Well, I had a very busy weekend! One of my older brothers, Jake, graduated with his doctorate degree in Pharmacy. So proud of him!! It was a really grand weekend.
We left to Portland Thursday morning and got to our hotel that was really more like a little apartment complex. Pretty darn cute. Didn't feel like we were in a hotel at all. Jake met us at the hotel not long after and a little later we were back in the car heading to Forest Grove for his Hooding Ceremony. This is the ceremony where all the doctoral graduates receive their Hood for their doctorate degree. They aren't allowed to wear it till the graduation ceremony because they haven't actually graduated yet so therefore they are not a doctor so they just hold them. They get to wear them when they have actually graduated. But it was very exciting to see him receive his Hood. We screamed and yelled when his name was called to cross the stage to receive his Hood.
(Jake with the Dean after receiving his Hood)
That was Thursday, May 16th. Then we had Friday all open to do anything before his graduation on Saturday, May 18th. So we lazily got up Friday morning and got ready to go have breakfast with our soon to be graduate and doctor. We had a really good breakfast at a little place called Biscuits, which had delicious food, and over breakfast we got to talking, half serious, about us all getting a family tattoo. As we thought about what we would get for our family tattoo, I got an idea to go get the rook of my ear pierced again. I got it a long time ago with one of my best friends back in the day but of course when I had my accident they took out ALL my piercings so I lost it. But since then I've gotten my nose piercing back and I thought I wouldn't be having any surgeries soon because I think my burn surgeon wants to get my shoulder fixed up before we do any more reconstruction work so I thought this was a good time to do it. So, on a total whim, right after breakfast we went over to the tattoo place where my brother got one of his greatest and best tattoos and he said they were good. But when we went over there they said the woman who does the piercing wasn't in yet but would be in in another hour or so. So, we went back to the hotel and relaxed awhile, had some lunch from Subway and made plans to go get my rook pierced and then go to Cinetopia Cinemas to see Star Trek: Into Darkness. We had some lunch and headed out to Tattoo 42 to get my rook pierced. I was stoked. The woman was in that did the piercing and I got in right away. She took me to a little room off the side of the entrance where I told her I had had this pierced before and that I was a burn survivor which is why I no longer had it. She said she could see a tiny scar where it once was but just barely. She marked my rook and asked me to take a look and see if it looked OK. It did so, I laid down and she did some last minute preparation, then asked me if I was ready. When I told her I was, she asked me to take a deep breath in and release it and when I released it she pushed the needle through. It was just as I remembered it feeling like. No real pain cause it's pure cartilage in the rook. More of intense pushing and intense pressure. It has to go through two parts of cartilage so it's not a real quick piercing, it takes maybe 3 good seconds. But she did a great job with it. I was very happy with how she pierced it and how it looked. And I was very happy to have it back. I feel like I'm very slowly putting myself back together. Next I'm thinking my belly button :) Also another tattoo :) Yeah.
Saturday morning rolls around and it's the day of graduation for my brother. And it's raining. We take a look on weather.com to see the forecast for the afternoon and looking at the hourly forecast it just says it's going to be cloudy during the hours of the graduation, no rain. But, of course, it rained and rained hard all during the graduation ceremony. We huddled under umbrellas but we still got pretty wet.
(Mum and I huddled underneath an umbrella at graduation)
The graduates were led in by a bagpiper and drummer. When we saw Jake at the end of the line we were so excited and we screamed and yelled again. He heard us cause he looked up and waved. They actually hurried things along pretty well so it seemed we were at the announcing of the graduates to be hooded and receive their doctorate diplomas in no time. When Jake's name was called, and I watched him get hooded and receive his doctorate, my heart swelled with happiness and pride for him. He worked so hard and for a long time to get this. I couldn't help the huge grin in my heart and on my face. We are all mighty proud of him for what he's accomplished.
We went out for a celebratory dinner afterwards with him at this great little local grill that just happened to be having live, local music by a guy named Matthew Gailey. The food was incredible and the entertainment was kick-ass. So much so, that after we were done eating and paid the bill, we went up to Mr. Gailey and his guitar player and talked to them for a short while. I also bought one of his CD's. It was a grand ending to a grand weekend. Congratulations, Jake. I'm proud of you.
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