Spring Break '08

So it’s been a while. I’m on spring break mentally, but I’m still reporting to the lab every day (even though there is little going on for me right now). Joy of joys. But at least I don’t have the stress of classes to deal with. That’s nice. Too bad spring break is only one week.

Allyson and I went to St. Louis to visit relatives last weekend. As stated in the previous blog entry, our great aunt had just gotten out of the hospital and was declared in remission. We saw both she and her whole family and my mom’s sister and her family. A whole lot of family in one weekend. But it was great. There were two parties at a local wine shop put on by Jill and Mike’s friends and they celebrated her victorious return. They sure have fun friends. And we got to see our second cousins (though we didn’t go out with them on Friday night and decided to stay in on Saturday as well)—they’re hilarious. But it was fairly laid back. No major plans, just visiting. It was very nice. Too short, but nice.

I answered a phone call on Sunday morning just shy of 2 AM. It went a little something (or exactly) like this:

This is an emergency message from ISU Alert. Police are responding to a report of a person displaying a gun in Willow Hall at approximately 1:00 am Sunday morning. Residents of Willow Hall are advised to remain in their rooms until evacuated by law enforcement.

Anyone not in Willow Hall is asked to avoid that area of campus.

The person is described as an African American male, approximately 6 feet tall, dressed in a black and white jacket with a white t-shirt and blue jeans. He also has a tattoo on his neck. Call 911 to report information about the suspect.

I repeat, this is a campus emergency; this is not a test. Please share this information with others immediately and follow the instructions of university officials or local authorities.

For updates, check the ISU homepage.

This is an emergency message from ISU Alert. Police are responding to a report of a person displaying a gun in Willow Hall at approximately 1:00 am. Residents of Willow Hall are advised to remain in their rooms until evacuated by law enforcement.

Even though the message was that long, I didn’t register that a phone was next to my ear until they gave the description of the suspect. Allyson was awake too (though she never got the phone call—we both got the email), and we were a little freaked out. Yes, we were hundreds of miles away, but things like that aren’t supposed to happen to your school. I slept uneasily waiting for the all-clear call and when I woke up at 7 and still had none, I was a little worried that it all got out of hand.

But the suspect was arrested about 15 minutes after the alert was sent out, though no gun has been found yet. Interesting. If this whole thing is new to you, look for the links on ISU’s homepage.

Sunday night (or rather Monday morning) we got home around 1 and it was snowing to beat all. I thought it was spring already! Luckily it had melted by morning, but it was tricky getting home.

The rest of the week has not been uneventful. Monday was Rick's 29th birthday and we went out to eat with some friends and had a great time. I helped judge 4-H scholarships yesterday which was refreshing. It’s good to see so many talented youth--my uncle had me worried about my children's future on Sunday. And tomorrow we head north for Easter and to finish cleaning out the house. Next week is our move into Ames, and before we all know it Allyson will be graduating. Where does the time go?