I’ve only won one other major award
(If you don’t count DAN)
and that was the 8th grade Woodmen of the World Speech Contest.
Gotta find THAT photo. It’s a winnerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

But today, my naybor gave me a Major Award.
"
because you all mean so much to me and I am a better person because I know you!

Another long weekend is ahead of us.
"When should we go up to the Lake?"
"Should we fly or drive?"
"I need to take up some more vintage Iowa Plates I found on ebay….."

oh

wait.

I remember. We CAN’T stay there. Because it FLOODED!!
geesh.

Well, all that is starting to change! This week, we are getting started.
Because our "people" are re-designing the house and putting it back together!
I’m exchanging e-mails every day, getting drawings, researching flooring, tearing out magazine pages, dreaming and thinking, and getting ready to get started!

Next up?
Picking out the carpet and flooring, finalizing the kitchen cabinet layout, deciding once and for all the layout of the bathroom, and driving around to stores looking for more fans!

We went to TheBoy’s last conference and swelled up with pride at his grades.
School has never come easy for that one……and he works hard every day. Best grades ever. I hope he makes the honor roll. It will be the first time. He has come a long way, and the teachers in the Blair School System have seen to it that he was never left behind.

The other day, he had to read out loud in front of an audience on the spot. Without any practice or help.
It was no problem. No sweat. No Biggie.
Well, it was a biggie to me. I shed a tear over THAT.

And TheGirl? She took "her kids" to the State Speech contest in Kearney!
SHE drove a big huge suburban filled with the speech kids!
And the one she worked with did really well. They ALL did well, including HER!!!
She had fun, worked hard all year, and got some great experience under her belt.

And, I never would have seen that coming.
She’s come a long way, too.

The play, Beauty and the Beast, ended tonight. Matt worked on the set every day after school for weeks. Saturdays, too.

Curtain Call

The cast brought all the directors to the front for a quick bow and gift. I can’t say enough about how Mr. Joe Anderson help both of our children grow up. He is part of our "village".

Matt was the lighting director and spent the show up in the booth.

Lots of moms were there snapping photos after the last show. The seniors are there in the back row.

And then, the Set Strike! Everything gets taken apart.

It went from this

to this

to THIS in about an hour or so.

Thank you, Mr. A.
He learned alot this year.

saw and heard Bruce Springsteen tonight at the Qwest Center in Omaha.

and, thanks to Hitch, I was about THIS close!!!

But the interesting thing was the audience. It was full of people MY age!
I guess I thought it would be younger.
17,000 45 year olds sure can rock!!!

is almost 18. Today is his last day of being Seventeen.

Seventeen is SO MUCH younger than Eighteen.

………….sigh…………….
I’m not sad. I just can’t believe it!
And "the lasts" are happening alot faster now.
Thursday is the last opening night for the high school play.
And then the last parent/teacher conference.