What to give a grad

So there's Paul, new graduate from Knox College, and the boy who seldom asks for anything. What do you give a fella who had such a stellar college career? Well, Kendall and I settled on a droid seeing as how math & science dudes seem to like their gadgets. And I've got to admit, it was pretty fun to have the magic box along during the road trip to/from Galesburg/Petoskey and back home to Boulder.

But, being a mom, I really wanted to give him something from the heart. I had given this plenty of thought over the past year and had decided on a quilt. And not just any quilt, but a quilt made from t-shirts we collected during the run, one from each state plus an extra for Boulder, Petoskey, and Wisconsin (which took an awfully long time to run through). Problem was, I barely know how to sew, and am clueless about quilting. So! Sister-in-law Kitty to the rescue.


I showed her the design I had in mind:
t-shirts laid out roughly in the shape of the route, the bandanna I carried with me every step of the way laid out as Lake Michigan, and two digital pictures on cloth, one of me and Paul when I first saw the Michigan state line, and the other of the route map with markers for each days' end point. Kitty put that all together and added many more great touches...footprints stitched in, great lay out of the t-shirts, highlight stitching on the map... Absolutely fabulous.




Absolutely a gift from the heart for the fella who gave me his heart, soul, and energy throughout The Run.











Pictures:
top - Paul taking pictures with his droid at his Boulder graduation party.
middle - me and Kitty watching Paul opening his quilt.
bottom left - showing the quilt at the graduation party.
bottom right - the quilt about to be laid on Paul's bed.

Big days in Illinois and Michigan

We've just returned to Colorado from one more road trip to the midwest, this trip highlighted by two grand events:

The most momentous event was Knox College's 2010 Commencement where our son Paul graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Math & Physics - a very proud day for the family! The next phase of his life brings Paul back to Boulder where he'll pursue a PhD in Applied Math at the University of Colorado. The entire VaughanMiller family will be back in Boulder again. Woohoo!

Next up on the road trip: Kendall's birthday,

celebrated during our post-graduation visit to Petoskey.

'Twas a lovely day which started with coffee and friends at our favorite coffee spot (Roast & Toast in Petoskey), followed by lunch out at Leggs Inn, a most excellent and unique Polish restaurant in Cross Village, and capped off with an evening stroll along Petoskey's waterfront.

Now we're back in Boulder where it seems extraordinarily damp - like much of the plains we drove through. Our garden is flourishing, our dog is wriggling all over, our elder son is happy to have company (so happy he had dinner waiting for us when we drove up!), and the trails are calling to me...mud and all.

A two-month review

My goodness, it's been a while since I've posted! Here's a quick (well, sort of quick) synopsis of the last couple of months:

The entire Prairie Spirit Trail run was wonderful.
It scratched the itch I had for multi-day long quiet runs.
It also heightened my desire to work through the list of Rail Trails.
So many marvelous miles, so little time!



Through April and into May, I had the privilege and joy of coaching a girls running club at Kendall's elementary school. What a fantastic group! And what a fantastic community to be coaching in. I cold-called a number of athletes in the area to invite them to join us and had an overwhelming positive response: Sara Slattery, Colleen DeReuck, Coach Ceal Barry - and my running buddies (to show that friendship is also a benefit of running in addition to fitness) all helped out with the young runners. It was such a successful experience, Kendall (the school's librarian) and I will be doing a Running and Reading Club this summer.

The girls jumping with their new shoes - donated by Mark Plaatjes & Boulder Running Company

May also saw two family celebrations. One of my cousins came to visit (a rare occurrence for our midwest oriented family). In fact, she had the honor of christening our newly remodeled guest room. She also was the official courier for delivering the gift from that branch of the family to my brother in celebration of his 60th birthday. And that was the second of the family celebrations. Yes, my brother turned 60. And to do it up right, his birthday party was a Vaughan + Miller talent show - which turned out to be one of the most fun parties we've ever hosted. Talent ranged from story telling to comedy to magic tricks to dancing, fiddling, guitar playing (with yodeling!), and singing. A fabulous afternoon!

Great niece Kira, me, my brother Dave, and my son Devon doing the twist at Dave's 60th bday party

May's finale' was the Bolder Boulder with many family and friends running followed by Memorial Day tributes and elite athlete race finishes in the stadium...one of the best community events I've ever experienced. Icing on the cake: I beat my age in the 10k. A good day.

Now June is here. AND PAUL'S COLLEGE GRADUATION!!!! Yes, tomorrow we leave for Knox College, Paul graduates on Saturday, we head up to Petoskey on Sunday, return to Knox on Friday so Paul can go to a friend's wedding, then it's back to Boulder and summertime in the Rockies - with our entire family here to enjoy it. Weeehaww!!!