Shaking My Head

Today has turned out to be exhausting.  It didn't start out that way.  This morning  I read this, and I laughed: 

Do you speak Christianese?

I laughed because I know people who talk like this.  I mean, I do live in the buckle area of the Bible belt after all.  In fact, our town might be the hole that the buckle prong goes through.  And while I may laugh at this article poking fun at Christian-ese, I do believe in the ideas that these sayings are trying to convey.  

But I haven't always lived here.  I've lived in more liberal states as well, where you couldn't take it for granted that the people around you were Christian.  One of our previous neighborhoods included Baptists, Mormons, Adventists, Native Americans, Buddhists  Atheists, and Agnostics, and yet we all managed to get along and even be quite friendly with everyone.  

But that was before Facebook.  

Now, I regularly have days like today, that leave me shaking my head.  

I have all sorts of friends on Facebook.  White friends, black friends, Christian friends, Jewish friends, straight friends, gay friends, highly educated friends, friends that didn't graduate high school, conservative friends, liberal friends, and somewhere-in-between friends.  Lots of different types of friends. And they all have something to say.  And I agree that everyone should have the freedom to think and to say what they want to.  But as in so many life circumstances, just because you can. .  doesn't mean you should.  At the very least, you should give some consideration to how you say it.    

Today someone posted something that demonstrated a position that they apparently vehemently disagreed with - the teaching of creationism in private school - with the intro, "Lordy Lordy... Any of my bible-thumping friends care to chime in on this one?"  

And because my day had worn me a bit ragged I dashed off a reply.  Luckily for me, I did not press enter before I gave the matter further consideration.  Not because my reply wasn't valid (because it was) and not because I disagreed with their point of view (even though there are points on which I do), but because I didn't want to add fuel to the fire.  I remembered: 

"If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone."  -Romans 12:17-19

And starting a flaming war on Facebook didn't seem like the best way to do that.

But "friends",  when you call me names that you obviously mean as derogatory  or condemn me for a point of view without taking the time to find out what is in my heart, you are not treating me as a friend, so please don't expect me to stick around.  You are obviously not interested in my opinions - you just want confirmation of your own.  And while I will defend your right to that opinion, I will also defend my right to mine. 

So here's my plea.  Before you post, THINK.  

And if it isn't, perhaps think again?  

 

Back To Work!

 Things are progressing on the employment front.  I turned in my application for the Alternative Certification program, even though I didn't have ALL my transcripts, because the lady at the Department of Education said that even an incomplete packet would hold my spot in the queue, which can get quite lengthy as teachers-to-be graduate in the spring.

In the meantime, I decided it would be wise to get a foot in the door by becoming a substitute for our local school district.  I attended an orientation on a snowy Tuesday, filled out the paperwork, and saw that they also needed transcripts (*groan*) and fingerprints.  I turned in everything but those two, and then headed to the state capitol complex to find the Department of Education to be fingerprinted.  It was a nice day, which was good, because I ended up doing a lot of walking!  The good news is, now I know where it is, so when I have to go back for all the alternative certification stuff, I know exactly where to go!  Once I was done with that, it was a waiting game.

First I got my transcripts!  With a little inside help, (Thanks DBC!) my transcript finally got somewhat corrected.  Let's just say that at the end of it, I have the right degree, and I suppose that's good enough!  I'll send those in to the right people on Monday.

Next, I made it through the background check, and became an approved substitute on Tuesday!  I promptly went online to look at all the available jobs, but the thought of accepting one just about made me nauseous - what if I ended up being no good at this?  I expressed my feelings about this to a couple of teacher friends, and got one answer of reassurance that I would do great, and one answer that subbing was way harder than teaching, and that I shouldn't let subbing change my feelings about teaching.  Which is all good, but it didn't make me feel better about subbing at that moment!

I finally grabbed the bull by the horns and chose an assignment.  I would be an elementary music teacher!  The next day came, and I got dressed in something besides yoga pants for the first time in a long time, and away I went.  I taught all levels that day, and found that I prefer the 2nd - 5th grade age.  The younger ones are just very, very wiggly!

The next day Maggie had a well-child appointment in the afternoon, so I wasn't planning on subbing, but then a morning-only position for an elementary librarian popped up, and I couldn't resist!  I accepted the job, and then went be-bopping down the hallway, bouncing up and down with excitement, into the bathroom where Gracie was brushing her hair.  "I get to be a librarian today!"  I crowed.

