Whoo! Big day! It started out with me visiting Macomb Community College (the college I was at before Focus) and discussing my options with a counselor there. one of my options was to go back there, or even the community college in MD, since I only need a few more classes to finish up my associates degree. But if my Focus credits transfer, then I may be a college graduate right now! So we’ll see what happens there.
After a quick walk across campus to peek into my old sociology classroom (my favorite class :-) I was picked up by my forever best friend Jessie, and we took of for our favorite hang out place, Partridge Creek outdoor mall. However, it was starting to rain and we only had one umbrella (Jess said she didn’t even think to bring another, since I ALWAYS have an umbrella, one of my favorite things) so we made a quick trip to Wal-Mart down the street so I could get a ceap but cute umbrella. Unfortunately by the time we got back to Partridge the rain was letting up, but we still enjoyed a few minutes of gentle down pour, just enough to have a pleasant walk in the rain between popping in and out of shops and pretending we were rich.
After about two hours, I had jess drive me to the corner of Garfield and 16 Mile, where we waited for Grandma Padgett and Emmy to come pick me up for a pedicure (Grandma’s treat :-) We met Aunt Maureen there and had a great time being pampered. I’d never had a pedicure before, so it was quite an experience.
After our toes were properly colorafied, we went home to Grandma’s where Dad had flown in sometime that morning, and we all got ready to leave for the graduation!
Around 5:00, we headed over to the church where the graduation would be. Emmy, the graduate went back to the green room to hang out with her friends, while the rest of us mingled, reconnecting with people. I was given the task by Emmy and Heather to sneak the boquets that Grandma was bringing for Emmy and Heather to give to their moms on stage. I had to get them under the marked seats when the flowers arrived. Unfortunately by the time Grandma arrived, the moms were already in the sanctuary! There was no way for me to get the flowers up under the seats without ruining the surprise for Mom. Of course Heathers mom wouldn't know, but Mom would surly see me on stage with flowers and know what was up. Just as I was considering this dilemma, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see Crystal! One of my own fellow graduates and friend! “Can you believe it was only three years ago that we were up there?” she asked after we hugged. I agreed, then quickly asked her, “Crystal, can you do me a favor? I need to get these flowers on stage but I don’t want my mom to see. Could you put them under the seats for Padgett and Gonzalez for me?” of course she agreed, and I hung back while she snuck on stage to do the deed, after which I ran up to her and thanked her. What perfect timing!
Finally it was time for the graduation to start, we all gathered in our seats and watched as the graduates slowly made their way to the front of the sanctuary. A few people made a few speeches. Jessie and I laughed to hear the same exact speech from the master of ceremonies, I even leaned over to Jess and quoted our favorite part seconds before him: “what planet are you from?” (it helps that I’ve heard him tell the same story of being introduced to the concept of home schooling for the past four years!)
Then the fun part began. A home school graduation is a very unique and personal ceremony. We had about forty high school grads; in the first several rows of the sanctuary are their parents. Alphabetically, each student is called to the front of the stage, where they are met by their parents. at this point if the grads had flowers for their mom or vice versa, they were exchanged. Then the father has two minutes to give a short speech about their child, and then the grad is presented with the diploma.
Before long it was Emmy’s turn. When she handed the flowers to Mom, Dad sarcastically asked “where’s mine?” to which Emmy quickly replied “you didn’t do anything.” It was a quiet exchange but spoke well of the personalities on that stage representing the Padgett Family. Dad gave a nice speech, which I don’t remember but know was funny, during which Emmy rolled her eyes and shook her head at the proper times, not in a disrespectful way, but just in a “I cant believe you said that!” way. Diploma was given, and all three returned to their seats.
After the ceremony was finished, the grad again walked down the aisle to line up along both sides of the reception room to greet their guests. The reception room is WAY small and there are always a WAY lot of people. Sometimes it can get ridiculous and claustrophobic with so many bodies, but I love it. I am an extrovert (as if you didn’t know!) and I get my energy from people. So a room jam PACKED with people, especially when it’s mostly people I know well, is basically like plugging me into an electrical socket and flipping the “on” switch. I was especially hyped because most of these people were some of my favorite in the world, and who I hadn’t seen in a long time. I flitted from person to person, dragging people with me to meet people, even introducing people who already knew each other, just for the fun of it (at one point I even introduced Jessie to her own dad and sister. Hey! Why not?) then I started a club. Sprinkled across all the tables were gold and purple graduation hat shaped confetti. Now, if you have ever seen me somewhere with shaped confetti or sequence, then you know that I will at some point be sticking the confetti to my face. So of course I did so, and then encouraged my friends to do likewise. After about 7 of us had done so, I deemed us the “Sisterhood of the Sacred Sequence.” (though we didn’t quite tell Tommy the name we’d chosen). 
We even made up a secret handshake! My friends took off at pretty soon we found people I didn’t even know who had been convinced to join the sisterhood (boys and girls alike). Of course I used my “Woo” strength to talk a few people into following the peer pressure and join the sisterhood. One little four year old girl, Emma, became our top member as she stuck dozens of pieces of sequence on her face!
Mmhm, I love doing crazy “immature” things and making it fun for everyone and just loving being insane :-)
Oh, and congratulations graduates!
Sounds and looks like a great time was had by all! The sister hood would have had 7 more members if we'd have been there. :)
ReplyDeleteMs. Mary