Filthy Fifty Catching Up

I know I promised you Filthy Fifty updates and pies...they're coming I promise. Slowly...but definitely coming. When I originally made my list of Fifty I included a variety of items. But at the time, I had no idea how these various activities would shape my life as I check each item off one by one.

Filthy Fifty #10 buying my first set of "real" cowboy boots. I instantly fell in love with these boots, but it's the fun of Dean and I deciding which pair to buy that solidifies the memory. We laughed, teased, and then I walked out with a pair of very expensive cowboy boots that hopefully last until I do a "Hooray I'm One Hundred list!"

I wore these boots all over Italy. I guess that's why all the Italians would point and say "Americano's" as we walked by. Thanks to my honey of a husband for insisting on the Old Gringo's and thanks to my friend Nicole for shooting this pic in Venice.

As you'll notice, my list includes favorite things, new things, never attempted things, and just plain silly things. Meat/Mother's Day is one of my favorite days of the entire year so I just had to include it in my list...#11. I missed you Dione...next year?

I've been reading like crazy lately and several books have made references to bread making and baking which is why I decided to take a bread making class from our awesome local kitchen store Kitchen Kneads. Filthy Fifty #12 was to take a cooking/baking class of some sort. 

Which brings me to Filthy Fifty #13...Clean The Sink. We have a local restaurant in our small town 

with a slogan "It's where the locals eat." Except most locals I know don't eat there.

They have a gimmick with one of their menu items called "The Sink!" It's the biggest banana split you will ever see.

Bring your friends, your neighbors, whatever it takes...

clean the kitchen sink and they'll give you a bumper sticker that says "I cleaned the sink at Angie's!" The boys made me promise to eat a third at least or they weren't playing along.

We came close...there were a few dredges in the bottom but I think we did pretty good for the 3 of us. I'm almost positive I ate more than Dean and Chet combined, they'll most likely tell you a different story though.

My advice when you Clean The Sink...take along several teenage boys...he looks pretty good for just consuming 5000 calories in ice cream don't you think?

Post Graduate

Dione...you just graduated from Law School...now what are you going to do?

 I'm going to Disneyland!

And I'm bringing my entire family along. This ALWAYS happens when our family gets around a map. Dione and I typically look the other way, pick daisies, or something while Cass and Dean decide how to get where we need to go. Chet really doesn't care!

I'll be honest, I thought the California sun had fried Bob's brain when he told us he wanted to take his 2 two-year olds to Disneyland.

Most likely we wouldn't last more than a couple of hours before the kids were worn out anyway.

 But it looks like this big kid might wear out before the little kids.

 Olivia couldn't wait to ride everything. The only thing holding her back was her height on some rides!

 It's fun to see the little kid come out in everyone once inside those Disney gates.

Just a few years ago, Dean claimed he was NEVER going back to Disneyland again.

 Well...that was before he had grandkids and became Bubba!

 These two have all of us wrapped around their pudgy two-year old fingers.

 

 

The stroller Bob and Cass rented was mandatory and came in very handy throughout the day.

Olivia kept going back to the rocket ships yelling..."I find it I ride it!"

 I was beyond amazed by these two little people...

 they stood in lines and hopped on rides all day long...without meltdowns or temper tantrums.

 Which is more than I can say for these two!

 So who knew...that we could have so much fun running around Disneyland with 2 two year olds.

 We even stayed long enough to watch the parade.

Where Henry got to meet a giant dog and Olivia received a kiss from a princess. She is still talking about that special kiss!

At the end of the day we were all exhausted...filled with family memories. We thoroughly enjoyed every second of our trip to Mickey Mouse land.

A Juris Doctrate

It's official...

henceforth shall she be known as Juris Doctrate Dione!

After 3 years of intense law school classes, briefs that are anything but brief, moot court where no one was moot, and countless (seriously don't even try to count them) hours and hours of studying...she finally finished law school. For baking celebratory delicious meals, Cass gave her sister a Le Creuset casserole pot. Now that she's done with law school there will be more time for cooking.

I made her a new quilt to document the accomplishment. It took hours and hours too...merely a drop in the bucket compared to law school. Dorothy Doodle Dog really liked the new quilt and claimed it immediately as hers!

The entire family loaded up our cars and drove the hours and hours it took to get to Los Angeles...we wouldn't miss her day. Dean immediately found Dione's honey stash!

Olivia was very helpful when shopping for the graduate's new dress and heels.

We had a fabulous time together after so many long months apart. Dione was thrilled, and giddy, and ecstatic, and elated, and kept repeating "It's My Day!"

UCLA has a beautiful campus...the perfect location for an outdoor graduation. I am reminded of the day we moved Dione to LA nearly three years ago. Getting up to make an early start for home, we left her in the hotel room all by herself, with nothing but a late check-out. As we drove through the early morning deserted freeways those years ago, tears welled up in my eyes...I felt I was deserting my little girl.

And here she as...three years later...walking past me with her UCLA School of Law graduating class. Confident and full of grace, her knowledge of the law is all neatly stored beneath that black graduation cap in her young and sturdy mind.

Oh I cried...I'll be the first to admit it. Watching my child achieve her dream after years of perseverance and tenacity.

The year Dione applied to law school there were 8000 applicants...the largest in UCLA history. Just roughly four percent were accepted!

The hooding ceremony is steeped in tradition...a reward for hard work and dedication devoted to the study and pursuit of a degree in law. Conferred on Dione today as she becomes a UCLA School of Law graduate and alumni. 

That's a proud father!

Seeing that much joy and satisfaction on her face at this moment is what being a parent is all about.

And the heels were a necessity, don't you think?


I adore these two...sisters in the hood!

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, "Speak to us of Children."
And he said:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.
   -Kahlil Gibran


We love you Dione. And with our best "Dione face"...CONGRATULATIONS! We are over the moon and busting with pride!