Monday, December 12, 2005

Are you sure I'm in Virginia?

My license plate says Virginia, my driver's license says Virginia and I think I'm enrolled at the University of Virginia, but the weather we are having here sure feels like Wyoming. Last week the cold weather rolled in and brought us some snow, and it hasn't warmed up since then. We have had snow twice in one week, and it has made our backyard into a mud bog. Sydney is in bliss with all the mud to romp around in, and I think she gets extra joy from making me clean off her paws before she's allowed back in the house.

Other than the cold weather, things are going well for us. We have finished our classes and are just trying to get final projects done before the semester is over this Friday. My parents arrive on Thursday, and we are looking forward to seeing them and relaxing for a little while. We just have a lot of work to do before then.

I'm sorry there isn't more to share right now. I guess our lives have been pretty boring since we have been working so hard on our school work. There will be plenty to share next week. Check back in!

Sunday, December 04, 2005

Last week of classes

In exactly two days, Gina and I will have successfully completed our first semester of doctoral work. Even though there are only two days of class left, both of us have papers to write and work to do during finals week. But, there is an end in sight, at least for a little while.

Our Thanksgiving trip to Dallas was great, but you may already know a little about our detour on the way home. Well, the fun didn't stop with our overnight stay in Detroit. Tuesday morning we flew to Cincinnati, where we would catch a plane to Charlottesville in time to make it to our afternoon classes. Yes, that flight was cancelled as well, so were left to find another flight home. We actually were scheduled to fly back that night at 11:00, requiring us to spend the whole day in the airport. That's about the last thing either of us wanted to do, so we booked an earlier flight to Richmond. We actually had no idea how we would get to Charlottesville once in Richmond, but it's only an hour away and we knew we could figure it out. Gina called and reserved a rental car, but it turned out that we didn't need it. Tommy was able to come get us from the airport and bring us back to our house. Our luggage didn't actually make it to Charlottesville until Thursday morning, but at least we were home and didn't miss anymore class.

The funny thing about Tommy picking us up from the airport is that he left Texas three hours later than us on Monday evening. He drove straight through to Charlottesville from Dallas, arriving 4 hours before our flight landed in Richmond. He had enough time to pick Sydney up from the pet motel then drive to Richmond to get us. I never would have thought that his truck could beat our plane, but I was proved wrong. So, we have decided to drive from now on when going places over a school break. That way we can bring our dog and have more control over our traveling times. The other funny thing about this whole travel debacle is that we left Dallas on Northwest Airlines and flew into Richmond on Delta. Our luggage left with us on Northwest, got as far as Cincinnati on Delta, and was flown into Charlottesville on U.S. Airways. Regardless, we are just glad that both us and our bags made it home safely.

I guess that is all I have to share for now. I need to get to work on my grading so my students don't revolt on Tuesday. Take care, and keep checking back for updates.