Today to wrap up my theme about the joys of graduation ceremonies let’s consider those people with the front row seats.

The graduates – the reason we all ignore reason as we hike 2 ½ miles through mud and sod in our favorite heels to sit in full sun for 3 ½ hours wondering who invented panty hose and is it too late to kill him.

Death By Folding Chair – The Perils Of A Graduation Audience
by Gina Valley

So, you want to be a graduation audience member?  Let’s see if you’ve got the endurance, savvy, and possibly even stupidity necessary to make the grade.

Ahhh – the audience – that group of adoring fans that entertains delusions of homicide as the ceremony plods along.  At least a lot of them are darn entertaining,

Just ‘Cause You’re At Graduation Doesn’t Mean You’re Smart
by Gina Valley

I’ve attended, well really suffered through and barely survived, but who wants to start off all negative, several graduation ceremonies during this year’s season of graduations. As a result, I have a few thoughts on the subject of graduation ceremonies.

Graduation is a uniquely strange honor ceremony because none of the honorees wants to be there.

What They’re REALLY Asking …
by Gina Valley

What’s on your head mom?

Sometimes it’s not what’s asked but rather who asks it that reveals the true query.

What’s on your head mom?

For example, yesterday a friend said someone asked him to describe himself in three words.  He asked me which three words I’d pick. I didn’t know which three words to pick because I wasn’t sure who was asking.

My mom is better than your mom!
by Gina Valley

My mom is better than your mom!

I know it’s not a competition, but if it was, I’d win. Hands down. No problem.

Why?

Because my mom bakes a different cake everyday when we visit?

She does, but nope.

Because my mom makes pajamas for all of her 5 kids and 20 grandkids every Christmas?

Why You Should Hide The Chocolate Chips When You Need A Measuring Tape

I put a little pile of chocolate chips on a napkin (I’m a chocolate addict, but I’m neat about it) on the kitchen counter and was munching on them while I considered the kitchen’s current state.

I needed a measuring tape to re-measure the kitchen.  We are still in the midst of a never ending renovation and have misplaced (i.e.

Playing Hide & Seek … With Your Gardening Tools
by Gina Valley

This is the time of year when so many of us are busy sprucing up our gardens.  It is invaluable to have the right tools.   I recently came upon a supposedly helpful list of twenty-seven essential items to assemble prior to beginning to revitalize one’s garden for spring.  That’s right – TWENTY-SEVEN!

The thing is,

It’s Different When Mom Gets Sick
by Gina Valley

It’s different when I get sick.  I’m not sure if it’s because I’m the mom or because I’m the primary caregiver or because I have the bad timing to take ill when the planets are aligned funny.  But, whatever the cause, it’s different.  Definitely different.

When one of my pack gets sick, I take his temperature and bring him juice.

How To Make Ice Cubes – An Old Family Recipe
by Gina Valley

Like most people with a refrigerator with a built-in automatic ice maker, our automatic ice maker is beyond repair.  So, we’ve had to revert to making ice cubes the old-fashioned way.  And, by “we” I, of course, mean “me.”

I decided I better write down the recipe for this old family favorite after my husband,

Do Turtles Wear Deodorant?
by Gina Valley

Each night before I go to bed, I toss the load of laundry I put into the washer after dinner into the dryer.  It’s really one of those on auto-pilot “do it without thinking” kind of things.

But, for some reason, last night I guess I was a little more aware of what was going on around me,