Sunday, August 31, 2003
I've had such a wonderful weekend. Friday night my friend Terri came all the way out to Rocky Mount to hang out with my roomate Domenica and I. We tried not to talk about teaching, but we failed. In the end, we decided to try to let it go until Monday and we didn't do a terrible job of it. We went out to dinner (at The Outback: Rocky Mount's idea of a fancy restaurant) and then just all went to bed early. Fridays are so exhausting.

Then on Saturday, Terri and I went to Rocky Mount's only cool coffee shop...and cool here is relative. It is actually a Christian owned operation and there are bibles and god stuff everywhere. Somehow I had managed to block this out- I think I was so desperate to think that it was the coolest place ever I managed to ignore the corner filled with people listening to the Bible on tape. I am good at denial. Anyway, we got coffee and tromped around the teacher store for awhile (a new favorite passtime- who knew that bulletin board borders could be so fascinating?).

Then we got Domenica and we drove to Wilmington: my new favorite place in North Carolina. Wilmington is a beach town and it has a really nice downtown with shops and everything. From our excitement you would have thought that the three of us had never been out of Nash County North Carolina in our whole lives. We got to shop and drink real coffee and have beers that were brewed right in the building! And we got to listen to the Haunted Pub Crawl that told about how this lady pirate was lovers with this other lady pirate and how they used to make people bleed until they were dead. It was just so nice to hear about such things. I am feeling little repressed, perhaps.

Then we stayed the night in a Marriot (can I just say God Bless Priceline) in a cozy soft bed. I have been sleeping on an air mattress, so I found this part very exciting. When we got up we went looking to get our nails done, but nothing opened until noon. But then we met Owen and Charles at the beach and had the most delightful day ever. The ocean out here is soooo warm! It was incredible. On the West Coast it is always too cold to really swim, but out here you could stay in the water all day. Except for that I kept being terrified that there were jelly fish just leaping towards my legs to sting me and the waves kept knocking me down and pushing my face into clam bits. I am maybe a bit of a baby. Then a bird really pooped a lot on my arm and I screamed. But we washed it off and everything was okay.

We got great tans and then had some lunch and walked around. And the drive back home with Terri and Domenica was really fun, listening to music and talking about heartbreak, as girls are prone to do.

It was lovely. It is hard to think about planning tomorrow. But I just finished grading my kids tests and a lot of them did well, so I am proud of myself and them. I think every weekend should be a three day weekend. I wish I lived in Wilmington. But I feel really good and relaxed and we are going to go back soon. And Terri and I are going to Chapel Hill next weekend, maybe, to hang out with Owen and Charles, so that is something to perhaps look forward to.
¶ 10:32 PM