Graduation day

My niece graduated from high school last night. Aside from the fact that the ceremony occurred 45 minutes and 17 years away from my own graduation ceremony, it all felt very familiar. The same song, the same caps and gowns, the same scholarships, and even some of the same speakers.

After the ceremony, I asked Kevin if he considered his high school experience an overall positive experience (I already knew the answer). He said, "Oh yeah." My answer, if I'd asked myself that same question, would've been the same. The sad thing is, most high school students I talk to these days wouldn't agree.

I keep hearing the Trace Adkins song "You're Gonna Miss This" running through my head.

If' you are reading this, and you are under the age of 18, there are a few things I'd like to convey to you:

First... High school is not the enemy. Get involved. Participate in extra curricular activities. My freshman year I competed in UIL Science. I was horrible. Pathetic, even. But by going to the meets, I made friends. Same thing with band, volleyball, FCA, and journalism. And then, a funny thing will happen. Those same friends will transfer to your classes, your weekends, your life.

Second...High school was, is and always will be made up of cliques. But here's the shocking news: So is real life. The trick is to find the one that fits you. It may not be the "popular" group. So what? The other trick is to play nice. Just because you fit in with one group doesn't mean there aren't amazing people in another. Get to know them. Appreciate them. Respect them. Even if they don't respect you back. Life is just easier that way.

Third...Rise above the drama. Most of the drama will be self-inflicted. Get over yourself. You'd be amazed at how little other people notice what you're doing. You will make yourself more miserable than anybody else can.

Fourth...Laugh, laugh, laugh. The day I learned that I absolutely couldn't take myself too seriously was during volleyball practice in 8th grade. If you missed a serve, you had to run a lap. I always missed my serves, so I was always running, and in the midst of one lap, I fell flat on my face. I had nothing to blame but my own big feet. Coach Fowler laughed until he cried, and then continued to remind me about it for the next four years. I learned to laugh with him, because what else could I do? In high school, I got hit in the back of the head with a football (a big shout out to Brad Waters for that one) while marching into the stadium one Friday night. I misspelled my own name on my graduation invitations. I could go on, but I'm not the one who needs to learn to laugh at myself. And FYI, if your friends aren't the type of people who like to laugh, get new friends.

Finally...Don't wish this time of your life away. You can't get this time back. And while you may not miss everything about high school, there will be things that you will. There will be friends that you will never see again. I don't mean acquaintances--I mean real friends. One girl that I considered to be a good friend I've seen four times in the past 17 years. Others I haven't seen at all. And even if you promise to keep in touch, it just isn't the same. Life gets in the way. You grow up. Jobs, marriage, kids...it all gets in the way. Savor this moment. It will never be the same again.

Now, get off the stupid computer and make some memories, you crazy kids!

Goodbyes...

I hate saying goodbye.

Goodbye has a permanent ring to it. I don't like it. Sometimes I can manage a "Be careful," or a "See you later," but I will avoid the G word if at all possible. But I can't avoid it this week.

Two very dear people in my life, my nephew and his wife (who I call my niece, because she is), have gone and done something crazy. They've chosen to follow their hearts and dreams all the way to Oklahoma. Who does that? Crazy dream followers.

I joke about it because in all honesty, I'm happy for them. Even a little jealous. It is the opportunity of all opportunities. But I also joke because if I think about it seriously for more than five seconds I get all weepy. Like now, for instance. And I try not to do weepy in front of an audience. It's for this same reason that I haven't even told my son that two of his favorite people in the world are moving six hours away. He will be fine. I will be a blubbering mess.

That being said, I've decided to give my little farewell speech on here, A)because I am a writer not a speaker, and B) because why shouldn't God and everybody else get to see?

Cody...I am so proud of you. I have pretty much been proud of you your entire life. This job is a dream come true for you, and no one deserves it more. Not many people get paid for doing something love and done for free most of their lives. Kevin and I will miss getting to hang out with you, but it's a pretty safe bet that Jackson and Sadie will miss you more. Thank you so much for loving my kids. And for teaching my husband how to be a real life country boy.

Karen...I remember, when you and Cody first started dating, that I didn't quite know what to make of you. The one thing I did know was that you seemed perfectly happy riding four wheelers with Cody and spotlighting with Cody and doing redneck country things with Cody...and that made you okay in my book. Getting to know you has been so much fun. You are funny and patient and thoughtful...and you laugh at my jokes even if they aren't all that funny and you are really laughing at me. You love my babies as much as Cody does, and that means so much more than I can tell you. You are a dear friend to me and I will miss that most of all. I'm also really sad that you won't be around to constantly give my husband a hard time.

I love you both.
I will miss you both.
I still hate goodbyes.

Three

My son turned three yesterday.

Three.

Wow.

I know how cliche it sounds to type this, but it really, truly seems like yesterday...

...when I first held him and looked into his eyes.

...when I heard him cry for the first time.

...when I wondered if he would ever stop crying.

...when I asked my husband how he felt about only children.

...when he took his first bath and made the same face I do when I get a good pedicure.

...when he slept through the night for the first time and I cried all night long because I was convinced he would starve to death if he didn't eat every 2 hours.

...when he wouldn't sleep in his bed, so his pediatrician told us to let him sleep in his carseat. And he slept like that for three months.

...when we put him in his own bed for the first time (at nine months) and steeled ourselves for a long night of wailing and gnashing of teeth--and he never even whimpered.

...when he smiled the first time.

...when he had to have minor surgery at 6 months, and I cried more than he did.

...when he did his little army crawl instead of crawling like a "normal" child.

...when he refused to walk until he was absolutely sure he could do it without falling.

