Castle in the Clouds

In reviewing my previous posts, I realized I hadn't finished documenting our big family vacation this year.  I still had two more posts to go when I got sidetracked by school and all things shiny.   First in line is Deadwood, South Dakota.  We didn't spend a lot of time here, just a couple of hours at most.  We were on a mission that day to get to Mt. Rushmore and, finally, the Badlands.  Deadwood was just one of those destinations that I really wanted to see just to say we had seen it. It's just as touristy as I thought it would be.  They even have a street performance, which we glimpsed from our car windows as we pulled out of town.  If we had had more time, I would have conned Ken into staying for the shows later that evening because that's just the kind of nerd I am.  Okay, and perhaps my overlong exposure to historical romance novels has somewhat romanticized the Wild West.  Add to that the HBO series  and how could I resist?    Unfo

It's almost here.  Freedom.  Freedom to read and write whatever I want without having to worry about a deadline chiseled into a syllabus.  I am so looking forward to taking full advantage of that freedom because it's been fourteen years in the making.  Fourteen years.  That's how long I've been taking classes, working my way through my bachelor's and master's.  I can't say that enough.  Fourteen years.  Holy Cow.  No wonder I'm ready for a nice, long break! I've got a few things lined up as a reward to myself for managing to stick with it for so long.  First among them, finish the book I'm currently reading for fun. This is the second book in the series.  These are historical murder mysteries with three amateur sleuths investigating.  In this installment the hangman's daughter, the local medicus (physician), and the hangman himself are up against the Templars.  I'm just a little over 50% through the book right now.  With a 15-20 p