Weddings, Graduations and other Forks in the Road

Our last child…and last Prom.

*whew* The wedding is over.  The newlyweds are back home from their honeymoon and back to work.  The cake pieces returned to the baker, vases returned to the florist, tuxes returned (after being re-used for Prom!) and final invoices paid.  My brain is still not quite settled, but we are living in the glow of a wonderful 3 days of party with our favorite people…friends and family. 

Now we are working on a Purdue University graduation (and I do mean working…there are complications!), a high school graduation, a freshman orientation trip to Nashville, TN and some other celebratory events.

Life is pretty good, but I must admit there looms a shadow on the horizon, and not much sunshine.  We are about to say good-bye to life as its been;  daughter is off living her married life now, K2 is about to move out on his own and start his fabulous new job and K3 is about to move to Nashville for college…some 6 hours away. We will be left here, alone with the pets and the octogenarians who live with us.  Its a new stage of life I am not looking forward to.  We’ve spent the past decades full of games, projects, concerts, tournaments and all the stuff of kids…and we’re really not ready to give it all up. I pray that God has some new plan for us…

 

Flower Girls and Chalk Paint

17 days until daughter’s wedding.  We’ve been trying hard to keep within a strict budget, which means lots of DIY projects. Luckily, I’m pretty crafty The flower girl dresses are finished and awaiting 2 adorable and teensy girls to bring them to life (age 4 and 2). Also made them hair bows, necklaces, and baskets. In fact, seems like I’ve spent far more time on the flower girls’ things than my own daughter…the bride!  I’ll be working on her veil this week…

Then I got the itch to paint something, since I’d just bought a load of paint from the “mistints” section of Porter Paints (CHEAP!).  Was planning on using the little table and chairs that my kids once had, for a play table at the reception…so grabbed it, put my chalk paint magic to work…and here’s what I ended up with!  I even took an old quilt that was so torn up it was not salvagable,  cut it up and sewed little seat cushions.  (Still have enough left for a couple of throw pillows for us.)  I’m excited!  It will be perfect for that someday “Grandma’s house” use, too…

"Before" it was just a plain wooden table and rickety chairs

One coat of paint w/unsanded grout added...no sanding or priming necessary for this chalk paint process!

"After"! I LOVE it! Slightly distressed it, waxed it to seal it all, and added chair pads.

 

A Good Day

When you are a daily caregiver to a couple of octogenarians…on top of working full time, making plans for a wedding and 2 graduations, etc. a good way to deal with the intense stress is to TRY and “accentuate the positive”…and take a moment to appreciate little things as they go by.

I had a good day.  I was thrilled to be able to spend much of the day manning the Super Bowl Host Committee’s Media Center, chatting with reporters from around the world (Italy, Argentina, Australia, NY to name a few!), and helping with story ideas and sources for interviews.  “Where will these football players most likely get in trouble” was one I bounced over to a Sports Corp spokesman (here‘s his story) and ‘tell me more about this Lego Lucas Oil Stadium’ (here is one of many stories and see below for photos). I am looking forward to another such day on Thursday and then a full day in Super Bowl Village on Saturday, the day before The Game, assisting media.

My day was capped off by seeing K3, my youngest son, decked out head to toe in MY clothes!  Even my daughter rarely borrowed my clothes…but it just so happens that I have a decent wardrobe of workout/running attire that my son likes to get into.  Thankfully, I’m not yet old enough or quite chubby enough that he can’t still wear stuff of mine

Also, daughter was over for dinner with us;  always a treat, since she doesn’t live with us any more!  We spent some time laying on my bed going over some wedding details, too, which was fun.  I must remember to cherish these little things!

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New Year, New Projects

This will be a big year for us;  big wedding of daughter in April, followed by college graduation of son, then h.s. graduation of other son…followed by our 30th wedding anniversary…and surely a trip to the poorhouse!

As I look ahead to this, I also have a list of projects I want to complete:

• Various wedding projects (just 14 weeks away!):
  • 2 flower girl dresses and baskets and hairbands/ribbons
  • table numbers and place-cards
  • invitations and programs (mostly kits)
• Painting projects:
  • 1940′s maple dresser, soon to be distressed white; for craft supplies
  • bookshelf; adding fabric for shelf backing
  • old oak straight sidechair from Goodwill
  • other wooden side tables/chair finds from Goodwill, etc. for son’s post-college apartment
• Other downstairs living room decor to make it a better place to hang out

Okay…lots of other stuff I can’t remember right now.  I need to get started sewing! Here is what I have so far for 2 adorable flower girls…looks like cotton candy!

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Chalk Painting!

I’m addicted to Pinterest lately, I’ll admit   I love trolling decorating ideas, wedding stuff, etc.  And I’ve learned about this new craze called “Chalk Paint”.  Sure, I could go online and order the $34.95 per QUART paint and pay $15. shipping…REALLY?! HaHaHaHa….no I couldn’t!

Instead, I found a recipe online and mixed paint with unsanded grout and proceeded to update an old tired golden oak armoir, turning it into a much more interesting storage unit for our basement family room.  Much more to come!  Actually, I also painted a table, a bee pot, and 2 lamps

Much better, don’t you think?

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How Did This Happen?

I must’ve blinked….how did this happen that my little boy…my youngest child

Little Alex, ice skating with me

…suddenly grew into a young man?

Alex, 18; one senior picture of many! (photog = his brother)

 

It’s Okay…I’m with the Band

The Wando HS Marching Band, that is…from Mt. Pleasant, SC. It was part of my new, occasional part-time job with Music-Travel Consultants. I was escorting the 243-member band to the Bands of America Grand Nationals in Indianapolis, where 92 high school marching bands from around the country compete throughout a weekend of grand-scale festivities. I expect to take similar trips 3-4 times a year, whenever I can steal away from my “real” job.

