Now I'm a Big Girl

Commencement...

Well, commencement has come and gone.  I successfully walked across the big stage in Frost Arena without tripping, received my diploma holder, and wished good friends farewell.  And now, after completing all those difficult steps, I am officially a grown-up--a grown-up who wishes she wasn't. 

My family made it to town late Friday night, so I didn't get a whole lot of Tessa-time in that night, but I got to have almost all of the next day.  Mike and I went downtown both Friday and Saturday night, and we even got my parents to come hang out with the "babies" Saturday night.  Of course, I had to tell them it was okay because the Lt. Governor was there, but the important part is that they came.  We didn't get Mom to the Lantern Lounge, but I suppose that's okay.  She probably doesn't need to see the slums.

...and cakes.

Tessa's 4th birthday was Saturday, so the poor girl had to spend most of her morning watching 500 people (out of 1500 graduates) receive their diploma holders (we'll get the actual diplomas at the end of July).  We had lunch at Cubby's downtown, and then went to my cousin AJ's house for his reception.  After naps the party began, complete with pink cake, balloons, and pizza.  

As you can see in the pictures below, Mike and Julie, Barbara, and I all pitched in and got Tessa her very own Barbie Jeep.  It's actually a used one we found at a garage sale in Sioux Falls.  It used to be white, but we didn't like the faded stickers, so we repainted it, giving her a custom paint job.  Pimp my ride, right?

She loved it, although she doesn't quite understand the concept of steering.  Also, she's not allowed to dive it on the "high" setting yet--she almost took out a real car.  The poor girl did have to spend this week without her new wheels; it wouldn't fit in Mom and Dad's car, so Julie and Mike are bringing it home on Friday when they come home for Barbara's high school graduation.

Current situation...

For the time being, I'm still at Red Lobster.  My boss told me this morning that I have the highest guest ratings of all the hosts.  I felt like that might be a good time to warn him I put in an application for a reporting internship with the city, but that I still wanted to work a few shifts each week.  He wasn't thrilled about the prospect of losing me for a few shifts, but he seemed excited about me getting back into television.  

Oh, irony.

So, as I sat down for lunch today at the Empire, I couldn't help but feel a little sad for myself, not finding my job yet.  Then I got an email from my former boss, telling me I had won several awards at the AP student competition.  I'm an award winning journalist, but I'm still unemployed (at least in the field, anyway).  Lame.  

I know things have to pick up, and these will be fantastic to add to my resume, but I just want things to be okay now.  Right now.  I don't like having to be patient any more than I like having to be a grown-up.