Summer in Review

I should be writing (and I fully intend to before the day is over), but so far I've spent most of the day playing on facebook. It's been awhile since I last posted, so I figured I'd catch you guys up on my summer.
I spent May in Jackson working at the Eudora Welty House and researching at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. My work at the house was something that I couldn't have imagined happening in my wildest dreams. The project of the summer was to ready the two other upstairs rooms (the boys' room and the sleeping porch) for tours. My job was to look at pictures that were taken not long after Eudora died and put things back to where they were in the pictures. I walked into the room and found about 40 boxes of books, a fuzzy, wide-lens photo, a magnifying glass and white gloves. It took me about two and a half weeks to get all of the books into their appropriate places. It was tedious work, but I never got bored. What blew my mind the most was that every day I was allowed to let myself into the house of my favorite writer. On days when there were no tours, I would walk into a darkened house and make my way upstairs. Every time I passed Eudora's bedroom it would hit me where I was. Walking in the house five days a week didn't change the feeling I got while inside the house. The feeling was one of reverence not unlike the feeling I got in Notre Dame in Paris or the cathedral in Milan.
I also spent a good bit of time in the archives reading letters that Eudora had written during World War II. The feeling I got there was hard to reconcile. I felt like I was invading her privacy. I kept thinking what any of my best friends would say if I read their intimate letters to other people. In the end, I remembered that she chose to leave these to the archives, and I should utilize them!
Once May was over I came back to Atlanta to teach summer school. It was my first American literature class, and it went unbelievably well. I got little to no writing done, but I finally began to organize my thoughts better and read more.
I ended the summer with a couple of trips. I went to Mississippi for a long weekend after the end of the summer semester. I was able to make it to Memphis to hang out with the Ervins. I don't get to see them that often, but Matt and Amy are two of my favorite people on earth. So, any time I get to hang with them is great! I also went to see Poison and Sebastian Bach with Carrie Chandler. I had no idea what to expect, but it was tons of fun! If the concert had been bad, I wouldn't have cared. It was great hanging out with Carrie. BUT the concert wasn't bad at all. In fact, it was great! I was living in my fourth grade heaven, and it was awesome! The most exciting news of the summer is that Carrie and Will Chandler are pregnant with Baby Chandler! They are due in February, and I could not be happier. I'm not for sure which makes me smile more: Carrie as a mom or Will as a dad!
My last hoorah of the summer was spent in DC! I went up for DiAnne's engagement party. I was able to stay for a long weekend, and it was great being able to hang out with Dee before she's a Mrs. It was also great getting to know Chris (her fiance) better. I had only met him once, and while he passed the first inspection...I wanted to be sure! He's awesome! I've never met somebody who fits DiAnne so well, and I couldn't be happier for her.
Of course, there were plenty of hours of family time mixed in there. The nephews are growing up so much! They love spending the night at Trishie's when I'm in town. I love it (of course), but I'm also looking forward to the point at which they sleep past ten. I'll post some pictures later.
How was your summer? Anybody do anything grand?