Honorable Discharge

Looks like our son with be discharged from his primary education experience with some honors.

Basically, we've got a 3-day 8th-grade graduation extravaganza going on -- breakfast today, field trip to the Kalahari indoor water park at the Dells tomorrow, then half a day of school Monday with an official graduation ceremony that night.

This morning, we attended an 8th Grade Honors Breakfast for Carter and his classmates.We helped ourselves to a continental breakfast in the school cafeteria, then it was on to the good stuff. Turns out they call it an Honors Breakfast for a reason. The 8th-graders were getting honored with various scholarships and awards.

I think just about every student received some sort of Catholic Education tuition grant from their home parish. Carter received two scholarships from Jim's church so that was unexpected and quite nice. Carter thought that was pretty cool but that wasn't the end of it.

Miss Thomas, the band director, gave out three special awards -- one was for playing solos and taking music outside of the school into their home parish, another was a jazz-related one and the final one was called the "Director's Award" for a student exhibiting leadership skills, always helpful, going above and beyond what is required and doing whatever is needed to help the band excel. Guess who got that one?

He was so excited about that! He honestly couldn't stop smiling! And why should he? That one really says a lot about his character and his commitment. We are very proud of him.We're not necessarily going to get a bumper sticker that says "Proud parent of a band student" ... but we could. And it would be completely accurate.

Besides the obvious, I am really glad they hold this Honors Breakfast for the "graduating" 8th-graders each year. What a great way to honor the class and their hard work during middle school while giving them a boost of confidence as they enter high school.

Now if they could just do something for us parents who are not ready for the next big step!

Fawn-Tastic!

I am sure I may speak on behalf of my sister Rayna when I say that we are both Foto Freaks! We are always looking at the world through a real or virtual lens, and when we are lucky, we capture our vision on film. Well, on a memory card these days.

She travels a lot so she gets a lot of unique photographs. Every time I see them, I am inspired to try harder. Sure, we're both a little obsessed. But your world would be so boring without our images to view. Right??

Last spring, we had two deer born on our grounds at work and they were hanging out in a courtyard area for a day, mostly oblivious to the dozens of onlookers on the other side of the glass. I made sure I brought my camera in the following day and, typical for a photographer-wannabe, the deer had deerly departed to the woods.

Today, when I found out we again have a pair of fawns in the courtyard this year, I got lucky. Thanks to my handy dandy Black Friday Purse Camera, I didn't have to wait a day and keep my fingers crossed. I could go shoot them. Not literally. That happens in November.

At first they were both napping separately with their faces to the wall. Impossible to photograph really, except for their spots. Bummer. On a whim, I decided I would check back before leaving for the day. And I'm so glad I did!

Isn't he just so adorably Bambi cute? They are sweet when they are not running across the road in front of our vehicle!

What a fawn-tastic day! Normally, I see one "dear" at work. Today I got to see two!

Can't beat that for foto fun.

Too-sday

With the holiday weekend, it felt like a Monday today. There was so much going on -- just too much to do, so it's fitting that it was actually Too-sday.

Just got home about half an hour ago for the first time today. And now it's bed time already so a quick synopsis.

Work was busy. Since hubby has all week off and I don't, I am trying to squeeze 5 days of work into 3 days and take Friday off. That way we can have one day off together. We'll see how it goes.

After work, I met Jim and Carter at the girls softball regional game in Port Edwards. Watched a bit in the cold wind (Assumption was kicking butt) and then I took Carter and Brandon (a teammate) to the 6 p.m. tournament team practice at Mead Field in Rapids.

Since practice was going to last almost 2 hours, I had time to walk a bag of books I borrowed over to Jim's aunt and uncle's place. It's only about 6 or 7 blocks away so not a big deal. I ended up invading their privacy for an hour and walked back to the field ... with a "new" bag of books. Ha. Vicious cycle! Was a nice visit, though! (Plus, I got some steps.)

Since it was 7:30 and I hadn't eaten since noon, I broke down and bought a burger at the ballpark. Because you know I'll only eat another 49 of those this summer!!! Oh well. I was hungry.

After practice, I took the boys over to Witter Field so we could watch the Assumption boys in their regional, also against Port Edwards. I delivered Brandon to his parents and told Jim and Carter I was leaving and they could ride home together. Some of us have to work in the morning.

I hope Wednesday doesn't turn out to be too much!

Rain or Shine

We had a company holiday day today for Memorial Day. Since we attended a service yesterday, today was all about relaxation... well, relaxation and racing and, unfortunately, rain.

I got a nice walk/run in this morning while the sun was still out and temp was still below 80. But it sure felt hot. I wondered if we were going to suffer from heat at the racetrack later -- or rain. Our nephew Colin was racing in a special Memorial Day 100-lap feature at nearby Golden Sands Speedway.

When I checked the hourly forecast early in the day, it said the there was a 90 percent of rain between 2-3, right about the time qualifying was to take place. Later, before we headed to the races at 1 p.m., it had been lowered to 60 percent so we were feeling pretty good. But I still took an umbrella just in case.

That turned out to be a good call.

They said there would  beno "rain date" for this special event so we knew we were stuck there for good, come rain or shine. Somewhere between 2 and 3 that rain came, just as predicted. Lots of rain and even some light hail. It didn't last long but by the time the rain stopped and track was dry for racing again, they only got one heat race in before the rain returned. I'm sure glad Santa brought me that Twins umbrella for Christmas. It did the trick.

The sun did come out eventually, along with the heat. We wouldn't have minded tolerating if our nephew would have rewarded us with a good race. But it just didn't go his way today. He ended up finishing 11th in the main feature.

Still, it was a good way to spend our day off. Hanging out with friends and supporting family.

That's a good day.