"Oooookay, Mom," she replied, watching me bounce up and down.  I guess it wasn't as exciting for her as it was for me.  I was over the moon.  That day an older student came in and asked a question, and I explained that she was looking for a specific type of book, and those would be found over here in this section. . .   As we walked over there, she looked at me and said, "Have you worked here before?"  and I said, "No, but I'm a librarian!"  I'm such a dork.  But a happy dork!

The next day I taught Spanish.  While I know enough to be comfortable with teaching first semester elementary Spanish, I obviously am not fluent in any way, shape, or form.  That's okay because the teacher assumes that you won't know Spanish.  Instead of teaching something myself, I presented a video with an accompanying worksheet.  The video was of Juana the Iguana, which is the Spanish answer to Barney the Dinosaur.  Here's a sample:

I got to watch the video six times that day!  How lucky am I?

One of the most memorable parts of the day was during the fourth class.  When I walked in the teacher said that she hoped that I knew how to work the VCR because she'd NEVER USED ONE.  Hmmm.  Does that make me old, or does that make her young?  I assured her that I did, and then the VCR ate the tape!  We got another VCR that worked, and I was able to re-spool the tape into the cassette, so we were okay.  I wonder if Juana the Iguana comes on DVD?  

At the end of the week, I was tired - especially my feet, which haven't stood for that length of time in a long, long time, and have definitely have not spent that much time in dress shoes in the last 13 years.  So far, I'm having fun, and it's great to be out there working, earning a paycheck again, even if it is ever so small.  I can hardly wait to see what next week brings!

Birthday Fun

February is a big birthday month for our family.  We start off with my sister's birthday, which is early enough in the month, that by the time I've flipped the calendar page and see her birthday, it's already too late for me to get a card in the mail.  In my original family, this wasn't a huge deal, but to Jerry, it is a bit more important.  I attribute this to the fact that his family owned and operated several Hallmark stores before we married, and so cards are, well, important.  I've tried to tackle this problem before, even making it a New Year's resolution one year, to send birthday cards on time, but alas, it isn't something that I've managed to conquer.  

My brother-in-law's birthday is next - (I got the gift/present there within the week), and then comes Maggie's.  This year she officially became a teenager, although she's been showing symptoms for some time now.  I told her that in my original family, 12 was the limit for parties, and after that it was a special dinner and dessert, but she managed to talk me into a sleepover for just a couple of girls, and then she proceeded to make it into a party using tips and tricks from her American Girl magazines.  Tricky, that girl!  

For the first party activity, each girl got a bag with assorted craft materials, they had 10 minutes to put together a hat, and then model it for Jerry and I.  Here they are at work: 

And here are the finished creations:

Maggie had requested a cheesecake for her birthday cake.  I've never made one, and I don't own a springform pan, so the morning before the party I started calling friends and asking if they had a springform pan for making cheesecake.  The answers all fell under the category of , "No, I just buy cheesecake.  You know they sell those frozen, don't you?"  Ah, yes, I did indeed know that, but Maggie was very specific in her request - she wanted a cheesecake like the one Nana made at Christmas.  I ended up buying a pan when I went to purchase the ingredients for the cake.  If anyone needs to borrow a 9-inch springform pan, just let me know!  Here's her cake: 

And it even tasted good!

Here's our teenager, on her actual birthday.  She's only five inches shorter than me now:

For Maggie's actual birthday, we got snow.  Here's Jerry, heading off to work in it.

Unfortunately, we did not get a snow day.  The school district saved that for the next day, when there was no actual snow, but lots and lots of sleet and ice.  So, the girls had a snow day, but no actual snow to play in.    Oh well - you win some, you lose some.  At least we had one snow day this year - last year (after they added nine snow days to the calendar) we had none.

Before I became a mom, I always thought I would do something fun for my kid's half birthdays,  like make a half-cake, and give them a single silly present, or something.  When Maggie was born, and I realized that her half-birthday was my birthday and vice-versa, those plans died, because celebrating actual birthdays takes precedence over celebrating half birthdays.  This year, the girls used the opportunity to sleep in on the snow day to give me a surprise for my half birthday - breakfast in bed:

Cinnamon toast!  The back of the card said, "From: Maggie & Gracie.  Happy Late Half-B-day."  What sweet girls I have!

Since then, we have had one more birthday this month - my niece, Carissa, turned five.  Believe it or not, Maggie and I sang her Happy Birthday the day BEFORE her birthday.  Of course, I sent the present late, but the song (and the thought!) was early!  Does that count?  No?  Oh well, I'll try again next year!

