Reflections On The Long Weekend

I went up to Birmingham Thursday to see Here Come the Mummies ( http://www.herecomethemummies.com ). It was ridiculously amazing!!! one of the best concerts I've ever been to and I've been to a lot of concerts! If you ever get a chance to see them, DO IT!!!

I found out right before I left for Birmingham that school had been cancelled on Friday due to the possibility of snow. Originally, I had planned to return to Auburn instead of going home, but decided to go home since there was no school.

And Friday, it snowed! YES REALLY! Most of Alabama saw quite a bit of snow! My neighbor and I went sledding, which was incredibly fun. We kept saying to one another, "We haven't done this since we were little!" We also built a very awesome little snowman sledder. Very cute.

When we went in for hot chocolate, that's when the mood changed. The TV said "UAH ON LOCKDOWN!" Quickly, we discovered there had been a shooting. One of the biology professors had opened fire on a department faculty meeting because she didn't receive tenure. Killed 3 of her coworkers and wounded 3 others, 2 of those critically.

Another shooting in Huntsville? Really? Just a week ago, a teenager killed a classmate at Discovery Middle School in Madison. Why so much violence?

And, on top of that, one of the luge competitors at the Olympics tragically died in a practice run which brought a solemn aura over the entire opening ceremony, which were visually stunning, even if they did have a major technical malfunction. It was awesome that "The Great One" Wayne Gretzky lit the cauldron.

We in Alabama are mourning with the students and faculty of the UAH shooting, and praying for the victims and their families. It was especially hard for me this morning when my sister called. She'd gone up to Ohio with her boyfriend to a funeral and apparently was handling the news of the shooting pretty well until someone asked about it. She broke down and called home because she really needed to vent. She's not one to cry often, unlike me, and I don't handle it well when I know my family is stressed or sad. I was especially worried because she has a history of having seizures when she gets overstressed, so I hope she's ok.

Anywho, the snow is pretty much gone and I've made my way back to Auburn because of church obligations in the morning.