From Beach to Bust(ed)

This Saturday I headed to Destin to visit my friend, Katie, who was vacationing there with her in-laws.  The day was perfect for the drive and I made good time, until I got off of I-10 that is.  At that point I became one of seemingly hundreds of people driving into Destin, with just as many driving out.  It was a tedious 40 miles.  But it was well worth it when I got to my destination and got to see my 6-months-pregnant friend.  I so miss being around people like Katie who know me so well.  

I especially miss going shopping with them, which is exactly what Katie and I did.  We headed to the outlet malls where I found some pretty daggum good deals, for both Dave and myself.  But perhaps the most fun was shopping for baby clothes for Maddy (the yet-to-arrive Williams baby); it’s nice being able to shop for tiny, adorable clothes but not being the one spending money on it!

After out shopping extravaganza, we headed to the beach with Bryan’s family, where we just relaxed, conversed, and of course took the requisite photo:

After watching some parents being cited for allowing their underage daughters to drink on the beach and seeing two catamarans (one of which Katie and crew had been on the previous day) fall over and have to be towed in, we headed in to get ready for dinner.  Bryan’s sweet family (really, they were amazingly kind to me – even letting me crash on their couch!) then treated me to dinner at a fantastic seafood restaurant, after which I demonstrated my consistently mediocre putt-putting skills.  The night ended with late-night girl talk (also something I seriously miss).

In the morning, the Williams families headed home and I met another long lost friend, my best friend from high school, Amy, for breakfast.  It was so good catching up with Amy, and I even got to see her family, which was one of my second families throughout high school.  It was a much needed reunion.

Unfortunately, the reunion ended and I had to head home to a stack of papers waiting to be graded.  But as always, my darling husband rescued me from my undesired task and whisked me to the movies, where we saw Dark Knight.  It was very good and, despite my skepticism at the reviews surrounding Heath Ledger’s performance, he truly stole the movie and made it more than just a comic book movie. 

When we got back, though, there was no escaping from the grading, which has basically been my life for the last couple of days.  The process culminated today when I was forced to confront a plagiarizer.  More than any thing else, plagiarizers infuriate me.  It’s such a stupid mistake! Luckily she took it well and now I get to concentrate on my next trip to the beach.  This Sunday we get to head to St. George Island with our Altmaier clan.  I can’t wait!  Let’s hope I don’t have to bust any more students in the meantime.