a reluctant PNM faces the music

[aephi alum]

Originally Posted by AzTheta

Have Belgian Shepherds. One loves cats. He looks scary, but is mostly only interested in whether you (a) have a tennis ball (b) will throw it. The other loves no one but herself. She merely tolerates me. Snob. Has perfected the head turn/sideways stare at me. Also practices selective deafness. Annoying, but beautiful, and a hellacious guard dog.

Are you sure that second dog isn't secretly a cat?

[SydneyK]

Originally Posted by Low C Sharp

When it comes to kittens, I lose my mind altogether. I almost can't take them, I love them that much.

So, kittens to Low C Sharp are like sloths are to Kristen Bell?

[WhiteRose1912]

Originally Posted by Low C Sharp

It's going to crush my soul if I develop a cat allergy later in life. There's almost nothing I like better than a nice purring cat where you put your face in the cat's fur and breathe. What some women get from smelling a baby's head, I get from breathing cat fur.

When it comes to kittens, I lose my mind altogether. I almost can't take them, I love them that much.

Made me think of this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP4NMoJcFd4

[barbino]

Originally Posted by Low C Sharp

It's going to crush my soul if I develop a cat allergy later in life. There's almost nothing I like better than a nice purring cat where you put your face in the cat's fur and breathe. What some women get from smelling a baby's head, I get from breathing cat fur.

When it comes to kittens, I lose my mind altogether. I almost can't take them, I love them that much.

I used to breed & show purebred cats until I developed a cat allergy that triggered a serious asthma attack & my doctor insisted that I get rid of all of them. I could have a Sphynx or a Cornish Rex, but that's about it. No more Persians (never had good ones though) and no more of the shorthair breed that I bred for years. I'd kill for a Manx or Tonkinese right now; I had one of each of these, too. But I have not had a really bad asthma attack like that one since then and I look forward to getting a dog off the "Obama/the hypoallergenic list" (a soft-coated wheaten terrier). I'm much less allergic to dogs than cats. Since I love both cats and dogs; I just find it hard to live with no animals at all right now.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by WCsweet<3

Did anyone watch Grey's Anatomy last night? One of the patients had a pet lion.

There are actually lots of people who have lions and other exotic cats as pets in the US. Watch the documentary "The Elephant in the Living Room". It is eye opening.

[facethemusic]

The night before Pref, I found myself wrestling with the Lord in my quiet time. Every inch of my being wanted to pray for an invitation and eventually a bid from Saxophone, but a nagging little voice in the back of my head told me not to be so selfish. I was inspired by the Agony in the Garden that night and against everything my heart told me I wanted, I prayed Jesus's words: "Not what I will, but what You will."

The morning of Preference Day, our Pi Chis were to text us our schedules. The parties in this round were significantly longer, so they didn't want anyone walking/driving all the way out to Greek Row if they wouldn't be attending a party in the first time slot of the day. Kat got up to go to the bathroom around 6 am and proceeded to trip and fall flat on her face, making a racket that woke me up. Once we both knew she was okay, we couldn't stop laughing - I guess we both realized that now that we were awake, there was no way we'd EVER be going back to sleep with our nerves.

We killed time until about 8:00, when Kat's phone finally buzzed. She'd be going back to Violin (slot #1) and Piano (slot #3). She was thrilled that she'd not been cut and that she'd kept her current favorite, Piano. She excitedly started getting ready as I waited for what felt like forever.....until finally, my phone buzzed. I took a deep breath and read my Pi Chi's message:






























































































































Good morning! You'll be going to Piano (slot #2) and Violin (slot #3)! (:










































































































....WHAT?!?!

NO.

Saxophone was gone?!?! But why?!?! I'd been a model PNM. I'd wanted them more than anything....

Suddenly realizing that I had the same 2 houses as Kat and knowing that my tears wouldn't exactly make her feel good about her schedule, I quickly got up and left the room. I sat in my dorm's stairwell to call my mom.

Sobbing into the phone, I told her Saxophone was gone and that as soon as we hung up I was calling my Pi Chi to withdraw from recruitment. My mom begged me not to withdraw. She was convinced, she said, that God wanted me as a Piano. She read to me off of her cell phone the texts I'd sent her after leaving Piano each day....

"OMG, so glad today is over. I think my rusher at Piano was too, lol. This will probably make you palm your face, but we talked HP almost the whole time. Ha!"

"MY RUSHER AT PIANO played _____ and used to be in _____!!! New best friend? I think yes."

"Piano's skit was presh! Laughed my face off. The house was decorated so cute and I reunited with the tour guide from our campus visit."

