It Flew By...

Wowsers. I can't believe it's been only a week (okay 8 days, again) since I've written! This last week has been such a whirlwind, that I'm not sure I'll be able to remember it all. I shall try, however...

Picking up from where I left off last, I skipped my last opportunity to attend a Shenanigans soccer game in return for finishing my disease paper about Spina Bifida on Monday. Gina and I had one of our infamous rant sessions, which was kind of nice. I really enjoy debriefing about things with her. [Speaking of which, I should call her and see how her last week is going so far...note to self.]

Tuesday was a regular work day, and I don't really remember much about it. Wednesday, however, I was given permission to leave early (not long after finishing our weekly meeting and turning in my paper) with full intentions to pack up my stuff. I wanted to buy some Idaho things to bring home with me, but had forgotten my walet at the apt, so Tesa met me downtown and we shopped at 'Taters briefly before heading home. I didn't get much done productivity-wise, before it was time to head out to the Wifebeaters soccer game. Unfortunately, they lost, but at least I got some Twilight reading done in the process, lol. And then, it was time to head back home to pack...

For a while, I was doing pretty good; I washed two loads of clothes and had packed most everything by 10 p.m. At that point, I decided to double check with Delta.com to make sure that the luggage requirements hadn't changed. Good thing I checked, too, because I found out they had changed, and (to make it simple) thus I would only be bringing home one bag of clothes. Because I was originally planning to take two suitcases, my clothing had been packed by genre (shirts, pants, jackets, etc.). With the sudden realization that I could only take one, I figured that I'd have to rearrange everything so I had a good mix of clothing, rather than leaving behind a few whole genres, and only come home with pants and t-shirts, for example. By then, I was really tired and stressed with everything going on, so I gave up and decided to sit back and read Twilight (well, Twilight # 4, Breaking Dawn) for the rest of the night, since I promised Haley (hospital school teacher) that I'd return the book before I left Boise. I resolved to finish packing Thursday afternoon, instead.

Thursday was kind of somber, with it being my last day and all. I spent a lot of time saying goodbyes (at least 8 at the hospital, and plenty more later). Gina and I just kind of sat and looked at each other for a while...in disbelief that it's all over and that I was leaving. It was really hard to say goodbye to everyone at the hospital; they were so wonderful to me and became a sort of surrogant family over the last few months. I've resolved to do my very best to keep in touch with everyone, or at the very least, keep them updated with where life takes me.

I rushed to finish packing that afternoon because we had plans to go eat at some Basque restaurant downtown to celebrate (?) my going away. The restaurant was much smaller than we imagined, so we decided to eat at Bardenay instead. Jesse, Tessa, Ashley, Mike, Jason, and Kim all came out to "celebrate" (I really don't think this term is appropriate, but I don't know what else to use) with me. Joey, Jeff, and Stew were all working, but met up with us later in the evening. After dinner, we all went over to The Front Door to meet up with more people (mostly Ashley's friends) to celebrate Ashley's 22nd birthday. As usual, the festivities were pretty low key and didn't go on very long. We left early, mostly because Kim and I had a very early morning the next day. I'm sure that some of the others had class and/or work in the morning, too.

I didn't finish packing until late that night, and then I had some notes to write before I could go to sleep. By the time I was done with all of that stuff, I decided to lay down on the couch and try to get some rest, but before I could fall asleep, Stew showed up (after getting off of work and going out to see everyone, but I wasn't there) to tell me goodbye. He hung out for a while, and for this reason, I didn't go to sleep until 3 a.m...

Friday, my day began at 4:30 a.m., with final touches on packing, or better said--unpacking--as I knew my luggage was overweight so I kept shifting things and taking more and more out of it. Kim drove me to the airport, and I did curbside check in. Thank goodness she stayed with me 'til after I checked my luggage, because I ended up having to take out four more pounds of clothing so that it wasn't over weight. Bah.

