The best way to spread Panther cheer,

is singing loud for all to hear...and making sure Panther friends are near!

So thankful for time spent with my UNI family this weekend - it was a bit of a whirlwind trip to Cedar Falls and back in less than 24 hours - but I managed to sneak in time with many of my favorites! 

• Although I was by myself, I did drive around for 20 minutes looking at Christmas lights and enjoying being home at the dome again
• A bit of snuggle time with Baby T
• OP with Felly, Tony, Meg Kamm, and the birthday boy himself - Jake Rudy
• breakfast at J's with Felly, Tony, Mr. Rudy (he's old now...), and the wonderful Jenny Gibbs (who even got up early to come visit!)
• lunch (at the OP again...) with Katie and Brandon (have I mentioned lately how much I love the Neil's?)
• a visit to Dike to see my little Samuel and play like it was still the summer
• and a return trip home to the OP to meet the Rudy family, say a quick hello to Constance and Kevin, and give one more round of hugs to Felly, Tony, and Jake Rudy before heading back north.  Whew!

I love my Panthers.  Also, they're a really attractive bunch to boot so I thought seeing some pictures of them might help improve the start of the week:

"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit." ~Albert Schweitzer

My spirit has been rekindled.