In my post Graduations Galore – Part 1 I wrote the fatal comment “At this point we don’t have his graduation party planned…we’re sort of planning something later with several of his friends”. If I’d only known how that was going to turn out, I’m not sure I would have been so cavalier about writing that.

You see, I’m a planner. I want to be in control. I expect that every one of my family members is aware of this, abides by it, and actually enjoys it. Of course, there are some who like the fact that I plan to the nth degree, and there are several who think I’m totally nuts. Sometimes the passive aggressive part really gets me.

Take for example the events surrounding the second graduation in our 3-graduations-in-one-month scenario. My son graduated from high school the Sunday after my daughter graduated from the University of Colorado-Boulder. We had a jam-packed four days of travel, graduation, and celebration on our trip to Boulder. The drive takes around 7 hours. That is, under normal conditions. Of course, luck was not on our side, and we dodged a series of tornadoes and hail storms on our way back from Colorado to Kansas. And by dodged I mean we actually had to alter our route to miss the first set of tornadoes. We then pulled off the road to fill up with gas, the tornado sirens went off. Unfortunately, I was standing directly under the tornado siren as it blared, so not only was I worried about the tornadoes, I couldn’t hear anything. Upon completion of filling our van, we jumped in and headed West, trying to get out of the tornado’s path. We did succeed at skirting the tornado (which passed directly over the gas station less that five minutes after we left), but we drove directly into a hail storm. Then another. And finally a third. All within the last 20 miles of our trip.

So as you can imagine we were a bit tired when we finally arrived home. And yet a bit on edge. That was in the wee hours of the morning on Monday. The rest of the week was filled with the last days of school, outdoor lunches at school, preparations for the league track meet, and all the stuff that happens near the end of the school year.

The league track meet on Friday ran much later than we anticipated, and once again, we arrived home right around midnight. Fortunately, the meet was just over an hour away, so the drive home wasn’t horribly long.

Imagine my surprise when my son reminded me (via text while on the bus to the track meet) that we were hosting a bonfire party for “some of his friends” that night. We had very loosely discussed it a couple months prior. In my planned-to-the-nth-degree world, we hadn’t even agreed to it. To the four high school seniors who were having the party, we’d decided to have it and they had created a Facebook group inviting somewhere in the vicinity of 300 people. Somehow my Facebook account didn’t make it onto the original invitation list. Quite honestly, I didn’t think we were having a party, and in all the rush and hubbub related to the graduations, I had failed to confirm that was the case. At least I didn’t think the party was TOMORROW.

So at approximately 6PM on Friday I was alerted to the fact that “we” were having a party. Unfortunately, this particular group of friends is the opposite end of the spectrum concerning planning. So the setup and preparation fell to me.

It’s fortunate that I’ve started incorporating Evernote into my routines. I opened up notes for Food, Work to be Done, Display Board, and decorations. While I was at the track meet, I trolled the internet for recipes for quick food that would stretch to feed a crowd and not take much time to prepare. I actually selected eleven recipes, of which I ended up preparing six. Each recipe’s web address was added to the Evernote document, so I could click on it and have the recipe right there. By the end of the track meet, I had the menu selected and the shopping list prepared. My plan was to shop on the way home, but honestly, I was too tired.

So the next morning, a Saturday, I was up at 6am to start cleaning the house (which looked like it had been used like a hotel…since we’d been traveling to and fro for the past four weeks…it kind of was a hotel). The only difference was the that the “hotel’s” maid service had avoided the hotel for a couple of weeks. With breakfast completed for the entire Hectic Household and two sinks of clean dishes, I was ready to attack the yard.

It’s SpringTime in Kansas, that means that grass grows in fits and starts. It’ll grow for a while, we’ll hit a cold snap, maybe get some snow, and then things will slow down. Then the process will start again, with a vengeance. Over the prior 10 days, we’d had 100 degree and 40 degree days, and the grass had decided it was time to grow like crazy. So I jumped on the Bad Boy mower that we own and mowed the area where the bonfire was going to be held. Then I started to mow over the septic tank (which in our county has to be designed as an above-ground mound). When Erma Bombeck wrote about the grass always being greener over the septic tank so many years ago, she failed to mention that it’s also thicker, and grows taller. The grass I was hacking away at was the thickest we’ve ever had, and it was a good 20 inches tall. After cutting less than a third of the septic mound’s grass…the mower broke. Not a little, break either. The shaft to one of the mower blades had broken so the entire mower was inoperative.

Amidst a cloud of curse words, I pulled out the push mower and cleaned up some of the grass that was partially cut on the septic mound. Then I finished the area where the bonfire was going to be. I even had the foresight to mow a border around the larger burn piles that we did not intend to use this year. Good thing too, as one of them became the actual bonfire…but more on that in a minute.

So hot and sweaty (it was nearing 90 degrees), I raced into the house and took a shower. I organized what I wanted on the display board (photographs on the board, track and wrestling medals on the table, along with plaques and other awards) and delegated that work to my younger son.

I then spent two hours cleaning the parts of the house that people would see, along with the front porch and walkway. It wasn’t a great cleaning, but it was enough to make things look somewhat presentable. Then I organized the hauling of tables to the front porch for the food.

Meanwhile, my wife and youngest two kids had gone shopping. Midway through, the kids told her about the bonfire. Somehow my older son had neglected to inform her too. As part of their trip they bought fuel for the Tiki torches that were to light the way from our walk to the bonfire.

