The Struggle is Real

Tuesday I dropped off Peach for marching band camp and headed to work.  About 10 minutes later my phone rings. 

"Mom, I can't find my music."  
"It was right there with your drill folder."
"It's not there."
"Did you look inside?"
"Yes, it's not there."
"I can't go home and look for it, I'm at work."
"Well, I don't have my music."
"You'll just have to share, I can't bring it to you."

No saves.  That's the policy for the new year.  I swear.  No I'm serious.  I mean it.  

Later, I relay the story to Charlie as I could use some validation.  He listens to my story and says...

"You're an American bad ass."

I seriously could not love another human being more than that man.  He makes my adulting possible.

First Week of School / Why I'm Wearing an Ankle Brace

This was the first day of school picture for us this year.  It felt very empty without John in it, but then again, we didn't have to wait for a reluctant eighteen year old who didn't want to have his picture taken on the first day of school anyway. Look!  Three smiles!  I took a few more pics and tried to arrange the kids in a more eye pleasing configuration, but Ace went from Smile, to Neutral, to Frowny Face with each additional picture I took, so LOOK!  Smiles! 

 On Friday of the first week Charlie and I hopped in the tiny car and drove to Lubbock to see John in his first game of the season. We got there at about 9:30 p.m. and they were still having a rehearsal so we checked in to the hotel that's across the street from the school and when he got done, he came over and visited us.  He talked all about his first week and his teachers and band and friends and at one o'clock in the morning I yawned for the 50th time and looked over at Charlie who could barely keep his bloodshot eyes open and had to break the news to him that we were old and if we didn't go to sleep now, we would pass out.  So he went to hang out with friends.
   The next "morning"  at around 10:30 we barged our way in to his dorm and made him get dressed so we could take him out to lunch and go shopping for the microwave he wanted.  Charlie's best friend came over from Littlefield and we took him to Zio's where we ate pasta until we were sleepy again.

Then we went back to his dorm, unloaded his goodies and gathered his laundry and intoduced him to a Laundromat.  He has laundry in the dorm, but as it was Saturday, there were no available washers and dryers.  Despite the fact that he had done all his laundry last week, he had worn 14+ shirts in a week.  But when you can do all 4 loads at the same time, the laundry mat is your friend!  He had to be back at the music building at 3:00 to change into the first half of his uniform and at 4:00 they did a "Fan Performance" run-through on the practice field. 

After the run-through, they went back into the music building to get their jackets and hats and we followed him in and forced him to take pictures with us against his will. 

At 5:05 they get into formation in the Music parking lot (practice field) and then march to the stadium, he said "You can march over with us, we do all kinds of fun stuff."  So we did.  And I have a video of that, which I haven't figured out how to download.  I haven't watched it yet, but if memory serves, it shows the band marching out of the lot as I walk over to their planned route, then they march double-time past me and then you can see the video bounce around as I try to keep up without falling down.  I think I might have pulled something.  Charlie said he definitely sprained his spleen.  By the time we got to the stadium I was drenched in sweat and huffing and puffing and had a cramp in my left calf, and I didn't even have a big heavy polyester band suit on.  We took several wrong turns getting into the stadium (How hard could it be you ask?  Plenty.) Then went the wrong way and found our section was on the other side of the field.  We got there JUST in time to get out the video camera and film the preshow.  It was exciting and awesome and unbelievable! 

 I bet the mother of the Quarterback has to take a Valium.     

Baby Goes to College

Technically, Baby is the name of the car.  But it serves a dual purpose.  Yes the child I have worried the most about over the last 18+ years is gone to college.  A University even!    And for the cherry on top...he auditioned for and earned  1 and 1/2 square feet of turf in the AT&T Jones Stadium in the Goin Band from Raiderland!  Bittersweet my friends.  Heavy on the sweet this week.  We are so proud, we can hardly contain ourselves.  I've had joy squirting out of my tear ducts for 4 days.  Driving out of Lubbock was the hardest part. 

I had lots of funny pictures I wanted to take.  But he was a nervous wreck before auditions and I was afraid to push my luck.  I cried over my Taco Villa burrito, then went back for the last round of hugs before he went over for his marching audition.  Nana is taking it especially hard, but she doesn't have the luxury of texting like I do.  I'm trying very hard not to harass him.  It's not easy.  He would probably say I'm not trying hard enough.  I haven't texted one time today.  And it's already 2:25, and according to his band camp schedule which I printed out, he's on his lunch break.  A perfect opportunity to text and yet here I am refraining.  Also, I did not text one time on Tuesday.  Went a whole day with no communication.  I checked his Facebook page all day, but I had no communication.  He added a Friend on Tuesday. 

John, if you're reading this, we are loving you from afar.  And sitting on our hands, so as not to text or phone.  Please don't unfriend me on Facebook.  I'm hanging by a thread. 

Oh, These Days!

I'm sitting and waiting on French Bread to warm up for the UIL judges lunch that I'm helping to host today. I've got UIL today and tomorrow, Band Booster Meeting on Monday, Concession Stand for track meets on Tuesday and Thursday, all while working on the Band Gala on the 23rd of March.

