my mother, my little brother and i went to the montgomery county fair this evening. twenty minutes outside of washington, yet you'd think you were in north carolina. people twanged, their stomachs bulged, men wore hats and everyone said "y'all." like all good fairs, this one had two halves: a livestock half, with rows of cattle, goats, rabbit, and roosters, and a carnie-half, with way too many lights. in the first half, my mother fell in love with a cow -- it was all we could do to keep her from dragging one home with us. in the second, my brother won me a huge glassy-eyed stuffed animal.

my legs nearly gave out as i'd spent the previous hour and a half cooking with ari. who knew that eggplant took so long to prepare? so long, in fact, that i didn't get to taste the parmesean fruits of my labor. thankfully i'm not goal oriented, and we much enjoyed the process.

my last day with karen tomorrow. my last with AU friday. before you know it, what'shisname will be 21 and it'll be time to head back to skool.