A Student No More

Last weekend Hubs, my brother and I traveled to western PA to celebrate the graduation of my oldest child.
Our money Our son spent 4 years at this school.....HERE.

Brother drove up from VA on thursday.  Like his car?

He bought it used.
Like brother, like sister.....lol

On Friday we made our journey to the left side of the state, a 5+ hour drive.

I picked up oldest son a graduation gift when we stopped about halfway for gas.
I think it's something he will use and will be handed down as a family heirloom in the future.....

(It's a flask keyring if you can't make it out in the photo.)
Hey!

I spare no expense for my kid.....

As quick as a flash, we were back on the road.....

Soon we were at the motel and Oldest Son drove over to see us.
Hadn't seen him since last Christmas.....

Since we were famished and hadn't had lunch yet, we went here to eat.....

No photos of us shoving food into our mouths today, sorry.

Then it was quickly over to the University for the Convocation Ceremony.  Oldest was graduating with Honors so he had to be there to get his honors stole.
I'm still getting use to my new camera so this shot is a little dark and I missed him shaking hands with the President or whoever that was in the fancy dress and blinged out necklace.....

And this shot is 2 seconds too late since he's got the stole on already and was boogeying outta there so fast he was a blue......

Here is Oldest with his proud parents afterwards....

And with his proud Uncle......

Then we had dinner with our almost graduate at the Dinor in the college town.
Not a DINER, a DINOR.
Don't ask, it's a western Pennsylvania thang.....

Fanciest Diner OR Dinor I ever ate at.  An actual "chef" in the kitchen fixing us the night's special of Steak Diane.
Steaks that were overcooked and we sent back.
Hey, if we've spending $17.95 a pop and it's not done correctly, we send it back.
Wouldn't you?!
Then it was off to the liquor store for supplies. ;-)

That night we went to meet the grandparents of Oldest's girlfriend....the folks they have both been living with this school year.
It was a nice visit with some good people.

Saturday morning we were up and out to the University bright and early.  The ceremony started at 10am but the venue(the school's Fieldhouse)opened at 8:30am.  We had to get there early so we could get a seat on the ground floor of the bleachers.  Lugging my oxygen tank cart, I didn't need to be climbing stairs.
I sure wish I had thought to bring a cushion of some kind as the ceremony went 2.5 hours but since we got there at 8:30am, the 4 HOURS on that hard wooden bleacher was less than kind to my ass!
But I didn't complain......much......

They had two screens up above the stage.  One was used to simulcast the ceremony for those in the nosebleed seats in the back and the other was used to flash all the graduates degrees/schools/honors before the ceremony started.
Here's Oldest son's name....

It's blurry because it was starting to change as I snapped the photo so it's a double exposure....agh.
Here is the Honors board......

He's listed under Magna Cum Laude but he actually graduated Summa Cum Laude.  He had a borderline Magna vs. Summe GPA going into the last semester and with his 4.0 for that term, it pushed him above a 3.8.


Right at 10am we heard what sounded like cats being tossed in a burlap sack.
Pretty soon we saw that it was just the processional group......

And here come the drums.....

What other university do you know that has a full ride scholarship for a bagpiper....outside of Scotland, that is.....

Then the guy came with the big stick.....I wonder if he walked softly.....

We sat and sat.....and sat some more.
Then the Commencement speaker spoke.....

Not a celebrity and no one that any of you would recognize her name.  She's a bigwig in the state education game so let's move along, shall we?

Then after some more people speaking, a choral piece, some more people speaking and a band performance and yet ANOTHER person speaking, they got down to the important business of the day--the handing out of diplomas.
Of course, Oldest son's college, The College of Education, was the next to last group to be called up.
So after about 550 of the 600+ conferees, they got to Oldest.
As the conferees took the stage the screens overhead had a video of each kid saying his/her name, where they were from and what degree they were getting.  Oldest said that they filmed these without warning the students about it so he looked like the Unibomber in his video with a ratty old flannel shirt and a beard on his face.
Hey!
It gets freaking cold up there in the winter so he stops shaving for a few months.

I had Hubs go forward and try to get a shot of Oldest son being handed his diploma but well, Hubs is a worse photographer than me so we don't have one.
But we do have this one after he came off the stage......

The white stole is for Magna Cum Laude honors and the red and white cords signify Departmental Honors.  He also was inducted into Phi Alpha Theta (the History Honor Society)last Spring.

Pretty soon, after I could feel my ass again, it was off for traditional photos with the family in front of the ginormous "Fighting Scot" statue.  Sorry Mel G., this Scot is much better.

First the parents......

Then with the Uncle.....

Then with the girlfriend.....

Now for the gratuitous silly photos.
Oldest son with his friend contemplating their futures....

Then with the 'rents again with mom making bunny ears....

 After a late lunch at Calamari's with Oldest and ten of his family and friends it was back to the motel room to celebrate our new graduate.
Oldest arrived with goodies in hand......

After a few hours it was time for snacks.
Pizza, anyone?

After a night of wild debauchery.....ok, not really unless you think eating 3 pieces of pizza is crazy......we were up bright and early, if NOT bushy tailed.
First on the itinerary was a hearty breakfast with Oldest and his girlfriend at a local dive dinor eating establishment, Libby's Chowhound Café.
The meals were HUGE!
2 pancakes as big as my head, 2 eggs and 4 strips of bacon.  I wept as I gave away some of that bacon to the Hubs.....sniff.......
Here we are afterwards.  We can barely fit into the shot....lol

After the photo we said our goodbyes and began the 5+ hour journey home.
Well, we did make a stop at the Outlet Mall on the way home so I could buy a purse.
Yah.....that's my story.....a bought A purse.
Not three like some people might tell you if asked.
One purse.......
Really!
Just one.
Or maybe not just one...... 8-))

So that's the story.
And I didn't cry for real even one time.....well, not in front of anybody at least.

