I wish I had understood this concept as a much younger woman, but . . .
I am as thin as I'll ever be - really. I weigh about four pounds more than I did when I graduated from high school. sure, it's all in different places and it doesn't look quite as nice, but this is it for me. I do not strive to maintain this weight. I'm active, but I don't run or anything that might cause me to pee my pants. For now, that's the weight my body seems happy with. I eat what I like mostly - bacon, butter, chocolate even the rare bologna sandwich (on Wonder bread with mayo!). I think I'm just where I am supposed to be and I don't fight it. In this, I know I'm lucky. I spent ages 12-22 or so (and beyond) counting calories and agonizing over every single thing that went into my mouth. I am happy to be free of that and am grateful to be free of that. If, as get get EVEN OLDER, I need to pay more attention to what I'm eating, I think I can do it in a sane way.
I don't look fat, but I don't strike anyone as delicate or tiny. I'm a solidly built person who 100 years ago would likely have been birthing children between pulling the plow (because, you know us, the mule would be sick lol).
Yesterday, as I was taking Andy and two neighbor boys to Rock Springs, we stopped at a grocery store for water and ice (Publix for those of you who know the store) and they all had to weigh themselves on the big old-fashioned scale. C has grown about 8" this summer. He's 12 and nearly 1 1/2 years older than Andy and Paul. C maxed out at 108 lbs - I have to look up to talk to him now, but I could squash him like a bug if I sat on him!. Yes, the boy is en route to being a super model. Andy, who is built a lot like his sturdy parents and is about 5'2" is 93 pounds. Andy's best friend since diapers is about 5', all legs and has a much more delicate bone structure than Andy, weighed in at 75. He was horrified. We talked and walked through the grocery store. Andy, since they were babies, has always outweighed Paul by 10-15 lbs even when they were the same height. Andy's not fat, Paul's not underfed. They look the same, even now and especially when they're swimming. I assured Paul that with size 10 feet, odds were he would be a tall, lean man but that everyone grows at different times. I offered to buy him a stick of butter to eat with lunch. All the boys thought that was a riot. :::sigh:::: It's so hard to grow up.
Still, I'm grateful to be dealing with boys. I don't quite get them, but if you are honest and upfront, they get you for the most part. There was no more discussion of who weighed what or who was taller or anything. It just rolled off their backs and we went on to the next thing - whistling. Whew!!!!!! I don't know if it would have been the same if I had had three girls with me. Bullet dodged.
Anyone have good instructions for how to whistle with your index finger and thumb in kind of a circle as you stick them in your mouth? I can do it with two hands, but they want to be able to do it with one hand because it's cooler.
Ian joined me this afternoon in a thrift store prowl. I was on the hunt for shirts for myself that did not involve paint stains or food stains. Yes, I am a snob. Mostly, I was looking for stuff Dan needs to go off to college in a stylish, well-equipped, yet cheap fashion. Ian was looking for art supplies - especially cheap, good paper for his sketches. Have I ever shown you guys one of his drawings? If not, I'm sticking one I like here in the post - okay it's not a drawing, but you get what he's kind of doing, right? I think he's good and getting better - especially for someone whose only formal education in art thus far is working through Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain a few years ago with me and his brothers. Trust me, none of us was producing this kind of work back then (or even now, if you have to ask).
Ian is a great traveling/shopping partner. He talks if he has something to say, but much of our day was spent in a comfortable silence. Ahhh. I found a couple of cute shirts at the first store. Ian didn't find much. We moved to the next thrift store. Score!!! I found a in-the-box-brand-new-set of Corelle dishes for Dan. They were marked $14, but it was half-off-housewares day! Woohoo!!! So finding the brand-new ice cream maker machine for $14 felt like a super-duper bargain. We have all the stuff to make Heath Bar stuffed Vanilla ice cream in waffle cones tomorrow. :::sigh::: So happy.
When we got home, Mike was just finishing up helping a neighbor hang a tall, heavy light fixture in their vaulted living room. Mike told me all the details. I came away with swimming, snacks and beer in an hour. It's all good. We had a great time visiting and going in and out basking in the glow of the new light fixture. We had a better time drinking beer and swimming and lamenting the lack of any sort of breeze. Aside from the one neighbor, we live in a really awesome neighborhood.
Now, I'm trying to catch up on laundry. Soooo much laundry. I'm listening to Under the Dome (yes, I'm on a Stephen King kick). I read the book last summer and I'm enjoying it again - the reader for this book is really pretty good! He's no Jim Dale, but he'll do.
Tomorrow? Mike and the boys are off super-early to catch waves at the beach. I'm sleeping in and getting up to make ice cream and something for dinner. To fill in the empty spaces, both dogs need a bath and I'm certain there will still be more laundry. It's also probably time to cut down my morning glory/moon flower vines as well. I hate August in Florida - all the pretty, colorful things die for a bit. I like green, but August always makes me feel like I'm living in a terrarium.