Special Salute

We had a special road trip up to Rudolph this morning for their annual Memorial Day service in the cemetery. It's only a 6-mile jaunt from Rapids so the Assumption band was chosen to provide music for the program. I think Carter had to know and play something like a dozen songs.

It was a very nice service and done before the temps got up into the high 80s today. Naturally, I found the occasion to be quite photo worthy. I sort of shot pictures like I was doing a photo spread for a scrapbook. Oh that's right. That's what I do!

Here are a LOT of  images that really illustrate what Memorial Day Weekend is all about...

A neat sculpture plaque at the Grotto Shrine next to the cemetery where we had the program.

Band members huddle for last-minute instructions.

Marching proudly.

Carter and the brass section.

Looks like he's giving me the evil eye for photographing him! He denies it, though.

Standing at attention.

A special prayer.

The guards stand at attention.

Saluting our flag and national anthem with band playing Star Spangled Banner.

Saluting our flag and national anthem with band playing Star Spangled Banner.

Saluting our flag and national anthem with band playing Star Spangled Banner.

Why yes, there are other members of the band besides Carter!

A veteran listens.

Local Boy Scouts (even yawning, tired ones) were on hand to salute the veterans.

Playing patriotic songs.

Band played theme song for each branch of the service.

A veteran listens.

Gun salute before Taps.

Bugler plays Taps. Gets me every time!

While the band played a patriotic song, the local Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts placed flags on the graves of veterans in the Rudolph cemetery.

 

 

Assumption band under the direction of Miss Molly Thomas.

Taking care of the flags after the ceremony.

Scouts take time to thank the veterans for their service.

The Assumption band -- Middle School and High School combined.

Group photo after the program. Nice job, everyone!

Program got started before it got really hot, but the kids were warm (make that VERY warm) by the end. Good thing the Rudolph Cheese Factory was just down the road. A mandatory ice cream stop!

Pomp & Circumstance

It was graduation day today. It was kind of a neat set of circumstances (and pomp) -- Carter played in the band for the ceremony for his cousin, our nephew Colin, graduating as part of the Assumption High School class of 2012.

Since I was the official photographer, well just for Colin, here is his scrapbook:

Knights of Columbus led the procession and lined up on both sides of the aisle where the graduates walked up to the stage.

Colin (left) in line to start processional.

Marching in to Pomp and Circumstance.

Almost time to get my diploma!

Next in line to get it!

Congrats from Uncle Jimmy & Aunt Robyn!

Don't worry Carter, you'll get your turn!

Good thing we got pictures right after the ceremony. The sun was still out and it poured rain all afternoon. Needless to say, racing at Marshfield Motor Speedway was called off for the night.

Colin with Dad (Baird) and Mom (Sherry).

Mom and her little boy!!

With Uncle Brian and Aunt Rene Reffner.

With Grandma Dede and Grandpa Tom Reffner.

With Grandpa John and Grandma Donna Austin.

Austin family picture with Jim and Sherry and their parents!

Time for our own family photo... since we're all dressed up!

Summer Hours

Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial kickoff to summer. Back when I was young, it made more sense because school was out by then. That's not the case these days. But here are few signs it's the holiday weekend...

Speed Traps: You know if it's a busy traveling weekend, the police will be out in full force. They started already this morning and I experienced my first bout of "Po-Po Paralysis" -- that moment when your body seizes up upon seeing cherries & berries in your rearview mirror and you glance at your speedometer, praying it's not you... Well this morning I saw the po-po parked on the side of the road and was careful with my speed but suddenly he was behind me, lights a-flashin'. I pulled over and, thank god, he went around me. Thank you, car ahead of me, for being the "bait" today. Phew.


Summer Hours: We began our "summer hours" at work today, which means we are dismissed from the asylum at 3 p.m. on Fridays. It's great for weekends when we have travel -- which happens a lot with the tournament team -- and it's great to get all kinds of errands done while it's still afternoon. Today hubby had off but I had to work since I had a deadline moved up to today that normally would be on Monday. It was a busy day and I just got out of there a little after 3. To really kick off summer, I stopped at King Cone in Amherst where they regretfully informed me they may never have Blueberry Waffle Cone again. It's a special limited edition flavor. I had to settle for some Mint Brownie flavor to cope...

Graduation Parties: We will have 2 graduation parties to go to this weekend. (Our nephew Colin will have his in a few weeks.) Tonight we got to help out some friends get theirs set up. Jim and Carter went over earlier to help put up the tent. I came later (after grocery shopping in a super crowded Wal-Mart) to help with decorating and whatever needed doing. We had a good time with it. And it gave me a glimpse of what we have in store in another 4 years. It made me want to cry. Or that could have been the onion we were chopping in the kitchen...

Skeeters: For as dry as it has been, I was thinking this would be one of those late springs when we didn't have many bugs or mosquitoes to contend with. Boy was I wrong. The skeeters came out in full force tonight. Dang. Apparently, they can read the calendar, too. Here comes summer!

Dust Bowl 2012

Carter's last game of his middle school career turned out to be quite a memorable one. No, not because of any big hit or play... but because it could have been dubbed the Dust Bowl of 2012. Not kidding. Winds were so high all day and, coupled with the dry conditions around here, it was a literal sand storm at times.

Some of the photo highlights...

Ball... inside!

Squinting against the dust.

Jim had to serve as the field umpire today. Here he is in the middle of a dust squall!

Carter takes off after a hit.

Fouling one off.

Carter tries to tag the runner out at second.

Got 'em this time!

Holding the runner at second.

Kicking up dust... 'cuz he can.

Dust + Contacts = Not Fun

Carter is safe at second!!

Carter takes off on a steal while Dad concentrates on the pitch.

Last post-game huddle of the season! Now onto summer ball...

By the way, we lost the game... but I couldn't even tell you the score!