Done Graduated; They Don't Win, A Shame
Jessica did indeed graduate and it was good. We left for Urbana after I got off work Friday and it was late when we arrived a little before 3 a.m. Jessica had to go to the Union at 8 a.m. to get her robe while I slept in. The ceremony wasn't until 4 p.m., so in the morning we went to the Urbana Farmers' Market, had rhubarb bread (I think) from some Amish, happened to run into llynda, and went on a little shopping spree at Art Mart at Lincoln Square Mall Village. We got some French-style bowls, a wood peel for sliding pizzas onto our pizza stone, a paper star-shaped hanging lamp, a new grater, and maybe one or two other things I can't recall right now (thank you tax rebate).
After there we got some lunch from Strawberry Fields since the breakfast wasn't that filling. We also walked around Urbana, went to the Poisonous Plant garden so Jessica could smell some lilly of the valleys (a bit late for May 1st, but better than never), and walked around campus for photo opportunities.
Around a quarter after three, Jessica headed to the Foreign Languages Building and I headed to Smith Hall (immediately to the south of FLB) to get a seat for the ceremony. Before that we did go by the shop in the Union to get a magazine to read during the 45 minutes I had to wait and ended up getting The Onion's Our Dumb World, a very funny read.
The ceremony was pretty good in that it wasn't terribly long. It was a smaller graduation just for the School of Literatures, Cultures, and Linguistics (a school that was created after Jessica stopped going to school at Illinois). There were only about seven Ph. D. recipients and they all got hooded on stage. There was a small reception back at FLB afterwards with a small side trip down so Jessica could see the improved language labs. After returning to our lodging, I gave Jessica her graduation gift; a nice gold-nibbed fountain pen.
After the graduation we had two social events. The first was at the home of María and Marco, people who will in fact be moving to Eau Claire this August as María, from Spain, will be in the Foreign Language Dept. and Marco is from Wisconsin and went to UWEC himself. Good brats and home-made beets were had and I also played a very fun yard game called Kubb. In fact, the midwest Kubb tournament is in Eau Claire this year! The game is fun and I want to buy a set.
After that we went over to Maggie Flinn's place for some drinks and polite conversation. Maggie stood out a bit at the graduation because, being a Harvard grad, she was wearing a Tam hat instead of a mortarboard. We had to leave around 10 because we had to leave early the next day for our return trip home.
We left around 7:45 a.m. to go back to the Union so Jessica could not return her robe but instead buy it. They're expensive, but as a professor she needs to attend graduations at UWEC; furthermore she really likes it so. She also liked the Tam that Maggie wore the day before, so she'll also order one of those, but won't have it for the UWEC graduation this Saturday.
From there we left Urbana and headed north to attend the Cards-Brewers game in Milwaukee. Things were going well, but of course being past winter in a metro area, there was construction in the Chicago area which slowed us down a great deal. Parking going into Miller Park in Milwaukee was also very slow going, so we didn't get to our seats until the start of the second inning (which is something I really hate doing, being late for a ball game and all). The game was ok, the Cards were never far out of it, but they had sloppy base running and left a bogging 17 men on base. They got the go-ahead run on base in the 9th, but didn't pull through and lost 5-3. I did get some photos from the game which you can see here on the stlcardinals community.
So the game was a bummer. We've been to three games away from St. Louis (vs the Cubs and White Sox) and the Cards are 0-3 in those games. Furthermore we still had the second half of a eight-hour drive back home. The trip was boring and I was pretty bummed, so not the best birthday (despite Jessica being quite the trouper to keep me in good cheer). At home Jessica gave me my gift, a very nice pocket watch and chain that I'll be sure to carry each time I find myself dressed up for an occasion.
I got last Saturday and Sunday off (w/o pay, unfortunately) since when I was hired I said I needed the days off even though I don't yet have any vacation time built up. Monday through today were my regular days off, so I'm on my sixth day off from work, which has been very nice. It's back to work tomorrow through Tuesday, though.
Lastly, this is what happens when you ask people to take your photo with a DSLR and they don't know how to use it.
After there we got some lunch from Strawberry Fields since the breakfast wasn't that filling. We also walked around Urbana, went to the Poisonous Plant garden so Jessica could smell some lilly of the valleys (a bit late for May 1st, but better than never), and walked around campus for photo opportunities.
Around a quarter after three, Jessica headed to the Foreign Languages Building and I headed to Smith Hall (immediately to the south of FLB) to get a seat for the ceremony. Before that we did go by the shop in the Union to get a magazine to read during the 45 minutes I had to wait and ended up getting The Onion's Our Dumb World, a very funny read.
The ceremony was pretty good in that it wasn't terribly long. It was a smaller graduation just for the School of Literatures, Cultures, and Linguistics (a school that was created after Jessica stopped going to school at Illinois). There were only about seven Ph. D. recipients and they all got hooded on stage. There was a small reception back at FLB afterwards with a small side trip down so Jessica could see the improved language labs. After returning to our lodging, I gave Jessica her graduation gift; a nice gold-nibbed fountain pen.
After the graduation we had two social events. The first was at the home of María and Marco, people who will in fact be moving to Eau Claire this August as María, from Spain, will be in the Foreign Language Dept. and Marco is from Wisconsin and went to UWEC himself. Good brats and home-made beets were had and I also played a very fun yard game called Kubb. In fact, the midwest Kubb tournament is in Eau Claire this year! The game is fun and I want to buy a set.
After that we went over to Maggie Flinn's place for some drinks and polite conversation. Maggie stood out a bit at the graduation because, being a Harvard grad, she was wearing a Tam hat instead of a mortarboard. We had to leave around 10 because we had to leave early the next day for our return trip home.
We left around 7:45 a.m. to go back to the Union so Jessica could not return her robe but instead buy it. They're expensive, but as a professor she needs to attend graduations at UWEC; furthermore she really likes it so. She also liked the Tam that Maggie wore the day before, so she'll also order one of those, but won't have it for the UWEC graduation this Saturday.
From there we left Urbana and headed north to attend the Cards-Brewers game in Milwaukee. Things were going well, but of course being past winter in a metro area, there was construction in the Chicago area which slowed us down a great deal. Parking going into Miller Park in Milwaukee was also very slow going, so we didn't get to our seats until the start of the second inning (which is something I really hate doing, being late for a ball game and all). The game was ok, the Cards were never far out of it, but they had sloppy base running and left a bogging 17 men on base. They got the go-ahead run on base in the 9th, but didn't pull through and lost 5-3. I did get some photos from the game which you can see here on the stlcardinals community.
So the game was a bummer. We've been to three games away from St. Louis (vs the Cubs and White Sox) and the Cards are 0-3 in those games. Furthermore we still had the second half of a eight-hour drive back home. The trip was boring and I was pretty bummed, so not the best birthday (despite Jessica being quite the trouper to keep me in good cheer). At home Jessica gave me my gift, a very nice pocket watch and chain that I'll be sure to carry each time I find myself dressed up for an occasion.
I got last Saturday and Sunday off (w/o pay, unfortunately) since when I was hired I said I needed the days off even though I don't yet have any vacation time built up. Monday through today were my regular days off, so I'm on my sixth day off from work, which has been very nice. It's back to work tomorrow through Tuesday, though.
Lastly, this is what happens when you ask people to take your photo with a DSLR and they don't know how to use it.