Back to Virginia

We left the house at 8:30 a.m ... Bill and I sitting in the backseat on either side of Cooper, Jackson driving, and Mom up front working the Baby Einstein music CDs. After a wrenching goodbye at the Alamo booth, Jacksonville Airport, we loaded our Chrysler Sebring and took off at 9:30. Unfortunately, the Georgia Pig was not open at 10:30 ... I love BBQ for breakfast ... and Ralph's North Carolina BBQ wasn't nearly as good as we remembered. After four 30 to 60 minute construction and traffic accident delays, we arrived at our hotel near Dulles Aiport at 10:30 p.m. Rather a grueling day.

There are three really great things about our hotel, a Country Inn and Suites: we were upgraded to a suite; there is a washer and dryer for guest use; and our three nights here are free (Radisson points). Also, it's clean. Otherwise, it's perfectly hideous.

We are both tired; in fact, Bill is already in bed. It's so quiet in the hotel. Here in the silence, I picture my angel Cooper sleeping sweetly in his bed, curled up with neither a care in the world nor any idea how my heart aches at the thought that I will not see him or feel his arms around my neck for eleven weeks.

Eve of departure

The packing went well, especially since it was conducted in the midst of a rollicking bon voyage party. Jackson and Cooper arrived first ... Cooper was quite fascinated by the the whole procedure, and promptly climbed into Bill's suitcase holding two stuffed rabbits. I had to tell him that the bunnies could not go, which made Cooper change his mind about remaining in the suitcase. Darn.

Ashley arrived after work, and an hour or so later, David and Jason came over. We went through three pizzas washed down by beer and wine ... and I kept packing. I think I used three boxes of zip-loc bags in assorted sizes ... the very best way to pack a suitcase. Anyway, the deed is done, and we depart in the morning on the first leg of our journey ... the drive to Virginia in a rental car.

By the way ... we had a last-minute meeting today with Dr. Francis to pick up our cartas de presentacion (letters of introduction) which we need to gain entry to the Archivo General de Indias in Sevilla. Katie Kole came to answer questions since she's spent two summers in Seville. She (and Justin, who went last summer and will be in Seville again this summer) gave us a lot of good information, including the fruit-and-vegetable-shopping procedure. In the market in Seville, one does not pick up a tomato, examine and sniff it, and then put it back. Bad, bad protocol! Instead, one must put on a glove, pick up the tomato, put it in a bag, weigh it, price it, and buy it.

This is going to be so cool.

Grades

Grades were posted today. I'm so pleased with the 98 I received on my Montanism paper, and I ended up with As in all my classes ... even paleography!! It has always been my dream to graduate summa cum laude, and I think it's going to happen.

Packing ... or not

Today and tomorrow were packing days. So far, I've set out shoes, stockings, two handbags, one shawl, chosen earrings and pins, and strewn a bunch of stuff all over the bedroom. The day just went out of control. I got my hair cut and colored, and then Mom came over to help, and Cooper was here ... then Ashley and Jackson arrived, then Dad came and we went to Ashley's house for spaghetti. After everyone departed, I was so weepy at the idea of leaving Cooper that I spent two hours printing pictures of Bill and me to put in a photo booklet so he won't forget us. Now it's 11:40 and I'm too tired to pack. Sigh.

First things first ... clothes and shoes

I still have to sit down in front of Quicken to pay the household bills due May 1 and organize them for June 1 and July 1 since we will be en España when the bills come due. Some are automatic withdrawals or are paid online, but other monthly bills come the old-fashioned way ... in the mail. My mother (Billy calls her Jomama) volunteered to handle mailing the post-dated checks I am going to give her. Hmmm ... I think she volunteered. Maybe she got shanghaied. To tell you the truth, I don't really remember.

But the point of this blog is to note that instead of sitting down, seriously, to attend to the bookkeeping, I went to the mall to buy shoes. Isn't that, really, more important when one is getting ready to go to Europe for three months? I know I can buy marvelous shoes in Spain (and I probably will), but I needed shoes in which I could walk through the cathedrals in Cologne and Aachen and Paris without wincing (all those years of working in gorgeous stiletto heels have taken a toll). And on the way to the shoe store, I ran into the perfect pair of white cigarette pants. What an unexpected and satisfying surprise!