In case you haven’t caught on, we live on a pretty big spread. At least big by my standards. We own 14 acres of what used to be horse pasture. We have neither horses nor any other animals (well, except for two outside cats), but we do has all sorts of oddly placed posts, holes, etc. So the Tiki torches were really to keep people from injuring themselves. As it turns out, the light from the bonfire would have protected them from that, but we didn’t know that at the time.

So upon arriving back home from their last volleyball game of the season (coach & player), my wife and youngest kids started to sort out where everything was going to go outside. Meanwhile, I took another shower and raced to the store to buy the food for the party. I had been verbally assured that we would have some laborers arriving shortly to help with final preparations, and the party was to start at 6:30. I will swear in a court of law I was told 6:30.

So at 5:15 I got back to the house and started making food for somewhere between 80 and 200 people. I had discounted the 300 number…those were just invitations. That many people won’t come to a graduation bonfire the night before the actual graduation. I’m sure of it. And of course, I was stupidly wrong!

Amidst the food prep, I discovered that I had missed a couple items at the store, including ice. I always forget ice. So I sent the graduating Senior to get ice, fresh parsley, fresh cilantro, and fresh fruit. He left about 5:20, so there was plenty of time before 6:30 when the party was supposed to start. Really, that’s plenty of time in our little town.

At 6:00 he still wasn’t back, and that’s when I discovered (based on the stream of cars coming down our 1/4 mile driveway that the party started at 6:00. So mid-food preparation we started hauling things outside to the tables. My son arrive a couple minutes later (with his girlfriend and her brother in tow). Thank goodness they arrived, because I needed all the help I could get.

They helped finish the bonfire preparations and then set to working on the food with me. We got all the food prepped and out on the tables. Then I collapsed for a few minutes. As the sun started to drop lower and lower on the horizon, the decision was made to light the bonfire we had constructed. My wife took one look at it and said “That puny thing, it’s only going to burn for 20 minutes!”. I was offended and countered that the construction and design was such that it would burn for a good two hours, and was sufficiently small that we would be able to control it easily, and when it came time to put it out…it would take a very short time.

So the bonfire was lit amidst all the pyromania that a group of teenagers could muster.

24 minutes later it had burned itself to the ground. The sun hadn’t set, so I could see the self-satisfied look on Hectic Mom’s face. She didn’t have to say “I told you so”, everybody in this part of the county could see the look on her face.

The the big puppy dog eyes were broken out by my son as he begged to light the larger burn pile. Understand, this pile was started in 2006 for our oldest daughter’s graduation party. The weather didn’t cooperate that day, nor the three New Year’s Eves that we tried to burn it. So my wife agreed that they could light the fire.

With flames leaping 30-40 feet in the air, and a column of black smoke that rivaled Nero’s Rome, our bonfire was the hit of the graduation season. Marshmallows were roasted, hot dogs were cooked, and S’Mores were made. In a miraculous turn of events…no one was injured either.

Over the next six hours, cars streamed in and out. we never had more than 60 people here, but the 60 continually changed. The food held out, especially the pasta salad. In fact, if you would like some of the pasta salad, let me know. I’ve still got enough of that to feed an army.

Sometime around 1:00am everyone left. For the next three hours, I stood over the smoldering wood and coals that were gradually burning out. I stood valiantly with a garden hose, attacking the hottest spots, getting engulfed in smoke, and then repeating. Oddly for Kansas, the entire time from when we started the fires until the last ember was burned out was virtually windless. If you know anything about South-Central Kansas, you’ll know what a miracle that was. Apparently at that point God had decided that I’d had all that I could manage.

The next morning I finished tending the fire then dressed for the graduation. Our High School Principal makes it a point of pride to get all the kids across the stage in about an hour, and true to form, he guided us through the ceremony in about 67 minutes.

The graduation speaker referenced both Star Wars and Star Trek, ending her speech with “Live long and prosper” which caused my son to turn around in his seat, make eye contact with me (in the 5th row from the top of the sports arena where we were), and give me a great big grin. That moment alone was worth all the hubbub of the entire week!

He walked the stage with just a hint of swagger. I managed to get photos from our seats, so we have proof that he made it through High School. Then he had the honor of reading the names of the last 30 graduates to cross the stage. In typical Hectic Son fashion, he’d asked the Principal if he could make a parting comment after reading the last student’s name. The Principal had told him know, but the look on both my son’s and the Principal’s faces after the last name was read was priceless. My son didn’t say anything extra, but the exchange of glances had the Hectic Family rocking in our seats with laughter.

Family photos were taken. Friend photos were taken. Girlfriend photos (including the obligatory kiss on the forehead) were taken. Then my son and his entourage took off to party hop through the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Normally on the afternoon of graduation I get on the mower, cut grass, and think about the four years that had just passed. Since the mower was broken, I sat at the computer and virtually thumbed through digital photos of his growing up. I stood looking wistfully at the awards table that we had thrown together less than 24 hours prior. Among the ribbons, plaques, photos, medals, and league awards was the distinct aura of a very accomplished young man. Someone I’m immensely proud of. Someone that I look forward to watching go through Army Basic Training, Army Advanced Individual Training, and four years of college. He will continue to compete in Track & Field as a hurdler and decathlete. I’ll race around trying to get to his meets, and I’ll make the four-hour drive to Pittsburg, KS on many occasions for all sorts of reasons.

And honestly, through all of it I have enjoyed, and will continue to enjoy every minute. While graduation from High School is an accomplishment, there is so much more that lies before him. I’m really excited to see how it all turns out!