All the green green grass

One of the not so great things about apartment living is doing laundry. For some reason, traipsing through buildings or across complexes hauling a bag of laundry, running back and forth to see if it is done only to find you have 4 minutes left, which is not enough time to go back but still an incredibly boring length of time to wait--really not a great time in my book. One of my great aspirations in life is to have a washer and dryer in my dwelling place. (This is the whole reason I went to grad school. Well, at least one of them). 

But, tonight when I got ready to do laundry, I did get a little excited because I could go barefoot. And the grass in my complex is very nice for walking on barefoot. So it was just a little exciting every time I left to take care of my laundry. And I will miss it come winter. 

One last hurrah

Last weekend, I took one more trip, one final hurrah for the summer. And it was lovely because I went home. For a 3-day trip with half of Friday and half of Sunday being spent in an airport, it was quite memorable. For example:

I got my hair cut. I figured I might as well make it a trend to never get a haircut in my city of residence and to cut it on vacation.

I remembered how to get around despite not having been there for over a year. Very proud of this,

My 2 year old nephew remembered my name from July. Nothing quite as sweet as hearing an adorable 2-year old say, "Lise!" because he wants your attention. Nerf Gun shooting practice with him? Super fun.

I got to play games with my other nephew, who was very patient with me while I tried to keep the 2-year old occupied and simultaneously play with him.

A girls outing with my oldest nieces--DQ and a movie. I introduced them to an oldie but a goody, How to Steal a Million.

Seeing all the old work gang for dinner, just like old times. Wonderful. Not nearly long enough to talk to them all.

Being there for my nephew's ordination as a deacon. So proud of him! It is so great to see him making such good choices. And it was so sweet to watch him play with his younger brother.

Hugs. Lots and lots of hugs. Especially one from the Super Hugger, who truly does have a hugging superpower.

Having the 2-year old mooch off of me. Just like his 7-year old brother did at that age.

So many good memories.

More fond memories

Now that the bat situation is dealt with, I thought I'd go back to reminiscing about Atlanta. So, if you don't want the travelogue, you can skip this post.

Because I was in Atlanta for a conference, I was there with a bunch of co-workers and, somehow, our schedules just weren't in sync which meant that when they all went to the Aquarium, I was in class. That didn't stop me though. I just went the next day by myself, which actually turned out to be perfect because it meant I could take the camera and practice my photography. That wouldn't have happened if I'd been with a group, but since I went solo, I could take my time. I did have to remind myself to put down the lens and enjoy, but it all balanced out.

The Georgia Aquarium advertises itself as the largest in the US. I can't say I have anything to compare it to, but I think maybe I was dreaming a bit too big. It was pretty great, though. And now I have an excuse to go to more aquariums to compare. I definitely concur with general opinion (at least, the general opinion of my friends who went the day before) that you can't miss the dolphin show. And I did get some good pictures:

And of course, I couldn't pass up the gift shop. What better place to get a souvenir? I was very tempted by plush toy animals (everyone needs stuffed animals) and I did see a great squid hat that grabbed my attention, but settled for a snow globe and some postcards.

But I couldn't shake off that squid hat. So the next night, my co-worker/friend and I went back to see if we could get in to just the gift shop. My friend kindly explained to the guard on duty that I just had to get a squid hat, and she kindly let us in. Totally worth it: