I have spent an aggravating hour or two trying to figure out my travel plans to the conference I�m speaking at in Atlanta next month. Airfares are such a mystery to me. My plan was to take AJ with me as far as my mom and dad�s and then fly to Atlanta and back from there, returning to pick up AJ for a brief visit before heading back home. But here�s the thing. To fly from Chicago to my parents costs about $300 round trip per person. Not great, but reasonable. To fly to Atlanta from here, which is farther away costs $230 round trip. That�s damn good, and if I didn�t need a babysitter and have family business to attend to, I�d totally jump on it. But to fly from my parents� to Atlanta, roughly 350 miles away costs nearly $800 round trip. Excuse me? How does that work exactly? It�s only 350 miles away. I think it�s time to call a travel agent. Either that or I�ll just rent a car at my mom�s and drive the last leg. Sheesh.

Thus endeth the boring rant. I can�t promise I�m going to be too much more interesting though, seeing as I haven�t left the house in over 24 hours. I started in on researching potential jobs last night and came across some interesting stuff. It seems that an old friend of mine is the music dept. chair at one of the schools � probably the one I�m most interested in for its combination of a northeasterly location and a program that interests me. It will be nice to have an excuse to renew communication � I always feel somewhat embarrassed when I let things slip. And it�s always helpful to know someone on the inside, even if you don�t know them well anymore.

It must be halftime for the Bears Game � I hear AJ and his dad outside playing football in the yard. That means it�s also almost AJ�s naptime, when I�m back on parental duty. I�d better get back to my chapter.

0 people said it like they meant it