Because I'd only had an hour and a half worth of sleep the night before, I slept for the entirety of all three of my flights. My layover in Salt Lake City, though technically 40 minutes, turned into only enough time for me to potty and jump on the next plane. No complaints, though, because the gates were really close to each other and I made the second flight just fine. In Atlanta, it seemed like it took foreverrrr for everything. Since there were about 300 people on my flight, it took ages for everyone to get off of the plane. Then there were a buttload of people in the airport, so I had to wait a while in line to potty and to get food. Food was an issue in itself, also, since I refused to pay ten bucks for a 50 cent sandwhich that I could make at home. Grr. I did end up with a tasty buffalo chicken sub for only six dollars though. Woot.

In New Orleans, Nannie Lois and Uncle Ray (my great aunt and uncle) picked me up from the airport. We then met Annie (former roommate from Lulling) and Brian (her boyfriend) at the Shoney's in front of Hahnville High to pick up my graduation cap and gown, and then continued heading westward toward Morgan City. In Morgan City, I sat back and relaxed for a while...it was soo nice. My mom, dad, and brother arrived around 7:30 p.m., and we all enjoyed a delicious gumbo dinner, with some yummyyyy (Idaho) potato salad. [Ironic that the potatoes were from Idaho Falls, eh?] Everyone did random things for the rest of the evening--Momma and Nannie ironing our clothes for the following day, and the guys chatting about hunting things. I passed out (in a bed for the first time in ages) soon after dinner, lol.

Saturday was a fairly early morning, for I had to be at the Houma Civic Center by 9:15 a.m., which is 45 minutes (give or take) from Morgan City. Nanna and Poppa met us at Nannie's house to ride with us to Houma. It was soooooooo nice to finally see them, ahhh, I missed them SO much. Due to a wreck along the way, I was nearly late to arrive, but it all worked out. I even had a chance see Jen, Annie, and Lauren (former roommates) and visit with some of the FACS graduates before the ceremony. I really enjoyed seeing everyone; I was really close to my roommates before, and fairly close to my classmates, too, so it was great to see everyone again.

The ceremony was only 2 hours long, despite the fact that we're the largest graduating class in Nicholls' history. Pretty sweet, eh? Bobby Jindal (current LA Govenor and future US President--you just wait!) was our guest speaker!! He's pretty much amazing, to say the least. ...Andddd, we even got to shake his hand!! Ahh!!

Afterwards, I took pictures with Jen, Annie, and Lauren before my family headed out to find some lunch to celebrate. I should also mention that Kyle, my bestest friend ever came to the ceremony. Kyle is in the seminary in Covington, and so happened to have finished school the day before, so I asked him to come to my graduation and told him that it would mean a whole dang lot to me if he came. Basically, Kyle's presence at graduation was about the greatest gift that anyone could have ever given me; it totally made my day.

After lunch at CiCi's pizza (yeah pretty much all the real restaurants had wayyy too long of a wait time), my family headed back to Morgan City for yummy homemade cherry cheesecake and celebration gifts. We hung out for a while, and then headed home to Abbeville (finally--my first time at home in 4 months) for an evening of relaxation.

Sunday was a pretty slow day. I unpacked a little, and didn't really do much else besides church with the family in the evening. Today, Monday, was slow again, minus the phone interview I had with Wonders of Washington. I feel pretty good about the interview, but won't know anything more until after January 1st. I'd write more about it but it's getting late and I'm getting drowsy, lol. In any case, the interview did a good job of getting me more excited about the prospect of the position. Lately, I've been in the Idaho mindset and not wanting to be anywhere else. I still do want to be in Idaho, but I also have to realize that I can't always get what I want, I suppose. So, therefore, I must open my mind to other possiblities...and see what happens.

And, no, I'm not done with the job hunt, or the school search. In fact, I'm on a mission to spend at least the next three weeks looking for jobs (here, there, and everywhere), and figuring out details concerning graduate school. Hopefully this time will allow for some productivity amongst the rest. I already feel like the biggest bum ever, even though I thought I just wanted to be lazy all day. Surprise, surprise, huh?

Anyhoo, I've gotta jet (unfortunately, not literally). Momma and I are running errands and shopping in Lafayette tomorrow. Joy. You alll know how much I love shopping, right? Heh. And, let's see if this whole having free time thing works in favor of more frequent blogging. We'll have to wait to find out. :)

See ya,
-Lauren