Graduation party....

It was a lot of fun! Lots of great food and drink, plus fabulous company.

These are the beautiful flowers my mom sent me!


Julie and Tricia


I'm really not telling anyone to get out, just pointing at something (dog?)


Julie


Scott and Tricia


Julie and Tricia



Scott and Tricia...again. The party continues on, even after most have left!


Mike


Henry and Pedro


Scott



Chris



The guys


The girls
Tricia, Lynda, Julie, Diana, and Cathy

Great day for a run...

I'm a walker by choice. My treadmill gives me a great workout, especially on the incline. Today I ran. It's a good way to ramp it up a notch. Now that I'll have more exercise time I'm hoping to work up to running more. We'll see.

Lots to do today. Jessica and I are getting haircuts, plus Andrew needs water shoes for Saturday. My graduation party is Saturday, so the house-cleaning starts today. The menu is set, all that needs to be done is the grocery shopping and a trip to BevMo.

The weather has been weird. Rain, gloom, clouds. It will probably turn sunny as soon as we leave for NYC.

Missing Alaska

When I read my various cousins' BLOG and FB postings about the beautiful weather Alaska is having I miss it something fierce. Even though I live in a temperate climate that allows me to enjoy outside activities all year round, there is something to be said for the splendor of Alaskan mountains and daylight visiting hours until 11pm. Maybe it's family that I'm missing, or at least that sense of connectedness one can only have around relations. Whatever it is, it's in Alaska.

It's early am on Friday. Jessica's surgery day. We are all prepped with ice cream, pudding, mashed potatoes, and plenty of pain medication. After her surgery I have some classwork to do, hopefully finishing all the requirements of one class today. I have my ticket for Sex & the City tonight at 7pm. Haven't thought of what appetizer to bring to the pre-party. Usually I have options on hand, but I've been too busy to think about it. Plus with the yucky weather we're having I don't want to do anything but be a bump on a log. Sunday we're going to a graduation open house,and on Sunday evening we're going to the Sammy Hagar/Heart concert. Should be fun.

Commencement

Today went well. I still have one more week left. My last two finals are on Saturday, then I can breathe a sigh of relief. My history professor gave the invocation at Commencement today. It was nice to meet him (weird thing about online classes, no face-to-face meeting of students or professors). We connected using cell phones. Another great thing about technology...it allows us to connect in ways previously not possible.

After the ceremony we came home for a bit, then picked up Andrew from NYLT (National Youth Leadership Training). He had two weekends in a row of training, but it is a fantastic program, and will most likely help him get a job next summer (he wants to work as a counselor at BS camp).

The series finale of Lost is on tonight. Everything seems to be coming to an end, or actually, crashing to an end. We go, go, go for months, then Bam! It all ends. My first priority is to pick up Lord of the Rings. It's been a while since I read it. Joe gave me a new copy for Christmas, but I just haven't had the time. I have my next two quilts planned out, but I think I'm going to wait on those until we come back from the East Coast, at the end of June. It is not a good idea to leave projects out for the cat to get into. The weirdest thing is the weather. Normally we have had many 80 and 90 degree days, with a 100 day thrown in there. It barely hit 70 today, and is supposed to rain two days this week. Bah!

Before the ceremony



Accepting the "diploma"
(the real one comes in the mail in July)



Walking across the stage

Facing the End...

Friday and Monday are vacation days for me. I've decided not to stress about the work that needs to be done the last week of school, which is why I'm off. It's much easier to write when the house is quiet, so today and Monday that is what I'll be doing. Saturday is Joe's birthday, but since it's going to rain we probably won't do much. After commencement on Sunday we are taking the kids out for a joint birthday/graduation celebration. I have to work next Tuesday and Wednesday, but that's it. It will be weird turning my keys in, I have never done that before.