It's Been a While

Oh Lordy, I haven't posted in for-ev.
It's been a busy couple of weeks. Plus there's been stuff going on.

Firstly, my dear fiance graduated! OK, actually, this is only in theory. He still has some things to take care of, like a couple more credits, but he walked with the class and received his empty diploma folder (poor guy lol). By the fall he'll have the real thing....and hopefully a job to go along with that nifty new degree.

Graduation day was really fantastic - the weather worked out beautifully and the campus looked just gorgeous, though Babson is lovely no matter the season it seems. Jam's commencement speaker was the first blind person to summit Everest, and though he rambled a bit at the end, the speech was inspirational and at times even hilarious. More importantly Jam's parents and sister and friends were all able to gather to watch him cross the stage. Hurrah! Of course Jamaal being Jamaal he brought the experience to a whole new level, waving to the crowd as he made his way to the stage. It was very him, LOL. Afterwards we had a fantastic dinner at the Metro 9 Steakhouse.

Last weekend I went off to Smith to my 5th Reunion and everything about it was lovely and fantastic. I loved staying on campus, and a dear friend and I shared what may have been the best room in the house....certainly with one of the best views on campus! There was great company, good food, shopping, even some leg-waxing thrown in there. Hee. I think one of my favorite moments was the alumnae parade, when all the alums who've gathered for Reunion march to a central location to listen to the president speak and the Alumnae Association president speak about fundraising, etc. We line up according to class year, with the youngest group in front and the oldest in the back. A marching band begins in the back of the line and marches through the two columns of alumnae, like a sock turning inside out (which is what we were told as students lol). This way the oldest alumnae end up in the front of the parade and get to pass through all of the other alumnae, who cheer for them with gusto. The women wave like celebrities...or comment on "how young we are" (which is what someone from the 15-year reunion class said....we were like 'um and you're only 37.....'). It's great fun. Later that night, the campus is strung with lanterns. This year the college swapped out old Chinese paper lanterns with real flame for LED-powered fabric lanterns that are fire, wind and weather-proof. It took a bit of adjusting as we were all in love with "the old way" but it wasn't too bad. The LED lights aren't quite as aesthetically pleasing, BUT the fact that Illumination Night can happen despite wind and weather is a bonus to me, as our commencement weekend illumination was cut short by a storm.

Whenever I return to Northampton I am reminded of Wester Mass's general awesomeness. It's so beautiful, especially when you get a stretch of weather like we did, clear, sunny and 80 the whole four days. Noho is a fabulous artsy community, full of shops and amazing restaurants. I could've gorged myself the whole weekend, but somehow held back. I didn't shop as much as I planned to either, but that's ok. I got a few trinkets here and there and purchased a diploma frame as well, and that left me feeling sufficiently poor enough to hold back on more ridiculousness (though I SHOULD have bought that cosmetic bag at Essentials dammit!).

Of course despite Northampton's awesomeness, I'm not sure it'd be the same returning there without my ladies. It's hard going back and appreciating things without someone who has a similar experience - I'm not saying that Jamaal, for instance, would not LOVE Northampton, but he doesn't have the allegiance to it that we Smithies do. Like my sister has mad love for Fredericksburg, where she went to school. I LOVED visiting, and I think she loved visiting Northampton, but it is noooot exaaactly the same. I did really miss a lot of the ladies who lived in Hubbard with us though - some '04's couldn't make it and it wasn't a reunion year for many of our Hubbard friends, but we still managed to have a good time and quite often raised a glass to those who couldn't join us!

The time since Reunion has been spent catching up with life and work and the like. Wednesday was a pretty low point, as my little Lucy-bird died. She was my evil, but mostly sweet...when she wanted to be, parakeet that had been struggling with a fatty tumor disease since I adopted her 3 1/2 years ago. We knew she only had a little time left due to her behavior last weekend, but regardless, the death of a pet is something that kind of kills your week, you know? There are two heartening things about her passing though: 1. she is out of pain and is not suffering, which is always something to be grateful for....2. her cagemate Charlie Brown, who was a gentleman to the end, preening her though she was very sick, seems liberated. At night when things are quiet, he definitely looks for Lucy, but the rest of the time, he plays with his toys (Lucy never let him do that) and he sings and eats in peace. While I miss poor Lucy, I can only feel happy for Charlie B., finally getting a chance at life :)Lucy in foreground, CB behind her. That's pretty much how the relationship went....

In other news, I am anxious and stressed about wedding things after a work conversation I had. Jam is trying to be a comfort by telling me to ignore my coworker's judgments and pessimism, and also telling me that married people are only trying to be helpful when administering advice, unsolicited or not. I feel bad because he is on the receiving end on the majority of my complaints, but I think that he gets that as a guy, his friends arent' going to be like, "dude, you should totally go with candles on the tables instead of flowers" whereas I get ALL KINDS OF INPUT from everyone to my mother, who is just trying to be lovely and helpful, to the lady who does my eyebrows, who I've met ONCE. Ugh. I try to be patient with people and just smile and say thank you, because a lot of the advice is legit fantastic and I'm grateful for it, as I am grateful for the inspiration, ideas, offers of help, etc. I am GRATEFUL. That being said, I am also tired of talking about the wedding. Meh. And if my coworkers tell me one more time that Jam will never move up here, that we'll never live in the same state and that they'll believe the wedding when they see it, I may scream.


This is how I feel about wedding planning and unsolicited advice!!

Ok rant over. I actually have a very peaceful and lovely weekend planned before the madness of June starts. I plan on getting ahead with my crafting, and even do some stealth wedding planning. Maybe even kayak....depending on the cooperation of our difficult New England weather. Anyways, after this ranty bit, I am looking forward to a peaceful couple of days...oh and I think homemade guacamole may be worked into the situation as well. OH and the MARTHA F*CKING STEWART ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CRAFTS! It arrived yesterday. I rubbed it all over my body. Oh and f*cking isn't really in the name, I'm using to emphasize the pure unadulterated awesomeness of this book. It's even alphabetized. OMG. It made me all tingly.


Thank you for reading my boringness :P


I am off to read my book club book while falling asleep. Whilst falling asleep. Can I use whilst? Am I allowed? It's just so lovely.....