The No-Procrastination High School Graduation Open House

Those words aren't just lyrics to a Stevie Wonder song...they sum up a phrase that is fast climbing to the top of my bucket list. And while they could refer to any one item on the bucket list, they are actually only referring to one: My love affair with procrastination.

Procrastination could be my personal credo...a negative mission statement if you will. That said, I need to share that I've rarely missed deadlines in my life. But I have honed 'taking it down to the wire' to an absolute art form. I began to notice this pattern clear back in elementary school when I would not tell my mom school projects were due till they were one day away. I never studied for a test in high school or college before any midnight hour. I've never mailed my tax return before the last possible posting date. I've never mailed a bill that wasn't timed to arrive on the very due date. And when I was a grant writer--hoo boy let me tell you I drove some applications across state lines and sometimes made deadlines by a 10-minute window before a building was locked locked for the day. I once dropped an application into a mailbox at 3 a.m. (to be posted that day), then after having stayed up that late to finish the application, hopped in the car and drove to Cincinnati by 8 a.m. for a mandatory workshop. Since my room at the conference center had not been slept in, the hotel graciously allowed me to stay the following night on the same dime. I went to my room and showered over the lunch break. After the workshop was over I ordered room service then slept for 15 hours straight. Yet I had made every stinkin' deadline! (By the way, my agency was awarded the grant!)

Clearly this is a ridiculous way to live, and I don't know why I do it. I've read that recognizing one has a problem means it is half-way solved. But no one has told my other half! I tell people that I work best under pressure, but who in the world really does? There is a difference between the adrenaline rush one gets when they meet a deadline by the skin of their teeth and say, jumping out of a plane without a parachute. Or at least there should be.

Does anyone really know what time it is? I do! It's time to be getting a high school graduation open house ready to roll. Not just any open house, but the last of three--Charlie's, to be exact. Charlie is on the left in the photo above, and I will use the wisdom gained from presenting Abby and Casey's open house in 2002 and 2004 respectively. The paint was barely dry on the living room walls for Abby's open house, and one of her photograph scrapbooks was only half complete. Photos from her senior trip to Hawaii were still in the Walgreen's photo processing sleeve and guests simply thumbed through. But was the party a dud? No! Abby didn't want a traditional hors d' oeuvres buffet with a cake. For her we served an ice cream sundae bar and homemade pie. I baked and froze pies for days before the event, and it was a smash. People who had been going from open house to open house were so relieved to not quaff more melon balls and green and gold icing they almost wept at the sight of the pie.

Applying wisdom gleaned from Abby's party, two years later we rented a tent for the front yard for Casey's. People still got their food inside, but they didn't sit all over the house to eat and I didn't have to paint rooms. Instead, I power washed and stained the deck (finishing the day before, and still had streaks of deck stain in my hair, but oh well!). Casey did not want traditional food, either...he opted for chips and salsa from a local Mexican restaurant. He did go traditional with a cake, but did not want the school colors. So the cake was decorated in the bright reds, golds and oranges of a happy Mexican fiesta. And I did not even attempt to make photo scrapbooks for Casey...all his photos were glued to poster boards and placed around "the shrine". If you've ever attended a graduation open house, you know that the shrine is the area where all the student's photos, awards newspaper clippings and graduation robe are grouped in an area for the guest's walk-through pleasure. Trust me, the glue on those poster board photos was not yet dry while the guests were checking them out.

My bucket list goal is to NOT let everything slide till the last minute for Charlie's open house. I want to walk around and enjoy the guests instead of dozing off in a corner. To that end, I wish to actually sleep some the night before the party. I don't want to be up all night cleaning, baking, decorating, or doing anything. Steps I have taken to ensure this happens include:

• Rented a room in a local senior center. Tables and chairs, large kitchen, big screen TV (for video), restrooms for the guests...it's all there! For a whopping $75, I get to forgo all the frantic cleaning and renting of chairs, tent, etc.
• Began gathering all the photos. I'm not making poster boards this time, but will scan all the photos into a PowerPoint presentation that will scroll in a corner "home theater". People will be able to sit and watch a 5-minute DVD instead of standing in line to thumb through those crazy albums.
• Selected music. The DVD will have background music that has meaning to Charlie. Motley Crue's "Same Old Situation", Blue Oyster Cult's "Godzilla", Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water", and some other classic hits plus some newer ones I don't recognize.
• Began gathering material for "the shrine". Since Charlie's is my last go-round for this type of thing, I want it to be stellar. I have everything from the original dinosaur Beanie Babies to his Big Foot costume. Plus we'll have a little music corner with his guitar and amps. My deadline for having this lined up and ready to load into the car (for the senior center) is two weeks before the actual party.
• Created invitation fliers to hand out or mail to potential guests, and identified the deadline to get information to the church (so there is time to put a copy in the bulletin two weeks before the party date). This is already a saved doc on my computer--yay!
• Began purchasing pop, water bottles and condiments for the "hot dog cart" Charlie wants as a theme for the food. He doesn't want cake, either, he wants Dutch apple pie.

Things that still need to happen:

• Hire some of Charlie's buddies (that don't also have open houses that day) to dress as hot dog cart guys and serve the food.
• Bake and freeze those pies!
• Get the "ice tubs' down from the storage area and wash them out. These will house the beverages.
• Ask some of my friends to keep food and beverages stocked so I can visit with guests (it's fair...we all take turns helping each other!)
• Keep in close contact with Charlie through the process and make sure the open house reflects what he wants, and not just the wishes of his parents. After all, we did not do these things when I was graduating, so I might subconsciously be creating the party I never had (cue the violins).
• Pay final fee to the facility and touch base about the cleanup rules, time frame to vacate the premises, etc.

Darned well better save nine! Because this is my final shot at getting one of these parties right. With a little effort and a lot of determination, this bucket list goal will be checked off second only to 'grow a container garden'. Timing is everything, and for once I intend to play the part of relaxed host (and genuinely be that instead of acting!) After all, this day is about celebrating Charlie's accomplishments and enjoying the company of loved ones, not about whatever I waited till the last minute to do!