Transmissions from the Satellite Heart

It's good to have a few days away from work. The college closed for business on December 21.

I've had some fun. I attended a Christmas party last week. It was good to see friends-- not only at the party, but out and about. One thing about classes not being in session is that I don't have to work until 9 p.m. one day a week. I could relax, socialize, and finally unwind from this hectic year.

It was also good to see family. This past Saturday, I attended the 50th anniversary party of relatives by marriage who I've known for many years down in Hattiesburg.

I saw a former library science professor. She never actually taught a class I had, but having been a grad assistant in the school, she knows who I am. We talked. I also spoke to one of the librarians at USM as well as one of my former history professors.

Sunday, my mother and I headed off to Evansville, Indiana to visit relatives. Having driven there many times to visit her sister, she doesn't feel like driving there much anymore, so we flew--- taking a flight from Pine Belt to Evansville via Memphis.

Evansville was nice. It was good to see my aunt and uncle, my cousin and her husband and their boys. I'd not spent a Christmas in Indiana in some 20-something years. I relaxed, and I needed it.

I finished reading Inheritance of Loss for Book Club and continued reading Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. It's not part of the reading list, but I read Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett.

One of my co-workers gave me a B&N gift card which I used to purchase Wintersmith and Good Omens. I've not read the latter book yet, which is kind of strange since Pratchett and Gaiman are two of my favorite authors.

My aunt and uncle also gave a B&N gift card which I used to order this book recommended to me by Jaysus and this Flann O'Brien book via BN.com. My cousin and her husband gave me a Borders gift card, which I'll probably use next month.

My mother and I flew back to Hattiesburg Wednesday. I had thought about heading up to Jackson and seeing the Allstars perform, but I was just too tired. I didn't get much sleep and we had the early 6;30 flight out of Evansville, which meant I had to get up at 4:30 in the morning.

I spent the night at my mother's house and came back here yesterday afternoon. I was still a bit tired from the travel and general lack of sleep, so I didn't make it to any shows that were going on last night. I plan to go out tonight though.