The End of Things

Whew! It has been a whirlwind around my house this past month. Some of it is just the way it is and some of it was self inflicted. But most of it has now come to an end.

And so my mind began to think about the end of things. For me, it meant the beginning of another, by choice. What I knew would end soon, prompted me to think about the new beginning once the ending happened. My mother once told me when I was in high school, after I had planned, saved, and flown to visit friends in Houston, Tx. only to return feeling depressed because it was over, that you always should have a new goal set before the current one ends. Good advice but it only lends to my already driven, adrenaline functioning lifestyle that makes me crazy. But before I go on and on about my new beginning, I want to share some of my endings.

It was the end of:

and.....

Dancing With the Stars!

This was my first time watching DWTS and OMG! can I just say that I think I am suppose to be a dancer. I loved every show and especially loved the hip action of Derick, the partner of Nicole (pictured above) who eventually were the winners of this season. Now it is over and I miss it. Maybe I'll take dancing lessons sometime.

I started watching LOST on dvd and caught myself up in time to watch season 5 and season 6 on TV. There is no explaining LOST and I am not sure it was worth all the time, but needless to say, it gave me some much needed down time and I will be feeling a bit lost without LOST.

It was the end of:

12 YEARS OF DANCE FEES, DANCE COSTUMES, and DANCE RECITALS.

Watching Christiana dance these past 12 years has been so much fun. I'm sure every mother says this, but I truly think she was always the best dancer in her class. So when the last dance recital of her 12 year dance career had ended, I cried. Just a little though. It also means, however, the end to $65/mo dance fees. That part does not make me cry.

Here is a link to a very, homemade video of Christiana's senior dance. She is the one in the longer, dark blue skirt. (I could only link this through Facebook so you have to sign in before you can watch this).

Senior Dance

It was the end of:

SHOWCHOIR

Christiana had danced in show choir since she was in 7th grade. Show choir is a competitive dancing/singing group. Her high school years were a lot of fun to watch and we will miss seeing this come to an end.

Here is another homemade video of one of her favorite dances (Again, you have to sign into Facebook). She is upfront on the right, in an orange dress in the beginning of the dance and then moves to the center front. She is one of the couples dancing.

Show Choir Dance

It was the end of:

13 YEARS OF SCHOOL FOR CHRISTIANA

A lot of my endings this month, as you can see, have been because Christiana graduated. I spent a lot of time on self-inflicted home projects for several weeks before the graduation open house. I have done that for every one so far. It must be a creative bug that starts burrowing upon sensing the sights and sounds of celebration. Needless to say, I about killed myself cleaning, organizing, sorting, throwing, re-arranging, and painting just to satisfy myself. I am so weird. But, it was all worth it and we had a lot of fun with extra family around, lots of food prep, eating lots of food that was prepped, and visiting with friends.

Here are a few photos of the grand day:

The fam...myself, the graduate, Mary aka Gramma Mary, my dad, Elise, my good looking husband and the father of the graduate, my mom aka Nana and our youngest, Corbin.

Christiana with some of her friends.

The food.

The guests.

And the gifts......

My dad made Christiana a jewelry armoir.

My mom painted Christiana a darling porcelain china tea set.

And her brother, Ross, built her this awesome mirror.

It was also the end of two other things:

1) A 9 month long toothache. Had to have half my tooth drilled out and a temporary filling put in until I can do the root canal but at least the pain is gone. Sorry...I have no pictures. :)

2) And....after living in this house for 12 years, we finally, and with much sorrow, said good bye to the one and only, very wobbly, ugly green step like thing that was planted at the foot of our back door. And thanks to my dad and Ross, I now have a new, sturdy, ready to be painted and distressed back porch.

(To see a tiny glimpse of the old step, you will have to look in the back of the photo for what looks like a box covered with gross outdoor, green carpet. Oh yeah...it was a box covered with gross outdoor carpet.)

May was a month full of endings. Hopefully, this summer, will be filled with new beginnings. I have made a pact with myself to keep the calm. My goals are simple and I am trying hard to teach myself to function in solace rather than chaos. It is easy for me to be motivated by the driving rains and ignore the summer showers. It's the end of that, too. If all goes as planned, you may just have to come visit me while I sit on my front porch and watch my flowers grow. Nothing chaotic about that.