Graduation: the single most busy day I've had all year.

It's crazy how this all worked out.

First thing in the morning, dressed in jeans and a corset, I went to see Papa G's wife, Camille, who is a professional make-up artist and hair stylist. I mean seriously professional: she does the shows here in town, programs, films...it's amazing. She offered to do my make-up for graduation which is very cool, since I really don't wear make-up and don't have incredible skills. So anyway I was there at 09h00, and Papa G saw my Jeep, and I saw his Porsche...I love the Jeep but it's a Porsche, his was cooler. Camille took me back to her salon and she is so much fun to be around. I'm not usually keen on meeting new people, I get nervous, but I was so relaxed around her. And she has all these incredible products, I really want to get some in the coming months: she told me what each does, why it's better than regular store-bought crap, and the price. Granted, it's seriously expensive to start off with but as I'm approaching 30 (I know!!) I need good moisturizer and such. So we talked and she made me look awesome and we were done at 11h30, which scared me as graduation was at the hall at noon, so I hauled ass, picked up Tannah, and got to the hall at about 5 minutes till. I feel bad, since I kinda had to rush out of there, but I made another appointment to see her, so that'll be really cool. :)

Graduation ceremony: hot, cramped, and the first 1-1/2 hours were "support your union" speeches. Awards were given out, then they called names for our certificates and such. This graduation was different than any other I'd been a part of or been to: the grads sat with their families, not in a reserved area in the front. The reserved area was for NECA members, visiting IBEW-based guests, instructors and other super-important people, I guess. So as they called each grad's name, we had to wander through the sea of people to get to the front, get our free goodies and certificates, shake hands with half a dozen people, and pose for a photo with our local's president. Tim said I looked great (he's my hero from 2nd year) and as I walked past, Tom stood up and gave me a hug...my first sober one! Haha that was great on so many levels.

Mingling and such, then to show my parents the Jeep (they approved), lunch with them, and off across town to see Tannah's cousin Lisa, a newly-licensed cosmotologist, to get my hair done up for the graduation party. She's always wanted to play with my hair and nothing's better than doing what you love and getting paid for it. She did little twists and curls, it looked really good...simple, not too much hair spray and such (have to be at work at 06h00 tomorrow...you know, like in 7 hours) but feminine and pretty. I loved it. From there we went home, I crashed for an hour, got dressed in a cute little retro-kind of short dress, and then off to the Palms for the party.

Free drink tickets are always good for a party, especially a party for electricians. Granted, I didn't drink at all since I was still remembering my hangover earlier in the week and I knew I had to be at work early the next day. But I sat with Sanj and her man, and saw Ryan and Pam, Mark (whose wife just found out she's having a baby), Luke, Lee, James, Alicia (who reminded me how hilarious it was when I got hopped up on 3 double espressos during class in 2nd year and passed out at the end), Dan, Wizzard, Joe...dozens of others...drinking and getting crazy. We had a nice dinner, filet mignon and shrimp, and some kind of raspberry tart, and the centerpiece on the table was definitely something to talk about: a 4x4 j-box holding a hard hat (donated by various contractors) filled with a bouquet of flowers. And mixed into these flowers were spring nuts, wires, CAT-V cable, and a lightbulb. Bizarre, but cute. I almost was gonna steal one.

Then Tannah and I took some photos and went home. Both of us were exhausted, but he joked that he was going to sleep in all day tomorrow and have a nice leisurely Sunday while I was stuck at work. That's okay...working tomorrow means double-time. On journeyman wages. Aw yeah.