well, good morning!

It's about 7:45am and I am cruising (er... crawling) down I-65 south toward the city. Traffic slows in the same place every day and continues to slow as cars merge into the four lanes and drivers decide they need to change lanes at the last second. I have a 9-mile drive to work, and it takes me 30 minutes. My gas mileage is killing me.

Most days this week, I've been rappin' out to Lecrae's "Don't Waste Your Life." I've got most of the lyrics down now, except for the too-fast parts. Hip hop is so much easier to sing along to than rap. I bumped by bass up a bit and my rearview mirror vibrates with the beat. But the last couple of nights, I've had this song running through my head when I'm trying to fall asleep, and it's not one that makes you want to fall asleep. So this morning it's CXVI Hymns -- so great. I'm mixing that up with a little Shai Linne (my hip hop favorite). This is how I get myself pumped up in the mornings for work. Nothing like a little gospel from the 'hood.

Okay, so there's this silver Chevy Monte Carlo in front of me with a Michigan license plate. I'm probably behind it for five miles. I'm singing along to my music and focusing on not rear-ending it. Suddenly, I'm surprised by a little orange head that pops out the rear left window. It's looking at me. It's this Ernie doll from Sesame Street and it's shaking its head back and forth like it's looking around. This makes me laugh. Then this little African American boy with glasses pokes his head up in the back window and looks and me, and then ducks down and continues holding Ernie out the window. He sits up and waves. I wave back. What a fun way to start my day. I pull off at James Robertson Parkway and drive in to work.

Coming up:
Saturday, June 20 -- Intern Canoe Trip
Sunday, June 28 -- Nashville Sounds Faith Night (baseball game)
Tuesday, June 30 -- Alyssa flies back to Kansas

d