good old val-pa-rain-snow, wind-iana

ok, so not so much with the snow or rain, but wind and cold we've got down this weekend.

it's been a whirlwind of a couple days.

yesterday, i got up at 4:15am to leave my house by 5:10... leigh took me to the train station in the pouring rain so i could get to the airport by 6:15 for my 7:45am flight, only upon arrival i found out it was delayed until 9... then, instead of waiting at midway airport in chicago for an hour as originally planned, i ended up landing within minutes of when roommate did.

by the time we actually got through the rental car line and got a car from the enterprise people, it was nearly 11:30 (central time, 12:30 in eastern time where i woke up)... we got to valpo in time for kristin to drive me straight to the math building 10 minutes before the math department homecoming open house ended, and before she even made it to the hotel with our stuff.

i love my undergraduate math department. when i arrived all the professors were milling about chatting with various people, but within 2 minutes flat of when i arrived, they all sat down in a circle around me to chat for a bit.

quote:
prof. treanor: wow! are you getting taller?
me: pretty sure i haven't grown taller in years
treanor: you have to be kidding... i think you're taller
me: um no, narrower, but not taller
treanor: well it definitely makes you look taller
:P

besides all the profs i wanted to see, my friend katie stopped in for a few minutes too. i wish we had had more time to talk, but it was good to see her and give her a hug too... margie was also around, and as neither of us had had lunch, when the profs started dispersing, we went to broadway (one of my two favorite restaurants in town) for lunch and to catch up. she's teaching math at a local HS now and it was fun to compare teaching stories. after lunch we also explored the new library... the old library that was around the WHOLE TIME i was at valpo is completely gone with nothing but grass there... the new one is pretty darn spiffy. that whole side of campus has gotten a total facelift!

anyhow, after that, CC reception, only dean franson wasn't there and neither were anyh of the professors i actually talk to there, so whatever...

after that, dinner at panera with kristin (aka roommate), then to the chorale concert on campus, which was gorgeous. i miss hearing music like that when in jersey.

after the concert, i told nicole's parents that i had a "small something for them" and would stop by their room when we got back to the hotel.

my "small something" though was a 20 by 28 inch crossstitch that i've been working on for 2 years for them... it's sheet music of amazing grace, and i just got it back from the framers last week. kristin and michelle came with me when i gave it to them, and when nicole's parents read the essay i wrote in the card that went with it where i explained why i made it and why it was for them, we all cried together for a bit. ... after that, michelle showed us a scrapbook she had put together of her memories of nicole, and nicole's mom showed us a scrapbook of memorials of nicole and the building process for the labyrinth, which was pretty cool... the 5 of us (nicole's parents, michelle, roommate, and me) all just chatted away a couple hours about what we're all up to and how we're doing, and then before we all crashed, michelle suggested we all pray together too, which was also nice.

and that was just one day!

well, almost... after kristin and michelle got ready for bed, i went to check out the hotel's exercise room and worked out for awhile, and then had a really had time sleeping all night, waking up all ready to go every half hour starting with 3:30am... oi. when the real alarm went off at 6:15, it was so loud, and scared roommate and michelle so much, that i started laughing hysterically at the situation and had to bury my head in a pillow to not annoy them. :)

today was crazy busy too. after the early awakening, roommate and i got ready and got to campus by 7:45am... i was hoping to buy some fruit in the cafeteria or something but it wasn't open yet... instead we just hung out in the chapel until the service started. it was kinda cool. we started in the main part of valpo's huge chapel, but after the sermon, we processed outside to the front of the building where the new prayer labyrinth for nicole is. they dedicated it and then served communion outside, encouraging people to walk the labyrinth when they had gotten communion. there were soooo many people i hadn't seen in forever, some of who i talk to more than others, but nonetheless good to see them all.

the labyrinth, by the way, looks AMAZING.

after the dedication, there was brunch served for the nicole's family and everyone they invited... so we were there for quite some time too.

even later, kristin and i went to walk the labyrinth while it wasn't crowded and take lots of pictures... we went to the bookstore to buy new valpo gear (i'm shrinking... i need warm clothes that fit!), and then off to more adventures.

as for me, i went to one of the dorms to meet up with liz, a current valpo senior who is also a math major... i actually grew up knowing her grandparents at my church in memphis, with her g-ma always trying to set the two of us up to be penpals, and then we meet at valpo... go figure... anyhow, liz had a million and one questions about what it's like to be a ph.d. student in math, and about applications, and all kinds of other fun... we chatted it up for an hour and a half and hopefully i was moderately useful. :P

i was under the impression that there was some sort of vespers going on in the chapel at 3 then, but it was some sort of bach institute production... lots of alumni who live nearby were involved. namely, karen and katie, two music people who graduated when i did were there... i had no idea that karen is a "visiting professor of music" this year, and katie's teaching cello as well, but without an official snazzy title. running into the two of them, katie, karen, roommate, and me all went out to el amigo (my other favorite valpo restaurant... $4 burritos the size of logs!) for dinner... it was a lot of fun to catch up since i hadn't heard from katie at all since graduation, and karen i hadn't heard from in the better part of a year again. so major yay for that.

that brings me to now. roommate is out getting a beer with a senior theology student to talk about seminary and catch up. not one for american beer, i'm sitting here at the hotel typing away, and will shortly be going nuts attacking the cross-trainer in the hotel exercise room... it'll be great.

so for eh... something on the order of 36 hours, not bad, right?

but definitely busy enough that it already feels like a week.

so, here i am in small town indiana, and tomorrow midafternoon i'll be in my advisor's office for a research meeting (although i've got nothing to show this week) in urban corridor new jersey, in a whole different time zone all over again.

sometimes life moves waaay too quickly at once.

next post from back in good old jersey again.

later dudes.