So much to tell!

The best thing I did in preparation for post-committee meeting celebration was to plan to take a trip to Spokane to visit Nana and Papa. I just got back from a nearly 4 day hiatus with them (aahhh). Nana kept us just the right amount of busy. On Saturday, the whole family went to the the Community Quilters Meeting, and then enjoyed the Spokane Potter's Guild empty bowls fundraiser. For those unfamiliar, the potters make bowls, you pick one which gets filled with chili (and corn bread, and fry-bread, and anything else you stuff in it), and you get to eat the chili and keep the bowl. Brilliant! Nana also took me to the Community Theater performance of Steel Magnolias (*sniffle*), and to the library's brown bag book sale- because despite what Papa says, she does like to spoil me. The weather was beautiful, the grandparents are in good health and I got a lot of sleep- which is Papa's way of spoiling me. I may have gone overboard trying to explain the process of committee meetings, defense and matriculation to Papa- and I know I lost him when I started talking about my career plans (What are you going to use a PhD in Biology for in policy??). Maybe I'll address this in a future post- like when I've got it figured out. Speaking of future posts, I did get a couple more Papa stories- due out, well, soon.

But man, what a great weekend. And just in time- things that I found acutely irritating last week suddenly seem manageable, and I am ready to jump back on the wagon (or leap out from under it).

And getting back into life post-committee meeting, Matt and I went to see Rodrigo y Gabriela live at the Byham Theater tonight. For those who aren't already devoted fans- Rodrigo y Gabriela DON'T play flamenco music- they are from Mexico City for crying out lout- but I think you could be forgiven for saying their unique rock is highly reminiscent of it. In the second half of the show, cameras were added to the scroll so you could watch the UNBELIEVABLY FAST finger work and knuckle drumming. It was still a bit too fast to see, but I got a better appreciation for what my eyes could not resolve. Very talented pair, very energetic show.