Goodbye October

October 2011 turned out to be an incredibly shitty month. Lots of travel, sadness, and unanswered questions. It's fitting that it isn't even acknowledged in my blog. But I'm back, maybe not fully, but life continues and there's lots going on lately. My job has picked up, Miles is growing and changing like crazy, and we're looking to move to a bigger place -- I guess I'm not giving October enough credit. 

It made me remember how important family and friends are in my life. If I'm smart (and I like to think that I am) I will keep October close by and use it as a reminder to take a break now and again from my busy life to be thankful. Here Miles and I are with my sister, her fiance, Eric, my parents, and grandmother all together for the first time in a very long while. 

Graham-uation

My rock star tour of graduations continued with a West Coast appearance in smoky California. I arrived back in D.C. on Monday morning from Katie's commencement, took a really long nap and called in sick to work. Tuesday flew by and before I knew it, I was transferring my clothes from one suitcase to another, standing in another airport security line, and on my way to Santa Cruz.

Friday morning the house was stirring and by 7:00am, Bob, Mary Ann, E, J, and I piled in the car and were on our way to Berkeley. At approximately 7:15, we hit the worst traffic ever. We passed the time by joking about G's love for basketball shorts, the police officer who was poking at a dead deer on the side of the road, and then J treated us to his rendition of car noises (including the sound of our hubcaps scraping the concrete barriers like the race scenes in Bullitt). Then, a dark cloud covered the Passat because everyone realized that there was no way in hell that we were going to make it to the Greek Theater by 9:00. Luckily for us, the commencement speaker was incredibly long-winded. When we strolled in at 9:30 he was still going strong. Whew. Crisis averted.

Highlight of the ceremony? G's sneakers. When asked if he received the memo that instructed the men to wear dark pants and shoes (about 99% of the graduates were in the loop), he retorted, "hey I wore a collared shirt." J added that at least he didn't wear shorts.

After a nice walking tour of Berkeley's campus, we stopped by Tai and Doug's for cake and champagne. I got great tour of their new house and all the work they've accomplished in the last year. In order to prevent falling over from exhaustion, we all took a walk down Shattuck Avenue while the three brothers headed over to G's favorite happy hour spot, the Bear's Lair.

By the time I arrived at the Lair the boys were well lubricated with pilsner, IPA, and spicy fries. J, in particular, was in rare form. He grabbed a plastic cup, poured me a beer, and embarked on a discussion of the probability of G becoming a major Business "douchebag." Apparently, J is worried about his baby brother's soul and has given quite a bit of thought to the subject. The complex mathematical equation went something like this:

100% Potential for Douchebagdom

- 75 % thanks to G's upbringing by Mary Ann & Bob

+ 35% for graduating in the top 5 of his class at Haas School of Business

+25% for moving to Los Angles

- 60% for wearing the most wrinkled robe ever and soccer sneakers to his graduation ceremony

I can't even pretend to know what the heck he was talking about, but then J gave G a thorough ear massage. Having been on the receiving end of an ear massage or two, I knew at that moment the calculations were all about love - regardless how circuitous they may have seemed. G decided not to sit next to Jesse at dinner when we all met up again at Unicorn (smart guy). We had a wonderful meal and then rolled ourselves out of the restaurant to our respective cars. E stayed behind to celebrate the rest of the evening with G, and J, Bob, Mary Ann, and I headed back to Santa Cruz exhausted from the day, but smiling all the way home.

What a great afternoon!

Wii Commence

Jesse and I are not the only ones in the family who are making a new beginning. My little sister, Katie, graduated from Salve Regina University this weekend. As the Catholics would say, "Thanks be to God. Amen." Technically, she isn't so little anymore, landing her first job and apartment, and leaving me in her shadow at almost 5 feet 7 inches. It's a very exciting time for her and my parents. After nearly 9 years of tuition payments (first me, then Katie) Mom and Dad have written their final check. As the Catholics would also say,"With hearts full of praise, Hosanna in the Highest!"

In case you haven't caught on, Salve Regina is a Catholic University replete with nuns, tradition, and the whole holy shebang. We kicked off the commencement weekend with the Saturday Baccalaureate mass and hooding ceremony. The hooding took about 30 minutes (not bad). Then the Monseigneur tacked on an hour and fifteen minute mass for good measure. We're not Catholic, so I suppose this was our penance for straying from the righteous (or for my cracks about the Popemobile in April). The abridged version of my experience at our 17-page mass: sit, stand, watch others genuflect, sing praises in same monotone tune (5 verses each time), giggling at the thought of singing said praises in my best church-lady voice, stand, sit, check thy blessed watch, and engage in divine eyeball rolling. Amen.

Thank the almighty Lord that I brought snacks, because my head nearly exploded when the Monseigneur invited all 800 people in attendance to take communion. Luckily for me, the holy virgin Queen (Salve Regina) is also the Mother of mercy and love. They set up six communion stations to expedite the process and assured us that Saturday mass counted for Sunday - we didn't have to endure another at the commencement. O Maria!

For graduation, my parents gave Katie a monetary gift to help furnish her new apartment and get settled Newport. She carefully budgeted, made her purchases, and managed to have a little left over for something she'd be wanting for a while - a Nintendo Wii. Katie brought it to our hotel where we embarked on a full-on Wii bowling tournament Saturday night. I was a little rusty at first, but by the end of our playing time I had perfected a wicked spin and upped my score. Wii (hah) played so hard that I woke up on Sunday morning and could barely move my right arm. It was embarrassing. But not as humiliating as when I nearly ate gravel in front of the Breakers following commencement.

More hilarity ensued when I turned around to see the 542 graduates and their families looking on at the tragic scene. At that moment, I secretly hoped Katie would pee in her pants, partially as revenge for laughing hysterically, but also to divert attention from the crowd so I could readjust the blasted pyramidal bumper that I so gracefully knocked askew. In an effort to recover my bruised pride, I challenged her at Wii again that evening - this time bowling leftie. Yeah what? I kicked butt with my non-dominant arm.

And today? I'm still having trouble moving my arms, and my ribs kind of hurt too (I actually feel their presence when I breathe). I also had some trouble getting dressed this morning. The act of putting on a shirt and pulling up my pants was quite painful. I'm not sure which hurt more; the pain in my head from the Baccalaureate mass, my pride from the dramatic walking accident, or the muscle injuries sustained at the Wii graduation tourney. Was it worth it? Heck yeah. At least I don't have any visible scars. And look how fetching Katie is in her cap and gown.

Congratulations, Kay Kay! You rock at life (and Wii).