.  Yesterday I had the last of my finals, which I have graded and submitted final grades for all of my students.  So, officially, the spring semester is over for me.  There is still work that I need to do in the coming months to prepare for the fall semester and also continue with my research, so I do expect to spend a bit more time on campus in the coming weeks.  This Friday evening is the spring JSU graduation ceremony which I am required to attend.  After I get home and take a nap, I will leave for Baton Rouge for an Aussie Rules football game on Saturday.  I hope it will be a good trip for me.  Although it is about a seven hour drive, I will get to drive through Mississippi and Louisiana, passing nearby New Orleans along the way.  That should be an interesting experience to talk about.  Too bad that I don’t have a camera on hand (Jet has with her in Thailand) so that I could document with pictures some of the things I see.

The weather has just been terrific here over the past week or so, reaching at least 80 each day, mid-80’s yesterday and today.  To celebrate the end of the semester, Donald and I will be going fishing again this morning.  I will get some worms from Wal-Mart to try and increase my luck.  I am glad that Milwaukee had a recent warm-up as well.  Walking around outside last night at around 8:00pm, it was a clear sky with lots of stars above and still in the low 70’s which brought me back to summer nights back in Milwaukee.  That was a good feeling to have. 

Speaking with Jet, it seems that Ben’s cough had not improved, so her Dad drove her and Ben to the doctor’s office – in fact, the same doctor she saw when she was a child.  The doctor said that Ben had a red/sore throat and was infected by bacteria, so he gave Ben some antibiotics as well as some medicine for Jet to take home and give him every few hours.  Ben doesn’t like the medicine because it is very bitter and doesn’t taste as good that the cherry or stawberry flavored medicine from the US.  The visit, including all medicines only cost $5.  Jet reported that Ben has been sleeping pretty good and that he has a bit of a “dry” cough now.  I just hope it gets better soon. 

Jet took Ben to the open market in town the other day and donated food to some passing monks, which then gave Ben some blessings.  Jet’s Dad took her and Ben to the temple yesterday to get some more blessings.  Jet also went to visit her Grandma who has been in bad shape for about a year or so now.  She had a stroke that had mostly paralyzed her, but she now has the ability to move her hands a little and mumble sounds.  Ben is her first grandson and she has looked forward to seeing him since she found out that Jet was pregnant.

Jet has been taking pictures and filming a few of the things they had been doing during their stay.  She told me that she finished her first DVD yesterday and will mail it out to me today.  I can’t wait to get it!  It sounds like Jet is having a good time as she and her Mom as well as a few cousins of hers stay up till about 11:00pm each night playing cards.  I know that is something that she really enjoys while spending time with her Mom.

First Place?

I ran another 5K on Saturday in Jacksonville that went through JSU and the Chief Ladiga Trail.  I trained a little differently for this run because I knew there would again be lots of hills to go up and down – and it helped … I ran a 24:24, which is over 2 minutes faster than the run I did in Oxford.  Funny thing after this run was that I placed first in my age group.  I have NEVER finished first in any running event before in my life.  Very funny.  I got a small trophy for winning and they took a picture of me as I was picking up my award.  It is a bit embarrassing to think that I have placed in both runs I have done down here, which only shows that there are not a lot of good 30-34 year old runners in the area.

Jet and I have been talking several times each day that she has been in Thailand.  She is having such a great time over there with Ben, but every conversation I have with Jet, she mentions “so hot” at least 10 times.  It has been around 100 degrees every day they have been there.  It’s funny because Jet has been back to Thailand in March-April three of the last four years, and every time pledges when she returns that she will “never go back” to visit in April again because it always is so hot. 

Jet said that Ben has been doing well around her family as he loves all of the attention that he is getting, but did mention that he has had a runny nose lately and coughed a little last night.  Jet figured it was because they were always going from the cold air conditioning indoors to the heat of the outdoors and that he was having a difficult time adjusting.  Ben does not like the heat at all.  In fact, all of the clothes that Jet brought to Thailand are too warm for him to wear, so she has had to buy Ben a whole new wardrobe, which should come in handy when he returns to the warm Alabama summer.

