My blog got mentioned in my Alumni Newsletter!

Does that qualify me as famous?

Really, Kalamazoo College's Be-Light E Newsletter mentioned me under the Class Notes section - and I totally did not send that information to them - so who did?

I was totally shocked, they mentioned that I had a blog and that in it I chronicled my experience of finally finishing my SIP twenty years later, and linked to that post! I feel kind of cool now!

But guess what? Not only am I now finished with my SIP, but I've completed my gym credits and in December (which is when they print up the diplomas) I will be the proud owner of a Bachelor of Arts Degree with a French Major from Kalamazoo College! Yay!!!!!!!!! Although, word to the wise for other people thinking of majoring in French - double major in some kind of business-y thing, because really, I'm not very marketable at the moment. I plan to remedy this by taking the GRE and getting into Library Science School, but really, it would have been much easier to do when I was younger.

moving back home

I've posted it on Ravelry already, but I thought I'd do it here. I'm moving back to the D. Or, well, the metro Detroit area, which is the place I call home. I tried to call Alpena home. And I'm very sad to be leaving. I'll miss my friends, my job, my book club, the swans in the river, the snowy winters (really, I mean it, I love the snow). Oh, I know I complained but I thought this was where I would be, for a really long time, and so I adjusted. Only to have the rug pulled out from under me. From under my entire family really. I'm not ready to talk about why we are leaving, but someday I will be. I can't wait for that day.

But in an effort to look on the bright side, here is a list of shit I won't miss in Alpena.

1. Road kill that lays on the side of the road for weeks at a time.
2. The melting plastic smell that permeates the air 4 out of 7 days a week from the panel processing plant in town.
3. The way the most of the locals look at you like you are still a stranger after two years.
4. The absence of any real Mexican cuisine.
5. The lack of a decent bookstore (ok, at least there is one here, but let's face it, it's substandard)
6. The absence of any real Chinese food (really what I mean is that there is no Young's here!)
7. The only radio station that played semi-decent music (it's catch phrase is "playing the 80's, the 90's and now" emphasis on 80's and really it should say "80's no one listened to)
8. Going to the store without showering and seeing at least three people you know.
9. How the "important" people here think that they really are important
10. All three McDonald's and all three Subway's.

His first (that I know of) "college story"

So. The 18 year old found some friends, of the smallish rodent variety, in his apartment. Three mice to be exact. Now, he IS a boy, and we've had mice in our houses before, a couple times and he didn't seem to traumatized. However . . . .

Last night I was IM'ing him on Facebook, and I asked if they had seen anymore mice - here, I'm just gonna quote the conversation verbatim. Read it, it's pretty funny.

Me: Did you see anymore mice?
JB: I don't know.
Me: What do you mean you don't know? Any mouse poo?
JB: I don't know. I don't venture into the quarantine area.
Me: (chuckling) The quarantine area? Where is the quarantine area?
JB: My room.
Me: Where are you sleeping?
JB: The couch.
Me: Did you get your clothes out of your room?
JB: No, only a select few.
Me: Ok, you know mice can smoosh themselves flat enough to go underneath a door.
JB: Taken care of
Me: How
JB: Hoodies rolled up along the edge of the door, smashed in with a large metal box.
Me: How long is the "quarantine" going to last?
JB: Until the PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) stops.
Me: LMAO - are you having flashbacks?
JB: IT'S NOT FUNNY!
Me: It's kinda funny! LMAO
JB: It's like you are making fun of a war veteran!

I'm sorry, I just thought this was hilarious. I'm still picturing my 18 year old son curled up in the corner of his couch with the computer actually having flashbacks about mice running across the floor and his cousin throwing a shoe at them, stunning them, and then beating the crap out of them. It is kinda funny, isn't it?