Duke TIP & More Cuties Update

Mariah, Taryn and I attended the Duke TIP Tennessee State Recognition ceremony at Vanderbilt University. The criteria to be invited to attend required certain scores in the ACT or SAT depending on which test was taken. Mariah qualified in both SAT math and writing, and came close in critical reading as well. I think she feels she could pretty much skip a grade or be taking dual enrollment or something now.

The Stage Is Set. This is how it looked when we rolled in at 9:58:00 (that would be after we told some nice usher that NO, Taryn was not in need of assistance to find her seat amongst the 7th graders! Haha). Mariah found her chair, and Taryn and I found 2 seats by some miracle in a good location and sat down with 1 minute to spare. Whew. Mike would have gone INSANE to cut it that close.

University of Utah Alum (I mention this for those who would enjoy the factoid) some dude (aka Vice Provost for Enrollment, Dean of Admissions at Vanderbilt University) Douglas L. Christiansen giving the welcoming address

Mariah receives her awards
She successfully makes the walk, "head up, shoulders back... smile!"

She did not trip despite being weighted down with medallions

Nice! She's still working the runway walk.
We facebooked. Since we skipped school for this, it seemed appropriate. Then we walked with a couple of her friends from school to Brueggers and had lunch.
Oh wait, we goofed around first.
Mariah thinks nobody would notice she was standing on her tiptoes. She's really only booksmart. She has some wising up to do and a couple more inches before she can take me!
Our photographer, Taryn the talkative
Only she wasn't talking to US and she wasn't cooperative for a photo with us either!
Seriously?!

Meanwhile, just a few days ago....

Mike and I went to the school awards ceremony. This is Mariah getting her Chorus participation award. Woot! Mike should get one for driving her there every week before school. That's what I'm talking about.

This is the lineup of kids who took the Duke TIP testing at Mariah's school. She's about 3rd on the left or so. Shortly after this photo the fire alarm went off. Haha.

And a few days BEFORE that....

I was in Macon with Indy. We were hoping to wrap up over a month worth of tests to get a final answer to what had been plaguing her. We didn't quite get a final answer but we are certainly hopeful that her illness of the past couple months is a virus and not lymphoma. In June, we might know with more certainty that it was viral. For now, the doctor said she wasn't concerned about what lit up on the scan because it sounds like it could be 50/50 and it what showed was on the mild side. She also knew how much this trip meant to Indy and I think given the information at hand, decided a few weeks wouldn't affect her. Indy goes back at the end of June, and she will have to be tested a few times for the next year as well. Oh bother. But, we can't lose sight of The GREAT news that the doctors OK'd her to go to Africa at the end of May! I'll be anxious the entire time, but Indy will push through any remaining fatigue and make the most of a golden opportunity to make a difference in the lives of children learning English and helping a community have access to clean water.

My drivers arrived on Saturday 5/14/2011 after Indy and I spent a couple of fun days together once the dr visits were over. We hit paydirt at the Goodwill and got 3 skirts and 3 tops for less than $25 that she will wear in Ethiopia. We also went to Thor and enjoyed the movie quite a bit.

Indy's adopted a new kitty and named him Aussie. She got him here from our shelter. He will summer over with us, enjoying the days Indy spends here before she leaves again. He adores her, and sleeps in her room where everything should smell enough like her that when she comes back he should be all "hey! it's YOU!!!!" I think the instant love they had for each other will remain strong despite a couple of long absences. We try to give him alot of attention from alot of different people so he doesn't bond with any one person. He recently discovered Grammy's Side of the House below his room and that has offered endless entertainment and seemingly limitless opportunities to explore and satisfy his curiosity. I think he most enjoys sliding on the tile!