It's easier to leave than to be left behind...

Okay troops. We are now less than 12 hours away from departure. Egad.

First stop on the journey: Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.
It's my Great-Uncle's Golden Jubilee (50th anniversary of being ordained a priest) which is a HUGE/awesome thing. So it'll be a family reunion of sorts for my mom's side of the family. Oh, did I mention that my mother has 42 first cousins, because she does. Family gatherings aren't really ever very... small. I love them. Everyone is happy and noisy and there is always tons of wonderful food and there's this amazing sot of... buzz in the air. It's sort of like even though the people standing next to you may not know your name, or exactly where you came from they know that you're family and there's almost a tangible wave of love washing all over everyone. Yeah it's horribly mushy and junk, but hey, it's true. Now we're nowhere near a Norman Rockwell picture, we're far too normal for that, but we do embody a sort of family that is completely out of fashion nowadays. For one thing there is no such thing as an only child! We're a haven of good ol' fashioned values in the storm and onslaught of media induced loss of nuclear family frenzy. That all made sense to me. Outside readers, maybe not.
Anywhos, I'm excited to go to the Pirates/Cubs game on Saturday with (130+) family members. And of course seeing my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins is always swell.

Second stop: Cincinnati, Ohio.
Here I will get to see my dad's parents and my Uncle Jimmy. We're going to visit/have a break before driving to Indiana. I love seeing my Grandma (she rocks I believe is what I have been quoted as saying) because she is the nicest person on the face of the planet... along with my Gaga. Basicly I am named after two exceptional human beings and I am very grateful for that! (side note: my name isn't legally Marley, it's Mary Lorraine) My parents and I are spending Sunday night at my uncle's house (ultimate bachelor pad) and part of Monday morning.

Final stop: Evansville, Indiana home of The New Harmony Theatre
Then on Monday afternoon I and all my junk will be deposited at the University of Southern Indiana for the next 12 weeks! I jump into work at 8am Tuesday morning. I am ridiculously excited.

On a random note: I got to see some of my best high school friends today. Ben, Soupy, Portch, and Laura. It was really nice to see them all. I mean I see Laura a ton (!!!) but the others not so much. We were missing a few from our old group. Tommy and Billy (what's with the Norfolk boys missing out?) weren't able to make it, and then I don't think Kevin has truly hung out with us in a year and a half. He stopped by last summer for the dinner, which was nice. And of course the girls weren't there. But then again I don't think anyone is even in contact with them anymore. Strange how much things change that you thought never would.
Oh well. I truly enjoyed our time together this afternoon. Friends like that are hard to come by.

Well I am amazed at how un-packed I have become in the mere week and a half I have been in Chantilly. I really need to get prepared to leave in the morning!!!

Next post written in Virginia: sometime after August 19th. Crazy!

~Marley