It's pouring in Nashville, and I'm sitting in the grad seminar room looking of out its very old, very large windows. I love rainy days,although here it means you will automatically be 20 minutes late to wherever you are going, because everyone drives around 25 mph here with the hint of even a sprinkle of rain. But it made for a lovely time in the car with Daniel on the way to school.

Having Mom here was wonderful. It's nice to familiarize family with your life - now she knows what Vandy looks like, and where we like to eat, and what our apartment looks like so that now when I talk about these things, she knows what I'm talking about. :)

Mom couldn't catch a flight into Nashville, so Daniel and I decided to drive to Chattanooga to pick her up (it's about a two hour drive). The drive was wonderful. It's mostly through forests and over a couple of rivers, not many cities at all. Daniel and I think we'll do it again over Thanksgiving break. There's alot to do during the drive itself. For instance, the Jack Daniels distillery and Tennessee's two or three wineries are along this route. There are also many natural wonder-type stops which would be fun. On the way in we stopped to buy fireworks, which I am very excited about! I've never played with fireworks before . . . I was too scared to get anything big, but it'll still be fun.

The highlights of Mom's trip: 1) dinner at The Gerst House, a restaurant/brewery with "traditional" German food & drink and "traditional" German music. 2) Cheekwood Botanical Gardens (reminiscent of Hunington Library in Pasadena) 3) Cooking Indian food and watching The Office 4)Shoppingin antique stores.

All in all, a wonderful time. I was very proud of Mom, because she even petted our rats (yes, we have pet rats and we love them!). I had a hunch that most of our time together would consist of eating and giggling, which of course it did. :) And it was fun to discover Nashville for a second time - we've been so preoccupied with school that we haven't really been outside of our apartment or campus. There are beautiful parts to Nashville, and after this week I am determined to enjoy them more.