the parents are here!

dude, what a day

so as usual, 2 classes... then instead of pizza seminar, home for a 5 minute lunch, to the bank, the gas station, stuck on the NJ turnpike for awhile, picked up the parents in newark, and now they're here.

this is a bizarre visit... when i go home, i'm entering their turf... they can tell me my schedule is abnormal and blah blah blah... when they visited me at valpo over time, it was very much in the "we're lara's parents and while we're here we're still acting our age, and whatever whatever whatever"... this visit, they're actually stepping into my world and having to play along. =)

after i picked them up, we went by a diner for some soup and coffee... then mom took a nap (she's fighting a cold) and dad watched animal planet for 2 hours... at 8, we met 7 of my friends (ben, sam, eric, leigh, colleen, trevor, and scott) for dinner at a thai restaurant...dad's food was spicier than he planned, but it was quality and we had fun... then we all went over to jared's house for coffee, brownies, and sheepshead... i had really crummy cards all night, but it was fun... colleen explained the game to my parents and kept the moderately involved while i had fun just playing... finally, i took them back to their hotel so they could crash and went back for a few more hands.

then, after cards, i drove colleen and eric back to campus, and then eric and i collected our stargazing gear (maps, binoculars, etc.) from his place and went looking for awhile... it was relatively warm (although windier than planned) and stayed relatively clear enough for 40 minutes for us to see a bunch of stuff... very cool.

now, it's freaking 2:45am... i have to meet my parents at their hotel at 8:20 to catch the train to NYC in the AM... should be another fun day.

the end. =)