This weekend was simply incredible. Friday, at about noon, it started snowing rather heavily here in Memphis. Since Michelle was working, we were not scheduled to leave for Clarksville until about 4 PM. However, her boss was concerned that we would not be able to make it out of town, so she came home early and allowed Michelle to leave early. So, we got out for town about 2:30 I think. People in Memphis drive in a ridiculous manner even when the roads are clear, so adding snow just creates bedlam and chaos. It took us quite a while, and a few death-defying maneuvers, to get out of town. Once we got down the road a ways, we actually got ahead of the snow, and we were just driving through a lot of rain. Not too bad. However, around mile marker 30 (remember, mile marker 0 is the Mississippi River) Michelle started clamoring about how she always craves hot chocolate when it's snowing. Meanwhile, I was just trying to keep us alive...LOL. So, we soon stopped for some hot chocolate and a cinnamon roll. This allowed the snow to catch back up to us, but we eventually got back ahead of it again. Until mile marker 143, when we needed gas. After filling up, we drove through snow for a while until we eventually got ahead of it again. Eventually, we got to my grandparents' house, where I promptly fell asleep from exhaustion. LOL.

My mother had read here that one of our main objectives while we were in town was to visit Johnny's, so she and my dad instructed me not to go there Friday night, since they wanted to take us there for dinner Saturday night. However, our jones could not wait, so we went late Friday night just for a honeybun with ice cream. Mmmm good. Afterward, we were so wired that we called my parents house to see if they were still up, and indeed they were. So, we headed over there to chill and so I could download some of my brother's music. My dad had recently converted a bunch of old home VHS movies to DVD, so we watched Christmas 1986 and had great laughs. That was the year I got my first RC car, and it fun to remember old times. Steve promptly brought out that old car, plus my dad's lasertag gun (complete with holster). Steve watched the movie with horror as he opened a ton of Transformers, and other figurines. He could only imagine how much they would be worth now, unopened. I pointed out that his behavior was dangerously similar to that of the guy in "40 Year-old Virgin". I threatened to never speak to him again if he revealed an "Asia" poster. Then I told the story about the guy I used to know who had close to 10 Asia CD's. LOL.

Saturday, we had a busy day. We started by going to Wal-Mart to buy a trailer ball and a wrench (to install the trailer ball). While there, we ran into one of my former professors, whom I had for English 1010 and 1020. She is the nicest woman, and it was great to see her. We also ran into Dottie Minor, who is a member of the Clarksville church. She told us that her husband Pat was out of town and would miss my sermon, but that she would be there. She is really friendly, and it was great to talk with her.

Then, we went to U-Haul to pick up the trailer we had reserved. I had originally reserved it with the plan that we would tow it with my Nissan truck, but due to the snow we decided to drive Michelle's Explorer instead. When the woman at U-Haul saw we were in an Explorer, she promptly told us we could not rent the trailer, due to U-Haul's policy of not allowing their trailers to be town behind Ford Explorers. I said something to the effect of, "Say what?". I found this to be incredulous. She explained that a number of Explorers had overheated while towing trailers, so they do not allow it anymore. I was just dumbfounded. So, needless to say, we left U-Haul without a trailer.

So, we headed over to Tim's house to load up what we could of the stuff we had left there when we moved to Memphis in August. First on the priority list for me was the CD's and DVD's that I had unwittingly left there. Since all my CD's are alphabetized, I have been without everything from the M's to the R's since we moved here. That includes my Neil Young and Pink Floyd. This has been a sore spot with me, so I am overjoyed to get them back. Then, we went to Wal-Mart to return the trailer ball and wrench. Then, we went to visit the people that she used to work for, but the kids were not there so we decided to come back later. So, I got a haircut and Michelle got hers trimmed a bit. We then cruised by Verizon to see Kent, and while there ran into Tim and Teri Sims, who are expecting another baby in a few months. So, their two kids will only be about 14 months apart. Wow. Turns out that Teri knows Kent's wife Daphne. I had never known this...LOL. We visited with Kent for a few minutes before heading over to my parents' house to get ready for dinner, and for me to copy more music. Steve and I played some games on the Xbox while everyone waited for my parents to get ready. We eventually hit the road and we all enjoyed a nice dinner at Johnny's. Steve's girlfriend Tina met us there, and no one was quite shocked that Steve and I engaged in an almost-epic battle of Ms. Pac-Man. That was a lot of fun. Ms. Pac-Man is one of my favorite video games of all time. Some of you may remember that I once held the high score on the machine at Austin Peay, until they unplugged the machine and moved it about 8 feet. That was horrible!...LOL

After dinner, we headed back to my parents' house where I could finish copying music, and while doing that Steve and I listened to some of Dark Side of the Moon (on his new special version CD) in surround sound, which was fabulous. Michelle was significantly ready to go, so we departed.