I'm a slacker, but I'm here tonight. It's been a long summer for Andy and me. Sharing a car with three older, working, schooling brothers is not all it's cracked up to be. Andy and I have spent a LOT of time together this summer. We've watched a LOT of Sponge Bob, done some puzzles, played a ton of board games, but sometimes you just want to leave the house. I took a shower on Wednesday morning and came out to find Andy sitting on the couch, eating cold leftover spaghetti, with two long curls of paper hanging out of his nose and singing along with Sponge Bob. School starts on Monday. We've crossed the line into stoopid.
Last night, however, we got a break. Two of Andy's friends spent the night. They got to stay up late, eat junk and sleep in. Well, the sleeping in was an option I hoped they'd take, but, ehhhh, not so much. Today, we had a car!!!! The three boys and I piled into the car and headed to
(This video was taken by someone, not me, in December when no one is there. But, it truly is this beautiful. For our visit today, add several hundred people floating in giant inner tubes and almost no wild life - the boys did see a fawn today, though!)
We packed a picnic of bread I baked last night while I was waiting for the boys to settle down, pepperoni, assorted cheese, apples, water, ginger ale and a couple of Diet Cokes for me. I had my book (The Stand, Stephen King - Dan convinced me that the mini-series I saw back in the 80's - with Molly Ringwald!!!!! - does not compare to the book - so far, he's right), ice and a comfy beach chair. The boys are old enough to float down the trail on their own - it takes about 1/2 an hour. I positioned myself at the end of the trail in the shade. They'd stop by for snacks or a drink with each run. This pulled me out of my book and let me know all was well.
In front of me were two women about my age who, between them, had nine kids. The kids ranged in age from 18-19 down to about 3. The women were having an animated conversation about courting vs. dating (yes, I guess this does happen in real life). I was into my book, but I could not help eavesdropping. One of the women was clearly in charge of the conversation. The other must have sought her out for advice. I'll be the first to say you could not pay me to attend whatever church it is they attend - they were not kind or clever or even very persuasive in their arguments. Still, though, they had absolutely beautiful, fun, nice kids - their kids were doing what "my" kids were doing, running the trail and checking in about every 1/2 hour. I guess because the women were so wrapped up in their own conversation they lost track of the little kids. I was mostly reading and I assumed that the very short folks were being watched by the older siblings.
I was wrong. Late into the day, I was snacking and reading and ignoring as best I could the women in front of me (the older, louder woman was still going on and on about modesty and training up girls to be wives and mothers - as a wife and mother, I'm glad I had a choice and some fall-back skills in case Mike had turned out to be a total loser) But, once again, I digress. Out of the corner of my eye, I glimpsed red and movement. It was a lifeguard (at best this kid was 17) carrying a small girl in one arm and leading another small girl by the hand. By small I mean under five.
He addressed the two women in front of me saying he'd pulled the little (wee, wee, tiny girls) out of water 2' over their heads and in a strong current. He asked the women if they'd seen the multiple signs about kids under the age of 8 being supervised at all times. The older of the two women was angry. "You mean we have to move? Those girls (all of 3&4) can swim." The poor kid-lifeguard was trying very hard to be nice. I noticed an Orange County cop (who had been patrolling up and down in his Reno 9-11 shorts all day long - nice enough guy, but the shorts????) talking into his radio. The lifeguard explained that, if they wanted the little girls to swim in the shallow part of the Springs, that yes, they'd have to move and keep an eye on the girls. "WELL ISN'T THIS YOUR JOB??????" Yes, she did. She said this. I was up out of my chair and, thank heavens, the park manager arrived to take charge. I'm thinking Reno 9-11 called him. Whew - I suck at confrontation.
REALLY????? A young man-boy brings you your 4-year-old who you have not looked at once in three hours (I assumed the little girls were being supervised by the older kids) and the best you have to offer is "WELL ISN'T THIS YOUR JOB??????" It was horrifying to watch. I have seen all kinds of crazy things at this park, but this was by far the most upsetting. Do any of you truly rely on a 17-18 year old boy in charge of hundreds of people for the absolute safety of your itty-bitty daughter?????
And, this is a woman "training" her daughters to become good wives and mothers. Maybe mom should try mastering this first??
Lest you think I'm unforgiving, I've "lost" all of my kids (not at the same time) at least once. However, I've never left them near water where I could not see them - at least not until they could outswim me. I went years and years and years without reading on the beach or at the springs while I stood in nasty mucky water and withstood waves. I don't care how many kids you have or how old you are when you have them, you HAVE to pay attention. That teenage lifeguard is there because he wanted a job where he could scope out teenage girls . . . your toddler is not high on his list.
Heck I made the two 11 yo's and one 12 yo today at least stop and wave at me between runs down the trail. (And, that's a stretch, when Dan was 11, I was still in the water most of the time with the boys!) AND, I'm all for teaching kids to cook, clean, do basic sewing, do laundry, iron, garden, fix cars, fix the house and all the rest - but it's something I think they need to learn as PEOPLE - not as a future wife, mother, husband, or future anything. You just need to know how to do that stuff. I figure the kids have a leg up if they know this stuff coming out of high school.
