All through the girls’ school careers, June was the month of insanity. Final exams, final concerts, end-of-school celebrations, graduations, proms, track meets, and more. With college kids, things end in May. And our May has been cray. Or that is what I would say if I wanted a daughter to audibly groan. But, seriously, it has been an extremely busy early spring season for us. In the second weekend in May, Cute W and I each drove to Northampton separately to visit J on Friday. She’d just finished her finals week and planned to linger to work in the lab and celebrate Commencement with some senior friends (she just finished her second year). We left her one of our cars so that she could pack and drive home in her own time, while we headed back to the neighborhood for a weekend that included a couple of birthday parties and the Central Park Plant Sale, where Cute W scooped up plants to start his vegetable garden.
The following Friday, we flew to Iowa for M’s Commencement Weekend. Oh! Our plane was new and I appreciated how the head rests were adjustable. See?
We met some of Cute W’s high school friends for dinner in Des Moines, then went to a Rainbow Kitten Surprise concert that night (it just happened to line up and we couldn’t resist). Although I managed to resist buying his-and-hers matching Superstar t-shirts, just barely.
Then we drove to Grinnell to check into our posh accommodations at the Super 8 (have kids in college? mark your calendars now for making graduation weekend reservations). The weekend was jam-packed, including an athletics ceremony, receptions for the Spanish and Sociology departments (she double-majored), the baccalaureate service, dinner with all the soccer team senior families, multiple nights out drinking and chatting with families, visiting with Grandma and Grandpa, the Commencement itself, and helping M with moving out of her house. The actual Commencement was moved inside due to crazy-windy weather. How windy? Like this:
At first we feared that not everyone would be accommodated, but there was plenty of space and it was still lovely. It did cast a pall over lunch afterwards, though. Typically this is a big ol’ picnic, with plenty of tables and chairs and buffets set up outside, so people can chat and take pictures and drift over to the buffet tables in a staggered way. But because everything was moved quickly, there was a bit of chaos and confusion and an extremely long line to get food that wasn’t as good as either of the department receptions we’d attended earlier. So that was not as fun and relaxing as we might have hoped. By the end of the weekend, we were all pretty exhausted, and it was sad to say goodbye to the students and families that we’d really gotten to know well over four seasons of soccer-watching.
Cute W and I got home on Tuesday, where J had already arrived while we were in Iowa. Then M followed us late on Wednesday night.
And then we all headed out again the following Friday, this time down to New York City, where my mom was visiting, and my Northeast siblings and family decided to converge on the city for a mini-reunion on Saturday. On Friday night, before we met up with the rest of the extended family, we went to Pier 17 to see Briston Maroney & Peach Pit. Even though there was a little bit of rain, it was a really fun venue.
I decided that both our daughters and the random strangers would appreciate me not including them in a picture. Cute W is extremely tolerant.
We had an extremely delicious breakfast the next morning at a Lebanese place, Cafe Alula. Here is my bowl of deliciousness:
Then we spent the rest of Saturday picnicking with family, visiting my brother’s and sister-in-law’s art studio, and heading to their place for dinner. On Sunday, J got on a plane to Mississippi, yes, Mississippi, where she’s doing an REU, which stands for Research Experiences for Undergraduates. This is one of many REU programs run by the National Science Foundation (which means this may be the last year!) to get smarty-pants scientists to do science-y stuff in all different places. J will be working in chemistry lab (doing something that I neither understand nor am capable of explaining) for 10 weeks. After a last Sunday lunch with the rest of the family, Cute W, M, and I headed back up north.
On Wednesday, Cute W left for his work’s annual meeting and M left to go back to the city to visit a friend. I am enjoying some Restful Serenity Time, which I completely appreciate. Along with how busy the weekends have been, Cute W and I have both been cutting our work weeks short, which means we’ve been working furiously whenever we’re home (and that’s worse for him, with his meeting coming up). He’ll be home from his work on Friday, and he deserves a lazy weekend!
Next up: M and I are leaving a week from today to drive from Niskayuna to Madison, Wisconsin, where she’s moving into her apartment on Friday and starting work on the following Monday. Meanwhile I’ll fly home alone to rejoin Cute W to resume our mellow empty nester life.
