A Last Day of School and a Brand New Senior

I just got back from the high school, where I watched the Man-Cub's final guitar performance (or listened to, I guess). If it's possible to improve at guitar in less than three months time, then I would have to say the Cub and his fellow strummers accomplished it; they looked more confident in their abilities and a lot less awkward as they played.

It was fun.

Tomorrow is the boys' last day of school. They have already finished their finals, cleaned out their lockers, and turned in their textbooks. I'm not sure what that leaves for them to do tomorrow (other than picking up their caps and gowns), but, I'm sure the school has a plan (they better have a plan because, 87 bored eighteen -year- olds left to their own devices is a recipe for disaster).

In other news, while the Cub is transitioning back to being a freshman, this cheeky monkey is now, officially, a senior again.

Further evidence that I am raising the smartest kids, ever.

Also, if it weren't for Snapchat, I wouldn't see nearly enough of this kid, goofy filters and all.

Proud as That Peacock, Struttin' Down the Road

Today, we attended the school's annual scholarship luncheon.

When we received the invitation in the mail, I assumed that the Cub would be getting recognized for the $10,000 academic award he had been offered from HPU. While he had also applied for several local scholarships, he hadn't been notified of an award, so, we naturally assumed that he hadn't been selected.

You know what they say about assuming, right?

No?

Allow me to enlighten you:

To ASSUME makes an ASS out of U and ME.

Little lesson I learned from Ms. Goya, my high school French teacher.

And, I digress.

Sooo...the Man-Cub was surprised with a $1,000 scholarship from our local post of the American Legion,

which, is awesome and just about the best surprise we could have gotten.

We are proud as peacocks, and, speaking of peacocks, guess what I really did see strutting down the road in Petticoat Junction yesterday?

A freaking peacock!

In Petticoat Junction!

Strutting down the road like "Ain't no big thang".

I was obviously excited enough to pull over and chase the poor creature down with my camera, afraid that, if I didn't get proof, no one would believe me. And, let me tell you, I made sure that everyone knew that I had seen a peacock in Petticoat Junction.

I may have likened the sight to that of a unicorn, so convinced was I that peacocks were, you know,  rare.

For the record? Peacocks are less unusual in Petticoat Junction than one would think. Huh.

And, I digress.

To recap: The Cub earned a scholarship! We are super proud! He's now $11,000 closer to his dream of a college education on a tropical island, and, I saw a completely ordinary and not very interesting bird on the road in Petticoat Junction.

Do you think they have peacocks in Hawaii?

Discuss.

Blue and Gold Awards

The Man-Cub picked up another cord at this evening's annual Blue and Gold Awards. That brings him to two cords and a sash; my plan to order him a lei from Hawaii to wear at the graduation ceremony is in jeopardy of becoming overload.

I can think of worse problems to have.

The cord this evening was in recognition of the Cub's work with the Link Crew, which is a peer mentoring club; the mentors work with underclassmen who need guidance and support at some point in the school year. The Cub was one of the charter members of the club and has been participating since he was a sophomore, which, has been something he's really enjoyed.

Today was also the first day of the last week of the Man-Cub's high school career, a fact that almost escaped me, if you can imagine that.

Yeah, me neither. I may be losing it.

Passing the Torch

Yesterday's final home game was emotional to be sure, and, not because the game ended in a loss. Watching the seniors host their last baseball game of their high school careers was tougher than enduring any loss.

It was even harder when, following his last pitch on our home mound, we watched as the Man-Cub handed the ball over to Kenzie, who will now carry the torch as the senior pitcher.

Bittersweet, for sure. But, I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Life Lately

I'm really phoning it in here on the 'ole blog, lately. I'm afraid that may be a portent of things to come; I just don't have a lot to say when it doesn't revolve around raising kids, apparently. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself once the nest is officially empty, but I sure as shit hope it's blog-worthy because this space is important to me and I really don't want it to fall by the wayside.

First world problems, right?

Anyhoodle, life lately has revolved around accomplishing the goal of emptying my nest. The Cub has finished sending out his graduation announcements...

...and the planning for the party that we are co-hosting with Trace and Mikey's families is well underway (think: giant inflatable slide and adult-sized inflatable hamster balls for running an obstacle course in, not to mention good food).

As I've mentioned in a previous post (or two), baseball is almost over; Queen B traveled with me to the last one to watch her brother play for the last time.

Lots of changes have taken place at Day Job, including the resignations of several of my favorite co-workers. We gathered together at a local brew-pub for a goodbye dinner not long ago, and, one of my friends ordered this cheese and sausage board...

...I am now determined to recreate it for Porch Night, which, will start happening again here soon. The weather has warmed (hopefully for good) and I am planing to spend the rest of the weekend getting the porch hosed down and organized for entertaining.

But, first, I am off to the Cub's final home game. I have my last batch of Gatorblox ready to go and I am planning to get a team picture of the boys for the slideshow that I am working on for the end of the season ice cream social that the coach always hosts.

And, that's pretty much life lately.

Hanging in, holding on, and letting go. That's the theme of the day.

We Are Thisclose To Being Done With Baseball

Two more games.

That's all that is left of the Man-Cub's High School baseball career.

Two games.

I'm going to miss watching these boys play.

I'll miss the delight on their faces when I deliver a Tupperware container full of Gatorblox to the dugout.

I'll miss my fellow baseball parents and the camaraderie we enjoy in the stands.

I'll miss the unpredictable weather and the enormous amount of gear that I packed in order to be prepared for any season.

I'll miss discovering new flavors of sunflower seeds with which to surprise the Cub, and, I'll miss watching Queen B cheer on her brother.

Two more games.

I'm going to squeeze every ounce of joy out of those fourteen innings, you can rest assured.

Somehow, I don't think I'll be alone.

Pinterest Made Me Do It

Last week's challenge to get through the heartache over losing Rowdie Dog, combined with the sheer volume of events that demanded our time, left me tired, dazed, and slightly confused (Right now you are thinking "How is this any different than your usual state of being, Chelle?" and, I forgive you).

I feel like I missed out on documenting a lot of the detail that went into both the Senior Sports Banquet and Prom, which, is a shame; both events featured some wicked cool details.

I am going to document a few of the fun things that I did for the banquet, because, I really enjoyed making them, they turned out really well, and, because this is my blog and I'll brag if I want to (sung to the tune of It's My Party and I'll Cry If I Want To; you're welcome for the earworm).

I'm talking about these vases, that I made for the flower arrangements for the Cub's table:

I got the idea from Pinterest (of course), and, they were really simple to make, using supplies that I already had on hand, for the most part, including:

Mason jars, orange, white, and brown chalk paint (I used Waverly brand, which I found at the Hellmouth (that's Walmart, to you and me)), and red, black, and white paint markers (also from the Hellmouth), and fine grit sandpaper.

The process was pretty straight-forward: wash and dry the mason jars, paint, let dry, paint again, let dry, distress slightly, using sandpaper, and draw on the lines representing the seams on a football, baseball, and basketball.

Actually, for me, drawing the lines was probably the hardest part as I am spacially challenged and my lines tend to wander; to combat that, I started with a pencil, got the lines positioned as evenly and straightly as I could before painting over them with the markers (and, some of my lines still looked like they had been drawn by a toddler. Or, a drunk. Toss up!).

Ultimately, it didn't really matter that the lines were imperfect, they had the effect of mimicking the sports balls they were meant to represent, and, that was the goal.

They looked really good on the table on the night of the banquet and they were relatively inexpensive, which, checked two items off my list of requirements for a successful craft: Cute and cheap.

Whatever did we do before Pinterest?