Graduation, Sisters, and Weekend in Review

My sister arrived on Wednesday night after driving 14 hours . . .by herself! I'm so proud of her. She is 8 years older than I and that was a long drive - with no overnight stop.

I had to work Thursday and Mark was at the farm, so she just hung out at our house until I got off work. We heated up some leftovers for dinner and talked and watched TV.

Friday morning dawned bright and early and it was GRADUATION DAY - for me! I graduated Summa Cum Laude from a local Community College and I actually walked! I am the first person in my family of birth to have any kind of a college degree. Mark and the kids are very well educated - Mark is a CPA and both of our kids have their Master's Degrees. In his remarks on Friday, the president of the college said, "You now have something that no one can ever take away from you - a college degree." I may have been a tad weepy during the ceremony. The graduate that almost tipped me over the edge was a blind daddy . . .who was led by his little girl, who was maybe 7 or 8. She took her job so seriously and everyone in the place went wild with clapping and hooping and hollering! It was a beautiful sight to behold. It was extra special for my sister, Becky, to be here for many reasons. First, we haven't been together since right before covid hit. Second, our mom died when I was a Sophomore in high school so Becky attended every event in our mom's place. She was there when I was tapped into National Honor Society -- all of those momentous high school occasions.

This was from a friend at work - we
enjoyed the bottle of bubbly on Saturday
night.

on our front porch

This is my advisor, Ms. Thomas. She
and I had never met in person and she
asked me to find her. She was SO VERY
helpful and kind to me!!

Here I am - headed to shake
the president's hand (I'm between the
two people on stage)

The graduation was at the historic
Alabama Theater. Our friends
snapped this shot from a stairwell.
There were a lot of people there!

It was very warm and sunny - our friend
snapped this as we were walking
to the car.

Our friends were so very kind and wanted to celebrate with us so they took us to dinner. These are our people. The food was delicious.

The Pita Stop Cahaba Heights Shrimp Kebabs, salad,
fruit, hummus, pita - yum!

Here we are. They were so kind to include
Becky, too. While we were there, it started
raining and was a huge thunderstorm.

Saturday, we crawled out of bed and it was pouring rain and we had to drive about an hour north for a memorial picnic for our older sister who died in November. There are three of us left -- me, Becky, and our first cousin, Willard. I'm 66, Becky is 75, and I think Willard is 80. Our kids were not able to attend but we got to hang out with our niece and great nieces and great great nieces?? I need to look up those categories - so I know our niece is our niece. Are her daughters our great nieces? Are their daughters our great great nieces? I know we were there for a more somber occasion, but I really enjoyed laughing with our niece, Mandy.

It was rainy, cold, and windy - in 
May in Alabama! I'm on the left, 
Willard in the middle, Becky on the right.

This is after we got home. Cheers!

We were about halfway home from the picnic and we came to a complete stop on the interstate. We finally figured out that there was a wreck ahead, but we were trapped. Rather than an hour drive, it took us between an hour and a half and two hours to get home. We ate Chick-fil-A for dinner and we all did prep for the Sunday family lunch and shared some champagne.

I worked on Sunday morning and then hurried home to help Mark and Becky finish lunch prep. We had 16 family members for Sunday lunch. I've written about our family Sunday lunches before. Mark's momma cooked every Sunday and we all gathered together. It keeps the family close.

I tried a new recipe for London Broil guaranteed to be tender.
The rare slices were tender, but the rest was chewy.
The recipe also said it would be
flavorful and it was. That is Wynn with
Mark. He is family by friendship.

Bookends - Mark and his identical twin brother.
All three granddaughters and our daughter
and son-in-law ate in the kitchen.

I didn't get everyone in the photo and it is a horrible
photo.

At 5:00 on Sunday afternoon, I had to attend a meeting at another local United Methodist Church. I am a Lay Delegate for Annual Conference which will be held in a few weeks. This was a pre-conference meeting.

Our neighborhood had outdoor movies and food trucks on Sunday night but we ate leftover cheese grits from lunch and we all read and watched one TV show!

We've rolled around to Monday and here we go with a new week! What did you do this weekend?