Blue Ridge blog

Let us not forget there was happiness on Saturday....

The after prom tragedy certainly over-shadowed the festivities leading up to the big night. Still, I don't want to forget how perfectly red my youngest's dress was ( 2nd from left ) and how happy she seemed to be getting ready for the evening.
I cut fresh red azaleas and placed them in their vases on the bathroom counter as the three friends were twigging their tresses.
"Awww. You are trying to impress the boys, aren't you?" youngest speculated.
"Of course not silly. It is my feeble attempt to help make the house worthy of your beauty," I replied.
I think she smiled in that 'my-mother-is-a-dork' sort of way.... but I was sincere.

Note: I did not ask her permission to post this image but my eldest encouraged me to do it anyway since I've subjected her to my blog on numerous occasions.

Note: Youngest texted me and said the environment at the high school was crazy: "TV crews around and everyone is acting weird, but I'm ok."

Good times gone horribly wrong...

A few details about the death of Ben Pickett may be found here and here. Many, many Watauga High students did attend the unchaperoned party. Rumor has it that Pickett was stabbed because of a miniscule two year old drug debt. Ben certainly was not of pristine character, but had recently turned his life around. No 18/19 year old deserves to die nor should others his age have to watch it happen. Ben attended Valle Crucis Elementary school, was friendly and well-like by many. In fact, both my daughters said they had seen him this week and had great catch-up conversations with him. This mess is what I call stupid tragic.
And no, my daughter was not at the after-prom party because I would not allow her to attend and she knew better than to ask.

On Snow and Junk...

This photo, taken at 3:30 pm today, is no longer accurate. Instead, the ground is now white. So it is snowing in Boone. Yawn. I'm bit weary of snow these days....
I would rather talk trash. Yes, trash. Because early this morning my youngest and I picked up several bagfuls at Watauga High School. Oh please. Don't applaud us for our dogooder-ness because frankly our hearts were not filled with joy and fuzziness as we anticipated the work. Youngest volunteered only because she needed to fill in one more blank in the whole college application circus. I did it because Youngest couldn't sell any other teenagers on the idea of helping her pick of their own litter on a Sunday morning. The town of Boone's 'Big Sweep' began today and it is the only day she has free all week. The nice lady with the town of Boone gave her bright orange trash bags, gloves and an orange safety vest. The bags and gloves were helpful. The orange vest is most definitely on Youngest's list of fashion 'don'ts.'
Our mission began in the flower beds near the entrance of the school. There weren't many flowers blooming, but man there sure was a proliferation of gum wads. I was concerned Youngest might not hang through the tedium of fingering 'abc' gum. Her sense of humor was clearly absent and was mixed with the abject horror someone might witness her being good.  The vision of a Bud Light can stuck in a bush right next to the 'Visitors' parking area did lightened her mood somewhat.
She held it up in triumph and said in a voice dripping with sarcasm,  "Go Watauga."
As the Sacred Heart Ministries church service let out, she started to panic. She gathered her orange sack and ran towards the upper parking lot.
"I don't want anyone to see me doing this," she said.
I followed her.
It was there we discovered the mother-load of all high school sins/trash over in a ravine between the lot and the school's main drive.

Senior Moments

It was nearly midnight on Saturday and I waited for two more dances my daughter's team had yet to perform. As I rested my head upon my husband's shoulder I recognized the chatter of nearby friends, other mothers of seniors in high school. Not sure what they were giggling about-perhaps it was the latest hoochie coochie costume to appear on stage or maybe the master of ceremony calling out for the 3000th time 'Emily,' the current nom du jour.  The Senior Moms were taking it all in stride. Nothing phases these seasoned pros who have learned to shrug off everything except life's darkest of moments. Gone are the frivolous worries of early Momhood. The Senior Mom's job is mostly done. Sure, there is college and the adult years with which to contend, but really, the full control part of Momdom is over.
I normally reserve my camera's pixels for the dancers at these conventions, but this time I turned it towards the Senior Moms. It seemed fitting after years of sitting in the audience, watching endless ballgames, recitals and school plays that they should have a Senior Moment in the spotlight--even if it is only on my little blog.
Amy Kane's post on being an Audience Mom  inspired this post a little. She's a Senior Mom currently enjoying her bout of Senior Moments .
And for all of you fresher mothers, I happened upon a column in Newsweek written by Paula Spencer who is not afraid of a chocolate chip cookie.  Paula and I could be friends....

And give me a break on the photo quality. Not only had my bedtime passed, but the lighting really stunk in there...

Go 'NEERS!

Both the local prep team, Watauga Pioneers, and and college football team, ASU Mountaineers, are in playoff mode. My weekend is guaranteed to be one huge sports action photography session. It is like shooting a wedding, but the turnaround time is expected to be much faster. If anything big happens or if I score some killer shots, I'll try post 'em.

And yes, that is a musket  clutched in the hands of the Pioneer in the school's logo. Probably the only prep logo in the entire USA to feature a gun toting dude these days. Don't like it? Go ahead and take it up with some of the hillbillies up here. But be sure to look for the gun rack in the back of the pick up truck before you meet up with 'em...