Graduation Day

We are back from graduation. It was a glorious day with only one fatality - will explain that later. Cousin Erica and her mom (Lee) and Dad (Don) joined me, Jerry, my mom (Vee) and my Dad (Carl) at our house for a cocktail of fresh squeezed orange juice and champagne. The limo arrived at 7:45 and we were on our way before 8am. (By the way, Lee is my first cousin so Erica is my first cousin once removed but since my mom & Lee sorta grew up together some, seems more like Erica is my first cousin.)

This is a lousy photo of my family inside the Tampa Convention Center - they all had red eye but it is the only one of them inside so I'm posting it.

There was a processional into the center, a welcoming address, the presenation of colors and national anthem, the introduction, student speaker, faculty awards, and a commencement speaker. The speaker was great - she was both a a standup comic and a family therapist, really.

Then there was the conferring of 600 degrees, presentation of the class of 2008, before the recessional pictures above - I'm the white girl on the right, LOL.

This is me, bad hair day and sick headache, showing off my new diploma channelside. It was so sunny we couldn't take this photo without sunglasses because I couldn't keep my eyes open. The mortarboard cap was so unflattering and did horrible things to your hair/bangs (think conehead).

Here's Jerry getting into the limo. We were then off the the Colonnade for a nice seafood lunch.

The trip seemed super short after we opened a bottle of champaigne and toasted our way to the restaurant. (you can see the pitcher of mimosa from the ride TO the convention center).

Here we all are about to go into the restaurant albiet a little tipsy from champaign on an empty stomach!

The fatality - Jerry gave me roses and had the waiter bring a pitcher of water to put them in on the table. Suddenly the pitcher tipped over and water was everywhere including inside my digital camer. I was lucky to get these off before it quit functioning completely. That's why the pre-restaurant photos are the final photos.