"you had the world's smallest nail stuck in your tire..."

Yesterday was a day I don't need to repeat again any time soon.

It started out with me packing my car for a trip to East Lansing to visit the MA TESOL program.

Then, I got a mile away from my house and decided, "Oh, I'll just take this extra half mile of dirt road to get me to the highway, which will be cleared, rather than go on snowy paved roads for several miles." This started well, and I was within an eighth of a mile of my goal, when the sheet of ice that I was driving on became problematic. I slid and spun off into the snowbank...and got a flat tire in the process.

Thank goodness for cell phones, random strangers driving by, and fathers.

Close to two hours later, I was on my way again. I got to MSU only about 20 minutes later than I needed to be there (I'd originally scheduled plenty of time beforehand to do random things). I sat in on a class, had an interview for a TA position, and had a very good conversation with Professor Ron Dorr, who I'd had for Religion and American Literature and was one of the two best professors I had at MSU.

Then I went back to my car, intending to head to Quiz Bowl practice and see people. However, to my utter dismay, I discovered that in my rush to not be quite-as-late when I showed up, I had inadvertently locked my keys in the car.

Called H&H Mobile, got it taken care of, and eventually made it to Quiz Bowl practice. Then I went to Tina and Lisa's, where I'm staying this weekend, exhausted after a stressful day. Within ten minutes of arriving, Tina had a pillow, a cup of tea, and a back rub for me. Bless her heart!

Although, as my mom said, no car trouble and a bad interview would have been much worse.

~*~

I'd forgotten how much I love the Lansing area and the MSU campus. I don't know for sure what I'm doing this fall yet, but it's been great to be back here for a few days.