In light of the fact that I'm flying back to Oregon tomorrow, I thought perhaps I should update one more time...

Friday -- After I last blogged, Andrew arrived home, & in good spirits about classes. As predicted, it seems that we need to just start classes to get back in the swing of things and feel less worried. So we talked -- and ate leftovers on the patio -- and took care of stuff around the place, before starting on our afternoon plans. We wanted to go on a bike ride, since Andrew bought two bikes way back when through Craig's list, which we'd only used like once before together. Perfect day for it -- sunny but not sweltering, hardly a cloud in the sky. After a bit of hectic riding through the busy streets, we reached the bike path around the lake. I don't know how long a ride Andrew was planning on -- but he was surprised that we got as far as we did! We stopped along the lake at a bench to catch the views -- and sat down on a dock in the shade. Idyllic -- if only it wasn't always at the back of my mind that I have to leave soon! From there, we ended up veering off the lake path to follow a little stream for a while through a quaint looking neighborhood & dog running field. Reminded Andrew of Amsterdam. Reminded me of some vague childhood impressions of a different time's town. Lots of lilypads in the stream, ducks, fields... you get the idea. On the way back, we stopped off at a park area along the lake -- got more views & pictures -- and then headed home. Luckily at this point the sun wasn't in my eyes. On the way out of town, the sun had been shining at just such an angle to slip in above my sunglasses... ergh.

After cleaning up, it was about time to fix dinner... We'd decided to make fried rice -- w/ Thai basil & cashews -- and Andrew made a perfect batch. I like eating in the park, and the night previous had been fun picnicking, so we took dinner down to the park again and ate off the little plastic plates that came w/ Andrew's picnic backpack. This time, again, a kite flier was practicing in all the wind (but he wasn't as good as the guy we'd seen the night before). Sad though... watched the sun set & cuddled.

Back home, we put our plan into action to avoid moping around the apartment. So, since we'd never tried frozen custard, we headed to our neighborhood Culver's & ordered the day's special flavor: Payday. Of course, we added fudge (which, as Andrew said, has nothing on Herrell's (which, by the way, we saw the Food Network covering on Unwrapped (something about their smoosh-ins & banana splits))). Frozen custard is sooo much better than frozen yogurt! At first we thought it was just glorified frozen yogurt, but we were oh so wrong. Much creamier, and richer.

Then, in the tradition of lazy evenings, we mini golfed! This course was far superior to the one in the Dells -- Wizard of Oz themed, w/ lots of big statues of animals, a slide, water everywhere (that I got caught in on multiple occasions), and all sorts of tricky shots that I DEFINITELY didn't make. It seems that I can't exactly aim, and hit the ball straight ahead... no, it always ends up veering off course. Andrew seems to think this has something to do with the fact that I can't tell when I'm hitting backwards (wrong side or something). It was pretty crowded, which was fun, except the loudest portion of this crowd consisted of very loud 13-year-olds singing The Little Mermaid songs. Ick.

After all the excitement -- Andrew won the first round, I the second, and he definitely won overall by over ten points -- we headed home. Watched some OC and some trashy tv to take our mind off the imminent departure...

Today we slept in -- went to the farmer's market & checked out the preparation for Taste of Madison -- had lunch (something w/ chickpeas & red peppers & tomatoes & zucchini) -- did laundry (someone who deserves to do laundry forever in Hades, while pushing a stone up a hill, opened all three doors to our dryers in the start of the cycle, which delayed and irritated us) -- went grocery shopping at Woodman's (sadness! I love Woodman's) -- went to the Square for Taste of Madison (first stop: Andrew: pad thai; Becky: squash curry (the best!!) second stop: Andrew: more pad thai, but warmer this time, and better, I think; Becky: more curry, but this one more coconutty, which reminded me of that disgusting Blanchard salad I had at MHC that made my stomach react VERY badly, but I'm trying to retrain my tastebuds to not freak out, since not every dish w/ coconut milk is as disastrous as those made back at MHC) -- moved our blanket from the Square to the park, and sat watching the remnants of a sunset, and two guys who jumped into the lake, and some woman in a little dress and ridiculously high heels made in the style of sneakers (bizarre) -- dropped everything off at home, and then took one last walk around the Capitol to see the dismantling of the T.O.M. vendors -- I started packing -- watched some more trashy TV (nothing like Elimidate to make you forget your problems) -- and now it's time for the last OC episode on disc three (I think I'll just read a review of the last half of the second season, it's still all fresh in my mind, but I want to be ready for Thurs - the season is starting!!!)

I've loved Madison -- and staying with Andrew -- and doing fun summery stuff -- we looked at pictures today that we've taken throughout the summer, and made recipe lists of the dinners we've made. As sad as it is to go... I know I'll love coming back for my next visit!