Everyday I Write the Book

When I received Kristy Graschel Ruppel’s wedding photo in my inbox, I almost emailed it to the coworker of mine who is planning her wedding. She’d be lucky to look this lovely on her wedding day! I’d planned to also scan a photo I had of Kristy at Grad Night; she is sitting on a wall at Epcot Center with a few other girls. I had too much going on this week to find it, but I promise I’ll link it when I do.

Enough about me: you get to read about Kristy now, with my favorite bit of news appearing in the last half of the last sentence:

Just in case anyone is wondering, this year’s Jazz Fest has been the best ever as far as I’m concerned. We ended this evening with “The Boss” doing a heartfelt version of “When the Saints Go Marching In.” It was a great ending to a great first weekend that included Bob Dylan, Cowboy Mouth, Dave Matthews (with a guest appearance by the Edge), and Allen Toussaint (with a little help from Elvis Costello). If you want to judge the rebuilding of New Orleans based on the numbers at the fest, then I think we are definitely on the right track.

The only photos we saved were our wedding pictures that we evacuated with, and I’ve attached one in case you want something more recent. I certainly have learned a hard lesson about storing my precious memories in those under-the-bed storage bins in a hurricane-prone city.

In case you need any more “filler” about my boring life, here goes:

1990: Graduated SLU with a degree in psychology.
1991: Quit grad school to get a “real job” after realizing I didn’t really want to be a psychologist. (Mrs. Fritchie was right: I should have stuck to something with numbers.)
1999: After working my way up through various medical/psychiatric facilities, I opened my own outpatient mental health clinic with a couple of friends.
2003: Married my husband, Terry, and bought a house in Metairie.

Things I’ve learned over the years:

Skydiving does feel like you’re floating and flying at the same time.
Always keep a camera handy while hiking in the back country of Yellowstone because when the bears enter your campsite, people will believe a picture over a good story.
If your boyfriend still wants to date you even after attending a large-scale family reunion out of state, he’s definitely a keeper.
Sometimes it does take a major disaster to make a workaholic realize just how important her family and friends are. (Thanks, Katrina.)

Thanks again for all your hard work on the blog, and you’ll definitely see me and my husband at the reunion.