I'm headed to bed, FINALLY. By the time anyone reads this it will be Monday (Sabrina, is it still Monday there in Japan? Has the stock market completely tanked? No, don't tell me. I'm not watching the news - sort of - no really, I'm not watching - heh, send me an email but shhhhhh).
We (me, Mike and Andy) went out to Melbourne today to visit Andy's godparents and test out the new Tree Top Trek Zipline courses at the Brevard Zoo. If you are ever on the east coast of central Florida, the Brevard Zoo is a must-do! It's great for toddlers to teenagers. The zoo itself is awesome and has two kayak courses through the animals on different islands. They always have great programs going on as well with well-staffed, friendly volunteers. The Tree Top thing is new and separate from the zoo though located on the same grounds. You can do one or the other or both. I cannot recommend it enough. We've always been able to use our own local zoo pass for entry, sometimes with a small added fee, so definitely check that out.
What were we thinking when we agreed to meet around 1 pm, in Florida, in the summer? It was well over 100 degrees as we were filling out the endless paperwork. (If you plan to do this, do the paperwork online!) I, stupidly, wore flip flops and was not allowed on the course. I became the designated "stuff" holder for Mike, G, A, Katie, David, Andy and Lara. By 2 pm, everyone had their gear and were slowly making their way to the training station. I was told the whole thing took about 90-120 minutes. I hauled everyone's gear to our truck and went to get cold Gatorade for when the crew finished and a magazine for myself to entertain me until they did.
About an hour later, I was stationed at base camp with a frosty Diet Coke, a cooler of Gatorade and a Marie Claire magazine. I never read magazines anymore - I used to devour them, but they're all the same. Still, if you only read one magazine a year, they're kind of fun. Did you know they make a facial lotion that includes umbilical cords in it? Me either. Freaked me right out and there was no one around who looked like they'd be interested in talking about it. Actually, all of the people sitting around me looked like the cast of Swamp People. (Have you ever seen this show? It scares me to death, but Mike and the boys lurv it. They don't even mind having to use subtitles to understand what the people are saying. It comes on and all I hear are banjos and the voice of a very scary professor of Modern Literature from many many moons ago. No thank you.)
Suddenly, I noticed that I was actually feeling comfortable as I read. I looked up and, sure enough, Florida thunderstorms were looming right over us. Just then my phone rang. Mike and our gang never even made it past the training stage. With each sound of thunder, this outfit reset the clock for 30 minutes of wait time. I get it. If I ran a business that involved suspending gooey people 20-40 feet above ground, no way would I be hoisting them up if there was thunder. The thunder was coming every 2 minutes, there was no way we were going to make it to the day's cut-off point of 4pm. We took the refund and retreated to G&A's house.
Of course, by the time we got to their house, the skies were clear and blue. :::sigh::: The kids swam, we caught up on things and made dinner. OK, A already had dinner made, we just watched her do stuff. (I did take a bowl of pretzels out to the kids, that counts as helping, right?) It's such a far cry from our visits of old where at least two of us had to be in the pool to keep the kids afloat while someone else did pool toy duty (I lost the goggles, where is the dinosaur, Barbie's head is stuck in the jacuzzi) and the fourth adult heated up chicken nuggets for dinner..and then we'd eat really fast and rush home to avoid bedtime meltdowns. Now, the kids swim like fish and we can sit in the a/c in peace - watching the kids through beautifully sound-filtered glass. It was a great way to end a weekend. I'm bummed we didn't get to do the Tree Top thing, but we've all agreed that it might be way more fun in October/November when it's in the high-80's - brisk and refreshing, Florida-style. ;)
My mom and I get along really well. We have fun no matter what we're doing. Even when we're not having fun, we end up cracking up. Tonight, she drove over here to pick me up so we could go see "Twelfth Night," the play Ian has been working on as stage manager. We left in plenty of time. I was driving my mom's cute little car.
Yet,as we were talking and laughing and talking, talking, talking we still missed a few turns and arrived 15 minutes late. The sign on the door said not to barge in, someone would come get us. We waited and waited for over 30 minutes. No one came. Finally, we grabbed brochures to prove we'd been there and left. It's pathetic. My mom and I spend a lot of time together, but rarely in the places we intend to be. Ooooo, look a butterfly!!!
As we tried to explain what had happened to Mike and Andy when we pulled into the driveway 90 minutes early, we barely had to say a word and they filled in the blanks. Mike even said "I knew better than to let the two of you go off alone." If only my sister lived closer - she's got an actual sense of direction and pays attention to detail. I talked to Ian after the play and explained what had happened and he just laughed and said, "Why didn't you bring Dad or Andy?" Oh well. Ian wasn't crushed that we didn't actually make it to the show, my mom and I did not end up on Ocala or somewhere far, far away from our destination. We had fun. The night was a semi-success, right?
