What's the difference?

Last week I stayed in Raleigh with my Uncle Joe, Aunt Melanie and their four kids, Heather (13), Caitlin (9), Anthony (5), and Thomas, almost 3. I did do a few interviews, but honestly, my trip to Raleigh was mostly social, with a bit of pampering mixed in. Heather and Caitlin gave me a facial and a pedicure the first morning I was there before I was declared fit to leave the house. I turned down the manicure because I don't like wearing nail polish, but as the week went on, I was tempted to reconsider as I developed a blister on my thumb from playing Super Mario Brothers. And a sore arm from all the Wii bowling, basketball, and air hockey. Did I mention the Raleigh Freddosos have a game room?

But actually while I was there I learned a new game, which has become one of my favorites. (My family will understand when I say it's in the same vain as Pete's old joke game—"why did the calendar chase the priest?", etc.) The new game was developed by my cousin Anthony, and it's called "What's the Difference?" Here's an example:

Anthony: Katie, what's the difference between a table and a raisin?

Me: You put plates on a table, but not on a raisin.

Anthony: No, you eat a raisin, but you don't eat a table.

Me: You got me again. Man, you're good at this. So Thomas, what's the difference between a lampshade and my forehead?

As you can probably guess, this can go on for awhile, and it's always wildly entertaining. And speaking of entertaining, Uncle Joe, Caitlin and I got to go see Anthony play some basketball...fortunately, I don't have to eff the ineffable here—the local news crew did a bit of filming at the previous week's game, so you can watch for yourself (Anthony is #3 on the Celtics, who are in yellow):



This was only the second time I've ever been to North Carolina, which is silly, because some of my favorite people live there. I got to spend a day touring Duke with my friend Sheryl, who is just now wrapping up her oral exams and getting ready to dazzle the theological world with her dissertation. And I went down to Southern Pines for an interview and got to see my friend Rebecca's parents, who took me out to lunch and then sent me over to their house so I could get some work down while they were at work, and then made me a home-cooked dinner. The best part of this, aside from their very pleasant company, was calling Rebecca from her childhood home to tell her I was going through all of her stuff.

I had such a good time I didn't want to leave North Carolina, but all good things must come to an end. In fact, this entire trip is coming to an end soon. As I write this, I am in Washington, DC, where I will conclude my interviews for the project and my always belated blog entries. I will continue up the coast when I'm done, but just for a break, and hopefully I'll have time to procrastinate individual correspondence again.