We Survived Graduation!

We did it! I mean he did it! Actually, we all survived. We made it through graduation and all the festivities that ensued. And more importantly, or maybe the question you’ve all been thinking, I survived my Oldest Sons graduation without a meltdown. If you are new to my blog, please know, I’m not a crazy lady. I’m just a pretty emotional Mama. I try to live in the moment and savor each milestone, which sometimes leads to tears of joy, sadness, or frustration. But mostly joy!

Oldest Son’s graduation was a week ago yesterday and a few tears were shed. But the entire week was a joy! It was such a pleasure to watch him participate in all the celebrations. Watching him visit with adults wishing him well, planning a party with his friends, and fitting in time to go to all the celebrations made me proud.

We had a beautiful night for graduation! It was held outside in the football stadium- a relief since tickets are limited if weather forces the ceremony inside.

The ceremony was nicely done – kudos to the administration!

His name was even pronounced correctly! Not a small feat with our last name:).

One set of grandparents were able to join our family at the ceremony. My parents came the weekend before and we put them to work! More on that later. Between that and the amount of walking required, they were both exhausted by the end of the evening. But we’re so glad they could be there!

As we sat in the stands waiting for the ceremony to start, I turned to Hubby and asked, “How did we get here?”

It really did go by in the blink of an eye. It seems such a short time ago we moved to Kansas and were trying to figure out where he would go to elementary school. I remember thinking that was a long ways off. And now, here we are. Parents of a high school graduate! Soon to be parents of a college student. I feel like someone is going to tap me on the shoulder and say – excuse me, you are not qualified for this role. And I will have to say, “I KNOW!”

I guess that is how it always is as parents. You do the best you can, with the information you have. And quite often that information feels very inadequate. I think it’s a miracle really that so many kids turn out to be such great young adults! I know we are beyond proud of the man Oldest Son has become. He continues to amaze us with his integrity, his kindness and his generous spirit. I really can’t wait to see where he goes and who he becomes! Great things are ahead for him.

Squirrel

A very long time ago, when he was probably 8 years old or maybe a little younger, Oldest Son was laying on the floor in the kitchen with his legs up against the cabinets. He was looking out the window and in the most nonchalant voice told me, “When I grow up I’m going to be  a squirrel.”

It made me giggle. I kind of didn’t want to tell him he couldn’t be a squirrel. I mean, why crush a child’s dreams. What could it hurt?

Except if he were to go to school and tell kids he wanted to be  a squirrel…well that could be awkward.

Fast forward to last week. It was Thursday morning and Oldest Son would be graduating from high school that evening. I looked out the kitchen window as I’ve done hundreds of times. But on this morning I saw something that made me grab my camera.

There was the cutest little squirrel. And it stood there so patiently waiting for me to get my camera and capture the shot. It was almost as though it was posing for me.

Maybe it was a reminder for me of who that little boy was. Of the dreams he had of growing up. Maybe that squirrel was there to give me a moment of pause and reflection on how far he has come. Being my first to graduate I was feeling a little sentimental. Could it be a divine message to be present in the moment and enjoy the events of the day?

Or.

 Maybe.

It was just a squirrel in the backyard.

But that’s not nearly as deep!

Be Content

I put these words on the shelf in my dining room a couple months ago. I was playing with some scrabble letters for another craft project and this just struck me. Content is where I want to be. It’s comfortable. Not elated, not overjoyed, but content.

To me it says satisfied. Not wanting or lacking.

Having enough.

Enough joy, enough love, enough stuff, enough status, enough challenge, enough.

It’s about being ok with where I am in my life.

Not settling, but being ok.

That is where I continue to gravitate. To contentment. It’s what I seek, what I need.

And most days, it’s what I have.

I could have more stuff, more status, more joy. But I am content.

And when I came home from work today, and read those words. I am reminded to Be Content.

I have enough.

All will be ok.

Chaos

I can’t stop laughing. And I really shouldn’t be laughing at all.

It’s that whole I’m deliriously tired so I laugh thing.

One of my kids is trying to finish an assignment that is do tomorrow. It’s midnight. There’s no way he’s gonna get it done. Just isn’t gonna happen. He’s reading the directions  on the assignment and realizing he really picked the wrong book.

My response? To laugh hysterically and say, “your screwed!”

What kind of Mom does that? I mean really. Clearly, no one will accuse me of being a helicopter parent. Maybe that’s the blessing of being completely overwhelmed. No swooping in to fix things for the kids.

I’m about to start my own personal hell week. Remember those from college? The week before finals. It’s the right time of year, but a whole different kind of hell.

I leave at 8 am for a work trip. It’s midnight and my clothes are in the dryer. Nothing is packed. The house is a wreck. There is half-finished bunting strung between furniture in the living room.

But.

The graduation invitations are done and waiting to be addressed and mailed tomorrow by the guys. I know they will get it done (yes, I’m crossing my fingers I’m right!).

Oldest Son’s wallet pics came in the mail today and they look awesome!

Hubby hauled 8 tons of gravel one wheelbarrow full at a time from the driveway to the back yard under the deck and where the new patio will go. I gave him pain pills and sleeping pills when he went to bed tonight. I hope he can walk tomorrow. He did get some help from the boys – I bet they’ll be sore too!

I’ve developed a sty or something in my eye. I’m waiting to wake up with my eye swollen shut. Kind of like Hitch. Wouldn’t that be awesome!

I got a fun email today asking me to take more pictures. That makes me happy.

We looked at the calendar tonight and I don’t think we can take a vacation this year. Sad. Very Sad. Usually it’s looking at the checkbook that makes me think we can’t take a vacation. But no, we have more money than time now. Only because we have no time at all! Ha!

