It's an ALMOST done deal

I am officially a college graduate. OK, not officially, but I walked (with all the "pomposity of the occasion" per instructions of the University president) on Friday night.

It was both more, and less, exciting than I had anticipated - as with most big things in my life. I actually really enjoyed wearing all the honor cords that I had accumulated - though the comments from fellow students began to wear on me (and the people standing in line with me for two hours waiting to walk in to the coliseum). I have come to terms with the fact that I'm a dork - a big ole dork - and that I dig academic recognition and achievement. I also know that those cords don't mean a hill of beans in the "real world" and that most of my bosses in the past (even the couple of good ones) probably only had a "C" average in college, if they went.

The best part of the evening (besides the great salad at Cafe Society afterward) was the unexpected award that I got. I was given the "Margaret Saither Award for Outstanding School of Arts Graduate." Coolio! I'm pretty proud of it.

The night after graduation was the party. We had been planning and working toward this party for a couple of months and were really relying on the weather to cooperate since the band was supposed to play outside on the deck and we wanted to show off our newly constructed patio with the firepit. We bit our nails all week hoping that the forecasters were wrong about the 95% chance of thunderstorms Saturday day and night. And they were! Yeeeehaaaa.

It was a great party if I do say so myself. It made me very grateful and humbled to see how many different kinds of friends that I have. Life is good.

Now back to that thesis.......(yep, took an Incomplete, hence the walking but not actually graduating). Let the wailing and gnashing of teeth resume.

Brain Cloud

I only had two vodka sodas last night, but my head is KILLING me. Am I getting too old for a mild little party of two vodkas? Shit, I hope not!!!

This is my graduation week. I'm a "non-traditional" student who started college at 30 (great story, maybe I'll tell it sometime), and I have mixed feelings about doing all this geeky "senior stuff." I skipped the "senior party" last night, partly because I wasn't sure if my husband was invited (and that would suck way too bad to have to brave the throng of 21 year olds without someone to whisper sarcastic mean comments to) and partly because it was the season finale of the Amazing Race (oh MAN do I want to be on that show BAD!!!!!).

But, Monday night I did got to the Honors Program dinner at Cafe Society (sadly, sans hubby), mostly because my friend is the director and she pretty much demanded that I go. It was nice. I was really worried that I wasn't going to be able to have wine, but we did - what a relief.

Still, it was weird when it came to the toast/roast part of the evening. Most of the other students, in fact, with the exception of one who is known to be one of those people who can (and does) go to class drunk and still make good grades (but, she's from New Orleans, so everyone seems to think this is perfectly normal - one of the nice things about going to a Catholic school), all were toasted by their professors.

"Anna is the most amazing, perfect, sweet, beautiful, saint, er, education major CBU has ever seen."

"Jeffrey has the amazing ability to always be right in all of his rocket science classes."

"Lauren just has the sweetest disposition - and she's so smart!"

Aside from rocket science dude (about whom I'll just have to take the professor's word, since, of course, I've never crossed paths with him), I have to agree - these are some pretty neat kids.

I, on the other hand, was roasted. Two of my professors, one of whom is a very good friend outside of school, let me have it. The friend especially. This would have been all well and good if ANYBODY else had taken the "roasting" option so seriously, but NO, I get to be the old student AND the one who, according to Dr. Friend, makes "snotty comments about her fellow students." Squirm. My "accolades", juxtaposed against the GLOWING testimony to all the other students' brilliance and high moral character, were a bit jarring. This was clear enough for my friend, the director, to apologize the next day for having read them all aloud.

Oh, well, I can take my lumps - I certainly dish 'em out (apparently).

I've got a baccalaureate, president's reception and finally the graduation ceremony to get through before I can THROW DOWN at my party on Saturday (please, oh please God, don't let it rain...). Let's hope I can handle more than two vodkas without getting a "brain cloud."

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Nightmare=Reality

So, I had a terrible dream in the wee hours of this morning. I dreamt that I woke up at 9:09am to realize that my sociology exam was HALF OVER. I was frantic. Getting dressed like lightning, figuring I could get there and knock it out before the 10am end time. Whew, I thought, when I woke up at six thirty.

I stumbled up to school, still a little bleary eyed, but ready to take what promised to be a gimme exam.

Funny, no one was in the classroom. And this class is made up of a bunch of silly freshmen who are ALWAYS in there fretting about conflict theory, biting their nails about tests that any 12th grader could pass.

I headed over to the in-room computer to check the time of the exam. Wonder of wonders - it was last Thursday!

FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Next...

So, I'm back in the lab. Trying desperately to begin this thing. This is getting worse by the day.

I really want to be at home. Hubby is laying a brick patio in the backyard for the graduation party that will be a farce if I don't get this thing done. It's really beautiful and I love watching how industrious he is with everything that he does. I don't know why it amazes me so much how he can figure stuff out. He's very patient with his projects. Unlike me. He never rushes anything (sometimes this is very annoying, but in the end, he always comes out smelling like a rose - which is also annoying at times).

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I have to come to the lab to work instead of using my home computer. Partly it's because the dinosaur at my house is just so slow. It has some kind of gremlin that is necessitated by the layers and layers of firewalls and spam guards. Partly, though, it's because I'm so distractable. I have to leave my e-mail software on at home so that I can't check my mail from here - I have to force myself not to look (for the hundredth time) at the e-vite for my party - I have to grit my teeth and refuse to log onto the purtymommy blog (strange, strange addiction).

But... I really don't like sitting next to people in the lab. Invariably people want to chit chat with each other or loudly work on a group project, breaking my already fragile concentration - or they take phone calls and don't leave the room, affording me the unpleasant situation of listening to half a conversation - or they listen to headphones thinking they're "in private" forcing me to partake in the tinny sound of rap music at a decibel just below comprehension and just above "tuneoutability." Finally, it's always cold in here. I think I'll start bringing a blanket soon.