Graduation Day

After today’s graduation, I will only have one to go. Marika. She finishes up in December. She has told us she is not going thru ceremonies. She may change her mind. Or not. But, Michael is probably done. I guess he could get a doctorate but seems unlikely right now.

We got up kinda early on Saturday. But not too early. Michael had left his car at campus for a function on Friday. Function that included drinking. So he had gotten a ride home from a classmate. Saturday am we went to pick up the car. Which was handy later when we went back for the ceremony because I knew the route.

Driving through Irvine to Orange helped me to realize what a bunch of retards drive around LA on any given day. My sister and bro in law included. Truly amazing. I am pretty sure they don’t use turn signals, ever, and drive as though they are alone on the road. Hint: you’re not.

The graduation is at 830 tonight. They have grad ceremonies all day. I think they have to break it up because there would never be enough room for all the cars.

The plan for today is a party at my cousins in Irvine. Michael is making a big batch of Paella. We have quite a few guests coming. Carly, Michaels girlfriend; her mother and brother; my cousin Victor and daughter Sophia; and the rest of us Dorie, Vince, Gerardo, Chris, Gabriella and anyone else I have forgotten. Oh yeah, Kona was there too and dressed appropriately.

Shout out to Glen & Eileen Tanaka. They gave Emily and I a nice bottle of wine. Funny thing, I had two bottles at home from the same vineyard. Weird.

Our paella party went on most of the day. Michael did not have to leave till 715. The rest of us not till 745. So we ate a lot, drank a lot and chatted. You know, a grad party.

After we had finished all the food and most of the beverages, I decided we needed dessert. I like dessert. No one else planned for it. We went to Yogurtland. Turns out Chris is a platinum member of there club. We got a party pack of individual yogurts and lots of toppings for only $50. I ordered my own. I’m that way. This, for me, was the highlight of the meal. Paella was great but I’m a dessert guy.

We drove back to the party with our haul. The guests made short work of the froyo. I guess they like dessert too. You’re welcome.

The grad got all dressed up

as handsome as his father. Almost.

So, at 745, we left for Orange. The city, not the fruit. It was a quick trip. The tough part of it was convincing Chris I knew where I was going. He was driving. He did not believe me. No one believed me when told them parking was free. Gerardo got money out just in case even though I knew it was free. Kind of an asshole. He just couldn’t trust me. It’s ok, I can forgive the slight.

Short walk to Wilson Field from parking. Wilson is the athletic field for soccer, and etc. we walked in, plenty of seats available so we sat up front. And, we got free hats!!! Looks as good here as it does on my head. Very cool.

The ceremony was exactly, like every other graduation. First the Dean gets up and tells the grads to come in and sit. Then Dean says stand for the Anthem. Then Dean introduces the keynote speaker. Speaker inspires all with his story. Then they hand out diplomas. That’s it. Grads get a picture with an administrator they have never met too. And 5 seconds on stage to wave. It was a blast. What does the crowd do? Wait till their kid is announced and scream. The highlights:

After the ceremony we hung around a little and took pictures

We did not stay long. The trip back was faster than the trip there. We hung out a little when we got back to Irvine. But, we have an early flight Sunday morning. We went to bed by 1130. With a graduated kid in the house. We must done something right.