Tuesday, me and mom headed out to Oxford, MS for some Wal-Mart shopping and then decided to drive up to Panola County for a drive through the Mississippi Delta. We saw Marks, Lambert, (site of my first college summer job), Sledge (home of Charley Pride), as well as some no name places. We ended up at celebrity chef Paula Deen's new restaurant at the Harrah's resort in Tunica for dinner. This place has forever set the standard for what beef brisket should be!
Wednesday was a lazy day, visiting with extended family and taking them souveneirs from China. My little cousin Jonathan got me hooked on Guitar Hero and I am proud to say I am returning to China with the Nintendo DS version.
Thanskgiving started the usual way: waking up to the smells of good food while the sounds of Broadway played in the background from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. After loading up the dishes in the car it was off to Nelda and Lala's (Lonnie's) house (That is my aunt and uncle.) We ate too much, me and Jonathan played more guitar hero, and then we ate more. Afterwards I visited with my Aunt Till and Uncle Ken and cousin Pat at their home in Calhoun City, MS and then returned home to find my Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Annie over for a visit. It was a great day getting caught up with family.
On Friday, after lunch at Pizza Palace, Priscilla Melton and her son Christopher came by for a visit. Priscilla has been fighting a battle with cancer over the past months and it appears she has won! Growing up, Christopher was my Nintendo playing buddy. No telling how many hours we logged on that old 8 bit system saving Princesses from dragons. Christopher is now a college student at Ole Miss and doing quite well. Later that evening I got to open my Christmas presents, lots of good new clothes and some DVDS to take back to Beijing and even a little money!
On Saturday, I headed to Corinth to spend some time with friends there. Myself, Allen Millican, Cody Butler, and Chase Claburn went to see the new Twilight movie: this is NOT a vampire movie, at least one guy got his head ripped off though.
Sunday morning, I attended church at St. Paul's Church in Corinth and since hardly anyone showed up for Sunday School I ended up just answering questions about China and getting caught up with friends at the church. Sunday night was the reuninion with my Crosswind family. Crosswind is a Christian social needs ministry, similar to the Salvation Army. I attended the evening service and got to see a lot of friends that I have worked alongside in ministry in Corinth. Afterwards, Cody and Allen went with me for a meal at Mi Toro mexican restaurant.
Monday was a whirlwind of a day. I headed to Oxford to meet up with my friend Sebastian Clark. Sebastian and I have been to 4 Cornerstone Festivals in Bushnell, IL together. Gabriel Stanley also joined us, Gabe has been at 3 of those 4 festivals. We spent most of the time at a coffee house sipping coffee and cider. One highlight of the afternoon was when the young blond lady stopped by our table to talk to us and it turned out she was Joey Lauren Adams who most people will know from the Adam Sandler movie Big Daddy, very down to earth nice girl. She apparently hangs out in this coffee house quite a bit. She has also been in many other films, such as Kevin Smith's, Chasing Amy. Later me and Sebastian went over to Faulkner's home and walked the grounds. It was cool to imagine the man himself spending time among those trees plotting his next novel. After a quick run by Oxford T Shirt Co. to meet Sebastian's girlfriend, I headed up to Memphis for the International Brotherhood of Magicians Memphis chapter's annual holiday banquet. I performed one trick as an outgoing officer and then walked away with a good book from the gift swap: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Street Magic. This will give me some extra resources to pull from for my EF magic club.
Coffee With Sebastian and Gabe
Tuesday morning I spoke at Calhoun Academy to the third-sixth grade classes and showed them pictures from China. They were all very curious.
I landed in Beijing lastnight around 6 pm and stepped out of the plane into 21 degree farenheit air and wind. It was strange how normal it seemed to be landing in China. 6 months ago that didn't seem so normal. After clearing customs and an hourlong cab ride to my apartment, I was ready for sleep. Now I am back at work. I hear there is a birthday party planned later in the day for me and Laurie, my boss. We were born in the same year just 2 days apart. I will update later with pictures from that party.
No comments:
Post a Comment