Super Sunday

I stayed up late last night, knowing that none of the boys had to be anywhere in the morning and that even if they did, Mike would be home.  Really late was I up, as Yoda would say.  And then, poof, at 9 am my eyes were open and there was no going back to sleep.  To give you a clue as to how unusual this is for me, Mike immediately hopped up from his coffee and paper to ask me what was wrong, who was sick, why was I up when I ventured out into the kitchen.  Sad, but true.

I found something to read and something to drink and moved out to the porch to contemplate things.  Ian had plans to go golfing with my dad in the afternoon.  He and my dad golfed regularly for about a year or so until Ian's allergies got so bad he had to quit. That was about 3-4 years ago.  I don't know if the meds he's taking now work better or if he's outgrowing the allergies, but the allergies are no longer an issue.  He was so excited to get back out there today.  My dad?  Pretty much my dad golfs therefore he lives. He's thrilled to share his love of the game. He even let Ian drive the golf cart.  Changes, Ian is only an inch or three shorter than my dad (who's 6'3") - when Ian last golfed, he had wee shaved down clubs.  Today he was using my dad's clubs with no problem.  Wah! 

While I was sitting and thinking (you know how those early mornings go) it occurred to me that I could drive Ian to my parents' house and actually visit with my mom.  I called to see if my mom had plans.  She laughed and said she'd been waiting another hour or so (until I was up ) to see what my plans were for the day. As we were both plan-less we decided to  be plan-less together.

Ian and my dad took off. My mom and I had sushi and decided to go shopping.  My mom offered to buy me a bathing suit for my birthday.  Now, if you are a woman you know what a horrific thing it is to go and try on  swim suits.  We ended up having a great time - no tears or anything!  The one suit I almost didn't try on ended up being the perfect suit and it was 1/2 off!  And,  since finding a bathing suit that fit and didn't make either of us cry, we shopped for shoes and beach hats.  It was a really wonderful, wonderful day.  Neither my mom nor I is a shopper.  We were in the store exactly one hour when both of us looked at each other with glazed eyes and called "Uncle."

We got back to my mom's house just as Ian and my dad were coming home.  They had a lot of fun too.  Ian drove home and when I let him speak (windy road and I was busy with my feet on the glove box and my arms hanging onto the handle above the door) he was full of golf-glee.

All-in-all it was a fun day.  To top it off, we came home to shish-kabobs on the grill and an awesome jello cake for dessert.

I am so so lucky to have the parents I have!  We live close to each other AND we like each other.  A lot. 

Tomorrow better be something exciting . . .  but, after today, I"m thinking it might be a bit of a let down . . . ;)

(The picture above is the top of the suit I got, but it doesn't look like that irl.  If we go to the beach this week, I'll get a picture, it's not tight or oogy at all.  The world is totally safe from my gooey tummy and stretch marks!)

And, from the world of the hyperactive . . .

I bring you Saturday night! 

This afternoon we attended the birthday party of our neighbors' newly adopted son.  He turned five.  I keep forgetting to ask permission to put his picture here, so just imagine a totally cute spikey-haired little boy.  During the adoption process, Ian and Tim both were sitters for him on various days.  This kid adores Ian and Tim and was so happy when they showed up in time to swim and have cake at his party.  For their part, Ian and Tim treat him just like another brother.  It was a really happy, fun day. 

Everyone pooped out around 7.  The older boys had plans to see a movie.  Andy and Mike were completely exhausted from swimming for hours and hours.  And there I was.  Not pooped.  So, I grabbed my I-pod and started listening to Peter and the Starcatchers and weeding the garden.  What a funny, funny book!!!!  I'm really enjoying it. 

When it got too dark to garden and the boys had left for their movie, I was left alone.  Mike and Andy were both headed to bed.  The laundry, strangely, was caught up . . . Finally, I decided to watch The Godfather - I love this movie and haven't watched it in about a year - and organize the dreaded spice/junk cabinet.  And, because I'm the only one who cares about this kind of thing, I'm sharing pictures with all of you. 

I resized a bunch of shipping boxes, covered them with scrapbook paper and got to work.  The true test will be Mike cooking tomorrow night.  If the new organization survives that, I will be satisfied.  I sorted the spices into most and least used (and, yes, sigh, I did alphabetize them).  I made a separate section for hot sauce - it's kind of a hobby here.  I organized our "drugs" into daily use (allergy/vitamin/aspirin), really sick (cough medicine/nyquil/etc) and first aid (bandaids/antibiotic ointment/calamine lotion/etc).  I even carved out a niche for my tea stash (I could quit anytime, you know).  Not exciting, but satisfying.

Here's a pick of what I pulled out of the garden this afternoon.  Aren't the tomatoes cute?  I'm sure at some point I'll get sick of taking garden pictures, but today is not the day. 

And, finally, here is a picture of Andy's end of the year history project.  It's not done yet, but I think he's off to a great start.  It's a collage of the 20th century - all things NOT conflict related lol.  It's been a rough year for history and I thought ending with some hula-hoops and space ships was a good way to go.  (I knew we'd hit a breaking point when Andy was in tears trying to write about Indira Ghandi - gah!  I'm about nothing if not overkill.  How many 10 year olds even know who Indira Ghandi was, much less take the time to weep over an essay?  My bad.)

Oooo look a butterfly!

In light of my bizarre blogging patterns lately, I figured I'd sit down and offer an explanation.  Once again, I am trying to quit smoking.  It's actually going very well thanks to my new friend, the e-cigarette.  From way, way too many packs a week, I'm down to just over one pack every 10 days or so.  Short of me getting pregnant, this is HUGE. I'm surprised at how good I feel.  I see all you never-smoked-folk rolling your eyes and saying "Doh!" But, there's no explaining it to the likes of you.  (big grin) Anyway, short explanation, I currently have the attention span of a gnat.

I've tried to quit so many times, and nothing has worked - not hypnosis, not the patch, not the prescription pills, not cold turkey, not the gum -  lather, rinse, repeat.  This is actually working.  I'm not shrieking or crying or hiding under my bed sucking my thumb.  I'm using the e-cig and a combination of things I've learned from past attempts and I'm doing it slowly.  I don't do much slowly, but this seems to be the way to go.

The downside is that I'm finding the need to change up how I do everything - including computer time.  It's weird.  Kind of fun, but weird.  I imagine this need to be constantly moving will pass and life will become semi-normal (at least for us) again.  In the meantime, you'll all have to deal with sporadic posts and my family will have to deal with me cleaning and moving everything in the house.  Eh, it seems like a fair trade to me. 

So, please hang in there with me and light a candle or dance in your bathing suit under the full moon (this doesn't seem big enough to require full nudity) or just say a little prayer that I can keep this up! 

In the meantime, I'm available to paint your house, rearrange your furniture, clean the kids' rooms or all of the above.  My only stipulation is that your family never ever use the "m-word" and that you do not keep chickens or pet birds on or near your property.  Those two things will for sure have me hiding under your bed, sucking my thumb and NEVER leaving your house. 

Crunchy and tired . . .

Long day here . . . we wrapped up the last bits of school this morning, then we hit the road to shop.  Stoopid boys keep growing . . . Shopping was not nearly as painful as I'd anticipated (Old Navy is having a great sale right now) . . . we came home to drop off Dan, Ian and Andy and Tim and I headed to the DMV.

Yes, Tim finally did his online classes and is qualified to get a learner's permit.  Except Tim is part of our family.  As part of our family, it's a rule that you can never just breeze through a DMV experience.  Ever. 

We showed up in time for our appointment, had all our documents in order, the lady took  Tim's picture after he passed the eye exam, Tim signed the organ donor card, I was writing the check to pay for it all when suddenly the world  stood still.  In verifying that Tim took and passed the online tests, there was no record of him in the system.  Gah.  On a different day, I would have stayed to battle it out, but Dan had to go to work and he needed the car.  Once home, I called the testing company and after a painful  45 minutes we worked out the glitch - for a mere $25!  Double gah.  Somewhere along the line we made a mistake.  Our fault, we need to suck it up and move on. 

So it seems that Tim and I will be headed to the DMV sometime next week and I will add another student driver to my roster.  Send valium.  As I was explaining this all to Mike this evening, I realized that I have spent quality time at the DMV EIGHT times in the past two years.  This is wrong and unfair.

Tonight, after a wonderful happy hour at the neighbor's pool, I came home to bake bread, make yogurt and slice up the first garden cucumber for refrigerator pickles.  I feel so wholesome I could just spit.  But after the rest of the day, I think I'll just go to bed.  I'm tired, tired, tired.

How was your Friday?

Rebel Yell . . .

There has to be more, right?  After all of these years of homeschooling, I find myself coaching the boys on taking the ACT test.  After all of these years learning alongside the boys,  it kind of pisses me off to be drilling them to take the ACT and the SAT.  I want more for them than to just get accepted to a college and go for 4 or so years working at a major they will most likely NEVER use and potentially putting themselves in debt for the next decade or so. 

