graduations

Five Things - May 26, 2025

Welcome to my blog titled ‘Five Things’ where you can expect just that - five random musings or reflections from the previous week or so. I’ll also share a quote I find meaningful as a point of focus for the week. For a photo gallery of our life on the road, our pets, and miscellaneous things I find interesting, you can follow me on Instagram @tabithalord.

So here are this week’s five things, starting with the quote of the week…

  1. "If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don't have integrity, nothing else matters." - Alan K. Simpson

  2. It’s graduation season around here! In the last two weeks we’ve celebrated RJ who graduated from Loyola Marymount, Nick who graduated from the MFA program at Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film, and Noah’s girlfriend Anjali, who received a Masters from USC. It was a whirlwind of activity and very exciting. Congratulations to all!

  3. We’re back in Orange for a couple of weeks before we launch into our summer travels. Since it’s baseball season, and we love to visit as many parks as we can, last night we went to an Angel’s game. While they lost to the Yankees, of all teams, there’s nothing like watching game on a spring night under the lights with a cold beer.

  4. We also went to dinner with Nick and Leslie at this cool place called The Hobbit. There’s only one seating per evening for this five course extravaganza, and we opted in for the wine-pairing. The food and experience was outstanding! We’d tried to get reservations here the last time we were in town, but it was booked solid, so we were thrilled to finally check this off our list of things to do in the OC.

  5. I can’t believe classes start up again next week! This break has gone by quickly, but I’m ready to dig into my thesis, which will be the second half of my romantasy novel titled The Dragon Dancer of Krysh! I left this manuscript at the halfway point and put the project on hold when I started school. It was my hope to use this novel as my thesis project, but it needed to be approved by a mentor willing to work with a slightly longer than usual manuscript. I’m thrilled to say I have an incredibly talented and flexible mentor, and she’s truly excited about this book. If all goes as planned, the draft will be finished by winter break!

Monday Musings 6-21-21

All our children are together with us for the first time since Christmas 2019. Our oldest is 28 and the youngest 17. Ray and I were reflecting on just how long we’ve been parents! Those years, when the kids were little, were both wonderful and exhausting. They seemed to go on forever and yet pass in the blink of an eye.

At this juncture, where they are all young adults (or pretty close), I feel nostalgic. On the one hand, I miss spending family time at the aquarium or the zoo or various ball fields. I miss snow days and beach days and bedtime stories. On the other hand, I love where I am in my life right now, and I love seeing my children launch into their adult lives. I love their wonderful significant others. I love watching them grow their careers, and I am so curious to see what they will do.

My nostalgia does not hold regret, and for that I am grateful. Things certainly weren’t perfect, but we had a full, wonderful, messy time of it when our family was younger, and it is exactly right that the kids are where they are now, doing what they’re doing. I think we helped them grow big, brave wings, and they feel free to fly.

Fair winds and following seas to our oldest Nick, who’ll be deploying this summer. So proud of this guy, and so pleased he has found an amazing partner in Leslie. Congratulations to Noah, and his lovely Brynne, on their 2020 graduation from Dodge College of Film. Happy birthday and congratulations to RJ, who graduated from high school and turned 19 on the same day. And last, but not least, our sweet, talented Kyra will be a senior next year! She managed to navigate a challenging COVID junior year with strength and grace. My heart (and my house) is full.

In other news….

I have a big birthday coming up, and guess what I’m getting? Little Daisy is almost ready to travel. We can’t wait to meet her! And yes, I realize I am slowly replacing my human kids with fur babies.

IMG_7381.JPG