Tuesday, June 28, 2005

here, there, and everywhere: hotel langefeld

It’s been ages since I’ve thrown out an update, and so much has happened! Two weekends ago, my older sister came up for a Father’s Day visit, and we all helped get my younger sister ready to head out to Europe. (Did I mention being jealous? Once the travel bug bites…)

We drove Adrienne up to Chicago’s O’Hare airport on Father’s Day, and she flew off the next afternoon. We’ve heard from her a few times since then. She’s having an amazing time! I think today she’s in Prague. I’m absolutely thrilled for her… but I am starting to miss my favorite roommate of all time.

After getting back from Chicago, I was able to finish a huge project that I’ve been working on for my grandma—a book of letters that she wrote over about twenty-seven years. She was married to an Air Force officer (my grandpa), and her letters come from all over: Alaska, California (where my mom was born), Turkey, Germany, Arizona, Colorado, Washington, Ohio, Illinois, and Florida. Whew! It’s fascinating to hear about everything that went on: stories about my uncles and aunts as kids, things my mom would say when she was five, side trips my grandma would take around Turkey, my grandpa’s visits to Egypt and Lebanon.

Anyway, I’ve been typing them all into Microsoft Word, and then we’re going to get them self-published, so that’s exciting. I’ve finished the typing part, and next up, I’ll do the copyediting.

Then, this past weekend, we (Mom, Dad, and I) drove out to Indiana for a party at my dad’s business partner’s house, and then yesterday we went to an Air Force retirement ceremony at Scott Air Force Base (which is close to where I live).

So it really has been busy!! I’ve done some writing between trips and projects, though not as much as I’d like to. And my Honors Thesis project? Ha ha ha. I’ve decided that July is “research month” and August is “write-the-formal-proposal month.” I’ll have to hit it hard then. (Um, really hard.)

And in the meantime? On Thursday, Mom and I drive out to North Carolina! We’re having a “writing trip.” We’ll be exploring the mountains and the outer banks, and taking days in between to write about what we’re seeing, people we’re meeting, conversations we’ve eavesdropped on, smells, sounds, accents, etc. We’re so excited! We’ll be gone about ten days.

And what am I most looking forward to? The Biltmore. I don’t know much about it, but the pictures are gorgeous. (Seriously. Click on that last link and tell me if I’m wrong.)

We’re also going through something like “East Dismal Swamp.” Catchy name, eh? Not exactly designed to draw in tourists, but I’m still pumped. My first swamp! Suddenly I want to see an alligator. How cool would that be?? (Last night, my dreams were littered with alligators. Strange. I could even smell them. Gross!) Anyway, if I see any, I’ll be sure to post a picture.

So that’s the scoop! We have two more days to finalize details before heading off on our mountain-ocean-swamp-writing adventure. And I’ll tell you all about it when I get back!—jl

Posted by Jenn Langefeld on 06/28 at 11:39 AM
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