Warning: Really long post ahead

O.K., it's time for some long-awaited graduation photos.
There's a bit of a story behind that weekend. I was somehow elected the Vice President in Charge of Planning, so I got to arrange for the rehearsal, the organist, the flowers, the robes, and the invitations (fortunately, not for the reception). Add to that the fact that I thought it would be nifty to schedule my Senior Recital at 1 p.m. on Sunday (when Commencement was at 4.30), and you have one hectic weekend ... although, given that it meant I was done with high school, it was totally worth it. And there were only four graduates, so it could have been a lot worse.
Roll film!

Class Night (Friday, 30 May)

This is me being told that I will meet the love of my life through the Underwater Basket-Weavers' Association. Yeah, I know. Crazy juniors.
The piñata on the table behind me has a long and colourful history involving a Mexican restaurant, Cinco de Mayo, and a check split seven ways that caused all sorts of trouble among the staff when we all paid in cash and expected exact change.
We moved Class Night to Friday night because the sun went down so late that if we began after sunset on Saturday night, like we usually do, it would be about 10.30 by the time we were done.

Senior Recognition (Sabbath, 31 May)

I love potlucks! We only have them once a month in our church, but they are always soooo good. And we've never had one cause an epidemic, either!
(Unlike another church, whose most recent Christmas potluck sent 19 - yes, nineteen - people home with food poisoning.)






Our senior sweatshirts (which, as Sqweakers learned, should not be worn on Fisherman's Wharf).

Commencement (Sunday, 1 June)

No, this is not the entire high school. This is the entire high school, minus four, plus six.
I so rarely get to explain what happened to my mortarboard, so brace yourselves for a tragic tale. Basically I put in on correctly before Commencement, checked it in the mirror of the Mothers' Room bathroom, and thought that all was right with the world. Then I took it off to play Special Music because the tassel was bugging me something fierce, and when I put it back on again, the front was kind of squished and the top wasn't even, as you can see. So, yeah. That's why it's balanced at a rakish angle. I wasn't trying to make a fashion statement.


"Too much cake, not enough sleep ... does life get any better than this?!"




Actually, yes, it does. Graduation Weekend isn't over yet. There's still one more essential element of the Senior Experience ...





Well, besides Finals, which, as previously noted, our school doesn't have. (Score!) That night, we snuck into the school (abetted by the janitor, who thought it was the cat's pyjamas and kept giving us helpful hints) and - well - left our mark, shall we say. We stole the skeleton from the science classroom and put it in the basketball hoop; we chaulked messages (in 6 different languages, may I add) on the cement; we lay down on the road in front of the school and traced around ourselves in chaulk; we wound streamers and caution tape all over the front hall; we created "Wanted" posters for each senior and taped them up all over school. After I left, I heard that the boys overturned all of the furniture in the English/history classroom, while the girls rigged up the juniors' lockers so that confetti would spray everywhere. Oh, and I also spray-painted "Class of 2008" onto the back field, except that I ran out of spray paint so it actually said "Class of 200".
So here's a picture of our Senior Prank:










Yeah, kinda sad, I know. Not even one picture for the history books. Maybe it's just as well.

Best wishes,

~`Cello Girl
(a.k.a. an incoming freshman who is really, really excited to be going to college)

Umbrella, anyone?

It's been another tremendously exciting day at home, complete with a typical local August (rain, drizzle, and assorted showers). I'm rather bewildered by it, seeing as how I now go around swathed in woollen clothing, whereas just a week ago I was in a climate so warm that it was commonplace for chocolate biscuits to melt together, thus forcing one to (sigh) eat them three at a time. (C'est la vie.) Three days ago, my biggest decision in the morning was what flavour of herbal tea to make for elevenses; now I'm shopping online for a computer and wishing desperately that someone would write an Idiot's Guide to Computer Buying -- what on earth is a 3-port FireWire laptop adapter?

However, seeing as how students at my old high school began classes again last week, I might as well count myself fortunate in having another month of freedom. In just over a week, our family leaves to spend a week in the Boston-Plymouth-Concord area (Walden Pond! YESSSS!!!), and then a week later we pack up two Hondas and head for University Beta (if not all is clear, see "It's Either a Backpack or a Vacuum Cleaner"). Speaking of college, don't forget to vote in this month's poll, "Which plant(s) should I take with me to college?" Since only fish are allowed in the dorms, I told my family about the hairy fish, eight-legged fish, and hissing fish that are apparently rampant in the dorms of University Alpha. My dad said he'd get me a pet sweet onion. I haven't asked my roommate how she feels about that. (Would it shed?)

Just don't ask me how I ended up on what is reputed to be the noisiest floor in the dorm.

Keep the faith!

~`~`Cello Girl
("Vr;;p Hot;" if you use the keys immediately to the right; "D3oo9 T84o" if you use the keys diagonally above and to the left)

The Director of Textiles Maintenance

is back from camp, heartily missing all of the people there, and wondering why she didn't gain any weight on nine weeks of vegemeat and cucumbers. (Just thought I'd get an early start on the Freshman Fifteen.)
Yes, I had an AMAZING time at camp, laundry and all. I made many new friends, stepped out of my comfort zone (i.e., by tubing down the Green River), and learned so much about what it means to follow God. It was so fun to see Him working - whether by bringing disadvantaged kids to camp, getting us the props and costumes we needed for the plays, or just brightening the day of a lonely laundry girl. It did get lonely sometimes; you can't work by yourself in a small, loud, humid, concrete-floored room ten hours a day without getting lonely once in a while. But as usual, God blessed. He sent me visitors; He motivated people to write me encouraging notes; He prompted my memory on hymn lyrics; He sent me friends who took me under their wings (and brought me food). One friend, a fellow English major, said I was beginning to smell too much like clean laundry, so she signed me up for the staff trail ride that afternoon. The kitchen staff included me in their two Banana Boat rides and made me a part of their synchronised spitting routine. It was such a blessing to be in such a friendly environment. Some people call it the "mountaintop" experience, but I call it the "incubator" experience - everything seems to be going right; negative situations are quickly resolved; the world can't reach us.
However, I'm back home now, and life is speeding up again. Doctor's appointment ... visit to the dentist ... TB test ... meningococcal vaccine ... shopping - it seems like everything I have to do before heading off to college in September involves pain. (Yes, including shopping. I do not like shopping.) It's going to be hard keeping a focus on God, but then, like a friend once told me, "It's not about doing what's easy; it's about doing what's right." So keep praying, people; keep loving and forgiving and devotionaling, if that's a verb.

Me ka pumehana,

~`~`Cello Girl

P.S. - I just re-read the last post and laughed. I missed my 'cello so much and I definitely plan on taking it next year.