So, Dan came home tonight. He really, really likes the comforter. Should I worry that he's feminine now or should I worry that Ian and Tim take such joy in tormenting me? To be safe I'm going to worry about both. (The comforter in question is the one in the picture.)
Scout. :::sigh::: I have spent the past few days yelling at the kids and their friends about dribbling water from the fridge all over the house. Today I finally figured out it is not the kids, it's Scout. She's been dribbling pee everywhere she goes. It's a mess. I used four rolls of paper towels today and finally ran to Goodwill and cleaned them out of towels. The worst part is that poor Scout is mortified. I have to keep pulling her out from under our bed. She knows what's happening and clearly has no control. I hate this. I'm hoping the vet can squeeze us in tomorrow - maybe it's just a little infection, not the fact that she's 14 years old? I'm going to worry about that a lot.
Andy is someone else I worry about lately. We've had a strange summer. He and I have been largely housebound due to sharing the house and, more importantly, the CAR with three working teens. It's not terrible, we're both readers and we both love board games and he has enough friends around later in the day to make up for my lack of 11-year-old-boyness. But, homeschooling him alone seems strange. Ian and Tim will still be around this coming year, but they're on a whole new level. I don't want Andy to be too lonely or too dependent on me. So far he seems fine. Public middle school is off the table and private school is not an option either.
Yes, there are homeschool groups and co-ops around. But, to be honest, I dread the prospect. I don't want to join a group that makes me sign a statement of faith. I also don't think Andy and I are a good fit with an unschooling type of group. That's all I've been able to find. Additionally, I dread being the oldest mom involved. Sure, I have opinions on breastfeeding, potty training, etc. but I'm not terribly passionate about any of them and I shudder at the thought of hanging out with women whose oldest child is Andy's age and are still involved with all the other stuff. What to do. What to do. I think I should probably just suck it up and find a group. I can't very well start a group with "older mothers left homeschooling their youngest child" as a requirement, can I? So, I worry about this, too.
Can you be too weird? Danny was excited that the condo he stayed at this week had a toaster and a tea kettle. We used to have those things. But, we no longer do. Six people using a toaster is a disgusting mess. I taught the kids how to use the broiler for toast - we can do 15 pieces at once and there are no crumbs all over the counter. The tea kettle? I love having a tea kettle on the stove. However, once Mike and the boys discovered it could be used as a weight for bacon and flat bread sandwiches, I got sick of scrubbing scum off of the kettle. Now I boil water in a pan and it tastes the same in tea. But, I worry that my nearly 19-year-old son is excited by these little things. Andy loves to eat across the street because he can use their toaster. Maybe I should just suck this up too? I kind of worry about this stuff - but only when I'm done worrying about the rest of it. It's kind of my leisure-worry.
The other stuff I worry about is pretty standard: money, getting old, kids with driver's licenses, money, the house falling apart . . . you all know the drill. That stuff, I can handle.
My neighbor stopped by this evening to let me know about a great sale at Kohl's today (yesterday if you're reading this)ONLY. As Ian and Tim were carpooling with my car, I patiently waited for Mike to get home and took off for the sale. I was hoping to get bedding and bathroom stuff for Danny. I found a really nice comforter/sheet set (say THAT five times fast - just the sheet set part), four towels and a pack of nice wash cloths. $96. Not bad. The sheets were 200 thread count, the comforter was sturdy and cheerful in a manly way. I was happy.
Got to the check out line and was met by an incredibly pretty AND incredibly annoying cashier. She kept pushing me to get a Kohl's credit card. As we are working frantically to get ourselves OUT of debt, I kept saying, in a polite-friendly-I-could-be-your-mom, kind of way, NO THANKS. She then proceeded to tell everyone in line behind me that I was being stoopid and could they even BELIEVE on the savings I was missing out on by not getting this card. I bit my tongue, turned bright red and imagined myself being a person who could stop biting their tongue long enough to speak up. As I walked out into the heat of the evening, I found myself getting madder and madder. Yes, it was a great sale. But, honestly, I'd rather pay a little more and not have the attitude and subjection to public humiliation.
A couple hours later, Ian and Tim got home. I showed them the comforter and both of them shuddered and said "ICK. It's a girl comforter and Danny is going to hate it." Guess I've got two reasons now to go back tomorrow and return my stuff. I'm bummed. I thought I'd made a good choice. If I thought I'd made even an iffy choice, I'd have given that girl a piece of my mind and left. (Who am I kidding? I'm a wuss. I'd be right where I am tonight and taking the stuff back tomorrow.) And, here is illustration #8654 of why I hate shopping.
Dan has been gone for the past few days. His friend-that-is-a-girl's parents invited him to join them for part of their vacation at a local beach. Funny. The house is so much cleaner since he's been gone. I think we've pin-pointed the problem of trails of dishes, clothing, and general detrius. Poor Dan, his re-entry into family life is not going to be easy. The other boys are shocked and awed by how easy it is to keep a bathroom, bedroom, living room and kitchen clean.