We got over to my grandparents' house, and I had planned on reviewing my sermon, but instead I mainly toyed with my new music, getting organized just the way I wanted it. Meanwhile, Michelle watched the last half of "Dirty Dancing". Then, the lights went out and I embarked on one of the least-restful nights of sleep ever. I don't think I slept for more than about 2 hours total, and woke up with a terrible headache, and with every bone of my body hurting. Plus, I felt like puking. I was not sure if I was going to be able to make it to church, and I was certainly in no condition to speak. But, I persevered, and made it there. I was already a nervous wreck, and when my parents walked in, I almost fell out of my shoes. No one had told me they were coming, so I was quite shocked to say the least. This increased my level of anxiety/nervousness by a factor of about 15, so I promptly went to the bathroom and got sick. Real sick. I cleaned myself up, and with about 5 minutes to spare, declared myself ready to proceed.

Somehow, I made it through the service, although I do not know how. I was so overcome with emotion that I could hardly breathe, let alone speak coherently. Afterward, it was remarkable how many people told me that I looked so relaxed. I wanted to say it must been because I felt dead...LOL.

After worship, the entire family gathered for lunch, which was a lot of fun. I didn't really feel like eating, but I managed to get some food down (Can't pass up a free lunch...LOL). It was great to visit with everyone, but before I knew it, it was time for us to go. We went by the Clarksville Academy, where the local baseball umpires' association was supposed to have a meeting, so I could say hello to the guys. However, no one was around, so I surmised that the meeting must have been cancelled. Then we went out to visit the kids Michelle used to watch, and we were all excited to see each other. They told us they were doing well in school, and that made us really happy. I had sold my Dell laptop to their mother last summer, and she told us that over the holidays some of the family that were in town had downloaded a bunch of games and stuff and gotten it messed up. She had just gotten it back from the shop on Friday. I was glad that there was nothing mechanically wrong with it. I fooled around with it for a bit, defragmenting the hard drive, and doing the same with their desktop. I also tried to fix the desktop's monitor, but could not do much with it. Looks like it is going bad.

We hit the road about 4 or so, and as soon as we got going, I knew I was not going to be able to drive the whole way. I was so exhausted that I could only drive for an hour or so, and had to get Michelle to drive. She drive for a time, while I slept. Except for when she would slam on the brakes, waking me up. Anyway, she drove past Waverly to where we get back on the interstate (mile marker 143), and we stopped for a few minutes to get some coffee and snacks. I felt much better, and was able to drive the rest of the way. We got home a little after 8, unpacked the car, and promptly sat our butts down. We were tired. We cooked a frozen pizza, of which I did not eat much (still no appetite), watched Grey's Anatomy, then went to bed. Just before retiring, however, I opened the envelope I had received at church, which contained my paycheck. When I saw the amount, I was flabbergasted. They paid me much more than the normal rate, plus mileage. Whenever I speak at a church, I don't usually discuss the pay, knowing that the church will pay me fairly. So, this was quite a surprise. A great way to top off the night, and hit the rack.

The wake-up call came way too early this morning, and I could not manage to stumble out of bed in time to make it to math class. Which was OK, since we probably were just going to go over Friday's test. There is no attendance policy, so it's not big deal. I decided to go to the library, where I planned on doing some reading, but instead I have been writing this post for about the last hour or so. At 11:30, Michelle and I are meeting for lunch (appetite is BACK!), then we have a meeting at 12:30 here on campus. Then, I have film class at 2:30, and she has to work for a few hours before she goes to class. Maybe I will get some school work done tonight while she is in class.

I checked my email earlier, and one of my professors wants to get together over lunch to informally discuss the ethics of human cloning. That sounds exciting. I do not know too much about it, although I tend to be against it. So, it will be good to converse with someone who is knowledgeable about it. I think we are going to get together in the next week or two.

I have an Israel meeting tomorrow, and a baseball meeting on Wednesday night. So, I do not work again until Thursday. So, our expenditures will definitely be cut back this week. Maybe we will pick up some Ramen noodles...LOL.

I hope everyone is doing well. Peace...