I survived.

Another school year down. All of the crazy running I do is finally over until September. This year was extra crazy since I had a lot to do in preparation of Kevin's graduation. Yesterday was that big day. The ceremony was at 10 AM out on the football field. It was sunny and quite warm. In fact, too warm! But, we made it through it.

From there it was back home for his party. We had a number of relatives there and a group of Kevin's friends came over as well. Plus his friend Julie came down from Rhode Island to see him graduate. They met last Summer while he was working in the Summer Camp. She worked there as well. Since she was one of the very few girls in camp (It's a Boy Scout camp) she was the fantasy of many teen boys that Summer. She and Kevin bonded and have remained close ever since. Much to the envy of the rest of Kevin's scout troop. Even his brother was on Cloud 9 since "OMG! Julie is going to be sleeping in the room next to mine?".....Simmer down Tyler, she is 9 years older than you. I have to say it was wonderful having her here. She is a sweetheart and truly cares about Kevin. My wife and I commented about how we wished he would date a girl like her. She is welcome back anytime.


With everything done, I can pretty much relax this week. The only pressing thing I have to do is pack for a week long camping trip. Tyler and I are headed to Rhode Island next Sunday to spend a week in that Summer Camp. Sadly for him, Julie is not working there this year. LOL Just like Kevin, she got a real job.

It's Official!

Kevin and Julie    

She ran over and gave him a big hug afterward.

I can only guess that when she drinks, she gets beer muscles.

This is a little bit more normal.

It amazes me what they can create these days. 

Yes the picture is edible.

Red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. This cake weighed a ton!

Busy, busy, busy

The last week or so has been really busy. All leading up to tomorrow. My oldest son, Kevin graduates High School. Since we are having a party there was a ton of things to do in the house and the yard. Normally I can get by with worrying about just the first floor. However, Kevin has a friend here from Rhode Island. He met Julie while he was working in RI last summer. She came down to spend the weekend with us. that meant I also had to take care of the second floor.

Last night was Kevin's Senior Prom. Seeing him in his tux started me thinking back to my own prom. It doesnt seem all that long ago. I have to confess that it is not easy admitting my son has become a man. It goes way too fast.

For those of you that are new to my blog, Kevin is the tall one on the right.

Can you see me blushing now?

Ok, so as you may or may not know, this Saturday is the long awaited dance recital. Several of us have agreed to slip into a tutu and dance swan lake. All for the sake of giving our daughters something to remember later in life. Probably in therapy or in dreams that wake them up screaming in the night. As you can tell, I really don't mind doing it. (If I did, I would not be posting this picture). We have had the best time laughing and joking as we rehearsed for our performance on stage.

So, as promised, here is my recital picture:

I am in the back on the far left. Two of the group are missing from the picture, but you certainly get the idea.

It's all about Bug

Yesterday was a day all about Bug. (My daughter for those of you new to my blog). It started off with her getting her very first job in modeling. In August she will be doing a runway fashion show for Lord & Taylor. She is excited because they give her a cash allowance and let her buy clothes in the store to model. After the show she gets to keep the clothes! She may also end up in the catalog and in the on-line catalog.

From the interview she was then off to her dance school for pictures. She spent the next few hours changing in and out of costumes and posing. She absolutely LOVES being in front of a camera. I had my ballet picture done as well but, you will have to wait to see that one. This is all about Bug.

And finally, it was off to the local school board meeting. It is the final one of the year and they give out the special awards to select student. Bug received an award for being involved in a program called Open Space Stewardship Program. It involves various projects involving wildlife conservation. She was actually chosen to participate in a project being done by several High School seniors.

It was a lot of running around but, we managed to fit it all in. I still don't know how.

Bug gets her award. She is the one in front not holding up her certificate.

Believe it or not, the girl and 2 boys to the right of her are in her grade.

Bug is tall for her age.

Bug in her Acro costume.

This is her tap dance costume.

This is the costume for her Jazz class. 

