Love, Life and Appreciation

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Today I am pleased to say that I've earned my Masters in Atmospheric Science. Though the road was long, I am so happy that I accomplished this goal and I am looking forward to see what the future holds.

The date of the main ceremony was May 10th, while the more personal ceremony for Masters and Ph.Ds was on the 8th. I knew I wanted to be present for the ceremony on the 8th and left for Maryland with May on the 6th. That was the day the graduates had to pick up their cap and gown. My in-laws watched May as I picked up my cap and gown. Rex's aunt was so nice to offer us a place to stay so we didn't have to drive up to NJ and back the next day. Rex was working that Tuesday and Wednesday and took the bus to join us Wednesday night.

It was so good seeing our family in Maryland. May really had a good time being with her cousins. The ceremony on the 8th was very nice. It was held at the Cranton Auditorium. Though I hadn't gone to the auditorium that much during my years at Howard, I do remember the time back in 2011 when I got to see Michelle Obama speak. Rex came to the ceremony with May but May was very cranky. I wanted her to be at the ceremony but they left and waited at a building near by, not long after it started. I did get to walk across the stage and my classmates who were getting their Ph.Ds rooted for me. It was hot that day and many of the graduates had to take off their robes afterward. I was so happy to see my good friend and former classmate, KK, come to watch me graduate.

Rex and I decided to stay until Saturday, which his aunt said was fine because Rex's family wanted to throw a graduation BBQ for me that Friday. The BBQ was great and it was wonderful seeing a lot of family members we hadn't seen in a long time. There were many family members and friends. I invited KK and she had a good time too. This is the cake for me:


It was gone in about 40 minutes. We left around 11 pm because I also decided that I was going to go the main ceremony on Saturday. I originally was not going to because I knew there was going to be a lot of people but I'm happy we did go because it was a very good event. The graduates were supposed to arrive at 7 am in the morning. I got there around 7:30 am. It was OK because all we did was line up before it started. Rex and I decided to leave May with her cousins during the event. Rex's step-mom and his brother's girlfriend came. I also invited KK. This event you needed tickets to get in and each graduate was only given four. My parents didn't come for either ceremony. I know it would be hard for them to get down to Maryland. I also knew they were very proud.

The commencement speaker was rapper P.Diddy. I had my doubts about him but he actually did pretty good. He attended Howard for 2 years and dropped out, but he always kept Howard in mind. He made references to him not completing his degree and talked about following dream and recognizing the power within ourselves. He also received an honorary doctorate degree. CNN reporter Wolf Blitzer also received an honorary doctorate. It was cool seeing him because Rex watches a lot of CNN and Wolf Blitzer is one of his favorite reporters. After the ceremony, I posted a picture of Wolf Blitzer to my Twitter account and he actually replied. I was shocked!

The event was about 4 hours and the rain held off for much of the ceremony. The interim president of Howard had to kind of end the ceremony abruptly towards the end of the Ph.Ds walking on stage, do to rain drops. Not long after it poured. It only poured for a few minutes though. I didn't care, I was dancing in the rain. I was and still am so happy to have graduated. I was struggle towards the end of the completion of my thesis. I thought I'd never complete it. I lost motivation when I couldn't find jobs before the completion and when we lost our housing in MD. I remembered though that I had to finish what I had started. Four years ago I took my first steps at Howard, not knowing anyone. I took classes and workshops, also a writing exams. All at which I passed. Along the way I made friends and participated in a student organization and community events. I also met the man who would soon become my husband (off campus), and we had a beautiful girl together. It's been bumpy, but I'm very happy to be a Howard Alumni. I'm even more excited finally have my M.S.

As we work our way to get back on our feet, the realm of possibilities is even closer in reach!

Now for the pics!!

Earlier today, we lost my cat Tabitha. She was 18 years old. I've had her since I was 8. She had been getting real sick the past couple of weeks. She threw up at least four times almost every day and she had been getting skinner and skinner.

She was actually skin and bones. She was pulling her hair out and she was very disoriented. It was so hard seeing her like that. My mom knew we should put her down a few weeks ago but I was really in denial. It wasn't until just a few days ago, I realized she wasn't going to get any better. May wanted to play with Tabitha, but Tabitha being as sick as she was, just wanted to sleep and not really be active.

