agggh... I hate packing. I still don't really know what to pack. It's hard to think that I'm leaving for a year (possibly more?) but yet I'm still only allotted the same amount of luggage as if I was going for a week. And I'm sure that once I get there, I'll find that I've packed all the wrong things! :(

The countdown is on! I've got 4 teaching nights left (+ 1 potluck) and I'm excited! As much as I like (most of) the students, sometimes they drive me nuts, and I can't wait until it's over! This Saturday, we're having a huge beach party at Mooney's Bay. Well, I don't know if it'll be huge, but it's a drop-in thing. Anyone who wants to come say bye can drop by and do so. Really, I can't get around to seeing everyone individually to say goodbye, so this is the easiest way to do it. We've already bought ribs, and burgers, hotdogs, and sausages are all in the works. We might end up with too much food, we might end up with too little. Who knows. At night, we're going to the ol' watering hole, and that should be an event and a half!

Adrian is going to be in town, and Norm's going to try to come back. The last time we mixed those two together at the C&L, well... a girl got called fat, yellow pages got thrown at people, strangers making out in the corner got yelled at, and underwear got thrown. And I was only there to see about an hour's worth of the show. Yes, I love these two boys dearly, and the three of us will be friends 'til the end. "The end" may very well be one of our weddings, where it has been decided that two people will be making complete fools of themselves (either with an outrageous wig, or clown shoes). Terms of the deal have yet to be finalized, including exactly who is the "winner" and who are the "losers"... In any case, the weekend will be eventful, that's for sure.

As as post-script of sorts, I should answer the questions that people leave on my comments! Yan, "jooking" is a verb that we made up. Y'know how if you're "running" or "walking" you are currently doing that particular action. Well, "jooking" is when we go eat "jook".... Chung, Josh, and I bond over congee. Pork and duck egg is the best!
Carolyn, slice a few slits across the stomach side (maybe about 1/3 - 1/2 way through the shrimp body). I think we did 4 or 5 slits in each shrimp. Then you go and you work the shrimp a bit...just sorta smush it around to break up the tendonny thingies that pull together to make it curl when cooked. You will have a very sad-looking limpy shrimp. Dip it into your tempura batter (make sure the batter is COLD - even leaving an ice cube in there is a good idea) and drop it into hot oil, making sure that you place the shrimp fairly straight. I mean, if you toss it into the oil in a crumple, then it'll fry up crumpled. I had a bit of trouble with the batter solidifying around the mesh basket of the deepfryer, so I lost some batter around some of my shrimp. Good luck and happy eating!!

I had a fantastic weekend full of doing NOTHING!! It's my second-last weekend before Japan, and it was great.

Friday night we went out with Joanna and went to Baton Rouge. Because someone had said they had great ribs, I got ribs. I agree, they are very tasty!! Then we went to see Superman, because that was one of the last things on my "to do before Japan" list.

Saturday we woke up and did nothing. After driving John's sister to work, we went to Carlingwood (wow, haven't been there in 15 years - and it'll be another 45 before I fit in with the demographic there!) to pick up some rubber stamps. We passed a Saint Cinnamon, so we grabbed some cinnamon buns and went to John's sister's gloriously air conditioned house. They invited us to stay for dinner, so of course we stayed! We had sushi, and it was YUM. Sandy peeled and deveined the shrimp and then we took another stab at trying to keep them straight while we tempura'ed them. We've failed many times before. We finally got it right this time, and they turned out beautifully!! Shrimp tempura, eel, cucumber, egg, avocado, crab roe... I ate until I felt like the pain would end if only just threw up. It was THAT delicious!

Yesterday we went for dimsum and then went to my house to grab some things to pack. I wasn't sure if some of my old clothes fit me, but I grabbed them anyway. Then we did some shopping and came home. We decided to make spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. I've never made meatballs before, but they came out great! We made piles of sauce but it was so good we polished off most of it. Yes, we're pigs.

That said, I think I have food problems. Most of the clothes that I'd grabbed from my room don't fit me anymore. I think they used to fit before I met John. I blame John for making me fat.