Baccalaureate Mass and Class Day

Graduation events are well under way!  On Thursday evening we attend the Baccalaureate Mass for the Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School Class of 2021.

The mass was held at Holy Cross in Kernersville.  Bishop Jugis celebrated the Mass.  It was absolutely beautiful.

The students processed in each holding white roses.  A string quartet provided beautiful music for the mass and the organ music that was played for the processional and recessional gave me chills.  (I love a grand sounding organ!)

The Bishop's homily implored the graduates to be humble and thankful as they are leaving high school behind and moving forward.  I tried to take his words to heart as well because I need to be more humble and more grateful as well in my daily life.  

After mass was completed the students were instructed to find their mothers and present them with the white rose in thanks and gratitude for their love and support.  The choir was singing Ave Marie while the kids were finding the moms.  It was beautiful. I was not expecting this at all and immediately teared up.  That's why I look so ridiculous in the picture below.  

Peter: happy. Mom: sad but happy.

 Here are a few more pictures from the evening:

Nick, Peter, Yael, Carson, Thomas (and Mary and Baby Jesus!)

 

On Friday morning, we celebrated Class Day.  This is the last time the entire Class of 2021 would be all together at Bishop McGuinness.  They arrived early so they could have one last photo taken together in their caps and gowns.  The awards presentation started at 8:00.  

All the awards and recognitions were presented to the class and then there was a dessert buffet afterwards.

Here are a few pictures:

Processing in

The Class of 2021

Processing out.

This is the group of kids that attending Our Lady of Mercy together and continued on to Bishop!  Such a great group of kids!!

And now all that's left if graduation on Tuesday night.  I'm left a little weepy but so very grateful that Peter was able to attend such an awesome school for the last 4 years.  He has made lifelong friendships for which I am thankful.  He has learned so much from a top notch faculty.  And he was able to attend in-person for his senior year.  

I prayed at the beginning of the year that God would bless this school year  that I knew would be strange and not quite what we had hoped for. My prayer was that God would take it and make beauty from ashes and I feel like he did just that.  It wasn't the senior year that Peter imagined but it was beautiful just the same.

More Senior fun and a quick trip to Oak Island.

On Friday morning, Dan,Sarah, my mom, and I, loaded up the car and headed to Oak Island, NC for a long weekend.

Friday was the last official day of school for the seniors so Peter decided to join us on Saturday. I was a little bummed at first when he said he would join us later but I'm so glad he did.  He didn't want to miss his last full day with all of his friends, and what a day it was!

All the seniors decided to meet at the football field for "Senior Sunrise" and they watched the sun come up together as a class.  How cool is that???  Here is a picture that Peter texted me at 6:15 am:

Afterwards, they went to get breakfast and then headed back for the last day of class.  Everyone brought baguettes to leave on the Dean of Students desk as their senior prank. They also left baguettes all around the school.  He is from France and prior to becoming the Dead of Students was the french teacher, hence the baguette prank.

There was a home baseball game on Friday night and a lot of the seniors have been attending the games since football season was screwed up and no spectators were allowed.  There was a tailgate with corn hole and pizza and a bunch of the seniors attended the game. Peter had a great time and then after the game went back to a friend's house with a bunch of his other friends to watch one of the NBA playoff games.  So, while I missed having Peter with us on Friday, he was exactly where he needed to be!

We had a lovely afternoon on the beach on Friday and then headed to dinner at Frying Pan and then relaxed before bed.

View from the condo.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Saturday morning, I enjoyed two of my favorite things together; coffee and an ocean view:

Peter got up early  and made the almost 4 hour drive and was able to join us in time for lunch.  Then we spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach until it was time to head to Mass.

Sunbathing

Napping

Tossing the football

After Mass, we headed to Fishy Fishy for dinner.  The wait time was long so we walked around Southport for a bit.

And then on Sunday morning we got up, ate a delicious breakfast prepared by my mom (and I just realized to took zero pictures of her - sorry, mom!) and then headed home.

It was a quick long weekend but we enjoyed it immensely.

And now the next few days are going to be crazy busy. Peter is currently finishing up his last exam, even as I am typing this. Tomorrow he has graduation practice.  The Baccalaureate Mass is Thursday  night.  Class Day is Friday morning.  Dan's sister arrives on Sunday. Sarah starts work. My mom's birthday is Monday.  Graduation is Tuesday evening. 

ACK!!!!  And yes, I purchased some waterproof mascara because I know there are going to be some tears.

What we've been doing and a tea party!

Thursday was Krispy Kreme's Free Dozen Day for all 2021 graduating seniors.  As soon as Sarah got home from school she suggested that we go pick up Peter's donuts.  Guess she was hungry.

So the three of us piled into the car and headed towards Krispy Kreme.  I told them it reminded me of the good old days when I used to have to drive them both everywhere.  Ahhhhhh....remember all the blog posts lamenting the fact that I was always driving us somewhere?  Well, those days are over and I definitely miss them.  

