The Memphis Run, Ole Miss runs away with the game, and the China might-be run.

Yesterday was a Memphis dog food run day. It was a beautiful 60+ day with full sunshine as we loaded Kate and headed out at noon. (Yes, we wasted half the morning sleeping late, but it was a rare occasion around here.) Kate, being the Princess as well as the socialized dog, got to go with us. Petco lets you bring your dog in on a leash so it is a fun trip for her.

After Kate and Libby's last run-in, her wounds have begun to heal with white hair instead of black. She now has a very noticeable X on the side of her face.
It was such a beautiful day, we opened the sun-roof, which peaked Kate's curiosity to no end...for all of 2 minutes. Then she moved to the back and laid down on her pillow. We drove through Mickey D's for lunch on the way, and she patiently waited until the end of the meal, knowing her reward for staying out of the food and our face is coming. She daintily ate her chicken nugget and the last bite of Randy's burger, and then curled up for her nap.

It was adoption day at our newest Petco--which is conveniently located right on the edge of town on our road, and now we don't have to go all the way in unless we need something else in that part of town. Dogs and cats were all over the place and Kate gets so excited about meeting new company. A few nose sniffs of dogs (she shows no reaction to cats) and then we did our shopping. At the treat bar, she decided to paws up to the counter and look for her own treat. I made her get down, so the employee there took a cookie out and gave it to her. See why she is so spoiled?

I spied a white kitten with one blue eye and one green eye and fell in love on the spot. I miss my cat since Killer died this summer, and have thought about adopting another one. I forced myself to move on though, as 4 dogs is enough to take care of at the moment. Rex has finally stopped searching for Killer in all her favorite hiding spots when he goes outside now.

We finished up our day with a quick stop at Fresh Market--my favorite organic and natural foods store. I picked up chicken cordon bleu, la venezia, and parmesan for our dinner (we all like different things), a fresh sourdough boule, and some pasta and tomato basil for a quick easy meal when we got home. Fresh Market carries both Patsy's and Rao's, which are two of my favorites. Leaf tea, Heath cookies, and I was ready to roll. My phone went off, and it was Randy from the car saying Kate asked for a bottled water and he would like a diet coke. I splurged the $2.49 for a bottle of Republic of Tea Ginger Peach (it is not sweetened, so it is my favorite) and we loaded up yet more goodies for Kate to leave alone.

One more stop for lottery tickets--my friend had asked me to pick up a couple for her. She said if she won, she was not coming back to work! It has indeed been a tough week with several crises to be dealt with--student melt-downs, placement issues, inappropriate student conduct--all on top of the currently very heavy work load for all of us as we prepare for the next step in accrediting the Masters program and deal with our expanding student enrollment, the next 5 year plan, and all the countless other things that seem to keep adding themselves to our plate. She and I both are teaching overloads this fall. I thought I might as well, so got two tickets for myself as well.

Lots of football traffic on the way home from Memphis as Ole Miss played Arkansas Saturday. Randy taped the game, so we watched it after we returned home. The Rebels routed the hogs to take a win, as Coach Houston Nutt--formerly the Arkansas coach--beat the Razorbacks for the second time since moving from Arkansas to Ole Miss. Four of the students in my classes play so I have to watch for them. The awesome Ole Miss defense is known at the Landshark this year--due to their outstanding performance, and all the defense wear bracelets that say Landshark. Monday, one of the players from my class brought one for me, much to Randy's jealousy as he has wanted one. They are not available for the public, just the team has them, but I told Randy I might let him borrow mine sometime.

It's going to be another beautiful day here, with temps all the way to 72 today, but alas, I must grade papers and prepare for next week since I took off yesterday. On a final note, on Thursday I will get to attend a meeting with our International Institute to meet with people from a Chinese University. They are interested in developing some programs and want to coordinate that with Ole Miss. One of the programs is social work, so if the partnership is agreed upon, I will have the opportunity to travel to China to help set up the curriculum and program and guest teach. Now that will be an experience I will look forward to.