Wally World

Jordan woke me up this morning at about 9:30, and she was already showered and dressed. I just couldn't get up yet because I was still exhausted from yesterday's drive, and I didn't actually wake up until 12:15. Jordan had texted me and said that she was going out for a while and to let her know when I woke up, so I texted her back. She had gone to Walgreen's to buy some pencils, of course, and then to McDonald's for breakfast. Marold and Gene got home from church before Jordan got back, and then Jordan and I decided that we wanted to go to Wal-Mart with Marold. We actually ended up at the Shoe Department first, where Jordan was able to fit into some children's shoes, and then we went to Wal-Mart and looked at about everything. After we were done shopping, we went to Applebee's and had lunch. I had a California turkey club, fries, and sweet tea. When we came back home, we just sat in the den and talked for a while. She left at about 6:00, but not before I gave her a present, her souvenirs from my summer activities, a Hey Clinic pen and mug. Gene, Marold, and I just watched some of season 2 of Arrested Development and are enjoying some frozen bananas right now. Mine is chocolate-covered and dipped in coconut. It's absolutely delicious. I've got to shower and pack soon, and we're leaving at 10:00 in the morning for the airport. I'm not taking my laptop with me, so I'll probably not be blogging until Friday at the earliest. My sincerest apologies to Mary. I'll see what I can do, but no guarantees. Yay for NYC!

Duke & Harry Potter

I woke up at 10:00 this morning, got ready, and drove to Duke to meet Jordan for lunch. The ride was extremely relaxing, and I listened to the radio and sang the whole way. When Jordan and I met in the Blue Zone, we walked together to the Bryan Center and around the plaza, quickly realizing that nobody was around except for the summer camp kids. She wasn't hungry, so we decided to sit on some benches on the main quad and watch the campers play games and do organized sports. After a while, I wanted a water bottle, so we went to Alpine Atrium, where Bryan ended up surprising me with his hand on my eyes when I was turned around. It was great to see him, of course, if even just for a few minutes. A bit later, we drove to Torero's right off East Campus, and we had a wonderful meal. I had the vegetarian quesadilla, rice, beans, and sweet tea. Jordan also gave me my long-overdue Christmas presents, The Office trivia game and some assorted colored pens, and some souvenirs from Australia, 5 silver demitasse spoons with Australian things on them. At this point, we didn't have any other business in Durham, so she followed me home. It was an awful day for roadkill. I saw two recently-killed deer and one recently-killed dog, and a beautiful butterfly hit my windshield and died. I know it's stupid, but I cry every time I see a dead animal in the road unless it's a snake or something completely gross.

When we got back into Albemarle, we were still pretty full from our late lunch, so we decided to go to the 6:30 showing of the new Harry Potter. I was less than impressed. It should've been called Harry Potter 6: Sexual Tension Among Teenagers. The stupid little relationships among everyone got extremely tiring after a while, and there were some innuendoes that were kind of inappropriate for younger fans. Jordan and I ended up laughing through most of it. Would I recommend it to others? Not at all. Don't waste your money. If you want a spoiler, here it is, so be advised. The only important part of the whole movie was when Dumbledore died, and even that was pretty pathetic. I felt like I was seeing the death of Gandalf from Lord of the Rings all over again, but this one was far more ridiculous. Although the movie was a bust, Jordan and I had a lot of fun, and we went to Sno-Biz afterwards. I had a candy apple and blueberry snow cone with cream, and it was quite tasty. We recently got home, and Jordan was so tired that she's now gone to bed. I don't know what we're up to tomorrow, but I plan to sleep in since the family has an early flight to NYC Monday!

Myrrh & Myrrh Hannah

I woke up at 11:00 and had the house to myself for about an hour. Marold was out with Goggy and Aunt Susan, and Goggy said a choice word out of nowhere, which I can't even visualize. Gene was at the doctor. I drank some coffee and watched The Price is Right and then my soaps. When Gene got home, he pulled the lounge chairs out of the garage, and we lay out on the patio for about 45 minutes. I then came in, took a shower, and got ready for dinner with Myrrh. We ended up going to Log Cabin, and it was delicious, of course. I had a club sandwich, fries, and sweet tea, and we shared some fabulous conversation as usual. I can't wait until that baby is born! I want so badly to take off a semester and be Myrrh's nannyish person, but that would make me a loser. People at Duke just don't do that. Anyways, Myrrh had to leave and head to the beach, so we parted ways after I showed her how to properly use predictive text on her phone, and then I found out that Katie was in town for a church thing. I met her, Crystal, and Crystal's little sister Courtney downtown and led them to Sonic, where we enjoyed some beverages. I had sweet tea, naturally. While at Sonic, I saw a certain person on whom I had a massive crush two summers ago right before college. Unfortunately, he has had a girlfriend at his college since our freshman year, so that's not a possibility. He did look quite handsome, though. What a shame. I also saw Marty, who I'm almost sure lives at Sonic during the summer. When Katie, Crystal, and Courtney had to leave, I came on home, and now I'm sitting here doing absolutely nothing. It was really a good day.

