June Skirt

Just kidding, there's no skirt!  I decided a couple weeks ago not to do one this month but I haven't had time to explain why.  June has been a crazy busy month, pretty much like every other month.  There was graduation, then Dance Festival, then the Dance Festival cast party.  Not that I had a lot to do with any of these, but I had to worry about them because that's what I do.  The day of the cast party, when I was hours away from being able to relax a little, the camp director for our upcoming stake girls camp (as in 2 weeks away) had emergency back surgery.  She has an assistant, and I became kind of the assistant-assistant.  That was kind of stressful because I don't know a lot about organizing girls camp, but my plan was to spend a lot of time during our family vacation the next week making phone calls and sending emails to make sure everything was under control.  Oh what a family vacation that was!  Thirty one people, two beach houses, nine cases of stomach flu, limited cell service and no internet.  Not the best vacation I've ever had, but certainly one I'll never forget!  Now we're home and I have a week to get ready for camp as well as take care of some pressing work matters before I leave again.  I think I need about 4 of me to get everything done.

All that craziness is not why I didn't make a skirt, it's just why I didn't explain earlier.  The real reason is that my kids are leaving for college in two months and I want to enjoy every minute I have with them.  I'm going to take a "summer vacation", not from sewing but from self-imposed deadlines, so I can have the flexibility to do whatever I want this summer and enjoy this time to the fullest.

Graduation

Well it's official, both my kids graduated from high school on June 3.  I'm no longer a mother of school-age kids.  Some people have asked me how I feel about it, and that's really kind of like asking someone on their birthday how they feel about being a year older.  Today feels pretty much the same as yesterday, or last week, or last month.  The change has come gradually and it's not like their graduation was unexpected or anything.

I went to their school last week to pick up their diplomas.  Wouldn't you know they forgot to do it on the day they weren't working.  I guess it's the last time I'll respond to the request to drive to the school because they forgot their homework, lunch, diploma, etc.  I saw one of their teachers who said he'd miss seeing me around the school.  It actually didn't feel like my last time at the school.  It was a little startling to hear him say that.  Of course I've spent less time at the school as the kids have gotten older so I guess I never really thought about it.  The school and I didn't suddenly end our relationship, we've just gradually drifted apart.

The past 11 days since graduation haven't been that much different than the 11 days before that.  Graduation came and went, spring came, summer came, I've worked, I've played, I've laughed, I've cried.  There have been endings and beginnings, and there will be more.  Yesterday I read an article that expressed a lot of what I feel, not so much about graduation and my kids moving on, but about how life moves along and we change and grow through our experiences, never to be the same as we were the day before.  It's beautifully written and well worth the few minutes it takes to read. Warning:  grab a handful of tissues first.