Still. I can tell I'm going to miss Danny when he's gone. Andy is REALLY going to miss him. I think the timing of Cally the psycho-dog joining our family could not have been better. She clearly sees Andy as another puppy. Crazy as she is all day long, she follows Andy to bed and they sleep with arms and paws wrapped around each other. It's very sweet and I think she'll be a comfort to Andy when Dan really does leave.
Andy wants to clear the room of all things Danny the minute Dan leaves. That's not going to happen, but there is much to clear out. The boys all share small, small rooms. Having a room alone is HUGE in this house. I've been measuring and mentally rearranging things all week. I still need another 400-500 sq. ft. If you aren't using your extra space, please send it here.
In other news, Andy and I joined our neighbors on Sunday to see Harry Potter AGAIN. Yep. We've exhausted the "fun budget" for the summer, but we're both happy that we spent our money on this. It's better the second time. I actually cried more the second time around. Really well done. (imo)
The gardens are officially baked and dead. I'm trying to work up my UMPHHH to get out there and remove the dead stuff and clear out the weeds to make room for a fall garden. Sadly, much of my gardening motivation has been lost because I cannot just stuff an I-pod into my overalls and listen to a fun book while I work. I have killed two I-pods. The kids can make them work for me but if I have to pause or turn the story off . . . I have to find a kid to restart things. It's just too pathetic and needy for me. Yes, silence and contemplation are good and I just have to embrace those things. I will. It might take a little time, though. I've tried the rubber covers, pushing the buttons with a wooden skewer, wearing rubber gloves.... I'm just THAT electric, I guess. Wish it translated into something income-worthy.
More on stuff you don't really care about . . . I think I need some locks on my television. News should most definitely be off limits to me. It makes me crazy.. I actually have a degree in journalism! So little is news. So much is hype. So much is opinion. HGTV is another channel that should be locked. I watch it and watch it and think one of two things. The first thing is "I want to beat up these incredibly spoiled 20-somethings that NEED everything in their first house." I hate them. The second thing is the redecorating aspect of the channel. I like watching the how-to's and the what-if's, but I come away depressed and convinced that we live in a hovel. (We don't.)
Okay, let's end on some happy notes. Dan has an apartment. Furnished. Reasonably cheap. Yay. I'll be taking him up to Tallahassee Aug 27. Woohoo.
Tonight was BLT night. Dan is away. Ian was working. Tim was working. Mike had a Scout meeting and Andy was playing until the sun was completely gone. I made the bacon. Lots of grease. I recently picked up a mandolin slicer thingie. I had potatoes. Yep. BLT's with homemade potato chips (fried in bacon grease) . . . Oh my. Good stuff. I sliced up some apples to alleviate the guilt, but, to be honest, there was no real guilt. Even Ian, the resident vegetarian, scarfed up the chips. Mike and I spent some time reminiscing about the "good-old" McDonald's french fries.
Okay, that's all I've got for now. It's scaring me how I become less and less interesting as the boys get older and older.
We just got back from Harry Potter, the final installment. It was every bit as good as I hoped it would be. Though it's 4:00 in the morning, I'm still all wound up and the dogs are insane so I figured I'd come here and ramble for a bit.
There were eight of us tonight: me, Dan, Tim, Ian, Andy, Bing, Dan's friend-that-is-a-girl and her brother. We got to the theater at 9:45. We were all decked out in t-shirts we made last night. I'll have pictures of some of them tomorrow. As we walked to the theater, Dan casually asked me if I'd printed out our confirmation for the tickets (I bought them through Fandango over a month ago). Well, of course I hadn't printed anything out. Nothing. I assured Dan that the ticket office could use my credit card to verify our tickets. Well, they could have done that had I not received a replacement credit card with brand new numbers just last week. When the guy told me that I thought I might throw up.
I figured I had time to run home and be back in time if I had to do that. First, I stopped by the manager's desk after telling everyone else to go find Tyler and Christi and get in the long, long, long line. I explained it to the manager and I could feel myself getting teary (how insane is that). He was really nice and pretended I was not insane and offered to call the Fandango office. After he had been transferred a couple of times I started digging for my keys when *poof* he found the right person and they were able to find me in their system. Viola!!! Tickets!!!!!
After walking ALL the way around the building I found our group. Everyone in the line was hot and sweaty and really excited. I could not believe the people wearing cloaks and gowns and hats. It was 90 degrees at 10 pm. I was dying in my t-shirt and shorts. The line was fun for people watching, though. I mentioned to my mom what a shame it was the girl a couple of groups ahead of us had such a nasty scar on her forehead because otherwise she was adorable. Yes. I said this out loud while standing in a line of dressed-up people waiting to see a movie about a boy with a nasty scar on his forehead. You know that feeling of wanting to grab words out of the air as soon as they leave your mouth? That's the one.
Slowly, they started letting groups into the theater, filling one theater at a time. The back of the line wasn't so bad. Once you could see into the theater and watch all of the people inside NOT sweat, it was kind of like water torture. I concentrated on getting our supplies all together. I had my giant beach bag stuffed with a box of tissues, a giant sweatshirt, eight little bags of candy and my car keys. To that we added Christi's bag with more candy and a couple of sodas. The bag was heavy. I ended up leaning on Andy's shoulder so I didn't walk like a staggering drunk.
