NSU!

Aaron flew in on Wednesday afternoon and we left from the airport to drop the girls off at Autumn's (our niece) house and on to Shreveport we went to spend the night. Our ultimate destination was Natchitoches (pronounced nakodish for all you Texans and other outlanders) for Aaron to audition for a scholarship at NSU (Northwestern State University - the one in Louisiana). When we got to Mom's the first thing I noticed was the odd arrangement of her shoes in the doorway of her room. See for yourself...
However, we decided it was odd enough that we wanted to add ours to the collection.
Yep, those pink ones are mine. Autumn had a pair of crocs (real ones) that she didn't care for and she gave them to me. I LOVE THEM!!!!! And, yes, I can tell a difference in real ones and not real ones. Real ones almost feel like your barefoot.

The next morning, as we were getting ready to leave, Mumsey asked me if I had seen her bird. I hadn't been there lately so I said I hadn't. On the fan on her patio, a bird has built a nest and laid at least one egg. It has already had one baby up there and it's already grown and gone. Now she's on number 2. Honey, I got her beat to heck and back. Try 5!

The bird is on top of the straw on top of the fan. You can't see it's head, just it's body.

When we got to NSU, Nikki (I hope I spelled that right) the best recruiter at NSU took us to the theatre building and we met the head of the theatre department (I hope that's his title - if not, it should be). He took us on the tour of the department then took Aaron for his audition. While Aaraon was doing that, we went back to Nikki's office and filled out all sorts of forms. Turns out, Aaron got an out-of-state tuition waiver because of his SAT score and his GPA. WooHoo! But, wait, it gets better.

When we went back to get Aaron, we went into the office of Dr. Burrell (I'm assuming he's a Dr. because most people in his position are, sorry if I'm wrong) and he told us he was going to give Aaron the biggest scholarship they give to Theatre Tech people. Theatre Tech people are people in the theatre who are backstage making the people on stage look good - lighting, sets, costumes, etc. We were thrilled. And he made it sound like they were thrilled to have him. Well, my goodness, who wouldn't be? They seemed impressed with his portfolio and happy he wanted to go there.

So we went for a celebratory lunch at Merci Beaucoup and this was my meal...

It was a baked potato smothered in crawfish etoufee topped with a fried jumbo shrimp. YUMMY!

After lunch, we went and toured where Aaron will live. Yep, this is his dorm.
It's very nice inside. It's a 4 person unit, 2 people to a room with a living space between the two with a fridge and microwave. He'll be on the CAPA wing (creative and performing arts) so he'll be around others who are involved in the area of study he's in. Very cool.

This is Nikki, the best recruiter at NSU. Thanks Nikki! Defy Gravity!

Oh, after we talked scholarships, Dr. Burrell invited us to stay for the dinner theatre production they were having that night. We had a great seat and at our table were also the freshman advisor, the director of the play and the reigning "Lady of the Bracelet" (Miss NSU) and her friend. What a nice group of people, Mandy (LOB) was a very down to earth sweet girl who I wouldn't have known was in pageants until someone randomly brought it up, asking her if she had done any pageants this summer. Then we found out all about LOB and such. There really is a bracelet that she wears and apparently it's really big.

During the meal and intermission, all these kids in the theatre program kept introducing themselves to Aaron and telling him how glad they were that he will be there this year. That made quite an impression on all of us, making us feel a little famous.

The play was "Sylvia" about a man who brings home a dog and his wife is NOT happy about it. The dog is played by a person and talks and does dogish things like fetching balls and sniffing crotches. (If you are easily offended, please skip this part) The young lady who plays "Sylvia" came and introduced herself to Aaron and was talking to him for quite some time. I finally remembered to take a picture and after, they both looked at me and I said to her "I'm going to need you to sniff his crotch". She was a little aghast at that and Aaron was totally embarrassed as was the rest of my family. Personally, I thought it was funny. And, after the production, I apologized to her (again) and she told me then that she thought it was funny. Won't it be awful if that is Aaron's future bride and the first words I said to her were I'm going to need you to sniff his crotch? Hey, you never know.

That's her in the white sweater. (pre-embarrassing mother comment)

After the production, they put up on this screen animals that are at the humane shelter that need adopting. These two kitties came up and we started clapping in glee and everyone around us thought we were crazy until I said "my sister just adopted those kittens yesterday". Then they were all impressed. I think it's safe to say that NSU is impressed with our whole family. Well, maybe not me...
This is Mandy (the aforementioned LOB). I couldn't resist taking a picture of her and her shoes.
Here's a close up of those ruby slippers. Make the picture bigger so you can see the sparkles on them.


All in all, it was a great (long) day at NSU. Aaron is now a demon. Yes, that's their mascot. Their fight slogan is "fork 'em, demons" while giving the longhorn sign (yeah, it's supposed to be a fork but all you Texans know the longhorn sign). I'm so proud of him and happy that he's happy about where he will be matriculating (how's that for a college word?). I'll keep you posted on his progress.