Happy Graduation to the Class of 2022! You made it!

Sarah is officially a high school graduate!

The festivities started on Thursday morning with Class Day.  This is an academic awards ceremony attended by the whole school and parents and family members.  The senior class processed in wearing their caps and gowns and giant smiles.  It was the last time they would all be together at school. It was bitter sweet as Dan and I realized we probably wouldn't be back there again either. Although, Dan insists we will go to some athletic events but I seriously doubt that will happen.  Time will tell, I guess.

After many awards presentations and a sweet video with lots of images of the senior class through the last four years, there were refreshments in the courtyard and lots of photos taken.

Sarah and the Basement!

Sarah and all of her classmates that also attended Our Lady of Mercy for K-8th grade.

After Class Day, Sarah hung out with her friends and Dan, Peter, and I headed to lunch and then did a little shopping. Peter needed some new dress clothes.

Later that evening we headed to Holy Cross for the Baccalaureate Mass. And just like last year, at the very end of Mass, they played Ave Maria and the students took roses to their mothers.  And just like last year, I started to cry.  Even though I told myself I WAS NOT GOING TO CRY. But I did anyway. 

Luckily, Dan's sister Cathy made it from Washington in time for Mass and afterwards, we all went to dinner and then came home to get ready for Friday morning!

The graduation ceremony was in Greensboro at the Carolina Theater.  It was absolutely lovely. The speeches were perfect, the Class of 2022 was all smiles again, and just like that - my baby is a graduate!

We all went to lunch after the ceremony and then Sarah came home, changed clothes, and scooted off to a graduation party. The next morning, she hung out with us for a little bit but then headed to another party and then to work and then after work went to another party.  Someone is a social butterfly!

And now, my sweet Sarah is at the beach with the Basement enjoying the sun, surf, and sand!  She texted me this picture of the sunset last night and I'm only a little jealous....

Sarah has a busy summer full of life guarding (and I'm sure hanging out with friends in her free time). She's been made guard manager at the pool she works at and the pool is extremely understaffed so she will be working a lot.  And of course, in her spare time, we will be getting her ready to go off to college.  

The days are long, but the years are short.

Senior Sunrise and the beginning of all the graduation events....

 Things are getting busy as we head towards Sarah's high school graduation.  On Friday she was up at the crack of dawn and headed to school to join the rest of the senior class for Senior Sunrise.  It was an overcast morning and I was worried there wouldn't be anything to see but...

God hears our prayers and answered with a pink sunrise that managed to break through the clouds!

After the sunrise, Sarah and "the Basement" headed to a local diner for breakfast.  I've asked Sarah before why they call themselves the Basement and I haven't really gotten a good answer.  It sounds like they jokingly at some point referred to themselves as that (even though they don't hang out in anyone's basement) and they named their group chat that and it has stuck!

Friday was also Fine Arts Day at school so they didn't have to be back on campus until 10:00 am.  And they spent the whole day outside enjoying musical and theatrical performances, checking out all the art displays, and eating food prepared by various clubs and groups within the school.  There was even an ice cream truck!  And best of all, they had plenty of time to sign yearbooks.  Sarah was a little sad when she came home. She's had a really great year and she's wise enough to know that even though she will always keep these kids as friends, it's never really going to be the same.

Yesterday she had  two exams (she had already taken her AP exams) and she is now officially done with high school!  She has graduation practice tomorrow afternoon and Thursday morning is Class Day (which is an awards day and it's the last day that the senior class is at Bishop together.) Thursday night is the baccalaureate mass and then graduation is Friday morning! 

Dan's sister Cathy is coming in to town to join us for the festivities but we warned her that between all of her social engagements and work (she starts life guarding this weekend) we won't be seeing much of Sarah.  And Peter may or may not be going to Raleigh to visit friends after the graduation ceremony.  He hasn't firmed up his plans yet so I'm secretly hoping he stays here but as Dan says, "It's hard to keep 'em down on the farm..." 

Tuesday was an early and long day!

I made it!  Tuesday was election day and capped off 2 and a half weeks of 12 hour days.  Whew!  Early voting is not for the faint of heart.  Thankfully though, this election was much calmer than in 2020. We weren't nearly as busy which, while less stressful, made the longs days pass by more slowly.  But I worked with a really nice bunch of retirees and my friend Christy so we had fun.

Tuesday the polls were open from 6:30 AM to 7:30 PM and we had to arrive by 6:00 and we had to take down all the equipment after the voting so it was a very long day.  

I addition to what was already going to be a long day, Peter started his summer job on Tuesday morning and had to be in Kernersville by 5:00 AM!  Thankfully one of my election day workers always makes a giant pot of coffee each morning at the election site.  I had four cups on Tuesday!