Tyler, Christi's brother, who I still think of as being Andy's age and is, in actuality 17 and about 6'4" tall, had a bag of chips that would not fit into my bag. My mom offered to stuff them into her wizard's hat. The hat is decorated with some kind of gold paint, which in the heat had melted off onto my mom's hands. By the time we were close to the front of the line, my mom's hands, face and neck were covered in shimmering gold PLUS she was wearing the hat with a lumpy bag of Frito's stuffed inside. She looked like a deranged Twilight fan. Tyler kept staring at my mom as if to say, "Don't stand near me or at least take off the ridiculous hat." Of course the rest of us picked up on that and kept saying things to Tyler like "Why are you being so mean to your grandma?" Poor Tyler. He's a mild-mannered kind of guy. I think he's a little scared of us.
We finally reached air conditioning, found our theater and promptly took a row right in the middle. My mom and I went to the ladies room - funny how glitter just never ever comes off your skin - and then to get popcorn. Three tubs of popcorn, two sodas and $87 later (kidding, sort of) we headed back to our seats. Our theater was packed. As with most of the HP midnight movies there were costumes, hats, scarves, glasses and all of that fun stuff. We waited through what seemed and endless number of movie trailers. I'm still kind of freaked out by the one for Rise of the Planet of the Apes :::shudder:::: Finally, the movie started and the crowd went wild and then fell instantly silent for the whole movie - except for when everyone cheered when Bellatrix bit the dust. Honestly, there was not one cell phone on, no one was whispering, everyone seemed to be sucked right into the movie. Very fun.
The movie itself was an incredibly good end to a fun, if flawed, series of movies. Of all the movies, I felt like this one truly delivered a complete story even, I'm guessing, for someone who hasn't read the books. It was far more violent and bloody than any of the other movies. If your young kid isn't intimately familiar with the books, especially the seventh book, I'd suggest previewing it before taking them to see this one. (By young, I'm thinking under 12 or 13.) I have about ten favorite parts of this movie and I can't wait to see it again. I was really impressed with how they handled so many difficult parts of the book. Sure, I'm a geek and I would watch an 18-hour Harry Potter movie, but most people won't and I think the compromises made were good ones.
Hurry up and go see the movie so we can talk about it!!!! If you saw it, please comment on your favorite part and your least favorite part. I'd like to see if our opinions match up.
It's a lie when you say you don't have a favorite child - unless, of course you have one child. That doesn't mean the "favorite" is set in stone. Around here it changes hourly.
Today, Andy (see how cute he was a mere 7-8 years ago?) is my favorite. We've been hosting Andy's best friend's brother who has been suffering from a horrible allergic reaction to "something" for the past two days. He was in no shape to go to summer camp.
The poor little guy is covered head to toe with a rash that swells and gets itchy if he's too active. Ummmm . . . he's six. They're always too active. So he's been swollen and itchy for the past two days.
I always wondered how Andy would be if we had had another baby. Now I know. He's kind and sweet and funny. He taught Preston how to play "Chest," yes, the rest of us know it as chess, but Chest is too funny to correct. Andy and Preston watched some Sesame Street, some Pengoo (sp?) and something called Shawn the Sheep. Andy is my hero. By the end of the day, Preston was tired but looking and feeling much better. Woohoo! I know his mom and dad are exhausted after five almost sleepless nights. Andy, too, was exhausted. He's used to being the recipient of patience from his brothers . . . go ahead, everyone, hugs all around.
And, if you have a favorite, you most likely have a least favorite. Tonight, that son would be Ian. We just had a conversation. Ian is funny and smart, but he does not appreciate getting old yet. First off, I handed him a tube of Clearisil I picked up at the store as he headed to the shower. I suggested he stop in and rub some on Andy's forehead. Ian suggested that was creepy and weird and Andy wasn't old enough for pimples. I agree. I think Andy's pimples are mostly sweaty hair and bike helmets, but waaahhh he's awfully close to REAL pimples. I shared that with Ian and he just smiled and said, "Just think in a few years we'll all be gone. It'll be you dragging Scout around in our old wagon, reminding Dad of what he started out to do." Thanks.
I thought he was heading to the shower when the giant calendar on the door caught his attention. Absentmindedly, he said, "Wow, Dan is going to be gone really soon." So now we have pimples on my baby and my oldest LEAVING. Nice. I suggested, gently, that he head to the shower. As he was walking off he said "Can you believe Harry Potter will be all done in just two days?" Like a knife through my butter-like heart. Yep. Ian is out of the will.
In other news, our week has been pretty quiet. Tonight we learned why. Our new-ish neighbors, on the OTHER side of mean neighbor, have had two visits from code enforcement this week. Tim offered to cut their lawn until they give up their crazy Northern ways and lose the push mower - the equivalent of cutting your lawn with nail scissors if you live in Florida. Nice she has two houses to watch now, I guess. I like the new neighbors, though.
