Gonzaga...College Friends, Bing Crosby, and Attack Iguanas

E and I went up to Spokane this past weekend. We were looking forward to the short jaunt out of town for the day. We were heading up to visit a friend of mine from college, J, is currently teaching at Gonzaga. He showed us around the science building where he teaches. I was quite envious of the nice (new) facilities and the labs where each student has a computer per station. I remember using carbon paper and spiral notebooks! The biology lab has a resident iguana, who in characteristic fashion, lunged at us and hit the glass. If I didn't think it was stressing the iguana too much, I would have captured it on film...

My family has a connection to Gonzaga as well. My grandfather as well as his brothers attended Gonzaga back in the early 20's. J gave us a tour of Gonzaga -- including the Bing Crosby "Museum," where we saw all the records, movie posters, and even products he indorsed (including a mouse trap, game, and even a toothpaste). Turns out Bing was a childhood friend of my grandfather, as they lived across the street from one another. As we were touring through the buildings, we came across a hallway full of old photos dating from the 1890s to the 1970s. I found several photos of my grandfather as well as his brother. My grandfather was quite the athlete...he played everything from water polo to track to basketball and beyond.

1924 Varsity Basketball

Water Polo - #3

1921 - Varsity Basketball - #4

1920- JV Basketball - #6 - Note B. Crosby is #1
1918 - JV Football - #6
1921 - Senior Class Officiers of Some Variety
1924 Varsity Track

After our tour of campus, we headed over to have sushi at Sushi.dot.com. It was really good and a nice treat for E and I, who haven't really found a place here in the TC that has pallatable suchi...

We were headed out of town and decided to take a last minute detour to do a little shopping. We finally got a matress last week for our guest bedroom (making at least 1 room passable for visitors) and "needed" some new lighted. Restoration Hardware was having a great sale, so we succumed.

Our next task is to tackle the other guest room. My father is coming to visit this weekend and the plan is to put together my canopy bed. My dad made this bed for me when I was 5. It's a oak 4 poster bed with a fully arched canopy. The problem is it takes multiple people (one of which needs to be my dad) to get it together. I'm hoping this will be the weekend. I also have some other projects on the docket. I would like to sand down and re-stain 2 of my mission oak tables my dad built for me in graduate school. I plan on putting a darker stain on them to match the new decor. I may also end up painting a little chest I have to match the white metal bed/new lamps in the guest bedroom, although I don't know if I can bring myself to paint hardwood....