Nighty Night Typ0

No trip back to Illinois would be complete without a stopover in our former stomping grounds of Cham-bana. It is amazing how things can change so little and yet be completely different at the same time. A quick drive up through the heart of Campus Town boasted a new Chipotle and even a Starbucks. Thankfully, the local flavors of Zorba’s and the Korean BBQ place were still intact in this new version.

After a quick lunch at Qdoba (shredded beef nachos, in case you were curious), we headed up to Mumford Hall and all of Hubby’s old friends and inmates. As he sat down to work in Doc A’s office, I wandered the halls and was pleasantly surprised by how many people remembered me. Many of you were Devoted Readers and to you I tip my hat and give a big ‘ole *cyberhug*.

After a while, Hubby emerged from his high-powered meeting (which was punctuated with several guffaws that could be heard clear down the hall for anyone who hadn’t yet figured out that Hubby was back in town), and he proceeded to gossip with his old classmates. Before long, they had appropriated Cam’s bat and wiffle ball and were out on the lawn attempting to prove to each other that they were still 18. Silly cute boys!

Do I even need to tell you where we ended up next? Yup, down at Guido’s for a series of Tangerine Dream Martinis (for me), and Oberon beer (for the Hubby). Even less surprising than the fact that we ended up in a bar should be Hubby’s order for dinner: a black bean burger with a side of bacon, BBQ sauce and onion rings. Some things never change. (As ‘Sconni Boy jokingly pointed out, Hubby may have a problem killing beef but those bacon producing pigs better watch out!)

The crowd that gathered at our old watering hole was a great one: from the aforementioned ‘Sconni Boy and his soon-to-be Mrs. ‘Sconni Girl, to the inventor of Uzbeki Pizza and his current GF. (He claims that his famous Uzbeki pizza is really just Papa John’s but I don’t believe him!) I will apologize now for not naming everyone there, but I can’t seem to come up with appropriate new names although we did think that maybe Bubba, Not Joseph Smith, and Mr. and Mrs. Mantoon (nee Rantoul) could work for a quick start. (Discuss for 10 points.)

We did learn that when writing the core exam and in doubt of the answer, simply writing, “Please refer to Hubby’s exam” would work for full points. It was suggested that the movie of the year in should have been “Brokeback Mumford,” and that the term “Rantucky” is insulting to people in Kentucky. We also, sadly, learned that I am still embarrassingly jet lagged as I napped through most of our time across the street in Boltini’s. I still maintain that it wasn’t my fault: the couch was just really comfy! Thus I apologize for falling asleep on y’all and promise that next time I’ll do my best to drink NJS under the table.

So ‘till next time mes amis. Until then, keep drinking, only study when you absolutely have to, and, if at all possible, take less than 15 years to graduate so you can come join us in… well… wherever it is we’ll be by then!