School's Out!

A lot has happened in the last four weeks. Most importantly, school is out and summer break has begun! I'm a 12 month employee so I will continue to report to work throughout the summer, but the quiet classrooms will be a nice change of pace for the next couple of months. Besides, the ending of this school year proved to be more stressful than most so I am particularly happy to move on.

Jenna moved back home on May 1. She had a good school year and did well. Now it seems as if she has been here the whole time, though I suspect Vicki is glad to have some female balance in the house. She has been working at Historic Perk and in the nursery at the church she attends when school is in session, as well as picking up some babysitting jobs. She is also lining up some job shadowing opportunities to see various aspects of nursing this summer.

Ben has finished his junior year now. DA being a private Christian school we have Chapel every Thursday. Our last Chapel service is known as Senior Chapel. Part of that service includes a candle lighting ceremony where the graduating seniors pass their light to the rising seniors and then blow out their candles. Ben chose to receive his light from a senior he played basketball with; it was a moving moment as Vicki and I watched from the bleachers.

Ben will be leaving for Haiti in 18 days. As the school year has wound down he has ramped up his efforts to earn money for his trip. I have to admire his industriousness and his work ethic. That boy has mowed a lot of grass, cleaned out several flowerbeds, spread gravel, moved furniture, and even helped a beekeeper. He's still a little short of his goal so if anyone local has any odd jobs he can do let us know.

Nate has now finished his freshman year. Boy, that's really odd. But then, looking up to him is odd too. He has stayed busy since school has been out because Ben rooks him into some of his larger mowing jobs (namely, the church).

Nate is also doing well behind the wheel and for the last few weeks he's done all the driving to and from school. There's still a lot of nuances to driving that only experience can teach him, but he's getting there. I am not cringing whenever we pass a mailbox anymore, and I don't go for the imaginary brake in the passenger floorboard as much as I did for Ben.

Getting to Mother's Day, we had a pleasant day to celebrate the moms in our family. Actually, our Mother's Day meal was a nice, light lunch at Mom's house. This is because her 90th birthday was the day before and we had celebrated that with a larger meal. Mom thoroughly enjoyed her birthday. She received something like four dozen cards, quite a few phone calls, and several visits in honor of the occasion.

So, that pretty much sums up the month of May for us. We've just been very busy with a whole lot of normal.

Joe