And we're back.

In Phoenix, that is. My folks get home from their trip tonight (they have already informed me of the grave travesty that is the fact that we've never taken a cruise as a family before - it was their first one and they loved it). I really enjoyed hanging out with my brother. I can't wait until he gets his license and come see me whenever he wants.

Today we're back to work. I had a meeting for Teen Outreach this morning, drove our neighbor across the street who is having awful luck with her car right now to a job interview, cleaned up a little, and now I'm holed up at Christian's school getting ready to hit the books. Well...MacBook, I guess. If you looked up hot mess in the dictionary, you'd find a picture of me. Shaggy as all heck - in desperate need of a haircut (falling-out-braid or down...makes no difference).

My husband is a dear man who says he's not embarrassed of me going around in public like this. I think my mom might be, though. She's always telling me to get myself together. [Still working on it, Ma.]

I also got to finish The Help on my drive back up to Phoenix. Since I feel morally/academically obligated to be in front of nursing books when I'm actually sitting still anywhere, I decided to download some audio books for my three or so drives back and forth (2 hours each way) I did while staying with my brother so I could actually get some much needed fiction back in my life. I love to read...it's all I used to do as a kid. Some kids would stay up late to talk on the phone or play video games; my mom used to catch me sneak-reading at midnight with a flashlight. However, academia killed any and all opportunity for me to continue my love affair with books and I have really enjoyed getting to read again since graduating from nursing school. The book was amazing. I cried three or four times, laughed consistently, and drove down the freeway with a goofy smile on my face half the time. So very well written, I really truly enjoyed it. Next is either The Hunger Games or Never Let Me Go. I'm a sucker for sci-fi.

All right...better get back to it.

[PS - SOMEBODY I LOVE TURNS 25 TOMORROW....STAY TUNED...]

Oh snap.

Love,
Ash