Spring, a little

We investigated spring a bit today, April showers and all. I ran in the morning, then worked on revisions to Chapter Three, then took the house-crazed kids on a bike ride in the rain. Our avowed mission was to find things blooming in our neighborhood and take pictures of them for the blog, but the camera was low on batteries and we only got shots of one magnolia tree [insert "Sugar Magnolia" earworm here] and one cute girl flanked by forsithia and daffodils before our ability to photograph gave out. We did also spot some dainty miniature iris, some little blue things that look like lily of the valley, and some actual lily of the valley. Our own yard has nothing in bloom yet, but some daffodils that are on the verge, and some teeny blue somethings (maybe the same blue something as at the neighbors'?) that are also just about to bloom any day now. One warm day and we'll be set.

In Graduate Girl news, I was looking at my list of things to do and realized I needed to order my graduation gown. In the absence of a tape measure, I decided I could measure my head with a ribbon and then measure the ribbon on the little six-inch ruler that's attached to the fish-tail-shaped fly swatter that we got recently intending to give it as a gag gift but then Peter got attached to it so we kept it, despite our lack of flies. Ok, good enough, one head measurement. Except when I called to order the gown, I also needed a chest measurement (I was tempted to ask the lady from the bookstore if she really thought we knew each other that well, but restrained myself) and a sleeve measurement. So I approximated these two with my ribbon-and-fish-flyswatter system, and then I actually ordered the thing. Now, my in-laws recently suggested that they and my parents split the cost of purchasing the gown, as a graduation gift to me, and I thought this was sweet and generous, and I have to say right now I had no idea *how* generous. [Parenthetically: Thanks, guys!] As I'm ordering, woman from the bookstore is quickly ticking off the prices of the tam, robe, and hood, and I finally ask her to just add it all up for me.

Ready?

Really, really ready? Because people complain about this all the time, the cost of the graduation gear, but apparently I lack imagination, because I was fretting over having spent not quite $70 on shoes to wear [which, upon further reflection, are not a good color with the maroon and black gown, so they'll have to be shoes to wear to summer weddings instead, and luckily I have a similar pair in black but not patent leather, so that's sad, but I digress.]

It was $834. Plus shipping. I swooned. I have never owned a single garment this expensive, including my wedding gown. (By a factor of about 50% on the wedding gown, I have to say!) I just took a deep breath, pulled out the Mastercard, compared it to the accumulated debt from paying tution for ten years, and sighed.

The only blog-relevant bit of this is that the photos I envisioned of my kids all dolled up in my cap and gown - oh, excuse me, my *tam* and gown - will not be happening, lest they somehow manage to damage the most expensive item of clothing ever owned by Graduate Girl.