I think my cold got to me more than I realized this weekend, because I got home and discovered that I had exactly one picture from homecoming: Sarah and Tommy and I hanging out at the Gathering! (Wow, you can tell that I was sleep-deprived. Oh well.) Let me run down all we did, just to make you Hillsdalians who didn’t come wish that you had:
We arrived at Piko’s super-late Friday. Tommy decided to wake all the way up for an hour. Then he slept for two hours. Then he was awake for three hours. So were the grown-ups. By 4:30 am, I had bundled him up and taken him out to the car to drive him around to sleep, only to discover that the gas light was on. And where in Hillsdale can one buy gas at 4:30 am? At 8 am, we finally rolled out of bed, anticipating an exhausting day…
Tommy and I hung out with Sarah at the Gathering, Waterman, and the Arb all morning while Derek played Techmo in Galloway. Some things never change. Sarah showed me pictures of her one-room schoolhouse and the ranch. I want to go to Montana. We saw the new student center and convinced ourselves that really, these new Hillsdale students are going to be soft! I bought Tommy an HC sweatshirt. Saw Jim Rowen selling legacy raffle tickets (forgot to thank him again for fixing my computer our sophomore year) and caught up on his grandkids. Saw several other alums and did the quick “You have kids? So do I!” routine. Went to Oakley! with KK and sat there for forever while they filled 40 phone orders before making our three sandwiches. The new owner still doesn’t know how to spell “Kaitlyn” even though she’s been there a hundred times. But the sandwiches are still amazing. Tommy loved his half of mine! Back to Piko’s for a nap for Tommy while Derek went to the game (I think they actually won) and didn’t play in pep band (I forgot to pack his trombone). Tommy slept and Piko and I had chai. Mariel showed up with Derek, Joe Hunt, and Marty (it’s always Mariel and the boys…) and we girls went to the Hunt Club and saw several of the girls, including Eleanor (who loves ND and has already connected with some of my favorite ND people! Yay! And lives 2 blocks from where we lived!). Since this was a girls-only affair (sortof a pre-bachelorette party for Mariel), I had to take off before my guys got too bored. Went to the Birzers and saw their new (well, year-and-a-half-old-to-them) house. Gretchen found all sorts of great toys for Tommy, which Harry immediately wanted because he’s used to being the little guy! Pretty sure I’m forgetting some things before heading back to Piko’s for Cottage Inn pizza with Mariel and Elsa. Finally got ahold of Dr. Stewart at 7:30 (we were going to leave at 7) and went over there for an hour. Justinian is huge. He’s actually taller than Mariel. And I used to babysit him and tease him about being my boyfriend. Mrs. Stewart found some great toys for Tommy (revelling in being up past his bedtime), and we reminisced about the Golden Age of the Honours Program. Determined that Tommy flirted more with Mariel that day than her Derek has since they got engaged. Realized it was 9 and that we’d only had 4 1/2 hours of sleep the night before and that we had a four hour drive home and had to be at church early for membership class. Don’t really remember the drive home. Still recovering from the weekend.
Hi Emily! I was so bummed out about missing my 5 year homecoming weekend. Thanks for the update – it’s really great to hear about old friends and acquaintances. I’ve also been really enjoying your blog, and I hope you like living in Chicago – it’s my favorite city. Say hi to Derek from me and E!
I like the new quote on the top of your blog- I am not sure how long it has been new, but I just noticed it! it is a good one, perfect for a blog!