I can't believe I have one more final to go-- and not in a good way. Like, I can't believe I STILL have one more final to go. I can't study or concentrate. I can't even gather the motivation to pack up some of my stuff. To be fair, part of that is because Dunkin Donuts screwed up my order this morning and gave me regular coffee instead of decaf, leaving me more hyped up than Lindsay Lohan after a trip to a nightclub bathroom. Or, it could be that, after this weekend, I don't even feel like I'm still in school. With all the celebration that took place, I kinda feel done with it all. Some people find that a fun weekend revitalizes them and gives them the energy to work through the week; It just makes me even more impatient for the next weekend.

Not that this weekend was even THAT crazy, but it WAS really nice. Freddie was graduating this past Saturday, so I went home Friday after my psych final so that I could drive to Carlisle with my parents Saturday morning. We had to get up early to make it to the 10:30 ceremony, so I just stayed in with them that night, had a cold one and ate some take-out from Fatty's on the back patio of the 'rents new house. Then it was a 6:15 wake up call Saturday morning for the ride out to Central PA. And let me tell you, it was just as thrilling as one would expect a three hour car ride with your parents to be. Most of it went pretty well, just quietly driving through good ol Amish country, but then my Mom decided that it'd be a much better idea for us all to get in a giant fight right towards the end of our ride. She sure knows how to liven things up. Even better, she found lots of fun ways to bring it back up throughout the rest of the weekend. What a good time it was!

Luckily, I had my Dad there who, though a bit strange at times, is too mild mannered and uninterested to care about my mother's irrational complaints and tantrums. So the two of us just rolled our eyes and tried our best to brush her outbursts aside. Instead, we just made fun of all of Freddie's fellow graduates and any other wierdos at the event. I am seriously considering law school at this point cause, let me tell you, there were a lot of ug-ohs there. If I went to Dickinson, I would surely be one of the most attractive people there-- if not THE most attractive. If you were there, you would know I'm not being conceited, but actually quite honest and astute.

That afternoon, after a picnic for the graduates and their families, where my Dad succesfully called all my brother's friends by the wrong names, my parents and I headed back to Philly. Tired from a long day, I just stayed in again and, besides another battle with my mother, had a mostly quiet night (Piece of advice: When in an argument with your mom, dont tell her you want to "punch her in the face". No matter how reasonable your desires are, this will only make matters worse.) We got take-out from McNallys, drank some delicious Montepulciano wine, and then my Dad and I stayed up drinking Kahlua and talking about possible warning signs of Schizophrenia.

Luckily, I did get to bed fairly early, though, because I was up at 9 the next morning to get some studying in before my Mom's family came over for a Mother's Day lunch. It was the first time everyone was invited to the new house, so most of her sisters and their kids showed up to snoop around (Don't think I dont know the truth, you guys!) It was a great time, though, and even my mother seemed to remain fairly pleasant throughout. Fortunately, the weather was nice so we were able to sit outside. There were lots of good appetizers too, particularly my Aunt Aliceanne's sausage balls, which were mauled by my family like a bunch of starving tigers. By the time the actual lunch was served, I was too full on apps to even eat the pasta my Mom had made. Not that it wasn't TOTALLY worth it.

Most of the time, though, the day was spent like any Dougherty family get together: Jake and I argued over who our Nana liked better, Emily updated us on her ever-changing wedding plans, John unabashedly called Trisha by my name, Donna pretended John wasn't her husband, and Nana drank a lot of gin. The celebration definately got an upgrade, though, with the giant carrot cake my Mom had bought and the champagne toast my Aunt Ceil prepared for the mothers and the graduates. Of course, my family being as vain as they are, all found a way to include themselves in the toast regardless of their status as a mother and/or graduate.

It was a good day overall, and a nice relaxing weekend, but I guess I have to face reality and realize that I'm not done school yet. Give me a graduation cake with my name on it, and I think I have a diploma. Unfortunately, that's not the case so I guess its back to the library for me. This caffeine's starting to wear off, so hopefully I can sit there without twitching too much. I just need to remember that, by this time tomorrow, I'll be all done. Twenty four more hours of concentration cant be too hard--as long as I stay off the Dunkin Donuts of course.