what is up
Well, right after I finished the translation a couple weeks ago, we had a little sort-of vacation. First we drove to Waycross to have our taxes done by Holly's mom's accountant. The results of that was a big disappointment but, well, I guess that's life. We might re-do them ourselves to try to get a better refund. Hopefully next year we will get a bigger refund because I should be in school.

Then we drove up to Rome, GA for Holly's mom's wedding. Yep, that's right. She met a guy she was set up with by her niece on New Years Eve (or maybe New Years Day) and they are now married. The wedding was mercifully short, and very nice, and Lindsey and Todd came which was cool, so we had some non-relatives to hang out with and drink with after the wedding. Not that there's anything wrong with hanging out with relatives per se.

The next day we drove back to Athens. For those unfamiliar with Georgia geography, this represents the completion of a full-circle, actually more like an irregular rectangle all over the state. First from Athens to Waycross, which is like mostly South. Then from Waycross to Rome, which first is a straight shot west to Tifton, GA (the reading capital of Georgia), then north/northwest to Rome. The trip home from Rome is mostly east, so you can now envision how vast and complete this mighty driving circuit is.

As I've previously posted, I've been getting together the rest of my grad school app, which has taken up some of my free time since then. It's almost all done except I need to proofread my Spanish writing sample over the weekend.

I've got the day off today because tomorrow and Sunday I'm attending the first two days of a Bridging the Gap training. BTG is a 5 day, 40 hour basic training for medical interpreters. I'm looking forward to it, although I'm fairly sure most of it is stuff I've already picked up from the GA AOC Commission on Interpreters and Acebo, not to mention just picking up stuff on the job over the past two and a half years. I'm a bit peeved that the provider of this session is not providing lunch, as sometimes is done (and should be for what my employer is paying for us to go!), but luckily my employer has agreed to reimburse us for lunch. I have to go this weekend and then again the last Friday, Saturday and Sunday in April. Another cool side effect is that to avoid overtime I have some more days off during the week coming up.

In a little while I'm going to meet up with Holly for lunch since I'm off. That will be very nice.

I am looking forward to some potential shows and other activities:
1. At the 40 Watt on Friday April 15th Olivia Tremor Control is playing with Elf Power and advance tickets are only ten bucks.
2. On April 16th, the annual Classic City Brew Fest, a beer tasting festival, is happening. If Todd wants to go with me I'm gonna try and go.
3. June 10-12: The Midtown Music Festival in Atlanta. This is going to be a huge cluster fuck of an outdoor festival (mostly corporate) in the middle of Atlanta, normally something I'd avoid. BUT with Pixies, White Stripes, Lou Reed on the bill, it's really tempting.
4. June 23-26: AthFest. Ok, I already mentioned this. But now they've announced two of the bands playing there and one of them is the legendary locals Pylon. I wanted to see them New Years Eve but missed out, so this will be an awesome chance to finally catch them. Check their website for very interesting autobiography of the band by their singer, who claims that they beat Gang of Four in Asteroids way back in the day. Now, this show is going to be on the outdoor main stage, and all outdoor shows are free, but I will definitely be getting a wrist band again this year because it is so fun to be able to enter the different clubs as many times as I want, and I know there will be tons of great local and regional bands playing.

Hopefully it will stop raining today so I can try our brand new air compressor out on the back right tire on Holly's car later today.

Alright, time to go downtown for some lunch.