...the summers seems to fly by for us, partially because they are usually already planned. Mother's Day and Memorial Day in May, with an occasional graduation thrown in, Father's Day and three family birthdays in June, two more family birthdays in July along with Independence Day, another birt
hday in August all rounded out with Labor Day. This weekend no exception. Busy, but OH SO FUN!
We got a head start on the weekend by leaving town mid-afternoon on Friday. Saturday morning, my mom, Grandma, Greg and I went over to the cemetery to clean up and place flowers on the graves of my Grandpa Ed and his parents. It was the first time I had been there since the funeral (actually I tried to find it once and got lost). We left some very happy daisies there. Then we went down the road a bit to this great diner for a nice hearty breakfast. Unfortunately, I didn't save room for
one of their fantastic pies! That night Greg and I went over to a very mini eleven year high school reunion for my class. Yes, 11 years...we didn't get our act together last year to organize something. Jill, who was one of my best friends in high school had it at her house out in the country. I got to meet her husband and her step daughters as well as their menagerie of pets. She has the most adorable stepdaughters who were excited to entertain us and show us around. I'm so excited for her to have such a beautiful home and such a loving family. Marie
also came and it was wonderful to see her as well. Marie and I were in a lot of art classes together back in the day and it seemed like she was always reading "good stuff" so I was excited to catch up with her too. She
has just finished her Master's degree and will be starting on her Doctorate! So it was the three of us girls, which is why I said a "very mini reunion". I am in the black crochet sweater, Jill is in the middle, and Marie is on the right in the second picture from the top.We're talking about getting together again, and I would really love that. Besides getting to catch up with some really wonderful people, the reunion was a kind of "aha!" moment for me. It was a reminder to me of all the people who've been in my life...some only briefly, others forever...all of whom have had an influence on me. And for that I am grateful. It also reiterated to me that happiness is so important and so often taken for granted. Jill and Marie and I have all found happiness in different things and that was a reminder to me that happiness is what you make of it. Only you can define what makes you happy and only you can ultimately control that happiness.
Interesting perspectives 11 years later, especially in light of the other activity from this weekend: my youngest cousin's graduation from high school! Congratulations, Melissa! We celebrated with a nice dinner among family and friends at a fantastic Italian restaurant. I think you can pick out the grad in these pics. My aunt is in the turquoise with Melissa, I'm in the black cardigan set, my mom is in the black with red and orange, my grandma is on the other side of my mom and my other cousin Emily is in the denim jacket. I am so proud of both of those girls. In some ways they are like sisters to me. I babysat for them growing up, and our family is close-knit. I remember my mom reminding me that as the older cousin I should be careful of the example I lead because they would look up to me. Well, it's safe to say that I look up to each of them, too! They are smart, funny, beautiful, motivated, well-adjusted...the list goes on and on!
...the summers seems to fly by for us, partially because they are usually already planned. Mother's Day and Memorial Day in May, with an occasional graduation thrown in, Father's Day and three family birthdays in June, two more family birthdays in July along with Independence Day, another birt
hday in August all rounded out with Labor Day. This weekend no exception. Busy, but OH SO FUN!
one of their fantastic pies! That night Greg and I went over to a very mini eleven year high school reunion for my class. Yes, 11 years...we didn't get our act together last year to organize something. Jill, who was one of my best friends in high school had it at her house out in the country. I got to meet her husband and her step daughters as well as their menagerie of pets. She has the most adorable stepdaughters who were excited to entertain us and show us around. I'm so excited for her to have such a beautiful home and such a loving family. Marie
also came and it was wonderful to see her as well. Marie and I were in a lot of art classes together back in the day and it seemed like she was always reading "good stuff" so I was excited to catch up with her too. She
has just finished her Master's degree and will be starting on her Doctorate! So it was the three of us girls, which is why I said a "very mini reunion". I am in the black crochet sweater, Jill is in the middle, and Marie is on the right in the second picture from the top.We're talking about getting together again, and I would really love that. Besides getting to catch up with some really wonderful people, the reunion was a kind of "aha!" moment for me. It was a reminder to me of all the people who've been in my life...some only briefly, others forever...all of whom have had an influence on me. And for that I am grateful. It also reiterated to me that happiness is so important and so often taken for granted. Jill and Marie and I have all found happiness in different things and that was a reminder to me that happiness is what you make of it. Only you can define what makes you happy and only you can ultimately control that happiness.
high school this weekend. Greg's dad lives out in the country on an acreage, and that was the perfect place to invite everyone to for the celebration. A ton of family and friends came out to enjoy the wonderful (although windy) weather, good food and relaxing conversation. There were lots of kids there and it was fun to watch them play...something about the sun and their playfulness and the country was nostalgic for me. A ton of David's friends, teachers, coaches, and his friends' parents came out to celebrate...it is a true testament to his character that all these people wanted to 
celebrate him! Later than evening we had a bonfire, just as it started to cool off! Awesome. Sunday morning, we took Greg's mom out to brunch as a belated Mother's Day celebration, and his sister and her family joined us. We went to Granite City where they have a really nice all-you-can eat brunch that includes a carving station, fresh fruit, several choices of breakfast meat, eggs, and casseroles, and an eggs benedict bar. If you ever get a chance to try Granite City (it's a chain) for Sunday brunch, give it a try. After than we checked out Greg's sister's new apartment and then went to David's ceremony over at the school. He not only graduated with gold cords (greater than 3.5 GPA), but he also was in the National Spanish Honor Society (placed highest in the state on the Spanish exam out of the kids who don't speak Spanish as a native languag), and was an Academic Letter recipient all four years. Besides this the kid is an amazing athlete, handsome and kind. Just an all around great person. We were so proud of him this weekend. And, even better, he'll be coming closer to us for college this fall! Yippee! After graduation we grabbed some ice cream with Greg's sisters then hit the road only to get back in enough time to go to bed. Overall, it was a great weekend.
