Today Luke graduated from fire fighter rookie school. We started celebrating last night with a surprise party for him at the ball game. A very generous acquaintance of mine gave us her tickets for the night--she has a suite at the ballpark. You know, one of those really nice spots at the top of the stadium where the tickets cost more than my car. Seriously, they do. Anyway, it was great because the kids could run around and we didn't have to worry about watching them too closely or keeping them in their seats, and everybody had a good time.
Patrick hung with his girlfriend/next-door neighbor, Riley. I was glad to have Riley's mom Michelle there with me, since baseball starts to bore me after about five innings. Luke loves it, though...he's very attentive to his beloved team...which lost AGAIN, by the way.
When you're in the suites, you get special attention by the staff because they think you're rich, and that includes Patrick's BFF the mascot. He came to hang out for a while and after the two swapped war stories for a little bit, I was able to get them to pose for a picture. Ben wasn't too sure about the blue fuzzy dude, but we shoved him in anyway because he's cute.
He was much happier hanging out with Rebeckah all night, because she would give him food and was therefore invaluable to his master agenda to eat nonstop. Frozen lemonade? Check. Sprite? Check. Dippin Dots? Check. Luke's celebratory cake? Check. Tummy ache? Check check check!!!And today we got to the really important stuff--Luke's graduation! As I was driving up this morning, I was thinking that I honestly have not been this excited and thrilled since our wedding day. I feel like we've both been waiting for this day for a long time...much longer than since last year when he decided to pursue this career. I used to wonder when we would get to a point where Luke would be really happy to go to work, and be happy about what he was doing with his talents, and now I know that he's there. This is what he's been working towards all this time, even if we didn't always know it.
The new recruits, all looking very handsome!
Luke and his adoring boys after the ceremony. Patrick was so proud.
I must admit, I was proud too--incredibly proud! It takes a lot of guts to overhaul your life when you're closing in on 30 with a wife and two kids depending on your success. I am so glad Luke didn't balk at the challenge. He faced it with a positive attitude and his hard work and perseverance has paid off. I'm lucky to have a husband like him.And as long as everyone's reading, I should let you all know that we could not have done it alone. We've had a lot of support since Luke undertook this endeavor. First and foremost are his parents, who really picked up the pieces of our finances since Luke had to quit his weekend job in order to go to school. We'd be living in a box if it wasn't for them! Also to Tom for sharing his office with Luke and giving him a place to unwind during lunches and breaks over the past ten weeks--also to my parents for all their emotional support and encouraging words, and to my boss Stephanie for her encouragement and patience with my seemingly endless unavailablity at work. It was all for a higher purpose, and it became a reality today!!!
Congratulations Luke! You're my hero!