Happy Birthday, everyone!

The Mall

There are certain days where I am convinced that men have it easier than women.  The days where I have to go to the mall are most certainly one of those days.

I got an e-mail from Dillard's about their upcoming "extra 30% off already permanently reduced inventory" sale, and was invited to take advantage of the sale a day before the general public because of my status as a Dillard's account holder.  Sounds good, especially considering that Jerry's work shirts are normally around $50, and they were on sale for $30, so with an extra 30% off, that's $21.  To me, this is a good deal, and I thought we should take advantage, so I picked Jerry up from work for a lunch-time shopping trip.

We walked into Dillard's, went to the "dress shirt" section, found the fixture labeled "Neck Size 16" and proceeded to select six shirts, grabbed a couple of bundles of socks, and checked out.  I took him back to work.  I then headed back to Dillard's to see if I could find some tops for me that were a good deal as well.

Time Elapsed:  1 hour
Shirts: 6

I headed to the women's Dillard's (our mall has two Dillard's stores - one for men / kids / housewares / furniture, and one for women.)  Let's see - I wanted business casual shirts.  What department would that be?  Oh, all over the store.  I know my measurements, but would that help?  No, because all designers use different dress forms to make their clothes, so you can't rely on the size that's on the garment - you must try each item on.  I gather up several items that might be suitable, and head to the dressing rooms.  Unfortunately, this season's "look" is apparently knit and clingy, and everything I tried did not flatter me in any way.  After three rounds in the dressing room, I gave up.

Time Elapsed:  2 hours
Shirts: 0
Self-loathing:  High

I hate shopping.

The problem is, I have to go shopping.  The whole re-entering the workforce is going to make it a necessity. Unfortunately, between a sluggish thyroid, lack of exercise, and just plain gluttony where sweets are concerned, it isn't a very pleasant experience.

Oh, and to make this shopping trip even better, while I was taking a break for lunch I got a call from my credit card company wanting to know if I'd bought $3,700+ of women's accessories in Ohio the previous day.  Hello?  I am the woman who won't even buy new clothes unless they are an extra 30% off clearance,  so I'm thinking that, no, $3,700 of accessories wasn't me.  Ugh.

So maybe it's better that I didn't find anything anyway.  I've got a few days until my new card gets here - I suppose I could use the time to get started on a fitness regimen.

Or I could go eat a box of Girl Scout cookies.  We only have 120 boxes in the house.  Help!  Call me if you want to save me from myself - only $3.50 a box!

As Easy As. . .

You know, there's a reason the saying is "as easy as falling off a log," and not "as easy as trying to deal with academic institutions".  

When I decided to become a school librarian, I was clueless about what the requirements for the position were.  I quickly found out it required a Master's degree, and jumped in with both feet.  Once my feet were wet, I found out that you also had to be a certified teacher.  Okay, more jumping through hoops.  I figured graduating in December would give me plenty of time to work on that certification before the next fall, when I would be ready to look for a job.  

So, I graduated, and began with a plan.  I will do one thing (even if it's small) every day to bring me closer to my goal of becoming a school library media specialist.  Step 1:  Send in an application with all my transcripts from all my institutions.  Sounds easy enough, right?  I filled out the application, and sent off for transcripts.  I attended a total of three institutions.  My graduate school requires five weeks from the end of the semester to actually post your degree in their system.  I'm still waiting, although by my count, it's been six weeks now, and a quick call to the registrar's office this morning confirmed that I'll be waiting at least another week or two.  I haven't received anything from the junior college that I took summer courses from yet, although they said they processed the request the day after I sent it in, and I should be seeing it "any day now".  The third institution is the one that awarded me my bachelor's degree, and they were really prompt - I got the transcript within three days of requesting it - only it has the WRONG DEGREE on it.  After three days of getting transferred to wrong departments and leaving voicemails  I finally got to speak to someone that seemed to take responsibility for figuring out the problem, getting it fixed, and resending me the transcripts.  I can hardly wait to see how this works out.

I've decided not to stress out about this too much, because life's to short to sweat the small stuff, right?  I have a feeling that this is another stepping stone on my path of learning how my timing is not necessarily God's timing, but that he has it all under control, so I don't need to worry.  This just gives me more time to update my resume, and create a Linked-In profile. (And re-read Linda Dillow's Calm My Anxious Heart while I'm at it *sigh*).

Caught Up!

