georgia et al

Back in Georgia, (almost) safe and a sound.
Had a great weekend in Bloomington with friends. Kathy showed us around Indiana Uni and the student town. Bloomington is famous for the Coug (John Mellencamp - a country singer guy) and the University's basketball. I also learnt that the Dalai Lama's brother lives at the Tibetan monastery just outside the town (on the way to the winery). The Uni has wonderful old buildings and grounds - made all the more 'scenic' by the continuous light rain that fell the entire time. We met her parentals, heard funny stories, cooked marshmallows and made smores, played cards, chess, jenga and Life, visited her church, went wine tasting at Oliver's, analysed the group dynamics, ate at Steak-n-Shake and over all had a wonderful time. My best parts were just relaxing with good friends, getting to know them more, standing in the rain in the dark, and going on a two hour paddle on the lake. It was neat to 'get out' of the city again.
Kathy - thanks for hosting us. Everyone else - thanks for a great time!
We had a little bit of excitement on the way home last night which made us even closer: We we half an hour away from home, on the Interstate when an 18-wheeler truck in the lane to the left of us changed lanes... into us! NOT COOL! We got side swiped, and spun around, out of control and back into the truck again. It was all in slow-mo and really scary. Maggie's Jetta is a write-off, and the five of us are all shaken. Thankfully we are all okay - there are so many other things that could have gone wrong but didn't. Not something I'd like to repeat anytime soon. Even having people asking me about it on campus today made me queasy.
Now I'm really glad to be going home on Friday, to hang out with loved ones for a while.