11 Jan 07

As this will be a wrap-up not only of the rest of break but of the last couple of days as well, it will not follow the usual format... back to the regularly scheduled programming tomorrow.

Listened to my iPod as I made my unexpected but very pleasing way to Gainesville on Saturday, and came across the first highway sign for G'ville just as We Are The Boys started playing.

Answered the phone at GM and GP's house as I fixed up GM's Shuffle and found my dad on the other end with questions about Sunday's brunch. I handed the phone off to GM, who talked for a minute and then interrupted herself with, "What? What? Bob, get off the phone! We're NOT having oysters tomorrow!" All the better to match his campus doppelganger with, my dear - see Professor Number Four's comments re: the menu for the last day of class in the fall.

Thought, for some reason - maybe I smelled hazelnut coffee or something - about getting to be the "XO" at camp that summer. It's important to remember the way the LTC handed over the Major's files (and his keys) and said, basically, "Get to it." I don't think it occurred to him once that I wouldn't be ABLE to do it, and I very much appreciate that he DID know how much I would enjoy the task. It's also important to remember the immediate and full-blown sense of trust and camaraderie that the LTC's command decisions - and, probably, the way I behave in those situation - inspired from the NCO's... including the infamous CSM "Ranger" Cunningham, who, as the LTC noted, "treated me just like another freakin' NCO." I value knowing that I "belong" in an environment like that as much as I do in the one I currently occupy, despite (or maybe developed because of) their differences.

Enjoyed very thoroughly Sunday brunch at Dad's. He had obviously planned it thoughtfully, with a nicely-set dining room table, mimosas, salad, and some excellent quiche, and even got it all done exactly on time for me to leave when I needed to. I'm not sure what in particular made the whole thing so unusually pleasing, exactly, but I know I enjoy entertaining my grandparents with my comments, joking with my dad (and establishing connection via recognition of his cake choice - I knew it was raspberry before I'd tasted it where my dining companions didn't figure it out even after taking a bite), and... there is something to be said for mimosas on Sunday morning, I guess, particularly when they are preceded by my dad's toast of, "To the doctor and, well, the soon-to-be doctor."

Met with Dr. B. just after that brunch at Maude's. It is always so good to see him, and of course we start an upward spiral in that department because then we talk about how good it is, and how we appreciate the friendship and our ability to pick up as though we never did leave off, and then we're back to enjoying it even more. Also, I really appreciate that when he cut off his commentary on his own brunch with the comment that I hadn't come all the way to G'ville to talk about sausage, and I responded with an appropriately suggestive and impolite "Welll...", he laughed and then asked, "So! You in love?" How, I would like to know, could I be anything less than very, very good friends with such a person?

Got to make this terrific Gainesville trip thanks in part to my experiences earlier Saturday. There have been days in my life when I really didn't want to get the mail, but since there was sort of a faint and undemanding hope that perhaps a certain check could possibly show up (and since I'm past the days of worrying about report cards) I headed outside on hearing, unusually, the mail truck roll up, and, lo and behold, I found a promising envelope. I didn't open it until I got inside, because I figured at best it would be the remainder of the December contribution, but when I did I saw an infinitely more impressive item, and on a cashier's check to boot. An exceptionally pleasant phone call to my mom and a fast, grateful, somewhat teary-eyed visit to the bank ensued, and before I knew it I was on the turnpike. I don't think I'm ever very inclined to forget about these kinds of things, but I would just like to note here that I do keep them in mind every day, and I appreciate them.

Rolled home to the tunes of Sympathy for the Devil and All Blues (which happened to come up just as I was revisiting the Maude's meeting), and watched a soldier in BDUs and beret (maybe on his way back from Blanding!) get out of his car and walk back to the scene of a minor accident looking all tall and smart and hard-core. If I hadn't been going 85 miles an hour I might have had time to get really jealous.

Lost my voice and exercised my thumbs as I shrieked and bellowed and texted like a maniac during the national championship. I loved that my mom enjoyed sitting with us, singing the appropriate third-quarter and end-of-game songs (accompanied by my phone's Real Player, no less), almost as much as I loved the fact that on Tuesday morning the Palm Beach Post reported on a "Gator Raid" and College Gameday had to talk about the "chomp-ionship."

Landed early at JFK and heard the flight attendant with the best and most appropriate accent tell us "Welcome to New Yoo-awk."

Spent most of Wednesday actually working. Professor Alpha was in for the day, and had me do some very interesting filing, a petty cash retrieval run, and an as-he-wrote-it editing job for an email spawned from the course-related conversation we had over the lunch he bought for us. I don't know what to add here, because I've said it all before: I can't believe this academic life is a job, and I can't believe how awesome the people involved - at least for the moment - are.