So, here it is - the first post for a new year.  Of course, that's not counting the eighteen posts I've done this year to catch up from last year.  But who's counting?

Since graduation my theme has been "Catching Up."  First I caught up on Christmas preparations, but that spilled over into the new year as well.  As we left for Texas I glanced back and saw our un-decorated gingerbread houses, but try as I might, there was no way to fit them in to our schedule or (more importantly) in our car to get them done before Christmas.  Instead, we spent one of our days after Christmas decorating our houses.  I had splurged an extra $1 or so to get the pre-assembled ones, just to shave a day off our gingerbread process - after all, the decorating is what we really enjoy.  When we  opened the package we found that it also came with pre-made icing in TWO colors - score!  We stopped at one of those Candyopolis stores in the mall to get fun stuff to decorate and we were ready.

Our Creative Process can get a bit messy.

Maggie's house is always neat and tidy!

Gracie is just getting started with the candy.

Chocolate rocks were good to make a fish/duck pond.  They tasted good too! 

Gracie's never happy until her house groans under the weight of all that candy!

The front of the houses.

The back of the houses.  

We had fun getting all caught up with that project.

What else have I gotten caught up on?  Well, I spent four weeks off and on getting all my digital scrapbooking content labeled and tagged so that when I go to scrapbook and I search for red paper I get something that looks like this:

Instead of like this:

Which is what happens when you have too many tags on every single paper.  They just aren't meaningful.  All in all, it was a good exercise for a budding librarian.

What else have I caught up on?  Well, I deleted about 1000 emails regarding school assignments, sold back some theory-heavy textbooks, and am still working on going through all those school papers and deciding what to keep.  I still have to put together a portfolio for the state department of education, so I don't want to go too crazy there.  I caught up with reading on several subscriptions that I have to various blogs and magazines, so now I just need to keep current.

Really, I thought I'd have more time when school was out, but it's the same old story.

I thought I'd have more time when the girls went to Mother's Day Out two days a week, but I didn't.

I thought I'd have more time when the girls went to school five days a week, but I didn't.

I thought I'd have more time when I got out of school, but I don't.

Life just expands to fill the available space.

But on the upside - I'm never bored.

Catching Up - Christmas

We spent Christmas (as usual) in Texas with family.  We got there a few days before the festivities, so we got the chance to go see GGma in her little apartment.

Maggie, Suzy, GGma, and Gracie smile for the camera

It was nice to spend some time with GGma by ourselves, simply because it's easier for her to hear us when there aren't competing noises in the room.  Maggie brought her violin, and I brought my piano music, but GGma preferred a private violin recital in the privacy and warmth of her room.  (The piano is in the comparatively frigid common room - must be at least 78 in there.)

The next day I finally got the chance to make some cookies, although they were technically not "Christmas" cookies - just Chocolate White Chocolate Chip cookies made with hazelnut cocoa.  Yum-o-licious!  We ate them at Christmas, so that was Christmasy enough!

Unfortunately, that day I got the gift that keeps on giving - some type of viral infection.  Not sure where I picked it up, but my throat was on fire for Christmas Eve and Christmas.  At first I was sure it was strep, but since there was no clinic open in town, I just suffered through, and figured I'd get a culture done the day after Christmas.  Luckily, by then the soreness was gone - so no strep, yea! 

Cousins from Grandmas side of the family

  

Gracie The Red-Nosed Grandkid!

Papaw The Red-Nosed Grandapa!

Christmas Eve was at Grandma's house, so after we played with all the cousins from that side of the family the kids headed to bed, and Santa began his visit.  Our girls had opened their gifts from us before we left - Since we brought the dog this year, we had to conserve our packing space in the van, so we left Gracie's ice skates at home, and Maggie packed in her present - a new suitcase!  Just out of curiosity, how many of you wanted luggage when you were twelve? 

Jerry and Oreo in her new jingle bell collar

Watching Santa's other helpers assemble a Barbie townhouse and a Hotwheels racetrack made me glad we are past that stage, but boy, I love seeing the excitement for those gifts on Christmas morning!  The other challenge is that the things that pre-teens / teens want are pricey!  Santa used to go for quantity, but now Santa has to be a smart shopper!

 Christmas after brunch we headed over to Mimi and Pepaw's house, where we got to have a relaxing afternoon.  Aaron and Paul arrived and we got to hear about their rather exciting trip to Texas - one of their bags fell out of their airport shuttle and got hit on the way to the airport!  Yikes!  Luckily nothing was lost that was irreplaceable.  

