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The Holts traveled to Champaign, Illinois, on May 16, to attend the University of Illinois’ 2010 Commencement Ceremony, which celebrated Katie’s graduation from that fine institution. While she actually completed her degree in last December, the College of Applied Health Sciences doesn’t offer a December ceremony, so we waited until May.

There are more pictures in the gallery, and there is a video of the ceremony after the break (you can see Katie from 1:44:09 to 1:44:20).

On Friday night Mom and Dad got into Champaign and we went to pick up my race packet for the next day.  After packet pick-up we decided to get some dinner, and once again I requested Chili’s.  Yes, I ordered the exact same thing again, and it was fantastic!

While in the parking lot waiting for beeper to go off that meant we had a table, we adjusted Kelly’s bike that I planned to use for the triathlon.  Dad was a genius and brought his tools so that we could get everything squared away.  Once we were back home we used the air compressor (that Dad was also smart enough to bring) to get the tires properly filled up.

I was lucky to have Mom down to Champaign for Mom’s Weekend. We had a great time together and got to do a bunch! We started the day shopping, just like many other mother / daughter pairs we saw throughout the day at stores. The main goal during the shopping trip was to find some shorts I can throw on over my swimming suit during the triathlon when I transition to the biking/running. Mom ended up spotting a $10 pair at Old Navy that were perfect, after which we went back to Target to return the more expensive ones I had just purchased. Woo!

This week’s issue of The Economist includes an article discussing the Illinois economy, including a brief mention of Deere.  Overall, a fairly depressing article, although they say nothing bad about us.

The picture of the president speaking in front of (ahem) some construction equipment makes me think we need to figure out how to get Obama to come speak at a Deere plant. I remember seeing Bush speak at the Harvester Works in January 2002. It was a pretty neat experience for me (and, I’m sure, the other Deere employees lucky enough to be present), especially as I was an intern in my first year of college at the time.