“Live as you would have wished to live when you are dying.”- Christian Furchtegott Gellert
Last week was hard to describe, but what I can say is that I'm glad that it is finally over. The highlight of my week was that I finally had my first golf lesson after having to reschedule multiple times. I feel like I did a good job for my first real time being out there. I can hit the ball with the driver, but still have a problem being consistent with the regular club. I need a lot more practice and have a few more lessons set up. I hear that once you learn to play, the game is very addictive. I guess I’m about to find out. I like trying new things and I waited way too long to try this one.
This weekend was my niece Bekkah's high school graduation party we threw for her. She is going to Texas A&M Kingsville in the fall. My siblings and I all chipped in to celebrate this milestone. Most of the work was put in my sister Ana who took care of most of the planning details with my sister Eliza who not only helped, but let us use her house for the party. My contribution was mainly donating, that and helping set up with the chairs and tables and whatnot.
Friday night, I arrived in the Valley late. My cousin Rino drove down with us because he was also going to his grandmother's 75th birthday party. Since I didn't have any plans with friends as I often do when I visit, I spent Friday night with my family visiting. My grandmother was in town and staying with my mother so we visited and caught up. I see my grandmother a lot less now that she lives in Ft. Worth, but we still talk pretty regularly on the phone.
She does seem to be very happy there.
Since I just got my new bed, I brought down my full sized bed for my niece Sarah. We traded her for a twin sized mattress we brought back to Austin to keep under the bed for when we have guests driving through. So if you ever sleep on it, you now know the story behind the bed. I think Sarah will like the full sized bed since I never had any complaints except for the size issue. I hope she likes it.
Saturday morning, I visited with my dad and then went to Rick's house to pick up chairs and tables with Abram. We set them up at Eliza's house where I hadn't been since she painted. She had the interior painted different colors and it looked really nice. Each room has its own look and she has a very good eye for that type of thing. She also got a new backyard fence for the party that she had quickly built.
Once we were done with those errands, we had lunch at this wings place. I rarely eat at wings places, so I enjoyed it, I don't know why I don't go more. Rick had his niece and nephew in tow, and they are pretty cool little kids. They have grown a lot since I last saw them. It didn't take long to get back to Eliza's house to keep setting up for the party. Ana and Eliza handled all the important stuff, the decorations, etc and I just provided a little help where needed. No one buys ice like this guy.
Finally, after going home to change, the party was under way. We even had catering--Talk about moving on up. A lot of family and friends came over and it was great seeing everyone. Bekkah was indeed the bell of the ball. Here are Jamie and Bekkah at the party looking very lovely. Jamie is the little sister.
Here are the graduation party flickr photos for your enjoyment. Bekkah also had her high school friends over as well and they all seemed like very nice kids. Other than being extremely proud of Bekkah, the night had its emotional ups and downs. The hardest part and was that my sister Veronica was not able to be around to watch her little girl graduate. She was on our mind the entire time and not only made the moments more special, but also more reflective. There was a slideshow for Bekkah of pictures from when she was little until present day and a lot of them had her and her mom. That brought a lot of tears. She would be very proud of her little girl.
I remember well my sister Vero's graduation party, even though I was still a kid. Very early 90s. The family had just purchased a VHS camcorder so we have video from the event. It is a family video that we have watched a lot with the girls over the years. It is hard to think that Bekkah is the same age that her mom was in that video. There was a moment on the video where Vero and her friend are cutting the graduation cake. Her friend, probably having attended a few weddings, out of nowhere smashed the cake into Vero's face. It was very unexpected and very funny. It is a moment that epitomizes that occasion for me. Saturday, I was recording Jamie and Bekkah and then out of nowhere Jamie grabbed her cake and put it in Bekkah's face. (Maybe not out of nowhere, since I put Jamie up to it.) It made me laugh and brought back good memories. It was a moment that meant a lot to me. I'm glad I got that on video. There was hugging and crying afterwards.
Seeing the family was great and we all hung out until midnight, having a few beers chatting. Overall, it went very well and was a very nice party. I myself am looking forward to Bekkah's college graduation party which will be happening around the same time as Jamie's (and Sarah's) high school graduation in 4 years.
Sunday, Ana took me to this place to buy sheets and a comforter for my new king sized bed. They had really good prices. I still need a new down comforter, a duvet cover, a down alternative blanket with satin edges and maybe a new pillow until I will feel like I'm set.
Abram drove back to Austin and made really good time. We even got there in time to see the LOST series finale. I've been waiting 6 years for this. Ever since tb persuaded me to check out the first season of the show, I've been a huge fan. After 2 1/2 hours of TV watching, I thought the ending felt good, but that I still don't know what everything means. I understand the point they tell you at the end, but not exactly how it works or even what it all means. What I want is a clean simple, creator approved description of the meaning of the island/show/ending. Not one person's or another's theory about what the show and its ending means to them. I hate when people say something is open to interpretation and that no interpretation is wrong. Lost is clearly open to interpretation I agree, but many I have heard are clearly wrong and contradicted by many facts. So many little things I wonder about, for example, Aaron was supposed to be super evil, but then that story line got dropped it seemed. Did I miss something? Great show, I enjoyed it, but man I could have gone for some answers. Where is Michael? Why were not more characters in that church? I consider myself to be a smart guy, but this show is still over my head. So enjoyable though. Farewell Lost.
so full of hope and promise
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