Graduation and Other Stuff

Graduation is creeping up on us so I finally got off my butt and ordered Vanessa's senior pictures. I will be sending wallets out with her announcements.

Vanessa also went shopping for the dress to wear under her graduation gown. Cute. Now we need shoes.

Plans for going to Italy are still in the planning stage and Vanessa is applying for jobs all over. Finding a job has been a problem for her because she doesn't turn 18 until June 2nd and most restaurants want people that are 18 so they can serve alcohol or 21 so they can both serve and make or open the drink. Go figure. I get it but our laws and regulations sure make it hard for kids to work. "Back in the old days" (yes I know this makes me sound like an old codger) kids could always find jobs on farms, in stores, and in restaurants. Now it is too easy to get sued if one of them gets hurt. Vanessa had and lost a job she really liked because the young manager didn't read her resume and application close enough to know she was 17. She worked there as a busser for two weeks when they told her to go get a serving license for alcohol. She was let go after that but that manager's butt was chewed. Bet that manager is more careful next time.

She and Breanne have also signed up for the  Color Me Rad (click here)5K fun run August 10th in Seattle.  This looks like a ton of fun and benefits Seattle Children's Hospital. However there is no fund raising involved unless the contestant chooses to do so. A portion of the girls entry fee goes to Seattle Children's. If you want to contribute though the girls will be proud to walk your checks into the hospital themselves. How fun would that be and it will be a tax deductible donation or you can donate here.

If you would like to join them you can sign up to do that too. register with team Crayolas Gone Wild and make sure you check the "join existing team button". Their Team name is Craoylas Gone Wild.  They will be running a 5K course getting doused with a different brightly colored corn starch in each section. Now as a mom I have to wonder if the stuff is toxic. Supposedly not and I guess my girls are going to get exposed to their portions of toxic waste in their lifetimes (including alcohol) weather I like it or not. They are past the age of me being able to protect them from everything. You may be wondering also after the events this past week in Boston why I would allow such a thing. Well for one thing I can't "allow or disallow" at this age and we really can't allow terrorist to make us fear our way of life. Who wants to hide in a hole. Hopefully they have learned some common sense in the time spent with we parents. I will ask them to avoid trash cans however and maybe, just maybe they will listen to me. They are both pretty level headed and I am proud that they want to contribute to things like this.

Stay tuned for more adventures.

Who is Vanessa?

I have always been one that believed that every person is born with at least one exceptional talent. I'm not talking about really big talents necessarily although every talent is big in my opinion. There are those people that can sing or act or manage a corporation (without becoming a greedy CEO) and some people that have the ability to look at something and see a simple connection that no one else has ever seen that perhaps solves a huge problem.  Case in point. I had a problem with a kitchen cupboard door. I have dark cherry wood cabinets in the kitchen that were there when we bought the house. The one door directly under the kitchen sink has a worn spot on the top probably from getting wet and just plain wear and tear but will be impossible to repair or cover. My solution? Reface all the cabinets or paint all the cabinets white. Expensive and time intensive. What does my guy do? He takes both doors to that cabinet off, flips them upside down and re-installs each door on the opposite side of the cabinet so that the hinge holes match up and the worn spot is on the bottom. Voile! You can't see the spot. What a simple solution and that is his talent! But I digress.

The point is that everyone has a special talent of some kind. Vanessa's talent is her imagination and ability to put it into words on a printed page. She has the potential for doing something great with that. She for some reason doesn't believe this or perhaps just wants to be difficult and rebellious about it (since I, several of her teachers, and an actual professional editor have pointed this out to her) but it is definitely her talent. She is a words smith. It is not her only talent.

Ness and Charlie her new companion. We
got him to keep her company after her sister
left to attend U.W.  Vanessa loves Charlie. 

She is also a caring and empathetic young girl who loves baby anythings. Animals, kids, you name it.  Babies love her.  Currently she thinks she may want to be a teacher. A noble profession and if she decides to pursue this path her education will still be such that she will be able to write also. A good teacher must be a good writer. Not to mention a good mathematician.  She also wants to travel and this is something that I think will expand her horizons and probably be the best education she can get in her case so I am all for it. She has always loved experiencing things that are different from her own life. Granted her life has been pretty quiet and "safe". As a parent that is what we all strive for when raising kids. Now it is time for her to get out in the world.

Vanessa is currently in her Senior year of high school and attending Everett Community College as a running start student. She is taking classes that fulfill her pre-requisites for graduating from high school but she is also taking Italian. She is actually in her second quarter of Italian. What she wants to do is a study abroad program next year in Italy. We will be working towards this end in the next year. In the mean time she is working her way through her senior year in high school and her freshman year of college at the same time and looking forward to graduation this June. I will keep you posted.