Grad news and other odds and ends.
First off, a question, particular for Americans: Is there a standard color dress girls wear to graduation, regardless of what color cap/gowns they wear? (purpleink, I'm not asking you. ;) ) I ask because for many years, MiniPlu/Two's high school had girls wear white cap/gowns and boys wore black, so it made total sense that girls would want to wear white dresses underneath - so it wouldn't show. However, this year, for whatever reason, they've decided everybody will wear red caps/gowns. (MiniPlu is not delighted by this for a number of reasons, so I kindly bought her an inexpensive white version off Amazon for informal photos.) Anyway, color me surprised (pun intended) when MiniPlu reminded me today we still needed to get her a white dress. "Why? You have a red gown now." And she looked at me like I was an absolute idiot for not knowing that it's A Thing for girls to wear white dresses to high school graduation. (She even pulled up evidence from the internet to prove her point.) Uh ... what? I had literally NEVER heard of this except in cases where the school required it, like for purpleink's Leaving Celebration and for my mother's graduation in 1958. Is this a generational thing? A regional thing? Definitely wasn't true in CA in the late 80s, and my friend in Boston, 2 years younger than I am, said it wasn't true for her high school, either. I mean I don't care if MiniPlu wants to wear a white dress under her grad robes just because she wants to wear a white dress, but I'm just curious to know if any of you have heard of this being a Standard Thing, or what.
And while we're on the subject of graduation, our high school announced how they plan to handle the ceremony, given that gatherings are still verboten. MiniPlu was worried it would just be a Zoom event, with everyone sitting at home on their sofas in their gear, and that would have sucked. But what they chose ended up being, I think, the best possible compromise, and MiniPlu is very happy. They've decided to schedule mock graduations, one senior at a time, for the first two weeks in June. Kids will show up in their caps/gowns at assigned times and will walk across the stage on the football field - they have to wear masks when they arrive but will be allowed to take them off for the "ceremony." The parents will hand them the little display case thing their diploma goes into (this school mails diplomas after graduation anyway, so having empty cases here is actually normal) - I assume this is because parents are actually allowed to be in close contact with their kid, whereas the principal and superintendent really aren't, but it's still a nice, sweet touch, that the parent gets to "award" the diploma. Someone will be videotaping each senior's moment, and then put them all together at the end to create one single graduation ceremony, with the speeches and such tacked on (which, as MinPlu pointed out, means she doesn't have to sit through them - she can just fast-forward those bits, lol) Only parents and sibs are allowed at the event (and of course must be masked), but that's ok - it means we can see her "graduate" - and frankly, we'll have a much better view than at a real ceremony!
So, that was good news.
We got some semi-murky updates from MHC (Mt. Holyoke College) as well. They announced that their current plan is to have, not 4 classes per semester, but 2 classes per half-semester, as a way to allow them to spread out the classes so people aren't crowding buildings as much. Because it does sound like SOME people will be on campus. But they didn't explain how they plan to divide the students. Those who live within 500 miles will be allowed but more distant students will stay home at first? The opposite? Those with lab-based science classes will be allowed and the others won't? Freshman and seniors will be allowed, sophomores and juniors stay home? No idea. They assured us that all classes would be offered in-person and online so that students could keep up no matter where they were. But the incoming freshmen were provided links about Orientation Week plans, move-in day schedules, etc, as if they anticipated freshmen being allowed on campus ... for now. Who knows what will actually be feasible once September rolls around. But it's at least hopeful.
MiniPlu took her AP-HUG (Human Geography) test on Tues. She doesn't feel good about how she did; because it was done on a computer - they typed it out on docs and then uploaded the docs - she could go back and review her answers, and she noticed a bunch of typos that spellcheck wouldn't have picked up, you know, where you accidentally create another legit word? So, like, she talked about the Buddha State instead of Buddha Statue and other similar types of errors. I know she probably would have done better writing out by hand, but the process for getting that uploaded was trickier which is why she went with typing. Well, it's over now, anyway, and the rest of the semester will be mostly coasting for her, except for one term paper for English.
Other news bits from our mostly dull quarantined life:
* Took my sewing machine in for servicing on Wed, after the flywheel because so stiff I couldn't sew anymore. Going to cost $130 but given that I literally haven't had it serviced EVER in the nearly 25 years I've owned it, I can't really complain. (Unlike when I took my car in for an oil change on Mon and the dealership tried to suggest bunch of other services it swore I needed. They do this every time, trying to up your bill to $800-1000. It's annoying.)
* Gem the kitty got bitten AGAIN on Wed. She'd only just fully healed from the abscess in her side she got 2.5 weeks ago, and then Nick bit her on the left hind leg, between the paw and the knee/ankle, on BOTH sides of her leg (upper and lower teeth). So, back to the vet for treatment before it could abscess, and she's back on the antibiotics, poor cat.
* I replanted my garden yesterday because literally NONE of the seeds I planted 3 weeks ago had sprouted. Like, the seeds weren't even there anymore. Birds? Bunnies? No idea. Wow, I'm annoyed. Also, something snipped off my thyme at the base of the one branch that had survived the winter. I've never had so many setbacks before!
