homecoming, mills house, tin cans

okay last week…pretty darn full. My days off were spent working the CIU homecoming celebration. I get recruited every year by my mother-in-law. It usually ends up being pretty fun seeing the campus improvements and eating free food but it’s also a lot of socialness and nonstop picture taking. ( I love the older generations, but quick meetings require mostly Smalltalk and smalltalk is hard to pull off for 12 hour days).  It’s basically a lot of fun thrown in with a lot of tiring but I love being able to tag along with my sweet mother in law (and they did have a chocolate fountain,so worth it.)

 

We took a quick trip downtown for a tour of the Mills house, riding the same bus I used to ride in high school.

 

 

 

We also had several award dedications and special luncheons throughout the day.

I was continually rounding up class photos as we had more people arriving throughout the weekend.  I think it’s safe to say that the older your class gets, the more important reuniting is with them. 

 

 

 

There were several chapel sessions, most with the alumni of the year, a dedicated scientist, and a very special session with professors who had basically lived their whole lives working at the school and shaped it in great ways.

 

 

Desserts with the alumni and a “musical chairs” grouping students and alumni to help people get to know one another:

I think this was my favorite to eavesdrop on conversations and watch the young interact with the wise. They compared life at the college then and now, talked about goals and dating in the olden days. I saw a guy in his 20’s showing a guy in his 70’s how to work his phone. I saw a lady in her 80’s tearing up because she was overwhelmed by a young persons heart and desire to go out into the world. It’s just a great thing to see bridges built between the generations. These guys were doing so because they had all shared the same God.

 

 

This man below was so nice to me and is apparently an editor for a nature photography magazine. Since we connected in photo geekery, I felt bold enough to ask him to sit where I saw some dramatic lighting. Actually, I told him I fancied his beard and that he would photograph well. I might should have toned down the awkward statements but he was a photographer and they’re pretty understanding about those things. I always notice little things about people that I want to highlight and every so often I say something. More than once I’ve been in a grocery check out line thinking, “wow, she’s got the coolest ears” or “wow, he’s got fascinating hands”. I’m admitting to being a creepy stalker persona. Hide you wives, hide your kids!

The point is, I think I’ve gotten over my shyness enough to really go for something if I see it.

 

 

With homecoming finished at 8:30 pm, I was left with just a few hours to clean for our big party the next day since I was going to have to work all of Saturday. (talk about procrastination).

My sister in law had a brilliant idea to use her can’s for the Halloween party. She had been stockpiling them and filled them with water in the freezer over night. We poked holes in them with a hammer and nail while sipping tea and hanging out. The holes don’t quite line up on our diamonds, but they ended up looking pretty cool. I’m so glad she let me use her cans!

My dad also graciously let me cut down all his flowers in his garden. When I got them home, I think they bred in the car. Mums, mums everywhere. The only thing I could think to put them in were my teacups from an inherited set of dishes (they almost made it to the goodwill pile when we moved but I still hung on to them, and voila, purpose). The little lemon tree that I almost killed has also been living at Dad’s, and seeing that he’s Mr. green thumb, it had quadrupled in size. It’s going to live in the kitchen while the weather is cold out. Since it was so big, we cut the top off to fit it in the car. The raw branches smell SO GOOD. my favorite smell in the world: lemon branch.