DTE, congratulations on D2. When do you graduate?
ShawD seems like she is really enjoying her job as an NP.
I am at a review class now. It is helpful. I have two more clinicals but have passed my finals. I graduate on the 19th.
They are telling us to resist the urge to clean and to study. I guess that feeling is universal. Glad she loves her job. Now that she has it she is all set, to do whatever she wants. Experience is important.
D2 is home now. D1 is in finals. We will be going up to the lake soon. My dream would be to refurbish the lake house like NM did and practice in NH/ They have full practice authority. but with H’s job that wont happen.
Congrats to your D, dte and congrats in advance on your upcoming graduation.
DTE - Congrats to both you and you D!! What an accomplishment. I can’t even begin to THINK about going back to school.
DTE, many congrats for you and your D!
Shaw–and to your wife!
D and FSIL are here for a week planning two weddings–either they will go with a 22 person
intimate ceremony, happy hours, and restaurant dinner followed by a big party with friends the next weekend in Boston OR they will have a big wedding here on Sept. 9th with 150-175 guests.
I think I have been on here long enough that you guys know which one I want to have happen.
D clearly wants the small wedding here with the larger informal party the following week. But FSIL leans toward the larger wedding. The good thing is that it will be decided by this Friday as we are going dress shopping and the venue determines the length of the dress. I think D is waiting for him to catch up with her thoughts.
FSIL has been offered architectual work by both the Boston venue and a local sushi restaurant owner
in leu of money for their party. He is drawing up contracts to see if he is interested.
Gads, just talking to myself here :D.
Everything they seem to be leaning to is nothing D has ever wanted.
They did a cake tasting–ugh, so sweet and fluffy and not good.
They did a dinner tasting. Just super boring food. Salad was good.
“if we have 150 then the food is just not going to be special”.
Which would be fine but you have gone from wanting an open bar with PNW amazing
food with special desserts to boring food with 2 signature drinks and then beer and wine…
OK, I am smiling and nodding. D is squirrelly which tells me this is not really right.
Good luck Oregon. I just keep telling myself that I’m just the bank. 
Actually there is nothing yet that I think isn’t my D. I do think we are inviting more people than she would like but I don’t think it will really be any bigger than she wants. I think some of our out of town people won’t attend.
The shoe hunt for her has been brutal. Finally found a website where she can just basically style the shoe and they will make it. Expensive but I was out of options. She wants a sapphire colored shoe and with lots of outside it can’t be a heel. Just not finding anything.
Happy Mother’s day all. Hope you enjoy the day. I’m just looking forward to not working this weekend. This last week has been brutal. So far 60 hours. Hopefully it won’t grown any larger…
D bought a lovely dress today. She bought the one I picked out and ordered it at one store (returnable) and
the second store had a nicer but similar in style that she bought.
H and FSIL went to a grassy private “bowl” located in our large park that I suggested and FSIL loved it.
We hike through it on one of our city hill hikes and in 10 or so visits have seen 4 people. They would plan on just
showing up and being married and if there are outsiders watching they are fine with that. The whole affair will last 30 minutes or so and maybe some pictures there. If it rains the ceremony may end up in our house.
Oh, this is all if it is the 22 large that they seem to be wanting. :-bd. wins.
Tonight we will have dinner at the place they are planning to have their dinner. Meet the chef and be wined and dined. She makes the most gorgeous cakes and desserts I have ever seen.
In the end, fingers crossed, the 150 plus large affair will be an idea of the past.
RM, D and I have discussed how much more difficult it has been for them as we told them the amount
of money they will receive from us and they can spend it anyway they wish. FSIL’s parents have said the same. This means they (33 and 34–both with school debt and a relocation this year) have to make some grown up decisions. If we were just paying for a wedding “up to” they would have the large wedding. All very interesting.
mp, loved your comment that you are not stressed if I am not. The “little” wedding does not
stress me at all. 150 guests for September makes me break out in a sweat.
I bought a lovely gauzy jacket at Target for $16.99 on clearance. I will dress myself up and show it to D and if she thinks it is nice then I will never ever tell her where it came from…
well maybe after a few glasses of champagne.
Update: big wedding is off. Now they are between a small one and an “elopement” in Boston which
would have only the parents with them and a brunch and they would leave for a honeymoon
that day. I a thrilled with either although I think they will be happier with the small one. We went to the
restaurant last night that would be their venue and it was one of the best meals I have ever had to date.
Happy Mother’s Day to all of you. I hope everyone gets to spend the day doing activities that are enjoyable.
Happy Birthday, NM and Happy Mother’s Day to all.
Finally had a little time to get some things done today. This is a quiet weekend for us, but we have had too much going on lately.Leaving for the midwest again on Tuesday to attend H’s niece’s wedding which should be fun.
Happy Mother’s Day to all. We celebrated today as ShawWife is heading to Italy tonight to teach painting in Umbria. (Life is tough but someone has to do it). I’m going to head to London a bit later and meet her there and work while they are painting and then suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous Umbrian eating and vineyard visiting.
ShawSon has been developing new venture number 2. Number one he did with a team in a Lean Launchpad course. He decided that the market was a little too small but his teammates may pursue, in which case he would own a small stake (comparable to the stake he retains in the company he started in college). Venture 2 has become hot. A day after presenting it at a Demo Day, he and team were offered a summer spot (with money) at a venture capital firm’s incubator. And, he has been meeting with some of the best VC firms in the Valley. Wild.
