I"M GRADUATED!!!

After being in school for fifteen and a half years straight, I'm done for now. And after a nerve racking semester I graduated on Saturday with high college honors and Magna Cum Laude.

What a strange feeling this all is. The ceremony itself went so quickly (only two hours to walk around 3 thousand graduates), and for once I have no homework... I have no winter reading... No registering for classes for next semester... and dozens of invitations for Graduate Schools. But I do feel more grown up.

Strange how just a ceremony can do that. But it's true.

I guess the highlight of the madness of the day was that my father, who is on the faculty at the University of Colorado was able to dress in a fancy PhD robe and hand me my diploma. Well... I guess more than anything it was a highlight for him.

But now the REAL highlight is what is happening today. I'm alone in my kitchen, early in the morning, typing on my computer with tea in my hand and it's quietly dumping. Sure I have a couple of jobs now to support being out of college, but I am now free to be a skier for every day of my chosing.

The Real World and The Dream World

I hate coming up to finals week. Every other little stressful thing in life usually becomes so much worse. Lots of papers, professors being asses (although one is the coolest prof. ever! props to Prof. Robinson), stupid tests to study for. Then, doc calls with strange news. Then, although the outcome is awesome!!! filing for loans from a bank can be a pain in the ass with all the paperwork, faxing and paper shuttling. But... I GOT A NEW CAR! finally. My '91 was starting to kick it... couldn't open the driver side door all the way or it'd get stuck, wouldn't start in temps. under 10 degrees, and the lack of clearance meant a rock to my undercarage and an oil leak. But now, I've got clearance, working doors, a starting car, and a sexy black chasie. Say hello to the Saabaru. A 2005 Saab 9-2x or better known as a Subaru Impreza in a sexier body.

Then back to the real world... Car payments, no business at the restaurant (means no tips, means no income), and being turned down for my first real job that I applied for.

But then, alas... Dream world kicked back in when Keystone opened it's big jumps. Smooth as a baby's bottom with long landings. And to top it all off, nearly every pro alpine skier was there this weekend just killing everything. Jon Olsson throwing kangaroo flips at every turn, Simon Dumont never once falling, then TJ, Sammy, the whole Olenick crew, Steele Spence, and oh so many more.

Then some dufus in the parking lot droped his skis on my car and put a new scratch on it.

But graduation is next week and then I should be back in dream world for a whole winter.