Adding Character

Several years ago when William was learning to drive, he backed into a lamppost late one night on our way to DC for Thanksgiving. I was not very happy with him to say the least. He just calmly said, 'Mom, I was just adding character to your van' 

Hmmmm. Yea. I could do without that. 

Thankfully, my father-in-law was able to show the boy how to get the mark of black paint off my van. And somehow, I survived him and Melissa learning to drive. 

And now it's Benjamin's turn. For the first few months I just refused to ride with him. My nerves just couldn't handle it. So, Drew took over the teaching. As with the others he is getting better every time he drives. 

Yesterday Benjamin and I had several errands to do to prepare for school starting on Monday. I knew he had not driven in well over a week, so I made him my chauffeur. 

Overall, he did well. I did make him let me drive at one point because he needed to back out of a tight spot at a strip mall. With a large truck on one side and an SUV on the other and not a lot of room behind us, I just didn't trust him to back out without hitting something. 

I think it hurt his feelings....oh. Well. Better than hurting another car!

Then we headed home. And he drove into our garage. And was looking at the wrong corner of the car. I yelled, "You're gonna hit the house! STOP!"

Too late. 

  But today he learned how to sand and repaint wood. And those marks on the front of the van? Not paint like his brother added. On, no. Not that easy. That's the metal under the paint. We'll be painting that soon as well. 

I guess now we're adding character to Benjamin. 

Summer Happenings....

One of the things we have each summer is soccer workouts - "conditioning".  While there's not a soccer ball around, it's usually pretty brutal...weights...running... lots of each.  I'm so glad it's not me!

After the second day I asked Benjamin how it was, he replied it was better than yesterday.  I asked why was that?

He responded that he took both his asthma meds.

Really?  Hmmmm  What a great idea!

I said, "Ok....let's hear it: Mom, you were right."

Benjamin looked at me and said, "Mom, you were right....this time."

Oh, that boy!

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Melissa was one of two girls to represent her school at Girl's State.  She was so very thrilled! She had been worked very hard to be in position to be one of the ones that got to attend. Over all, I think she had a good time.  She made some new friends.  But I do think she and the other girl from here were very surprised at how secular some things were and how mean some other girls were.

They had to sing chats through out the week.  A few were done at in the closing ceremony and I was not really thrilled about them. One was done in honor of the dance which was the only time the boys of Boy's State and the girls were allowed to talk and mingle.  The chant talked about being unhappy that they were all "cold sober". Hmmmmm.....hello! These are 16 and 17 years old!!  Why encourage alcohol drinking at this age???!!!

In Girl's State they practice government.  Melissa was a district attorney and even had to try a case. Now, the case was silly.  It seemed some one stepped on a crack and did in fact break her mother's back.  (As I said, silly! But it gave the girls a sense of how trials work.) Melissa talked about how some of the judges were just down right mean.  So mean, that they had to be told to stop by the counselors.   Melissa was not use to that! 

But as I said, I think she had a good time over all.

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Both Melissa and Benjamin went to youth camp with our church. Both had a good time - as usual!  The speaker/preacher turned out to be a former Ole Miss football player. Melissa did get a chance to tell him she was planning to attend Ole Miss.

The last day of the youth trip, they spent the day white water rafting.  I think they had a blast! Which proves that have lots of their daddy in them!

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Last week we put Benjamin in a soccer camp.  There might have been a slight miscommunication between Benjamin and I....He knew he had camp...and just never asked about the details....I knew the camp was all day...and just never thought to tell Benjamin that it was all day...  Imagine his surprise when at lunch time he didn't go home...but continued to play soccer...in 100 degree heat....

Ben's not usually very animated....well....yeah....he was VERY ANIMATED! "Mom!! I could have died!! It's hot. I thought this was three hours - MOM, IT'S SIX HOURS!! SIX HOURS!!"

I was a bad mom and just laughed. 

I'm happy to say that he did in fact, not die.  But did do a lot of soccer. Hopefully, we'll see some results this fall during soccer season.



Okay - that's a few of the things going on this summer....which is close to an end.... School starts August 8.


Oh - William.... yes, I do have that other child.  He is in Texas working. We have heard from him once....I thin he's called his sister more.... Which is par for the course with William...

My Yesterday

My yesterday actually started the night before as we were leaving for soccer and William's car would not start. Dead.  As a door nail, as we say in the South.  The remote wouldn't even unlock the car.

So.  We moved all the soccer gear to my van and off we went. On our way William called his dad - whom, of course, is out of town.  Of course, he is.  Something breaks is a sure sign of that.  Anyway. He and his father had a long conversation. When he got off the phone, William said, yeah, he said we should jump it and take it to the dealership. I said that was an awfully long conversation. William said "I just shorted it to the important stuff."

Remember that as I go on....

So, we got up Wednesday and went about my original plan: deep clean the house with free manpower: my two fully-able-body teenage boys.

Can you feel their excitement??  I'm sure they are now planning for jobs that pay enough to hire a housekeeper.