So we have one child off the family payroll.
Two more to go.....lord help me......

Sluggy

Chaotic Times.....The World Isn't Ending Yet!

First, I am SO glad that the world did not end last Saturday.
I just don't have time for that to happen right now....ya know? 8-)

Here are a couple of photos from a couple of weeks back.
First my daughter before she left for Prom......

She had a frugal-ish Prom.  The dress is the same one she wore/bought last year.  No multiple dresses were bought by the parents in preparation for Prom like some girls & parents do.  And it's a style she can wear and has worn outside of Prom occasions.  The shoes she already had and the necklace she bought last year.

Unfrugal would be the amount of money she spent on having her hair did.  She paid that bill herself and her eyes about bugged out at the price tag for some curling and hairspray. ;-)

Daughter has legs that go on for days.  Thankfully she didn't inherit my genetic code for short stumpy stumps.

And here is #2 son a few Saturdays ago when his musical friends came over to jam.....

The neighborhood got serenaded briefly.
Those tiny little amps sure ratchet up the volume....

Now this is where I apologize to all my readers and blogging friends for my lack of posts, effort and commenting/reading their posts this past week.
The accident threw a complication into my already falling apart plans for the week.  We've been dealing with insurance companies(notably an especially unfriendly-dare I say hostile-adjuster for the other driver's insuror), towing companies, hospital reports/forms and salvage yards.  Between jumping through these hoops and my elevated stress level, I've been a tad distracted.

The forecast kept saying RAIN on Saturday so I backed off of holding the Garage Sale and didn't advertise it at all.  Of course, Saturday morning the sun is shining and it's a glorious rain-free day.
Ugh.
Man makes plans and God laughs.....

We did get the Garage clean-out DONE....yay!  But since the Garage Sale didn't happen, I still have many boxes of HBA stockpile in the living room still.  After #1 son goes through it today to extract what he needs for the summer, we'll have to get it all moved to the garage....so there goes the cleaned garage.
Ugh.
But at least once the Garage Sale does happen, everything will already be there, organized, ready for me to set up the tables, put it all out and price.  Of course until I have the sale, the garage will be less navigate-able.
So I am hopeful that by this evening I'll have a mostly cleared out living/dining room, except for the furniture, and it will be ready for the 'relatives' onslaught which begins on June 5th.

Presently, I'm buried in Salvation and Salvation Army wannabee stuff.  Hubs trunk is almost full again, I've got items to take pictures of and I've got boxes of stuff to finish going through today.

Oh, and I have to drive #1 son across the state on Friday to his summer job since their car is totaled and IF we ever see any money for it from the responsible party's insurance company it won't be soon enough to get another vehicle for them before they both leave for the summer.   This accident has totally jacked up our plans for the summer but at least we all survived it. ;-)

Add in the end of the year regular craziness and it's full blown Pandimonium here!

And I need to go back to Rite-Aid today but nothing new about that.lol

So that's why I've been MIA lately.
More on this story as it develops.....

Sluggy

Merriment and Mayhem is oh-so Memorial...or is That Memorable?

I hope everyone had a safe and relaxing Memorial Day Weekend.

Here?
It was merriment and mayhem!

The relative arrived on Sunday afternoon and was soon followed by another of DH's siblings(though they aren't sleeping here).
So on Memorial Day, for our 'quiet & small picnic', we had a full compliment of 11(and 1 more later on that evening) once assorted teens brought assorted friends over. 
With the unseasonably warm weather this early in the year, DH was able to get the pool open for the picnic.  The heat on Monday raised the pool temp. to 74 so most everyone spent some time in the pool.

 I spent all day prepping, standing over the grill cooking and then cleaning up, followed by a quick dip in the pool.  By 9pm Monday I was beat and too tired even for a drink.

And I have NO photos of the day, since no one else could be bothered to pick up the camera and take some shots while I was working my hiney off.....

Not to be totally UNpatriotic, we did have my BIL, who is a Vietnam Vet at the party, so we paid homage to him throughout the day. ;-)

Besides the eating and swimming, we celebrated 2 birthdays--the nephew's birthday which was earlier in the month....

 Hide your keys and stay off the highways.....he's old enough to drive now!EEK!!lol

 And #1 son's birthday which will be next month when he is away working at summer camp.....

Don't even ASK what he is laughing at!  You would be sorry.......
Happy 19th bday a tad early kiddo!

You'll notice our elegant 'partyware' cups in the last shot.  Instead of disposables we used regular drinkware and duct taped everyone's name to their cup. 
Nothing says FESTIVE like DUCT TAPE!

I used plastic utensils, though it's my 'permanent set' that I reuse for outdoor eating every time.  I spent a good deal of energy fishing those out of the garbage since people just assume you throw those away after 1 use.....not here!lol 
I did break out a pack of my emergency paper plates however(I hide them so don't tell the kids I still have some...shhhhh!!).  It saved me a little on the clean up required.

We topped off the evening by showing #1 son's 'girlfriend' some old home movies.......specifically, #1 son at 2 yrs. old and making his 1st 'poopies in the potty' milestone.
Ah, fun times......

Yes, I am THAT kind of mom.....lolol


Sluggy