And what a spectacle! If you’ve never seen this event, you should. Remember, I worked for BOA for a season a few years ago AND I’ve been a “band mom” for 10+ years, so this was no surprise to me, but still a rare look into another world of high-level performance and skill. Band directors, band booster presidents, band parents…and the actual corps of band members all form a unique culture with its own hierarchies. Even the bus drivers (we had 5 buses) have their own pecking order! As travel consultant (okay “escort” is my real title), I merely take a backseat and ensure everything that relates to food and travel is in order. The rest of the decisions and chaperoning are on them…

These kids and the adults who support and teach them should all be commended. They work extremely hard with great focus;  we were all at breakfast by 6 a.m. and weren’t back to our hotel rooms until midnight or later for 3 consecutive nights! That is tiring, for sure, since these kids are playing intricate music, marching complicated routines, and performing with great focus for most of the day in rehearsals and performances. They really had NO “play time” more than 15 minutes here and there!

Performance-wise, the band did great. It was only their second time to this event, driving 16 hours just to get here (as opposed to some of their competition who clearly have the “home court advantage” of being able to go home and take a nap between rehearsals, etc.). As the final note resounded in Lucas Oil Stadium, Wando HS came away with 12th place out of 92 bands…..a very respectable finish! I know they were disappointed, but with the Broadway-type productions that you see at this level, they did just fine with their touching show about Icarus and his father Daedalus who warned him not to fly too close to the sun. I look forward to seeing the next show they dream up!  Meanwhile, here are a few observations:

• 4 all-out panic attacks, 3 stress-induced asthma attacks, 1 sprained ankle, and a few barfers;  thankfully they travel with a pediatrician + 2 nurses(parents).
• When 5 buses pull into a Golden Corral or rest stop, people RUN in terror!
• Teenaged boys demand bacon for breakfast.
• The hotel Starbucks pushed out more than 140 custom drinks each morning to our band.
• South Carolina kids were very excited to see a dusting of snow in Indy upon arrival.
• Marching band kids are generally a very mannerly and intelligent group of teenagers;  they were ‘high-fiving’ their competitors and wishing them luck prior to their own final performance!

Where words fail, music speaks.
–Hans Christian Andersen

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Sharing ALL

Sharing is a part of humanity;  we learn how to share in preschool, get married and re-learn how to share, and then teach our kids to share!  We are occasionally tested on our real understanding of this verb, however.  After all, it does translate to “to give a part of something“.

A Clean Kitchen!

I point to this in the context of taking family members (or anyone else, for that matter) into your home.  When you do this, you have to think of every way that it will affect you…and them.  As you know, my in-laws have been living with us for the past 10 months now.  Here’s what sharing has meant to us:

 

• They’ve pretty much turned their car over (“shared”) to our son, who gets to drive it to his senior year of h.s.;  they no longer drive, but handing over the keys is always traumatic.
• We share the laundry room.  Doesn’t always work well….usually its fine, thanks to designated days…but I can no longer leave clothes in the washer or dryer “until I get to them”.
• We share the kitchen.  (Do you have any idea how much emotion was just packed into that sentence?) Women don’t share kitchens very well.  Do men share their work benches with other men?  Do artists share their paints with other artists? Do teenage girls share their makeup drawer with other teenage girls?  Very personal…..enough said.
• We share space.  That means often small spaces shared by large people, walkers, an occasional cane, 6 pets, etc.  and sometimes differing views on housekeeping and even decor.
•  And air…we share different smells, different temperatures…adjustments constantly are being made on both sides….we are “giving away a part” of even the air.

There are many things you should be prepared for when you move in with family members, or have them move in with you.  Sharing is a very big part of it!  Sometimes I revert back to my 2-year old self and feel “I don’t want to share any more!”.  That’s when its time for a nice walk or a movie

 

Caregivers, There is Help Out There…

I often think that we are at the edge of the curve…that as Baby Boomers age, and our parents age…more will be pulling parents into their homes, just like we did.  But its so hard to find information..  many “resources” are just looking for your money and aren’t all that helpful. How to navigate?

We made a good decision a few months ago, to have an assessment done by a local home health care agency.  They charged nothing for the assessment, and came back to us armed with information on services they could offer, as well as Medicare, etc. options for payment.

As conditions change (which we’ve found they DO change WEEKLY!), the agency has made new recommendations, filed all the paperwork, and even been in touch with the Veterans Administration to iron out benefits.

New changes this week include a hospital bed, which allows FIL to safely get up during the night…and he actually gets up LESS now, so the bed must be more comfortable for him.; an unexpected side benefit!

We have added assistance with two 1-hour baths per week for FIL, plus 3 other days of a 6-hour home health aide, who not only bathes him, but assists with meals, straightening, bathroom cleaning (VERY necessary with the elderly!), and other things “as needed”. What a God-send!  MIL is feeling much happier now that the stress of constant care has been lifted and we feel so much better at work each day knowing they are safe and someone is checking in every day while we’re gone.

Each day, each week, each month is new and different.  We just plod on…

 

Vera Bradley SALE

Vera Bradley SALE, a set by mediakath on Flickr.

My retailer friend is selling her personal collection of Vera Bradley bags…all new without tags!  Click on a pic above and it will take  you the entire gallery….many, many choices of bags here and most are current patterns.
Now discounted again! 2 for $60. and 4 for $100. (ignore pricing shown w/pictures, except wallets and other accessories).

Email me at kmoore at mail.com if you are interested!  Yes, I can ship!