congraJOElations!!

My brother, Rich, graduated from medical school last week. My parents flew 8,000 miles to come to his graduation and visit for a week. We are all so PROUD of him!

Rich is going to be an anesthesiologist, which I hear is practically an art form. He is now officially known as Doktor Feelgud.

I considered a bunch of designs for his graduation card, but none of them seemed to convey the elation of the occasion. Then I remembered Joe the Monkey.

Joe had made a successful appearance before for Rich a while ago, and I thought Rich would enjoy seeing him again. I was focused on outfitting Joe with the occasion-appropriate attire and didn't put too much thought into the overall design, but it turned out really well, if I do say so myself!

I really wanted some extremely thin colored string to make a tassel for the cap, and was bummed because I didn't have any. I looked around, and my eyes landed on a small red embroidered pillow on the sofa. I gleefully grabbed a pair of scissors and cut some string off one of the tassels on the pillow, and made my own teeny tiny tassel. Talk about making something out of nothing! I even had string left over to tie the little scroll up, too!

Congrats, Rich! You have a difficult - and poverty-stricken - four residency years ahead of you, but you'll get through it. Just eat lots of hot-dog-and-broccoli-Kraft-mac-n-cheese!