Timing Career - Check

Pumpkin's swim team hosted a swim meet this weekend.

It was kind of odd as he did not participate.  He was in Orlando, FL with the choir.

We volunteered, anyway, as the  team needed the help.

I am now officially retired from timing at a swim meet!  That is, unless Peanut decides to swim.

I'm going with the retirement plan.

Most of the time, we timed with friends - just like today.  It was fun while it lasted!

Sneak Peak

Graduation announcements forthcoming

Opted for nonstandard, creative ones

Here's the front of the card...

I keep pinching myself that this is really happening!!

Road to Independence

Pumpkin and the rest of the school choirs boarded charter buses for Orlando, FL this afternoon.  (They are driving through the night.  Ugh!)

At the same time, Peanut had an ortho appointment.  I called the orthodontist and asked to switch the time.  No can do.  Peanut is sooo close to getting the braces off.  We are visiting every two weeks and he could not miss this appointment.  (Much to Peanut's chagrin, he was told to come back in two more weeks.)

My only alternative was to have Pumpkin drive himself to the bus and park the car at school.  Pumpkin was fine with it.  I felt guilty, for a bit, that he had to put himself on the bus.  It all worked out.  He parked the car, put the keys under the mat, and left the car door open.  Fortunately, no one else drove away with our '96 wagon:-)

The Big Guy and I walked Buddy to the car.  He brought it home.  I walked the dog home.

And, Pumpkin's taken another step on the Road to Independence...

Lo, How A Rose...

For many, many years, my inlaws grew roses.  They were beautiful.  They tended to them religiously.

A couple years ago, they cleared the beds saying the roses were old.  My heart paused when I saw the empty beds.  Roses were a part of them.  Without missing a season, they filled the beds with vegetables.  That was a challenge given the Memphis hot, dry weather.

Fast forward, we mowed their lawn for the last time this past weekend.  Back in a corner bed, there was one rose blooming.  Immediately, "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" popped into my head.  The verse, "This Flower...dispels with glorious splendor the darkness everywhere," made me smile.  Yes.  New owners will move in and life moves on.  We can only smile at the memories and pray our family imprint will provide them wonderful memories to come.

 This is a great time of the year to move into this house.  The azaleas are about to peak.

We are thrilled with the few details we know about the new owners.  Don't get me wrong, this is a positive thing.  We just don't want to face how old we really are!!

Sebastian's Confirmation

Yes.  Peanut took the name Sebastian at his Confirmation.  Saint Sebastian is popular among athletes.  Pumpkin was his sponsor.  The boys had to line up in the basement.

Immaculate Conception cathedral is gorgeous.  There were about 90 confirmed.  We had to get there very early to get a seat.  The Big Guy and I snapped our picture.  Arm length pictures are not the most flattering.  I changed the pic to sepia as the background was not doing anything for us.

If you zoom in, you can see them waiting for Peanut's turn with the Bishop.  He is the one with a white shirt on.

 I bet he was kind of nervous at this point.

This got me.  Seeing Pumpkin's arm on Peanut's shoulder choked me up.  They are going to miss each other next year.

 From our vantage point, Peanut was smiling the entire time.

    

    

    

Bishop Steib is a wonderful man.  His homily was spot on.  He spoke about "putting your love on."  It was very apropo.  His enthusiasm is contagious.  The challenge is applying his message in everyday life.

Afterwards, the boys got there picture taken with him.  We will have the opportunity to order professional pictures too.  It was a wonderful evening.  Peanut is thrilled and more than thrilled to be done with PRE.

The icing on the cake was my mom's gift to Peanut.  She gave him my dad's prayer book.  It was a book given to my dad when he was seven and in Catholic school.  It is inscribed to him with a date of 1929.  In his own way, Peanut was very humbled.  

Sold

Earlier in the spring, we bought my mom's car.  That meant we owned four cars.

Last week, we finally sold that unneeded extra car.  Thank you, Craigslist!

