hodge-podge

* there are so many things to see in memphis that i haven't done in years but make for a great afternoon
e.g. 1: yesterday, brother and his best friend and me spent the afternoon at putt putt. we were by far the tallest people around, but (1) the mini golf bit of the day is still fun as ever... and (2) i LOVE arcades. i beat brother 7-2 and 7-4 in air hockey, we won enough tickets to get each of the 3 of us a new paddleball game, and i made friends with a game that's basically dance dance revolution, only you're playing a drum set instead of dancing... it was a quality afternoon.
e.g. 2, this afternoon, brother and i spent an hour at the mud island riverwalk i hadn't been there since i was 8, but when i saw a picture of it on the wall of a restaurant i was at a few days ago, i suggested it and brother was game. it's a to-scale model of the mississippi river for its whole length located on an island in the river... you can wade, etc. at your own risk... it's a bit of fun.

* i like making new friends and reconnecting with old ones. had a good lunch with a HS friend i hadn't talked to in 6-7 years last week... am having lunch with a grade school friend i haven't seen in a couple years on thursday... yesterday was quality time too. rose, a 70 year old lady from my memphis church, stopped me on the way out of sunday morning's service and invited me out for lunch for yesterday.... we had a fabulous hour and a half of chatting. rose is absolutely amazing. she didn't go to college when she was younger because it wasn't the thing young ladies did, and she couldn't afford it, but she always wished she could have, so at age 42, she began college, and graduated with her bachelors and high honors at age 50... she then went right on to her masters. besides having the pluck to go through all that she's involved in a million and one other things, and generally has a handful of people who she informally mentors and does stuff for... she's amazing. and i'd not just sat down and talked with her outside of at church events ever before, so it was really nice to connect and just chat, especially with someone older who's supportive of what i'm doing with my life (my grandma isn't so much). it's special to me to chat with someone who not only cares and has a lot of life experience to share, but also understands what i'm up to and why and is encouraging about it. end of tangent.

* i also made another new e-friend this week. my grandpa was the oldest of 20 some cousins, and one of the youngest ones has written a family newsletter for all descendents of my great-great-grandparents for years now. my mom gets the newsletter but i don't. when i came across the most recent edition earlier this week, i emailed kristin (the author = my grandpa's now-65 year old cousin)... turns out she loves typing as much as i do if not more, so she's become my new e-penpal, with 10k emails going each way every few days. how much fun is that?

* southern food is soooo goood... after this trip i'm going to have to get back to some diet, but while i'm here, how can i say no to baked sweet potatoes and corn pudding and gallons of sweet tea? yay memphis.

* funny how "going home" makes me realize how much i don't really have a "home" anymore. NJ is in some sense of the word anymore, but in a few years it won't be so it's not quite the same. there's not much permanence to my life these days and while most of the time i enjoy that, it's still a little strange when i think about it too hard. makes me wonder if/when/where i'll find someplace to "settle down" and begin a more "permanent" existence... who knows...

* done rambling. the end. :-p