Wednesday, June 18 (continued) - I was able to talk Dad into driving me down to Tom and Anita's in Provo. I took him out to dinner, at the same Training Table Doug and I had visited less than a week before. I ordered the exact same thing, and I experienced the exact same indigestion and heart burn. Before dinner, we stopped by a Christian bookstore and Borders. I wanted to pick up a copy of The Message, by Eugene Peterson. It's a lose translation of the Bible into contemporary language and idioms. I think it serves as a nice balance to the King James Version and the New International Version. For the first time in my life, I'm actually excited about reading the Old Testament.
Dad dropped me off at the Sanders. They gave me a tour of their basement, which they are in the process of finishing. All I can say is that I'm excited to spend holidays with them. They are putting in two guest bedrooms and a family / TV room, as well as a shop for Tom, a bathroom. Tom will also have his office downstairs with a little kitchenette with a sink, mini-fridge, and microwave. It will be a like a hotel suite. I'm just concerned that they will make it a bit too nice and people won't want to leave! There is historical precedence for that kind of behavior in this family. That night, I accompanied them over to the community pool. They are in charge of maintaining the chlorine levels and keeping an eye on things. I think it has been really good for Anita to have some responsibility in her community. After they went through their checklist, Anita and I played a game of air hockey. I slept great in my old king sized bed.
Thursday, June 19 - Anita let me borrow her car. I drove over to BYU and wandered around the Wilkinson Center for a bit before I headed over to David Laraway's office. We had set up a lunch appointment for 1:00 PM. The original idea was that Jonathan Wade and I would get together with any grad students that were around and chat. Nobody showed up. Oh well. We had a great lunch and conversation at the Sky Room. David informed us that several positions will be opening in the next two or three years, and that we should keep BYU in mind when we enter the market. Who knows? Maybe we will end up back in Utah.
That afternoon, I headed up to Alpine to hang out with Kit Lund, one of my Portuguese profs. He's a classy guy and I really like his sense of humor and his love of life. For several years, he has been working on a beautiful garden that he has cut into the side of a hill on their property. It had been nearly three years since I last saw it, and boy has it literally blossomed. I made the comment that he will thoroughly enjoy his retirement, to which he agreed whole heartedly. In addition to his garden, he showed me his new toy, a Chevrolet SSR, or Super Sport Roadster. He even took me in a spin. Wow, what a ride. It was great to hang out with Prof. Lund. Although most of his research is focused on Portugal, I really enjoy his style. I would love to come back to BYU even just to be his junior colleague for two or three years before he retires. I drove back to the Sanders' place and we went out to Applebee's for dinner. That night, I watched part of Star Trek Generations as I fell asleep.
Friday, June 20 - For the first time in several days, I got a great night's rest. I finished Generations and had a late breakfast. Late in the morning, Anita and I visited Grandma Krause and then headed over to her sister Louisa's place. Two of Anita's other sisters, Janet and Laurene, were in town. Rob, Louisa's husband, also showed up. It was great to see them all and catch up a bit. I even had a great conversation with one of their neighbors, Kathleen. Anita and I then did a bit of shopping at Wal-Mart. I dropped her off and headed up to Michael and Tiffany's place for a delicious dinner and an engaging conversation. Their children are so bright, especially Jonathan. They will be moving out to Bowling Green, Ohio in a few weeks, where Tiffany will be entering a doctoral program. I'm so excited for them, even though part of my reasons are selfish in nature. It will be nice to have a close friend in academia. I mean, I have plenty of friends in my field, but we're friends in large part because we're colleagues. I don't know, somehow it seems different with Tiffany; maybe because we are in different fields. Plus, we can drive up to their place in a day. It won't be out of the question to take a four-day weekend and visit. We finished things late, which is usually how it goes. I feel bad that I was not more interested in being friends with Aimee's friends, so I'm extra glad that I have been able to develop a personal friendship with Michael and Tiffany. Thanks for a wonderful evening, guys.
Dad dropped me off at the Sanders. They gave me a tour of their basement, which they are in the process of finishing. All I can say is that I'm excited to spend holidays with them. They are putting in two guest bedrooms and a family / TV room, as well as a shop for Tom, a bathroom. Tom will also have his office downstairs with a little kitchenette with a sink, mini-fridge, and microwave. It will be a like a hotel suite. I'm just concerned that they will make it a bit too nice and people won't want to leave! There is historical precedence for that kind of behavior in this family. That night, I accompanied them over to the community pool. They are in charge of maintaining the chlorine levels and keeping an eye on things. I think it has been really good for Anita to have some responsibility in her community. After they went through their checklist, Anita and I played a game of air hockey. I slept great in my old king sized bed.
Thursday, June 19 - Anita let me borrow her car. I drove over to BYU and wandered around the Wilkinson Center for a bit before I headed over to David Laraway's office. We had set up a lunch appointment for 1:00 PM. The original idea was that Jonathan Wade and I would get together with any grad students that were around and chat. Nobody showed up. Oh well. We had a great lunch and conversation at the Sky Room. David informed us that several positions will be opening in the next two or three years, and that we should keep BYU in mind when we enter the market. Who knows? Maybe we will end up back in Utah.
That afternoon, I headed up to Alpine to hang out with Kit Lund, one of my Portuguese profs. He's a classy guy and I really like his sense of humor and his love of life. For several years, he has been working on a beautiful garden that he has cut into the side of a hill on their property. It had been nearly three years since I last saw it, and boy has it literally blossomed. I made the comment that he will thoroughly enjoy his retirement, to which he agreed whole heartedly. In addition to his garden, he showed me his new toy, a Chevrolet SSR, or Super Sport Roadster. He even took me in a spin. Wow, what a ride. It was great to hang out with Prof. Lund. Although most of his research is focused on Portugal, I really enjoy his style. I would love to come back to BYU even just to be his junior colleague for two or three years before he retires. I drove back to the Sanders' place and we went out to Applebee's for dinner. That night, I watched part of Star Trek Generations as I fell asleep.Friday, June 20 - For the first time in several days, I got a great night's rest. I finished Generations and had a late breakfast. Late in the morning, Anita and I visited Grandma Krause and then headed over to her sister Louisa's place. Two of Anita's other sisters, Janet and Laurene, were in town. Rob, Louisa's husband, also showed up. It was great to see them all and catch up a bit. I even had a great conversation with one of their neighbors, Kathleen. Anita and I then did a bit of shopping at Wal-Mart. I dropped her off and headed up to Michael and Tiffany's place for a delicious dinner and an engaging conversation. Their children are so bright, especially Jonathan. They will be moving out to Bowling Green, Ohio in a few weeks, where Tiffany will be entering a doctoral program. I'm so excited for them, even though part of my reasons are selfish in nature. It will be nice to have a close friend in academia. I mean, I have plenty of friends in my field, but we're friends in large part because we're colleagues. I don't know, somehow it seems different with Tiffany; maybe because we are in different fields. Plus, we can drive up to their place in a day. It won't be out of the question to take a four-day weekend and visit. We finished things late, which is usually how it goes. I feel bad that I was not more interested in being friends with Aimee's friends, so I'm extra glad that I have been able to develop a personal friendship with Michael and Tiffany. Thanks for a wonderful evening, guys.
2 comments:
You're most welcome. It was a pleasure to have you over here and you're more than welcome to return at any time.
You are always welcome to visit. It really was nice to have you here.
Post a Comment