When we got home, I had to take a picture of Peter with the donuts.  He must love me because he did it without too much complaining.  (Lest you think he's an angel, there was some complaining...but I've heard worse.)
 

I was excited when I realized that it wasn't just a box of glazed donuts.  There's nothing wrong with glazed donuts - especially when they are free but this box contained THREE cream-filled and then a mix of glazed and iced with sprinkles.  So yummy! 

On Friday, I made this magnificent avocado toast for lunch.  I loaded it up with tomatoes, feta, and balsamic glaze.  It was delicious!

On Friday night, Peter watched a high school baseball game with friends and then spent the night with them. He was home in time on Saturday morning to help Dan mow the yard.  Sarah has a lot of projects and homework so she spent the day working on that and I spent some time in the basement.  I'm starting to make some good progress!

On Saturday evening, we all headed to mass and then Sarah went to High Point to meet friends for dinner and a sleepover.  Dan, Peter, and I headed to downtown Winston-Salem for dinner.  They had the streets blocked off so that restaurants can put tables on the sidewalk to expand their capacity.  The sun was shining, people were out and about (without masks thanks to the new relaxed mask mandate from our governor), there were musicians in the street and it almost felt like pre-covid days.  

On Sunday afternoon, I joined some friends for a tea party at the Holt House (built in 1834) to raise money for a new charity organization that will be helping local families pay for adoption expenses.

We enjoyed the tea party treats, bid in a silent auction, and learned more about the mission of this new charity.  It was a really fun afternoon.

Beautiful flowers decorated our tables.

Lisa,Beth, Kim

The beautiful place setting an menu.

The canapes selection.

The patisserie selection.

I had a perfectly lovely weekend.  I hope you did too!

Mother's Day and a weekend update.

Well, I had a lovely weekend that included zero cleaning out of the basement!  In fact, I didn't even think about it.  A few more days of not thinking about it, and I won't even remember that I was cleaning it in the first place.  

On Friday, Peter had an AP Euro exam and then treated himself to Dairy Queen.  And who can blame him.  Blizzards after hard tests are the way to go!

Later that evening Peter met two of his friends and they headed to Charlotte for a Hornets basketball game.  Peter loves the Hornets as much as he loves the Panthers so he was excited to be able to go.  The seats were in the nosebleed section because they were cheap but they had a great time regardless.

Peter even sent me this picture without me asking him to.  (Unsolicited pictures from my kids is my love language, by the way.)

And the Hornets won!  

Sarah had to take the SAT on Saturday morning so between Peter getting home at 12:45 AM and Sarah getting up at the crack of dawn, I didn't get my normal full night of beauty sleep. (I slept in on Sunday morning to makeup for it.)

We went to Mass on Saturday night and then came home and I made my delicious Philly Cheese Steaks.  I know they aren't as good as the ones you get in Philadelphia.  I personally have never had one from there but Dan lived there for 3 months and still raves about them.  But we all love the ones I makde when and Dan usually eats two...so take that Pat's and Geno's!  :)

On Sunday,  we celebrated Mother's Day!  We took my mom to lunch at her favorite restaurant. Look at my pretty food:

Then we went back to her house and enjoyed cake.  Mom made it and decorated it and it was as delicious as it was gorgeous!

 We both then opened our gifts:

And then took a few more pictures on the front porch.

And that was our weekend.  Now I should probably consider getting back down to the basement...

Now is not the time to be cleaning out the basement!

I'm not sure why I chose this time of year to start to clean out the back room in the basement but I did and here I am.

"Where exactly are you?" you might be asking.

Well, let me tell you. It's that weird time of the school year where things are wrapping up and schedules are weird because of AP exams, awards days, graduation preparation,field day etc. and I'm feeling all angsty about everything like I normally do when the end of a school year rolls around. This year is even worse because I have a junior and a senior and I'm feeling all "woe-is-me-the-end-is near". So throw in a basement full of random weird things that need to be thrown away or sent to Goodwill and I'm once again feeling all of my emotions.

And when you are all up in your feelings, it's probably not the best time to sort through and recycle a giant tub of stuffed animals, old Halloween costumes, your son's tiny first communion suit, your daughter's favorite doll baby and other random things that probably should have been dealt with years ago. So, that's where I am.  

I started this basement project last week but before you think we have two weeks worth of stuff to clean out I will assure you that we don't.  Cleaning out the basement is very boring and just a little sad so I've been taking my time.  30 minutes here, 1 hour there, two days avoiding the whole thing and that's how you end up having a semi cleaned out basement after two weeks.  

I would love to show you before and after pictures but I didn't take any before I started and I'm not anywhere near finished so that would be anti-climactic.  I guess I could take a work-in-progress shot but I don't want you calling the producers of Hoarders so you'll just have to use your imaginations!

And because I don't like a post without a picture, here's a shot of  my backyard tree looking all pretty and spring like!