Graduation

So graduation! There is always the question of whether or not to "walk." Should I spend all that time and money to dress up in a silly robe and wait for seven geological ages to have somebody read my name? I made my decision about walking about a year ago when I realized that I believe in the anthropological value of ceremonies. You hear about societies where a boy has to spend a night in the woods alone, and if he survives then he is a man. I don't really feel more like an adult just by putting on a silly cap and gown, but I'm glad I did it. Participating in the event of graduation made our achievement slightly more memorable.
Aaron and I both graduated this April, Aaron with a master's and me with my bachelor's. Aaron has less belief in the anthropological value of ceremonies than I do, so he watched Annie for commencement, then we both walked in the convocation while our parents were here. Cousin Brandon was also graduating with a double major and came to hear the commencement speech. Go us! And did you know that gold tassels mean Bachelor of Science and white tassels mean Bachelor of Arts? You did? That's because you already graduated from college.


William graduated too. It was a party.


Annie was a perfect doll for our parents during convocation. She slept for an hour and a half and looked around the rest of the time. The grandmas thought we were crazy giving a 5 1/2 month old baby without a bottle or any other form of food to somebody other than her own mother for several hours. I told the grandmas confidently, "oh, she won't get hungry." Lo and behold, she didn't get hungry. She didn't fuss at all. Either I really know my baby, she's very obedient, or we got lucky. Looking back I can see it was a stupid thing to do, but then again Annie is pretty much the nicest baby on the planet. In this picture she doesn't look very happy, but she definitely believes in the anthropological value of ceremonies.


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Both of our parents were able to come to our convocation. They're such nice people, and we were so grateful for their help in moving to a new apartment the the next day. We couldn't have done it without them.


A question--should the hair go in front of or behind the ears when wearing a graduation hat? I saw many girls with their hair covering their ears. Others attempted to do this but ended up looking like elves. Elf rule #1: make sure your ears are always sticking out from between the folds of your silky hair.

The girls at graduation were a little less shiny than this, but you get the idea. I just put my hair behind my ears, but it felt a little funny.

We all went to Olive Garden afterward. Yum! I like that place. I went crazy and had something with steak in it instead of my usual chicken. Annie slept most of the time at the restaurant in one of those handy carseat holder things that restaurants have. So family friendly!