The Good with the Bad...
So my family arrived Thursday. And unlike some people I know, when my family gets everyone together, it's really just 9 of us. My uncle was a pain in the ass [somewhat as expected], the guys went for a drive in the street rod, and the women went to a bunch of different stores. Later it was Chinese take-out for dinner, which Tommy was able to join us for, and everyone except my uncle played Rummoli later [Canadian game that very few have heard of outside my family, it seems].
So Friday my aunt, uncle, cousin Lindsay, and dad went to the Kennedy stuff in Dallas, and the rest of us didn't do much of anything. Eventually we all made it to The Flying Saucer [I was the only one who didn't drink, woo], and then Luna de Noche for dinner. Not the most exciting day or night, as you can tell.
Saturday was the big day: graduation. And I was rather nervous. I met Stevie at 11:30 am at Starbucks since I hadn't seen her for a few days and would be missing the English dept ceremony; I avoided the caffeine since it would just put me over the edge. So I went to the math ceremony, which was tiny--only about 25 people graduating--and Tommy and my family were in the audience. I got to sit next to Spaz and Matthew, which was nice. The math advisor led everyone in a round of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and gave each math graduate a bag of CrackerJacks. Trust me, it was absolutely hilarious. He also said a few words about each graduate, which was nice. Since my grandmother has done soooo much for me and my college career, I gave her my bag of CrackerJacks. :-) Then it was on to the Engineering ceremony which was the TOTAL OPPOSITE of the math one--it was big and totally pimped out in McFarlin Auditorium. The graduates walked in to an organ playing, the faculty on stage, and the audience seated on the main level AND in the balcony. WOW. We had a senior speech and a speech given by a Congressman, then it was straight to the diplomas. Naturally, I was nervous about having to step foot on a stage, but it was so easy standing near Leo, then shaking hands with Prof. El-Rewini and Dean Orsak. Tons of pictures were taken outside, then my family made its way to the reception at Meadows Museum. It was crowded as hell, but I got to introduce El-Rewini to my family, and apparently he may have a job lead for me [woo-hoo!]. I didn't get to spend as much time hanging out with friends as I would've liked, but such is the price one must pay for having relatives in town. We went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner [Chocolate Oreo Mudslide cheesecake--WOW. Really rich, but so good]. That was pretty much it for the night. We printed my relatives' boarding passes, and then they went to bed--very exciting, eh? My parents stayed up and watched Iron Chef with me, and then I came back to Dallas.
Not too long after I came back, Stevie called: the party she and Nathan went to was "eh", so they came over and hung out at my place. I got to hear all about the English ceremony [really, really wish I could've been there], and I told them my stories. Good times, good times.
So Sunday the relatives left, Tommy came back from Whitesboro, and the world returned to normal. We never even opened the liquor I had so kindly purchased to have cosmopolitans as my aunt had originally suggested, so it continues to sit in Plano.
Which brings us to today, Monday.
I slept in, then Tommy and I had lunch before driving to Grapevine to pick up my new nightstand I bought from Crate & Barrel [I still had Christmas money to spend, and I really, really liked this nightstand]. Driving out there was no problem, since the directions were pretty easy. We got the nightstand in my car and headed back for Dallas. I was driving on 635, and suddenly a huge truck with this scary dumpster-looking-thing chained in its bed got in front of me. I didn't like the looks of it, but with the reasonable amount of traffic there was, I couldn't get over. Well, apparently this truck's load was too tall for the upcoming bridge. The truck driver decided to start driving on the shoulder rather than anything else, a part of the load hit the bridge, and that part went flying towards my windshield. Which it hit and cracked thoroughly. I tried to remain calm, and Tommy managed to write down the truck's license plate number and the phone number on the side of the truck. He called the number, explained what happened, and got directions to go talk to the manager. I had to pull off the highway and was still shaking from the shock of what had just occurred, which only got worse as I saw the shards of glass sitting on my dashboard just in front of me. Combined with the realization that I just graduated from college and should be in the prime of my life, the horror of what could've happened forced me to pull over at a gas station. Tommy got me a bottle of water, as I asked for, and I hysterically cried for a minute or two. Then he drove us to talk to the manager. So now I have to get a couple of estimates on replacing my windshield, and they will pay for it. I called my mom and told her what happened. My car has had a very rough life with me, and it's generally not been my fault.