I'd seemed so comfortable at Piano all week, she said. Her "mother's intuition" was telling her that this would be my new home. She even admitted that she'd spent an hour last night perusing the chapter's web site admiring how cute and fun all the girls seemed to be. She begged me to let go of my bad preconceived notion of this house and go for the bid here. God's place for me, she was confident, was smiling next to those other beautiful girls in the pictures she'd so loved on the web site. I tearfully agreed to give today's pref parties a chance, though I was far from convinced that Piano was where I was meant to be. Nevertheless, I hung up, went back to my room, and started getting ready...

[facethemusic]

(By the way, I by NO MEANS was trying to equate Rush to the Passion!! Just making sure that's clear...)

[AXOrushadvisor]

Ya know, the only reason I will be glad when your done with this story is that I will quit stalking Greek Chat. It is like a good book I can not put down except the next page hasn't been written! Your killing me smalls!!

[madoug]

So glad I just read this thread for the first time. If I had on day one.... the suspense would be a major stressor.... great job, can't wait til the ending.

[facethemusic]

PREF PARTIES!!!




Piano - Standing outside this house, I looked it up and down. Could I really see this place as my home for the next four years? Despite everything my mom had said, I still wasn't convinced. Lost in thought, I suddenly felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around to see Amy standing behind me in line. We hugged but didn't have time to update each other because it was time to go in.My face lit up when I was greeted at the door in hushed whispers by my musician friend from Philanthropy Day. I was beyond excited to see her again. She quietly led me to my seat and then joined the other sisters at the front of the room where the presentation would take place. While I was waiting for the presentation to start, I remember watching the sisters up at the front of the room and realizing that my mom had been right about them being beautiful. I can't say much about the presentation without giving away the sorority, but it was absolutely beautiful and had me in tears. The further it progressed, the more in love I became with these sweet and beautiful girls. By the time it closed with a heartfelt poem, I was bawling like a baby. The sisters led each of us away to talk one-on-one. My musician friend handed me a tissue and asked how my week had gone and what my thoughts were toward Piano. I said exactly what I was thinking - that I'd felt nothing but comfortable and at home here all week, but I'd set my sights on other "favorite" chapters and not allowed myself to see how right Piano had felt all along. Then she handed me a folded piece of paper, which I unfolded to reveal a handwritten note. As I started reading, it brought fresh tears to my eyes to read my new friend's sweet and encouraging words about what Piano had seen in me this week. But the end of it was the game changer. We weren't allowed to take our notes with us, but it doesn't matter, because I remember the last few lines of mine almost perfectly.

When I met you on Philanthropy Day, you were wearing a cute silver cross necklace, and the more I talked to you, the more I was convinced that it was more than just a fashion statement to you. I know that being a woman of faith going through recruitment can make you feel like a sheep among wolves, but I want you to know that here at Piano we have so many girls that are striving for the same thing you are. My sisters have infinitely bettered my walk with Christ and I know Piano can do the same for you.

WOAH.

Notice the underlined part?

Nuff said.

Needless to say, this had me sobbing all over again. I assured my friend that they were happy tears but didn't have time to explain because it was time to go now. She led me to the door and told me she sincerely hoped to see me tomorrow, and I returned the sentiment, meaning what I said with all my heart.




Violin - I had to hurriedly put my face back together outside this house, frantically dabbing makeup in all the places where my tears had washed it away. I was greeted at the door by a cute short brunette. I smiled calmly on the outside but was in full panic mode on the inside - I could NOT for the life of me remember this girl's name, when I had met her, or what we had talked about. We looked at each other for a few awkward seconds as she looked like she was trying to read my expression. Finally, she stuck her hand out and introduced herself. She introduced herself. I realized there was a reason I couldn't remember her name - we had never met - and that she was caught off guard by my pretending to recognize her. Well, isn't this awkward. I was frustrated because I knew the is wasn't how Pref was supposed to work, but I masked my disappointment. The ceremony was sweet and heartfelt, and I was somewhat appreciating it until a girl stepped up to the microphone and started to read the first few lines of a poem. They sounded vaguely familiar....it was Piano's poem. Stolen property. Claimed dishonestly to be Violin's own. Underneath my perfectly-polite-PNM appearance, I was seething mad. How dare they assign someone I had never met to pref me and then try to pull on my heartstrings with the same poem another house had already used to steal my heart? If I wasn't already sorely disappointed with this Pref party, the very end sealed my decision. Each sister had made the girl she was preffing a small item with an adjective written on it; a trait they had seen in us that week. My hostess handed me mine, and it read outgoing. "Yeah, I just guessed since I don't know you. I hope I guessed right," she shrugged. Um....nope. WRONG. I thanked her and tried to appear appreciative, but I was ready to just get OUT of this house. I felt like a number here, a nameless face, dehumanized by a house that was fighting tooth and nail to make quota not really caring WHO they pledged as long as they pledged SOMEONE. I didn't like the feeling.

