Today was Ana's graduation!

She got the reading award, which... duh. Most of the children who got awards then walked v e r y slowly off the stage, carefully holding the award so their parents could get a good picture. Ana walked briskly over the stage with her certificate covering her face entirely and then dashed towards her seat.

After the kids got their placeholder diplomas (the real ones are being held hostage to ensure nobody sneaks off on vacation before the very last day of school) they were expected to stand at their seats facing us. They were very eager to throw their hats in the air, which meant, for the girls, frantically undoing all the bobby pins keeping their mortarboards attached, and then clutching at their heads to make sure the hats didn't fall off. And also turning to their friends to make sure all her bobby pins were out, and bending down to pick up fallen bobby pins, and lifting their mortarboards to show that they could, and gesturing to Mom that yes they had all their bobby pins...! All while standing and facing us. The left side of the auditorium was *very* fidgety as a result, and honestly, it would have been much better if they'd simply sat back down instead. The boys didn't get their wiggles out in this way, so instead they kept tossing and tossing and tossing their hats once it was time for that. Some of them went really very far astray by the end, the hats!

And we couldn't get a picture of Ana! She kept not looking in our direction, or refusing to smile! Finally we had to trick her by giving the camera to somebody else, LOL!

Eva also had a performance, but I had a few things to take care of so I skipped out of that while my mom and sister and Ana went to that, and then I picked up the CSA while Jenn went to the dentist. It was a bit of a busy day.

Ana has most of her friend's numbers, since of course she won't be at school with them (and to be honest, even if we weren't homeschooling they aren't all going to the same middle school anyway), but she has a few more to fetch. Eva seems to have fewer close friends, but I'll remind her to get their numbers anyway.

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World's First 'Scent Message' Emailed from Paris to New York

http://bit.ly/1jBUDOW

In a Maryland Jail, Teens Charged as Adults Face Isolation and Neglect

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http://bit.ly/1pp6wgJ

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British university makes antibiotic resistance breakthrough

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How Dairy Milked by Prisoners Ends Up on Whole Foods Shelves

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The Abstinence Method

Dutch farmers just say no to antibiotics for livestock.

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Nepal's living goddess who still has to do homework

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Federal agency cancels Redskins trademark registration, says name is disparaging

http://wapo.st/1jBWZ06

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His ambition is to be a lawyer, as I recall, and he'd have an easier time of it if he hadn't been kicked out by his family.

http://bit.ly/1oMCIwP

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http://slate.me/1jBXg31

Jellyfish Galaxies Get Guts Ripped Out

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Quantum Method Closes in on Gravitational Constant

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The little-told story of how the U.S. government poisoned alcohol during Prohibition with deadly consequences.

http://slate.me/SWXdrI

Fleeing Christians find shelter in St. Matthew's Monastery in northern Iraq, a place of refuge since the fourth century

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Icebergs take a bite out of Antarctic biodiversity

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Global justice for rape survivors demands extraordinary efforts

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U.S. cuts aid to Uganda, cancels military exercise over anti-gay law

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More than 1,000 people crowded into a high school auditorium Thursday in this hardscrabble rural Virginia town to confront Obama administration officials with fierce opposition to plans to turn a defunct college here into housing for some of the illegal-immigrant children flooding across the border.

http://bit.ly/1jBYX0r

These Spiders Eat Fish Twice Their Size

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As sequencing moves into clinical use, insurers balk

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Juneteenth isn’t just a celebration of emancipation, it’s a celebration of our commitment to make it real.

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