The pinning ceremony is a nursing tradition. Nurses wear pins (usually on their name badge at work) to identify what school they graduated from. These pins were presented to us at the ceremony last night and we were able to choose someone to pin us. I chose David, as my husband-to-be.
But before all of that happened, my parents, David, and I all arrived waaaay early because we didn’t know how the traffic would be. So we decided to get some picture-taking out of the way:
And for some reason I find this very amusing: my mom trying to take a picture of David and me without realizing that the camera was set to record. Obviously I don’t have much patience for this, but David just laughs.
Soon enough my brothers arrived. At this point we were also sharing the table with another family, a family much quieter than ours. As we were waiting for our food, we had the following conversation.
***
Dad: So Uncle David is getting another Ridgeback. They got a good deal on it because it doesn’t have the show-quality ridge. They’re naming it Rigby.
Dad (even more shocked): Kat! It’s a song by The Beatles!
Brothers (in unison): AHHHH LOOK AT ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE
Me: I have never heard of it. [This is true. I listened to it later.]
Dad: I can’t believe this.
Me: Listen, I am not a Beatles fan. I don’t dislike them, I will listen to them, but there are so many other things that I would rather hear.
***
My future mother-in-law will be devastated when she reads this, but there it is. My confession.
Continuing with the evening, we waited quite a long time for our food. In fact, David and I were finished with the whole pinning ordeal before we even took a bite. Ah, what the heck, here’s a little video of me being pinned.
So by the time we got to eat we were all ravenous. We promptly cleaned our plates, and my brother Barry asked for seconds, which I don’t think was part of the deal. After he got his request, though, we discovered that we could all just go help ourselves to seconds, even though no one else was doing so. One woman that we were sitting with offered Barry her roll, but he politely declined. A minute or two later, this happened.
***
Dad (to stranger woman): My wife would like your roll.
Mom: Chris! (She hides her face in her hands.) I am SO embarrassed. You were not supposed to say that!
Dad: What? You wanted it!
Stranger woman: I did offer.
***
I like how my family is the noisy one that eats all the food along with other people’s. I think we have more fun.
So, I’m finished with school now. For real this time, I think. Of course, I do still have to pass the board exam, but no matter what, I will have my bachelor’s of science in nursing! Most of my classmates were going to Rice Village to celebrate, but me? Nah. I had a brownie, cleaned my room, read a magazine, and I plan to use the rest of the day writing to my pen pal, researching new cars, and of course watching “Dancing with the Stars.” I like my way of celebrating much better.
So to keep it light, because this is how I’m feeling right now, I have decided to share with you some snapshots of phrases people have used in search engines that have led them to this website. Probably my posts for the rest of the week will be similarly mindless because hello? I have been in college for eight years and I’m NOT anymore! I need at least a week to recover.
So here you go:
“My brother is hot” - Mine are too! Especially here and here.
“Cracked and injured toenail coming off” - It has been over a year since I wrote about my toenail coming off, and I am still getting constant hits from that post. Maybe I should start a support group.
“i am broke and i can’t pay my bills and i can’t eat” - I know how you feel, friend. My suggestion? Find yourself some clinical trials for healthy volunteers to participate in.
“would breathing in bad smell harm unborn baby” - I don’t know but if so, be sure not to come anywhere close to the house where I pet-sit because those dogs have some serious intestinal hyperactivity.
There has been a lot I’ve wanted to write about this week, but the reason I haven’t is because it seems I’ve been gone from morning till night every day since Tuesday. And I’m not the type of person who can or will sacrifice sleep for much of anything. Thus, all of my blogging thoughts are swimming around in my head, and if I don’t put them down NOW, they just might be lost forever. So this may seem somewhat unorganized and random, and that’s because it is.
I’ll start with the big news in my little family circle, which is that my fiance David’s older brother Chris proposed to his girlfriend Kim on Wednesday evening. We are all so excited that they have made it official! They plan to elope to the west coast in June, and I won’t deny that I am somewhat jealous of that decision as I figure out who gets to stay on our guest list and exactly how many dollars we are going to pay for a photographer. But really, I want the whole shabang and I guess I always have, so I’ll just try to enjoy the process. Anyway, the point is: congratulations, Chris and Kim, I’m so excited to be your sister (in-law)!
Speaking of them, David is currently living in a house that Chris owns, and the four of us have decided that we will all live together there once we’re married. I know that may sound crazy to some people, but we get along great, have already spent a lot of time there together, and it will save us a lot of money for awhile. It does mean that I will have to cut back on the amount of “stuff” that I bring into the marriage (i.e. furniture), and I still don’t know what to do with some things that I can’t get rid of, like all my books. Also, my lease ends in July and for the few months after that until we get married I’ll be moving in with my parents. So I’ll need to be getting rid of my bed, desk, bedside table, and dresser pretty soon.
While we’re on the subject of life-changing events, I picked up my cap and gown the other day. Two weeks until I’m wearing it! My last final exam is on Monday!
I’ve been working a lot lately, and since I am the queen of busy work at the office it tends to get boring. That is why I am forever grateful to David for procuring me a satellite radio. Now I can listen to NPR all day! Just kidding, only about half the day. I admit I do enjoy the occasional E! Channel program. That is how I came to learn all about FHM’s sexiest woman alive list that was just released. I normally wouldn’t comment on this, but I feel obligated because two of the dancers from Dancing with the Stars made the list (Cheryl Burke at no. 40 and Karina Smirnoff at no. 78) but my favorite, Julianne Hough, did not. My roommates and I all totally have a girl crush on her, and I just don’t understand her getting passed over. So here’s to you, Julianne!