Gone Fishin’

To pass the time this morning, Donald and I went fishing at a lake nearby our house.  Unfortunately for us, they weren’t biting the fake bait that we had, but we still got a chance to enjoy the great weather (been in the 80’s all week) and think about things away from home.  Donald did catch a bass, but it was too small and he threw it back.  Looks like the next time we go we will bring with us a bunch of worms.

Jet has made it to Thailand alright.  It was a wonderful surprise reading her comment that she left on the blog this morning as well as the e-mail she sent me.  She told me that the flight from Korea to Bangkok went well, but Ben cried a bit, perhaps being tired from all the travel.  Jet told me that new Bangkok airport , which was built to be one of the largest in the world and to be a major hub for southeast Asia, was a terrible experience.  She told me that it was too big and very warm, even though she arrived there at midnight.  Jet said that there was a long wait to get through the immigration line, but the official was very nice and helped her to get outside and even let her use his cell phone to call her Mom.  I have already spoken to her three times since she arrived (only a few hours) and Jet let me know that Ben was crying very bad and giving her and her Mom a difficult time sleeping.  Jet told me that later today (they are 12 hours ahead of us) that they will be driving back to their hometown to see the rest of her family.  I think they will have a good time but I am mostly relieved that the travel went well.

Another Goodbye

Well, goodbyes are always tough, but this one should be a real doozy.  Jet is leaving with Ben tomorrow to Thailand until June 1.  After a bit of frustration and several stressful days, we finally received Ben’s passport yesterday so they are now both OK to travel.  It will not be the first time that Jet has left me for Thailand as about this time last year she left which gave me time to complete my dissertation.  It will be the longest that she has been away (43 days) and this time will leave with Ben.  I have been planning lots of things to keep me busy while she will be away, such as attending a conference in Springfield, IL followed by a visit to Milwaukee, traveling to Baton Rouge, LA and Tampa, FL to play Aussie Rules football, and going out and getting a fishing license so that I can do some fishing (for the first time since a child) with Donald.  All of this plus the work I still have with school should take up a lot of my time, which is very good.

I have been working with Jet to file her application for naturalization (US citizenship) over the past few days so that we could get it out before she leaves.  She now has had her green card for three years in addition to being married to a US citizen which now allows her to apply.  The next step in the process will for her to be contacted back to get finger printed, then later on, to get an interview for being a citizen (being able to speak, write, and understand English as well as knowing US history), and then taking the oath to be a citizen.  Unfortunately this process will likely take another 6 months to a year, that is, if there are no problems with documentation submitted and she passes the interview.  It will be worth it in the end, however.

Goodbye

It seems as quick as they came, they have left too soon!  Despite the fact that Dad, Kristin, Josh, Ty, and Sam were here about the same amount of time as Janette, Jeremy, and Abby, it seemed as if it was much shorter.  I think that is because I only had one full day to spend with them unlike with Janette, I had the whole week due to spring break.  Regardless, we feel very fortunate to have had them visit for as long as they did, and we cannot wait until we are able to see everyone again.

On Thursday I came home to the kids playing outside in the small water pool that we have.  We played soccer and football for a while until dinner came around, which we picked up a rack of ribs to eat with Dad’s potato salad.  Friday was a full day of fun which started out driving to Noccalula Falls and arriving at 10:00am.  We rode the train and saw the waterfall right away while it was still a bit cool out.  Once the sun poked through the clouds, however, it heated up quickly.  We also walked around and saw the animals and then played a round of mini-golf.  On the way back home, we stopped by the dairy farm to pick up some cheese, watch the cows get milked, and take a few pictures.  I was also very happy stopping there because I was finally able to find Alabama honey!  Until that point, I had been looking everywhere offline and online to find some local honey, which is supposed to be pretty good.  Once we got home, it was more playing in the water and football.  Donald, Linda, and Danny (neighbor across the street) came over for dinner as Dad cooked up a couple of the packages of Usinger brats he brought down from Milwaukee, which went well with the leftover potato salad and the cornbread and peach cobbler that Linda brought over to share.  For breakfast on Saturday, Dad took Josh and Ty to the Waffle House to eat some waffles.  The running game all week was Dad, Josh, and Ty spotting all of the Waffle House’s everywhere we drove, which was not a hard game to play because there are so many.  I actually think that their breakfast was a highlight of their week here.  After breakfast, we left Alabama for Atlanta.  As I warmed up for my Aussie Rules match, everyone else had some Korean food for lunch at the H-Mart.  As for the game, we won quite handily 91-58 against the team from Florida with the whole gang cheering on.  What a thrill to have Dad, Kristin, Josh, Ty, and Sam watch me play for Atlanta in person!  Right after playing, we headed right for the airport and said our goodbyes.  The rain that had been forecasted held off until our drive home, and they had a smooth flight back home.  As quick as they came here, they were now gone.

