More Graduation Fun!

We went to the graduation of one of our church youth group students on Sunday. About 800 students were graduating, so the ceremony was long! The music was awesome! The students' speeches were very good! The reading of the names, however, was not the part that really stunk!

I was impressed to learn that the school he attended is one of the top 100 high schools in the nation! Most of the students seemed to be graduating with a variety of honors, scholarship, and academic recognition. They also have an outstanding music program for the students to learn a variety of instraments (including bag pipes).

After the ceremony we met up with his family and family-friends to go eat at Olive Garden! Yum! -Except for the long dark hair that I found in my food right before taking a oh-so delicious looking bite of Capellini Pomodoro (they comped my meal, though, so that was a happy ending) ... I was just thankful when I finally got some hair-free food. :-) The graduate's mother had a piece of broken plate mixed in her Alfredo Linguini...(She also got her meal comped.) To say the least, that particular Olive Garden is not on "my list" of top places to eat in Houston! (pretty bad when there's two "food contamination issues" at one table)

We had a GREAT time, overall, and really enjoyed spending time with the C. family! Congratulations E.C!

Graduation at Rice and Houston Rose Gardens

Last weekend, we went to Rice University for our friend's graduation. He is Seventh-day Adventist, so he did not participate in the graduation that took place on Saturday. The school officials gave him a short, individual graduation ceremony on Sunday with all his friends and family invited.
The Rice campus is really beautiful, with European architecture such as arches, stone masonry, decorative bricked paths, and long walk ways with pillars and columns. It would be a nice setting to take outdoor wedding photos. The landscaping is impressive, too.

I really like walking around the campus. We took a few photos, but didn't spend much time there accept to attend the graduation.

After we left Rice, we took a short drive over to the Museum of Natural Science to watch a 3-D IMAX on the Galapagos Islands. It was a gorgeous day, so while we were waiting for the show to start, we took a walk to the nearby Houston Rose Gardens. The roses and other flowers were really beautiful. One of my favorite sections there is the Herb Garden. I like to rub the leaves and smell the various herbs --one of our favorite scents is the pineapple mint plants. The most beautiful ones to look at are usually the sage or lavender plants, because they have tiny, bright purple blooms on long stalks that sway in the wind. They smell good, too--especially the lavender.

On a side note. . . we had a couple of unusual and (I guess) humorous experiences on our little IMAX date. First, we got an ice cream cone and some french fries from the McD's inside the museum, and decided to eat our snack outside. They have some really nice sitting areas with tables, fountains, and butterfly-attracting plants on a huge patio outside the museum. So, we went out there to enjoy the sunshine while waiting for the IMAX to start.

Suddenly, the first slimey "bomb" (a gift from the bird overhead) landed on our bag of french fries--don't worry, no damange was done to our food, just the bag. We laughed it off, and decided it was just a freak occurance of bird droppings. Afterall, you don't expect to have that happen to you (at least not very often). However, a few short minutes later, I felt something nick my nose. "Jason?" I said with fear and disbelief on my face, "Is there something on my nose?" He couldn't hold back the laughter! (he tried). So, thoroughly grossed out, I ran inside to wash the "bird gift" off my nose. DISGUSTING! Fortunately there was lots of soap and paper towels in the rest room, and I managed to sanitize my nose. I lost my appetite, so Jason got to finish my ice cream cone. (boo hoo).

As if getting "dropped on" was not enough excitement for the day...our 3-D IMAX was interrupted by a fire alarm/drill. It happened right as the movie was getting especially interesting, too. They wouldn't let us back in to finish the movie, but did give us free IMAX passes. The ending of our date was pleasant an uneventful--dinner at Niko Niko's (Greek), and a little shopping at Central Market (one of my favorite specialty stores).