Sons and sisters (with photos now!)

Hard to believe it was just a week ago that Brian was still scrambling to get as much of his put-off schoolwork done as possible before the day's end-of-year (end of HIGH SCHOOL) deadline and fighting with me about whether to do that or go help decorate for graduation (he wanted to do the latter and I wasn't taking him if he still had outstanding schoolwork). He did, indeed, graduate, and even got a 95% on his Physics senior project(!) – although that didn't bring his grade up above a D. 😒 The weekend was a rollercoaster, with a sullen student seated between us for the Senior Tribute on Zoom Saturday night followed by a glowing tribute he had written to us read at graduation the next day. He was also awarded a generous scholarship to the university at which he is accepted for his combined grades/ACT score (a little bigger than we expected), the weather held until after the ceremony and drive-through reception, and a lot of wonderful friends came to the reception, surprising Brian with their support. That included our friends who have Poppy's sister Penny; they parked so the girls could play together for awhile which was such fun to watch. They clearly recognized each other and act SO much alike – two "P's" in a pod!

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My 'tribute rose' with matching spinning project

The diploma hand-off!

The week since has been a bit of a blur. I had to work Monday, so Tuesday was a recuperation day – in other words, I didn't get much done! On Wednesday, our 36th wedding anniversary, Rick had to take his mother to Portland for a doctor's appointment and I had to take Brian to Salem for an eye appointment. (Rick's mother hasn't driven beyond her local community in a couple years because of her failing eyesight and finally sold her car this week – hallelujah! – and Brian isn't driving because of his grades and attitude.) By the time we got home from our various responsibilities, there wasn't much time or energy for celebrating, so we companionably watched a couple episodes of Doc Martin and called it a night. Rick did bring me a dozen roses and a new blooming orchid, though, both in "sunshine yellow," a surprising but beautiful choice.

Yesterday I worked at the office again, while Brian worked for Rick's client for the first time since March. He worked for her again today, so he has a good start on his share of the next installment of our automobile insurance. He is using his graduation money gifts to get the computer he'll need for his engineering program at college – and a .22 rifle he's had his eye on for over a year. Our gift to him was a big Craftsman tool set (and a pair of his favorite jeans), which he is thrilled with.

Graduation doesn't seem like it's changed anything as we head into another summer of parenting and trying to encourage our offspring to work hard, be responsible, and look to his future. Brian has a standing offer to drive combine for the same custom farming outfit he drove for last summer, but that doesn't start for at least 3-4 weeks so we've encouraged him to look for other work. But just like graduation already seems like a distant memory, so, too, will this last summer feel in just three months when he heads off to college. Days crawl, and years fly.

Crawling and flying at . . .