Clearly, it’s time for me to hit the hay. 

So that’s my current chaos. I’ll keep you posted on the awesome grade he’s earning!

Right Now

I’ve seen a few of these posts and thought it would be fun to try. Here goes!

 

Right now i am…..

 

watching: our dog Gracie pace around the front yard barking at us

drinking: nothing, had some wine earlier and thinking about heading to bed before midnight for a change

wearing: my pjs - outside- cause that’s how I roll

eating: nothing, had some cheese and crackers earlier to go with my wine. Not to be confused with my whine:)

listening: to Middle Son talk about the book he’s reading The God Gene; how faith is hardwired into our genes by Dean Hamer. Sounds like a good book.

avoiding: straightening up my house. I really don’t want to. Which means someone will stop by at any minute. That’s how it always happens!

wishing: I could relax and be in the moment right now. Lots of fun things happening. It’s all good, but it’s a lot of stuff. I want to enjoy it all, absorb it all. I know I will look back and wish I had smelled the new cedar (yes, I’m on my new half-finished deck).

feeling:  blessed. overwhelmed. excited. anxious. confident. nervous. lucky. melancholy. deep. behind. lonely.

missing:  my Mom! I need her to come visit me. And move closer so we can have lunch together. And she can give me decorating advice. And remind me to water my flowers. And other Mom stuff.

thankful: I can pick up the phone and call my mom.

craving: time on the beach in the Outer Banks

wondering: how I’m going to get it all done. How I will feel in a month. How on earth I got to this point – close to having a high school graduate. What it will be like when Oldest Son goes off to college.

praying: for peace. for calm and the ability to let it go. For patience. For my boys and all they have to do in the next couple weeks.

needing:  help in the prayer department. A few extra hours in the day – or maybe just a cleaning lady. To go to bed.

Good night!

 

 

On the Receiving End

I had a new experience yesterday. One that caught me totally off guard and touched my heart.

I had Hubby’s car and it was so dirty inside. I needed to pick up a presenter for a program we were hosting for work. There was really no way I could have them in that car as it was. Normally, I would go to the car wash and do it myself, washing and vacuuming with the coin operated machines. But there was no time for that. I decided to go to one of the car washes where they do it for you – exterior, interior, the works.

I have never done this before. I’ve never had someone clean my car for me (unless you count the kids – and, well, they aren’t so detail oriented when it comes to things like that). I wasn’t even sure what it was going to cost me, but I just didn’t have a choice.

I pulled into the Waterway and copied what the car in front of me was doing. When the attendant asked what he could do for me, I said clean all this up! The Whole Thing is the package he recommended. Sure. I’ll take it. He handed me the slip and I followed the car in front of me. When it was my turn the next attendant told me I could take the slip inside to pay while they washed, waxed and cleaned the car.

Let me back up here and give you a little perspective. Saturday was a brutal day for me. I was up at 5 am and worked at one of our local walks, swung thru the local QuikTrip for a soda and back on the road. The rest of the day involved prom and after prom and I finally got home at 3:30 am. It was a long day and I was pretty much useless on Sunday. Didn’t go anywhere or do much of anything.

So back to the car wash. I go inside and watch the man in front of me pay. That’s when I thought, “I should get my card out to make the line go faster.”

I pull my wallet out of my purse and open it to get my debit card.

It’s not there.

There is no debit card in my wallet.

And just that quickly I remember pulling it out to run into QuikTrip on Saturday. I bet it’s still in the back pocket of those pants.

But the car is already being washed.

Now, I’m rather panicked. What am I going to do? And no, I didn’t have a checkbook or cash. I asked the cashier if she could take the number off of my old card. Could that work?

And that’s when the gentleman ahead of me in line stopped, pulled his wallet back out of his pocket and said, “Here, put it on this card.”

I was stunned. This wasn’t a $4 car wash. This was a $30 car wash!

I protested.

He insisted.

I cried.

I was so moved that someone could be that generous with a total stranger in line at the car wash.

We walked outside together and talked while we waited for our cars. I told him about my 45 by 45 and how I had been in a slump. I promised to pay it forward.

And then he shook my hand and said, “I’m George, I hope the rest of your day is good.”

I don’t think it could get better than that.

I want to be like George.

Holes

We’ve got plenty! One of the many projects on our “before graduation” list is a new deck and patio. We are well on our way and have a plan to get it done in plenty of time. Let’s just hope it isn’t the old “best laid plans.” The retaining wall was built over spring break. Now we are on to the deck. Hubby has been digging holes. Every night after work he comes home and digs, and digs, and digs.

The first hole was the hardest. It looked like it would be right over the main power line to the house. That meant digging very carefully. Like with a hand trowel.

The hole has to be 16″ in diameter 36″ deep.

Dug with a hand trowel. It took a LONG time. But the careful digging paid off when Hubby came across the conduit with the power line inside. Lucky us it was right on the very edge of the hole. Dodged a bullet on that one!

After finding that he was good to go on the other three holes. They were much easier to dig with a shovel and post hole digger! Duh.

Do you know how deep a 36″ deep hole is?

That’s my 6′ tall hubby in the hole. And this is the pile of dirt left behind.

 

Our yard is full of roots from a huge white maple. Like huge roots. Like 4″ in diameter. I thought I took pictures before they cut the biggest one out, but apparently I was so in awe I forgot to snap a pic. So here it is out of the hole. Crazy I say.

Right smack through the middle of the first hole. But it’s out! And the hole inspector is coming today!

 

I hope he likes our work. Then we pour concrete this afternoon. Oh my!

Should be fun?! Right?