They are supposed to be models so Bug loves this number!

And finally, this is their ballet costume. 

They are dancing with the dolls so of course the doll had to have the same costumes. 

Bug is on the right. That is her cousin on the left.

Unplug the Toaster!

Sunday evening I was upstairs installing new trim in the bathroom when I heard my wife call. Since it was close to dinnertime I assumed dinner was ready. I did not answer her right away since her hearing sucks and she would not have heard me anyway. Plus I wanted to finish the one piece I was working on. About a minute later my son called out, "Dad? Mom wants you."  So I figured this had nothing to do with dinner. I called down the stairs to see what she wanted. She yelled something about seeing smoke and not knowing where it came from. This is never good since twice in the past she almost burned down the house. So I went downstairs to see what she was talking about. Since she had just turned on the oven I figured perhaps something inside spilled. I was expecting a small amount of smoke. When I walked into the kitchen I saw smoke drifting across the counter and out the open window. There was also a lot of smoke in the air. I quickly realized this was not simply something in the oven.

I looked at the trail of smoke and followed it around and noticed it coming from the toaster in the corner. A toaster that she had decided to pile things on top of. A Styrofoam egg carton, a bag of pretzels, and something in a shopping bag that I could not identify. I immediately yanked the plug out of the wall. That is always the first step in an electrical fire. Cut the power to it. That is when the toaster and the stuff on it burst into flames. Flames were licking at the wall and the cabinets above. There was a towel on the counter so I grabbed  that and saturated it in the sink and tossed it on top of the flames to smother the fire. It cut the flames down enough for me to grab the toaster. I yelled to "Open the front door and get out of my way!" I then carried the toaster out onto the lawn. No sooner had I put it down and the towel started flaming. I was able to put out the fire with the garden hose. While the wall and cabinet now has scorch marks, they never actually caught fire. Thank God!

Now if you are like me, you are assuming someone made toast and she put the stuff on top of a hot toaster. That was not the case. What had happened was she had pushed some things aside on the counter and up against the toaster. This pushed down the lever on it just enough to make it heat up. As a result it ignited the stuff on top. I am just thankful that I was home when it happened. She was panicking and freaking out and didn't know what to do. If I was not home I would be living in a trailer right now while trying to salvage what I could from the ashes of my home!

So let this be your lesson of the day: Never ever put things on or near the toaster. And always unplug the thing when it is not in use!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!

About 10 minutes ago I decided to grab a snack. I got up from the couch and headed toward the kitchen. On the rug I spotted what I assumed was a black show off one of my daughters Barbie dolls. Since it was in front of the dog I assumed he had been chewing on it so I bent over and picked it up. It fell out of my fingers and I picked it up again and rolled it into my palm to see if it was worth saving. That is when the legs popped out and it started moving! I may be a man but I despise bugs. I definitely do not like touching them. I grabbed the vaccumm and sucked it right up. Despite washing my hands I can still feel it in my fingers! I am freaked out.

This is what I picked up!

Waiting for the punch

I am having one of those moments where my stomach is in knots. There is no particular reason for it either. Nothing bad has happened today and I am not really expecting anything to either. Yet for some reason I have that sick feeling in my stomach and my blood pressure is way up. And that is even after I took my morning pills to control it. My hands are shaking and I am feeling a bit paranoid. It is the type of feeling you get right before someone punches you in the stomach. You sense that it is coming and you know it is going to hurt.

I have never thought that I suffered from anxiety. I am typically pretty laid back about a lot of things. Life has a way of working itself out so I rarely stress about things. However, looking back I have had this feeling before. Typically it turns out to be nothing. My mind can rationalize it all but, I just can't get the rest of my body to follow. I know a few people that do suffer from anxiety and this is pretty much how they describe it.

If it is something that you have never experienced, you just can not comprehend what it does to you. There is no way to just "snap out of it!" Without some sort of chemical help, you are forced to endure it and wait for it to pass. And it always does pass. I just wish it would pass quicker!