Monday morning

Good morning! How was your weekend? We had a long one full of activity and joy. It all started on Thursday afternoon when we left for Nashville with Ben, Lester and Maddie.

We were heading to the Music City for Luke's graduation. And we were pulling a trailer to take things to him for the house he is renting with a few other guys. To prepare the trailer for the long trip, Lester and Ben, on Wednesday night, took the wheels off my truck and put them on the trailer. The trailer tires are not very good.

The trip Thursday evening went well. Ben did a great job of driving us there. Of course I took the usual abuse for giving him helpful, positive, encouraging, friendly driving tips along the way. Hey, it's my job as a dad! We got to Nashville about my bedtime, but I manned up and stayed up. We unloaded the trailer and then headed to the Lavender's, our friends in Nashville.

Friday was nice. Luke received his Order of the Engineer ring in a nice ceremony at Lipscomb. The room was full of engineers and those who gravitate toward them. There was lots of geekiness and nerdiness in the room, which made me look uber-cool of course. Following the ceremony it was time to eat, and then after that, it was time to eat some more, followed by more eating. The eating was interrupted by Luke taking us to his new work place. He gave us a nice tour! This is the company that he will soon work for.

Saturday was the big day! Graduation. The ceremony was nice, nice and long--nearly 3 hours long. But it was enjoyable. My eyes kept watering during the ceremony. Must be those stupid allergies! Luke made us proud. He graduated magna cum laude and won a couple of awards from the engineering department for leadership and service. He was also recognized as a SALT scholar for his work in Guatemala. SALT stands for Service and Learning Together and is a program where students complete service-learning experiences as a part of their academic graduation requirement. Luke's bridge work qualified him for the award.

Following the ceremony we had a nice gathering at the Lavender's to celebrate. My parents and sisters joined us for a while before the long late drive back to Indiana. Nikki Arnold, also from Mitchell, graduated. She and her family joined us in the celebration. It was a nice time of food and fellowship. Celebration!

Yesterday we got up and went to church with Luke, Lydia, and Rebecca at Ethos. We had a nice time of worship, followed by more eating. We said good-bye to Luke, which is always hard. He leaves for Guatemala tomorrow and will be there for a month. He will then start his job. We made the trip home without incident. We got home with just enough time to unload and go the graduation dinner at church, which was very nice.

This week we start the process all over again. This time it will be about Lester. He graduates from Butler on Saturday as a Doctor of Pharmacy. Wow, it's all hard to believe!

I had hoped to run a lot this weekend. I got 75 miles of riding in last week, but NO running. My bike spill a week ago Friday banged my knee pretty hard. I tried to run a couple times after the spill. It hurt, so I stopped. In Nashville on Friday, I tried again, and it still hurts. I talked to Earl, an experienced runner and cross country coach, and he said it is a bruised bone. So I am now doing the ice/ibu treatment. I think I will stay off it for this week, hoping that it will get lots better. My focus is in the water and on the bike right now anyway.