Mother's Day, Graduation, and Feasting, Oh My!
It was May 14th, Mother's Day, warm and muggy as always (hello Shreveport in May). We'd spent the morning making Jodie Gail (she'll kill me for using her full name), my Mom, breakfast in her kitchen. All three of her children, her two grand babies (Cavan and Charleigh), my husband (Trey), and my little sister's fiance (Stephen). We were all sprawled out. My little sister, Michelle, appears to be useful but really she's standing around Stephen-chatting with my Mom by the bar at the end of the kitchen. My Momma is next to the bar by the “office area,” where our landline phone and such things once were, trying to talk to us all simultaneously and grinning ear to ear like a giddy child. My husband, always the silent leader, instantly takes over and starts cooking the eggs and then the bacon. As we're married and he's rubbed off on me a bit, I start baking the cinnamon rolls and Michelle's gluten free waffles. Since I'm ADHD, I burn them both…My older sister spent her Mother's Day morning sleeping in, which is perfect because she was tired. Always the fancy one, she comes in late with extra food, her fruit.
The kitchen smelled like bacon and cinnamon. This wasn't helping the room full of starving people waiting patiently. Finally we all ate, but Trey had to leave early to set up the church, and then I left to go to church shortly after.
My mother-in-law, Brynda, was in town for the weekend and was joining us at church. The three of us headed home abruptly after the service to get ready for the day's event. One that had nothing to do with Mother's Day but was the reason Trey's Momma was in town; Trey’s graduation from his masters program. Now, why this was scheduled on Mother's Day, who knows, but I assume it was the only day they could. Since I'd had a session the day before, my living room was no longer a living room, but a studio. So, that meant I had about 1 ½ hours to get my living back to a living room. You see, after graduation there would be eating of food at my home in celebration of said graduation. Generally speaking, a blow up mattress in the middle of the living room isn't exactly social gathering appropriate.
So, I got it done, I hustled my ass off, then I hustled my ass off to get ready, but I still managed to be about 10 minutes late for my own husband's graduation. I literally walked in moments before they were walking out. I mean, I wouldn't be Kimberly if I didn't show up in the nick of time.
The ceremony was fab, like any other one I suppose, except that my husband walked across the stage and, for the first time since pre-k, was done with school. So for us, it was the best ceremony ever!
After the ceremony we got to meet the graduates outside the Centurylink Center in Bossier. This means I run the half mile back to my car, in heels, to get my camera before everyone melts in the Louisiana heat. Now, as we are taking photos, the freaking chancellor of LSUS walks up and just says “don't forget me, let's get the bling in the photo” like this is the most normal thing in the world. Nbd dude, nbd.
We get photos with each subfamily or whatever. Trey's face when he looks at my grandparents makes me want to cry forever. He melts my heart. It's already the best day in the world and there's still more to come.
Back at the house, my husband is still the silent leader and the man who is always serving, but this time alongside his Momma who is the one he got the servant trait from. They are both cooking dinner (linner, lunner? It was like 4, that's not really dinner and not really lunch.) Stephen walks in and holds up a pack of High Life, a beer of choice for my husband, and they both cheer or something adorable. Stephen congratulates Trey and hands him his beer. I ask Michelle, the designated cleaner (I use to con her into cleaning our room while I sat on our bed, ha), to pick up the last bits of mess in the living room while I finish some other cleaning duties, Stephen joins her. Eventually the rest of the family trickles in and we enjoy many conversations, Cavan and Charleigh play with the Google Home, my niece, Brynlee (Trey’s brothers baby), runs around with Charleigh's old shopping cart, my nephew (Trey’s sisters baby) Jeremiah, is getting all the lovins from everyone. My grandparents, Mama Buddy and Papa Buddy, (because we couldn't say Betty as kids, they're both Buddy) look at a book I have about Marilyn Monroe. Mama Buddy surprises me, like she always does, and shares her adoration for her and knowledge about her.
Brynlee and Jeremiah are being literally the cutest cousins, completely best buds. But they also begin fighting over toys and it's precious. Cavan and Charleigh seem to think they own everything (I mean, all kids do) and tell me that Brynlee and Jeremiah are touching their toys. Now, to be fair, I did initially stock up on toys so that when I picked them up from school, kept them in the summer, and when they were sick, they wouldn't be bored to death. But the toys were also for this exact purpose of entertaining family babes and church babes. So I let them down easy.
Now it's time for food. Trey has made some amazing Carnitas that everyone raves about and we're all stuffed like a Turkey. The rest of the night goes just about the same, beer and conversation that brings joy to everyone. I literally never wanted it to end, my heart was full. My Momma and Momma-in-law were happy, it was the best day.