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My sister, Ann, straightening my mom's gown |
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Time with the fam
Two years ago I decided to come to Stanford for graduate school for a laundry list of reasons, varying from excellent research opportunities to better weather/scenery than the Midwest to my fiance, Lacey, who was going to kill me if I didn't pick a major metropolitan area to spend my graduate career.
With all the good that came with this decision, the one major drawback has been being apart from my family for the first time in my life.
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| Lacey and my sister | |
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I wouldn't say that I've really lived at home in several years, but having stayed in the Chicagoland area for college by attending Northwestern, I still enjoyed the comforts and support of having my family nearby. I'll have to admit that the ability to see my parents and sister whenever I desired was something that I took for granted.
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My mom posing |
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That being said, I've enjoyed being back home this past weekend attending my mom's graduation from graduate school which took place yesterday. It's been great spending time with my family while not stressing over wedding planning for once.
After teaching special education for more than 25 years my mom decided to go back to school and get her Master's degree in Education Administration with hopes of being a principal or vice principal. My whole family is very proud of her because working full time and being a student isn't easy.
The graduation itself was wonderful in that the whole thing was less than two hours, unprecedented for the pomp and circumstance I'm used to from previous experience. Lacey was kind enough to accompany me to the ceremony and so we got to enjoy talking with my dad and my sister, Ann, while waiting for it to start.
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| My mom and me | |
To celebrate her accomplishment, we went out to dinner at Charlie's Ale House in Wheaton, IL. Not that food recommendations for the western suburbs of Chicago is useful to many people reading this, but I highly recommend this restaurant.
After the inevitable food coma that ensues after a celebratory meal, my family returned home to enjoy a lazy evening at home. Although it doesn't sound very exciting, it's these simple pleasures that I really enjoy when I come home to visit.
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| My dad and sister waiting before the ceremony | |
My mom walking off the stage |
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Along those same lines, my family went to the movies today for the first time in what seems like years. It isn't often that my middle-aged parents, my sister who enjoys British period movies especially if they have Jason Isaacs in them (she's going to kill me for saying that :) ), and I can find a film we all feel is worth the ridiculous price of admission. What movie brought my family together on this day you ask?
Surprisingly, the answer is Mission Impossible:3. Even more surprising is that I, the action movie lover, wound up liking it the least out of my family. Without ruining the movie, there was far too few action sequences and the plot twist was far from shocking.
The whole appeal of the first two movies was the MacGuyveresque missions where the spies figure out a way to accomplish the impossible task (I guess hence the title). Although there were a few scenes that lived up to my adrenaline expectations, the majority of the movie was... dialogue (gasp), and not the plot-twist, who-done-it kind. Instead, can the romantic lead Ethan Hunt be a spy and have a normal relationship with a woman kind? Overall, MI:3 is worth seeing, but I'd probably wait 'till video. I realize I've gone off on a tangent here, but my movie buff side kicked in. Working at Blockbuster for three years will do that.
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| My cat Jellybean napping on my dad while I'm packing to go back to school | |
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After the movie, I had to go home, pack my bag and say goodbye to my parents. I'm spending the night at Lacey's parents' house since we're leaving for the airport at 3:45 am. Lacey and I had the fun task of sorting through wedding shower presents and figuring out what we could get back to San Francisco.
After a phone call to the Transportation and Safety Administration I learned that you can carry on a blender and food processor if you check the blades.
Good to know but I decided I didn't want to get hassled by security at 5 am and so we left those items behind. We don't have room for the presents we are bringing back anyway.
Posted at 08:45 PM
