RANDOMNESS #1 - I have declared today "Finish the Board Day." I will be decorating a table in the Fellowship Hall of our church tomorrow morning, and the "Board" is front and center. It must be spectacular. It must accurately depict four years of my child's life. It must be a representation of his family life, his school life, his church life. It must... It must...
Actually, I'm going for neat and straight. Oh. And spelling. I want to be sure I spell his name correctly!
If you attend the Reception, be sure to check out Josh's board. It will be neat and straight... with correct spelling!
And I'm putting candy on the table for anyone who passes by.
As anyone who knows me can attest, I'm a giver... or a briber. Take your pick!
RANDOMNESS #2 - Bev and family have technically moved into their "new" old house. Four months ago TODAY (January 23), their home was destroyed by a tornado. They lost not only their home, but three out of four cars, a camper and much of the content of their home.
Bev's "new" old house...
Bev's "new" used camper and "new" new storage shed!
Today should be a day of celebration and dancing in the streets... if they weren't just so darn tired!
Today's celebration will be marked by lots of unpacking and a really, really delicious home cooked meal provided by ME... and a banana pudding for Tommy. And it will be eaten in their "new" old kitchen in their "new" old house as a family.
Just between me and you, that sounds better than dancing in the streets. It's too hot to dance in the streets... or is that just me?
RANDOMNESS #3 - Josh's Journey - The High School Years - The only way I know to convey the past four years of this six and a half year journey (so far) is by grade. Again, the information, documents and day-to-day living with the illness is too voluminous and overwhelming to "just jot down."
9th Grade
1. Josh took only academic classes his 9th grade year. We wanted to slowly transition him into a full-day schedule since 8th grade had been "too much." He was finished with school at 1:15 each day.
2. He continued to take Honors classes and did well.
3. Although there were several days throughout the year he was unable to walk out the door, it never turned into two or more days. He would take a much-needed break and be back in school the next day.
4. He played football, but it became apparent playing the sport was more of an OCD obsession and when the obsession was gone (overnight), he was unable to return to the team.
5. He immediately started playing the guitar, and we hired a private teacher who was excellent. Josh turned out to be a very talented guitarist.
6. During his 9th grade year, church was still difficult to attend. He couldn't come in the sanctuary until after the music, but depending on the topic, he was able to stay for most sermons. He would slip out during invitation.
7. He had a friend during this year, and they were able to spend a lot of time together. It was good for both of them.
8. Josh finished in the Top Twenty of his class. It was a high honor.
WHAT I REMEMBER MOST ABOUT HIS 9TH GRADE YEAR - In October of Josh's 9th grade year, he was walking with his class to P.E. A young man he didn't even know kickboxed him in the temple immediately knocking him unconscious for several minutes.
I was called to the school, and by the time I arrived, Josh was awake, but the nurse and the Vice-Principal urged us to go to the Emergency Room for observation.
He did have a concussion, and he was held for observation for several hours.
When we left the hospital, we went directly to the football stadium. It was Senior Recognition Night, and as is customary, Mike and I were supposed to walk Austin down the middle of the football field for this service. It is a "big deal" for parents of Senior football players and band members.
Josh sat away from Mom and Roxie because we didn't know the reason for the attack, and since several of the attacker's "friends" were in a group at the top of the stadium, we didn't want them to see Roxie near him in case they would later target her. Josh sat near the bottom of the bleachers, and Mike and I never took our eyes off him... or the large group of boys at the top of the stadium. As soon as the 15 or 20 minute "service" was over, I took Josh home.
We later found out the attacker didn't know Josh. Josh was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
We weren't sure if Josh would be able to go back to school after this incident, but Monday morning, he walked out of our front door one more time.
Josh was "knocked down" many times over the next four years (physically, emotionally and spiritually), but he always got up... one more time.
I'll share his 10th grade year with you tomorrow.
Crescent Roll Hamburgers
I made these last night, and they were very good. While everyone enjoyed them, we all kept saying, "These would be great for a party," so I'm going to file it under Party Recipes.
You will need the following:
1/2 pound of ground chuck
Worcestershire sauce
1 egg
1/3 packet of dry onion soup mix
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
2/3 cup of cheddar cheese
1 roll of crescent rolls
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a skillet, brown meat. Drain excess fat.
