Weekend in Dubuque

Mike and I headed off on Friday afternoon for our last Family Weekend at Loras. I will say that I will definitely miss going to Dubuque if Micah is no longer there. It is a long drive but the area is really quite pretty. The lay of the land is much different than here at home and with the trees and the river it is just beautiful. Also, the homes are fun to see there and there is a lot of history there. As soon as we saw Micah we got a surprise. He had gotten a haircut that afternoon and boy was it short! I told him the next step would be the Father Miller look, just get out the Gilette and off it goes! He is not really liking this short hair, especially as it gets colder! Anyway, we got there Friday evening with just enough time to grab a slice of pizza at The Pub and scoot in to the magic show which was the entertainment for the evening. It was pretty entertaining as far as magic shows go. Didn't saw anybody in half or anything but you get what you pay for.



Saturday morning we actually slept in and started our day rather late by our standards. It gave Micah a chance to tidy up his room a bit as well. Since I had a coupon that was about to expire, we went to Perkins for breakfast. After filling our tummies our plan was to go and get Micah some new jeans since he was running low (he had ruined a pair while picking up walnuts last time he was home!) and then go and catch a movie. I picked Captain Phillips (didn't think they would appreciate a chick flick!). It was action-packed and got you really involved. After the movie I decided it was a good thing that we saw it early in the day because it is not a movie you would be able to watch and then go home and go to bed afterwards. Once the movie got out we went back to see Micah's room -- every mom wants to see just what her child's housekeeping skills are! I think I would give him maybe a C-. I've seen worse but I've definitely seen better. He is living in a different dorm than his previous years. This one doesn't seem to be as "smelly" as Rohlman. The room is bigger and kind of reminds me of a hospital room more than a dorm room. We then decided we all needed a nap and Micah had to be rested, fed and ready for the evening's concert by 6 p.m. so Mike and I headed off to go to our hotel.



Time flew while we were resting and I realized that we'd better get a bite to eat before heading to the Dessert Pops so we headed across the street and at a small meal at Crust. When we got to the concert to pick up our tickets and stand in line it was crowded. This is always a popular concert as the students get to pick what they want to perform. There is some outstanding musical talent there, some of which I have been lucky enough to see for the last four years. I don't know their names but there are a couple of saxophone players and a few soloists that I look forward to hearing from at each event.



After getting our extra hour of sleep (which didn't seem like enough!), we got dressed and packed and headed for mass at Christ the King Chapel at Loras. It was really nice to sit and enjoy the mass without getting music ready and having to pay attention to how much more music do I need and which music is next. The music for mass this year wasn't as "out there" as it usually is. There was only one song that I was unfamiliar with and it was definitely out there, at least for mass. I can't see it going over real well here at St. Patrick's. We visited a little with Fr. Gross and then headed out to get something to eat as we were all getting a little hungry and you don't want to be around us when we're hungry. We drove to iHop but that was going to be at least a 20 minute wait. Mike suggested Red Robin and since we have never been to one but have driven by it often we decided to give it a try. Mike and I had varying gourmet burgers and Micah had chicken strips and fries (imagine that!). It was good but it was very filling. Now that we were all fed and happy we decided that it was time to head out. Micah said that he had laundry and homework to do and we had a long drive ahead of us. As we dropped Micah off and drove away, Mike remarked as to how different it is to leave him here now as it was when we left him here the first time. It is hard to believe that he can possibly survive without me! (I know he will read this and roll his eyes!) These four years have certainly gone by fast and it is hard to believe what changes Micah has gone through and what more lie ahead for him.

The drive home wasn't too bad. We stopped and oggled a 2014 Mustang Convertible at Dyersville, I slept from just past there to Waterloo and Mike paid the price for trying to beat the estimated time of arrival on the Garman. Yes, we
had a brief stop south of Clarion. Ah, well, such is life! It's only money, right?

Upon arriving home I checked the answering machine and my mom had left a message to call as soon as I get home as she had a bunch to tell me. So after kicking my shoes off and making myself at home I gave her a call. It looks like I may have another week of visiting the dentist with mom....she had one of her front teeth fall out. Yes, it just fell out all on its own. I don't know what they're going to do with her! She is just sick about it and is not looking forward to it at all. I assured her that I would take her over to the dentist, she just needs to let me know when so I will know more tomorrow. Oy!

Oh, I promised big news a couple of posts ago. It seems that my weekends of playing the music at church alone are coming to an end! Brenda got a full time nursing position at the clinic so she will start on November 25th which means 8-5 hours, no holidays and the only weekend hours are until noon on Saturday morning every 12th week or so. Even if there is inclement weather she will only have to drive 3 miles. I will not only get to see her on Sunday mornings but I will get to see her every day as she will be just down the hall!!! We are so excited!!

I'd better call it a day and rev up for what could be a wild week of dentistry. We'll see!