1 "down", 1 to go

Yesterday, my oldest baby transitioned from being our tax deduction to a member of the independent working class that will support ME in my old age. He humored me and agreed to do the cap-n-gown thing -- luckily UT has the good sense to break up the ceremonies into 2-3 hour chunks, so it wasn't as long as it could have been. He is double-degreed - American Studies, and 1 of a handfull that received the new "European Studies" designation (see, Texas is global!)

What's next? He has 2 months to find something to cover rent, food, utilities -- all those boring expenses that come with adulthood. Beer, wine, martinis(!) all will have to take a back seat (or wait until happy hour or someone else has a party.) He has a car that will need to last until he can handle the payments on his dream car, he has some job-seeking clothes (although he learned last week why removing pens before you wash is a good idea), and I suspect a backlog of 4-years of textbooks that he can sell if the going gets tough. He is still employed as a Senate messenger at the Capitol -- so he has modest income through the summer. Then that's it. Reality bites.

It sucks to be shoved out of the nest during a bad economy -- but Texas hasn't been hit as hard as most areas. So we'll all keep our fingers crossed, and try not to hover too close -- he's very independent, thanks to being raised by daycare! Now he just has to close his eyes and jump...and I need to let him figure out how to land on his feet.

A Herd of Bunnies

I love old photos -- if I happen to know who is in them, that's an added bonus. Most of my family knows I get first dibs on any family ephemera - including ticket stubs, diaries and love letters! But when it comes to photos, I'm perfectly content to appreciate them without recognizing anyone in it. I frequently download old photos from other people's sites, and they get a new altered life later in artwork or handmade greeting cards. So, for any like-minded appreciators of old pix, here's a little gem I'd like to share.
This little darling to my left is a 'market days' find from last year -- all I know is that the print was made at Fox Photo in San Antonio, and bunny-boy is '2 1/2 years old.' If I had to guess, I'd say it was from the early 1930s - maybe even Dustbowl days. It appears that the house behind him is modest -- if that was a trellis, the gardener apparently has the same skills as I do! But someone has made the effort to put little Buddy in his Sunday best, staged the collection of bunnies around him, and quickly grabbed the photo before the bunnies tipped over, or Buddy got dirty. Anyone who has attempted to shoot a photo of a 2 1/2 year old hopped up on Easter candy has to appreciate the patience that went into this photo. Of course, we might find out that little Buddy preferred being called Reginald, that this was his maid or cook's cottage, and that this was the start of little Reggie's obsession with figurines that later led to Lladro and Hummels...nah, I don't think so.
Anyway, Easter is just around the corner and Spring weather is kind of all over the place! We finally received (some) much-needed rain this week, and temps are supposed to dip into the low 40s tomorrow (after weeks of upper 80s!) So for now, we've held off our own Dustbowl -- at least the chocolate eggs won't be gritty!

Blogger shame

Oh the embarassment...it has been 7 months since my last post. And now I want to enter the "One World, One Heart" giveaways -- but then everyone will see how neglectful I've been. Needless to say -- the world has really changed in 7 months! I don't pretend to say I can encapsulate everything here (nor would you necessarily even want to read it!). But President Obama said it all on Tuesday: the world is a challenging place right now, but we each have what it takes to make it better. So let's get going!
I really will try to find the time to keep this updated...I'll add it to my list of good intentions!