What was that Mr. Pence (the republican vice presidential nominee under Donald Trump for president)?  Did you just call the greatest small town university by the WRONG NAME?

OK, so I guess that tells you the ultimate winner of that debate.  This occurred during a great debate, the ONLY vice presidential debate of the election- and it was held at our great school in Farmville, Va- LONGWOOD UNIVERSITY.  The democratic nominee for Vice president is none other than Tim Kaine, the senator of Virginia.  He’s a lesser known candidate (probably not to us living in Virginia, since we personally nominated him) and no one has heard of David Pence.  At least no one except those living in Indiana, but I guess that’s how it normally goes for vice presidential candidates.  Pence seems more level-headed than his running mate Donald Trump, almost his polar opposite-the yin to Trump’s yang.

During the VP debate party at my house, there was more catching up with Longwood friends than listening to the actual debate.  I heard the abruptness that Tim Kaine was grilling David Pence about his running mate Donald Trump and Trump’s erratic and often unpredictable-ness of his campaign.  Of course, Mike Pence tried to avoid the questions as much as possible, and that was definitely noticed and discussed by the attendants at my party, contradicting views, Pence not really knowing the facts about his running mate and skirting the real issues.

BUT THAT WASN’T WHAT WE WERE CONCERNED ABOUT AT ALL!  We were catching up with our alumni friends, and consumed with playing BINGO!   Yes, VP PRES DEBATE BINGO!

We were concentrating so hard on picking out the individual words needed to get a true BINGO!

Staying true to the Therapeutic Recreation degree that the majority of the attendees earned, we improvised and used Hershey kisses in lieu of poker chips.  The members at the party could not believe how much the campus had changed over the past 15 years (Now I sound SO OLD!) when the camera was spanning the campus in the first two minutes.  My freshman year, there were still streets running through the middle of the campus and Awould see cars driving through!  I had to hold up my other hand (the one without the cane) when I was crossing the street to let the cars on the street know that I was still crossing!  The campus was under major renovations when I was attending school.  At the end of my freshman year was the Great fire of 2001, which created even more reconstruction.  Since Meghan, Lorie and I had all graduated with therapeutic degrees, the majority of our classes were in Lancer building, where the debate was held, now renamed Willet hall.

During the entire debate, my basement was a whirlwind of chatter, catching up with old friends and what we’d been up to lately while trying to frantically post to social media (OK, I guess I was the only person trying to post frantically) It was hard paying attention and catching the words through all of our socializing and reminiscing about our college days while admiring how much the school has transformed since graduation.  However, we had plenty of snacks and candy to go around!

Danielle’s Debate Guac

• 2 medium avacados
• 1 can diced tomatos and chiles
• 1 T lime juice
• a bit of cilantro
• Himalayan salt (to taste)

Slice avacados in half, remove pit and scoop out flesh with a fork, mash until blended roughly; add can of diced tomatoes,   add lime juice and cilantro and sprinkle with salt.

Enjoy with tortilla chips and good friends!!