This semester has kept me busy, but not busy enough to graduate a full year early. Maybe you can tell by how little I’ve written, but this semester has been a long list of to-dos and deadlines. Between developing my thesis proposal and trying to make sure that I can keep the lights on in my apartment, I am still playing catch-up on my sleep well into summer.
And I know that it is truly summer, because now my sisters are out of school. Kimmy has wrapped up seventh grade, and Jasmine has finished high school. We didn’t think we would make it to this day, but we definitely made a lovely weekend out of it. Keep reading to see what our celebratory weekend looked like.
The Final Friday Before Summer
Since I came home Thursday, I didn’t have to wake up too early to take Kimmy to school on this last day. It also seems like the tables have turned, because she made me a breakfast sandwich to make sure that I didn’t go hungry while I was at work. We left for school once I gobbled it up.
Work on this particular day was extra busy, so I didn’t get to really celebrate with her. With everyone preparing to celebrate graduation (can you tell how small our small town is?) the next day, work was slammed, so even after I took Kimmy home, I ended up going back to work to finish out the day.
After work, I went to Walmart for groceries, and in search of something to wear last minute. I don’t know if it’s exhaustion, but I forgot to bring home the necessary clothes even though I knew I was coming home to celebrate graduation. So I was last-minute looking for a nice dress to wear. While there were some cute things, I didn’t quite find what I was looking for. It stressed my mom out, and she had me raiding her closet for something she deemed acceptable (details can be further found on my TikTok @Kristimydarling).
A Celebratory Saturday
Jasmine and I woke up extra early because her graduation was supposed to happen at 9 AM, and she had to be there an hour and a half early. I had volunteered to drive her so that she could sleep in the car ride if she wanted, or in case she wanted to eat in the car.
I don’t know what exactly was the source of my tears, but when Jasmine got up to walk across the stage, I felt tears prickling my eyes. Jasmine is my second sister to graduate from high school, and I don’t remember tearing up in Tina’s graduation, which is why I’m a little confused. I am very proud of them both, but maybe I’m a bit more proud and relieved when it comes to Jasmine because there were so many times that she wanted to quit.
Afterwards, we went home, and I think everyone was feeling tired, because everyone took a nap. It was late afternoon, and I was the last one awake. I took my book and went to lay out on the hammock in our backyard, only to also fall asleep after a few chapters.
When we woke up from our naps, we had a celebratory barbecue. While we would normally celebrate with a dinner out at a restaurant, Jasmine just wanted to grill chicken wings (also why I went grocery shopping after work the day prior) and keep things lowkey. We had dinner, we finished watching all of Bojack Horseman on Netflix, and my heart grew because Jasmine said (aside from having to walk across the stage) that this Saturday was the best day ever. I appreciate her so much for loving such simple things, and it makes me look forward to having her come live with me come the start of fall.
A Sunday of Putting in Sweat
Of course, it was fun to celebrate Jasmine’s accomplishment, but it is very important to remember that the economy is a little crazy right now. Since I already stayed home Saturday, I decided to go to work Sunday. Maybe it’s a drag, but my dad was also working, so that was how I made sure to spend a little time with him as well. However, it seemed that everyone had already been taken care of on Friday, because it was excruciatingly slow all day.
That isn’t a bad thing though, because then I ended up just reading at work waiting for someone to walk in. Currently, I’m reading Crying at H Mart by Michelle Zauer, which is really making me appreciate my mom a lot more. After work, I went home to spend some extra time with everyone, when normally I would leave to go back to Orlando right away.
Did you cry at graduation/when someone you knew graduated? How do you like to celebrate? What are you watching/reading right now? I would love to know in the comments below!
As always, thank you so much for taking the time to read this blow. If you enjoyed what you read, please let me know by taking the time to like this post, commenting your thoughts down below, and sharing this post with your friends. And of course, you can make my day by subscribing to this blog, which means that you will get an update any time I publish more posts like this one.
Love Always,
Kristi My
Kristi My Dao 