Road Trip Sunday

Woke early to the gentle sounds of rain,
which turned to snow.
Some of the largest flakes I've ever seen.
Well, really, they were actually several matted together,
but they looked so cool falling as if someone had shaken a snow globe.
Later the rain returned, melting it all off again.

Anyway, slept in some, then decided to check with Mom and Dad and see how things were going in the cities. They had SUN! No fair! So, I decided that I'd head down for a quick visit to see them, my son, and attend an Oxford Seminar about certification for teaching English as a second language. I had received an email on the 30th - kind of short notice.

I've been toying with the idea of becoming certified for this for some time, as it would allow me to be able to travel and help people - something I've wanted to do for quite some time. I figured the weather wasn't bad for a drive and if I was also driving toward the sun, even better.

So after getting into town I first met up with the boy for Burgers at Annie's Parlour. YUM. Huge burgers, and we split a half order of fries (which you'd swear was a full order - I couldn't imagine what their full order was as this basket was HUGE.), and a large malt. He ordered the malt for us, which was chocolate and included Oreo cookies, and coffee flavoring. It seemed to be missing the coffee flavour, but it was huge - two big malt glasses full and heaping with Oreo pieces. So filling and SOOOO good.

Afterward, I took him grocery shopping. A few weeks ago I had gotten groceries for the former 'friend' in FL, and I so wished I hadn't wasted so much time and effort on someone who was so unappreciative - complaining about and eventually giving away most of the purchases (not only this trip, but in Oct as well), as my son was so grateful for the goods and I could have then spent more money on him. Ah well. I mean really, who complains about free groceries? Heck I could have donated them to someone in more need. Anyway.

We then returned to his frat house and unloaded, and then I set out to map my way to Macalester for the seminar. That sorted, I then pulled up the photos from the Twins pre-season game I attended in Florida - the one he had to miss and shared the pics. He really enjoyed them, and picked a few I need to send him of his 'crew'. The boy has loved baseball and the Twins since he was a lil slugger.

I found the Olin-Rice Science Center ok, but the presenter was late. Once sorted, there were about 9 of us in attendance. Jeremy our speaker gave his spiel about Oxford Seminars and we all listened, then asked our questions. I didn't notice anyone signing up that night, but everyone seemed to fill out the paperwork to register for the free drawing. The seminar in Duluth is not until the end of May so I have some time to research the certifications more and make a decision. One of the guys sitting next to me seemed a bit disenchanted with the presentation and the weight the certification(s) would hold. I, myself had a problem with Jeremy's presentation in that literally very nearly every other word was "Um' and it really got old - especially as he presented himself as a linguist specialist and had been with the organisation for four years, teaching in a couple of countries and in private schools. The 'um' got old really fast and I should have kept a tally of usage for kicks. I think I'll email him. ;-) Seriously, that usage really took away some of his credibility and in my opinion, knocked him a bit down as a company rep for teaching English and proper grammar, as well as just got to be grating.

Once done, it was off to Mom & Dad's for the night. As we watched the news it was reported that Dull-uth received up to four inches of snow in some places. Oh goody!
Just what I want to go home to. The weather guys (they surfed a few channels to check out each forecast) all said it is to be crap for the early morning drive - rain mixed with snow. Yay! I can hardly wait.

Before fully retiring I had a couple of lovely chats with some male friends - one a long-time friend, one newer - and it totally reminded me how chats should be; two-sided and courteous, unlike the one's with the same friend mentioned above I had gotten 'used' to. It makes such a difference to 'be' a part of a conversation, not to just listen to one ramble on and on, but actually sharing and playing both the part of the listener/reader and talker/typist.

Thanks guys!

Time to crash.
Gnite.

(Pics later.)