The next evening Jerry's half-brother and some of his family came over and we all headed to a restaurant for dinner and then back home for a gift exchange.  Since we've only known the O'Connor side of the family since this summer, we had a fun time getting to know everyone a little better.  

Suzy, Terry, Gracie, Michelle, Katelyn, Gerald, Maggie, Jerry Sr., Mary Jo, Jerry, Aaron, and Paul

For our gift exchange we were supposed to bring a $25 gift, and I racked my brains to think of something that would get those competitive present-stealing members of the family excited.  Here's what I came up with: 

 

It's a bouquet of gift cards!  I had a theme too - can you guess what it was?  The cards were from Sonic, Freddie's Frozen Custard, Baskin Robbins, Braum's and Coldstone Creamery.  If you guessed ice cream, you think like I do!  It did get stolen the maximum number of times, so I suppose it was a success.

 

The next day we headed to Granddad's and Nana's house,  where the fabulous four were reunited: 

Unfortunately, by now, Jerry was feeling not so hot, but at least at Grandad and Nana's it easy to get away upstairs and rest. 

Grandaddy and Nana

We spent the next few days visiting with extended family from both Dad and Terri's sides of the family. We ate way, way, way to much, and had fun playing games and (for Amy and I) working on scrapbooks.  I didn't realize until it was time to leave that the girls did not go out to see the goats even once while we were there.  It was pretty cold and muddy, thanks to a Christmas Eve thunderstorm that everyone was very thankful for - the drought here is still quite severe.

Jamie, Randy, and Uncle James

It was a whirlwind trip, with two nights at each household, but it was good.  Even though we moved around quite a bit, we still had quality time to visit, which is what we enjoy the most.  We headed back to Oklahoma the Saturday after Christmas, which meant we had a whole week to rest and relax before the girls headed back to school and Jerry headed back to work.  It was a good end to a good year!

Catching Up - Christmas Lights

For the last several years I have put off Christmas shopping until school was out, and it has all worked out fine.  This year however, I quickly came to the realization that I had painted myself into a corner.  Because of the way the dates fell, there was not enough time to have items shipped in between school being out and us leaving for our family festivities, so I actually had to hit the malls this year.  The girl's last day of school was the  21st, and we headed down on the 22nd, so there was no time for any of the usual things we do, such as making cookies or mixing up 9-bean soup.  It just seemed like there was no lead up at all to Christmas! 

We left a bit late on the 22nd, so it was nearing dusk when we got to Ardmore.  This provided the perfect opportunity to finally see the Ardmore festival of lights!  For four years we have driven by this enormous display - you can see it from the highway - but it has always been too early, too late, we've been on a schedule, etc., so we have never stopped.  Well, this time it was close to dinner time, and we were not on a strict arrival schedule, so we pulled off at got in line and waited for the gates to open. 

The Festival of Lights is a drive-thru experience, about one and a half miles long, and has over 125 lighted displays.  Many of them were animated, and lots of them went over the road, such as reindeer shooting a basketball over the road into a hoop on the other side.  

We noticed that Santa is very athletic - there were displays of Santa and his reindeer playing basketball, volleyball, soccer, football, skiing and snowboarding, to name a few. 

Each display was sponsored by a local business - most of which had no bearing on the display, but a few did.  Santa bought his toys at Wal-mart's display, and banked a Citizen's bank.

Many of the displays were quite elaborate.

There was one over the road display where a boy and a girl had a snowball fight.  The girl would throw the snowball over the road, and it would splat on the side of the boy's head.  The girls liked that one, but Jerry wanted to know when it was the boy's turn to throw the snowball.  He felt that there was a little gender discrimination going on there!

It was hard to get pictures, as the car was moving at a pretty good clip.  We could slow down, but there was a long line of cars behind us, and we didn't want anyone to get irritated with us.

One of the most elaborate and large displays was this one of Noah's Ark.  It was so big, it was hard to get a photo without some piece of the car in the way. 

We were glad we stopped, because it was just what we needed to get our Christmas mood going.  Thanks, Ardmore!  

Catching Up - Basketball

This year marks the first year that Maggie can play competitive sports through the school.  I half expected her to do archery, since she seemed to like it so much at family camp, but she didn't make any noise about joining any teams until it was time to try out for basketball.  I asked her if she wanted to do Upward this year, but she said she wanted to play through the school instead.