We all went to the vet around 12:00 pm and she was put to sleep around 1. I was there with her, along with my dad. My mom took May outside. They had to sedate Tabitha before the procedure and after she was sedated she seemed she was more at peace. She just looked forward and didn't even blink, she was breathing very slowly. Gosh she was so thin. I used to struggle with the carrier when she was in there because she was a big cat, when I took her into the building, she was literally light as a feather.

I was crying even before they took her back to put the catheter in her arm. I was trying to hold it together when the doctor began putting her to sleep. The doctor said we were doing the right thing. The doctor had taken a look at Tabitha in the back. The doctor said she might stretch or twitch, but Tabitha just laid there, very still. The doctor said she wouldn't close her eyes and she didn't. The doctor checked her heartbeat not too long after she started administering the injection. They asked if we wanted to stay with her and I shook my head. I lost it when they took her away.

We did get a chance to stay with her before the procedure. I told her how much I loved her and said I was sorry. I was remembering the times we had together. 18 years, the doctor said she had a long life, and she did. She was so active, even when she was a kitten. I remember when she would stay at the foot of my bed when I slept, or when she got so tired after chasing a string that she was gasping for air. I remember the times when she would sit on my laptop when I was trying to type. She was even walking on my keyboard a few days ago. I'm thinking about her now as I  type this entry.

I asked to get her cremated and they asked if we wanted the ashes back, which I replied yes. They also asked if I wanted a paw print made, which I do. I can't believe she's gone though. She was the longest living pet I've had. I had her when I was in middle school, high school, college, and graduate school. She was here to see my daughter. Though May most likely won't remember Tabitha, she was a good cat. A little mean at times, she definitely part of the family. I feel bad leaving her all those times I went away to school. I brought her to an apartment I moved into when I first moved down to Maryland, but when that didn't work out there, she stayed at my parent's house for the remainder of her life.

We'll miss you Tabby. We love you so much!

May has always been a happy child and she's even happier now she can reach to more places. Her reaching to more places is becoming much more watching and a handful of trouble for the rest of us. It's good though that she's exploring her surroundings more.

If she isn't climbing in the living room chair, she's shaking the gate that separates her from the kitchen and the dining room. Or if she isn't trying to bother the cat, she banging her green wooden alligator on the table. Hehe. She's a very busy little 16 month old. May loves walk around in circles too.

May is also starting to put words together too. When Rex walks through the door, she says, "Hi, Dad," or when I walk down the stairs she'll say "Hi, Mom." She knows the number two now. We're trying to teach her shapes and colors. I'm not sure what her favorite color is yet but I have a feeling it might be green. I'm saying this because of wooden alligator I mentioned earlier. The board she gets the alligator from has different animals of various colors and she plays with the alligator the most now. Before it was the yellow giraffe. It might be because the alligator and giraffe are long too and more narrow.

I'll be heading to Howard next week to put the final edits to my thesis together and handing in the required documents to the graduate school for graduation next month. I know I'm really cutting it close. Not living in Maryland has made it very hard to get the documents in as well as not having the means to go down there. My program is actually helping me get back to the school at least for next week, by providing a hotel room and reimbursement.

We may be going to Allentown tomorrow to check out the area around there. Rex is still pushing through, getting up early and working out there. He said it's cold in the place he works and we got him a sweater to wear not too long ago. He's still in a 6 month probationary period before we can get benefits. He is getting experience though, he said the machine he uses can't stop for more than a few minutes. It's a very large factory he works at.  I've been taking a different approach to my job searching. I've actually downloaded a lot of job seeker e-books for the Kindle for free.  (I've been downloading so many e-books for the Kindle, using the Kindle app on my phone recently.) There's a program called the Jersey Job club, that my mom referred me too. I'm going to go to a workshop session for that next week and they have other job workshop development workshops for the rest of the month as well. In the meantime though, I'll be keeping my eye on May. For most of my writing of this entry she's been quietly watching Tinkerbell on Netflix but not I see she's walking around holding her sippy cup filled with one hand and a bib in her mouth. Oh joy :-)