Happy Place.

Virtual Graduation.

If you had asked me months ago, or a year ago, I would have told you that you could hardly pay me to don a cap and gown and go through the graduation hullabaloo one more time for my LL.M.

I have had the "piece of paper" for months -- they handed it over immediately after I completed my very last Final Exam on December 5th. It's been right here, rolled up in a cardboard tube next to my desk ever since. I thought all along that it was just the piece of paper I wanted, and that even if we had stayed in Denver, I would have no urge or intention to endure another graduation ceremony (as if the ceremony was an extension of the pain of earning the degree in the first place).

:Sigh:

I think I was wrong. Right now, with me far away in rainy D.C. and my graduation set to occur in 2 hours and 15 minutes at the University of Denver, I have to admit that I am a little bit sad.

So I am taking a break from the droning of a Criminal Law lecture to throw myself a little blog party -- a virtual graduation, if you will. A little photographic recycling and VOILA:

Me. In a cap and gown, dressed and ready to cross the stage...

Now, lest anyone buy too far into my self-pity, my change in heart could have more to do with wishing I was in Denver (as opposed to D.C.....did I mention it's raining? AGAIN/Still?) than wishing I could cross the stage. But still...

Thanks, Grandma! XOXO, Otter