We thought he was going to one graduation this year for his MS in Data Science but that he would have to wait until next June for his MBA. He had to slow the MBA down by a quarter or so because of his surgery. But, he learned he can march with his MBA class (even though he will complete his remaining courses in the fall) or later. He prefers to march with his friends rather than with the following year’s class. So we get my birthday, Father’s Day and two graduations on the same weekend.
Oregon - my D is in her mid-20’s and neither her nor her fiance have school dept. Both have cars but her’s was a graduation present from us and her fiance’s family gave him his when he moved out so basically they just have the house and normal living expenses. I don’t mind paying for the wedding. I figure this will be my last “big” expense other than when they want a new house. We do hold the mortgage on her house now and on S’s as well. Income for when we retire.
Hope everyone had a lovely Mother’s Day. I spent most of it in the sewing room and enjoyed it. H made me breakfast and then cooked again when the family showed up for dinner. Nice to have the kids and grandkids over. Nice that they live so close.
Awesome weekend at the lake. The weather was perfect and we got to celebrate my birthday and Mother’s Day with
a beautiful hike and some boat rides. D2’s H made me a sign for the lake home that reads “Together is my favorite place to be”. Love it! Both girls cooked for the weekend so I was able to relax. Best birthday in years!!!
RM and oregon…Congrats on all of the wedding plans being set in motion! Everything sounds so lovely! I hope you enjoy the process!
NM - I really am enjoying it. I don’t need to really make decisions - just be supportive of what they chose. I’m also capable of saying no if it’s over the top on price or something else. For the most part though both D and her fiance are pretty rooted and nothing so far has been a “no”. I love to party plan so this is fun!
Happy belated birthday NM, and belated happy Mother’s Day to all 
Mom was down for the weekend for a nice visit and now I’m playing catch up.
My biggest, looming project is getting the right combo of sunny days coupled with time and young help to clean, dry and store the dome. I’m not looking forward to that project. I feel way behind on gardening projects but I pretty much need the dome down to do my usual powerwash, weed-the-terrace, apply fertilizer and new mulch program.
The up side, however, of still having the dome up is doing physio in 95 degree water with interior air temps in high 80s…its like summer in the dome
Waving hello to all. D & FSIL were here at the beach for the weekend. They actually arrived before H, who had been in MA since Wednesday doing Trustee meetings and Commencement stuff at his Alma Mater. He was totally wiped out when he got back Saturday afternoon.
The weather has been cold, gray and sometimes rainy for days. Last Tuesday when I played golf it was 46 degrees! Finally today the sun is out and it’s supposed to be in the 70s. I have a later tee time today for my golf league, so am not feeling quite so rushed.
We did some more wedding planning over the weekend. D & FSIL need to have a really detailed website since their “weekend at camp” is not the usual wedding. I keep trying to think of things from the perspective of someone who has no idea what this family camp is all about. After 25 years, everything is second nature to us.
Oh, and I started ordering dresses for me. My favorite dress is lovely, BUT (1) the online model is probably at least 5’10" so the length of the dress (tea length) looks perfect on her. I am several inches shorter, so it’s too long – and not easily shortened since the bottom edge is scalloped. And (2) the dress is unbelievably heavy! There are 2 lining layers. ANYWAY, the search continues. I’ve ordered quite a few – most have to be returned within 30 days, so now it’s a shopping/trying/returning frenzy. Oh well, I’ll get there. D just wants me to be comfortable.
S is still not sure of his deployment date – I’m holding out hope he can make the wedding. If he can be there, he’ll wear his dress blues.
Well it’s spring here and with it comes me and poison ivy - yup - here we go again. Poison ivy on my face around my eye. Looks like I went a few rounds with someone. So no gym time until it clears up and no contacts. Eyeglasses are at least 2 prescriptions old so now wondering when the headache is going to start and of course since it’s around the eye I need to call the dr. Oh joy. Just another fun day.
CBBBlinker - if you like the dress is there a way that they can shorten from the waist? Take it apart at the waist and bring the skirt “up”. That is one option but will depend on the cut if it can be done or not.
Well off to figure out when the drs. office opens.
Good news it’s not IN my eye just around it. 10 days of prednisone. Now to NOT gain weight while taking it. Always makes me hungry. All in all I guess good news since it’s not IN my eye.
RM, I hope your poison ivy is better! I have terrible memories of poison oak when I lived in
Gettysburg in the 70’s.
CBB, D did not like the outfit I put together so I am on the look again. I really only need a
top/jacket of some kind and, maybe, shoes. Good luck!
D and SIL have made most of the decisions for their little wedding here Sept. 9th. Sadly, the wedding site–
a redwood deck located in the Arboretum–is booked. We/they looked at a dozen parks but
have not decided where to say their vows. I think they will end up at a pretty site I suggested but
it is not a permitted place. They have decided to include parents at their “Party” the following week
in Boston. I am sorry about that as I really did not want to go and do not see how parents fit in.
But of course we will be there and then travel the coast of Maine for a week so at least that.
Beautiful weather here! We will be in Boston and Providence for D’s graduation next week.
Poison ivy is slowly fading. I stopped the benadryl last night. Was just making me to fuzzy and not myself in the mornings. Dr. changed the prednisone to 15 days.
Still on the hunt for shoes. I know what I want just having issues finding it. Sigh…
Sounds like the grooms mother is going to wear the same color is me. I will not make a stink and say anything but I find that somewhat baffling.