3. In a medium size bowl, mix 1/2 cup of cheese, onion soup mix, couple drops of Worcestershire sauce, pepper. Add meat.
4. Unroll the crescent rolls. Place a rounded tablespoon of the meat mixture towards the larger end of the crescent dough.
5. Roll. Pinch the ends to make them into little pockets.
6. Place crescents onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
7. Brush the tops of the dough with an egg wash. (Simply break an egg in a bowl and whisk egg until well blended. Add 1 tablespoon of water to the mix.)
8. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the egg wash and bake for 10 to 15 minutes.
9. Serve with individual bowls of ketchup, mustard and mayo for dipping.
This recipe received Five Faulkner Stars, which is unheard of in these parts. I'll be making them again (and again and again).
Wednesday Wisdom - I would have to say the subject of the following quote has been a problem for me in the past. However, the older I get, the more easily I follow God's direction... and those "bridge" choices are not as difficult as they once were.
"The hardest thing in life is to know which bridge to cross and which bridge to burn." Anonymous
Last Minute Graduation "Stuff"
1. Go to eighteen25 under My Blog List and scroll down to the post entitled "You Gotta See This" dated May 19. They have very cute decorating ideas, as well as fun party foods.
2. This helpful article came from the website www.celebrationideasonline.com.
Once you have a budget and have decided on your venue, then settle on a date and do it early. You will be competing with lots of other parties this time of year and by getting yours on the calendar first you will avoid conflicts. Next decide on invitations. You can order them online or buy them in the stores. However to save money, you can make them yourself on the computer. There are numerous invitation products available in office supply stores that will give you templates to make your own. Be creative... add graduation clipart, a logo from the college or high school of your graduate or even inset a photo! Unless you have room in your house or are having it off site, ALWAYS plan a rain date. Also make sure you have an RSVP with a date deadline and add your email as well as your phone number.
For food, your options are numerous if you are hosting your graduation party at home. You can have it catered. You can cook using a barbecue theme. Add salad, fruit platters and a graduation-themed dessert and you have an easy, inexpensive menu.
We set up a "stadium" food booth near the grill. My husband and his buddies were grilling to order, with the condiments and rolls set out at the booth. You make a poster and name your area. For example, at our party for our youngest who was going to DePaul University in Chicago, we set up the "DePaul Dug Out" and decorated the table with the school colors. For our son, who was headed to Rutgers University, we had a "Knight Stand" as their school mascot is the Scarlet Knight. For another of our parties, I bought cases of bottled water, took off the store label and made my own personalized labels celebrating the graduates!
For your graduation themed desserts you can always make or order a sheet cake. However, I have received great kudos with my graduate cakes. I make dozens of cupcakes and make tags on card stock with the high school or college logo. When our daughter was headed to Chicago for college, I made tags with pictures of Chicago landmarks. I then tape the tags to a toothpick and insert them into the cupcakes.
3. This is a surprise for Josh's graduation celebration. Men in Black III comes out Friday, but there is a midnight show near our home tomorrow night. Graduation night! After graduation, I'm handing him an envelope with seven Men in Black III movie tickets.
His cousins, siblings and friends are coming to the house after the reception and leaving about 10:30 to go watch a fun movie. Then everyone is coming back to the house to "crash."
I'll be making a big pancake breakfast the next morning (or afternoon... depending on when everyone wakes up) before they head to their respective homes.
Except for my lack of sleep, I think it's going to be a fun gift/tradition/etc.
And remember... IT'S A SURPRISE! DON'T MENTION IT TO JOSH!
Have a grand Wednesday. Since it is my least favorite day of the week, I will try to pretend it is Thursday. (It's what I do to cope.) I'll be back tomorrow with Blog Linkage and a Date. I'll also be adding to Josh's Journey - The High School Years, and I'll have a picture of the finished board! (Oh, please. Let me have a picture of the finished board!)
Take care, and I'll talk to you in the morning.
Sincerely,
The Enchanting and Slightly Panic Stricken Belinda
Remember this guy? He was my FIRST high school graduate. I thought he looked so old then... but I was wrong!
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