Cross Another One Off the Bucket List

We had a whirlwind way-too-short long-weekend at Lake Tahoe. The main purpose of the trip was to go to my great-aunt's 100th birthday family reunion. Had I known how lovely the trip would be, I would have planned for a few more days.

We have not been on a "road trip" with our kids in a number of years, possibly because of those lingering distasteful memories of the back seat bickering. But guess what? At 14 and 19, they don't bicker any more (except for one small incident which shall appear later in this post). They talked about music and guitars and games, and seemed more like friends than brothers. It's what every mother desires and I am oh-so-grateful for this.

Sigh.

I did elect to ride in the back seat for much of the trip, behind the handy husband driver. This was a leg room issue, not an Idon'twanttositnexttomybrother issue. It was such a great trip, we are almost considering going to the Grand Canyon next year, but we might need a bigger car for that. We could rent a van! We've never had a van....ooh, I'm distracted here...back to the point.

I have lots of pictures and family things to talk about which will wait for another post, because I am so excited about what we did Monday morning. "We" meaning Frank, Ernest and Me. The Handy Husband is averse to heights and chose to stay earth bound to watch us, but the rest of us crossed off another item on the bucket list... PARAGLIDING!

It was totally AWESOME. 5 STARS to North Tahoe Watersports. 1400 feet, 15 minutes, the Magnum experience. We had some debate about the time and height...Frank was always my more cautious child and didn't want to go so high, but you could only get the longer time with the higher height so Ernest and I won out.

On the boat, they asked who wanted to go first. Ernest said, "we do!" The little girl in the other party said "no." So they loaded us up first. Way to go, no time to get scared.

We took off so fast!

Kinda high? The view was incredible.

That little moment of brotherly bickering? Ernest was swinging his legs and Frank didn't like the shaking. I can't blame him. Looking up, it looks a lot higher! Looking down, it was like the best google map ever!

For me, this was my greatest moment since when? Kissing the Blarney Stone? I confess, I was a little nervous. I'd had a horrible headache the night before (I blame the hike back from Vikingsholm, which will be in another post.) But when I woke up headache free the next morning, I said, "Self, you have to do this. You will regret it if you don't." Sometimes my Self needs a little talking too. And I was right.

Oh, it was amazing...

Frank thought we were landing just in time.

Ernest and I would have gone up again if we'd had the chance.

And Self? She felt so great! So Self, how are you? Self had the best time. Self could not stop talking about how awesome it was! Self wants to go again!



Here's to new adventures!

Hey Nineteen

Last year I commemorated Frank's 18th birthday here, here and here. And now it's a year later. Funny how a year flies by.

The plans for the day include breakfast with the family (including cousins and grandparents), and dinner out at a Greek restaurant.

The cake? Once again, he said "surprise me." He really shouldn't do that -- it gives me far too much chance for mischief. So his cake this year...shh, don't tell him (I don't think he reads my blog)...isn't going to be a cake at all!

It's going to be PIE!

Tight Fit

Frank's been the Handy Husband's right arm in the garage lately, and literally in this picture since I don't think the HH would have fit in that little space!

Nikigator

Here's a short aside to my San Diego travelog. Jenn commented on the Niki de Saint Phalle mosaic sculptures in Balboa Park, which reminded me of these pictures from our 2002 trip. Little Frank and Even Littler Ernest loved the Nikigator.




In researching this blog post, I found there is a Niki de Saint Phalle sculpture garden in Escondido. I'd love to see that the next time I'm there. Which will be soon, once Ernest learns there are Segway tours at the Wild Animal Park.

Reasonable Precautions

I'm not wearing a mask or anything, but I do work in a school full of little Petri dishes children.

I take reasonable precautions...like handwashing whenever I can.

Today I saw young Master C stick his right index finger up his nose, probe around, and then put the finger in his mouth. And presumably whatever came out of his nose went into his mouth, too. Eeew, a bugger eater! And he was just about to be called to use the classroom computer.! "C!" I cried, interrupting the teacher's conversation with the ELD teacher. "Go wash your hands." She gave me a mental high five. And less than 5 minutes later, there was young Master P with his fingers in his mouth...both hands. And he was about to hand a paper to the teacher. "P! Go wash your hands." And the teacher said "I don't even want to touch that paper." And I agreed.

And this is not some knee-jerk reaction to the H1N1 (Hiney is my word) flu virus....we've been dealing with this for the whole school year.

And I'm guilty of the fingers in my mouth thing...I bite my nails. But I try not to do it in public, and I wash my hands. Again and again and again.... And again and again and again. I think they are getting chapped.

