Finals are over, so now what?

Last week was finals week and it went surprisingly well. Each of my finals weren't as difficult as I anticipated. The grades that have come back thus far have been good, so I'm happy about that. What I'm not happy about is my lack of employment. My work study job at the psychology department is no longer (at least for the summer) because I don't have work study funds for the summer. My brilliant plan to graduate this summer fell through because of one class and one lame department head telling me that 3 credits were too many to do an independent study. So now in addition to having to pay for another semester of college and reapply for loans, I don't have a job with which to ease that burden.

After finals were finished Mom and Dad drove up from Indiana for my graduation ceremony the coming Monday. That Saturday Tony and Laura ventured down to the cities as well and they took Andy and I out to dinner. First was shopping for Tony some new clothes because he can't do it without my mom. I also obtained new "kicks" that I'm really excited about. After dinner I went back to Minneapolis and hung out with Mike, Adam, Dan, and the rest of the gang. They were playing drinking games that involved overly carbonated beer and I couldn't compete. Afterward Andy and I headed to Van Cleave to play on the playground. Where instead we "wrasseled" with Ross and I lost my phone in the sand. Surprisingly it was still there in the morning, in good working order despite being a bit sandy.

Sunday involved brunch with my former neighbors and a stop by the old house. In the last 11ish months the new owner, Jimmy, has changed just about everything he could with the house. Admittedly the garden looks nicer (except for the statue of a dog's butt that makes it look like it's digging in the garden), but it's all overly arts and craftsy. Really quite gross, but hey, if that's what he likes, so be it.

Monday was the big day! I got to graduate this spring because Carlson only has one ceremony a year. So it was either before I graduate or well after I finish up. The ceremony was horribly disorganized as no one really knew where to go. But in the end we all ended up in a line of more or less alphabetical order. I'm glad I'm not in CLA because the processions in and out and the reading of names took far too long, and CLA is much larger than Carlson. Steve Forbes was the speaker, and he turned out to be quite funny and that made everything more bearable. Nothing exciting happened as I walked across the stage, though I could hear the high-pitched cheers from my mom and Andy. Here's a photo:

Me "walking" at Northrup.

Dad, Mom, and I posing with my "diploma."

That night we went out for fancy dinner at the Capital Grille and it went really well. Andy and I ordered entire chickens without realizing. And I got a rose for being a "graduate." It was quite nice. I also got my laptop back Monday, and I was really excited. Except I never got any of the files off of the computer, so I have to go back and get those. It's nice to have the laptop back though. Except now I have to replace all of my music, and that'll be annoying without the network of my former home.

So now it's Wednesday and I still don't have a job. I'll be cleaning my room today, looking for a job, making a list of things I need to get, maybe making a dent in that chicken, and possibly plotting out bike routes for my extreme free time.

The only thing that really makes me feel better about myself is that I'm not a 10 month old baby from Illinois with a gun license.