Reunited

A parting shot before heading home...

We had a lovely mini break in The Hocking Hills over the weekend. All of our Duke Poli Sci buddies (well, not ALL, but a good chunk) gathered for our annual reunion weekend. (I say OUR like I'm part of the department - I wasn't, but they are all good friends of mine in addition to being from my husband's grad program) It was great to relive some of our Duke glory days together - if only for a brief time. I miss them all over again already.

Our awesome cabin for the weekend...

Family dinner...

On a hike at Old Man's Cave

The best therapy? Friends. And Durham.

While some see Durham as the dirty step child of the Triangle, I see it as heaven. I love you, D-town, and I miss you so much!

While my mood has been shaky due to the unsureness that is the job hunt, I needed something to break me out of the funk that has been rearing its ugly head. After a mini breakdown this past weekend, my wonderful husband hugged me and said, "Why don't you go to North Carolina and see the girls?" This is only one of the many reasons I love this man. It is exactly what I needed, yet I had never brought up the suggestion as I know we needed to watch funds. Instead, he knew I needed my girls. So I packed up my bags and headed to the heaven that is Durham, NC. Don't get me wrong, I feel incredibly blessed and lucky to live with my wonderful husband in our cute little town in our awesome house with all of our very cool new friends nearby. But sometimes you just need your girls.

I packed up and hit the road Thursday morning. I was in Durham by 4:30. I had the immense pleasure of surprising Cookie, who had no idea I was coming. Lauren and I walked up to the Fed only to see Cookie do a double take and burst out of her seat and run to the door. It was fantastic. Follow that up with many (the count was 23, right Neil??) PBRs between 5 of us over a course of about 2.5 hours. Then it was off to the Whiskey in downtown (wow, I like that place). End the evening with Cosmic Cantina, and it was the PERFECT Durham Thursday. Friday we laid low most of the day, but we came back full force with a classic Saturday night at the James Joyce. Durham, I love you so much!

The weekend was filled with beer and unhealthy food, but Lauren and I did get out and do a 6 mile run on Saturday morning. She is running the Tobacco Road Half Marathon this upcoming weekend in Cary - along with Mer and a few other folks we know. While I imbibed a bit too much beer and fried food, I feel I didn't totally fall off the training wagon.

I headed back to Ohio on Sunday. Albeit a short trip, it was just what I needed. I missed my hubby and kitties, but it was excellent to see all my girls. I miss you all so much. Thank you for making my visit nothing shy of amazing!

Another week down...

Wow - we have been in Granville two months now. Sometimes it feels like two days, but sometimes it already feels like two years. We were in Columbus with our good friend Ed, who visited from Atlanta, and we ran into someone we know on the bustling N. High Street during the Art Crawl. We have been here long enough to run into friends in a city 25 miles away. I guess that's saying something.

I am fully "trained" on the workings of the bar at the Inn now. This week will mark my first evening working the bar - alone - albeit the lesser busy upstairs bar servicing the restaurant rather than the Tavern downstairs. I have finally learned the ropes as a server at a fine dining establishment. It has taken several screw ups, but I think I have it down now. Of course, I say that and later this week I will surely make the biggest error I have yet. One thing I have to say about this job is that it is hard work. In my ranks as server, I work with folks who have this as their only job - they work it full time, and it has to pay the bills. Making $3.15 an hour plus tips is a rough way to make a living. Even though people are still eating out, they are a bit less free with the tip. We are often lucky to pull 15% across the board when we settle out our numbers for the evening. I work with college students struggling to pay their living expenses and their tuition bills. I work with single moms who have two or more jobs, just trying to make ends meet. It's humbling to hear the stories of your co-workers. The mom with the autistic son. The single mom who found love with another of the servers. He's about to graduate and is full of promise. The Inn is a great place to be. I am enjoying it a lot. I don't get butterflies when I take a table anymore.

The consulting gig is also going well. I got feedback last week that they really like the work I have done so far. In fact, the company president said I "have a knack for the work." Fantastic. Hopefully a few more of these larger contracts come though and I could possibly have a full time gig as a consultant in a matter of months. My plan is to stay at the Inn at least through the holidays. It will slow there in January and February when the snow starts to pile up and people stay in for the evening. But I like the work - it keeps me busy and it sure does keep one's mind sharp. I've also stopped running completely. Who knows how many miles I clock on my feet during a 5 hour dinner shift. I'm too beat to walk upstairs when I get home, let alone strap on my running shoes and pound out 4 miles.

This weekend is a small break. Planned since late summer, we are having a Duke Poli Sci reunion of sorts at Put-in-Bay in Ohio. We've rented out an entire Inn and will reunite our group of friends that provided so much love, support and beer during our Duke days. I think we have a group of 8 or 10 coming together for two days of talking, drinking, napping - and probably Rock Band, too. After our visit to Toronto for APSA, it rejuvenated me to see our buddies. I am guessing that this weekend will do the same.

So stay put - I'll be back next week to recap our "Big Chill" adventure.

Are you ready for some football??

On Sunday, Mike and I were lucky enough to be able to hop in the car and drive out to Charlotte to spend some quality time with friends Coddy and Phoebe. Phoebe is preggers with twins, and we haven't seen them since the wedding. The lovely couple happened to have two extra tickets to the Panthers vs Broncos game on Sunday, and they invited us out to join them. We are so glad we were able to make the trip. We started off our visit with an awesome brunch with Coddy. He took us to Zada Jane's which was just fantastic. Funky atmosphere and great food. They are super vegetarian friendly, so I was able to order biscuits with an herb gravy and soysage! How cool is that???

We got back to the house and started the "pre-game" (i.e. have a couple of beers). Phoebe got back from her baby shower, we all piled into the car, and we headed off for the game. Phoebe works in the courthouse only about 2 blocks from the stadium, so we were able to take advantage of that awesome parking. After downing another drink, we wandered down to the stadium. The seats were beyond amazing. The tickets are season tickets from Phoebe's godfather, and they are some awesome seats. The pic of the field in the above slide show is totally without zoom. We were so close to the field. An awesome experience - thanks, Phoebe and Coddy!

After the game, Mike and I had to head back to Durham. Monday means work and reality again. But the day was absolutely fantastic, and we are so glad we were able to spend time with our friends. yay!!!