But Holy Moly, today I saw a child eat his bugger. I am SO glad it is the weekend.

i think...therefore i blog....

I've done a couple posts on the economy's effect on our lives. I want to thank you all for your positive and insightful comments. We're fine, really.

I always got top marks on performance reviews for being "flexible," and I am being that now. Yes, I am quite prideful on my flexibility. I even told the school I would be willing to work with kindergarteners. (Ulterior motive...Mr. Thomas will be in K next fall!!!!!!)

So here are my most recent thoughts...

I think the HH's company will get some sales soon and we will get that deferred salary back in the future. This company has honest owners. How many people can say that about their employers?

I think the school will need at least one more aide and I am the first one that will be hired back. I think there will be several teachers that will want me back.

I think I need to take some meds for my PMS.

I think I have good friends. Friends from the present, friends from the blog...and friends from way back....

I think that the universe totally shifted in some strange way because Frank took out his garbage without being asked. (We watched an alien movie last night: The Day the Earth Stood Still -- Keanu Reeves was a nice alien --- did he leave an aura around Frank's garbage???)

And in my microuniverse, that last thing???? Was the most meaningful. Sad to say, the highlight of my day was that Frank took out his garbage.

But small things are building blocks.

Universal Studios, or The Theme Park Photo Timeline

Our excursion on Monday was to Universal Studios. Little did we know, everyone else in the world had the same teacher in-service day off. Normally the lines are pretty short there (that's why I like it) but not this time. We had a good time, anyway.

We rode the new Simpsons ride for the first time. It is way cool. Don't click on this YouTube video if you don't want to see what happens. I warned you!







Going to Universal has become a family tradition that Frank and I started with our first trip in February 1998. (Short hair on both of us!)



Ernest first joined us in 2001.


We even got the HH to come along in 2007.


This year, we invited nephew McQueen.


Look at how fast those boys grow up. Ernest is significantly taller than me now. Sniff.

Strands of DNA

Ernest is building a model of DNA for a science project, due Friday. We had a short discussion about the material. I vetoed the use of candy. Sticks, styrofoam, Lego? What's available in the house? Because there's no crafts store within 30 miles. Then we remembered the box of Zoob in the closet.

Ernest created his own design. He still has to build a stand.

These two share some good hair DNA.

They get it from their dad.

$hoe $hopping

Not for me, this time. I often buy cute $15 shoes at Tar-zhay and never wear them, because I usually wander around in the same cruddy Whatchacallits. When I was a kid, they were called "tennis shoes" or "sneakers." What the heck do you call them now?

Ernest is joining the middle school tennis team and has outgrown his old shoes. His feet are literally bursting out, i.e his toes are jammed against the end of the real "tennis shoes" and there is a hole in the toe of the "sneakers."

There are three stores that sell guys shoes in our small area.... Not in any particular order:

1) a skateboard shop: Great for daily wear, even the HH buys shoes there. But that's all they have. Skateboard Shoes -- large, pudgy, bulgy-tongued things with totally flat soles. (And I challenge you to spell tongue right on the first try!)

No complaints about this store, they just don't carry other types of shoes.

2) The tourist store with the big wooden shoe out front has nice European shoes, but their customer service is SO BAD that I will not shop there unless I am desperate. Ernest may need a new pair of Converse High-Tops this summer... and I may need my replacement LaPlume leopard slides. But I think we will replace these shoes VIA THE INTERNET this year.

Buying children's shoes there was always been an ordeal. And still, I kept on going back, because it was the only store in town.

First, it would take forever for someone to even consent to look at us, let alone say, may I help you.

Then, there was the size ordeal. What size do you want? I don't know, since they are children, their feet have grown. Could you please measure them? They would never ever offer to measure their feet. Many times I would have to do it myself.

Finally, when we would chose a shoe: No, we're out of that size. Hou about this one? Nope. Again and again. Finally, I would say, well, what DO you have in his size? Bearing in mind the children's selection was on a 3'x5' shelf. Not too big a selection. And there would be maybe one pair in the right size.

3) A family-owned store which was previously located in an even smaller town 3 miles away. Now they are near my grocery store. They have mostly athletics-specific shoes. Ernest found a pair of real tennis shoes and the owner was so careful in measuring Ernest's feet: right foot, size NINE, left foot, size TEN!!!! Yes, a whole size different. We never knew. Because no other shoe store measured him so carefully.

$o we bought the expen$ive real tenni$ $hoes at store #3. Because of their excellent service.

