"In his domestic administration my father had this system . . . to keep a journal and insert in it all occurrences of any note . . . A record very pleasant to look at when time begins to efface the memory of events, and very well suited to get us out of perplexity: When was such and such a thing begun? When completed? What retinues came? How long did they stay? Our trips, our absences; marriages; deaths; the receipt of happy or unhappy news . . . An ancient custom, which I think it would be good to revive, each man in each man's home. And I think I am a fool to have neglected it." (Montaigne, Book I, Essay 35 (publ. 1580))

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

EPG graduation!

Patrick has graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in business. Now that's a nice achievement indeed.

Commencement for the business college was at 5:30p on Friday, December 19. Our traveling crew was dealing with various issues. Nicole was trying to pull off her usual "surprise" appearance by flying from Chicago direct to Tucson. Kerry was trying to pull off an unsurprising appearance by flying from DC through Chicago to Phoenix. Paul Jr. was trying to pull off any kind of appearance while being only 48 hours out of his tonsillectomy (and fully on some pretty serious meds).

All this would have worked well except for some awful weather in Chicago. Kerry ended up about four+ hours late. Patricia and Chris picked her up from the airport and got to Tucson well after the ceremony ended. Nicole showed up in Tucson some time after midnight. That left Paul Jr., Nedda and me to head down on time and end up being the only attendees at the actual ceremony.

And the ceremony was nice - a few to-the-point remarks, and a small enough graduating crew where each was announced individually.

EPG then hosted the three of us at his apartment for an hour until everyone (other than Nicole showed up). Off to dinner at Guadalajara Grill - the fajitas were delightful. Also the tableside-prepared salsa. And it was very fun to sit around and chat.

Some of us went to our usual hotel - Best Western on Stone Ave - Kerry tried to keep everyone else up and moving until Nicole showed up. V. nice that Kerry and her made it.

Massive breakfast later the next morning at "Blue Willow". Walked around the U of A campus for a bit - I like it there. With K and P both graduated, we could well be finished down there. Then back to Phoenix.

We also had a reception for Patrick at the house on Sunday evening (12/21) - big crowd, very fun. PJ and I shopped at Costco, Nicole made some dips, all fun.

More adventures to come over this break.

Photos above: the "crowd" at the graduation. Bottom photo: Patrick goes to his first day of school (kindergarten) - 1991.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)