Nurse (Sarah) Jane Fuzzy Wuzz

Sarah graduated on Saturday from Messiah College. She earned her BSN, which means she is ready to earn a Master's if/when she decides to. She had her pinning ceremony the day before. We are all so proud of her! Here are some pics:

With David and me

With the grandfathers, John, my father-in-law, at left, and my dad, Gary, on right

With Nanny, my mother-in-law, Winnie, also a nurse

With sibs, Rebekah and Josh, after commencement

Sisters - Becka came up from VA for the ceremonies

With brother, Ben, who claimed he taught her everything she knows - not!

Party at Nanny and Papaw's!

With little brother, Noah

Sarah's nursing pin, 10K solid gold, about 7/8" in diameter.

I gave Sarah the sapphire and diamond ring that my father gave me when I graduated high school. She was honored. She's admired this ring for some time.

this and that

Well, let's see... I finished my college course yesterday with the taking of my 1st ever college exam. Though I started it feeling nervous, I think I did OK. I think it was really good for me to take this course, though I wish it had happened during a less stressful winter/spring. Nonetheless, it made me write in a way I needed to. I have now written:

• a case study (100/100)
• a critique (100/100, and the prof's going to use it as a good example for future classes!)
• a commentary (140/150)
• a position/research paper (?)

My self-esteem is up about 40% and I can finally say, "Yes, I went to college." (No degree, but I have sipped from the community fount of higher learning.)

Ok, enough horn-blowing.

Sarah gave me a lovely bouquet of peach roses for Mother's Day. Josh and Ben hugged me throughout the day, Becka phoned me to wish me a good one, and Noah, for his own reasons, wished me a happy "Leaf Ericson Day." I found out later that he was embarrassed to say Mother's Day, but still wanted to wish me a happy something. Yep, like all of us, he's a little weird. It seems to be that gene David and I have managed to pass along to each of our kids. Ben and Becka are probably the most normal.

Sarah graduates from nursing school this weekend. She has her pinning ceremony on Friday. I am going to carry many tissues on my person, as this has been a long hard 4 years for her, and I'm so proud of her, as well as relieved. Nanny and Papaw are taking her to Europe in June, and if anyone deserves it, it's Sarah. Ben is also going, as Nanny and Papaw want to take each of the kids at least once. (With the economy what it is, I am preparing myself never to get there. That way I'll either be happily surprised or generally prepared for the worst.)

Cosmo has finally shown himself to be a good little lad in the area of potty manners. I am more relaxed these days... Sadly, he is still sprinkling half of our visitors, in some expression of happiness and submission to them. This is maddening to me, and I may have to put in a call to the Dog Whisperer...

Smartest, Largest, Fastest, Strongest, Ugliest

This morning, Noah asked me which was the smartest, biggest, fastest, and strongest animal in the world. Knowing there wasn't one animal that was all these, I broke it down in categories. For kicks, we searched for the ugliest animal as well. The last category was rather subjective, but the first four are proven -

Note - Blogspot is really difficult to post pics in, with captions, so you'll have to match the animals with the right captions, as no matter how I try, I can't. But at least they're close...

Smartest - the great apes - gorilla, orangutan, and chimpanzee:

Largest, the Blue Whale:

Fastest, Cheetah:

Strongest, the Rhinoceros Beetle (for its size):

Ugliest (to Noah and me), in second to the Aye-Aye, is the Blobfish: