today i watched as kirk stood in front of eight heavyweight faculty members and gave a 20-minute thesis presentation that, in my humble estimation, rocked the shizzouse.

kirkum, just before he went in to present his business plan thesis.

after a hard week of coming into the home stretch -- a week that included laser-focused days and no-sleep nights, the writing of a 20-page original business plan and the preparation of a tight, professional presentation of said plan -- kirk stood in the front of that room and demonstrated the truth of who he is with real knowledge, gifting, and confidence. it totally blew my mind. i was so proud of him!

afterward, he felt such a release, especially since there was no beating around the bush on this one: he had done very, very well.

so, of course, we went out to celebrate! in our world, this translated into several hours of spending fun, quality time together. we hopped into a theatre to see indiana jones 4, before the crowds descended upon the theatre in typical friday-night fashion. we enjoyed conversation as we strolled hand-in-hand along our little downtown area on park avenue. and we drove out to a favorite restaurant to enjoy a yummy dinner with two glasses of really terrific wine.

in our world, this also translated into early graduation presents. even though kirk has one major project left to finish next week and doesn't walk in his graduation ceremony for two more weeks . . . what can i say? i was too excited to wait to give him this:

his graduation gift package included this gorgeous, handcrafted meerschaum pipe with eagle detail, a chrome zippo lighter, a pipe stand for his desk, a classic book on the history of pipes, and a pipe tamper bust of sir walter raleigh. (sir walter raleigh was a renaissance man, just like kirk, so i deemed that a perfect fit for this pipe that features his favorite bird.)

of course, the only thing i couldn't purchase from the great vendor who supplied all these beautiful gifts was a stash of tobacco. so off we headed to the one place on park avenue that i thought might carry tobacco: the cigar shop.

unfortunately, the cigar shop did not carry tobacco. no worries, though. we purchased a cohiba cigar for kirk to enjoy as we strolled down the avenue instead.

silly boy!

in all, it was a great day. i'm thrilled he reached this major milestone. like i said, he's got one major project left to finish, due next week, and then he walks to receive his master's diploma on friday, june 6th.

whew! what a journey.