Weekend Review

Friday afternoon Pumpkin got his wisdom teeth extracted.  Here is the before photo - -

When they brought me back, he looked like this - -

Surprisingly, there weren't any loopy stories to tell.  He was asking about his vitals carrying on a high level medical discussion.

Here is his gauzed, packed grin when we got in the car to drive home - -

I have to say he handled the whole thing very well.   He has a little swelling.  He is getting frustrated by only eating "liquid" things.  He's had his fair share of milk shakes and smoothies.  The timing worked and he was able to just kick back and heal this weekend.  He is planning on going to school in the morning.  He won't be 100%, but hoping for the best.

The Big Guy and I spent the weekend absorbing furniture from the VanDeren's.  Pumpkin made out in this deal.  I'm embarrassed to say that he is about ready to move out and, all those years, we never got him real furniture.  He has the best kind now, hand-me-around, real furniture.  His room looks great.  I'll try post some pictures.

We moved lots of stuff.  We went through the attic.  Our garage is loaded for a garage sale.  We are going to have one in two weeks.  I might list some stuff on Craigslist before that if I have the time.

We passed another milestone this weekend, twenty two years!  Happy Anniversary, My Sweetie!  Hard to believe!  I still pinch myself that I was lucky enough to find him.

The two of us rallied some energy and went out to dinner to celebrate.  It was a nice enjoyable evening.  We ate at Ronnie Grisanti's inside the Sheffield Mall.  We walked around and looked at all the treasures.  Yep.  That helped us to take the next step down the bathroom renovation path.  We might have found a dresser that we can turn into a vanity.  The wheels are spinning...

Moving Milestone

My inlaws' house is sold.  That is a very good thing.

The siblings spent last weekend sorting, purging, and donating.

After a day of hard work, we enjoyed dinner at my sister in law's.

We snapped a few pictures of the few cousins who could join us.  My boys enjoyed visiting with their cousin from Kentucky.

When I asked my father in law to get in the picture, he stepped right in front of Peanut.  He was tickled by his brilliant idea to block him from view.  We all enjoyed the chuckle.

On Sunday, we rented a truck.  The boys made deliveries to the local houses.

Slowly, but surely, I am working on absorbing some "new" furniture.  Tomorrow we will be busy moving items around.  I hope the decorating bug will be kind to me and inspire me to use what we have.  We are gonna purge too.  A garage sale is in the plans for a couple weeks from now.

Flying

What seems like many moons ago, I used to travel ALL the time.  I had spare toiletries packed waiting to go at any minute.  Well, times have changed.  The last time I was on a plane was October 2011 until a few weeks ago.  Pumpkin and I traveled to the USCGA for an overnight called the Academy Experience.  It was for prospective students that were already appointed.  His decision was made prior to the trip.  The main purpose for us to go was for me to see it.  I am so glad I got to visit.

I am impressed with his decision and grateful there are more folks out there willing to dedicate their lives to helping others.

I was a bit anxious to fly, but all the worries quickly abated.  The planes were full but the experience was wonderful.  I was impressed with how nice the Detroit airport is.  Yes.  We flew to CT via Detroit.  The Memphis airport opened a new parking garage recently.  I was so impressed with that.  I am glad the flying did not provoke lots of anxiety as we will be collecting some frequent flyer miles.  I'll be heading to CT every chance I can get!  But, before he goes we are traveling to State College for a niece's wedding.  And, we are heading out to Monterey, CA for a "final" family vacation.

Here I am getting ready to head to the airport in CT.  Love my Calvin Klein down jacket - light and warm.  The boys gave that to me for Christmas.  I got the bright yellow sweater in CT.  I have to work on the purse fashion.  I did not know it but I live with a purse policeman.  When I change it, Peanut asks me when/where I got that purse.  Gotta love it!

United States Coast Guard Academy

Admissions Packet Downloaded

United States Coast Guard Academy

Class Of 2017

New London, CT

Pumpkin and I recently visited The Academy.  After the visit, we enjoyed pizza at Mystic Pizza.

So. Very.  Proud!

Reporting In Day is 7/1/13.  We are savoring our time together.