But he still needed some everyday shoes. And then Mr. Low Maintenance Frank admitted he needed shoes. It turns out he has only one pair, and there are big enough holes in the soles and inside that I could stick my finger all the way through. No wonder his feet were getting wet. (There could be a second pair somewhere in the black hole of his room, but they'll never see the light of day again.)

Since we were headed to a bigger town to see a movie, we went to a Footlocker there. At least we knew what size Ernest wore! They both found shoes. And we learned that Ernest's feet are now bigger than Frank's.

And that's how I spent $224 on $shoes $aturday.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The good:

Ernest picked up his winnings from the orthodontist's contest. That's a strange semi-rhyme (Dontist/Contest). He was really happy. "I don't usually win things," he said. That's how I often felt as a child. I was so surprised when I won a teddy bear at a Sons of Norway Christmas dinner. I might update this post later with that picture, if I can find it.

The bad:

Frank had "stomach flu." I asked him where he got sick. "On the bridge." This is the pedestrian bridge at his community college....I pictured him splattering cars 100 feet below, but he said he made it to a trash can. This photographer has a beautiful series of photos on the campus. Click the link if you're curious.

Photo From Kaplan Aspect on Flickr.com

Also...the beginning of the month and paying bills. Huge bills show up at the end of the year. Car registration (3 of 4 cars), car insurance (all of them), and property tax bills. Ouch. The reason I'm never EVER EVER selling my mother's house? And why we're going to live/retire there some day? Because the property tax is grandfathered...under $600. Our own house's property tax bill? Huge, even with the Prop 13 controls...because it still goes up every year. And we've owned it 20 years. Up up and away.

The ugly. [You've Been Warned]

Something happened at school today. Do I err on the side of caution, and fuggetaboutit? Or do I speak my mind, couching the situation in euphemisms and comparisons, so you get my drift without me saying anything incriminating.

[Update: OK, I did speak my mind and that post was up for a while, but then my overly cautious sense of judgement kicked in and I decided to delete that part. I'm leaving your comments, however. Thank you.]

Fabulous Frank (Episodes 13-18)

Episodes 13-18 photos have been harder to find as he progressively gets more camera-shy. Ages approximate...sometimes the photo is a few months before the birthday age.

Age 13: He's suddenly looking very grown up and handsome. He wore contacts for a year or so, but I they were too much work and he went back to glasses. This is taken on the actual birthday. He learned to play bass this year, which opened up a whole new world for him.

Age almost 14: He came back from a school trip to Mexico looking like this... (The school's former Spanish teacher used to arrange a really great trip for his 8th grade students. Too bad he's not there any more.) ...we were surprised he'd be so adventurous, but then he had already sprayed his hair blue for a school rock band show..

...but he cleaned up nicely in time for 8th grade graduation. I think he's channeling either Bogart or Bond here. Shaken or stirred? I was a little stirred and shaken over this graduation.
Age 15: This was taken the day the braces came off. Nice smile, and the hair is growing. That's a Robert Plant concert t-shirt he's wearing. We took him to a lot of concerts that we wanted to hear.

Age almost 16: Holding a wombat in Australia. (I beg your pardon, I promised no more nudity and there I go with a naked wombat picture.) This was his first trip with People to People. Besides having a fabulous adventure, he made new friends and came home with new life skills. Such as how to give a cow a pregnancy test and crack a bull whip (they had a farm stay). I don't think he's still friends with the cow. I'm not sure about the wombat. Don't ask, don't tell.

Age 17: This is looking very much like the Frank we know and love today, wearing a Korn shirt. His dad drove him to Bakersfield for a Korn concert.

The senior picture. He had some taken in a black shirt and white tie, but this Nirvana shirt picture seemed to capture the essence of Frank. (Can't ever see Nirvana in concert, but we did see Kurt Cobain's guitar at the Experience Music Project in Seattle.) His senior project was an essay on how music affected his life, plus he wrote 2 songs and made a music video. The video is humorously twisted...maybe someday he will put it online.
He's been a great kid. I wouldn't trade any of it, except for a couple months in 5th grade and the high school English issues. No drugs, no trauma, no tickets, no "I hate you mom." Mostly it was love, fun, travel, and "thanks, Mom." Thank you, Frank. It's been a fabulous 18 years.

And Episode 18? Is yet to be written.

Finding Frank (Episodes 7-12)

Episodes 0-6 were all about cuteness and adorability. In looking through Episodes 7-12, I see several trends developing, things that he still likes to do today. He is finding himself and his personality is coming through.

