May is quite the month....

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 33^rd 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!