...when he said, "Dada" for the first time, and laughed at me when I asked him to say Mama.

...when I would sit on the back porch and feed him while I sang Don Williams songs to him.

...when his hair began to stand straight up and nothing would lay it down.

...when he laughed out loud for the first time. For my mom and no one else.

...when we took his one year pictures at a time when he was teething, and he cried the entire time--until the photographer brought out a tractor.

...when he threw a screaming fit in the middle of Cheddars because the genius of a waiter thought it was a good idea to give a one year old a ceramic plate. And mommy disagreed.

...when he got his first (and last) professional hair cut.

...when he first watched Blue's Clues in the car and was transfixed for the entire road trip.

...when he brought me his blue blanket and wanted me to make him a cape so he could be superman.

...when he got his pig nose from the Hog Festival and refused to take it off.

...when he first experienced Chuck E. Cheese.

...when he said "I love you" for the first time.

What a wild, beautiful adventure it has been so far.

Happy Spring!

After much internal debate, I've come to the conclusion that spring is my favorite time of year. I laugh a little as I type, because I've been known to say the same thing about almost every other season...except maybe winter. I love summer because of the freedom it implies. I love fall because of the leaves and imminent return of the holiday season. I love winter because...well, I don't really love winter at all. There is no snow or anything fun about winter. Only flu season. And outrageous heating bills. All the same, I am definitely one of those people who needs to live in a seasonal climate, and right now, I am loving the season of spring.

Although I'm still pretty bitter about my new camera being stolen, I finally resurrected my old camera (and the one remaining memory stick--with 156 MB of memory. That's somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 pictures for the technically challenged) from the junk drawer. It took me a while, though, so some of our adventures are lost to history. But trust me, the kids and the husband are loving spring as well.

Kevin's trying his hand at gardening this year...yes, it's our garden, but the only people who can really take credit for it are my husband and my son (who really can only say he's played a supporting role...walk out to the garden with daddy, scoop some dirt into the dump truck, move dirt, kick dirt around, walk back to the house).

Jackson and Sadie love being outside during any and all daylight hours. I love that they want to be outside. We've frequented playgrounds, sand boxes, our back yard...basically anywhere without a roof. Jackson got a swing set for his birthday, and even though it's still in construction mode, he LOVES it. Yesterday when we got home, Kevin had put the ladder for the playhouse section up. Jackson said, "You built that ladder just for me daddy? I love it! It's perfect! Thank you!" ...and that's him just getting started. Let's just say if he keeps up the level of gratitude he has for any and all gifts, he'll be driving a Ferrari at 16.

As I said, I did finally resurrect the old camera, and we managed to relive a few of our spring break adventures.

The biggest hit was, again, the bird walkabout at the Tyler zoo.

This time was probably even better than the first time, because Jackson knew what to expect and had no trepidation whatsoever. Sadie still just wanted to catch the birdies and give them big hugs. They frown on that for some reason.

And of course, Easter was a big hit at our house. Jackson really got into egg hunting this year (although the community egg hunt puzzled him a bit...the 3 and under section had candy bunnies, not eggs, so he was a little confused as to what to hunt!). He was in full egg hunt competition mode at Nannie's house (I won't try to explain the helmet. Suffice it to say he wasn't going to hunt without it, even though it wasn't even his.) Sadie could've cared less, as long as I opened up the candy and let her eat it.

They both looked quite cute on Easter Sunday.

We're still working on them smiling at the same time.

In the same place.

Happy Spring!

My Life in Pictures (or not)

Last week was our spring break. You know, the week that was beautiful for all of two days, then cold and rainy the remainder of the week? Yeah, that week. Woo hoo for spring break.

In spite of the weather, I was really excited about our plans. I was going to take the kids to the zoo on Monday. On Tuesday, we went to a puppet show in Ben Wheeler which will be featured on Texas Country Reporter at some point in the future. Then the rest of the week my husband and I were going to spend some time in on of my favorite places in the world...the Texas hill country.

I want with all my heart to tell you what a great time we had. We went to the zoo and had a great time. The kids even got to enter an aviary and feed birds off popsicle sticks. The tigers and lions were on the prowl, and the otters were especially playful.

Jackson and Sadie loved the puppet show, and I loved the fact that I got to meet Bob Phillips...the host of one of my all time favorite shows.

Fredericksburg was still a really great place to visit, even though it took us a stressful six hour drive in the rain to get there. We got to hear great music and just relax for a couple of days.

I would show all of these escapades to you, but when we arrived in Austin, someone broke into our car and stole our laptops, my iPod, ...and my camera.

I know.

The night it happened, I was sick. But it wasn't until a few hours later that I realized my camera was in the bag with my laptop. My camera with the zoo pictures. And the Bob Phillips pictures (okay, I wasn't bold enough to ask for his picture, but I did take the kids' picture beside the Texas Country Reporter Expedition). And Christmas. And Sadie's first birthday. And the little moments that just warrant a picture.

My heart hurts over those moments that are probably erased by now, but at the very least are in the hands of someone who doesn't cherish them like I do. More than that, I'm angry. I'm angry at myself for taking all that nonsense with me, and I'm angry at a complete stranger who caused me to lose faith in complete strangers.

But the realization I'm trying to hammer into my head is that, in the end, it was just stuff. Most of my pictures were saved other places, thankfully. Laptops can be replaced. I will eventually get another ipod, and I will probably spend another week loading my songs back onto it. And I am so very glad that when I do get another camera, I can take more pictures of my beautiful children. Because regardless of what was taken from me, they are still here. And they are what keep me from losing faith in humanity altogether.

So take that, slimy thief person.