Age 7: Oh, isn't he a handsome little darling? We won't see him this dressed up again until episode 14.Age 8: The obsession with video games begins, starting with the N64. Which we still have. How many other systems have we been through? We even have a Super NES which Frank begged me to get on eBay. Now he wants to build his own computer for gaming, and he's saving up his paychecks to buy the parts.

Age 9: He chose to geta lot of buzz cuts, probably because it was less work in the morning! I preferred his hair a little longer (guess I ultimately got my wish). This is a partially grown-out buzz. He got glasses (like mom and dad) this year but he's still smiling. Age 10: His first concert was Weird Al Yankovic. This is the first of many concert t-shirts.
Age 11: He began playing the tenor saxophone, opening up a whole new world for him. Band gave him a place to belong.

Age 12: This is one of my favorite Frank photos of all time. I love the lorikeet grooming his hair.

Stay tuned for Episodes 13-18.

And we will move to digital photos so I don't have to tear apart any more albums! Yippee!

Life is a Learning Experience

Frank is learning all sorts of things this week, and they're not academic. Here are his lessons for today:

• To find a parking place on or near campus, you need to get to school by 8 a.m.
• If you part on a permit-required residential street, you will get a parking ticket. So will the 20 or more other students that parked near you.
• You can write a check from your new checkbook to pay the $41 ticket.
• "Forever" stamps don't expire. Don't use the Yoda stamps because they are 1 cent too small.
• Your mom will not get mad about this, because she knows you had to park somewhere in order to get to class on time. And you said it wouldn't happen again.
• However, your mom is behind the times and was intrigued by the computer printed ticket. In her college days, they were handwritten. She received several for parking in red zones. (Hey, she lived in I.V. where there was a real parking problem.)

I call these little things "life lessons" and add them to all the other things he has learned, like how to do laundry in the sink when you are traveling (he learned that 2 years ago), and how to change a tire (the Handy Husband taught him that one last month).

The Ubiquitous First Day of School Post

u·biq·ui·tous adjective
existing or being everywhere

Smalltown Mom: I ping-ponged between my two 2nd grade classrooms today. I know all the 2nd graders except for a couple new students. Whoo-hoo! No issues at recess or lunch, so I was a happy camper. It was gratifying to walk in the office and have people hug me and say, "I'm glad you are back!" And I would say, "I'm glad you are, too!" We have a great staff this year.

Ernest: He has Mrs. Gray for Algebra! (Frank loved her sense of humor.) He gets two electives! He's signing up for Advanced Band and Vocal/Guitar. Vocal? Good for him!!!! (I'm surprised he didn't sign up for Drama, because he talked about that this weekend.) But the lure of guitar and rock band was too strong. I don't mind. I can pick him up at the band room every day and gaze from afar at the cute band teacher!

Frank: He was somewhat communicative when he got home. (For those of you who know Frank personally, you know that he doesn't talk that much.) His first two classes at City College (Chemistry and English) were fine. Small, about 30 people. He ran into 5 high school classmates there. He was able to go to work in the 5 hour interval between the 2 classes. Tomorrow he has 2 music classes back to back, then he'll work for a while in the afternoon. Some of the classmates are commuting together but Frank maturely said, "I can't, I have to get to work afterwards." Yay to earning some money!

I was a really kind mom today and washed Frank's dishes. I couldn't control myself. I dropped off something else in his "apartment" and the dirty dishes were there, and I remembered my mother who used to come to our house while we were working and wash our dishes.

She thought it was funny! (She didn't have a whole lot to do. And I didn't have a working dishwasher.) I would come home and marvel, "The Dish Fairy was here!"

Since today was Frank's first day combining work and school, I thought it would be nice to carry on the "Dish Fairy" tradition. My ulterior motive was that I also retrieved the dishes that belonged in my kitchen!

SO, one day done. 179 to go.

An article about Frank's trip

Here's a link to a newspaper article about Frank's trip.

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/jul/09/local-student-ambassadors-return-home-from-japan/

Return from Japan

Frank got back on Sunday. I snuck his camera out of his room this morning so I could finally look at his pictures. It's after 1:30 pm and he is still sleeping. Jet lag or the usual teen-age need to sleep late? (UPDATE: He got up at 2 and said it was jet lag.)

Anyway, here are some pictures. Since he's still sleeping, I don't have much explanation for them.

Hiroshima.

Paper cranes.

A gate.

The beautiful home where he stayed.

A happy lunch.

Posing on Mt. Fuji.

An unusual store.

Tokyo at night.

He really enjoyed the home stay. I hope to get him to dictate a little synopsis that I can post later.

Ernest leaves on Saturday.

Naptime

Seeing Ernest nap yesterday made me want one so badly. I tried, both today and yesterday, but just couldn't fall asleep. Noise, light, heat, whatever.

