Classes started yesterday ...

And this place has been a madhouse since a week ago Monday.

Long lines, impatient people, hot, sweaty ... you name it, it has been going on. I've been serving at a "welcome table" -- also known as the answer desk. I've been at the table for anywhere between 2 hours and 7 hours each day of the last week. Last Friday was the first day I'd gone home before 6 all week. It was delightful.

Being at a college in the first few weeks of a semester is almost intoxicating. The excitement is contagious ... with students, staff and faculty alike all focused on the start of school and the "newness" of the semester at hand, where that ever-elusive "A" is still within reach.

I've been sleeping hard every night. I come home from work, eat dinner and collapse.

I did find out that I'm eligible for free tuition next semester -- so I'll be taking Spanish. I really need it here, so much more so than in Indiana. It would have been especially helpful these past few weeks.

Thinking ... thinking ... thinking.

yes, that's what I've been doing.

Family has been to visit lately (two weekends ago it was Dad and Stepmom, this past week it has been Aunt N and Cousin T). With family visiting, it makes for some thoughtful hours, as we ponder each other, our lives and our loved ones.

Not a terrible lot to report other than a nice visit to Key West this weekend. Aunt N had always wanted to go and Uncle R does not like to drive over bridges, so with the visit, I agreed to drive down to Key West and spend the weekend.

It was lovely.
It was beautiful.
It was everything you expect Key West to be.

I'm back at work now, just trying to get caught back up. And thinking ...