The Doldrums

See how puffy my eyes are? Winter turned to Spring almost literally overnight. One day it was cold and the next it was balmy and the Bradford Pear trees, Dogwoods, Lorapetalum, Dandelions and other assorted blooming plants and weeds burst into full pollination! We are now stocked with allergy meds... but it seems like trudging through the normal cycle of homework, extracurricular activities, Spring Fling, birthday parties, etc. is all the more difficult through the haze of allergy-induced sneezes and sinus pain and pressure. Ugh.

It also means energy for blogging has been zapped. As always, so many posts running through my head--photos of early Spring blooms, the local theater playing The Diary of Anne Frank, dusting off of old projects--has been delayed. I'm just catching up with what all of YOU have been up to as well! Hopefully things will settle out and regularly scheduled programming will resume.

Are you KIDDING me?

Sunday I witnessed a middle aged man texting... during a funeral.

Bieber Fever :-(

I sat through two hours of film featuring tweenager girls crying and hyperventilating over Justin Bieber. How much do I love her? TWO HOURS!!!

This is the Bieber shrine in her room.

Miss Hollywood

Trimmed

"Abby. Did you cut your hair?"

"Um. No?"

I think the evidence says otherwise.

A Brief Detour

Just because it made my kids laugh and laugh and laugh.... and Abby kept saying: "Alan! Alan! Alan!" after she watched it.

Schooled

I've decided to stick with a bit of the "Where I'm from" theme for posts in the near future. Statesboro is a college town and has been for over a century. My sister and I were the third generation of our family to attend Georgia Southern. My Grandmother Hall attended in the mid-1930s. My mother graduated in 1963. Christie, my sister, finished up in 1989 and I graduated in 1998. These trees have been there for all three generations! The common area above is called "Sweetheart Circle".

The town has grown as the college (now a Carnegie Melon Research University) has thrived in the past two decades. We even have a Starbucks now and TWO book stores! Enrollment has tripled since my sister graduated and grown by 5,000 students since my own graduation year. New apartment complexes, shopping centers and restaurants have expanded along with parking complexes, dormitories, and academic buildings. Students make up 40% of the population and Georgia Southern University is the largest employer in our region. We are a true college town.

The campus is beautiful. There is a lake (really a pond) in front of the library and plenty of room has been left amidst the expansion of buildings for trees, benches and cobblestone pathways. I have to admit that when I was a student, it irritated me that the chemistry lab was sadly outdated while money was being spent on new pathways, fancy outdoor lighting and the like. The results are nice and money has finally been spent to update both the biology and chemistry buildings. NOT before the College of Business and Accounting or the Athletic facilities, of course. But updated nonetheless.