Hilarity and Heths

Nathan and I were so pumped to have some special visitors to close out the summer, Joey and Heidi Heth! I love hanging out with Taylor University buddies. Nathan does too. Our dream is for him to get a tenure-track professor of Historical Theology (think Ted Dorman's territory) job there. Praying already!

Also, if you'll recall, Heidi was the friend who took me on a cruise. I just stared into space for 10 minutes wishing I was on a cruise.

Their train on Sunday was delayed a bit, so we climbed some steps above the train station and got a lovely view of Durham.

On our first day we had really nice weather. Sunshine and everything! We did the basic "Free Durham Tours" version of a tour, with Joey attentively listening to Nathan's historical facts and Heidi and I a few feet behind them chatting and catching up on all the latest.

In the Market Square, we saw a man in a tutu doing a handstand on a pyramid of crystal glasses. Now, that's something you don't see everyday.

Our second day was cold and rainy, but we walked around anyway. We went up to the top of chapel hill at my school. Heidi's picture of this is so much more awesome, and I can't wait for her to tag me in it on Facebook so I can show you later. In fact, I kind of got lazy about picture taking after this snap because her camera was so amazing. After she posts her pictures (after they stop having fun in Scotland with more Taylor friends) I'm sure there will be much more on this blog on the topic of the Heths' visit.

In the mean time, you can imagine us laughing and talking and eating lasagna, pork roast and seasonal veg, Indian curry (all made in a crock pot... but not together of course). Oh, and we had candy and doughnuts and ice cream and introduced the Heths to the magic of Mean Girls. It doesn't get much better, folks. 

Why do I always talk about food?

One last thing, while we were walking around eating Haribo in the mall, Nathan got my attention and pointed to a giant poster. "Don't you think that girl looks like Amy?" I almost choked on my sour jelly cherries. I was mortified and vehemently disagreed. He didn't seem to notice a problem. Maybe the fold in the poster isn't the most flattering. Anyway, Amy, I just wanted you to know that I am your true friend.

Stung

I don't know if you know this, but bee stings hurt for a long time. And then they itch for a really long time.

Our second trial run of our new touring business, Free Durham Tours, went really well this Saturday. I was hoping to take more pictures and even got gussied up for them. I wore a cute outfit and did my hair and makeup, but it was not to be. Or not to bee, if you enjoy a good (bad) pun. I got stung by a bee on our very first stop! After that, it was all I could do to just concentrate on not having a grimace on my face for the next two hours. 

I put some ice on it straight away, which really helped, but after the ice melted I could still feel sharp pain in my arm from my neck down to my fingertips. When we got home I put some AfterBite on my arm (which is just ammonia, basically) and Nathan made a baking soda paste to put on the affected area. I didn't sleep well because every time my pajamas rubbed against my arm, I felt like I was getting stung again, but thankfully the pain eventually turned to itching. It still itches. 

I didn't used to be scared of bees, but now I am. There are no screens on windows or doors here, so when the weather is nice, bugs of all kinds (mostly flies, but occasional bees) just fly on in. It didn't used to bother me, but now I freak out. 

I was stung on my heel at age 6 after accidentally stepping on a bee, and I was stung on the leg by a yellow jacket wasp at the beach around age 10, but I don't remember feeling the painful effects of the sting after a few hours. Maybe because it's the inside of my arm. Now, please don't be frightened by the paleness of my skin. Remember my location.

This was taken 28 hours after the incident. I'm flexing my pathetic bicep, in case you were wondering.

Nathan wanted to put in an everyday object for scale, and he wanted his fingers shaped just right. I think he took a few pictures before he was satisfied. I'm not flexing my bicep in this picture, which you may have noted in stark contrast to my chiseled, muscular arm in the previous shot.

I was feeling quite proud of the way I was enduring such continued discomfort after the unpleasant encounter with the bee until I heard about Pamela's horror story. She was attacked by a swarm of bees as a child ("My Girl style," she said) and was dunked in the bath to remove more than 150 stingers. 


I'll shut up now. 


Does anyone else have a bee/wasp/piranha story to share? It'll help me stop complaining. 

Introducing Free Durham Tours

Nathan and I have had an idea brewing for a while, since we visited Prague, Bratislava, and Budapest with Dave and Allison. 

All over Europe there are free walking tours, and we took advantage of them in Prague and Budapest. They were awesome! The informative and entertaining guides covered history, culture, architecture, food and drink, customs, and much more. The guides worked for tips only. It really put the pressure on the guides to make it good, but it allowed travelers to tip what they thought the tour was worth according to their budgets. We wondered if there was such a tour in Durham. 

Allison said that Nathan should start a business giving tours, and she wanted a 10% cut of the profits for her suggestion. She later "sold" her birthright cut to make a phone call to Dave on Nathan's phone, which didn't even work because she had Dave's phone in her purse. :)

To make a long story short, we got back home and discovered there wasn't such a tour in Durham, although there was a strictly historical tour available for four pounds through the tourist office. We showed up for the tour one Saturday, but there were no guides available, so I guess it's hit and miss. 

Nathan started reading and researching, and I got on board as well with the administrative side of things (licensing, marketing, etc.). I did give some awesome tours in my day at my alma mater, Taylor University (walking backwards the entire way I hasten to add), but Nathan still made me "apply" to be a tour guide for our  new business. I had to give him a few practice informational snippets and role-play how to deal with a tourist gone crazy (aptly played by him, of course). He's an intense interviewer! 

We did our first practice tour with friends on Saturday, and they said it was pretty good! :) We really valued their feedback and enjoyed our time together. Cullen, Pamela, Darius, and Kristine gave up two hours on their Saturday to help us out. Kristine took all of these pictures, and Darius even wrote a review on his blog. Thanks, guys!

Keep looking out for more updates on Free Durham Tours, mostly likely through Facebook. Our new website and Facebook fan page are still under construction, but we hope to have it all done this week. If you'd like more information about Free Durham Tours or would like to book a private tour, just let me know through one of the avenues on the 'Contact' page up top or e-mail freedurhamtours@gmail.com. 

Random Monday Musings

1. Our soon-to-be housemates Cullen and Pamela came from Atlanta on Thursday, and it's been great to get to know them and help them get acquainted with Durham. 


2. I've still been running. I didn't go yesterday, so I went twice today. This morning I went with Kristine, and this afternoon I went with Ashley. I am proud to say that I went the whole way without stopping both times! I think it was about four miles total. Woop! Woop!


3. On Saturday, Nathan and I gave our first tour of Durham. I know that I haven't mentioned this before, so I'll dedicate a post to it. I'll be working on it tonight.


4. I miss Nathan. He's still at the library. It's after 6:00 p.m., so think I'll give him a call and ask him to come home to hang out with me.

Image from my Pinterest "Reasons I Work Out" board.