It's here!!!

I can hardly believe it. I will be on my way in a few hours to Athens for my graduation. Hannah and Eli start school on Monday so I can't pull out of T-town until we've done the open house thing. Eli is in 4th grade this year so we'll have to meet his homeroom teacher and his special ed teacher. He knows both of them but has never been in their class before. I hope all goes well ... Hannah, on the other hand, doesn't know any of her teachers. This is her first year of high school ... so the nerves (for both she AND her parents) are running a bit high. Her dad graduated from this high school so I think it's kinda neat that she'll be roaming the same halls as her father once did.

Ginger is riding with me to Athens and has volunteered to sit through what I'm sure will be another boring ceremony that begins and ends with the tune of "Pomp and Circumstance." Hey, what are friends for? Besides, I let Ron off the hook from having to attend - he is so tied up with the new house and he is not what I consider "a traveler," so it will be better if I can just run up to Athens (yeah, right ... a 5 hour run), spend the night, graduate, and come home tomorrow night. Working at a university I've attended so many graduations ... but I'm curious to see the differences between institutions. UGA is a huge research institute with over 40,000 students compared to our little private 800 students .. this should prove interesting ... AND LONG. Well, not too long ... it is, afterall, the summer ... Anyway, Ginger will take a million pictures for me and I'll share them after I return. Oh, I need to mention something before I move on to another topic ... I want to tell all my family and friends that I am so thankful that my family (especially my husband) has been so supportive throughout the past two years. I spent so much time reading, studying, and writing ... I know they felt neglected at times. I won't begin my Ph.D. for two years and it's my hope to make it up to them over the next two years. Ron ... in case you read this ... I LOVE YOU ... AND I THANK YOU.

Oh, a quick update on Kathleen ... she is sitting up talking now!!! She even ate breakfast after she woke up on Wednesday!! She is a modern miracle ... the doctors are baffled as to how she survived all that she has! We are so pleased ... although she is not out of the woods just yet ... she still needs a liver transplant and possibly a kidney transplant.

Well, I'm off to take the kids to meet their teachers.

J.