Several months ago, unbeknownst to me, my mom and her special friend made a huge decision to move to another state. The week leading up to the move I watched somewhat anxiously (I'm ashamed to admit) as their belongings began to move from the closet to the floor then haphazardly shoved in boxes. I watched my mom grow more and more frantic and noted her increasing tendency to become weepy over things like her last trip to her regular Safeway. My mom's special friend however handled things very differently, he was neither frantic nor weepy and that gave me a sense of reassurance. After all, surely if a big change was about to happen he would turn off the monitor and stop playing Skyrim. Then, one day four strange men arrived and began hauling all the boxes to a large truck. I followed them eagerly, careful to note their packing procedures and how they handled the items. Eventually, after the items were all packed up, my anxiety began to build. Where were they going? Was I going with them? If not, would they return? So many enormous questions tumbled through my highly intellectual mind but alas, I had no answers.....
As it turns, out I had NOTHING to worry about. My mom and her special friend apparently were planning an amazing surprise just for me. A few short days later we got into the car and began a tour of the nations southwestern gas stations. It. was. amazing. I was simply ecstatic at every single gas station. I couldn't help myself, 500 yards out I would begin to shake then 400 yards I would start to whine then 300 I would shake and whine then finally as we pulled in I would howl, unable to contain my excitement. This spectacular trip continued for 4 days, every day filled with fantastic gas stations and every night at a hotel room where my mom appropriately would get me my own bed.
Arizona Exxon |
At the end of the trip we arrived in Texas and we stayed there, more on that later.
After I successfully presented my dissertation to the board. |