So I am back, from my wild adventurous journey in to the wide world of Houston, TX. (forgive me, I’ve been reading Elizabeth Peters, and she always makes me want to write grand long epic sounding sentences with big words. I’l get over it, I’m sure).

Everything is supposed to be bigger in Texas, or something like that. To test this myth, since Adam and Jamie and the rest fo the Mythbusters team were unavailable, I took my own notes. And I will reproduce them here for your benifit.

Wal-Mart: Bigger. Whoa. Not only bigger, but the shelves are taller, and closer together. So, yeah, bigger and denser. Who’d have thought? And they have annoucments in spanish.

Roaches: Bigger. Way Bigger. I mean… one of these things could carry me off, no problem.

Space Centers: Not bigger. At least… not as big as Johnson should be, in my head. It’s actually kinda smallish. Compared to the rest of Houston, anyway.

Overpasses: Oh yeah. Bigger, and stacked 6 high in some places.

Shopping malls: bigger, and more of them. They are everywhere.

Distance from where you are to where you want to be at any given time: Always bigger. It takes forever to get anywhere. Traffic is awful.

Headcolds: bigger, meaner, and nastier. Seriously, I htink I’ll be the first person ever to die of a headcold. Chad might be the second.

ummm…. there was some other stuff, but between the cough suppressant and the mucinex and the antibiotics… I think I forgot it. If I remember, I’ll post it later.

Other things learned in Texas include the fact that just because a business includes both NASA and Clear Lake in it’s name, does not ean it is actually in Clear Lake or near NASA at all. Just in case you wondered.

And we did sign a lease on a house. In Friendswood. I have pictures. But I don’t have the energy to post them with appropriate comments at the moment. So you’ll have to wait.

Anyway. I have a to-do list that takes up a full sheet of notebook paper, and only four checkmarks made so far. If I can pry myself up off the couch… I might go take a nap before I try and tackle any more of this stuff.

I’m done. I finished my last project report. As soon as my other team member gets here and we turn this stuff in, I’ll have no other academic requirements to meet.

I went and picked up my cap and gown this morning. It’s all weird… Master’s robes are so different. It’s got long hangy-down sleeves, and the weird hoodie thing. I think it’s funny.

So this whole graduating thing. It’s kinda scary. Like… I don’t know. Everyone has been asking me for months if I’m excited to be graduating and moving to Texas. And I have been like, well, I guess… it’s just something you do. You finish with what you’re doing in one place, and then you move. We’re done in Starkville, guess it’s time to go somewhere else. But now… I guess it really hit me this week. I’m not a college student. I’m a grown-up. Or at least… I’m supposed to be? When did I get issued my grown-up card? Who exactly checked my credentials for grown-up-ness? I’m not even old enough to rent a car… who thought it was a good idea to give me a Masters degree and let me move like, a quarter of the way across the country?

I guess I’ve just gotten really comfortable here. I mean, Starkville has been more “home” than Huntsville for a long time now… as much as I complain about it while I’m here, it’s a little scary to leave. I’ll be far enough from home, that I’ll have to plan way ahead to make it home for important events like Mandie’s graduation… I’m sure my parents will *never* make it out to Texas (until I provide them a grandchild as incentive, anyway). It’s kind of odd.

Not that I’m not looking forward to it. Living in a “real” city with malls and restraunts and museums is going to be awesome. And unlike the last time I lived in a huge metro area (St. Louis), we will not be in the ghetto. Far from it, actually. Houston has so many advantages… I’m looking forward to doing things I never get to do here while I’m in school…

I don’t know. I’ve moved prety often all my life… so the moving thing is ok. I guess it’s the not-being-here-after-I-move thing that bothers me

So it turns out… I should be graduating like, Magna Cum Laude. Which is pretty cool. Since I never managed to keep a good GPA as an undergrad.

And… if you want to come to my graduation, it’s Friday night at 7pm. My parents aren’t coming, because spending a week in Gatlinburg for Thanksgiving (and this taking two weekends off of work) was more important than coming to see me graduate. Apparently, the two are mutually exclusive.

I so wanted a TomTom system before I read this. Now I really want one. With John Cleese’s voice. Because that is funny. And would make me feel like James Bond or something (assuming I drove somehting more hip than a Ford Tempo, I guess).

Yes. I am almost there. Counting the days, in fact. Nine days, counting today, and I’ll have a Masters Degree.

Between then, all I have to do is finish two projects and corresponding project reports, finish two class notebooks, and take a final. And clean my house so that a) my parents are way impressed with my housekeeping skills (if they actually make it down here), and b) the movers can actually move our stuff in some organized fashion when the time comes.

But… I got Immortal Cities: Children of the Nile in the mail the other day (not being cool enough to buy it when it came out, I had to eBay it)… and I stole some time a couple of days ago and played it for an hour… and it is so cool! like, amazingly so. I like it. Ha. So…. I am bribing myself to work on my projects for a little while (like a couple hours), and then I’ll play my game for a little while. Yay!

So I took my camera on my Thankgiving trip, with the idea that somewhere in there, someone would take a picture of me and I could post it here… But somehow, the only picture of me ended up on my brother’s camera, and he hasn’t sent it to me yet. Maybe I’ll get chad to take a picture of my hair this weekend.

Anyway…. I should get back to the working and the projects.