Stress is very high in my life right now. Let me start with the list and then I'll elaborate on each:
1. I'm on call for jury duty this month of May.
2. I'm in the process of promoting and possibly relocating.
3. My patio is still in progress from last August.
4. My sister graduates from West Point on 5/23.
5. My grandmother passed a little over a month ago.
6. I have a 2 year old.
So...let me start with #1. I am on call for jury duty this month of May. I have to call every night around 5pm to find out if my number was called to report the next day. Well on Sunday night my Mother's Day gift was selection for jury duty on Monday 5/11. I reported at 8am and my stomach hurt I was so nervous. There were about 100 jurors that showed up and the process narrowed us down to 31. Then of the 31 our numbers were tossed in a hat and we were randomly chosen to serve on that trial. Well, my number was called and I became juror #7. I sat in a court room listening to an indictment for assault with a deadly weapon (knife)until about 4:30pm. At 4:30pm they took a break, wrote the Judge's Instructions to the Jury, and then gave closing arguments around 6:30pm. We deliberated and were dismissed around 9pm.
#2. So, I've been signed off on as an "A-backup." This means that I am qualified to go through training to be a store manager. However, I have one more set of important executives to meet before I'll be given any more information. I am slated to speak with these folks any time between now and 3 months from now. Let's talk about ambiguity!!! After I speak with them, they might tell me where and when my training will begin and oh...maybe where I might be "stationed" for my new position. Oh...and maybe give me enough notice to prepare and uproot my family and sell our house.
#3. So, if you span back to August on this blog...you'll find photos of our patio and landscape project. Well, they messed up the concrete when the poured it and I've been bugging the manager for a year now to come back and tear it out and re-pour it. Apparently he had a fight with his one and only concrete person...and I'm caught in the middle of it. On Tuesday his laborers came and cut up all of the concrete and I told them not to remove it until the day that they will pour new concrete b/c we are expecting rain most every day for the next 7 days. I just didn't want mud for Quincy dog or JMS. So...they cut the concrete, coated my patio-hot tub-table-umbrella-fire pit...everything with CONCRETE DUST! I guess they tried to clean it up too and in the process sliced our garden hose, pulled a board off of our fence gate and splattered the back of the house with more concrete splash. If it goes wrong with these guys it goes wrong. This is more stressful for me than anything right now because my backyard is my place of relaxation and I can't do that right now.
#4. I am flying to New York this weekend for my sister's graduation from USMA. I'm going by myself, meeting my parents and brother in NY, and JMS and his Dadda are going to visit family in SC. Its been a while since I've flown. And, its probably been NEVER since I've spent 5 days away from my son. A little stress here.
#5. Grandma passed...but now I have my mom dealing with her family in the aftermath of the situation. I just keep praying for their fast healing.
#6. JMS is two. He is the light of our lives. I'll share some great photos of him playing with his caterpillars on Monday in the backyard. It was such a stress relief!
I participated in three events with my sister: the graduation banquet on Friday night held at Washington Hall (dining hall), the graduation at Michie Stadium (football stadium) on Saturday morning at 10am, and her bar pinning ceremony at Lusk Reservoir Saturday afternoon at 2pm. My role was "official photographer." Let me know how I did. :) 
This is Peg meeting us 10 minutes before the banquet in front of Washington Statue. 
This is Peg with her belly full. They served us Chicken Marsala, Green Beans, Rolls, Garden Salad, and Oreo Cheesecake. General Casey was the guest speaker. 
This is the class of 2009's crest. This also appears on one side of her class ring. 
Graduation day: they are filing into their seats. She was easy to find. 
The tactical officers and NCOs filing into their seats. 
The Superintendent and Secretary of Defense Gates. Gates was the graduation speaker. 
On her way to the stage to collect her diploma. 
I got her right before she got her diploma, and right after...so much for a career in professional photography. 
Here they are taking their Oath of Office. It sent goosebumps up my back. 
When the First Captain yells, "Class Dismissed" they all throw their hats in the air...and then 6-10 year olds are allowed to storm the field to grab one. Typically the class puts silver dollars inside, but my sister did not. I guess you'd say, the tough economic times affected graduation rituals too. :)
Peg being commissioned as a 2LT...and getting her LT rank attached to her uniform. 
Proud parents and their LT. She is Medical Service and will eventually post to Fort Benning. 
