Saturday, May 29, 2010

The Icing on My Birthday Cake

The first weekend in May we traveled to Moorhead, MN...right up there next to Fargo, ND...to see our son, Will, graduate from Concordia College. It was a weekend full of moments I will cherish forever. Will graduated on my birthday...what a great gift!

Here are a few random "highlights" of the trip:

I traveled to Fargo via airplane with Sissy (my sister Carol), Mom and Dad, and Aunt Jean (the sweater maker). On the way home we were joined by Jessie and my honey. The experiences in the airports and on the planes are a book in themselves! I will try to be brief.

My sister and I had quite the time juggling carry on bags, purses, etc and three wheelchairs on the way there. Most of the time we only had one airport person helping. The end of the trip was much easier as we had four extra hands, and Aunt Jean insisted she did not need a wheelchair.

When we left the hotel in Fargo, my honey somehow managed to squeeze the seven of us including our seven PLUS suitcases in the vehicle he had rented. He put us in first, then stuffed the bags around us! Thank goodness it was only a 5 minute ride. My honey was the "chauffeur extraordinaire" all weekend, taking good care of my parents and aunt. Thanks, honey.

I sat next to Aunt Jean on all of the flights, and she was quite entertaining. At times the conversations just went in a circle as she is beginning to suffer from short-term memory loss so therefore repeats herself...OFTEN. But other times she filled me in on some pretty funny stuff. Like how my Grandmother didn't like to fly because her "legs weren't long enough". And how Aunt Jean once had something engraved with her name, which at the time was "Jean Large". The instructions said to engrave Jean Large so they engraved JEAN all in caps! She also said that flying above the clouds makes her feel like she is in heaven. I agree...it is a spectacular sight.

At the baccalaureate and graduation ceremony sweet grandlittle bird Cailyn was quite the entertainment. She tried to persuade her mommy to leave every couple of minutes by either saying she wanted to go to the potty or go bye-bye. Her face lit up when she saw "Unca Wheeeeeel! My face lit up when she was sitting in her GP's lap and said "Grandy, Happy Birthday". It doesn't get any better than that!

My honey sent me a text the day of graduation as I was seated in the auditorium waiting for him to park the car. The text said "sorry, too late, doors locked, can't make it". Funny guy.

Will singing with the Concordia Choir is always a highlight. We got to hear them three times during the weekend. They make the most beautiful music and I know he will miss being a part of that group. I am so glad he had that experience during his years there at Concordia.

One night as I was getting ready for bed I reached in my bag for the toothpaste. I put the toothpaste on my brush and began to brush my teeth...but it wasn't toothpaste...it was cortisone cream! Disgusting! In the future I will make sure I have my glasses on when preparing to brush my choppers so as not to make that mistake again.

All in all, it was just a perfect weekend. All the little birds were there and of course the grandlittle bird, Cailyn. Will was surrounded by aunts, uncles, grandparents, siblings, a niece and friends. We were all so proud of him and are excited to see what he does in the future. I know he will be heading to NYC to hopefully use his degree in theatre performance.

Break a leg, Will!!

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

News from the "Barn Widow"...

So my honey has been very busy over the last several months mixing and pouring the cement floor of his barn. This is a very long process. First you have to frame it...then mix it...then pour it...then smooth it out (there is a technical term for that, I just don't know what it is!)...and then, of course, there is the "watching it dry"!