Surprise Graduation Party!

Well, it was almost a surprise - haha!  I had a couple minor spoilers about a potential upcoming event regarding graduation, but had no idea until I walked into the conference room what a lovely event was in store for me!

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Bonnie told me a few weeks ago to show up at her house on Saturday, January 8th, at 1pm, and told me not to ask any questions.  That is a very difficult request for me to honor.  I have control issues, so for me to drive to Fredericksburg without knowing what I'll be doing and its purpose took a lot of faith that Bonnie knows what I like and don't like and wouldn't lead me astray.  :)

I should have assumed it had to do with my graduation, but until Eddie let something slip (and was immediately smacked by his wife) and I saw an invite covered in graduation-themed paper on my MIL's fridge Friday night, I did my best not to over-analyze what might be up her sleeve for January 8th.  I'm surprised that I didn't overthink it...it's like a whole new me.  But don't expect that all the time - I must have made an exception or something! :)

Saturday afternoon, Dave and I arrived in Fredericksburg as we were told, and Nate drove us to our destination.  We walk into the banquet room, within Bronte Bistro, within Joseph-Beth Booksellers, and I see all my favorite people!  It was great to have old friends and new in the same place, along with my in-laws!  My girls had decorated the tables with balloon clusters in the colors of the colleges I've attended (JMU, Germanna, JSRCC) and hope to attend (UofR) - so creative!  There were folders displayed on menu stands, again from all my colleges, and at each place setting was a piece of lined scrapbook paper, used as a placemat.  

They bought me flowers and made little graduation-themed chocolates to be given out as favors to the party guests.  So cute.  Also, they got paper mache books and painted one to match each college's color scheme:

Flowers are still thriving, even after I left them in the car overnight!  I have a black thumb - Dave says our house is where plants and flowers come to die :(

I asked people to draw me pictures - and although Dillan flat-out refused because he was busy drawing Mario (the nerve!), Dave and Nate used their placemats as a canvas and created beautiful memories for me.  Nate's depicted the scene of what will be his debut song, "Frozen puppy on Christmas morning," which he insists will be 100% original, even after hearing the Cat Carol....ah, the Cat Carol, which I'll share in a minute.

Frozen puppy on Christmas morning:

...and Dave's personalized SQL script.  I heart my geek.  :)

But back to the Cat Carol...the highlight of the conversation during the party, in my opinion.  The most horrible Christmas carol EVER, written by Meryn Cadell.  Maureen even had to leave the table at one point because I kept humming the melody and she was tearing up - she's the one who introduced me to this masterpiece.

I'm not bashing the artist or music, just the scenario presented in the song.  I would explain why I think it's horrible, but I think you should just listen to see hear for yourselves: 

 

You're crying, right?!?  If you're not, you're dead inside.  You just are.

After the Cat Carol sharing session I opened some gifts, including a lovely poem my dad wrote for me that told the story of my 14-year (and counting) college journey.  It was so nice of him to take the time to write that for me and it means so much to me! :)  I also got all 4 seasons of Felicity on DVD - the best college TV show ever, if you ask me!  These seasons have been on my Amazon wish list for years, and finally I own them!  Yay!

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the party in any way - it really means a lot to have you lovely people help me celebrate this milestone...can't wait until the next one!  :)