I finished reading Death Around the Bend, the third Lady Hardcastle mystery. I am proud to say I guessed, early on, who the original target was, after the first person died (because, no, that person was NOT the original target), although I did not correctly guess the culprit until the very last moment. And I'm still not sure I understand why Lavinia and Helen were targeted - it seems like Roz was the sole troublemaker and while, yes, Lavinia and Helen should maybe have stopped her, it doesn't sound like THEY were bullying Katy, so why was the murderer trying to do in all three of them? I had anticipated Helen's photographs would show some crucial evidence, and that the failed attempt on her life was to prevent her from developing the photos, but this turned out not to be the case. Anyway, aside from minor quibbles, this story was delightful, as the entire series has been so far.
Have some Paint Nite reports to do, too - will do those in my next post.
And while we're on the subject of graduation, our high school announced how they plan to handle the ceremony, given that gatherings are still verboten. MiniPlu was worried it would just be a Zoom event, with everyone sitting at home on their sofas in their gear, and that would have sucked. But what they chose ended up being, I think, the best possible compromise, and MiniPlu is very happy. They've decided to schedule mock graduations, one senior at a time, for the first two weeks in June. Kids will show up in their caps/gowns at assigned times and will walk across the stage on the football field - they have to wear masks when they arrive but will be allowed to take them off for the "ceremony." The parents will hand them the little display case thing their diploma goes into (this school mails diplomas after graduation anyway, so having empty cases here is actually normal) - I assume this is because parents are actually allowed to be in close contact with their kid, whereas the principal and superintendent really aren't, but it's still a nice, sweet touch, that the parent gets to "award" the diploma. Someone will be videotaping each senior's moment, and then put them all together at the end to create one single graduation ceremony, with the speeches and such tacked on (which, as MinPlu pointed out, means she doesn't have to sit through them - she can just fast-forward those bits, lol) Only parents and sibs are allowed at the event (and of course must be masked), but that's ok - it means we can see her "graduate" - and frankly, we'll have a much better view than at a real ceremony!
So, that was good news.
We got some semi-murky updates from MHC (Mt. Holyoke College) as well. They announced that their current plan is to have, not 4 classes per semester, but 2 classes per half-semester, as a way to allow them to spread out the classes so people aren't crowding buildings as much. Because it does sound like SOME people will be on campus. But they didn't explain how they plan to divide the students. Those who live within 500 miles will be allowed but more distant students will stay home at first? The opposite? Those with lab-based science classes will be allowed and the others won't? Freshman and seniors will be allowed, sophomores and juniors stay home? No idea. They assured us that all classes would be offered in-person and online so that students could keep up no matter where they were. But the incoming freshmen were provided links about Orientation Week plans, move-in day schedules, etc, as if they anticipated freshmen being allowed on campus ... for now. Who knows what will actually be feasible once September rolls around. But it's at least hopeful.
MiniPlu took her AP-HUG (Human Geography) test on Tues. She doesn't feel good about how she did; because it was done on a computer - they typed it out on docs and then uploaded the docs - she could go back and review her answers, and she noticed a bunch of typos that spellcheck wouldn't have picked up, you know, where you accidentally create another legit word? So, like, she talked about the Buddha State instead of Buddha Statue and other similar types of errors. I know she probably would have done better writing out by hand, but the process for getting that uploaded was trickier which is why she went with typing. Well, it's over now, anyway, and the rest of the semester will be mostly coasting for her, except for one term paper for English.
Other news bits from our mostly dull quarantined life:
* Took my sewing machine in for servicing on Wed, after the flywheel because so stiff I couldn't sew anymore. Going to cost $130 but given that I literally haven't had it serviced EVER in the nearly 25 years I've owned it, I can't really complain. (Unlike when I took my car in for an oil change on Mon and the dealership tried to suggest bunch of other services it swore I needed. They do this every time, trying to up your bill to $800-1000. It's annoying.)
* Gem the kitty got bitten AGAIN on Wed. She'd only just fully healed from the abscess in her side she got 2.5 weeks ago, and then Nick bit her on the left hind leg, between the paw and the knee/ankle, on BOTH sides of her leg (upper and lower teeth). So, back to the vet for treatment before it could abscess, and she's back on the antibiotics, poor cat.
* I replanted my garden yesterday because literally NONE of the seeds I planted 3 weeks ago had sprouted. Like, the seeds weren't even there anymore. Birds? Bunnies? No idea. Wow, I'm annoyed. Also, something snipped off my thyme at the base of the one branch that had survived the winter. I've never had so many setbacks before!
I finished reading Death Around the Bend, the third Lady Hardcastle mystery. I am proud to say I guessed, early on, who the original target was, after the first person died (because, no, that person was NOT the original target), although I did not correctly guess the culprit until the very last moment. And I'm still not sure I understand why Lavinia and Helen were targeted - it seems like Roz was the sole troublemaker and while, yes, Lavinia and Helen should maybe have stopped her, it doesn't sound like THEY were bullying Katy, so why was the murderer trying to do in all three of them? I had anticipated Helen's photographs would show some crucial evidence, and that the failed attempt on her life was to prevent her from developing the photos, but this turned out not to be the case. Anyway, aside from minor quibbles, this story was delightful, as the entire series has been so far.
Have some Paint Nite reports to do, too - will do those in my next post.