Eventually the iron will kick in . . .

Right?  I am always anemic, but I let my iron supply run out ... no good reason, I just did.  And now I'm paying for it.  I"m SO tired.  I have new iron, but it takes a bit to kick in . . . until then, I sleep.  

Teenaged  kids are ticking me off lately.  This is the new notice on the fridge.  We'll see how it goes.  

Other fun stuff in the works, I'll try to get to it all tomorrow.

Dear Sons, 

Dan, Tim, Ian:

Summer Alert!!!!

1) Once I finish what is in the hampers, you are on your own for laundry - clothing, towels, sheets, blankets, etc.

To start a load of laundry, you must transfer what might be in the washer to the dryer and fold what might be in the dryer - NEATLY. If you do a crappy job of folding (meaning I have to iron something to actually wear it or use it, you WILL find it dumped on your bed where you can start over). You must finish your load of laundry - to the point that it's folded and put away or I will dump it all in the dirty stuff.  No pulling out one shirt (and not coming home to finish the job).   You may not run loads with one or two articles of clothing; plan accordingly. You have ONE day to do your laundry - no leaving stuff for two days in the washer or dryer.

Hang it up, put it away or put it in Goodwill.  I'm tired of nagging and asking and everything else.  If I find it, it's going to Goodwill.  My days of four loads of laundry a day without ONE person saying thanks or even bothering to put things away or sift through a basket without unfolding everything I folded the night before are over.

2) The Suburban is mine.  I let you use it. If I get into the Suburban ONE more time and it looks like homeless people live in the car, be prepared to have me drive you, at my leisure, to your scheduled activities until you move out and buy your own transportation. No garbage on the floor, if the garbage bag is spilling when you turn a gentle corner, it's time to change it, clean out your cups, what's the deal with five blankets in the car????, moldy bathing suits and towels? Books? Random paper garbage? It's disgusting and I did not make it that way. Yes, it's an old car that has seen better days.  Oh well.  You all are old enough to remember when we were a one car family - that's the alternative.

3) Meals.  Leftovers first. Variety is fun in a diet. However, it's becoming a problem that you all insist on making something NEW everyday for lunch and dinner.  Please try to work through what's in the fridge before you start a whole new culinary adventure.  Lots of people eat the same thing twice, even three times, in a row and thrive. Sometimes, you have to do a little work to make a meal - not a lot, but you have to make an effort...

4) If you see it, and it needs done, do it. Don't wait for me or Dad to ask. You know when the garbage can is full, when the floor is filthy, when the couch is disgustingly full of crumbs, when your toilet is coated with cracked, dried-up pee, when you cannot even open your bathroom door it's so jam-packed with dirty clothes and towels ... 

I hope you get the message.  Love, Mom

Ahhh . . .

I'm not trying to be cryptic or anything - I just have too much going on right now to post anything coherent.  In good news, I have cleaned and sorted my bookshelves.  Four GIANT lawn bags to Goodwill.  Four boxes for PaperBackSwap.com.  Three boxes to my neighbor for her five year old and quite a bit to the garbage.  

Never fear, our shelves are still full.  And sorted.  I sorted the non-fiction by category and subject.  The fiction is sorted by author.  It's a beautiful thing.  I used the small space we've always used as a catchall/computer space (it's supposed to be a dining area lol) and have turned it into a mini-library - pictures soon.  But, I'm sitting here now and it makes me smile.  I even found a tiny lamp at Goodwill that matches the new paint to the point of fading away.  It's all perfect.  

For now, I must move out of the perfect 200 sq. ft. of space and face the rest of it . . . (pulling on my safety goggles) . . . wish me luck.  I"ll be back soon!

The Kids are Alright (I think)

The past couple of weeks have been exhausting, interesting and challenging.  Dan and I drove up to Raleigh, NC together.  We stopped in Jacksonville for his interview with the Navy people.  I sat in the car pretending to knit  . . . The interview went well.  Things learned from the interview:  1) I should have been more on top of things - he could have applied for the NROTC scholarship WHILE he was applying for the Naval Academy 2) Just because your 18-year-old son seems competent is no reason for you NOT to double check everything.  ::::sigh::::: We made it to Raleigh (listened to Pillars of the Earth and The Passage depending on who was driving).  My sister and her family could not have made us feel more welcome - her poor kids waited up for us to get there and were exhausted when they headed to school on Wednesday morning.  

As we unwound from the drive, Dan asked would I mind if he took the tour of NC State alone.  After I inhaled from the kick-in-the-stomach and remembered how I was at 18, I gulped some wine and said, "Sure, we'll meet you for lunch after."  My sister is the best - she squeezed my hand under the table and kicked me hard in the ankle.  And, that's what happened.  Dan did the tour, we met up for pizza and Dan gave US a tour.  All-in-all it was a fun day.  Next day?  Dan finished up everything he had to do on the campus the day before so Aunt Lynne booked us for a Segway tour of Raleigh.  Go ahead, laugh at the picture.  Helmets and old people and guided tours aside, segways are a blast!!! I don't know that I ever would have embraced the technology without the shove from my sister, but if you get the chance, it's a total hoot.  

We had to leave Friday, early in the am.  My sister and her family went to bed at a decent hour.  I was wound up - go figure. Dan and I sat up talking for a while.  It is so weird to realize that your widdle baby boy is really mostly a widdle big man.  It's rare that I get to spend time with any of the boys alone so this was precious time.  We avoided college talk for the most part, as we did on the drive home.  

We left my sister's around 6 am (yes, that's right, folks, I was up and driving at 6 am).  I drove, Danny drooled on the passenger window.  I found myself thinking "Could it really be nearly eight years since I made the older boys pack a lunch, stand in the rain waiting for the 'bus,' use 'hall passes' to go to the bathroom, raise their hands to speak in the kitchen . . .?"  How insane was I?  Here I was driving while an Eagle Scout who was accepted to not just five universities, but five Schools of Engineering, drooled on my window.  And, still I wasn't happy.  Why?  What more could I want?  Well, for me, I think I'm good.  But, am I?  How much is about me and how much is about the kids?  For Dan, I want the world.  I trust him and know he's capable of making good decisions, but  . . .  still I want to be right in there.  And, I won't be.  And, it's okay.  He'll be fine.  Right?  And, I'll be fine too.  (God help Andy, though. lol)

When we got home, I had to face another reality.  Andy and his friends are all going into or are in middle school.  I don't know about your experiences, but middle school is an evil time and place for most kids.  I find myself wanting to shake everyone with kids of this age and scream "IT DOES NOT MATTER!!!!!"  It really doesn't.  Really.  They just need to get through.  Period.  No one ever checks middle school records - just let them get through it.  Don't worry about them being gifted and talented or anything else for these three years.  Just let them be.  It's hard enough to just be at that age.  They don't need pressure or six weeks of sign language or advanced forensics.  Math, writing and reading are the keys. Easy for me to say, I know.  But, I lived it three times and I am gearing up to do it again.  

Hence the title of this post, "The Kids are Alright."  Really they are.  Ignore the artificial hoops and skip the angst most parents feel during these years.  Dan, Tim and Ian were all nightmares during middle school.  They did not suddenly turn stoopid, they suddenly had hormones.  Of course, they also had a mom who had NO clue boys "got" hormones just like girls.  Just relax, keep them busy (especially physically).  Don't panic.  Don't pile on the work and/or expectations.  Just don't.  

We'll be figuring out this weekend what Dan's best option is.  He's got the Naval scholarship starting his sophomore year, so it's just one year of scrambling.  There are other issues, but after Mike and I spent two hours driving (wasteful and expensive, yes, but mosquito free) mindlessly through the neighborhood discussing things and talking about our old plans for the future and the reality of our life we came to the conclusion that DOH! You do the best you can. Still, it was nice to arrive at that conclusion together.  Just like middle school, you want to force it, but you can't.  It's all going to work out in the end. 

Okay, this is long and rambling.  Don't make your life harder than it has to be . . . your kid(s) will figure things out and surprise you - maybe even amaze you!  

Okay, I have to get back to painting (yes, I'm still painting).  I've missed you all . . .  

Happy Mother's Day!

Sorry to be MIA for so long.  I'll write about Mom and Dan's Excellent North Carolina Adventure later.  Hope everyone had a terrific Mother's Day.  I'm not a huge fan of "card" holidays, but today was great.  The boys greeted me with "NO" breakfast in bed.  I love them.  Each of them got me a gift that was meaningful and I was really surprised.  To top them all, Mike surprised me with a garden gnome!!! 

It's an oldie, but I cannot resist reposting this video.  I still rings true (just toss in a couple more boys) for my life and I just love it.

Road trip . . .

Dan and I leave tomorrow.  It's weird how easy it is to pack for just two people.  We have recreated his initial (with improvements - thanks, Joanne and Drew!!!) application in under a week.  Dan has an interview in Jacksonville tomorrow at one.  Good thoughts, nekkid moon dancing and prayers are welcome and appreciated.  Dan actually got a HUGE haircut.  I dunno, it might have been my "whose-damn-spoiled-child-is-this" rant (you know, the one where I shout while tottering on my step stool - the height helps - "Do you seriously think your stoopid hair is worth $100,000????  Really?  Do you?)  Ugh ... low moments in parenting.  There is a reason I'm not a yeller or a screamer - the above is why.  Still . . . he got his haircut - it's not Navy recruit short, but it's respectable. Poor kid got my hair - short of shaving it, he's always going to look like he just got out of bed.

After Jacksonville, we're headed to Raleigh to spend a few days with my sister and her family and visit the NC State campus.  I'm happy to have some time with just Dan - that rarely happens and it's only going to happen even more rarely.  

Andy, who I've been dragging around on my pre-trip errands, is a hoot.  Last week, we borrowed my mom's car (the cutest, cleanest Toyota Highlander) while she was visiting friends in AZ. For years, all I wanted was a second car.  Now, I'm spoiled (and sharing my car with too many people) and a third car makes life amazingly easy!!! 

As Andy and I parked the car and locked it, Andy patted the hood and sniffed "I remember when she was just a wee muffler . . . "  the story grew, I'll spare you the full story as it was REALLY long but eventually he got to the part "Then, one night I put her to bed and when I got up in the morning :::sniff::: she'd grown her first tire!"  I hate co-ops, but I might have to join one, I don't think Andy's getting out enough.  

Everyone go hug your cars and your kids - they aren't little for long.  Wish us luck tomorrow.  I"ll be back when I can!!!!!