It's my own fault for not researching more or thinking things through more clearly, but c'mon, who ever believes their kids are going to be old enough to graduate high school much less move out on their own? 

Still, though,  I wonder.  The boys all test well and I'm sure they'll be fine.  I just wonder if there's only one path. I know Mike and I both 'knew' there was one path.  It's worked out fine for us, but looking back, . . . :::sigh:::

I just ordered The New Global Student to look at another perspective.  I kind of hate the title, but it sounds interesting and the reviews at Amazon are good as were the reviews I read in a magazine at the allergist's office. 

That all typed out, it's not my life we're talking about . . . and that's the hard part!  I'll keep giving them information and we'll see what they do with it all . . . 

Bad haircut?

When I get my haircut, it's usually unpleasant and the people who live here have learned to say nothing.  But sometimes, it's good.  Unfortunately, the people who live here are conditioned to not notice.  My point being . . . did anyone notice the new look of the blog?  If you noticed and you hate it, thank you for not sharing.  I was sure someone would have something to say.

Good news, as of tomorrow, Ian and Tim finish their online chemistry class and I regain the computer.  I am so behind on my blog reading list and my "imaginary" friendships, and I'm looking forward to catching up.  In the past, I've been adamantly opposed to the kids having tv's, cable or internet in their rooms.  It just feels like too much freedom and too much potential for creepy stuff - not to mention, I'm lazy, if i don't hear them or see them, I tend to zone out, making way for the creepy even easier!  Keeping our tv and the computer in the center of the house has worked really well for us. 

Now, though, with the older three all taking classes at the local college this fall, I might have to rethink the internet thing.   This past school year has been contentious and painful in regards to computer usage.  I think over the summer, I will just suck it up and network our computers.  It's not like anyone in this house has any privacy - Mike and I don't, the boys sure don't, in fact, I think Scout (the dog) manages her privacy better than any of us!  The boys share rooms.  They are all close, but they are all very different.  At this point, I think I just have to trust them.  (Not Andy just yet, but the older ones.) 

I hate the thought of becoming one of those families where everyone has their own laptop in their own room and everyone is watching a different movie in their own room and no one ever talks to each other - because they're eating their own take-out while sitting in their own space.  Up until now, the whole "middle of the house" thing has worked really well for us.  I'm hoping we've been doing the whole "family" thing long enough that it will stick  and we won't become a house-divided.  Cross your fingers!

101 Things, huh?

When I visited my sister earlier this month, she mentioned she'd made a list of 101 things to do before she dies. The idea is based on a similarly titled book.  I've been thinking about this a lot.  As a rule, I'm not a procrastinator, but (and maybe I'm angsty as I come up on my 45th birthday) but, I'm thinking a list like this, at my advanced age, might make me become a procrastinator.  Following this line of thinking, everything I check off the list puts me that much closer to being dead or "list"less.  (Get it? C'mon, it's funny.)

I dunno - my sister is having a blast with her list.  Do any of you have lists?  When you knock something off of the list, do you add something new to keep yourself alive indefinitely?

And I'm not even a pack rat!

For years I have nagged at Mike, a natural-born saver-of-all-things-that-might-be-handy-  or-useful SOME DAY.  (It took me 10 years to convince him to donate a pair of cowboy boots he wore once!!!!)

I'm not a saver.  I never have been.  I don't toss stuff willy-nilly (love that phrase) . . . but my general rule is:  If I don't love love love it; haven't used it in a year or more; and/or can't remember why we have it,  it gets tossed or donated.  This has served us well in our small house.  Heck, it is a large part of why I am sane.  I do not function well in clutter at all.  The more stuff we have the more I tend to shut down and refuse to cope with anything.  For me, less is survival. 

Today, however, I began my yearly cleaning o' the bookshelves.  Sure I dust the shelves sort of regularly, but during a year, I only deep-clean and organize them twice a year.  Once in the spring as  we wrap up the school year and once before Christmas because they're usually a mess after being used through the fall semester.  

I don't like clutter, but . . . books are my downfall.  I cannot believe how many books we have.  And I love them all.  I was shocked as I went through the living room shelves to see how many books Andy has read and outgrown.  Do I keep them?  If so, why?  We're talking shelves of books here.  And, stacking up things like Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh and the Phantom Tollbooth made me sad.  For many of the books, I have memories of each of my sons reading them and their different impressions as they were reading - love, hate, indifference, disgust, you name it!