I Like Waffles

Marold and I enjoyed a day without Gene yesterday. We drank our coffee, watched our soaps, and then lay out in the sun on the patio for a little while. I took a shower, she went to the grocery store, and then we went to Waffle House and rode around afterwards. A waffle really hit the spot last night, and the side of bacon and cup of coffee were excellent as well. When we got back to the house, we watched Toddlers & Tiaras for the first time. That show is awful, but it's so intriguing. It's about little girls whose mothers force them into entering beauty pageants. One woman last night had 5 girls, and all of them were competing. Two of them were twins, and the mom obviously liked one more than the other. She constantly put down the least favorite twin, saying that her nose was too big, she was too skinny, and that she would always be beaten by her sister. It was awful. And then there was a little girl who looked like a pig, but she won so many contests, including Most Beautiful. Her mom used hand puppets to calm her down when she was acting like a diva, so that was really special to watch. Believe it or not, there was also a little boy competing, as well as his little brother, who was only 2 weeks old. The infant had a little tuxedo for him and everything. It was utterly ridiculous. Everyone appearing on that show needs serious therapy. Well, Gene is coming back today, so Marold and I are going to enjoy our last few hours now without him pestering us. We're about to go get some sun, and then I bet the rest of the day will be pretty uneventful. Mary, I'll be online later to chat, and you have got to catch up on Y&R. Some major stuff is happening!

A Special Package

After getting home from the beach, not much has happened. Jordan is back home from Australia, which is excellent, and we're planning to get together soon. Soon enough, Andrew will be home, too. My Arrested Development eBay purchase came in Monday, and I've gotten the parental units hooked on it now. We've watched almost to the end of season one over the past 2 days. I lay on the patio for a little while yesterday afternoon until I saw 2 salamander things crawling near me, and I just realized that I've been wearing my bathing suit ever since then. I'll definitely be taking a shower soon. As for tomorrow, Gene will be in Raleigh on business even though he's retired, so Marold and I will have a wonderful day for sure. I guess that's about it for now. NYC in less than a week!

A Bit Of Sun

Had a pretty good day yesterday. Woke up at about 10:30, had some leftover hush puppies, bread, and a cinnamon roll from Chesapeake House, and headed out to the pool until about 4:00. Read some more of The Notebook out there, came inside to the room for a bit, then headed back out for a walk with Deefle. When we got back in, I got ready, and we took a ride and looked at all the hotels and houses until we ended up at Chesapeake House again. I had a seafood sampler platter and sweet tea, and everything was delicious. Plus, our waiter looked just like Rupert Everett. The resemblance was uncanny. Afterwards, we came back to the hotel, had some coffee, and I finished The Notebook. It was excellent, but I'm still confused by the ending, and I honestly like the movie better. I never say that, but in this case, it's very true. I also found out that I had won all three seasons of Arrested Development on eBay for Matt, so I'm sure he's happy! I can't wait until my set comes in! Now, Mumphy and I just finished watching 16 & Pregnant on MTV, and it was surprisingly good and pretty emotional when the kids gave their baby up for adoption. Anyways, we're headed home tomorrow morning, which is probably best because even though I was dosed up with sunscreen, I am still kind of red.

Not Much To Say

Not much to say for yesterday. Woke up at about 10:00, had some breakfast, and took a walk on the beach with the parental units. Came back upstairs later for lunch, and then headed to lie out by the pool, but it started raining, so we came inside until the rain stopped about 5 minutes later. Then went back out to get some sun by the pool and read The Notebook, which is excellent so far. Took a short nap outside and then showered and got ready for dinner at Chesapeake House. I had baked flounder topped with crab meat, and it was amazing, of course. Back to hotel for a cup of coffee, and we were planning on a beach walk, but a massive thunderstorm started and knocked over a chair on our balcony. Cool lightning and stuff though. Deefle and I watched The 40-Year-Old Virgin while Mumphy read New Moon, which I required as her beach reading. Now heading to bed and looking forward to another good day. Wore lots of sunscreen, so skin tone is pretty much the same as before. Very tired right now. Would type more and better, but got to sleep. Sun exhaustion is a beast.