Tote Bags 'n' Blogs

Monday, May 02, 2016

Susan Sands: Graduation, Home Improvement, and Basement Floods, Oh, My!!

Store window at Details Boutique
where my book release was held!

Y'all. It's May. I know in my life that means end-of-school craziness, in general. Tennis playoffs and state tournament, end-of-season banquets, kids studying for finals, and celebratory everything. I just pushed a new book out of the proverbial nest last month with all the hoopla and promotional insanity that goes with.

This year my second child is graduating from high school. Just go ahead and times everything by three. The things to remember, and pay for--the stress. How was I supposed to know I had to actually read the body of the email to find out of about pre-ordering those blasted celebratory blue yard signs everybody else's graduate had show up in their grass one morning last week? I spent the next day, with another "headline-only-reading" loser mom, tracking down who was in charge of procuring the $25 foam core and wire "CHS Graduate lives here!" rectangle. But I had one, not more than twelve hours later.

Some of you are nodding and some of you are shaking your heads. I have the cap and gown. He has

pants and a white dress shirt. We'll be there May 20th. He'll get through AP Stat. I'm only sending out a few invitations because I know how remiss the thank you notes will be once summer and college prep get cranked up. Family will forgive. Or we won't care as much if they talk about us behind our backs. We try, we really do.

Oh, and I'm getting my house ready to sell. With much pressure washing and handyman-ning. The hot water heaters went out and the sewer pump failed the same week--and my basement flooded AGAIN, and we noticed at 3 a.m. We had to rip up all the carpet and have tile installed. I didn't even take a moment to whine about this on Facebook. There were so many other posts, I thought, "I can't take a single, 'Oh, Susan, so sad to hear about your basement!'" I would have burst into tears at that point.

I will survive May, and I'll complain again in August when it's time to start college--I mean, for my son to start college. But I'll be super-busy between now and then.

If you get a chance, check out my new release, Love , Alabama!