This year is just flying by. So far, there’s always been something to do, something coming up to prepare for, something, something, something. But I’m really not complaining.

Over Christmas/New Years, my parents were here from Germany, and also, but just for Christmas, Melanie, Corodon, and Dave. During March, the in-laws and one of Eric’s uncles and his wife spent not quite 4 weeks with us, escaping their winter weather in Indiana and the northern end of Michigan, respectively. I cannot blame them, and they are welcome to try again next year.

Meanwhile, a co-worker of mine was out on medical leave for several weeks longer than expected, and I worked my butt off – long hours, a couple times even on weekends, and overall, pretty stressful. She’s back now, and things are starting to get back to a new normal.

Last weekend, over Memorial Day, I finally was able to fly to Indiana and see Melanie, Corodon, and the new baby, Liam. It was a good trip. I left early Friday (6 AM) and landed in Indianapolis with only about one hour delay. Melanie and Liam picked me up, and I spent a fun weekend with them. I had lunch with a friend I used to work with years ago, made a trip to Williams to see the in-laws – went shopping with Melanie and Liam several times, and made friends with Jagger, their pitbull, and was back home before noon on Tuesday. I’m still working on that photo album.

And yesterday was Phillip’s 18th birthday. Hard to believe the kid is that old already; not to mention how hard it is to try and comprehend how old that makes me!!! We didn’t do anything for Phil’s birthday yesterday, but today, Phil has a few friends coming over for some BBQ. And I should be cleaning house and working on my potato salad instead of sitting here.

And I finally got around to making arrangements for his senior pictures. It wasn’t too late, he still has over a week of school left. We actually had some taken last fall, but the proofs we got were pretty sad-looking, and their prices were just stupid, so I decided that that studio was NOT getting my money, and I’d take Phil somewhere else. And these new Senior Pictures, which he had taken only yesterday, are much better.

Eric got some great news yesterday (told you things are busy – third paragraph about events on just ONE day!!!). Ever since he finished his Master’s Degree in 2005, he’s been talking about wanting to get a Ph.D. He’s looked into different programs a couple times over the years, and finally found one that seems to be just perfect for him. He took the admissions test and had his interview just a few weeks ago – and yesterday, he got the call that he was accepted into the program. So he’ll start classes late August – every other Saturday – for four years, and in between he’ll be doing homework (and I’ll be proofing his papers). Not sure what I’ll be doing all this time while he’ll be busy with his studies, but I’m pretty sure I’ll come up with something. Does anybody need a website built?

Then on June 9th is Phil’s graduation. His grandmother from Indiana and his uncle are visiting and will be here from next Saturday until the following Sunday and Friday, respectively. And it seems that things will quiet down after that. Phillip is planning on a trip to Indiana later in June or July, and he’ll be leaving for Basic Training towards the end of July. He’ll be back in San Antonio in the spring to go to college, so he’s now quite leaving home for good yet. (Good).

Things are changing. It’s interesting. And now I have to go peel potatoes.