01.30.07
Posted in Family at 8:21 pm by Todd
Wednesday in Minneapolis, MN
Today brought a force-fed breakfast, a nice surprise, a talk that was way over my head, time with family, friends, and colleagues, and a late night of serious talk.
The morning started at an hour that is normal for most people (7am) but which is way to early for me. After getting ready the Neibergall’s force-fed me breakfast. I say force-fed in an effort to give them a hard time. A quick side note: On the way back to their house the night before, John had planned on asking if I had eaten dinner. We got so wrapped up in talking that he completely forgot. When we finished talking for the evening Karen asked if I had eaten dinner. I answered that I had not but that I wasn’t hungry (I don’t eat well when I travel). She felt guilty and tried to get me to eat something before going to bed but I wasn’t hungry. She mentioned this to John and he felt horrible about it. So he tried to get me to eat something. I ended up going to bed without bending to their will. But in the morning, they wouldn’t let me leave the house without eating something. So that is why I say force-fed. End of side note.
After breakfast we headed up to Matt and Sara’s house. Sara was going to take me up to Matt’s defense along with Sara’s mom. So the two ladies and I headed up after packing up the goodies in the van. I got put into the back of the van to help hide me and because the van was full of kid paraphernalia and goodies. After a short drive through town we arrived on campus and pull up by Matt who was waiting nervously on the curb. They have tinted windows on the van so he did not see me initially. Sara had him open up the back of the van to help unload and was surprised with my ugly mug. What a surprise on a day that makes the best of men weak in the knees.
Matt had the most shocked, disbelieving look on his face. I can’t remember exactly what I said but it was something along the lines of “I was in the neighborhood so I thought I would stop by.” Surprise sprung.
Matt’s defense went amazing. I was impressed with how authoritative he was and how thorough his research was (not that I am a good judge of his area). He has really developed into an expert in the area. Long story short, his presentation went off well, the public questions were interesting and well thought out, and the private portion ended up going fine. Matt got his Ph.D!
After the defense we went to the Old Spaghetti Factory with the family and Matt’s major professor (John Lipscomb). This was a great chance for Matt to unwind and for all of us to congratulate him on his great accomplishment. The remainder of the afternoon was spent with family, friends, and his colleagues in his lab. And once Matt was finally tired, we headed back to his house for a wonderful meal and some time with his two cutie-pies.
The evening was spent with Sara, Matt, Olivia, and Josie. We ate a great dinner, had some great conversation, and watched a taped concert from Bethel University (where Matt and Sara went to school and sang). Matt and I stayed up way to late chatting at love, life, and trivial things … you know, the normal banter of great friends.
End of Wednesday
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01.26.07
Posted in Family at 9:11 am by Todd
Tuesday in Manhattan Kansas:
Today brought a trip to the airport, a slight delay leaving MCI (Kansas City International Airport … don’t ask me why it is abbreviated MCI), a short drive back to the Neibergall household, and the eagle has landed.
The day started with a drive from Manhattan to Kansas City. Kari dropped me off on her way to her parents where she was going to spend a couple days with her family. I was able to check-in quickly (thanks NWA for having kiosks) and was very fortunate to find that airport security was not very busy so I slid right through (hard to believe a suspicious guy like me can get through security). I was NOT as fortunate that the flight was delayed leaving MCI. But it turned out ok because they were able to make up some of the time in the air.
I landed safely and called my limo service … er, my gracious host for the evening, John Neibergall (Matt’s dad). He was driving in circles at the airport waiting. So I hustled to get my checked bag (an annoying story for another time) and off we went to his house. I am being stashed away at Matt’s parent’s house in order to preserve the surprise.
The drive from the airport to their house was really fun. John is such a great story teller that the time just flew. And before I knew it, we had arrived and I was greeted by Matt’s mom, Karen. We spent some time catching up and chatting about what kind of miscreant I was as a kid (not that I have really changed that much). We finished the evening by making plans to continue operation “surprise the doc.”
To finish the story with a little flair, I saved a bit of the story. On the drive frorm the airport to the Neibergall’s, Betsy, Matt’s sister, called. As it turns out, she was at Matt and Sara’s baby-sitting (Josie and Olivia). When she called, she asked John if “the eagle had landed.” I assumed she meant me so I took it as a huge compliment. So from now on, all of my friends should refer to me as “The Eagle”.
End of Tuesday
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01.24.07
Posted in Family at 8:57 pm by Todd
These posts that are upcoming will be slightly delayed between the time I write them and the time I post them. This is because I want to tell this story as it goes along but I don’t want to ruin the surprise.
This Monday (Dec 11th), I got word from my friend, Matt Neibergall, that he is about to finish up his Ph.D at the University of Minnesota. He informed me that he would be doing his defense (aka, oral) next week (Dec 20th). I was really excited that he was going to finishing up and that I would finally get to call him Doctor Neibergall. Besides the fact that I have been teasing him for years to finally get a real job (despite what some in my community think, being a grad student is not a real job … and neither is working as a Research Associate at the university).
So I couldn’t figure out what to do with all of my excitement. That night I chatted with Kari (my wife) about the possibility of traveling up to see him do his defense and to celebrate with him afterwards. Despite my inability to communicate, she thought that would be ok.
Tuesday morning rolls around and I start thinking seriously about it. Before deciding to go and contacting Matt’s wonderful wife Sara, I wanted to see what it would cost to get a last minute ticket up there. As it turns out, if you choose the right schedule, the last minute fare isn’t too bad (when I first started checking the fare was about $200). This made me think that this little adventure would be a good idea so I emailed Sara to see what she thought of my little surprise idea. It turns out, she liked the idea and started working with me, over email, on the details. By Tuesday at 10pm I had booked my flight and worked out some of the details (I will get free room and board as well as rides to and from the airport … can you beat that generosity!).
So here I am on Wednesday trying to keep from spoiling the surprise by emailing Matt or announcing it to the world (via this blog). I am really looking forward to this trip, seeing Matt, seeing Matt complete his Ph.D, and seeing his wonderful and supportive family. More to come as the adventure unfolds.
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