1. Even though I live in town, I don't get to campus all that often. It's not as though I haven't driven through though, and seen all the construction...but it STILL was like being in a foreign land when we got out of the car. I could still see Altgeld in the distance so I knew it really was Champaign....
2. I couldn't stop smiling when I looked over toward the door and saw Ernie and Mark Rubel standing together. Missed having Sasha there dreadfully, but at least I had a good hug from a Rubel.
3. I don't absolutely hate this picture that Pete took of me and the lovely Wendy. It captures how I felt. It also was before I got hot and pulled my hair back. A little more a/c wouldn't have hurt Brother's...I can't imagine how hot the folks playing were... I probably didn't think about things like that back in the day... Just like the fact that I wanted to get there early enough to snag a seat. Never did that back in the day either!
4. On Sunday I was damned tired and slept late. We ended up not going out for breakfast with friends...which we probably should have forced ourselves to do. As it was we did absolutely zero. Even Ernie didn't get dressed all day...which is unheard of for him. We curled up and watched part of season six of the Sopranos and talked about the night before, checking Facebook for new pictures periodically. Leo stuck his head in at one point and I said guiltily, "We're having a particularly lazy day," and he smiled and said, "I noticed." I made some chicken stock and some chili to have for the week. Then I made a pretty great salmon dinner. I just sauteed the salmon with olive oil, salt and pepper. Sometimes the simplest things are the best. After I took it out of the pan I threw in some cut up tomatoes from the garden, some garlic, a handful of black olives, and a few pieces of chopped red bell pepper. We served it with zucchini on the side and some fresh basil; the whole thing was lovely. Forgive the fuzzy picture.
5. So many pictures I didn't get...no Annette D'Anna? No Kenny Draznik? No Juliet? No Dawn? No Rob Arrol? No SO many damn others? And so many people I saw but didn't get a chance to talk to! I can't regret a moment of it though...well, expect the white zinfandel they gave me when they ran out of pinot grigio, which they gave me when they ran out of chardonnay. Other than still having the taste of that in my mind I feel almost embarrassingly happy and content. I just want to rub my head against John Isberg like an affectionate cat. Sounds weird, but if you have cats you know what I mean....
Thanks all.