After a long and busy semester, I am finally enjoying a much needed break. Michael and I left South Bend early enough to stop by Tulsa and check out the campus. Quite a bit has changed. The Caf is no longer the Caf and has been completely remodeled along with "the fishbowl", which is now "the garage". The road between Kep and ACAC is gone and has been replaced by a large plaza and two new engineering buildings. However, the most exciting change was the new plaque in the lower atrium of Kep featuring a nameplate for yours truly.
We were able to see several professors and catch up with Ron and Charlie at the Wesley. The whole experience was bittersweet, because it reminded me of all the fun I had, but also made me feel a bit more unhappy with my current graduate school experience.
Home also had changed quite a bit. The floor in the family room, which for the past few years has been concrete, had finally been covered in hardwood. Also, the carpet throughout the house had been replaced. The last new change was a new couch.
The Christmas tree experience was a bit different this year as well. Usually we cut our own, but between a drought and a hail storm, the Oklahoma trees were a bit sad and so we had to buy one imported from West Virginia.
Christmas morning was nice. I received some really neat gifts. Michael got me quite a few neat things, including a magnetic pendulum, a box of liquors in chocolate bottles, tasting plates and forks, and a lab beaker mug to name a few. My favorite present was from my parents and was an autographed cookbook from Alton Brown.
The week after Christmas, we went out to a local restaurant in Edmond called Italian Jim's. The concept is a pizzeria attached to a glassblowing studio. It was really fun to watch them make the glass while waiting for our food. The pizza we ordered was the Super Pepperoni, which was a solid layer of overlapping pepperonis. Amazing!
Home also had changed quite a bit. The floor in the family room, which for the past few years has been concrete, had finally been covered in hardwood. Also, the carpet throughout the house had been replaced. The last new change was a new couch.
The Christmas tree experience was a bit different this year as well. Usually we cut our own, but between a drought and a hail storm, the Oklahoma trees were a bit sad and so we had to buy one imported from West Virginia.
Christmas morning was nice. I received some really neat gifts. Michael got me quite a few neat things, including a magnetic pendulum, a box of liquors in chocolate bottles, tasting plates and forks, and a lab beaker mug to name a few. My favorite present was from my parents and was an autographed cookbook from Alton Brown.
The week after Christmas, we went out to a local restaurant in Edmond called Italian Jim's. The concept is a pizzeria attached to a glassblowing studio. It was really fun to watch them make the glass while waiting for our food. The pizza we ordered was the Super Pepperoni, which was a solid layer of overlapping pepperonis. Amazing!
