4 days...ahhhh!

Ha well it's getting to be crunch time...which is all right with me. I always work better under pressure! I have all my paperwork in order but I still need to register to vote abroad (very important!). And though suitcases are still empty there is a huge pile of almost everything I own on Lisa's bed (thanks Lis!). Ha! And while I am a natural procrastinator - I have not just been 'twiddling my thumbs'.....

Last weekend I went to Harford with family and friends to take part in the 151st Harford Fair! There is truly nothing else like it. We got to camp out on my Grandma's farm, skeet shoot, pick blackberries, go to the Picadilly, have bonfires and even enjoy my dad's famed firework show! At the fair we went to a 33 miles and Caedmon's Call concert on Thursday night; watched the Rodeo on Friday night; and thoroughly enjoyed the Demolition Derby on Saturday night. It was also good to see my Grandma as well as my Aunt Linda and Uncle Mike. I love the farm and when I am there I can definitely say that my country roots are restored! However this time I found it funny that in the span of a week or so I would go from one cultural extreme to the other! Harford, PA to Rome, Italy...strange!

Earlier this week (Monday night- Wed morn) I went down to Philly U to say "hi" and "bye" to all of my friends. It was almost surreal being on campus and not having classes to go to! Patti said she felt like she should be giving me a tour of the campus. So at least it wasn't just weird for me.

On Monday night when I arrived I had dinner at Kanbar with Patti and Aaron. Then Patti and I had some quality convo time before meeting 'the gang' for Applebees! Fourteen (or so) of us went to Applebees to catch up and savor half-priced appetizers. It was so much fun to see everyone and to learn about their summers. There was much laughter (some at my expense...*ahem*...Renee and Jesse! ha!)

My Tuesday was a tad busier with breakfast with Megan at Ridge Diner(tradition!); random run in with Amy Nichols (highlight!); lunch with Lisa S. and Renee F.; site visit in the city with Renee F. (I felt like an actual design student again!); awesome conversations; dinner with Renee F., Patti, Megan, Peter, Aaron, Steve and Kendra; and movie night with Megan. It's ironic that I ate more campus food in two days than I did for weeks at a time last year. So even if the food was sometimes sketchy, my company was always sweet :)

It was sad saying goodbyes to all my closest Philly U friends but I am so thankful that I was able to see them all, even if it was a short visit. The "Goodbye" song from Plankeye kept running through my head; which sums up just about everything:

"Goodbye, goodbye
Walk away it's time to say goodbye
Goodbye, goodbye
Walk away it's hard to say goodbye"