We had lunch with her grandmother, who was also in town visiting for Kristina's thesis defense. After lunch we walked around The State Botanical Garden Of Georgia. Then Kristina had to get some work done, practice her presentation, work on her PPT, so grandma went back to the hotel to watch the golf channel and I hung out on Kristina's couch reading Mistress of the Empire. That night, the three of us had dinner with Kristina's boyfriend Bruce. We had leftovers from the Passover Seder that was the night before, beef brisket, carrots, and potatoes. Everything was really yummy.
On Thursday, there were lots of errands to run before Kristina's defense. I went with her to some but then spent a few hours in her apartment by myself baking treats for Kristina's defense (standard procedure I'm told). I made scones and kosher for passover marble cake and brownies. Kristina's mom came over for a short while to help with the preparations. Then there was a flurry of getting dressed and ready to go. Kristina's defense was at 4pm, so all the treats had to be set up before hand. Her presentation was about 30 minutes long, followed by a break for snacks, then everyone but Kristina was shuffled out by her committee so they could grill her for 40 minutes. She was approved with changes! Afterwards, all her friends gathered for drinks and dinner. Kristina's mom made a toast. Then a few of us went to Ben & Jerry's for ice cream (despite the cold). Kristina and I shared a banana split.
That night Kristina's boyfriend came over and we played 3 handed Canasta. It was the first time I had ever played so they had to teach me but then I won on the second hand.
On Friday, Kristina had another presentation. While she was preparing, her grandmother stopped by to say goodbye. After the presentation, Kristina's Mom met us at her apartment and we drove over to Bruce's place for dinner. We had this wine to drink while we were waiting. It is a sweet sparkling white wine and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Kristina, her Mom and I played Canasta while Bruce finished in the kitchen. For dinner, Bruce prepared Coq au Vin, all on his own, just by following the instructions from the cookbook. Dinner was delicious and I was quite impressed. We played a few more hands of Canasta and then Kristina's Mom went back to the hotel. Two of Kristina's friends came over and the four of us played the expansion version of Settlers of Catan. I won. Then it was too late to play another game so we settled for 5 hands of Phase 10. I finally made it to phase one on the 5th hand. It was late and by the time we drove back to Kristina's and I had packed my bag, it was 1am.
My flight left Athens at 7:40am. I arrived in DC around 11am and Max was there to pick me up. The rest of the weekend, Max and I took it easy. I went driving on Sunday and tried out a new route. Pulled up behind a car at a red light and drove on a curvy road for the first time.
1 comment:
I'm tired just reading through it, but it looks like a really fun and successful trip! : )
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