Something about Sunny Days

I don't know why, but there's something about sunny days, a day like today, that gets my spirits up and makes me feel like all is right with the world and that my whole life is just waiting to be lived, ready to take me in with open arms. The Crimson Cafe is a popular spot on the Strip that a good friend and I frequent often. Too often, sometimes. We went "crimsoning" this afternoon for lunch and I told her, "I just wish the weather would stay just like this. Not get any hotter, not get any colder, just stay exactly like this forever."

I had to make some graduation preparations. May 7th, otherwise known as the Big Day, is approaching rapidly. Getting hotel reservations for graduation weekend this late in the game may have seemed like a futile attempt, but I ended up finding a nice place not incredibly far from campus and made reservations for my family and some out of town friends. Thank goodness Mom has offered to send out my graduation announcements for me. My black cap and gown hang silently and patiently in my cramped closet.

I'm also compiling my application for "certificated employment" with the Montgomery County Public Schools system. It still feels alien doing grownup stuff like writing and rewriting resumes and cover letters and such. As much as I feel like I'm getting tired of Tuscaloosa, of dorm life, and of being in school in general, I know that I will miss the college environment. I'm going to miss getting to hear Pulitzer Prize winning authors for free, getting student discounts, and meeting people from all over the world. I'm going to miss being able to claim that sacred student status, that socially acceptable quasi-independence. I'm going to miss being able to claim "poor college student" like a badge of honor.

The days of sitting lazily on a bench in the Quad wearing a t-shirt with "COLLEGE" printed on the front that you got from buying your books from The College Store along with plastic-sequined flip-flops bought while studying abroad in Spain will be replaced with days of standing in front of a classroom full of (hopefully high-school-aged) kids, professionally dressed, answering to "Miss Smith." Not that bad of a trade-off, I guess. I just pray that I'll be ready for it when the time comes.