Most of the books are cheap paperbacks and they outlived the initial $3-6 originally spent years ago.  I think I will put them in the Goodwill box by the dryer and plan to buy nice hardcover versions for our future grandkids.  Does that sound like a plan? Or will I be burdening future daughters-in-law with nice hardcover books to figure out what to do with in another 20 or so years? 

That said, I may have to keep a copy of Goodnight Moon,  Sylvester and the Magic Pebble,  and Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig.   OK - maybe I'll have to keep a big box of the books that we all read over and over and over and  laughed about.

No one tell Mike.  This new found hoarding instinct of mine could set us back 20 years

Forget the boat

I think we're just going to have to get a bigger ocean.  I don't know there's a boat big enough after our trip to the beach yesterday!

We finally found a day where no one had to be anywhere and nothing pressing had to be done around the house.  We grabbed my mom, loaded up the car and hit the beach.  As always, The Canaveral National Seashore was gorgeous and nearly empty.   We were sharing the beach with two fishermen who were off to our left.

The boys were in the water as soon as we'd unloaded the car.  My mom and I sat and talked and watched the fisherman and commented on how many boats seemed to be out in the deep water.  It was beautiful, hot, but still beautiful.  The heat got to us and we joined the boys in the water.  Still beautiful.

We went back up to the blanket to read and eat lunch.  The boys stayed in the water.  I looked up from my book and noticed one of the fishermen gesturing at my mom and me.  Out in the water (about the same distance from shore as Danny was with his surf board) - there was a GIANT black fin.  At first my mom and I squealed thinking it was a dolphin.  When the fisherman started gesturing in the direction of the boys, we stopped squealing.  The fin was fast and going in circles (cue music).

The boys came in and we watched the fin.  Clearly, the fishermen, were using something tasty for bait.  They had been catching large fish all morning.  I guess the sharks caught on.  I guess they've never seen Finding Nemo - "Fish are friends, not food."

We kept the boys out of the water despite their protests.  Seriously, they could not understand my concern.  This shark was easily 6-8 long.  Sure, Dan, just be sure to rub yourself with some of that lard before you get back on your surf board.  Gah!!!

After an hour or so, the fin was gone, the fishermen were packing up their gear and we told the boys it was ok to go back into the water.  No sooner had Dan stood up on a wave and the black fin was back.  Waahhh!!!!!!!

That's  when we decided to head home.  It might be a little bit before we head back to the beach.  I'll need to find some sort of shark repellant.  I've ordered Jaws from Netflix.  Clearly the boys need a refresher on the dangers of swimming with sharks.

During our time out of the water, I managed to get this cute picture of my mom and the boys.  (I sooooooo need to get  a new camera.  When I see the pictures, I picture a tiny Flintstone's dinosaur chiseling a photo using dots sitting inside my camera.)

Still growing . . .

Sorry, if you're bored with garden pictures . . . but, I just can't believe how well things are growing.  I've never had such good luck with a garden.  I'm sure this is a sure sign that an early hurricane will be coming our way soon.  In the meantime, I'll keep taking pictures . . .

Morning Glory

The Garden

Jalapenos

Cucumbers

Tomatoes

Whew!

Where did this week disappear?

Once again, I find myself amazed at how much work it is to tie up another school year completely.   With each passing year I find it harder and harder not to blow off the last few weeks of May.   But, despite being done with our "official" evaluations for the year (thanks Jay and Claire!), we're sticking it out to the end. 

Dan is discovering life as a pseudo-adult isn't as fun as he thought.  He's digging the regular pay check, but is finding winding his life around summer school, work, tae kwon do obligations and sometimes sleeping is not all it's cracked up to be.  He seems to be getting the hang of managing his time in the real world, though.  Tivo and Facebook and cell phones make managing time a lot more difficult for teens than it was when I was that age.  The options to waste hours and hours and hours simply weren't there when I was 17.  Hell, our phone was actually attached to the wall - in the middle of the house!  (Someone remind me to tell Dan about how I used to have to walk barefoot, uphill in snowstorms to get to and from school.)

I've been spending a lot of time sitting with Scout.  I can't pinpoint it, but she's weird and confused these days.  It just kills me to see her getting so old.  Overall, she's really healthy.  She's just old and achy and sometimes forgets why she came into a room or why she begged to be let outside.  I understand it all too much.  So, in the evenings, she and I sit on the porch - away from the general chaos that is my house. She dozes, I knit and we listen to a book on tape.  Sometimes I doze and she knits - it all depends on how Scout's opposable thumbs are feeling.

