Graduation Weekend

The last of our guests left today so I can finally relax and reflect on this weekend. It was awesome to have everyone who could come to our house here. For four years almost, we have only had two sets of guests come. It was kind of strange to suddenly have 14 guests show up all on the same day and leave pretty close together.
On Thursday our guests trickled in as their flights arrived and they checked into their hotels. I cooked a pork tenderloin all day so that people could eat BBQ sandwiches and such as they arrived. We talked with people, and most were tired so they left early to go to bed.
Friday we took everyone in two groups through a factory tour of my husband's work. (The machine gun factory.) The first group took much longer than the second, but the hubby still finished before lunch. I made everyone chicken salad sandwiches and fruit for lunch. Then we went to my husband's graduation which took less than an hour and a half. I must say that USC knows what they are doing. (Which they should since they have been doing this for over 200 years!) To graduate over 1000 people in less than one hour and have the speech and formalities in less than 30 minutes is amazing. Then we went out to Sticky Fingers, which is a BBQ rib place here.
We had bought a Wii before everyone came out, and I am glad we were able to find one because it was a huge hit! People were playing it all day and night when they were here. In one day, despite having graduation, tours, etc, we logged over 6 hours of play. Even my mother-in-law and father played for a good long time.
Saturday, we went to my graduation. There was an amazing speaker, according to everyone else, but the sound was so bad that the graduates on the floor could not hear it. Afterwards, I took pictures with the Anthropology department and the Public History graduate students. It was neat to get congratulations from all the professors I had known through my years here. Then we went to Historic Columbia Foundation, where I work on the weekends, and ate a picnic lunch. I gave a tour of two of the houses I normally give tours on the weekends. Let me tell you that in the year I have worked there, I have never had a harder tour than my own family. Even taking 45 people through at once was easier than they were. It was still fun, but I lost my voice in the end trying to talk above all the sarcastic comments and chatter. I should have known better than to think our family would behave.
We went back to the house and spent the night playing games, chatting and playing more Wii. We made hamburgers, potato salad and cheesecakes. It was good food, but I still have leftovers despite careful planning not to make too much.
The next day some of our family members left for home in the early morning. We went with my brother-in-law and his family to the Sesquicentennial State Park, which is just down the street from our home and walked around the lake. It was a nice walk, despite the fact that my nephew was pretty tired and a tad cranky. (He's 12, go figure.) Then they left to go home.
In the afternoon my in-laws and my friend came over and we ate lunch and played more Wii. In the evening I made chicken fettuccine and a salad for Mother's Day dinner. We had given our mothers their present the day before since my mother had to leave. (I gave them a framed picture of us in our cap and gown.)
The next day we went to the State House and toured the inside and grounds. I have been around the grounds, but never inside, so it was great for me. We went to lunch at one of our favorite places downtown, The Mellow Mushroom. They serve hippie pizzas that are really delicious. We returned home so that my niece could take a nap, and then they left for the airport.
It seems oddly quite in our house now with everyone gone. It also seems strange that I don't have to go to work tomorrow (cause my project is done so other than my weekend job, I am unemployed for the moment) and I don't have to go to school. I plan on cleaning tomorrow and meeting with my professor, but other than that I don't have anything to do. I bet it will be a nice break, but after about a week I think I might go crazy.
Our cat is glad everyone is gone though. She was good for the most part, but she batted and hissed and my niece twice. She also hid in the bedroom most of the time. Now she is back to prancing around like she owns the place.
It was great fun to have everyone here and we miss everyone already. Some days it is hard to be so far away from everyone else.