And I will leave you with this happy thing: a very short video of my brothers’ puppy’s latest trick:
Thanks a bunch for your comments on our pictures. They make me happy. Sorry about the lack of posting last week, but it was a stressful one, as the next few probably will be as well. I passed a test last week that I was nervous about, but I have another, more important one today. It’s our exit exam and we have to get an 85 to pass. It could go either way for me, so I’m just going to do my best and see how it turns out. If you think about it, say a prayer.
I let Friday go by without publishing a very special happy birthday to my brother David, so I want to say it now. He is halfway to 50! As a present I got him two cases of Red Bull, and if you read his blog you will understand why. He is addicted - and I will go ahead and say obsessed - with energy drinks. And now he’s got my fiance on the same path. Oh, well, it’s better than being addicted to many other things!
I am house/pet-sitting this week, but I had to leave Cleo at home because last time I brought her there were some casualties in the form of wooden chess pieces and a rug. I’m looking forward to getting paid tomorrow, and then I can focus on how in the world I’m going to come up with rent for May. I graduate in less than three weeks, I start my job in less than two months, and I get married in less than six. I’m trying to keep looking forward. My life is wonderfully full but it is so easy to get caught up in the stress of the moment.
The stress of this moment is that I need to pass this exit exam. And so I must leave. God, be with me!
Watch out internet, my brother has a blog: Going Stagg.
You should really check it out. He designed it himself, and his writing is so entertaining. Also, my youngest brother Barry will be making guest posts from time to time which I’m sure will be hilarious.
I have been bugging him about starting his own website for a long time now, so I’m really excited about this. Please show your support, leave him a comment, and subscribe!
As I was driving home tonight, I remembered a conversation I had with my dad when I was learning to drive. I think it went something like this:
Me: So the right lane is for the people going below the speed limit, the middle lane is for people going at the speed limit, and the left lane is for people going above the speed limit?
Dad:pause...Yeah, that’s one way to look at it.
That was the way my structured, naive little brain worked. I never would have imagined that the right lane is for people going a little above the speed limit, the middle lane is for people going a little more over the speed limit, and the left lane is for people going a lot over the speed limit. With the occasional crazy slow driver thrown in there.
Speaking of driving, there are exactly two things that I remember specifically learning in driver’s ed. First, that when coming to a stop you should leave enough room in front of you so that you can see the rear wheels of the car in front of you or so that you can see the stop sign. I rarely do this. Second, that the distance at which you should put on your turn signal before turning is approximately equal to the length of two houses. I do this and think of it almost every single day.
There is only one thing that I remember learning in defensive driving, which is that it is considered littering even if you just toss an apple core or a banana peel out the window. But it’s bio-degradable, right? Doesn’t matter. Don’t mess with Texas!
Every year the youth group at my church puts on a “Sweetheart Banquet” as a fundraiser for the summer mission trip. Last year David and I attended together and even though we had been dating for a few weeks beforehand, it was the first night that I realized I was truly interested in a relationship with him as a potentially serious thing.
David and I spent the entire day together Saturday at his house doing schoolwork. In the evening as we were getting ready for the Sweetheart Banquet his dad called to ask if we would swing by their house on our way to the church to let out their dog, Niko. They live only a minute from the church, and they had been gone awhile because they work with the youth group. So we went over, and when we got there both doors were locked. (This was not part of the plan.) We had to drive to the church, get a key, and then go back. On the way David told me that he had to go to the bathroom and asked me to get Niko.
I walked into the room where Niko was in his crate, and I went straight to let him out. I didn’t even notice at first that there was a little table set up not two feet away with roses, candles, flower petals, and Hershey Kisses on it. I didn’t see it until I heard David come in the room behind me and I turned around to face him. When I did, he got down on his knee and asked me to marry him. I said, “Of course!” It was perfect timing because then we got to go up to the church and tell my family and all of our church friends at once.
My dad’s reaction to our engagement:
Asked David’s mom, Alice, how much French blood David has in him (my dad was born in England, and Alice’s mother is French. He had to come to terms with the fact that his grandchildren will be 1/8 French).
Ordered us not to schedule the wedding on a Saturday afternoon because it’ll be college football season.
Announced that he wants three kids minimum out of us.
Cleo was also excited for me when I told her. She’s going to gain a daddy and two new sisters, Eddy and Sydney!
If you haven’t yet noticed, there is a cool little feature Brother David set up for me in the sidebar under the “Currently Reading” section which will feature a daily photo. Just click on the thumbnail of the picture or the title, and you will be able to view the larger photo along with my riveting commentary. Enjoy…
Things are a little different around here, as you can see. I’ve been blogging at kapachino.info for over a year now, and after awhile I started wanting a change. It was only a month ago that I realized, hello? My very own brother is a graphic and web designer! So I asked him to completely redesign my blog as a birthday gift, and he very willingly complied.
Brother David is employed by Rice University where he designed and maintains, among others, the Coffeehouse website and the Recreation Center website. Sometimes he takes on freelance jobs, too. His own website is under construction, but I have seen it in the works and it is very cool.
So welcome to the new kapachino blog! I hope you enjoy it. There will be some new features coming soon, and I’ll update you on those as we get there. But in the meantime, leave a comment with some love, because I know David worked really hard on this and I greatly appreciate it.
