You helped me see that looks can be deceiving

Mom, Dad, and Brad came up to Purdue to visit me last Friday night, spent the night here at Purdue, then drove me and Jasmine to stay with Jen and her family in Lawrenceburg (about 30 minutes from Cincinnati and my house) from Saturday night to Tuesday afternoon. That was my fall break, in a nutshell.

The moment I got back, all the cares, worries, and responsibilities I suspended and ignored in south Indiana hit me like a ton of bricks, hence the delay. Homework took priority over blogging. Why didn't I realize earlier that "Fall Break" meant "skip Monday and Tuesday, the easiest days of the week, and jump right into Wednesday and Thursday, the two most difficult days ever"? Still, I survived the gauntlet (who needs sleep, right?) and managed to make it to late Thursday night.

Highlights:

*Got to see my Hobbit family. Bradley's voice is changing. Got pants and longsleeve shirts, a new hoodie and a new coat. Stocked up on supplies and snacks at Wally-World. Ate at Pappy's Sweet Shop at the PMU and showed the family Purdue-style improv. Copied hours of Brad's music into my computer. Got a huge deposit for my Boiler Express (debit card).
THANK YOU MOM, DAD, and BRAD!

*The Boilers won their Saturday football game against Penn State, 20-13. This means Purdue is ranked #5 in the nation, is undefeated 5-0, 2-0 Big Ten. I found out the progress of the game through Jasmine's cellphone on the drive to Lawrenceburg. Receiver Taylor Stubblefield finally caught enough passes to get the Big Ten record in career receptions, and Purdue broke it's 0-3 loss streak at "Happy Valley", Penn State's stadium. This is the first time Purdue has been 5-0 since 1945. BOILER UP!

*Stayed in tiny adorable little Lawrenceburg. Met Jen's family, her boyfriend Aaron (they are so cute together it made me jealous), and some of her friends. Ate real home cooked food and filled up on Cincinnati style chili...so freakin' good. A special THANK YOU to THE SEITZS for the hospitality and food.

*Finally watched my Star Wars Widescreen DVD, the whole trilogy. It was crisp, clear, and THX mastered. And it was excellent. Cannot wait for Episode III: Revenge of the Sith next year (May 19th!) near my birthday .

Let's see...some stories-
*Got my haircut. Turns out Jen's "gay hairdresser" is Jen's gay hairdresser. No joke.

*Found out that I am incapable of playing Pictionary, because I'm not able to simplify my own thoughts:
-My drawing of the word "Jupiter" ended up looking like a grayscale illustration out of a science textbook, complete with faded rings, the Great Red Spot, cloud patterns and layers, and approximate number of moons, including the four Galilean moons of distinction.
-Jen's drawing of the word "Jupiter" was an arrow pointing to the fifth uniform circle past half of a star. And it was about 5 minutes faster, too.

*Lawrenceburg smells like beer. The whole town. There's a giant distillery that takes up the greater portion of "downtown". I imagine it's like Hershey, Pennsylvania...only not.

*Jen doesn't like it when Aaron and I play Chinese Fire Drill. Harolding is very fun, though.

*Lawrenceburg is home to Perfect North Slopes where I used to ski, pre-back surgery. Definitely miss that.

*While dining at "Acapulco", a Mexican restaurant, I tried to make Aaron promise to learn "Hail Purdue", our fight song (since he's planning on going here). Some random lady behind us turns around and is like "excuse me...did you just say Purdue?". Turns out she's an alum. First "random encounter with a fellow Boiler outside Lafayette". BOILER UP!

Other than some unexpected back pain that has yet to subside, and a few restless nights, the weekend went really well. Definitely had a great time, definitely glad I went, and I definitely want to visit more people. It's fun to see new places and new people...just as long as I remember to do at least a little bit of homework when I'm gone.

*Upon returning, had my first "roomate brings home a strange girl and she spends the night in our dorm" experience. Chalk that one up to "the college experience" and move on. Also, must remember to reset watch from Lawrenceburg time back to Purdue time upon return so that I don't have a heart attack thinking I'm an hour late for my lab.

So now it's a little past midnight. Coming up this weekend is our big Homecoming parade and all those other events, and a crucial game against Wisconsin (#10, 6-0, 3-0 Big Ten).
Too bad I won't be here, because the ROCKIN' PURDUE/MIAMI WEEKEND with Sis and Jacob is about ready to begin!