One Year.. Late

I have been blogging for a year! I missed my one year anniversary (it was May 8th). It's hard to believe that I have been blogging for a year. Although I have my times when I fall behind, I do enjoy blogging and ready others' blogs. I also enjoy going back and reading some of my older posts. It's a quick and easy way to document life's moments.

I finally went back and caught up on my blog for this past week so there is lots of reading and catching up for you to do! Enjoy!

Schools Out for the Summer....

The school year is officially over for me (and it could not have happened at a better time!!). Last week I finished up my grading just before all of my guests arrived. The only thing left was graduation and a few meetings. I am now clear of my meetings and am ready for some R&R! I will be heading out to see Ryne tomorrow and I am so excited. He will have to work while I am there but that works out well since I need to keep writing and working on my research. I just need a change of scenery -- things at work have gotten really bad. My dean resigned a few weeks ago and just today the provost resigned. I am kind of nervous to see how things play out.

I'll be sure to update and post while I am out in the Midwest!

Amy's Graduation & Mother's Day

What a day!! We were on the go non-stop from the moment we got up until the minute we went to bed. Today was Amy's graduation from Duke. Since Oprah was the speaker Margaux and Dawn wanted to get there early to secure good seats. Seeing as I am not a morning person I decided to go in the second wave. Dawn dropped Emily (5 yrs old) off at my house at 7am and she and Margaux headed off for Duke. My parents, Rob, Emily, and me made our way to Duke around 8am. And what an adventure that was!! Traffic was pretty bad and there were no cops to control traffic or the flow of cars. It took us FOREVER to get to a parking spot. We then had to race across campus to get to the stadium. My mom and I just got to our seats right as the ceremony was starting. The student speaker was interesting... he started off by saying he was a failure. To me that was obvious...he is a Dukie after all! He then went on to say something along the lines of how Duke students think they are better than everyone else... once again, I couldn't agree with him more. At that point my mom told me to keep my comments to myself (hee hee!). Oprah did a nice job with her speech. It was not your typical graduation talk. Instead she shared her favorites stories and pulled a life lesson from each.

After the main ceremony we raced across campus to get a few pictures in front of the cathedral. While we were there Amy announced that she had to be at the Nasher Art Museum in ten minutes for her college graduation (where her name is called and where she gets her diploma). This caused a panic as we were no where near our cars and the museum was not in walking distance. We split up into two groups, with Amy going with the group whose car was the closest. My group got the museum too late -- her name had already been called. Amy just barely got there in time though. She literally walked in right as they called her name!! There was a nice reception after that ceremony. By this point Emily was super bored! Amy graduating we a degree in Art History so we stopped by the museum to see Amy's art work. I was quite impressed with how talented she is!! From there we headed to downtown Durham for a late lunch. And oh what a journey this was!! Dawn was using the GPS on her iPhone to navigate there and my dad was following her in the pumpkin mobile! Well Amy was reading the GPS but she was reading it upside down!! We literally went ALL over and Dawn even drove down a one way street the wrong way! Lunch was good despite the menu being all in French (my dad was not too impressed -- he wanted a good old meal and none of this fancy "crap").

Once we got back to Raleigh we had a late Mother's Day celebration. It was nice being with my mom this year since we are normally apart! All in all it was a great day!!

To Be a Kid Again

Ahh... to be a kid again!! Today my cousin Dawn and her daughter Emily drove up from Atlanta for Amy's graduation tomorrow. Emily is so cute and real ball of energy. I had to go to NCSU's graduation today (I hooded my first MS student today!!). While I was at graduation everyone else headed to Frankie's Fun Palace. It is a giant arcade with mini golf, gokarts, and games. I hear everyone had a blast!

Tonight I hosted a cookout. I invited some friends as well as some neighbors over. Emily stayed with us while Dawn went out to dinner with Amy and my aunt. Rob went out and bought Emily squirt guns and water balloons so they could have a water fight. They were out there for hours!! Emily was so worn out that she ended up crashing on my bed!!

It was such a fun day and I am looking foward to graduation tomorrow!

Canes vs. Bruins - Playoffs

My parents, Rob, & Margaux arrived in Raleigh late last night. They were delayed a little due to weather and then they had some issues with getting the rental car. And oh what a car it was!! Rob texted me to tell me that I would die when I saw this car. It provided us with many laughs throughout the weekend and quickly was dubbed the pumpkin mobile!!

Tonight we went to the Canes vs. Bruins playoff game. Before the game we tailgated with friends and enjoyed the gorgeous weather!! Rob and Margaux were pulling for the Bruins but thankfully my parents had the good sense to pull for the Canes. It was a great game... the final score was 4-1 Carolina! The RBC Center was rocking and it was so loud in there. Needless to say Rob was not pleased with the outcome.

Another Wild Hockey Game

This is starting to become a pattern with the Hurricanes during the playoffs. They keep finding a way to win! And Jussi Jokinen is proving to be Mr. Clutch during the playoffs. During the series with the Devils he scored a goal with .2 secs to go in the game to win it. And then during game 7 he tied the game up with 80 secs to go in the game (the Canes went on to score again 40 sec later to win the game!). Last night the game against the Bruins went into overtime. Now many thought the Bruins would sweep the Canes and the series would be over in the blink of an eye. That is not the case...at all. Only 2:36 sec into the game Jokinen found the back of the net to give the Canes another win. The RBC Center went wild!! It was so loud there last night. What a game... I am still relishing the victory today!

I need to finish up a few things at work and then head home to get ready for the arrival of my parents, Rob, & Margaux. Casa de Holcomb is going to full.. I'll have to put out the No Vacancy sign! We have a jammed pack weekend ahead of us: hockey game Fri night, cookout and baseball game on Sat, and Duke graduation on Sun. I'm looking forward to having my family here for a few days!! I'll post updates and pictures once things are back to normal!

Where Did the Weekend Go?

I cannot believe that it is already Sunday night! This weekend flew by!! Friday afternoon I finished my last bit of grading for the semester (yay!!). Tomorrow I will post grades and be officially done with the semester. I am so glad that the school year has come to an end!! I am ready for some R&R and some summer fun!

Friday night I had dinner with friends and watched the Hurricanes game. IT was the first game of the second round of the playoffs against Boston. Unfortunately the Canes did not play so well and found themselves on the losing side of a 4-1 game.

Saturday I was busy running errands and doing odd jobs around the house. Yesterday was also the neighborhood cookout and HOA meeting. There is only one townhouse that is still for sale in the neighborhood. It was nice to meet some of the new people. After the picnic I came home and caught up my DVR (I hav ebeen so far behind with all of the hockey lately!).

Today was a day of cleaning! Ugh... I had been dreading today too. I cleaned my kitchen top to bottom. It is not spotless which means I won't want to cook and mess it up! After my kitchen I then tackled my closet. I have such a hard time of parting with thing. So I finally bit the bullet and purged my closet. This was just the first pass... I know I will have to go back through it and pull more out to give to Good Will. Once I finished with tackling my closet I then went to work on my white rocking chair on my front porch. It was starting to get covered with mildew so I wanted get it cleaned up. My dad gave this great stuff called Wet & Forget. All you do is spray it on and after about a week the mildew, mold, and algae is gone. I also hosed down and cleaned up the back deck now that pollen season is over.

And now I am cheering on the Canes! It has been a great weekend and Canes win tonight would make it even better!