The first two weeks of the season they practiced every day after school.  This was nothing like Upward either - Maggie found that out the first day.  She came home and told me they had to run a lap for every ball they dropped during a passing drill, had to run up and down the bleachers for every free throw they missed during a free throw drill, and had to do sit ups for something else.  The second day it was more of the same - she listed the number of laps and situps she did, and I was exhausted just listening to her.  I half expected her to quit before the first week was out, but she persevered - definitely more athletic than her mom!  The up side - she was eating well and sleeping soundly!

Once the varsity team was picked, Maggie and the other the remaining girls were put on to two JV teams.  They play other JV teams in our district, so all our games are in town - not a bad deal.  

The morning after my graduation Maggie had a basketball game, so all the grandparents stuck around for that.  Maggie was convinced that her big cheering section gave them an edge, and it must have - they won the game! Here's our gal in action:

The winning score!

Catching Up - M.L.I.S. at Last!

I can hardly believe that my time at OU is finished.  Everyone is always amazed at how quickly it went by, and it did go by pretty fast (especially when I had a paper due!)  I'm not sure I'm ready for what comes next - mainly getting a teaching certification and a job.

 My plan is to get the certification next semester so that I'll be ready when the jobs come open in the fall.  I've been trying to brainstorm ways to get experience on my resume, and, thanks to a friend with connections, had an opportunity before Thanksgiving at a local elementary school.  They received bond money last year to renovate their school, including their media center (library, for you lay-people out there!)  They finished up several weeks before the Thanksgiving Break, so I volunteered to help unpack all the stuff that had been in storage and help set up the new library.  It was fun - hard work, but fun! - and got me some valuable experience and lovely contacts.  It also helped me find an opportunity to start in January at a district about 20 miles away, but after evaluating all my options, I decided to stick with my original plan.

My courses this semester seemed very easy after last semester's load of courses requiring observation and collaboration at actual schools, along with taking my comps.  In comparison, this semester was a walk on the beach!  I actually wrapped up my coursework a week before the final assignments were due.  After a couple of days I e-mailed my instructor to see if she was going to grade the assignments as they were turned in, or if she was going to grade them after the dropbox closed.  She replied that I "need to relax."  Easy for her to say!  I wanted to know if I had made it through graduate school with straight A's.  A week later, I found out that I had - Woo-hoo!  4.0 Baby!!!!

I had my official portrait made for the yearbook, and decided to walk across the stage.  After all, I had put in a lot of work for this degree!  I bought the smallest package of official announcements and proceeded to try and think of 25 people who would want to know that I had graduated.  You know, for high school and college it was easy to make a long list, because I sent them out to everyone my parents or I knew.  Masters?  Not so much.  Parents, siblings, and then to all the folks who had helped me - along with a note of thanks.  That definitely made the list longer.  I have a lot of friends who have been very supportive, and those who I've met in the local schools that have come along beside me when I've been discouraged about not having teaching experience.  Since they will end up being my colleagues, I'll be fine.  It's easy to see why most school librarians love their jobs - it is a great group of people.

My graduation was set for December 14, and all three sets of parents decided to come up and see me receive my diploma.  We got ready super early, and headed out several hours in advance of the ceremony to take pictures on campus, which was good, because in the five years I've lived here, I've NEVER seen traffic like what we were stuck in that day.  We got there with 5 minutes to spare - so no pictures, but we made it on time - whew!  

Me, Mom, and the girls

 I went in one entrance, and the family entered from the other side of the arena.  I found the rest of the SLIS grads that were participating.  Dr. Brown came by and we got a quick picture before we proceeded down to our seats. 

 We started at the top level and went down one side of the arena, crossed the floor, and then back up the other side to our seats.  Although we had been notified to wear "appropriate footware" for the numerous steps, I was amazed by 1) the number of gals who wore four to five-inch heels, and 2) the number of people who had made it through four years of college (or a graduate degree program) that had not learned how to operate an iron, but had obviously taken the gown straight out of the packaging and put it on.  *Sigh.*

The arena

SLIS students and professor - all wearing sensible shoes :-)

Made it to my seat without tripping!

 I must say, the college had this process down to a science.  As we came down from our seats they took a photo of us in front of a green screen, then we handed our card with our name on it - spelled both normally and phonetically - and they announced our name and we got our diploma (cover).  We came from both sides of the arena, so we moved along at a good clip.

Finally!

A hug from the department chair, Dr. Brown

Getting my handshakes from Doctors Snead, Rubenstein, and White

As soon as it was done we headed to Charleston's for the celebratory dinner, and then back to the homestead.  It is officially over!

Now what?