spring break

Last week was our spring break (thank goodness--I really needed a break!). We actually got an early start because Thomas had a conference to go to the Thursday and Friday before break started, and at the last minute I decided to go with him. It was in Omaha, which is about a 4 1/2 hour drive from here. We didn't do anything too exciting while we were there--mostly just watched movies in our sweet hotel room, went swimming in the pool, and went out for a couple nice dinners. And, of course, Thomas had his paper presentation (over the ever exciting History of Leo the Deacon), which went very well! It was a very relaxing start to the week.




We were home for just a few days (a few frantic, homework-intensive days) before we set off on another road trip, this time to Chicago. While there, we stayed with Kris and Rachael, Thomas's friends from Tulane. The main reason for the trip was so that Thomas could check out the University of Chicago, which is one of the schools he's looking at for his PhD. It's a very pretty school and he had a chance to talk to some people in the history department, which was good. Who knows if we'll end up there, though--he's looking at a lot of schools, and the competition is pretty tough. Other than that, we didn't do much in Chicago itself, both because it was pretty cold and because it was the weekend before St. Patrick's Day so it was kind of crazy. Instead, we hung out and talked with friends, played games, and took a tour of the Jelly Belly factory that's near Kris and Rachael's suburb (and in Wisconsin, which added another state to the list of those I've visited). We drove back on Sunday and then had to scramble to finish getting ready for the week. We are now yet again bogged down with homework, papers, grading, and lesson plans...How long til summer??