So there you go, that's the good with the bad.... and since this is my life, even the bad isn't as awful as it could be. Thank you, Happy Bear, guardian of my car, for watching out for me and taking a few shards for me.
So Friday my aunt, uncle, cousin Lindsay, and dad went to the Kennedy stuff in Dallas, and the rest of us didn't do much of anything. Eventually we all made it to The Flying Saucer [I was the only one who didn't drink, woo], and then Luna de Noche for dinner. Not the most exciting day or night, as you can tell.
Saturday was the big day: graduation. And I was rather nervous. I met Stevie at 11:30 am at Starbucks since I hadn't seen her for a few days and would be missing the English dept ceremony; I avoided the caffeine since it would just put me over the edge. So I went to the math ceremony, which was tiny--only about 25 people graduating--and Tommy and my family were in the audience. I got to sit next to Spaz and Matthew, which was nice. The math advisor led everyone in a round of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and gave each math graduate a bag of CrackerJacks. Trust me, it was absolutely hilarious. He also said a few words about each graduate, which was nice. Since my grandmother has done soooo much for me and my college career, I gave her my bag of CrackerJacks. :-) Then it was on to the Engineering ceremony which was the TOTAL OPPOSITE of the math one--it was big and totally pimped out in McFarlin Auditorium. The graduates walked in to an organ playing, the faculty on stage, and the audience seated on the main level AND in the balcony. WOW. We had a senior speech and a speech given by a Congressman, then it was straight to the diplomas. Naturally, I was nervous about having to step foot on a stage, but it was so easy standing near Leo, then shaking hands with Prof. El-Rewini and Dean Orsak. Tons of pictures were taken outside, then my family made its way to the reception at Meadows Museum. It was crowded as hell, but I got to introduce El-Rewini to my family, and apparently he may have a job lead for me [woo-hoo!]. I didn't get to spend as much time hanging out with friends as I would've liked, but such is the price one must pay for having relatives in town. We went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner [Chocolate Oreo Mudslide cheesecake--WOW. Really rich, but so good]. That was pretty much it for the night. We printed my relatives' boarding passes, and then they went to bed--very exciting, eh? My parents stayed up and watched Iron Chef with me, and then I came back to Dallas.
Not too long after I came back, Stevie called: the party she and Nathan went to was "eh", so they came over and hung out at my place. I got to hear all about the English ceremony [really, really wish I could've been there], and I told them my stories. Good times, good times.
So Sunday the relatives left, Tommy came back from Whitesboro, and the world returned to normal. We never even opened the liquor I had so kindly purchased to have cosmopolitans as my aunt had originally suggested, so it continues to sit in Plano.
Which brings us to today, Monday.
I slept in, then Tommy and I had lunch before driving to Grapevine to pick up my new nightstand I bought from Crate & Barrel [I still had Christmas money to spend, and I really, really liked this nightstand]. Driving out there was no problem, since the directions were pretty easy. We got the nightstand in my car and headed back for Dallas. I was driving on 635, and suddenly a huge truck with this scary dumpster-looking-thing chained in its bed got in front of me. I didn't like the looks of it, but with the reasonable amount of traffic there was, I couldn't get over. Well, apparently this truck's load was too tall for the upcoming bridge. The truck driver decided to start driving on the shoulder rather than anything else, a part of the load hit the bridge, and that part went flying towards my windshield. Which it hit and cracked thoroughly. I tried to remain calm, and Tommy managed to write down the truck's license plate number and the phone number on the side of the truck. He called the number, explained what happened, and got directions to go talk to the manager. I had to pull off the highway and was still shaking from the shock of what had just occurred, which only got worse as I saw the shards of glass sitting on my dashboard just in front of me. Combined with the realization that I just graduated from college and should be in the prime of my life, the horror of what could've happened forced me to pull over at a gas station. Tommy got me a bottle of water, as I asked for, and I hysterically cried for a minute or two. Then he drove us to talk to the manager. So now I have to get a couple of estimates on replacing my windshield, and they will pay for it. I called my mom and told her what happened. My car has had a very rough life with me, and it's generally not been my fault.
So there you go, that's the good with the bad.... and since this is my life, even the bad isn't as awful as it could be. Thank you, Happy Bear, guardian of my car, for watching out for me and taking a few shards for me.