"Ladies and gentlemen...

"...I give you the graduating class of 2006." --Dr. Stephen Snyder

Well, this past weekend was very busy. I went to Christendom for the graduation ceremony. I consider a great number of people in that class as being very good friends of mine, so I was definitely sad to see that class graduate, but at the same time, I'm glad to see such an amazing class come out of Christendom still swinging, and ready to take on the world.

To begin with, on Friday, I came into work early. I got there about 5:30AM, and worked until just after noon. At that point, I headed over to the laundromat to pick up my stuff. I turned in my suits, my sport coat, two ties, my overcoat, my tuxedos, and my vests to be cleaned. They could use it -- it's been a while for them.

I called John E. on the way back to the apartment to see if he needed help setting up for the Baccalaureate Mass. When I got back tot he apartment, I unloaded the stuff I didn't need, and then repacked quickly and headed out. I made it to Front Royal by about 3:00PM. I called John again, to see how he was doing and then met up with him in the crypt. The poor man had been working on getting this Mass set up by himself since that morning. I felt particularly bad when I heard this, because I had originally planned to take Friday off to help him, but I thought for sure that he would have backup, considering how many sacristans there are. I did a little bit to help him set up for Mass, but 95% of it was already done.

Choir practice started, and then the seniors came into the crypt to get their robes on. After choir practice, I changed into my suit, and went upstairs to the chapel to prepare for Mass.

Cardinal Pell from Australia was the primary celebrant of the Holy Sacrifice, with Father Heisler, Father O'Keilty, and the new pastor at St. John's in town. I can't remember his name (sound familiar?) but it'll come to me at some point...

After Mass, Paul E., Michael C. and I helped John clean up the chapel. It didn't take long, and then we joined the celebration outside. I congratulated a few people, spoke to a couple professors (Dr. Trey S. and Dr. William H. M.), and then went inside for dinner. Paul and I sat with John at this table, and along with us was Breanna H. and her parents. The professor at the table was none other than our dear Dr. Kurt P., whom I sat with at my graduation dinner last year. The poor man just can't escape me -- I don't mean to be such a curse...

In any event, after dinner was the senior slideshow; it was really well done. It was very cool seeing the class progress from freshman to senior class, seeing faces that I remembered from my sophomore year, most of whom came back, a few who did not, and a few of those who did not who I have not seen since... :(

When that was over, I had to excuse myself -- I needed to go to Christine's house for a dancing lesson. I am trying to learn how to dance for Ken's wedding -- I don't want to be the only groomsman who can't dance. Over at her house, we practiced tango, waltz, and the Viennese waltz, although the last is a lot more difficult than it looks. I'll need to practice quite a bit for that one. We called it quits at about midnight, and I went to the college and crashed in John E.'s room.

The next day was the day of the graduation ceremony. Robert Q. was in town, and the two of us went to breakfast after the early Mass. At the ceremony itself, held in the gym, the usual honorable degree was conferred upon the speaker (Cardinal Pell), and the ceremony was pretty much the same thing as usual. The graduating class consisted of 75 people, not the largest in history, but one of the best anyway.

After this, at the reception, I met up with Lizzie and Emma, and Emma gave me back my CD's and my Denzinger. Now that the semester was over and they were moving out, they wanted to get those back to me before they left for the summer...

While I was chatting with them, Jenne L. came up to me and asked me if I wouldn't mind being an extra in her movie. I said sure, so I put on a large cape and held a sword, as she filmed two girls and me running through a forest, pretending to hunt deer. It was over in about 10 minutes.

After that, I went to Christine/Carissa/Sarah's, where they were having a small party. I stayed for a couple hours, and then went to the dance at Christendom. I wasn't able to use a lot of my re-learned dancing skillz to that music, but, hey, you do what you can. I finally crashed about 11:30PM.

On Sunday, Cardinal Pell said the morning Mass, so, naturally, I stuck around for that. After Mass, goodbyes were said, I found Robert Q., and we headed out to D.C. He needed to catch a bus back to his house, and I needed to get to Old St. Mary's for the High Mass.

After the High Mass, I met up with Kelly P. We had arranged earlier that I was going to drive her to BWI (Baltimore/Washington International Airport). I had to hurry to get her there on time, but it wasn't too bad. in most cases, I making really good time just matching the flow of traffic.

After this, I went back to the apartment. I fired up King Kong (1933), and afterwards, called it a night...