Second semester in the books

May 13, 2021 ~ Liz A ~ 10 Comments

April 29, 2021 – One year down, one to go

During her second semester of nursing school, Meliss would FaceTime us on Tuesdays while the boys were at soccer practice. Those calls were among the exceedingly rare study breaks she gave herself.

After hearing the latest about the boys, we especially looked forward to news about her clinical rotations, which included med/surg at a VA hospital, along with psych nursing and (her favorite) maternity care at Mercy Hospital.

We also appreciated hearing how much Jake was doing to support her full-time course load … not only chauffeuring the boys to soccer practices and school, but also taking on making meals for the fam. Turns out he’s a really good cook, and like most really good cooks, he has come to truly enjoy both the creative challenges and the gustatory rewards.

And so at last, on April 29th Meliss completed her first two full-time semesters with a 3.9 GPA. She and her fellow students (there are 24 in her cohort) went out after their last final exam for some well-deserved celebrating …

I couldn’t be prouder.

Flying solo

May 13, 2021 ~ Liz A ~ 10 Comments

Meliss called on Monday, a day earlier than usual. Her husband Jake is in the process of moving to a new office and she was detailing everything that needed to be done before next week’s opening.

“What if your dad comes up to give you a hand?” I generously offered.

After all, I got to fly up solo in March to celebrate Logan’s birthday, it only seemed fair to let Don have a chance to see everyone. I’m so thoughtful that way. And the truth is, I also had (and still have) a miserable cold, so going up in a plane was about the last thing I wanted to do.

My offer was quickly accepted and a look at our Southwest credit card points revealed that we had enough accumulated for Don to fly up to St. Louis and back for “free.” So off he went first thing Tuesday morning …

leaving me to happily patch together a memory …

P.S. Don got to witness the Walker method of tooth extraction, which involves a willing six-year-old, some string, and a remote control patrol car …

I guess that’s what comes of having a mom who’s training to be a nurse 😉

Grand times

May 12, 2021 ~ Liz A ~ 10 Comments

April 18, 2021 – Gah-ooo-gah, we love you

Griffin has been playing coach-pitch baseball and we’re finally feeling comfortable with going to games again. So when this turned up in the Sandra Boynton calendar …

it seemed like the perfect prompt for a baseball-related post …

The second patch is a reference to the sound old-fashioned klaxon horns make. Whenever we leave Meg’s house, rather than tooting our car horn to say goodbye, we (well okay, I) shout “gah-ooo-gah, we love you” out the car window. Probably equally annoying to the neighbors, but hopefully a memorable enough send off to become a grandchild memory in the vein of “hey, do you remember how Nana used to say goodbye?”