On a brighter note, I received a text today from one of the friends that I made in Salt Lake City last summer. Not only is he planning to go (he had been unsure and has to use up sick days to do so), but he renewed his interest in rooming with me. We had a good time last year and share a number of interests. ... I hope I don't drive him to insanity. While we have to wait a month before making our room reservations, I did get my flights confirmed today. Thankfully, ETS (the company in charge of the reading) is also paying for the flights from Kenai to Anchorage (and vice versa) since I don't think Janelle wanted to make the Anchorage trip without me. The entire idea has me feeling a bit charged. ... This means that I'm excited about grading essays for eight hours a day for seven straight days ... I wonder what they put in the food there ...
And one extraneous piece of information: Yesterday, for the first time since I've been here, I had to come to a full stop for a moose. This is different than the numerous times that I have voluntarily stopped to watch these massive animals. This time, a young moose decided to cross the road in front of the car ahead of me, necessitating a rather sudden stop on our parts. No one (and no car) was injured, and the moose continued on its way as though we were beneath its notice--which, I suppose, we technically were.