We found Danny an apartment. He's really going to just leave us and go to college. My feelings are mixed. Mostly, I am excited and happy for him, but part of me is already lonely. I'm going to miss him (and his mess) a lot. Andy is going to miss him even more. But, it's real. He's going to leave.
Such a strange feeling. In some ways, I've been waiting for a couple of years for this. In other ways, I'm stunned that I have a child this old and this ready to be on his own. The crow's feet around my eyes are in a crazy battle right now about whether to sway up or down. So far, up is in the lead.
After we found the apartment, Danny casually said, "Well now you (meaning me) know what to get." Ummm, hell no. I'm not going to IKEA alone. We'll be spending some quality mother/son time getting him stocked up and ready to leave. Danny wasn't as excited as I was, but I think it might take some time for the thrill to completely engross him.
In other news, not much to report. The recent, nearly constant, rains have officially killed the big garden. It was going to go anyway as it's getting too hot here, but we lost a couple of weeks. My monster grape tomato plant is still going strong, though. I have that planted in my garage-side herb garden. Best $3.50 I've ever spent. My best guess is that we've gotten 20 pints of tomatoes out of that crazy thing. It's currently climbing on our ladder, multiple stakes and the backs of a couple of chairs. Think Little Shop of Horrors.
In the news about people not related to me:
Kate!!! (The royal one. You know? She just married Prince William???) had a bit of an uh-oh moment over the weekend. Bet Queen Elizabeth was pleased. I bet even Diana wore granny panties.
Less government is a good thing if you ask me. Given the house in the picture, if you lived in this neighborhood, would you object to what this woman is doing? Are you opposed to a front yard garden? If you are opposed, odds are you took care to buy a house where there is a homeowner's association. That way the rules are clear and everyone knows what they can and cannot do. And everyone living there has agreed to those rules. This, however, seems more like my own neighborhood. There's always the thrill of waking up each morning to see if your neighbor has painted their house pepto-pink. I have to admit, I prefer this. I don't think the lady's garden looks bad, no worse than many unkempt lawns, and it has an actual purpose. What do you all think? I'm sore tempted to plow the front yard . . . muhahahaha
The boys found this video and it's a riot of you're familiar with the books and the movies. We are all so excited/sad to see the last installment next week.
I dunno, lately things take forever . . . it's me, not the world. I guess without little kids and a serious schedule involving naps and bedtimes... Whatever it is, I just get slower and slower no matter what I'm doing.
It's kind of like "Ooooo LOOK!!!!! A butterfly!!!!" This is not a good place for someone who is used to being on schedule and following the plan. I refuse to say how long it took me to pack up a lunch for tomorrow's trip to the beach - for only FOUR of us. It's a delicious lunch, but still . . .
Then, I meandered out to do some laundry, then I spent some time knitting, I did some dishes, cleaned the living room, nagged at Andy, you know, a regular night. I was waiting for Ian and Dan to come home. And they did.
Once all of that was done a normal person would go to bed, but NO. I HAD to paint my toenails. Oh my. I'll be wearing sneakers on the drive to the beach. If Mommy Dearest did her own toenails, they'd be on my feet. What a nightmare - yes, there is a thing as too much red. Thank me for NOT taking a picture. Yikes. And, of course, not a drop of polish remover in the house.
Oh well . . . I'm going to the beach and sand is a wonderful cure all for everything.
Okay, I didn't win anything exciting, but the hampers are empty, the laundry is folded and ready to be put away in the morning. With the boys working and driving (to the beach, the springs, etc) I'm drowning in laundry. I don't mind laundry if I can listen to my Ipod audiobook. I'm struggling with the Ipod thing lately.
Since I was about 21, I cannot wear a watch. Within about 10 minutes the battery is dead. I love watches, but finally, I gave up. Light bulbs? 4/5 out of 10 light bulbs blow up when I try to screw them into the sockets. Usually I just wait for one of the kids or Mike to do it. I'm wondering if whatever it is that is wonky with me is also giving me difficulty with the I-pod. I can listen for several hours and then it just stops and freezes. I gave up on my I-pod and Danny let me use his old one. Same thing with that. Some days I can coax it to work, some days, not. Does anyone else have this problem? If so, have you found a solution? I do okay with a cd player, but that doesn't work for walking or gardening. AND, the local libraries are going all digital so I don't know how long I'll have access to hands-on cd's.
