Kitty
Senior year. It's unbelievable that it's over already! I have no idea how I got to be so old so quickly! Senior year started with a road trip. Mom and I set out in my new car (2006 Subaru Outback, navy blue, stick shift). We bought the car a solid 5 days before I had to leave. Dad almost had a conniption over the whole situation. We'd agreed to buy another car from another dealer, but when we showed up to take it home the dealer hadn't done any of the promised work. It was a mess, which Dad handled very well until we went to look at the second car. Car #2 had been in an accident, which made Dad rule it out immediately. But Mom and I looked at it anyway; took it in, had "the guys" check it out. Their opinion was that this was actually a better car than the original, and that we should take it. Dad had to speak with them himself, but when he heard that, he did a total 180. Long story short, I had a new car.
So Mom and I loaded up my 5-day-old Subaru and headed out for the east coast. We stopped back in Hudson on the way, said hi to everyone, and continued eastward. We arrived in Brunswick, ME, a little after midnight and fell promptly asleep. The next day was spent moving in, organizing, and getting Mom's hair cut. My hairdresser in Maine is fabulous, and I have recommended her to everyone I know. My friend Becca thinks this is ironic, because the majority of people deliberately leave Maine to get their hair cut, while I am actually planning on making a special visit for the sole purpose of getting a cut.
After the haircut, Mom wanted her annual lobster. Perfect timing, too, since lobster was only $2.50 a pound (!) at that time. So we picked two up at a roadside shack, along with coleslaw, chips, and the local blueberry beer, and drove out to Land's End to eat. We sat on the beach with our lobster until a storm blew in off the water and forced us to head back to Bowdoin. The next day I took Mom to the airport, and went to my first day of orientation as a member of the Residential Life staff.
So Mom and I loaded up my 5-day-old Subaru and headed out for the east coast. We stopped back in Hudson on the way, said hi to everyone, and continued eastward. We arrived in Brunswick, ME, a little after midnight and fell promptly asleep. The next day was spent moving in, organizing, and getting Mom's hair cut. My hairdresser in Maine is fabulous, and I have recommended her to everyone I know. My friend Becca thinks this is ironic, because the majority of people deliberately leave Maine to get their hair cut, while I am actually planning on making a special visit for the sole purpose of getting a cut.
After the haircut, Mom wanted her annual lobster. Perfect timing, too, since lobster was only $2.50 a pound (!) at that time. So we picked two up at a roadside shack, along with coleslaw, chips, and the local blueberry beer, and drove out to Land's End to eat. We sat on the beach with our lobster until a storm blew in off the water and forced us to head back to Bowdoin. The next day I took Mom to the airport, and went to my first day of orientation as a member of the Residential Life staff.
Our lobsters, purchased with some Sea Dog's Bluepaw beer and some chips, and STILL less than $10 per meal. 
Momma Bear feeding some fallen lobster bits to the seagulls. One was more timid than the rest and Mom really wanted to feed it, but the others kept getting there first.
Low tide at Land's End
Storm rolling in
Sunset from my room at Bowdoin
Fast forward a few months. I'd started my senior year, Dan had started his first year in Medical School. We spent every other weekend at each others' place: I'd go down first, Dan would come up, repeat. The pictures below are from these trips. One time when he visited, we wandered out to the Giant Steps, which are on the same island as Land's End. Then when I visited, we went apple picking with his friends. Massachusetts is such a bizarre state in that things like apple orchards are not really in the countryside at all. But the apples were delicious. I made Mona's apple pie for everyone, and it received rave reviews.
Giant Steps
Kind of looks like wood
Leaves changing in Maine
Caught offguard
Dan and me on the hayride while apple picking
Tractor and a crisp fall day
Apples, soon to become pies
The best apples are always the unreachable ones, right?
Giant bumblebee in the sunflower. This picture is currently my desktop background.
Pumpkins!
Pumpkins, post carving
More sunsets from my room
Unfortunately, fall semester came to a startling end. I had planned on joining Dan's family for Thanksgiving, but a few days before, I got a phone call from Mom who had decided that I needed to book a plane ticket to Hudson because Mona wasn't doing too well. So, after spending a day in Woodstock, NY, with Dan's uncle and his family, we headed out at 4am so I could catch my flight from Albany to Cleveland. I don't have many pictures from this time, but I'm sure we all remember it pretty well.
When I returned, it was a mad dash to finish schoolwork in the remaining week. My teachers were very forgiving, thankfully, and I managed to make it through in time to attend the Jr/Sr Ball (Bowdoin's winter dance) followed by Dan's holiday party in Worcester. Then Dan and I caught a flight back to St. Louis to spend Christmas with the fam. Whew! What a semester.
When I returned, it was a mad dash to finish schoolwork in the remaining week. My teachers were very forgiving, thankfully, and I managed to make it through in time to attend the Jr/Sr Ball (Bowdoin's winter dance) followed by Dan's holiday party in Worcester. Then Dan and I caught a flight back to St. Louis to spend Christmas with the fam. Whew! What a semester.
Jonas Rice, our relative! Taken in Rice square in Worcester, minutes from where Dan lives.
Snack time for Sparky
One of our roommate Christmas card shots
At Dan's Christmas party with his medschool friends
