To the professor's house...

We had lunch today with three of my husband's best students... they rented a car and drove up here from Houston.  I'd heard about these particular students for quite some time because they had signed up over and over again for my husband's classes so it was nice for me to meet them in person.

All three students are very good friends, working and studying together, and they hope to be working with one another in the future. They all graduate this term and my husband will see them again at the graduation ceremonies this weekend.

But today was lunch... here at our home in our dining room which is covered in Christmas from one corner to another. The students seemed to be in awe of the holiday decorations and everything seemed new to me just by seeing it all through their eyes. What was also very nice was their enthusiasm for learning, which showed quite openly as they talked about their classes with my husband. Even before they walked into the dining room for lunch, they were 'calling' their seats so they could seat next to 'the professor.'  When they got into the dining room, they were happily surprised to see by the place cards that I had indeed seated them near their professor.

Today's weather was glorious, perfect for their two-hour drive from Houston to our corner of the Hill Country. I think the students expected to make friends with our puppy Savannah, but she is still very shy with strangers and she stayed in her bed in the breakfast room during their visit.

We told the students that they were welcome to come up for a visit any time, to just give us some notice so we'd be home... which they did for today's visit. They left Houston early enough this morning so they wouldn't get stuck in traffic, and their trip took a bit less than two hours. We suggested that they pay attention to the local speed limits because the deputies up here don't take excuses for speeding.  The students' reply was "No excuses, only results!" -- which is one of my husband's mantras for all of his classes.