The luggage problem

Singapore Airlines has a 50.6 pound weight limit on each bag. I am seriously concerned about this since my packing method consists of neatly folding everything I might possibly need, putting it into baggies and squeezing the air out, and putting it into my suitcase. You would be surprised how much I can get in there, and how much all that stuff weighs when I do. Stay tuned for the outcome.

One more thing ...

Blogging is kind of weird. It's like talking to oneself.

Adios Spring semester!

Despite yesterday's stress-induced deletion of my entire study guide for today's final exam in Renaissance to Reformation, I think I managed to negotiate it successfully. I don't think I've ever, in my entire life, hit "no" when my computer asks, "Do you want to save" ... but, last evening, I did. Before my 28-page document had even disappeared from the screen (because, also unlike me, I had NEVER saved it), I knew with dismay what I had done. Guess what? Beating on the computer, begging my husband to fix it, and crying didn't work. So I went to bed, and got up at 6 this morning to read over my class notes. Half a semester's worth. Thank the memory gods that it's over.

This evening we had a lovely dinner on the back porch with Mom and Dad, Ashley and Jackson, and the cutest boy in the world ... Cooper. Bill grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, and then he and I took a walk at twilight with Cooper in the wagon. We saw two white dogs and two brown dogs, some "real trucks" and "quack-quacks." Oh dear god ... I never, ever imagined I would adore being a grandmother this much. It's the purest joy I've ever had.

The book party

This afternoon, Billy and I attended the History Department book party in the campus art gallery. It was unexpectedly lovely -- really an elegant venue. There weren't many people there, perhaps 30, which made it warm and intimate. Dr. Clifford gave some remarks and introduced the undergraduate history writing prize winner (me, for "Jesus was a Guerrilla: The Development of Revolutionary Christianity in Nicaragua), and then she called me up to receive a certificate which had a quotation chosen by the professor for whom I had written the paper. I was so touched and charmed -- Dr. Bruey! Dr. Clifford asked me to read it aloud ... so I looked down and saw that it was in Spanish ... horrors! I was caught! I had no choice but to put my chin up and read it aloud, using my most confident Spanish accent. Dr. Francis didn't start laughing so perhaps it was passable at least.

My language deficiencies are my biggest academic concern.

James Hill received the graduate history prize in writing, and Drs. Furdell, Prousis, Sheehan-Dean and Sheffler made little speeches about the books they had written this year ... most published by Brill and, thus, completely unaffordable. Receiving this prize meant so much to me. It was a validation of sorts ... a beginning. I have so far to go and so little time in which to do it all.

The end of Montanism

For some reason, my seminar paper was just grueling to write. Sigh. That's what I get for voluntarily using a Foucauldian analysis for the demise of an ancient heresy. It came to 31 pages, which is good I suppose. If my undergrad papers are running that long, then maybe it will be less daunting to write an M.A. thesis. I have a final exam ... of the "must memorize names and dates" variety on Wednesday, but then the focus of my days until April 30 will be packing and closing up the house. Cooper is asleep in the next room as I write this ... leaving him is the flaw in a perfectly fabulous summer.

Bittersweet

Our departure date looms. I have a lengthy to-do list but must ignore it for now because my seminar paper is the most pressing priority. I can't believe it's not finished ... I've never been this close to a deadline without a completed product. I have a final exam next week too, and awaiting me are hundreds of pages of Spanish paleography. I can't wait to turn my attention to that without distraction, and yet ... I am so dreading leaving our darling Cooper for three months. I just can't imagine the days without him.

Just a note ...

Hello my friends! As soon as I finish my seminar paper (Orthodox Objections to the New Prophecy: The Use of Discourse in the Establishment of Pastoral Power), I'm going to get this site up and running. We depart Jacksonville on April 30 and I'll be writing regularly after that date. I'm looking forward to keeping in touch with you while we're in Europe.