Peter was up at 4:00 on Tuesday and I'm a light sleeper and had to be up early also, so I got up at the same time he did.  He was sweet enough to pose for this photo before he left.  If you zoom in on  the time on the stove clock it reads 4:24 AM.  

Peter did not get back home from work on Tuesday until 7:00.  That's a long day!  But I don't think all of his work days will be that long.

He's working for a company that manages road construction zones. On his first day the crew had to head to Rocky Mount (two hours from Kernersville) and put out safety cones.  Then they had to monitor them throughout the day to make sure they stayed in place and also move them as necessary. Then when the construction job was completed that afternoon, they had to remove the cones.  Even though it was a long day, there was a lot of down time.

Yesterday he worked at the shop filling sand bags for an upcoming project  and did a safety/training video on how to work the stop and go signs at a road construction site. Thankfully he didn't have to be at work until 7:00. He hasn't quite adjusted his sleep schedule yet - he's still in the stay up late, wake up late mode.  

I'm not sure what he's doing today but I look forward to hearing about it at dinner tonight.  I think he's regretting not getting more of a part-time job but this place literally hired him on the spot, the pay is good, and there is plenty of work available.  And as a bonus, he's working with a friend so that makes it a little more fun! 

I'm trying to get caught up on all the things that were left undone for the last two weeks: bills, laundry, errands, cleaning etc.  Welllllllll,  I'm not sure how much cleaning I'll do today because I'm beginning to beleive that dirt and dust add to the character of a home! :)

Mother's Day 2022

I wanted to post a few pictures from Mother's Day.  It was a really nice weekend.  I have been working the polls for early voting for the primary election and I had to work on Saturday which meant I had to cut short our family viewing of The Batman Movie on Friday night short.  Well, they kept on watching it but I went to bed halfway through it!  When I got home from work on Saturday, we headed to Mass and that meant I got to sleep in on Sunday which after a week and a half of getting up at the crack of dawn and working from 8:00 am to 7:30 pm, was a nice break.  :)  

I woke up on Sunday to cards from all my people and some beautiful yellow tulips. And then we had lunch at 2520 Tavern with my mom and my brother.  They had a special "MOM"-osa for Mother's Day, a lavender lemonade mimosa, and I treated myself and had one!  It was yummy.

When we got home, I headed to the mall with Sarah to shop for a dress for graduation and then after that headed to our favorite brewery for a drink with Dan. It was a perfectly lovely day and then I had Monday off from the polls and was able to catch up on laundry, errands,grocery shopping, bill paying, and all the other things  that I normally do that I was behind on so it was nice to feel caught up.

Tomorrow is the last day working at the polls for early voting and then, of course, Tuesday is the election. I will appreciate the paycheck but 12 hour days are not my thing.  

 Here are a few pictures from Mother's Day:

Sarah made Sunday dessert so I wouldn't have to!  It was delicious!  And don't ask me why I don't have any pictures of me and Peter.  Whoops!  

HIghlight from last weekend!!!

 Last weekend was a busy week for Sarah and the senior class at Bishop McGuinness.

On Thursday, the senior class spent the day off campus on their retreat. Friday was Cupcake Day!  This is a day that all the Seniors wear gear showing where they are going to college, they all gather for a picture, and on their lunch break they put a pin in a map showing where their college is and they all get cupcakes. It's a cute tradition and all the seniors look forward to it because they know once they've reached Cupcake Day, they've almost finished high school!

And then of course, Saturday was PROM!!!  Sarah spent the day doing her hair and her make-up and she had everything timed perfectly. We headed to Gabi's house to drop of her car (she couldn't drive in her dress!) and then we met all of Sarah's gang at the Ceiner Botanical Garden in Kernersville for pictures.  After pictures, they all headed to dinner at Giada's Tratoria and then off to the prom. Dan and I headed to Quanto Basto for a delicious dinner.

This is Sarah's friend group.  They call themselves "The Basement". :)

The whole gang. And if I'm not mistaken, this whole group is going to the beach together after graduation!

I just love this picture of my girl and her daddy.  

And I love this picture of my girl and my mom!

Sarah had a wonderful time at the prom and at the "after party" hanging out with all of her friends.  

On Monday, Sarah went to school and Dan and I headed to Raleigh to help Peter pack up his dorm room! It didn't take as long as I thought it would so in no time, the car was packed full, eveyrthing was swept up and wiped down and just like that Freshman year was over.

I had to snap a picture of him in the empty room before he turned in his keys.

Had to have a picture of him making the Wolfpack sign.

I'm happy to have my boy home for the summer and to have eveyrone under one roof for a few more months!