Tiff's Life in Waco: Less than 50 days to go....

I did a number of things yesterday and today in preparation for graduation and moving.

1) I moved my music from my desktop to my laptop.

2) I formatted my problematic external hard drive which will serve as my back up and is also moving all this material back and forth between computers (formatting a disk like that is particularly troublesome for me... "what if there is something on it that isn't on both computers?!" but I just did it! woo hoo!

3) I checked out about 12 books from the library to help me with my case study and my paper on access and transfer student pathways. I cannot find anything on technology and students for my law paper - its making me pull my hair out, but I've decided to drop it until after April 25th at this point. This was all frustrating (the legwork to check out books is kind of time consuming and questionably helpful) but exciting!

4) And most importantly..... I picked up my graduation regalia. Yes, that is right... I got my cap, gown and HOOD!! WOOHOO!!!! Those of you who know me well will appreciate this story:

My friend Kathryn (heretofore known as KW) and I head over to the Alumni center for the "Graduate Bear Faire" (why the extra "e" on the end of Faire? no idea) and first we (really, I) accidentally skip the line, thinking that the first line we've encountered is for diploma frames... it wasn't... and some girl cleared her throat at KW who grabbed me and we took our appropriate place in line. KW noticed coffee over in a corner, so she jumps out of line to get coffee and we are going to switch places and hold our place in line and both have coffee... great plan, except KW ends up talking to a student and I get swept away into the line.

A woman says to me, "Cap and Gown?" and I'm doubly confused because clearly we are all in line for a cap and gown (later a friend tells me she just bought a hood because she won't be at big graduation and then I understood better...). When I say, "yes, cap and gown" she says, "Undergraduate or graduate" in a moment of craziness, because I really don't look like an undergrad - but BLESS HER, it was a treat to think that to someone I still looked 22. :)

I answer, "Graduate" and we go through the rigamarole of my height and getting the right gown and tassle (black) and hood (blue velvet for the school of Ed and yellow and green on the inside for Baylor U.) and she hands it all to me.

All of a sudden I realize that I am going to graduate with a Master's degree in 50 days. 50 days! And I am holding the proof of it in my hand! Those of you who know me well, understand when I say that I start beaming - I can't not smile - I'm trying to be serious and "whatever" about it, like the undergrads, but I can't - so I shout to try and get Kathryn's attention because I didn't realize they were going to GIVE it to us that day! I thought it was going to be ordered or something - I had no idea - and I'm freaking out. I pay the lady, who doesn't notice I am grinning like a fool and about to start giggling, and head over to Kathryn.

Kathryn sees my face and says, "Did they give it to you?" and as I reply, SHE starts to beam, too, and then we both start giggling as if you told us we were about to have a one-on-one with Patrick Dempsey AND George Clooney!! Seriously, we might have been the two most joyful people in the entire room - it was hilarious, we couldn't stop taking our hoods out of the bag (still in their plastic) and looking at them - smiling like fools. When we checked our names off the registrars list and headed outside, we could not wait to take them out and have Kathryn model the hood for us!

When I got home I put whole deal up on my closet door as inspiration, and I took a few photos, so that you (the viewer at home) could see it. Come May, I'll take a photo IN the regalia, for those of you who can't make it to graduation.

See below for photos with my comments. :) Blessings to you all!

Here it is (above), cap, gown ("master's gown" with special weird long sleeves), hood (yay!), tassel. The tassel has a little Baylor seal on it instead of "08" or something like that, and the zipper pull of the robe is a little Baylor seal (see below).