We just finished a librivox.org recording of Wilkie Collins "No Name."  It was a hoot. Not the most professional of readings, but one of the ones that made me smile so many times as we listened.  One,  I think Wilkie Collins (of Woman in White fame) is a hoot.  It's campy Jane Eyre.  Two, I love that so many different people volunteer their time to read chapters of these books.  I especially love books that combine multiple people with multiple accents (Chicago to India in this case) to achieve their goal.  It's not like listening to someone like Jim Dale (Harry Potter) but it's just as much fun.  Scout agrees. 

Andy suggested this afternoon that perhaps I over-planted the garden.  He might be on to something - it's getting a bit unwieldy!  But, I'm willing to see it through to the end.  I think our neighbors might ending up hiding from us in a few months as we try to distribute loaves and loaves of zucchini bread and even more jars of pickles.  But that's OK - we outnumber most of the neighbors and will patiently stalk them until they cannot refuse the bounty of our garden.  I've found it especially effective to stick a couple of grape tomatoes in the back of my cheeks when I speak to the neighbors.  It worked for Marlon Brando, right?

OK - nothing new here, but I wanted to check in and say hi!  How are you all doing?

Hmmm . . . bragging rights . . .

I never really thought about it, but lately, it's occurring to me that you actually reach a point where you can't brag on your kids because you actually had nothing to do with what they've achieved beyond raising them.  Weird, huh?  It's a long way from cheering when they learn to use the potty.

This past weekend, Dan received his second-degree black belt in tae kwon  do.  I know all schools are different.  In the  school the boys have been at since forever, this is a HUGE thing.

To top that off, he executed and completed his Eagle Scout project.  He's been working on the project for months, but this weekend was the culmination.  He had about 30 volunteers  come out to help him and it was really something to see him in charge of such a large project.  Mike and I are so proud of him!                   

Another thing I had absolutely nothing to do with but that I will shamelessly brag about . . . Tim and Mike ran their first 5K together this weekend.  Mike was funny when they came home.  He lost Tim early in the race and spent a lot of time looking back searching for Tim.  Imagine Mike's delight and surprise to find Tim eating a snack, not even sweating and waiting for him at the finish line!  It was Tim's first official race and he placed third in his age group!  And, Mike finished!!!!

Anyway, you'll have to endure some bragging before they all finish growing up and leave me I guess.   

(That's Ian and Dan on the right - picture taken by Tim - can you tell they're related?)

Garden 2010 Update

It's growing!!!!  I was nervous leaving the "baby" garden when we made our road trip to NC.  Since figuring out that gardening is a great escape route for a mom who is home all the time with all of her kids, I've become strangely protective of the garden.  Mostly, I don't want anyone else to discover the peace and quiet and wonderful aloneness that is out there right at the side of our house.  I guard that jealously.

And, now  it's paying off!  We had green beans from the garden with dinner tonight.  Everything else is growing and growing.  I'm encouraged but tentative.  Our weather has been unseasonably cool-ish and un-humid.  As long as this weather pattern holds, it's all good.  Cross your fingers!

Here are some pictures I took right before this afternoon's thunderstorm:

Verkelmpt-EST?

I'm typing in my Mike Myers mask and aside from the fact that I'm pretty ticked off that someone  dripped marshmallow fluff into my space bar, I'm all verklempt for a lot for reasons.

1)    Andy  and I finished our last chapter of the Story of the World Series today.  I've done this cycle of history with all of the boys. It's a great series and I can't believe Andy  has "aged" out.  Someone send me a five-year old so I can make mummies and burn London and all that fun stuff one more time!!!!

2) Dan finished up his first year of "college" classes (as a high school junior) with 5 A's and 1 B (I know, we are ashamed about the B too).  He's started summer term.  He took his AP Economics test before going to work (at a paying job no less) yesterday and he feels like he did well. His college SAT/ACT scores are high enough to earn him our state's scholarship money at the highest level.  Wah! (damn Fluff keeps making my cursor go WAY ahead of me, it's ruining the bittersweetness of my post).  

3) Tomorrow morning, Scout Troop 196 will gather, along with a lot of other scouts and friends Dan's made along the way to execute (freaking cursor, freaking Fluff - who buys this crap anyway?) his Eagle Scout project.  I cannot believe it.  We have been involved in scouting since 1998!!!!!  Danny has done so much work and Mike and I have sat on our hands so hard it hurt to make sure this was HIS project and now it's actually going to happen!!!!  This is a huge milestone for Dan and one that was kind of touch and go there for a while. 

