Wednesday, October 29, 2008

catching up: homecoming '08

(Remember weeks ago when I went to Homecoming and never posted about it?  Well it's 5:30am in Germany and I'm sitting up with jet lag and a cold.  Thought I'd catch you all up while I was at it.)

(that's me, #7, in the front middle)

My final day in PA a few weeks ago was packed.

Kerri and I had to get up crazy early to drive the two and a half hours so I could play in the alumni lacrosse game. I will preface this by saying I haven't played in 9 years. And it showed. Here are some pictures that make me look like quite an athlete, but don't be fooled. I fell twice (as in spread eagle, stick flying), missed two very easy shots on goal (I'm defense, people!) and got winded faster than expected. But I had a blast.

looking for the girl I'm supposed to be covering
picking my nosebeing happy and cold all at the same time

But that was just the beginning. Afterwards and looking rather grubby with my grass-stained knees, my friend Elizabeth and I went to the Math department alumni mixer. It was good to see old professors and just generally feel smart again. Except when asked what I did with my degree and my answer was various forms of "sort of nothing".

Then the much needed shower. As Elizabeth and I grabbed our bags we made some passing joke about communal showers. Always a bad omen.

The first locker room we found had one very large and intimidating communal shower. The second one at least had two small ones. So she took one and I took the other. With every voice I heard walk down the hall, I was terrified the entire volleyball team would decend upon my sad little body, shaking in the shower.  Despite the longest 10 minutes in my life I got clean and ready for the rest of my day.

Kerri humored me with a quick walk through the science halls of Rockwell, my home away from home for four years. Did you know I was such a geek?
We caught up with old friends for lunch on the Quad and chatted about the last 9 years. We were just getting ready to leave after halftime when we ran into a bunch of upperclassmen we'd been looking for, to include Crafty P and Vileation! I lament not having more time with them. It was a crazy day and I couldn't be more peeved at myself for rushing out like I did. Silly me.

But I did get some good quality time with friends Cindy and Emily. Seeing them made the day completely worth it.

Emily, me, Kerri, Cindy
(Little did I know it looked as though I was being strangled by a snowman all day.)

Kerri and I made the trek home, watched/listened to Penn State beat Michigan in their own homecoming game, and then crashed hard. We caught the beginning of Sarah Palin on SNL and called it a night.

It was such a great day. Hopefully I can do it again next year!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I meant to ask you how the lax game went! I, too, fell flat on my face when I played a few years ago. Your feet just don't move as fast as you want them to anymore. I guess it's a good thing I didn't play, since it looks like a bunch of young whippersnappers were there and I would have been the oldest one.
Have a great time on your trip. Hope you get over your cold.

Muthering Heights said...

It looks like a great time...except for the scary shower, of course!

Happy said...

You all look like you still belong in college...meaning you all look youthful and vibrant!

Lacrosse? Is that a contact sport? Can you get hurt playing? And by getting hurt, I totally mean can you break a nail?

Not that I would worry about such things...I'm very athletic.

So long as said sport does not require me to be coordinated, run fast, catch something, or throw something. Other than that...I'm good.

Anonymous said...

If you super star lacrosse girl fell on her face, then there is NO WAY you will catch me in an alumni game since I fell on my face back on my "glory days." :-)

Hope you feel better soon and am really, really looking forward to some europe updates...before you get back. :-)

Crafty P said...

snowman strangling you.... too funny. i think you look amazingly lovely and very chic!

hope you're feeling better- you can't miss out on any fun in Germany! Don't they have zicam over there?

Vileation Nation said...

Dude, if I had the cute little body that you have, I would have proudly used the communal showers. So there. (is that wrong?...I don't mean it to be wrong, I'm just saying I wish I weren't enormous.)

Well the Vileation Nation was certainly thrilled to see you and your snowman scarf!!! Honestly, you are such FUN, Whaley. Can we still call you Whaley? Again, is that wrong? This time I think it's wrong. Maybe "Das Whaley" since you're in Deutschland.

Anyhoo...since the Vileation Nation resides in Greater Baltimore...perhaps we can arrange a meeting if you're ever back this way??? I'll have you know that Kevin and I both purchased running shoes last night, ready to rock and roll and get back in shape. So maybe we'll see you for the Annapolis race next year...or the Marine Corps Marathon?!?! At very least the Army Ten Miler? (It will take me a full year to train to run 10 miles...no joke).

Hope you're having a blast in Germany!!!!