All that's left is duty.

Good morning.

Meredith and I drove to Jonesboro last Friday and had a pleasant stay. We drove home on Tuesday morning in order to make it back in time for work that afternoon. It was a great visit with both of our families. Saturday morning I played golf with my dad and Meredith's dad and her brother. I am terrible, but it was a great time. It was about 75 degrees at 8am and the mist in the air made my father-in-law compare the setting to the British Open.

It was great to be able to stay and sleep over at each others' houses. It was a very relaxing weekend. Skipping work on Monday has made for a short week at work. But I have enough to keep me busy. When Mer and I got back to Fayetteville I had an email from one of my professors telling me that I was supposed to finish a new website for Beta Alpha Psi, an Accounting club that I am an officer in, by the first week of school. I did some work on it this morning and I hope I will be able to scrounge up a "prototype," as my teacher called it, by the first officer meeting.

Beta Alpha Psi is hosting a career fair of sorts in September called "Meet the Firms," in which 13 accounting firms will be on campus hosting interviews to fill positions throughout the surrounding areas. Hopefully I will be able to dress sharp enough and shave close enough to impress the smartest of interviewers. I am a University man, an institutionalized business student, a product of the system. I have been trained to follow down a particular career path, to strive for the highest-paying salary, and to sell myself as a packaged product. My father-in-law and I discussed a scenario in which companies got together to bid on an employee, but sadly, that is not how it works.

Tonight, Mer and I ate dinner at the Ward's apartment. James was there too. We had manicotti. Man, was it good. We had a great time being with true friends. After dinner, Marc and I played a "team" game of Donkey Kong Kountry for SNES. It was fun while it lasted, but every good party must end. James wouldn't believe me when I told him that Terrence Malick is working on a project with Mel Gibson named "Tree of Life." He chooses not to believe it. I don't care if he believes it or not, because in 2008, I will be watching a Terry Malick movie starring Mel Gibson and Colin Farrell. Supposedly, Malick began working on the film in the summer of 1978 under the title "Q," but it has resurfaced under the title "Tree of Life." Any Malick film is guaranteed to be pure gold. This one is rumored to have a $150 million dollar budget. I read online that is being filmed in India and Austin, TX. I really hope it has a huge "Creation of the Earth" theme and has Colin Farrell walking around in Eden. I don't really hope that.

After leaving the Ward's, we went to Hog Haus to celebrate Stephen's birthday. He turned 22 and I stood up and gave a toast. Happy Birthday, Stephen. I talked to Austin Bell and Nick Rhodes (How do you spell your name?) and Stephen about playing golf soon. Stephen used to work on a course in Rogers and they still let him and his friends play for free. That is the only reason I am friends with him. Happy Birthday.

Class starts Monday. This will be the start of my second-to-last semester. My parents and my two sisters are coming to Fayetteville this weekend to stay with me and Meredith. They are really coming to move my sister Hope in to her new dorm, but it will be good to spend some more time with them and have them stay at our apartment. It's still funny to say "our apartment," because it still very new to be living with Meredith. It is absolutely wonderful to say to people, "This is my wife. We live together. We got married in June. We love each other."

Let's all enjoy the time we have together. Let's say the things we want to say and not let moments pass without saying them. Let's tell stories with our friends and kiss our loved ones. Let's stay up past our bedtimes and sit under summer moons playing cribbage and drinking tea. I told someone tonight that this has been the "best summer of my life," and it was true.