"They scream your name at night in the street, your graduation gown lies in rags at your feet. And in the lonely cool before dawn, you hear their engines roaring on..." ~bruce springsteen

I haven't written in awhile because my life has been way too busy lately. Some of the stuff that's been occupying my time is fun, end-of-the-year celebratory stuff, while some is more annoying/overwhelming. But I think things are winding down now, which is nice.

I've gotten to attend events that have allowed me reflect on my time here. My synchro banquet was great, although it was so sad to say goodbye to those girls who are like my sisters. They gave me a beautiful mug that they made for me (and all signed) at All Fired Up!, which was very sweet. I went to the IV senior dinner, my last Paid in Full, and the final Choeur De Roi concert, which were all great. I also got to grade 90 research papers this past weekend, though, which was not fun. And tomorrow I'll start receiving a new crop of 90 more (their final drafts). Joy.

If you're in need of a laugh, read this. It's an email from a girl in one of my classes; I know I've mentioned her before. She's absolutely hilarious (and slightly crazy). I've never met anyone like her and know I never will again. Anyway, she was absent when I passed back the graded rough drafts, and her friend Brigitt volunteered to take her paper and give it to her. The two girls are always together, so I knew it wouldn't be a problem. Except Brigitt had to go to the hospital earlier this week and has been MIA since then. Here's the email that BigBird sent:

Subject: im gonna die because im gonna try and beat brigitt up but then she'll fight me back and then ill die.

so i cant get in touch with her to get my paper.
she wont call me back.
she wont text me back.
i have no earthly idea what to do.
i planned on just retyping my paper, bc i wrote that at the library, so i was just gonna copy it all onto my computer. but i dont have it to copy. im gonna die. i cant re write it. i mean i can, but this is gay and just not fair. i know i sound like a little whiney baby but i cant help it im about to start my period and im gonna die and prom is this weekend and i dont even have a dress yet and alskd al;sdfja;lsfkj a;kfja;lsfkj a;sl jkaljk a;lskdjf alksdj fa;lsdkfj adkjfasdlf;k
I HATE MY LIFEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
loveyou.
kristen.
aka bigbird.

And that's totally unsurprising/normal coming from her.

I'm ready to graduate. I've been ready. There are things I know I'll miss, and I know the feeling of loss will probably kick in a few months from now, but at this moment I'm ready to leave. I'm ready to be an adult in the real world. Today I temporarily felt like I fast forwarded through a chunk of my life; I was a soccer mom. I found myself driving a Volvo around town with three kids in the backseat (ages 3, 5, and 6), taking them to a soccer practice. I'm not quite ready to be in that position permanently, but it was fun for an evening.

I finished my Education Student Teaching Portfolio tonight; it's due tomorrow. It's basically worth my entire grade for that class, so I hope I do well. It'll be nice to get it out of my hands. Tomorrow evening I have two pizza parties to go to. The first is in my education class and the second is for senior Writing Fellows. There are all these continuous reminders that all this is almost over.