Home Sweet Home!
Alvin and I got home from Des Moines last night. I don’t know whatever made me thought we could make that drive in one shot. Thanks Dad for suggesting we should leave Wednesday. The roads were pretty clear but it was the 60 MPH winds that made the trip difficult. As we drove into what we thought was Des Moines Alvin and I kept asking ourselves, “Where’s the city?” Come to find out the city lies in a river bed and until you drive down right next to it you won’t see a thing. Thursday night, the evening before Alvin’s interview, he was so nervous. I’ve never seen him quite like that before. He was throwing up, pacing the room, and nervously going over possible interview questions. I tried to console him with the fact that DMU is small potatoes compared to the other schools that have been looking at him and that he should just consider this good practice (wink wink). We got up early the next morning and got him ready to go. I took a couple of pictures like it was his first day of school…lol.
After dropping him off for his 10:30 to 3:30 interview, I had no clue what to do with my self. I stopped at the capitol and took a picture of myself…lol. Still I drove around looking for a mall or something. The more I wandered the more depressing it got and besides that there wasn’t even a Target to be found! I was trying to be upbeat and pretend Des Moines might be cool but maybe I wasn’t trying hard enough. Right before I went to pick up Alvin at 3:30 my Mom called and said we had received a letter from the University of Utah. There is a God and he loves me! I probably should have waited for Alvin to be on the phone but I had my Mom rip it open. We got an interview! Needless to say Alvin was zonked after his day at DMU. He was impressed with how state of the art this small school was but like me couldn’t get over the fact that it’s in Iowa. His words exactly, “This was an expensive way to find out what we already knew.” We don’t regret going. It was nice to get away with only the two of us. On the morning we were supposed to leave Des Moines I woke up at 4:00 am and all I could think was, “Let’s get the hell out of Des Moines!” We were out of the hotel and on the road by 4:30! This was good experience for interviewing and still cheaper than one flight to Des Moines. Alvin’s next interview is with the University of Utah on January 22nd & 23rd. Regis and Creighton are scheduled after but maybe we won’t have to bother… 
On a funny side note: When I was little and growing up in St. Louis, Missouri my Mom would, on a whim, when she had lost all patience, pack she and I in the Mazda and head for Utah. We usually didn’t get all the way there; half way through Kansas she had cooled down and headed us back home. On these occasions I might have missed a day or so of school. To make sure I was still getting educated my Mom would assign me “reports” as we traveled. As Alvin and I were crossing the Wyoming Nebraska boarder there was a familiar sight. There is a rest stop there with a memorial for Abraham Lincoln. It’s a large copper bust of Honest Abe himself. This in fact was one of the “reports” I had been assigned. I was to draw a picture of the statue, read the information surrounding the memorial, and report the info below my picture. Upon our return my Mom would actually have me turn in my scholarly reports to my teacher as if I was supposed to get credit for my silly ramblings. My 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade teachers would be kind in saying, “That’s…that’s great!” all the while thinking inside, “What the crap am I supposed to do with this?!” Kudos to my Mom for trying! Oh how I wish I could have been a fly on the wall in those classrooms…lol!
After dropping him off for his 10:30 to 3:30 interview, I had no clue what to do with my self. I stopped at the capitol and took a picture of myself…lol. Still I drove around looking for a mall or something. The more I wandered the more depressing it got and besides that there wasn’t even a Target to be found! I was trying to be upbeat and pretend Des Moines might be cool but maybe I wasn’t trying hard enough. Right before I went to pick up Alvin at 3:30 my Mom called and said we had received a letter from the University of Utah. There is a God and he loves me! I probably should have waited for Alvin to be on the phone but I had my Mom rip it open. We got an interview! Needless to say Alvin was zonked after his day at DMU. He was impressed with how state of the art this small school was but like me couldn’t get over the fact that it’s in Iowa. His words exactly, “This was an expensive way to find out what we already knew.” We don’t regret going. It was nice to get away with only the two of us. On the morning we were supposed to leave Des Moines I woke up at 4:00 am and all I could think was, “Let’s get the hell out of Des Moines!” We were out of the hotel and on the road by 4:30! This was good experience for interviewing and still cheaper than one flight to Des Moines. Alvin’s next interview is with the University of Utah on January 22nd & 23rd. Regis and Creighton are scheduled after but maybe we won’t have to bother… 
On a funny side note: When I was little and growing up in St. Louis, Missouri my Mom would, on a whim, when she had lost all patience, pack she and I in the Mazda and head for Utah. We usually didn’t get all the way there; half way through Kansas she had cooled down and headed us back home. On these occasions I might have missed a day or so of school. To make sure I was still getting educated my Mom would assign me “reports” as we traveled. As Alvin and I were crossing the Wyoming Nebraska boarder there was a familiar sight. There is a rest stop there with a memorial for Abraham Lincoln. It’s a large copper bust of Honest Abe himself. This in fact was one of the “reports” I had been assigned. I was to draw a picture of the statue, read the information surrounding the memorial, and report the info below my picture. Upon our return my Mom would actually have me turn in my scholarly reports to my teacher as if I was supposed to get credit for my silly ramblings. My 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade teachers would be kind in saying, “That’s…that’s great!” all the while thinking inside, “What the crap am I supposed to do with this?!” Kudos to my Mom for trying! Oh how I wish I could have been a fly on the wall in those classrooms…lol!
4 comments:
glad you made it home safe and SOOOO glad you have an interview at the U!! God is answering all of our prayers :)
I'm glad you guys had a safe drive and that you didn't fall in love with Des Moines. Tell Alvin good luck on his interview! We'll pulling for him!
oh nattie, you tell the best stories ever. lol. i love it, dean and i dont know whether to laugh or cry. dean didnt know mom and you would take off like that. i said "ya, nattie did all the navigating-how did you think she got so good at reading maps?" but i was unaware of the "reports" you would have to do. mom is a genious at keeping kids busy. i think i shall have to use that one some time. thinking of the "reports" makes me laugh remembering the time dean and i brought you along on our trip with us to san diego for help with the kids. and you were trying to finish up a big art project. and we spend all morning looking for the post office to send it off to mom, to hurry over to the school. you should think about becoming a writer again. i love your stories.
Hey Alvin's outfit looked great! and wowzer! that statue of Lincoln is quite memorable. I still get the chuckles thinking of what your poor teacher's must have been thinking. :) total A for effort!
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