And I was reminded of how cute he was as a sleeping baby.

He's about 3 here.

Sometimes he would fake napping

(Upper left is real, upper right is pretend.)

Yesterday's nap was a real, rare one.

I caught Frank napping a couple weeks ago.

How sweet that he still naps with his favorite toys.

Sweet Dreams!

Graduation Preparations

Frank and I were discussing the events of the upcoming week, leading up to his graduation on Friday the 13th. Hello, planners? Were you looking at the calendar? Some people do not like Friday the 13th. Frank's maternal grandma and her sister, may they rest in peace, would not leave the house on Friday the 13th. Of course, they would not leave the house on most days, but they made a special point not to go out on those specific Fridays.

Anyway, Frank said that he did have to play in the band after all. He thought he was off the hook after the last concert. I did warn him that seniors usually had to join the band for a song during the graduation program, although they escape playing the processional/recessional.

So yes, he does join the band for one song. He said, "At least I don't have to play Pomp and Circumstance for 20 minutes." Which reminded me of a certain high school graduation 30 years ago. The processional was "The Theme from Star Wars." The recessional was "We Are The Champions" by Queen. We were the coolest class!

There is a question: is a kilt an acceptable substitute for dress pants? Or the corollary, is he brave enough to wear it?

It took me a week to write about my birthday!

As I blogged earlier, I felt a little dismal after Mother's Day. I didn't want fancy gifts, but I would have liked some acknowledgement or recognition that I'm special and make a difference.

To be on the safe side and avoid disappointment, I put Ernest in charge of my birthday last Sunday. Since he is a conscientious, attentive child, I knew he would do well. He came through admirably.

Frank made a yummy cake. He got a recipe from a friend at school. She made the cake for their physics class and he said it was great. When he asked her advice about baking cakes, she happened to be carrying the printed recipe in her purse. It was Pioneer Woman's Chocolate Sheet Cake, so click on that link for the recipe.

Ernest took his dad shopping. They did well. In addition to a practical gift ordered from the internet (a thingie to scan the boxes and boxes of slides I inherited), I received some pretty things too: Hand painted wine glasses, tchotchke boxes, a coffee cup.

From my magical sister-in-law and her gentleman, a succulent wreath, only slightly bent by their dog J.R. sitting on it, and a bottle of amazing pinot noir.

From my lovely mother-in-law, some sparkly toe rings. And an unexpected gift from a friend of hers. She was explaining the toe rings to him, so he asked her to give me some nautch-girl jewelry he had collected on a trip to India, long ago. As an occasional belly dancer, I love exotic things like that. The most unusual piece? A poison ring. You know, with the not-so-secret compartment that flips open!

From my beloved niece, who is also the mother of 2 boys, some girly stuff! Handmade Danish chocolate, a tiara and a pink wand!

We went out to dinner where my niece's husband works. Great food and view, inefficient waitress. Then we went home for the cake.

From left to right: McQueen, Me in the pink tiara obviously, Mr. Thomas's head, and Ernest, eagerly awaiting the chocolatey yumminess. Look, my hair color is almost the same as Ernest's. I wish I had his curl.

And I do feel special now. Thanks, everyone.

Back in Black

Did I mention that Frank wears black?

A lot of black.

The exception? The day he got a hair cut he wore a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and a blue flannel shirt, to be "different." People noticed.

He lives in 2 pairs of black jeans and 1 pair of black shorts. He has one white Korn t-shirt. The rest of his mostly black t-shirts come from concerts. Or the "What On Earth" catalog. I haven't done "back to school" shopping for him since he's been in high school because he never wants anything.

(I'm not a totally neglectful mother. I have purchased required clothing for the People to People trips: plain shirts and khaki pants. I make sure he has socks and underwear.)

Today, he finally decided he needed a new pair of black jeans. Because the wallet pocket has ripped out. Trying to foster some independence, I suggested he look at a local western-type store (the only menswear available in the 5 small towns in my area) or at the Mervyn's 20 miles (at least $6 in gas) away. Uh... no. He politely asked if I would please order him some pants on the internet.

What size? He wanted them a little longer than the last pair. You'll have to measure your inseam, I said. Stick the tape measure up into your crotch (because I'm not going to!) and hold it there. I'll stretch it down to your ankle.

OK, he's sized. And I searched. Cheap black jeans, you'd think they'd be all over the net but they weren't. Then I found a $20 pair on Amazon (my love) with free shipping (my even greater love). Bingo. Arriving Thursday. Did I mention I love Amazon?