What A Week!

So, Mark is home, but he's been feeling pretty yucky! The jet-lag combined with his still sore throat has not been a pleasant thing for him while he had 5 very important interviews. So far, we've heard that his #1 choice has turned him down. There are still others to interview for, and several others to hear back from. So, we'll just have to keep you posted on what happens and where we will end up for next summer and after graduation.

Mark also realized that he had a conflicting schedule for his interviews next week. He has a scheduled flight on the same day as another interview, but it was before the interview, not after. Oops! So he had to spend some time figuring out that whole mess.

Another interesting thing that happened this week was that our car was towed for being parked on the street at the wrong time. Usually Mark remembers to move it before noon, but yesterday when he left the house and noticed that the car was no longer there, he felt pretty silly for forgetting to move it this time. (Give him a break! He hasn't had to worry about actually moving the car all summer!) So there was a bit of a hassle he had to go through in order to figure out where the car was, and how to get it back...not to mention the $160+ it cost to pay for the damages of forgetfulness. No matter how long we've been here, we still seem to get caught in the traps of the Boston Transportation Department and get gouged with penalties for accidents.

Speaking of getting gouged, I had to go get my driver's license switched over to a MA state license. My insurance company told me that I had to in order for them to renew the policy. So that was a $90 fee that we really didn't want to have to deal with. Now Mark will need to get his switched over before the 4th in order for it to renew as well. Also, Mark's license expires on his next birthday anyways...so I guess it's not such a bad thing afterall.

Also, we've been preparing to go camping this weekend. In our quest to be fully prepared, we just couldn't seem to find a decent camp stove to take on this trip. We went to REI because we knew they were having a sale, but they just didn't have any that Mark was fond of. We then ventured to Target. They seemed to have the kind he wanted, but they were not in stock. So...we'll just have to see what Mark comes up with today as he organizes everything for the trip. (I'm here at work, so he gets to do all the dirty work of the preparations! We're leaving as soon as we can after I get home from work.)

After the camping trip, if we have any good pictures, I'll be sure to post them. As for now, here are a few from Mark's trip to the Hot Springs in China.

Views of the hotel and resort:





A few of the group from the office that went on this weekend outing:



Is it just me, or does this necklace make you want to chew on gum-balls?



Some of the fun involved playing in the water too!

This picture deserves a disclaimer: It looks worse than it really is because Mark had to grab his hand to keep him from falling. Mark had sandals on, but the other guy's bare feet were slipping on the rocks.


More fun things to see...at least, photo opportunities!