It's just crazy to me how quickly time is passing and how rapidly the boys are meeting their own goals and some of my own crazy expectations too.  If you read here at any kind of regular intervals, you have surely picked up on how stressful and angsty this year has been for me.  While I work hard at not solely defining myself by my kids - as much as that's possible if you have kids; I think if you homeschool for any length of time it's inevitable.  I'm finally feeling like it's paying off. I can't explain the feeling, but it's a really good one.  I think the word is relief.

Go ahead, pass the tissues amongst yourselves and talk.  And, if someone is going out anyway, could you pick up a new keyboard?    A Fluff resistant one?


'

Random stuff . . .

We are scrambling to close up the end of the 2009-2010 school year.  This completes our 10th year of homeschooling.  (I know, I ask myself the same question . . . How DO I stay so young looking? All I can say is that it has to do with what I learned those first couple of years mummifying fryer chickens . . .  I'm looking for a book contract and a line of mummified cosmetics in the near future.)  I never, ever thought we would go this far.  And, though I joke about it, I think the possibility of the boys digging a basement to live in forever are remotely slim - haven't ruled it out, but it seems less of a possibility -  and I think they might even be overqualified to be greeters at WalMart.  No promises, but I'm starting to get a little optimistic. 

Random stuff that I have to get out of my system:

1) What my mom did while Dad, Andy and I were traveling.  I don't know about you, but I'm so jealous and envious and excited that she did it.  I am happy enough to see this picture that I will not mention my mom and her friend, Chelle, forgetting to wear silk scarves.  Nope.  I will NOT say a word about the lack of scarves. 

2)  Checking this item off the list of things I've never seen . . . We went to Walmart the day before our road trip.  I had to return some items (namely pants that did not fit Andy, pants that did not fit Danny and a couple of shirts that did not fit Andy).  At Walmart, if you are returning things, the greeter has to scan and tag the items before you can go any further into the store.  Fine.  As usual, the greeter was a woman in her late 70's/early 80's (like I'm any judge, but she looked really old).  She had lots of jewelry and her nails were all decorated. She was a delightful little person.  It was only as she started scanning my bag o' stuff that I noticed her thumbs.  Instead of one top joint of a thumb, she had two - complete with the long nails and the gold polish.  It was like meeting Anne Boyelyn or something.  The lady was clearly fine with it and after first glance it wasn't that strange.  But that first glance was a doozy. 

When we got in line to return the stuff, a woman on one of those scooters pulled up behind me.  I didn't really get a look at her, but she had three funny little kids running wild (in the way OTHER people's kids can be funny) and I noticed them.  It was only as we finished our transaction that I noticed the seahorses tattooed beneath the corner of each of her eyes.  WHY?  Why did she think that was a good idea? 

3)  When Mike was driving Andy and me to my parents' the night before our road trip, we listened to the local traffic and news as we were driving.  Oddly enough, the older boys all decided to join us at the last minute so we had a full car.  No one was paying much attention until the story about Angel, the stripper, who hired Dantay and Dontay, friends of hers who are twins, to kill her boyfriend.  Honestly, can you make this stuff up?  And while I will not deny the parents of twins the right to name their kids Don/Ron or Heather/Pleather . . . did the mother of these two young men have NO friends to warn her of the stupidity of their names?  I don't think we need a law, just more honest friends and family members!  ;)

4) Neighbor news!  Andy's best friend is officially a big brother!  The little guy is here to stay.  He's already come over (he's 4) twice to see if Tim could play.  And, one of the things I love about Tim, he could play - not for long, but he jumped right in.  I'm so happy and excited for this family.  I'm sure there will be hurdles and challenges in the next few months, but they are most definitely a great family and they will conquer anything that comes their way!

Other neighbors, the young, cute ones (lol) . . . stopped by this afternoon to let us know that they are having twin girls!  At 18 weeks the babies are healthy and perfect and my neighbor looks radiant (funny how good you can look and feel when you finally stop barfing every 15 minutes). 

Exciting stuff all around here - I just love it. 

4)  Garden news - plucked our first beans and peppers this afternoon.  Not much, but enough to make me pat myself on the back and sing the "He's Not Yet Dead" song from Monty Python.  Lots of wee cucumbers, zucchinis, tomatoes and other stuff starting to show too.  Phrases.  Lots.  Done with grammar for the year. 



Are we.

First Communion!

The reason for our trip to Raleigh was to be there for my only niece's First Communion.
My boys have all been through this, but the prospect of little girl hair and a beautiful dress and, well, just the prettiness combined with the fact that my dad was willing to drive made the prospect too tempting to turn down. We were NOT disappointed!  My sister's whole family is magazine purty with my niece being their crown jewel.  

