when it rains

When it rains, it pours.

But that doesn't necessarily mean it's a $#!+ storm. Some of the stuff that's cascading down on us is good.

One of Punk's favorite people in the world wrote and directed her first play, and cast him in the lead. Seeing him as Facebook, the slightly arrogant facilitator of group therapy for social media apps, definitely made our week better.

Also, Kooka took it upon herself to make us a meal of Midwest tapas this weekend, and it was glorious.

Per my last post, both Rico and I smell better than we ever have - a mix of citrusy, salty, beachy something.

But perhaps the best part was our Saturday surprise. Punk had recently won both a gold and silver key for two pieces of art his teacher entered into the state scholastic contest. Apparently there were approximately 4,500 entries. About 300 were chosen as gold key winners and selected to hang in the art gallery for a few weeks. Silver key winners were also recognized via screen shots of their work. On Saturday, Punk and I attended a ritzy awards ceremony at the Weissmans Center in Minneapolis.

They had just finished handing out all of the gold keys, and the ceremony was basically over. There was just one speaker left, a woman from the MN College of Art and Design. She stepped to the podium and said she had just one award to give out, that she wanted to recognize one special student.

And you know at this point I'm just like, "Yeah, make it quick sweets, 'cuz I've got two hungry kids, a sick husband and a play to get to tonight." But then she called my kid's name. (Of course my second thought was, "Y'all best stay seated, this is important.")

She proceeds to tell him that he has been chosen to receive a full scholarship to their three-week college summer program. His tuition is free, his food is free, his dorm is free, his verrrrrrry freaking expensive art supplies are free, and the three college credits he gets for going - also free.

To say we were surprised is an understatement. He didn't know, his teachers didn't know, I wasn't even supposed to be there that day, but my workshop had been cancelled, so clearly I didn't know. It was a magnificent surprise for all of us. She came and spoke to him afterward about his art, and told him he was selected because of his techniques, but also because he had created completely original art and characters, which is exactly what he loves to do. He was in shock, I was jumping up and down, his teachers didn't even know what to say. (Full credit to Mrs. h though, who was the one who said, "Hey Punk, we're entering those WW2 characters," and saw his potential.

I'm just going to assume the rest of our week will go just as well. Like today. I'm sure the fact that nobody from Mayo has been able to give us results yet, (even though we knooooooowwww they're finished) is just some kind of anomaly. I'm sure nobody's called because they realized it's nothing. The radiation guys are like, "Whoa, our bad, O'Halloran, smudged his peanut butter fingers on the lens again - you're all good."

I'm sure that's it.



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