That sure was a lot packed into the last few days here, but we were simply grateful to share that time with everyone.  It was a wonderful experience seeing everyone in person again, and to have everyone meet Benja for the first time.  It seemed as though they had a good time during their stay, but no matter how much fun they had, I promise that Jet, Ben, and I enjoyed it much more.  Thank you for coming!  We had a blast.

Looking ahead, we will be making a return trip to Atlanta later this week as I will be taking Jet and Ben to the airport for their six week visit to Thailand.  I had put that thought to the back of my mind since the trip was scheduled because there was so much going on before then.  Sadly, that time is now approaching fast and I must come to terms with it.  It will be a empty house here and I will likely be at school every day working to help make the time pass.  I also plan on making a trip back to Milwaukee after a conference I will be attending on May 18, which is the weekend before Memorial day.  I plan on spending about a week so that I can catch all of the May birthdays.  Well, that will  be something that I can really look forward to.

Plans For This Weekend

With only a few more days left before our gang of visitors leave, we have to pack in as much as we can.  It’s also a good thing that the weather should cooperate and be in the 70’s, although not the 80’s they forecasted earlier in the week.  Tomorrow (Friday) we will be heading over to Noccalula Falls to spend a bit of the day sightseeing and playing mini-golf.  When we get back home, there will be brats and potato salad for all, which will make for a great evening.  On Saturday, we will head back to Atlanta to take everyone back to the airport but also take in my Aussie Rules football match against the team from Florida.  With being in school most for most of their visit, I hope that I can make up for lost time these last few days!

Here They Are …

Here are the pictures I have been promising.  Enjoy!

They’re Here!

We met up with Dad and Kristin at the Atlanta airport to surprise the kids … to which I think we succeeded.  Everyone said that it was a very good flight (short) and that Sam only was fussy for a little bit, so that was great to hear.  We were planning to do some sightseeing around town after they had arrived, but with temperatures only in the low 50’s, we decided to grab a quick bite to eat at Chic-fil-a, go back home, unpack, and enjoy the day there.  Once we arrived, we stopped by to see Donald and Linda and Buddy 1 stopped by shortly afterwards.  Josh and Ty played football and cards with me out in the front yard while Samantha got used to crawling around in the grass in the back.  For dinner, we ate at Betty’s Bar-B-Q since Brad’s (my personal favorite) was closed, however, everyone seemed to still enjoy dinner.  It was an early good-night for many of us after all the traveling and the things to come in the coming week.

Moving backwards, Easter was a fun day for Jet, Ben, and I as we had Ben take some pictures early on with his first Easter basket and then we ate some eggs and kielbasa.  For dinner, Linda had made turkey breast with noodles that was absolutely delicious.  We really appreciated sharing the holiday with them (we call them “family” now) to temper how much we missed being back in Milwaukee.  Speaking of Milwaukee, it sounds like it was a big hit (as usual)!  And by the way … THANK YOU FOR THE CHEESE TORT!!!  I would like to say that it wasn’t a surprise given all of the “hints” posted here on the blog, but when Dad pulled out that container, I still got goose bumps!

I am at school today for classes, but Will and Irene should be meeting up with everyone else shortly.  They had plans to go to Mt. Cheaha for lunch and sightseeing and perhaps to one of the larger playgrounds in the area afterwards.  We have been taking pictures, so I will have to work on sharing those with you once I get home.  There is a lot to look forward to!