Life is rushing past this week

Life is rushing on at a pace that I'm finding difficult to keep on top of right now. (Check out the schedule here.) So I'm taking a few moments today to process it a little here.

Last week we had our middle son's graduation and related celebrations. It was very good, but for me felt a bit overshadowed by what was to come this week.

Our son, who is more than happy that I don't want to put a photo
of his face here.

This week the focus is on the Year 12s. This morning our son completed his last assessment for high school career. He was metaphorically pinching himself at lunchtime, trying to realise that he'd really finished it all. The pressure has been intense over the last nine months and it's hard to believe it really is over. The rest of the week is full of various celebrations for the Year 12s, including the formal community celebration of the graduation on Friday night.

Yesterday I took my parents on a walk to a local department store
to get a couple of things they needed, on the way home I took a
slight deviation and showed them our local bamboo park. A little
haven of peace in our local neighbourhood. Only 900m from our
house, but because so much is stuffed into the space in-between
it seems like a lot further.

Meanwhile we've also had an 18th birthday here (and one boy at a 19th birthday down the road) and overseas visitors in the house. 

On top of that I've got emails zinging in and out of my inbox, many of which are related to the senior-parent-organised events that I'm helping organise. Just for good measure there are the usual kinds of emails I deal with related to the magazine, and OMF matters.

All of which are wonderful things, but I'm feeling a little like my brain has been shredded. I hope I don't make any significant errors in all that I have on the go.

I, too, am a little bit in shock that my eldest is finishing up at high school. Surely I'm too young? I need some time to process this, even though it is not an unexpected event at all.

In the meantime I'm trying to enjoy the present, moment by moment.

Enjoy having my parents as part of these significant events.

Appreciate meeting friends I don't often see.

More from the bamboo park. Such a peaceful spot and really very
close to home!

Savour the special events planned for this week.

Drink in these memory-making days.

And in the meantime, stay afloat!

Tonight we have out-of-town guests for dinner (here for the above-mentioned events). I'm looking forward to the simple pleasure of eating dinner with them and revelling in good conversation. But I really ought to go and chop up some carrots and capsicum before they get here.