When we arrived, I saw "the" dress and we talked hair while I sat on the bedroom floor and wallowed in Barbie heaven - so many wee shoes, so little time!  We had the boys covered. Boys are so easy on big occasions!  Look how blonde and cute they are!  Andy, Jamie and Mitchell. 

And, then, my sister came clean.  She had NOTHING to wear to the church.      NOTHING.  This was not good.  I come from a long line of shopping-averse people.  Lynne was our shining example of genes overcoming tendencies! If we really need something, we call Lynne and she tells me where to go and where to get coupons. She's the only shopper in our whole family. 

But, I did not panic.  After all, the wine would be there when we came home, right?  Lynne and I made a plan.  After dinner on Friday, we would shop.  I put on my pseudo-best Stacey/Clinton hat and we went shopping.  I lectured about bras that fit, wearing the size that  fits and ignoring the number and even spending more if something fit.  (Yes, I am a hypocrite on every level here - I know these all to be true, buh . . . . .)

I loaded my sister up with stuff to try on.  Oh my.  The first few things I gave her would have put most people in a fetal position under their beds. I was trying to be bold and trendy.  Ummm ... I know nothing about bold or trendy and my poor sister paid the price.  Sorry, Lynne.   Let's just say polka dots are not her color. We were laughing AND crying at the same time; they were that bad.  Finally, we found a blouse that was perfect with a cute white skirt.  Unfortunately, there were no blouses on the rack and no sales associates to be found. I checked the size on the mannequin and sure enough, it was my sister's size. To her horror, I started taking the blouse off of the mannequin - ready to substitute one of the same size and price, just a different pattern from the rack. 

Who knew?  Mannequin arms pop right off and crash really loudly. Good thing my sister and I laugh even more loudly.  I kept looking up at the security cameras and waiting for mall police to escort us out of the store, but they never came.  It even got worse when the same thing happened with the skirt on the display! After many experiments (some nearly disastrous), we discovered that skirts come off OVER the mannequin's neck/head.  Who knew?  I'm actually calmed  by this knowledge.  I will no longer  worry about being trapped in a mall and the mannequins coming to life.  I now know their evil secrets.

If nothing else, I can rule out window-dresser/display person as a future job -  I am no Rhoda Morgenstern.  My sister and I got a chance to laugh and carry on, we were not tossed out of the store and I narrowed down my mid-life job choices all in under an hour!  (And, for the record, I did mostly redress the mannequin.  I couldn't find any bottoms so I hung another blouse from the same line of clothing to cover any mannequin  naughty bits.  And, if I do say so myself, it looked just fine.  Festive, even.)

As you can see from the pictures, my sister looked great!  Paisley fitted blouse, white short (not mini) skirt, funky red shoes.  I think Stacey and Clinton would be proud of us.  Of course, when we got home to Lynne's, her husband, my dad, the three boys and Jesse, who was busy with her tiara, did not find the humor.  :::sigh:::: What do they know?   My only regret is that our mom wasn't there.  Bing would have been howling with us.

And, ultimately, Jesse's First Communion was a special,  memorable, beautiful event.  I am so happy that Andy and I were there to witness it. 

Road Trip!!!!

Sorry to be gone for so long - sometimes life just happens and there's not a handy computer, ya know?

Wednesday night, Mike dropped Andy and me off at my parents' house. We were packed up and ready to head to Raleigh to see my sister and her family for my niece's first communion. It was strange how my mom, my older sons and Mike had other commitments that allowed me, Andy and my dad to hit the road on our first ever road trip!I don't know that I have spent that much time with just my dad since I was about 15. Aside from the getting up while it was still dark and foggy; we had a blast.

It was a little strange to come out of my bedroom to see Andy and my dad sitting side-by-side, drinking their coffee and reading different sections of the paper silently. Truth-be-told, Andy IS the grown up in our family. He and my dad just crack me up. Theirs is a circle of two and I feel lucky to sit on the outside looking in.

It's a 9-10 hour drive. My dad drove most of it (his car and he has an actual sense of direction), but I drove for a few hours in the middle. My dad warned me about speeding, but I ignored him (1 - because I'm a slow driver and 2 - I was channeling my inner teenager). Oops. I'm used to the clunky old Suburban. My dad actually punched me in the arm as I was casually approaching 90 mph. I relinquished the keys not long after. It was WAY fun while it lasted, though.

