a few weeks later and I still stand

Hello blog. It's me, Nan. It's not that I haven't thought about you. I just don't know where time goes.

Perhaps it is by design that when one's child hits the milestone of high school graduation, things go warp speed busy and it keeps the parent from getting debilitated with emotion. So there's that. The child is ready to move forward, and the parent is right there to scaffold. To stand solid. I have not had a meltdown and I hope that with good breathing and maybe a catch-up on rest (?) I will be able to stay observant and present and can avoid that whole breakdown scene.

Since I last wrote, we had the actual high school graduation on the evening of June 24th, grandparents in town for that weekend. I was very proud to see a smiling young man cross the stage. The local newspaper photographer who knows Tom and me snapped this photo when he heard our last name. I couldn't have gotten such a shot! (Thanks, Bob.)

We went to a few parties for other kids during the week, and then hosted our shindig for mostly family, all of whom are from out of town, a few local friends and neighbors the following weekend, this past Saturday. We were expecting between 50-60 and my count was 52 with a couple of last minute cancellations. Some family stayed in town for the weekend and others made it a day trip.

Each night of the two weeks prior to our party included to-do list items to check off. It's funny how having an event like that has you look around and see the things you routinely look past in your house... like baskets of of papers to weed through and cull and neaten, and collections of "stuff" that can go. The yard was spruced (and as we did so, I fondly recalled that from Matt ages 2-12 there was a swing set there, and from ages 8-17 there was an above ground pool there...). The tent went up, we set up tables and chairs, blew up helium balloons, decorated . . . then there was the food and beverages . . . and cake . . . and then the people arrived, chatting and laughter filled the air, music played, and then the people departed group by group, followed by the clean up. In my mind I sort of remember it in time lapse. From nothing it emerges, tent, tables and chairs, stuff, people --  and then it all retreats back . . . people then tables and chairs away; tent comes down and gets put away . . .


In addition to the grad party, the event doubled as a bit of a family reunion for both sides of our families who don't see each other all that often, and we also celebrated my godchild's 9th birthday with a special cake just for her. What a day! I was too busy during the actual event to get a photo of the gestalt, but I did snap this shot of the tent from the deck before the tables came down...

Today I have the day off, and I know this seems a bit much, but I have a to-do list for my day off. I have to practice my flute, something I have neglected this week, for my concert on Thursday night. We are playing some fun and challenging music and I need to get myself fully ready. Dress rehearsal is tonight. It's back to work tomorrow. Work for me in the summer is a different kind of pace with more reports and deadlines than meetings with people. I was only able to take one day off prior to the party (the day before) because work has been so busy. I am really glad I took today off as a recovery day. Needed and appreciated!

If you are taking time to read this post, thanks for staying with Jade Page Press during this dry summer. We may get more rain yet. And for something funny, give this piece a read on what a 1970s mom blog might have been like! https://www.babble.com/parenting/if-70s-moms-had-blogs/. Ciao!