[facethemusic]

P.S. If you have any inklings of what two chapters these are based on the vague details of the Pref ceremonies, please keep it to yourself!! Don't ruin the surprise!!!

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by facethemusic

PREF PARTIES!!!




Piano - Standing outside this house, I looked it up and down. Could I really see this place as my home for the next four years? Despite everything my mom had said, I still wasn't convinced. Lost in thought, I suddenly felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around to see Amy standing behind me in line. We hugged but didn't have time to update each other because it was time to go in.My face lit up when I was greeted at the door in hushed whispers by my musician friend from Philanthropy Day. I was beyond excited to see her again. She quietly led me to my seat and then joined the other sisters at the front of the room where the presentation would take place. While I was waiting for the presentation to start, I remember watching the sisters up at the front of the room and realizing that my mom had been right about them being beautiful. I can't say much about the presentation without giving away the sorority, but it was absolutely beautiful and had me in tears. The further it progressed, the more in love I became with these sweet and beautiful girls. By the time it closed with a heartfelt poem, I was bawling like a baby. The sisters led each of us away to talk one-on-one. My musician friend handed me a tissue and asked how my week had gone and what my thoughts were toward Piano. I said exactly what I was thinking - that I'd felt nothing but comfortable and at home here all week, but I'd set my sights on other "favorite" chapters and not allowed myself to see how right Piano had felt all along. Then she handed me a folded piece of paper, which I unfolded to reveal a handwritten note. As I started reading, it brought fresh tears to my eyes to read my new friend's sweet and encouraging words about what Piano had seen in me this week. But the end of it was the game changer. We weren't allowed to take our notes with us, but it doesn't matter, because I remember the last few lines of mine almost perfectly.

When I met you on Philanthropy Day, you were wearing a cute silver cross necklace, and the more I talked to you, the more I was convinced that it was more than just a fashion statement to you. I know that being a woman of faith going through recruitment can make you feel like a sheep among wolves, but I want you to know that here at Piano we have so many girls that are striving for the same thing you are. My sisters have infinitely bettered my walk with Christ and I know Piano can do the same for you.

WOAH.

Notice the underlined part?

Nuff said.

Needless to say, this had me sobbing all over again. I assured my friend that they were happy tears but didn't have time to explain because it was time to go now. She led me to the door and told me she sincerely hoped to see me tomorrow, and I returned the sentiment, meaning what I said with all my heart.




Violin - I had to hurriedly put my face back together outside this house, frantically dabbing makeup in all the places where my tears had washed it away. I was greeted at the door by a cute short brunette. I smiled calmly on the outside but was in full panic mode on the inside - I could NOT for the life of me remember this girl's name, when I had met her, or what we had talked about. We looked at each other for a few awkward seconds as she looked like she was trying to read my expression. Finally, she stuck her hand out and introduced herself. She introduced herself. I realized there was a reason I couldn't remember her name - we had never met - and that she was caught off guard by my pretending to recognize her. Well, isn't this awkward. I was frustrated because I knew the is wasn't how Pref was supposed to work, but I masked my disappointment. The ceremony was sweet and heartfelt, and I was somewhat appreciating it until a girl stepped up to the microphone and started to read the first few lines of a poem. They sounded vaguely familiar....it was Piano's poem. Stolen property. Claimed dishonestly to be Violin's own. Underneath my perfectly-polite-PNM appearance, I was seething mad. How dare they assign someone I had never met to pref me and then try to pull on my heartstrings with the same poem another house had already used to steal my heart? If I wasn't already sorely disappointed with this Pref party, the very end sealed my decision. Each sister had made the girl she was preffing a small item with an adjective written on it; a trait they had seen in us that week. My hostess handed me mine, and it read outgoing. "Yeah, I just guessed since I don't know you. I hope I guessed right," she shrugged. Um....nope. WRONG. I thanked her and tried to appear appreciative, but I was ready to just get OUT of this house. I felt like a number here, a nameless face, dehumanized by a house that was fighting tooth and nail to make quota not really caring WHO they pledged as long as they pledged SOMEONE. I didn't like the feeling.

You do realize that the same couple of poems get passed around and claimed by everyone, right? I can even guess what it was.

[carnation]

What she said. Piano could have even ganked it from Violin. The songs are the same way; every group out there has a version of "Today". Change the colors and mascots you're singing about and voila!

[MaryPoppins]

Originally Posted by carnation

What she said. Piano could have even ganked it from Violin. The songs are the same way; every group out there has a version of "Today". Change the colors and mascots you're singing about and voila!

Amen, what Carnation said!

[AOII Angel]

But she heard it first at Piano so Violin must have stolen it!