Saturday, June 30, 2007

Is June finally over??

Talk about exhausted. It has been a combustible month of emotions. My oldest son turned 18 and graduated from high school.






A lovely ceremony where I had the privilege of learning, at 48 years old, how to coax my 83 year old mother and her new hip up and down football stands in order to flee the rain. I did this in heels. She, as always, wore something more practical. Why would anyone wear heels at an outdoor ceremony? I don't know, I guess by the time I finally got to graduation day after having survived midterms, finals, prom, 18th birthday, selective service (%$%^# war), and the first college tuition payment - you have to pay in advance - I had officially lost my mind.


My mother didn't look any worse for the wear. She is truly a tough lady and wasn't going to let a few lightening bolts and buckets of rain ruin her day with her 4th grandchild! That smile is pure genuine grandmotherly love. My smile, on the other hand, is brought to you by Zoloft - nah just joking, but it would have helped!



So what was graduation day really like?

Well, it started really dumb. I volunteered to assist with the 'after party' preparations at 9:30 in the morning. Why I did this I'll have to undergo hypnosis to figure that out. I had a zillion relatives on their way and dummy me is in a gym monitoring the 'baby picture wall.

There were millions of these all over the halls leading to the gymnasium.


I'll spare you the details to the rest of the day but suffice it to say NOTHING went as planned starting with a frantic SOS I get from the soon-to-be graduate that he owes over $300 in book fines and his graduation admission tickets would not be released until more of his mother's anguish is extracted.

Then, this guys shows up.

It's my pool guy. I've only been asking for them to come for weeks but because I didn't make an "official" appointment back in February for pool service in early June, I was made to pay the penalty by having them show up exactly when I least had the time to deal with it.



This is what they left me with. That was on June 21st. Today, June 30, the last day of the month and a billion dollars in chemicals and mommy hours later, I just may have a picture of a clean pool by the 4th of July. If any of you ever dream about putting in a pool, CALL ME. I will send you my pool bills.

Meanwhile, my working-and-soon-to-be-16 year old is out stalking our backyard hawk.


This guy is literally littering my backyard with animal parts.



Then, my son discovers that this is a "baby" hawk. Look who took a dive at my son -



She be the mamma and she don't play!

And that's when this momma told her 6 foot son to stop playing with predatory animals, I didn't have time to go to the emergency room.



He did get some good shots though


The day continued to wear me out but some good things did happen. My pal Phyllis lent me her driveway to park for graduation; I remembered my tickets (yes I paid the fines); my husband arrived to the ceremony from work with time to spare and I got to be a proud and thankful mamma.

Priceless!

20 comments:

Virtuous said...

Came across your blog from Black Purl.

LOL @ Zoloft smile! Haha!

Wow! A graduation were they all where tux! Nice

Congratulations Mommie!

Calling on Kahlo said...

Congratulations to your son on graduating! What an amazing and overwhelming feeling.

And to the blooming photographer did take some amazing shots of the hawk. Well done, great photos and no trip to the emergency room!

Diane said...

Congrats on your son's graduation. There is such a whirl wind of activities at the end of the senior year it's a wonder we mom's survive them all.

I'm cracking up over your "Stop playing with the hawls" comment. Spoken like a true mother.

Patricia said...

You have been riding that roller coaster and hangin' on! Congratulations on you graduates big day. Those hawk pictures are pretty impressive. I love that you posted the "bird leaving the nest".

Beeb said...

Deborah,
You have a gorgeous family. Congratulations on growing the boys so well, you must be so proud.
and, just remember Ginger Rogers - she did everyting Fred did, but backwards in 4 inch heels - Go Ginger!

Mary Anne said...

Congratulations on surviving your son's graduation! It looks like a wonderful day, in spite of all the interesting adventures. Yay for your mom too! and great shots of the hawk.

AR said...

Congrats!!!

Wow, cool hawk, I'd be watching out for Mama, though. She's scary.

I nominated you for something at my blog. Come on over and see.

LaVerna said...

Aww!I would have cried all day.
Your Mom is 83?She doesn't look it.Now I know where you get your gorgeous smile.

hakucho said...

Congratulations to you for making it through graduation :)

Amazing hawk pictures.

Hope you can now relax and knit ;)

sherry said...

Midterms? Finals? Prom? Selective service? College tuition? I'm covering my eyes and saying "La, la, la, la, la, I don't want to know about all that scary stuff." With the son starting high school next year that all seems very near, right after the horror of the learners permit and insuring a minor male. (Though I guess you get all that fun again yourself in a couple of years.)

Truly beautiful hawk pictures. Number Two Son did a great job.

I was actually contemplating a pool this afternoon. . . for after the kids move away and the dogs die. It was a beautiful fantasy--no grass in the back yard to mow, just a beautiful sparkling pool with a deck to hose off. It's good to have a reality check.

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your son's graduation. Can you get to lie down now? LOL.

Nice shots of the hawk. There's one by me, and I tell the kids all the time about throwing rocks at it. Well, one didn't listen, and the hawk fought back. Emergency Room.

Kelly said...

High school graduations are truly priceless. Though you had to spend all that money, it is really an accomplishment to have a son that has graduated from high school. Congratulations!

Anonymous said...

Yay! I know it must be amazing to see your child walk down that aisle. But I also know you must be glad it's finally over! Now you only have to pay for college, LOL.

tonya5015 said...

Congrats Debra! you have made it through a very trying time. What is your new grad going to do with himself until school starts up in the fall? Your mom is very youthful for an 80 something, way to go Mom!

I swear, you and your wild kingdom. You really should charge admission when people come over to visit you. LOL.

sturdygirl said...

congratulations! what a proud moment for your family - and i'm sure you are breathing a little sigh of relief! it's interesting to see the pics...the kids are so dressed up! they look terrific and happy. sorry about your pool situation - hope it gets straightened out in time for the holiday. :)

carlita dee said...

You deserve a medal.

Congrats to your son (wow, the ceremony had such a great aesthetic). Your mom? So beautiful. Good on her for working that hip.

If I were your other son, I'd get plastic surgery to hide my identity from that mama hawk. See the way she's sizing him up? lol

Unknown said...

Congrats! Ditch the heels & start shopping for your "Sunday Sistah" hat for the college graduation ceremony. I'm sure folks are still fussing about mine.......

Janice said...

Wow! Looks like a great day.. despite it not going as planned! I LOVE the hawk pictures!! They are amazing. But good advice not to get between mamma and baby!!!

Lynn said...

Ok you had me literally LOLing at the smile brought to you by Zoloft!!! OMG!!! ROTFL!!!
Congrats to your whole family!! Graduating high school is a wonderful thing.
Nice pics of the hawks. They are beautiful birds, but I wouldnt want to tangle with them. We have a hard enough time with the Mocking Birds here dive bombing the cats, I cant imagine having to dodge a HUGE bird of prey!

Jeanine said...

Congrats on your son graduating and you surviving it! You've been busy. I have a feeling August is going to be just as busy if he's leaving for college.