Andy was so excited to see his cousins on the way up we didn't even listen to our audiobook. Instead, my dad and Andy hurled empty water bottles at each other and Andy worked the GPS thingie. I didn't really get it, but they had fun. However, after 600 miles of Andy announcing things every two miles, my dad and I were both WAY too happy to see Lynne and to learn that she had plenty of wine in her house.

My sister has been in her current house and location for two years, but this was my first visit. Can you all say house/location envy? It's so beautiful in Raleigh and Lynne's house is amazing. We all had a wonderful time. I am astoundingly exhausted now that we're home, though. The story of the nekkid mannequin will have to wait. Like always, I'm living on the edge, beating security guards and the police by a hair!

I have pictures too - I think, but the camera is in Andy's room and I'm not going to risk waking him right now, you all will have to be patient. Picture ginourmous trees, a lovely cold front, and an excellent deck. Book your vacation at my sister's early - spots are running out. Definitely order the spaghetti and meatballs while you visit.

More details tomorrow - I need some sleep!

Driving Miss Amy

When Dan was learning to drive it was a bit combative - he's my son that likes to argue the sky is not blue if I say it is. However, Dan and I had a code.  If both my feet were wedged against the glove compartment and I was shrieking insensibly, that was his signal to stop whatever-the-hell-insane-thing he was doing and listen to the words coming out of my mouth before we met a flame-filled death.  Our other signals were equally as subtle and Dan is now a confident young driver.  You're welcome, world.


Lately, Ian has been my driver.  Ian and Dan are entirely different people.  Dan is smart.  Ian is scary smart and not always grounded in "our" world.  Driving with Ian is kind of surreal.  One minute he's there, the next he's thinking big thoughts and we're careening towards a construction wall.  It's killing me.  He doesn't notice if I'm curled into the fetal position hanging from the "Jesus" strap.  He doesn't pick up on my 'subtle' use of the "parent brake" on my side of the car.  It's aging me.  Mike and I are encouraging him to move to a city where people don't really need cars.  Think of it as a public service. And, even as I type this, I have to admit, Ian is a good driver - really. He's very zen about the whole process.  I'm not.  I'm sure by the time he gets a license I'll feel much better about it all (see my previous posts about teaching Dan to drive).  In the meantime, send me a spine and some patience.

Tim is up next.  We'll see. 

Mike and I were talking this evening and we both agreed that by the time Andy is ready to drive we'll both be OK with curling up in the back seat with a blanket and a little bottle of bourbon. 

You folks with little kids are nodding and smiling - come talk to me in 10 years.  You think it won't happen to you - muhahahahaha.

Good news and how to tame your inner control-freak . . .

or not.

The parents of Andy's best friend in the whole world have been working to adopt another little boy for years.  It's been uplifting and heartbreaking in turns ... FINALLY, it's final.  Andy's best friend is officially a big brother.  I get weepy just thinking about it - exciting stuff here in the neighborhood.  (Pass the tissues - this is a BIG deal.)

Little brother arrives next weekend.  In the ensuing week, our neighbors are facing rearranging their house in some serious ways.  God help them, I'm their neighbor.  I LOVE rearranging houses and making space - it's what I've been doing here for years and years.  However, aside from offering help, my stressing over their space borders on the insane and creepy.  Mike has been telling me for years that normal people do not stay up all night doing this stuff and I'm trying to accept it.  And, I'll acknowledge that it would be weird for me to be creeping around their house while they all sleep.  But . . . wahhhh!  I'm excited for them and it's not like they asked me for a recipe or something.  I actually like doing this kind of thing.  At the same time, I want to remain friends with our neighbors.  They're not shy.  If they want my help, they'll ask.  They made a HUGE HUGE HUGE start this weekend and I'm sure they'll work it out. 

Buh, buh, buh, I want containers and empty shelves and all of that.  Yes, I am insane.  I cannot even describe how much fun I have sorting stuff into piles and putting it all in its place.  But, then I don't want to scare my friends and neighbors away.  To stave off my insanity,  I've been baking bread, cleaning out the kitchen drawers and organizing the fridge and freezers this evening.  Yep.  Me.  Your sane, yet helpful, neighbor. 

Repeat to self:  I will NOT go paint the neighbor's house while they sleep.  Odds are they will be more creeped out than pleasantly surprised.  Right?  ;)

Mostly, though, I'm so excited to see this family add a great new little person.  Whether his closet is organized or his walls painted, it's all going to work out fine.  We've all gotten to know him here and I think it's fair to say all four of my boys are even MORE excited than I am!  (I can always paint Scout's toenails if things get really pathetic on our side of the street!) The neighbors are going to have so much fun over the next decade or so!   We're all truly happy for them.