A Very Special Weekend

When I first learned that Middlebury College commencement was a 3 day event, I didn't understand.  Every other graduation I've ever attended lasted a few hours at most.  Nevertheless, a year ago I booked rooms for us for a 3 night stay.

Last Friday, we packed and headed up to Vermont for Adam's graduation weekend.  By the time we got to Middlebury, the temperature had dropped over 20 degrees and it was raining.  We stayed at the Lilac Inn in Brandon, VT.  It was beautiful and welcoming, even on such a cold, dreary day.

As we walked up the staircase to our rooms, I read the words on the window.

Somehow, the words made a difference.  They made the Inn feel more like a home.

At the top of the stairs was an old chest with antique maple syrup cans.  As I examined them more closely they brought me back in time - I could remember some of them from my childhood.

After a short rest, it was time to head to Middlebury for our first event - 

We got a chance to meet with Adam's Italian professors, classmates, and friends he made when he was in Italy last year.  

Adam and Kayla talk with one of their Italian professors.

Grandma Alice was with us for the weekend too.

Jess and Adam became friends when they were studying in Rome the same semester.

Adam with his friend, Justin.

These last two ladies are two of Adam's favorite Italian professors...

This was his freshman year advisor.

Next up - dinner.

A few more of Adam's friends met us at a Thai restaurant for dinner. 

 The restaurant floated blue and white balloons on the ceiling, the Middlebury colors.

David always impresses us with the massive amount of food he can eat at one sitting!

It was such a nice dinner with four exceptional young men.

On Saturday, the Lilac Inn was bustling with activity.  There was a wedding reception at the Inn, and we watched the bride getting into a beautiful horse-drawn carriage to take her to the church.

Then we headed back to Middlebury in the rain (have I mentioned it hasn't stopped raining since we got here yesterday??)

 There was a reception for the history department where Adam introduced us to more of his "favorite" teachers.

These are his "favorite" parents!

There were more festivities to come in the evening as Adam and his housemates hosted a barbecue for their families.  We had fun getting meeting everyone and were impressed that the guys were able to put a meal together for so many people!

After two days spent meeting Adam's teachers, friends and their families, I understood why we didn't just go for the actual ceremony.  Middlebury College was inviting us into what has been Adam's world for the past four years.  It is a close-knit community with many caring teachers who were also mentors and friends.  They could have had these receptions without us, but I'm happy that chose to include us.

Graduation was scheduled for 10AM on Sunday - outside - rain or shine.

But the Vermont weather was a little too cold, a little too wet and a little too windy 

to be held outside after all.

We were grateful!

(to be continued)

Her Senior Prom

One more event on the road to graduation has come and gone.
Annie's Senior prom.

Before I tell you about Annie's night, let me do a quick flashback to the
evening of my Senior prom.

You see, I didn't go to my prom.  It was tradition in our school for high school friends to rent camps near the lake the week before graduation.  One of my friends family owned a little camp (cottage) so a bunch of us girls stayed there together.  We were the nerdy group who had fun no matter what we were doing.  On prom night, we had some friends over to our camp and had a "party" - soda, chips, music.
This is a picture of my friends Charlene, Kae, and me pretending to booze it up!  I am on the right.  Don't ask me why we had orange life jackets on. I also wore my flannel nightgown (nights in VT were still cool) and knee socks, a shawl, sunglasses and my graduation cap.

Let's jump from 1977 to 2013.

Annie looked quite different on her prom night!

She was also getting together with her friends.

And family!

The BEST thing about prom night in our town is how all the kids gather together on the town green before prom with their families, friends and teachers so everyone can see the kids and take pictures.

Past graduates come back to visit.

It's really nice that teachers come and take pictures with the students

Even the principal is a part of the excitement!


Kerry met up with her high school friends too.

When they got into the limo and drove away, the excitement was over for us, but just beginning for them.  There was a sleepover after the prom followed by a whole day at the beach.  When we saw her again the next night she was exhausted, but she had a lot of fun!

Keeping it Real

 Reality, if rightly interpreted, is grander than fiction.    Carlyle, Thomas 

You can tell a lot about someone by their choice of what they watch on TV.  Whenever I'm on Facebook and see a status with a comment on a TV show, I feel a small bond with that person.  My reasoning - if he/she is entertained by the same thing, we must be alike in some way.

If you were to stop by our house at any point in time,  there would most likely be a  "reality" type of show playing on our TV.

 Swamp People is about alligator hunting season in the bayou.  I've seen hundreds of alligators killed and lifted onto boats over the past few seasons.  Of course there is always the suspense when the boat is stuck and someone has to stick his hand into the dark, murky water to free it up - where just seconds before a gator was seen lurking.

I'll never understand how these characters on Moonshiners can be making illegal moonshine, show their faces on TV, and never get caught!

Deadliest Catch is about fishing for crabs in the rough seas off the coast of Alaska.  Big waves and boats do not agree with me, but I am impressed by the tenacity of these men.

Alaska, the Last Frontier has been new to our TV this year.  It is about the hardships of living in the wilds of Alaska.  Most of the time, they are preparing for winter and worried they are not going to have enough firewood!

Yukon Men is similar  - ditto!

I actually like Combat Rescue - it is a documentary series following U.S. Air Force pararescue men as they work to save lives of wounded soldiers in Afghanistan.



 Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.    Dick, Philip K. 

The Diner, Drive-Ins and Dives host travels the country in search of good food.  The thing that bothers me is how greasy, fatty and disgusting much of the food is - and how much people enjoy eating it!
For example...

  

Undercover Boss truly is heartwarming and I love watching it!  The heads of companies don disguises and work in the trenches for a week doing the lowest of the low jobs in the company.  Their eyes are opened to the real lives of the people that work for them, and the troubles and burdens they bear.

We've watched Survivor since it began so many seasons ago and it never fails to entertain and provide insight into the personalities of the people around us.

I have discovered so many places I want to visit by watching the Amazing Race!  As teams race around the world, you also get to witness how two people work together under many situations - fatigue, pain, stress  - and much more.  It's another show (like Survivor) that brings out their true personalities!

New to the line-up in this household is Wicked Tuna.  It's basically about tuna fishermen in Gloucester, Massachusetts - they catch tuna, bring them in to get weighed and find out how much per pound each tuna will bring in.  

Now we're getting to a reality show that's not like reality at all - the Bachelor and the Bachelorette.

Reality TV.  Hmmm. 
Sure, it's not fiction, but is it real? 
Producers only show us what they want us to see - so they are in their way trying to shape our thoughts and opinions.  And being in front of a camera changes who people are also.  They are probably not their "true" selves.

Sometimes it is thought that Reality is the truth - that there is only one Reality. 

But isn't it true that given the exact same "real"  situation, each of us sees it in our own unique way.
We each have our own filter through which we see the world.


 People see the world not as it is, but as they are.    Lee, Al