Graduation!!

This was one action-packed day. We were all up very (way too) early. Mom & Ernie made it in the evening before, and I had some lasagna and sweet potato casserole from Pastarrific here for dinner. We all ended up getting up while it was about still dark outside, as we had to get ready and head out around 7:15. They said the doors open at 8:30, Kaylee said to get there by 8 if you wanted a decent seat, and she wasn't wrong per se. We got there at like 10 till 8, and it was pretty quiet and empty.  We went inside and were one of the first in line, but the line rapidly formed behind us and out the door. But when we got into the auditorium, we went for the middle not realizing it was reserved, so we ended up halfway back on the left even though we were about first in line.  But it was okay, because we had an aisle seat. I went ahead and went up to the loft area, where Kaylee texted me was a good area for photos. It was good for overview photos, and she ended up walking right past Steve, Mom & Ernie, and sitting like a row in front of them. Crazy!  When she came walking up, I could tell by Steve's face that he found her, he grinned and lit up, and gave her a fist-bump when she went by, which I caught on camera from above. :)

The ceremony was very nice. It took 2 hours but it mostly kept moving very well. Their guest speaker was really good and I enjoyed his message, actually. He talked about how the basic question people are going to ask you from now on, is... can I trust you. How trust is the foundation for everything. Leadership, relationships, work place success, friendships, all of it.  He's not wrong--that's kind of what Kaylee and I had a deal on. I would trust her as long as she was trustworthy, and she never did anything to break that growing up, and demonstrated it with others too, so she got to do a lot of things that other people didn't get to do. His message was quick, concise, and deep. Well done. What was his name again?  Hmm.

Kaylee didn't trip going across the stage, so that was good. I got photos of her and a couple of her roommies.  

Right afterwards, we took some photos, I met two of her professors, and then we had to go move her out of her dorm. They make them move out within two hours of the end of graduation, which is nuts. Everybody trying to move out at the same time right after you walk the aisle.  Here I am in a dress, and we're hiking up and down her stairs, hauling a ton of crap out of there, and Steve loaded it up into her Jeep, and it was FULL. Stuffed full.  By then it was like 1:30 pm and we were starving, so we stopped at Culver's, not realizing our dinner reservations were for 5:15.  Got home, crashed for an hour, then it was time to leave for Indy. We went to Maggiano's down there, and had a really good meal. I had clams and linguini, Kaylee had gluten free chicken alfredo that she loved enough she ate all the leftovers (she never eats leftovers), Steve said his steak was really good, and my crème brulet was also excellent.  It was a nice dinner.  We got home late, like around 9 pm or so, half of us passed out, and the other half went to bed early anyway.

Kaylee has officially graduated with her BSW from ISU. She starts moving into her new apartment today, starts new classes on Monday, and will start for her Masters in the fall.  It was a busy, packed out, milestone of a day.

Prof. Sneed

BSW Class

Roommies