Melissa Aho

My mom, family friend Janet, and I attended the “Diana: A Celebration” exhibit today at the Mall of America. The exhibit included many of Diana’s dresses, including her wedding dress and tiara, some of her other iconic dresses, and some of her family heirlooms. It was well done and very tasteful, despite the fact that they left out huge sections of her life (the wedding gallery led directly to the funeral gallery, which was kind of odd). After the exhibition, it was off for a little shopping, including a visit to the Peep store.

I flew to Buffalo, Minnesota today. Just a short little windy trip. Stopped at the nice FBO and also got my Fly Minnesota Airports Passport stamped.

My library experienced a flood the other day. Pipes broke on a upper level and water tricked down a few floors (through the ceiling), before it was found and turned off. Sadly the historical book collection was hit and while it was bad, it was not as bad as it could have been. Trust me, books and water do not mix. Luckily some really nice people came over, after hours, at night, and on a Sunday to help with the recovery.

Tonight was Chocolate and Lace ladies night blackjack tournament at Running Aces Harness Park! The tournament includes blackjack, vendors, and lots of yummy food (chocolate) and some wine to taste. This is my third time attending the event and it was once again a lot of fun. Last year the psychic told me that good news was on its way (then I got my QE results and passed), but this year the news was not so good. Mom went before me and pulled the best three cards in the deck, apparently she is going to have a wonderful year, but me, I pull “death,” “the king,” and a “communication card.” Basically three bad cards, which apparently mean that I am in for some extreme changes this year. Great! Just great. So not necessarily a death, as the “death” card is not necessarily a bad card, but extreme changes. Hmm…good thing I don’t believe in psychics. Anyways it was a fun night and Sue came in 2nd at our table and won a prize!

The evil twin and I celebrated Mother’s Day a few days early with Mom and Grandma. Flowers and gifts were also involved.

Due to the rain, I just worked on some landings this morning. I did get to see a really cool old Howard, well kind of, it was in the run-up area as I was trying to land and I also saw a Chinook Helicopter fly by. Lots of people flying in the rain today!

Sunday was the last day of the Spring IDV PhD In-Person and it was a nice quiet one. Because so many students were taking their Qualifying Exams (QE), there were no classes. So it was a day of vegging out, visiting with people, a little shopping, and the long flight home. Oh and I fed the turtles in the campus bayou (whats the old joke…you know your in the south when your school has its own bayou! haha).

Day 2 of the IDV PhD In-Person started with waffles! I have wanted to stop at the Waffle House for 2 years! Yes, TWO years! Waffle Houses are everywhere in Mississippi. Like ever 500 feet or so you will find a Waffle House. Apparently they moved in after the Hurricane and never left. I was the only one to order waffles (I had a 1/2 chocolate chip and 1/2 strawberry waffle). They also had a jukebox that I plugged $.50 into and picked Jimmy Buffet’s ‘Margaritaville’ and CCR’s ‘Proud Mary.’ Unfortunately, I never heard either songs, but I did hear a different CCR song. No idea if that was a coincidence or I hit the wrong button. I stopped in USM’s lovely, but small library for a little reading before lunch. The lunch speaker was Portuguese Air Force Brigadier General Luis Ruivo from NATO speaking about “An Alliance for the 21st Century.” Then Madeline, Deb, and I went to Port St Louis and did a little shopping. Supper was at Ziggy’s, a hamburger place that I had never been to, and then it was off to the beach across from campus to have a bonfire. Due to the rain, the bonfire did not get very big, but it was fun visiting with everyone under the super moon.

A very busy first day of the Spring Semester IDV In-Person! I had two finals today: a presentation and then a final exam. Then after the final I stopped at a Winn-Dixie for the first time. I was expecting a grocery store like a Cub Foods, but it was more like a Walgreen’s, so it was kind of disappointing. I guess I just wanted to stop there because of the kids book (and movie) with the name in the title. After a nice dinner and social hour at the Lookout Steakhouse (where I tired Fried Green Tomatoes for the first time – not impressed), I closed out the night babysitting for some friends.

7:30 Welcome & Breakfast with Dr Butler
8:30am-12 IDV725 Field Research with Dr Butler – presentation!
12 Lunch
2-4 IDV721 Statistics with Dr Naghshpour
6:30-9 Dinner & Social Lookout Steakhouse

Leaving Minnesota or trying too!

Due to Minnesota’s love spring weather leaving the airport was an adventure and entailed being trapped on the runway for over an hour. Then a there was late arrival and departure in Atlanta. But it was the pizza social night and seeing friends in Gulfport, followed by and lots of studying and paper writing created a very, very long day.