Lara and Kylie - on the way to the Savannah airport (watch the road, Lara!)	Well – my parents were extremely generous enough (after a little whining and begging, of course) to get a plane ticket for me to fly out to Northridge, California, so I could walk through my graduation ceremony/commencement. But let me say first that I had a LOT of trouble getting OUT of Savannah. I swear, it was as if evil spirits from Bonaventure Cemetery were trying to keep me there – first they took away my car, then my flight out to Atlanta was delayed that night. I fi I wanted to get to Albuquerque, I’d have to fly out the next morning – so they sent me home (a taxi driver took me back to the apartment) with a new plane ticket to fly out to Atlanta first thing in the morning. Well, my alarm clock failed to go off and I woke up with a start, seeing I was more than an hour late! But I was able to get on another taxi to the airport and Delta was incredibly nice enough to schedule me another flight – which took off 10 minutes later. Ever since I left Savannah, no more “weird” things have been happening to me which was a HUGE relief.
Anyway – I got to California after a few short days in New Mexico with my dad and I stayed at the Keysers’ in my old bedroom. I met up with the “girls” for lunch – Misty Flowers, Sarahlena Sarver, and Stephanie Wiesner. Of course, we had tons to talk about but much to my dismay, Sarahlena had to work. So the remaining three of us puttered around the mall, it being Memorial Day and all, we couldn’t resist some of the sales.	Sarahlena - on the stage about to graduate (Kathy Goodson, interpreter, on the left)
Sarahlena, Nwokoma Sampson, and me - after Sarahlena's graduation ceremony on the Oviatt Library Lawn	I got home in time to meet Niel Thompson for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (one of my ALL-TIME favorite restaurants) and we had a great time catching up with him. After that, the “girls” joined us again for another gabfest. When I finally went home, it was nearly 2 a.m.
Tuesday, I woke up to find Erica Van Houten standing over my bed – turns out the friends she was staying with had a conflict with her so she had to find another place to sleep until she left for Boston. So after getting permission from the Keysers, I had myself a roommate. We decided to take advantage of the beautiful day by having lunch at E&E Café (another one of my favorites) and catching a few rays at Santa Monica Beach. I then had dinner with Dennis Selznick (who completely forgot about our plans until I paged him – quite urgently, I might add!) at El Toritos Mexican restaurant. After that, I pretty much stayed home.	Three of the four "Girls" -- Stephanie Wiesner, Sarahlena, and me
Jose Sosa -- good times, good friends!	Wednesday morning, I went to Sarahlena’s graduation and sat next to Stephanie and near Sarahlena’s mother. Even though it started at 8 a.m. (an ungodly hour for some of us!) and lasted until 11, the weather turned really warm pretty quick. I go back to join Chameen McPherson for lunch at the Olive Garden (her roommate, Shante Burris, had wanted to eat there but was called in for jury duty at the last minute –- next time, Tay!).
After that, I got home and sat out in the sun for a while with Erica then she took me to this great Mediterranean restaurant on Sunset Boulevard – had a wonderful time!	Jonah (JR) Thompson and me - my graduation day
Amy Cakes, Nancy Pie, and Kara Tarts -- waiting our turns!	Thursday was MY graduation – at 8 a.m. – I got there early to find out what I was supposed to do – and I ran into a lot of old friends – including Jose Sosa. Jose’s a guy I had gabbed with all the way through during our Senior Projects class (don’t get the wrong idea – he has a girlfriend, and I got an A in that class despite our incessant chatting). I also ran into Amy Wong and Kara Kelly – my old roommates, which was neat – and weird – at the same time. Erica, Sarahlena, and her mom showed up on my behalf, which really made my day. Like Sarahlena’s graduation, it lasted three hours and I was hot under my black graduation gown. Erica and I did a few errands after the ceremony was over and then I took her to the airport shuttle, said goodbye to her and wished her a safe flight back to Boston.
A few hours later, I had to get ready to see a Deaf West performance of “Oliver!” (Which, in case you didn’t know, is based on the Charles Dickens’ story, Oliver Twist). I went with Misty, her family, Sarahlena’s mom (Sarahlena, of course, had to work!), and Niel. First off, I was surprised to see the place was small (someone told me later that it was called a 99-seat theater) and second off, the play was AWESOME. I, at first, had thought it’d be a deaf play – all ASL – but there was music involved – a small orchestra, vocal singing, and all – it was amazing. Misty was lucky enough next to Anthony Nathale, a well-known deaf actor (from “Mr. Holland’s Opus” and “Jerry McGuire” to name a few). I sat next to Niel and Sarahlena’s mom, which was just as nice.	Kara Kelly, me, Trisha Zaghla (interpreter), Paul McDonnell, and Amy Wong -- after the ceremony
Chameen "Chammy" McPherson and me - still at my graduation	Friday was Stephanie and Misty’s graduation – my alarm, once again, didn’t go off and I was off in a mad dash to pick up Sarahlena and all. We arrived in time to see the graduates march in. I don’t know why but it was awfully short – 2 hours and 15 minutes so I went home again, refreshed myself and made myself a little more decent and went back to join the “girls” in our caps and gowns for pictures. After that, we all took off to Gladstone’s restaurant on Malibu Beach. My dad and I went there once and ate in the outdoor patio area, eating peanuts and throwing the shells on the floor with seagulls squawking and flying over our heads. Gladstone’s, I should mention, is ON the beach. We had a room reserved since we were having a party of nearly 30 people.
I gave the “girls” their graduation gifts (I.D. bracelets with their names and “Fab Four 4-Ever” engraved on the backs), walked along the sand for a while, then joined Sarahlena, her mom, Stephanie, and her family to Beverly Hills. We strolled through the shops on Rodeo Drive – funny thing is, I’ve driven past Rodeo Drive many times but never actually walked through.	The "Girls" sitting on the CSUN sculpture -- friends since '95 (Sarahlena, me, Misty, and Stephanie)
Sarahlena and me -- doing our "traditional" pose! (can't tell you how many photos I have got with us doing that!)	So I was impressed with everything I saw, even tho’ 99.9% of the things I saw were way out of my price range. I saw a simple black dress with a few sequins on it in Versace and saw that the price tag read $3,000. I told Stephanie that much money would fix my car and Sarahlena, seeing the price, said, “Not bad!” Seeing the horror on my face, she explained, “You gotta think like a RICH person…so this price isn’t too bad.” After shopping and walking around, we grabbed smoothies from Jamba Juice and drove home terribly exhausted.
Saturday, I did a few errands before Erica’s friend came to pick up her car (thanks, Erica, for loaning me your car – you’re a lifesaver!) I took a nap and caught up on my sleep, joined Sherman and Jessie for dinner (stir fry and then watermelon afterwards – YUMM!)	Me, Sarahlena's mom, Sarahlena -- and Stephanie's ENTIRE family (!!) in front of Gladstone's restaurant at Malibu Beach
Sarahlena, standing in front of a sign displayed at Versace -- very "fashionable" quotes!	Sunday, Niel came to pick me up to go to the airport – like they say in Life’s Little Instruction Book, “a friend who takes or picks you up to/from the airport is a true friend, indeed!” And that’s what I’m doing right now, writing all this airbound to Phoenix… Onward to week 12…

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