long time coming

i'm back. and glad. today is the first day since last thursday that i've spent more than an hour of the day at the apartment. so i can finally post pictures and whatnot from graduation. it's been soo busy lately. friday was my hooding ceremony, followed by a party at reno's argenta cafe, then on to katherine's for some more wine, then to whitewater tavern to see the amy garland band. saturday i went to yellville with katie to a goat show so she could try to find a doe for sale, and so we could try to sell her cutie puppies. if anyone is in need of (or desire for) a male great pyraneese pup, let me know, and i'll hook that up. then i went swimming at the watershed with katie and ashley and trevor met me in perryville so we could hang out with that crowd for dinner in morrilton. sunday, of course, was mother's day. went to mass, then took my mom & dad to perryville so my dad could see heifer ranch. dinner and games at aunt margie & uncle gene's. monday was another trip to batesville to take a load of stuff, get the water turned on, and fill out some paperwork at the sheriffs' ranch. dinner at melanie's and kathryn to the quirky little apartment to watch the grey's anatomy finale (intense). yeah, i'm glad to just be sitting down on the couch. but there's so much more to come in the next few days. friday i'm back to batesville, but then on to a wedding in conway. saturday is the last day in the rock, and sunday is the big moving day. monday we're off to tennessee and pennsylvania for two weeks. my vacation is wearing me out.
here's my list of things to get done in the next couple of days, just so you have an idea of how hectic things are...

grocery store
laundry
take give-aways
buy boxes
buy stuff for the new house
pack: photos, decorations, books, dvds, rest of office/computer stuff for friday's trip
write thank-you cards
get tarzan ready for staying at friends': make phone calls, get flea treatment, get food & litter, write note for those keeping him
pack for tennessee
deposit money
cash in change jar for gas $
not to mention doing those "last time in little rock" sorts of things and entertaining my parents that seem to be staying forever.

alright, that was tedious, so here are some photos to cheer.



this is a very dark shot of me after receiving my hood. i've been told that there are better copies out there. i hope so.












this is my fabulous mickey's special affairs cake. i've finally been able to eat my leftovers for breakfast today.











here's part of the crowd that came to celebrate me: melanie, ashley, joel, me, aunt margie, uncle gene, katie, trevor. not pictured: my mom & dad, carrie & nathaniel, meg, leah, aunt cathy, linda & roy. it was a really good time, despite the incident where i had my knee caps slammed into with a keg on a dolly. much food and drink.







this is perhaps the best shot of the evening. it's miss ashley in my griffindor msw hood. stylish as ever.










and this is trevor teaching hunter, lauren frances and lindsey to play croquet on mothers day. if it were any cuter, i'd barf.