No glow

It's official, the post-vacation glow is gone.

If I had to guess, I'd say it's probably somewhere in my mini-van, but that's only because I've spent a lot of time in it lately.

On Saturday morning, B and I got up and started on our trek to fetch the kids from "Camp GG and Gus."   Our first stop was Champaign, IL.  We rolled in to town around 3 pm.  I dragged Bassam on a nostalgia tour of my college days, snapping pictures of this, that and the other before stopping the bookstore to update the family's collection of Illini gear. 

Lucky we came when we did.   Alma Mater over here on the left is being taken down soon.  Unlike Joe Paterno's statue, this lovely lady is being restored but will be back on campus for graduation in May.  I would have been bummed had I popped over for a photo op and she was missing.

The old homestead looked the same.  I spent all 4 years at Illinois living in ISR.   2 years in 609 and 2 years in 213.  I'm fairly certain the room looks exactly the same as they did when I left in 1995, which is nice because when I lived there it looked exactly the same as it did when my Aunt Jane lived there 30 years earlier. 

Bassam was less than thrilled with this photo op.   Fellow Illini will recognize the Morrow Plots, which is the oldest experimental field established back in 1876.  It's on the National Registry of Historic Places and because of it, our undergraduate library is located underground, because as the song goes, "you can't throw shade on the corn."   Regardless, given my husband's obsession with corn futures (fed by my father, might I add), I felt it was appropriate that we snap this picture.

At dinner time we hooked up with my dear friend, Kendra who I met working in the news department at the radio station way back in 1991. Since Kendra works for UIUC, we did some more touring of campus after dinner and a stroll through downtown Champaign, which is far less dingy and much more hip than it was when I left college.    We finished the evening off at one of my favorite places, Jarling's Custard Cup.  And who should I run in to but my cousin, Don (who only the day before had returned from a 16 month deployment in Saudi Arabia) and his family!  A wonderful, small world!

The next morning, we were off to fabulous El Paso, Illinois for the Gustafson family reunion.   While I was bummed by the absence of many of my cousins, I was thrilled to be reunited with Matthew and Gracie and see my parents, aunts, uncles and other relatives.  The kids were talking a mile a minute about all the things they had done with GG and Gus and then were off to play with the gaggle of second cousins who were there.  I love how they only see each other once a year at the most, but pick up like old friends when they are together. 

Unfortunately for us, it was to be a short visit since we decided we would need to hit the road by 2:00, since we were driving all the way back to Tennessee that afternoon/evening.  Of course 2:00 turned in to 2:35, but thanks to a single stop for gas and food and no traffic/construction, we got home shortly after 9.   Still, it was a looooong day.

Today, we resumed our somewhat chaotic schedule.  I made it to 4:45 bootcamp.  Bassam was back to work.   The contractors arrived at 8 am.  And the kids headed off to Encore (an enrichment camp at their school) for the day, only after showing off each and every souvenir and trinket they got in Chicago (Seriously, Mom and Dad . . .is there a gift shop they DIDN'T go in!??)  and leaving them around the family room.  Then after school, we headed over to B's parents to see Lina and the boys who are in for the week.

And maybe with all that, you'll understand why the vacation glow is gone.

Gone, but not forgotten.