Back to the Bubble

Triathlon season has begun. For Scott, of course, not this gelatinous glob, that would rather watch the ABC Family movie Beauty and the Briefcase that she DVRed last night.

And it was a great beginning, because we got to take the girls back to our alma mater - not that they cared. We hadn't been back together since Scott's brother Matt graduated 10 years ago. (It will be 14 years since my own graduation - which seems absolutely impossible, since I still tell people I'm 23. Not because I'm one of those women. Just because I honestly think I'm still 23.)

So Friday we set out for Oxford, OH and our beloved Miami U. (Could anybody be more in love with their college than I am?)

Let's back up, because the day started with Scott driving to court over an hour to the west of us. While I argued with the library that I had indeed turned in the case to Barbie's 12 Dancing Princesses DVD, I just hadn't realized the disc was still in the player. We were both successful.

Impressively, we were driving south together before 1 PM. A huge victory.

The devil's spawn only napped for a half hour - which was contrary to my evil genius plan - while Morgan conked out for a good hour or more. After which there was literally not one moment of silence.

Various activities included but were not limited to:

Zoe yelling Cock! COCK! COCK! every five seconds. (That's her word for truck. There are a lot of trucks on 71 South.)
Morgan giving us the minute by minute weather report. "It's raining! It stopped raining! The sun's out! The sun's gone! It's raining again!" Thank you, Al Roker.
At least 15 minutes of Happy Meal bliss when they unwrapped their dragon's which breathed fire.
Mommy's ipod random playlist built specifically for Morgan's enjoyment, including Paparazzi, Big Girls Don't Cry, and Party in the USA. (All of which Daddy sang along to at one point.)

You know how most things seem smaller when you get older? Well, Miami is actually bigger. And it is not a figment of our imagination. There are a ton more academic buildings and houses. The Uptown area has more apartments. And for some reason metered parking has extended to Saturday (which we found out by receiving a $10 ticket).

Another cause for feeling my age, technology. Every student walking down the sidewalk had a cellphone to their ear or their thumbs. I think the year I graduated some of my friends were starting to get them, but they were more akin to the Zach Morris monstrosity than today's. And you definitely were only talking on them. Add to that all the laptops humming away in the library study rooms. I borrowed my roommate's word processor to write my final thesis paper...History and Homer: Did the Trojan War Really Exist?

Anyway, despite all the new, we stuck to our comfort zone. We ate dinner at Mac & Joe's which has been there since my Grandma attended. It is an alley bar. So needless to say, walking in with a 2 and 5 year old, caused a few heads to turn. The next day was Bagel & Deli for lunch and Bruno's pizza for a snack (though they have raised the price to $1.50 a slice). I refused to get anything that said Redhawks on it (I'm a Redskin and I have the car decal to prove it).

We have pretty much convinced Morgan that she should go there, though she has given us the strict condition that we live there with her. We will happily ablige. All is right with the world when you hear the Beta Bells every fifteen minutes, see a dozen guys leave their house with beer cases cut into knightly helmets on their heads, and it takes you 10 minutes to make it 4 blocks because Uptown is so congested (thankfully, it's only 4 blocks long, so 10 minutes isn't so bad.)

Oh, and Scott came in 5th in his age group (somewhere between "getting old" and "almost too old to do this shit anymore"). 38th overall. Plus, on the way home (well, not really the way) we got to barge in on my roommate Allison that lives in Cincinnati.

Added bonus, Zoe soaked through her diaper (unknown to us) which caused about a twenty minute breakdown that almost had everyone in tears.

So perhaps my sentimentality has now bored you to tears. But if you were looking for someone that appreciates a good walk down memory lane...you now know I'm your girl.