Yes, they complained.  Yes, they grumbled. And yes, they probably did not clean as well as I would have liked, BUT! getting at least one layer of dirt off the baseboards, crown-molding, ceiling fans, is better than nothing.  And I didn't have to do it my self.

I did other cleanings....scrubbed the kitchen, laundry, floors... Sadly, even after we cleaned for several hours and were very tired, I could still see things that needed to be done.  But we'll just have to wait another day.  It was after lunch and we needed to still deal with William's car.

Since it's a hybrid, things like the battery work differently.  So, we pulled the book out and read how to jump it off.  I texted my friend with the jumper cables to come on over. 

About that time William said something about weren't we to call Toyota??  Maybe set up an appointment??  I was like....no.....they can just work us in...it's just a battery. I'm sure they do this all the time.

Then Drew called.  Yea....apparently, he and William talked more details that William told me.  (Are you surprised? I'm not.) 

Backstory: About a month ago we took William's car in for normal stuff like oil change.  And here's where the communication failed.  I remember the discussion being that the hybrid battery was low and would need replacing at some point soon and it was 3K. ouch! So, we would wait.  The boys remember the story as the regular battery was low and they didn't have one in stock and so, we couldn't take care of it and so, we would just wait. 

Which is why Drew told William last night to call Toyota BEFORE we took it in to see if they had one in stock and if not, then order one.

All that was not told to me.  ME - the one  was talking care of all the details.

So, I texted my friend NOT to come over, I called Toyota - and was put on hold.  Then it took hours for someone to call me back.  But they did have one in stock and we could come on down.

But of course, its not that easy.

We did get my friend to come over with the jumper cables....it took longer than normal, but we got the car started and drove it to the dealership..

Who acted like they had no idea why I was there.

Urrggggg..

Lessons of the day:  Bad teenage cleaners are better than no cleaners.  Always, ALWAYS get the details from the husband....not the teenage boy.

Lazy Weekend

I love lazy mornings... and very glad today is one of them. Not much has happened this week...I did get a few things done, but with a few migraines, I read more than being productive at cleaning my house or working on a new quilt (that I have cut out, but have not had the motivation to start to lay out and piece together.) I even had the time off from work, since summer is a slow time for us.

I did come across a few new authors and have read them this week: Lisa Phillips and Karen E Olson.  Both write mysteries...and I enjoyed both.  The Olson book had a smattering of bad language, but not so much that I gave up on it. I'm looking forward to finding more from both at my library.

Today's main goal is to get Melissa ready for camp that starts tomorrow.  She has some scholarship opportunities through this camp and her and Drew will be finalizing those applications today.  She's a pretty good writer, but her dad? He's GREAT at editing things.

And tonight's main goal??? To make it to the James Taylor concert on time!!!  Should be a very entertaining concert!!

Father's Day Weekend

We were able to spend this past weekend with Drew's family.  Christmas was the last time the kids and I were able to visit. It was nice seeing the new house my in-laws now have.  It's perfect for them!  

We were able to get a few chores done for them (ok - to be honest I did not really do any chores...but a few of my sister-in-laws did and Drew and the boys did....Melissa and I got some shopping in...). Also, we got a few morning walks in and were able to watch the sun set over the Mississippi - both are favorite past times in Natchez!

We ended the weekend on a sad note as we attended a funeral for a beloved uncle. It was so nice to see so many of the extended family, but hated that it was at a funeral.  But Uncle George lived a long and happy life....we're trying to focus on that.

One of the funnier moments of the weekend actually happened before we left town.  I had the kids give Drew his father's day gifts before we left so we wouldn't have to keep up with them.  All the kids are very un-inspired when it comes to gifts: they all gave him chocolate.  But, at least, he shares with me!  The funny moment was when we read the card the kids gave him.  William signed his first  - AND LAST NAME!! As if there was another son named William?? And while Benjamin didn't write his last name, he did put his last initial.  Once again, as if there was another son named Benjamin.

Who knows what these boys are thinking!!  (And maybe perhaps even funnier - this is not the first time William has signed a card to one of his parents this way!!)

A Few Pictures From Our Weekend Away

I love driving out of Louisiana and into Arkansas. Where Louisiana is flat and boring, Arkansas is hilly and beautiful. Or at least to me.  I love when we can go - even if it just a long weekend like we did this part weekend.  Here's a few pictures....

For Melissa the weekend was all about taking good pics to post on Instagram.

 

Hiking...look at all those beautiful trees!!

 

St. Anthony's Chapel....absolutely beautiful! Wish I could attend a service here....

Taking a selfie with all the family.

Our new hobby..."escape rooms"....you have to solve puzzles within the allotted time in order to "win" and get out of the room.  What a blast!!

Things That Make You Say WHAT?????

Today Melissa was searching for some kind of special green tea. She's on a health kick. So, she called around and our local health food store had some.  When she returned home, she was laughing.  Apparently, this week they are celebrating their anniversary by giving away free samples of products to customers.  Here's what they gave Melissa....who is obviously a teenager....