It is SO beautiful and flower-full.
Weather is usually gorgeous. And,
it is full of end-of-school things:
Except when it is too full. Then it
is just hectic. But, this May has not
been too crazy. And I have loved every
minute, so far….
The peonies and roses and clematis and daisies and iris in
the front yard are so pretty.
We have had a goodly amount of rain so everything is emerald green. It got a bit humid these past few days so the
AC had to come on but, before that, it was perfect. Weather to eat dinner on the deck – which we
did.
I had some personal hours that I needed to use up or lose
when the school year ended so I took Monday and Wednesday off. Wow, it was a nice taste of what is soon to
be every day. I did need to go to RBHS
Wednesday evening to present an “Outstanding Student in Orchestra” award at the
senior awards ceremony.
Marcie Leubbert, a good friend from church, shares the
same birth year as I do so I knew that her birthday on Friday was a BIG
one. I called some of the church friends
she was especially close to and we all brought in a birthday brunch to
celebrate with her. It was a lovely
event.
back row: Sandra Cheney, me, Terri Anderson holding her granddaughter (Manny and Jenna Neuffer's daughter), Marsha Stull Custodio (sp), Kathy Stull
middle row: Katherine Eschrich, Marcie, Tania Leigh
on floor: Alicia Taylor with her two boys
That evening, Steven graduated from MU with his Master’s
in Russian and Slavonic Studies. I am
very proud of his accomplishment.
He
attended school, worked full time, and was a T.A. for four of the six semesters
and graduated with A’s and B’s. Steve,
Melanie, Tamara, Sheila, and I cheered him on
as he walked across the stage.
It was especially cool that his former high
school band teacher, John Patterson, conducted the Columbia Community Band that
provided the music.
Friday was also setting-up for the ward sharing day on
Saturday. This is the time when people bring things they don’t want anymore and
give them away. Steve helped set up
tables in the morning. I helped set
items out in the afternoon. We had lots
of publicity this go-around and I understand it was very successful. Neither Steve nor I could be there on
Saturday (we do NOT need any more things) because I had two weddings and Steve
had to make a trip to St. Louis to attend coordinating council. Three or four times a year, all the stake
presidents in the area meet together and this time, President Houseman couldn’t
attend so Friday evening, he asked Steve if he could go in his place the next
day. He left at 7 and was back by
2. My first wedding was at 2 and I knew
so many people in attendance. First of
all, I discovered about a month ago that the groom was Sam Masters. His dad, David, and Steve started law school
together 34 years ago. His mom, Ginger,
is a member of the church so we got to be friends with the family. They settled in La Plata after law school and
we would see them off and on through the years.
His sister, Cecily, is Emily’s age and they were friends. I played cello for Cecily’s wedding about 12
years ago! Steve and I were there to
help Ginger through the untimely death of David about 10 years ago. It was good to see everyone in that family
again. The second wedding was down at
the Lake of the Ozarks at a place called Willmore Lodge.
It was built by Ameren – who also built the
dam that made the Lake of the Ozarks – as a retreat for high ranking executives
in the company. It is still managed by
Ameren but also by the state of Missouri.
It is quite lovely.
Today is Steven’s 33rd birthday.
We celebrated tonight with breakfast: hashbrown/sausage casserole, muffins, biscuits,
strawberries, and Italian cream cake. We
played a game of Lord of the Rings Trivial Pursuit afterwards. Sarah and Steven left the rest of us in the
dust. And, now, as we await the time for
our regular phone calls with Beckie and Kirsti, Steve is taking a much needed
nap. He had a 7:30 meeting this morning
at the stake center and then he drove up to Macon (1 hour away) and then over
to Marceline (30 minutes away from Macon) and then back to Columbia for a YSA
meeting. When he got home, we dashed out
to past where we used to live on Route Z to a graduation-from-law-school-party
for Whitney Fay. She worked at the
reference desk her last two years of school so Steve got to know her. She was a great worker and very nice. The older Lambsons will recognize the name of
Fay. Garrett was Emily’s age and he is
now living in Las Vegas with his wife and children as a minister. Erin was Beckie’s age – they played on a
softball team together with Steve and Erin’s dad, Elton, as assistant
coaches. She now lives in Oregon. Little Whitney was just a toddler when the
other two were attending Two-Mile Prairie with our kids. Small world.
I finished book two of a trilogy that Emily
recommended. It is called Siege and
Storm. A good read. My Netflix was a foreign film called Fill the Void. It provided a fascinating look into the current
world of orthodox Judaism – particularly the matchmaking aspect (cue Fiddler on
the Roof). The culture reminds me a bit
of the Amish life.
Two cute dog photos.
Trissy and Bones looking at me from the back yard.
And Bones, Trissy, and Bacon intently watching Steve carve up some ham from Mother's Day dinner last week.
So, Steve has been retired for two weeks now......
and he will
be the first to tell you that he has never been busier! And, he now makes a “to-do” list at the start
of each week. I have never seen
him do that in my life! Hopefully, once
we get all the retirement paperwork finished (end of this week), it will calm
down a bit……hopefully!
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