Calm July 4 here. Usually, I love having our annual party, but this year, I'm worn out between Dan's recent graduation party and the neighbor who hates us. So, I just said "NO." Whew!!!!! It was a lovely long weekend here. We spent time with the neighbors swimming and eating pizza on Saturday. Sunday, my lawyer neighbor's cable died so I got my own expert testimony to the horrid-but-addictive Casey Anthony trial. Followed by snacks and just a general appreciation of normalness after watching all the drama.;
Today, no party planned. Neighbors all doing their own thing. Mike and the boys (minus Dan who had to work) rode their bikes to the local fireworks. Ahhhh. I was home alone with no party, no food to mess with, just bad television and a list of stuff to get done. I cancelled my soap websites. I thought I would be sadder about doing that, but I'm okay to let it go. I did many loads of laundry. I cleaned out the kids clothes and got bags ready for the Vietnam Vets pick up tomorrow morning. Once the fireworks started, I sedated the dogs. (Note to self, Cally gets hyper on Benadryl.) I dusted and contemplated decorating the living room for the millionth time. It was a lovely, quiet evening - I even broke out a bag of my emergency M&M's just cuz I could.
Dan came home around 9:30 after an eventful day working at the grocery store. (If nothing else, this job is a HUGE incentive for him to finish college.) It's always nice when I get one of my kids on their own. We talked about finding a roommate, figuring out a college budget, you know, fun stuff. We also talked about Harry Potter. Actually, we spent a lot more time on Harry Potter. :::sniff::: Dan doesn't know it yet, but he will always look back on the Harry Potter days as fondly as I already look back on the Harry Potter days. (Talk amongst yourselves. I'm all ferklempt.)
Mike and the rest of the crew returned home around 10. Though we'd planned for a calm 4th, we couldn't let the day go by without lighting something on fire - it seems to be a guy thing. Mike and Andy picked up some grocery store (aka LEGAL) fireworks yesterday. The six of us set up lawn chairs and had a blast. Only one of the kinds of fireworks even made noise. It was so much fun to be all together and it cracks me up how much we all laugh together - who needs a party? Yet, the night was marred by headlights.
Every time we saw a car heading up or down the street (and we live on a VERY low traffic street), we'd all get twitchy and look at each other like "Should we hide our legal fireworks in case its the police?" Gah!!!! No police. No police. No police.
A neighbor came down after visiting a local town's fireworks. She, her mom and her daughter (can I just brag? I french-braided the daughter's hair this afternoon and she still looked wonderful at 10:30 - didn't think a mom with four boys could do that, huh?) sat with us as we watched our tame fireworks show. Mind you, on all four sides of us, people were setting off TREMENDOUS 50' high monster fireworks. (I like the fireworks and the neighbors and we've had a ton of rain so fire isn't an issue AND it's nice to know that someone living nearby has $1000 to burn so beautifully! Maybe the economy IS improving after all?)
Our neighbors know us, so they joined us in being twitchy every time we saw headlights. (Mind you, this all takes place within about one hour's time and we were NOT doing anything wrong - we're just trained to be twitchy.) Sure enough, as Andy was getting his finale of fountains ready (he'd planned it all day long), the police cruiser pulled into its usual place in front of our ugly neighbor's. The officer got out of his car, walked toward us with his flashlight, saw the tame fireworks and walked back to our neighbor's front door. He was there for a quite a bit before he came out and gave us a friendly wave and drove along on his way.
YES!!!!! A major holiday with no direct contact with law enforcement. Yay us! I used to aim high. Now, I just aim to have fun and not get a citation while doing it. Goal achieved.
Looking in my "archives" and I'm realizing there are hardly any pictures from my olderish posts. I don't even know how to find the time to go about correcting that. I think I'm likely the only one who cares, but still.
This is just a drive-by post. I found this bag at Goodwill yesterday. My old, beloved beach bag died the other day. This is my new ($3) bag. It makes me smile. The boys are calling it my big ass beach bag.
I'm a slacker - this week has been insane. I love that the older boys are working, but sharing one car between the four of us? Not loving it. Last night we actually made a flow chart to figure out who had to be where and who should drive... it made sense last night, but, like life, it didn't work out. Fortunately, the kids are reasonably patient and have learned to travel with a book at all times. Everyone is home and accounted for now. Tomorrow is equally insane - cross your fingers!!! I like to think we learned from today.
And, now back to my list for sending Danny to college. I'm calling this list "Just Living." I appreciated all of the suggestions on the last list, so PLEASE keep them coming.
Toilet Paper Paper Towels Paper Plates (and no, I"m not trying to destroy the planet, just keeping it real) Laundry Detergent Laundry basket/hamper thingie Bleach Dishwasher detergent (since all the cool college kids have dishwashers these days) Dish washing soap Sponges Dish towels Basic pots and pans Real dishes silverware Cups Candles (for power outages and/or romance - mostly power outages - I plan on ugly candles) Flashlight (see above) Batteries Duct tape - because, well, it's duct tape Envelopes Stamps (Okay - I'm going to make school/office supplies a separate post) Sponges SOS pads Windex A broom/dust pan and mop (depending on where he moves in)' Scrubbing Bubbles for the bathroom Toilet Brush Light Bulbs
Good lord, this is getting expensive! I'm tired and I think I'm forgetting a lot of stuff. I had forgotten what it's like to start with nothing. Yikes! More lists to come.
I'm Amy and, yes, I wear a foil hat. Welcome to my exciting life as a wife, mom to four sons, soapmaker, reader, whiner and attractor-of-strange people.
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