Weekends Update

In the last two weeks I have been to New Orleans and Denver, bought a fridge, and had my paper accepted for a conference in the spring. Well that is the thirty second version of the story for those short on time.
Now for the longer story:
I went to New Orleans for a conference two weekends ago. The conference focuses on Southern history, but also encompasses all historians who work in the South supposedly. I didn't really see this as true though since almost every session was related to the Civil War or Civil Rights. It was a good conference all the same. I enjoyed my time there because the food was amazing. I ate alligator, crawfish, frog legs, Jambalaya, Gumbo, and beignets (french donuts covered in powdered sugar.) By the time I got home I was sure I had gained 5 pounds, but I lucked out and only ended up with one extra pound. The day after I returned I went to the State Fair for more fried foods, but now I am done for at least a month.
This weekend I went to Denver to see family I have not seen in a very long time. My mother is not very close with her side of the family with the exception of her father and step-mother. I haven't seen my uncles in over 15 years, or longer for some, or met their children. My real grandmother has only seen me two times since she divorced my grandfather when I was two. So when I got invited to attend a wedding for one (of six) uncles, I jumped at the chance to get to see them all again. I am glad I did too. T got to meet that side of my family he has never met, and they got to meet my nephew for the first time. Now I have all their contact information and I refuse to lose contact with them again.
This morning we woke up to the noise of our fridge, which is quite old. I paid attention to it here and there during the day and it never shut off. The food is still cool, but the fridge is obviously on its way out. T and I decided that we should just go and get another one before it does die. I researched a few fridges, but then it turned out they were all too big for the cabinet space. (Thanks to the previous owners who tiled the floor after the cabinets and raised the floor level.) We went to one of the big hardware stores and found one that worked. The salesman was actually very nice and helpful, which is not like that particular store typically. The fridge could take up to nine days to get here, but hopefully it comes sooner or the current one survives that long.
This evening I was reading my emails and received a notice that my paper was accepted for THE conference in my field. I submitted it a few months ago as a stand alone paper, which makes it more difficult to get accepted. Luckily an alumni of my program was on the review board and saw that another stand alone paper matched my topic and put it forward as a complete panel instead. And now it has been accepted and I get to present on segregated state parks. (Which also means a free trip to Providence thanks to my department.)
So I am having a pretty good month, which I hope extends into next month as I start the rough draft of my thesis. Actually, it can keep extending for the rest of the school year since I have to apply to the PhD program and defend my thesis.