Graduation Part 2

My baby has now graduated. December 21, 2012, was the last day of public school for her. She took summer school classes to be able to graduate early. I'm not quite sure why but it's what she wanted to do. She won't be taking any college courses this spring (though it might be a good idea to get another course out of the way at ACC), but she will be working almost full time. She just got another job (she currently has two) at Starbucks. It was amazing how many friends suddenly wanted free drinks! She plans to go to Germany sometime in May, but other than that her schedule is free until next fall when she hopes to go to Texas Tech - where she does not yet have an official acceptance, but does have scholarships.... I'm not sure how that works. Congratulations, babe! I'm proud of you!

Moving On

DA and DB are seniors! Really? Can that be true? Yup, they are. The last year of public school. I'm not quite sure how it happened. It seems like yesterday they were sitting in the Live Oak Elementary library while I volunteered, telling teachers that they weren't getting to start kindergarten the next year because their mommy wanted to keep them home one more year. It was my evil scheme to get to keep them with me a little longer. (And I didn't want them three years younger than their brother, but only two years behind him in school.) Anyway, that year that I managed to finagle so long ago will be up before I know it. Already we've had the last first day of school, the last performance at the Curtain Theatre, the last swim meet, the last time to order yearbooks, the last football games, the last...

We've had some firsts, too. Just last week DA had her first college auditions in Plano. Her original audition (90 seconds to impress) was about 4:30. I knew that callbacks would be about an hour after that, but three hours later she still wasn't out. I took that to be a good sign - that schools wanted to talk to her. And I was right! She got an offer (and a scholarship) from a school in Manhattan for their BFA program... AND a scholarship to go along with it. Now, a scholarship at a school that costs as much as a private liberal arts school in Manhattan doesn't go very far, but she'll find the rest of the money. I have no doubt. She's determined to get to New York!

That same night DB called me to ask if she could use my debit card to apply for school. One of the schools was Texas State. It was a good investment! This week she got a letter from them saying they would like to offer her a place at Texas State and give her a scholarship - equal to the one that Marymount Manhattan offered to DA. Only at an in-state public institution the money goes much further. Now, unfortunately, it's probably not the school she'll go to, but it's great to know that the scholarships are out there and my amazing daughters can get them.

I'm so proud of them both. 

50

My birthday was last week. I don't really like to make a big deal about my birthday, but my friend, Stacey, was determined to make me have a good one because I turned fifty. Fifty. FIFTY!! Wow, could I really be that old? Stace did a great job. In spite of my complaining she managed to get several friends together for a happy hour after school on Friday. Several more mentioned to me later that they were sorry they couldn't make it. I may never know who all she invited. Because of her enthusiasm I invited Mama and Daddy to join us (they were in town for haircuts) and then the girls stopped by to see their grandparents, and John came (because he loves me, I guess). It was great - not a big deal, but big enough to make me feel really special. And everything was done by 6:00 so I could get home and chill.....perfect. Things couldn't have been better.

Or so I thought. Then at school yesterday another good friend, Suzy, who is an incredible jewelry artist brought me a bracelet she made for specially for me. The bracelet has fifty beads on it - one for every year I've been alive. She knows me and my eclectic ways pretty well. She's a kindred spirit. The bracelet is made of random beads of all shapes, sizes and colors in no particular order or pattern. It matches anything and everything.

The more I've looked at my special bracelet the more significance it has. I don't know if Suzy intended it to be this way, but my bracelet represents the years of my life in so many different ways. The sparkly beads represent the amazing, wonderful years like when I met John or when the kids were born. Some of the beads are similar shape but varying colors - those years that were kind of similar to each other with just small differences (like the years of high school or college or raising small children). One bead is black - to represent a particularly difficult year? (I know which one that would be.) Most of the larger beads are on one side of the bracelet, making it look sort of out of balance when I take it off, which is just the way life is...out of balance, but you don't notice that when it's happening, just when you look back. One is kind of flat with a scratch on the side. I remember a year that fits that bead all to well. I was kind of flat and out of sorts all year. I can't really pick a favorite bead (or a favorite year) because they all have something intriguing and special about them. They are all a bit different from the others in one way or another. They are all important to make the the bracelet fit me just right. All in all, it's one of the most important gifts I've ever gotten. It has forced me to look back on my life, to see the beauty that comes from the good and the bad, the way all the experiences of my life make me who I am just like all the different beads make my bracelet unique. And to realize that I'm special - even if I am a little quirky.

Thanks Suzy!

Carpe Diem

The past 8 months have been a challenge. Personally, professionally, emotionally, physically.... You name it, I've been challenged by it. There has been so much to take care of that I sometimes met myself going in the opposite direction. I found myself worrying about things that turned out to be little things because new things were going to happen that were much BIGGER. Or so it seemed. I was creating a huge snowball of concern and worry because of things I had no control over. But guess what - I didn't need to worry about those little things, or the bigger ones that followed either, because God figured out a way to take the smaller problems and combine them with the bigger problems and make solutions. I'm not quite sure how it all happened, but it did. And I didn't have anything to do with it. Hmmm, you mean I'm NOT in control of my life? I'm glad to know that my children are all safe and mostly happy and all seem to be headed in the right direction. My health is improving because I'm worrying less. My teaching is sure to improve because I'm worrying less. My relationships are improving because - you guessed it - I'm worrying less.

Like I said, I'm not in control of my life anymore (yeah, I really thought I was). I didn't figure all of this out by myself; at just the right moment I got a call from my aunt, E, who was a huge part of my life while I was growing up. She said she just felt like she ought to call me. That doesn't sound like a big deal, but we've kind of been out of touch for the past 20 years or so. I don't mean we don't talk, but just that she's been taking care of her kids and I've been raising mine. We would fly by each other at holidays, but hadn't had a real heart-to-heart talk in quite a while. That phone call put us right back where we belong in each other's lives - at least from my point of view. The next day I went to spend the visit her and had the most eye-opening conversation of my adult life. 

Her advise was simple, direct and to the point..... "Wait, just wait." She taught me that if I'll stay calm and wait things out more often than not it'll all be okay. I hate waiting. I'd much rather be doing. I'm not very good at waiting, but once I started trying to practice doing it things started improving because I was spending less time worrying and more time   enjoying the things around me. I'm not fixed yet by any means, but I'm sure glad E put me on the right track. Oh, and she sends me texts and Facebook messages regularly to remind me of what I should be doing (or not doing). I'm so lucky to have her!

Wisdom Teeth, Part 3

We're done!!!! No one in our household has wisdom teeth. The last ones were removed a week ago. And this was by far the easiest of the three (or five) - at least for me. I'm sure Daughter B would disagree since she was the one in pain, but her extractions were normal. Her reaction to the medication was normal. Her recovery was normal. Really almost boring when you think about it, and for that I am grateful. She doesn't really remember the conversations we had while she was "under the influence" but she didn't say or do anything terribly funny or embarrassing so that's okay. She didn't cost me a fortune because she only had four teeth and they were near the surface. She didn't get too swollen or bruised because she was good about putting the peas (the Wilkinson version of an ice pack) on her  tender cheeks Getting her to eat solid foods has been a bit of a challenge, but like when she was little I know that when she gets hungry she'll eat. She says the hardest part is not being able to drink from a straw - who'd a thunk?