"One More Week"

Casey met with The Boss today, who told him to wait "one more week" before he makes any decisions about his start date at BP. So we're pretty much back at square one for 7 more days. Things are going better for Casey right now (*knocks on wood*) and his recent experiments are explaining more of the 'story' he has to tell for his dissertation. He's had people that are tough to impress say that the work he is doing is good, and more people are noticing how hard he is working. I just wonder what took them so long, but that's okay- at least they are noticing, right? Anyway, at the moment, things are looking up. I'm still going to wait before I start getting too excited about it all, because like the engineers I work with, I need absolute proof.
In other news, this week is going to be crazy busy, but I'm excited because I have work as a distraction. My REUs get here on May 24th! This week will be spent tying up any loose ends, and basically getting everything ready for their arrival. I'm not nervous at all this year- just anxious for them to get here. I think it helps knowing that I won't be here for another summer. I just want to do well and make this one great. I really hope no one gets arrested this year... and you'd better believe that I'll tell them the story when they arrive so hopefully no one makes the same mistake the other student did last year. :P
I had a really good weekend. Saturday, I had a BeautiControl booth at Plantation Storage, a self-storage business that decided to have a yard sale to raise money for SQ Rescue, the local dog rescue organization. The people that work there were really great to me; I got free lunch from O'Charley's and had plenty of help and moral support throughout the day. Not only that, but I think at least one of the women who work there is going to book a spa. :) I did about 25-30 hand spas that day, which was a lot of fun. It was neat to see the people smelling and rubbing their hands after they had come to the station, or waving at me as they walked by again and shouting "My hands feel great!". Seeing other people enjoy this stuff makes me like it even more. I like to make people feel good, and the products sell themselves. :) I ended up making enough to pay for my booth 5 times over, so that was nice! A little extra money, and some contacts for spas in the future. Not bad at all.
Casey and I went out on Saturday evening to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary (a week early b/c of the REU arrival on the 24th). We went to The Melting Pot, a fondue place in Columbia that is a bit expensive, but worth every penny. Case most have told them that we were celebrating our anniversary, because they had the table set up with 6 roses, and took a picture of us. I had the girl take another picture with my camera, seen here. We had an excellent dinner, and really enjoyed each other's company. He gave me a card that made me get teary... I feel very loved and appreciated. :D Five years had flown by!!
Sunday, Dr. Amiridis and his wife threw a 'graduation' party for Casey and Jose. It was the traditional 'dunking' where the elders of the group throw the graduates in Amiridis's swimming pool. Needless to say, it was pretty great to finally see Casey's turn in the pool. We've seen quite a few others in the past, and this one was kind of a reality check for both of us that he's really getting out of here soon. We had great food, and hung out with the entire group for about 5 hours. It was nice seeing Dr. A in a more relaxed setting, and getting to joke around with everyone. Dr. Patcas went out and got funny gifts for Casey and Jose; Jose got a parrot hat, and Casey got a stuffed snake. Dr. P even made a collage of pictures for Casey that compared him to the Crocodile Hunter which was pretty funny, including pictures of our Toilet Snake. It was a good time, and it was nice to see Casey relax a bit and get out of the Engineering building for a few hours.
I guess that's about all for now. I'll try to write again before my 'kids' come this weekend, but things are getting a bit crazier already, and I know they will even more as the week goes on. It'll be nice to be distracted by something for awhile until we figure out what's going on with our lives! :D "One more week!!"

-Ash