I called the counselor's office regarding John's transcript yesterday because it still hasn't made it to the college of his choice. Tried to make an appointment for his Bacterial Meningitis shot, also due for his entrance application. Got him to sign a request for a transcript from the Jr. college where he takes dual credit classes. Witnessed a wreck while picking up Peach yesterday, forgot to take Melee' to his orthodontist appointment yesterday. Had the doctor's office call me back to cancel the first appointment that I had made for John and reschedule as the doctor was unavailable? Forgot to give Charlie the Jr. College transcript request this morning so he could fax it.

Still managed to watch Survivor last night.

The Lost Year

Wow. Two posts in almost a year. It will be the lost year, because there's no way I'll remember what transpired over the last 11 months. But I can catch you up on the biggies.

I guess some time after the March post, we started tossing around the idea of selling the house. Yes. The. House. The dream house. The one we just couldn't get over. I probably started it. I just started feeling poor. John was getting closer to college, we bought him a car, Charlie lost his company car due to cutbacks at work, so we had to buy a new one and just life in general, I started to feel anxious. Charlie, the eternal optimist who never worries about much, got on board with me the day that the lot next door to us sold. There had been some hub-bub in the neighborhood association around the same time and we were worried about property values. So at some point, I think after school was out we got the house ready and decided to list it. I had been watching homes for sale in our price range and we figured it would take a year to sell it and by that time John would be done with school.

It sold in 3 weeks.

So, we moved in with my Mom. Yep, all six of us. Good thing she likes us. Anybody can love their kids, but it takes somebody of special character to put up with the six of us! It's cozy, and we're all pretty comfortable, but toilets and T.V's are at a premium. We all get along really well but nobody picks up their socks enough, and the laundry is never done. Literally. Never done.

Meanwhile, Charlie's company moved the plant from Seagoville to Irving, so his commute has gone from 45 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes on a perfect day. ( I've sat here for 20 minutes trying to decide what I want to say about that.) Like most things that have happened since we moved to a small town, I find that I edit myself because I worry about who might read it. Let's just say I'm exploring Eastern Philosophies in an attempt to be Zen. I'm struggling. So when Charlie comes home from work my Mom swoops in and says "HOW WAS YOUR DAY??" All bright and shiny and interested and that's nice for him I think. I'm interested, don't get me wrong, but when it goes in a negative direction -because everyone needs to let off steam from time to time, my blood pressure skyrockets and my thoughts go really dark. Postal dark. The other day they got a company-wide email. Their parent company had awarded them an award for the best company of the year out of all the companies that they owned. So in honor of the award, they were authorized to have pizza and a cake for all their employees. A pizza party. And cake. Sounds shallow and bitchy of me I know, but if I were able to explain (bitch) to my hearts content, I think you'd understand why I'd like to say "...............!" And that's one of the reasons I don't blog as much as I used to.

To that end Charlie has been talking about maybe moving 40 miles west of where we are now. We've gone and looked at a new housing development. I love a new house, but I feel really gun shy and west was not the direction I was hoping to move. I have a lot of angst about the idea of moving Melee' who is in tears every time we bring up moving. On one hand, I've (been) driven to the new office a couple of times and it's a beating. And he's home late a lot. On the other hand...well there's just a lot on the other hand. Sunday night about nine o'clock, the Irving police department called to let him know there had been a break in. There was a door off the hinges, gate lock broken, fence cut open and a huge truck had been pulled into the shop and loaded to the gills. 2 of the guys got away, the third isn't talking and will soon be deported and they didn't catch them until After they had taken one full load of tools and equipment and had come back for another. So he had to leave the house at 9 just as it was starting to sleet and he didn't come home until Monnday night. It's times like those I think we should live closer, but mostly not.

John's Senior Year is halfway over. I haven't had any breakdowns yet and I think that bothers him a little. I said, "Don't worry you'll get to see plenty when I have to drop you off at college." Because I'm staying really positive that he will in fact finish an application for a college of some sort and actually send it in.

Melee' is having a great Freshman year and despite the fact that his older brother harasses him constantly that he's doing everything wrong, he feels comfortable with his friends and his position in the social heirarchy at school.

Peach is Peach. She tried out and made the Honor Choir at school which she loves, and is playing her last basketball game this Saturday which she hates. I made her do it. And every day she reminds me that I made her and how unhappy she is about that. And why did I make her? I ask myself the same thing every day.

Ace is movin and shakin and keepin it real. He just finished up basketball, which he loved! And wanted to start Soccer, which I conveniently "forgot" to turn in, and now he wants to start baseball which I am also against.

On a lighter note...One day we were headed to Zumba and the kids come with me sometimes. Zumba is in a food court area of one of the many flea market areas of town and to get to it we have to walk by several shops. One candle shop had a sign hanging that advertised these "scents"
Monkey Farts
Sex on the Beach
Butt Naked
normally I hurry everybody by and they hadn't noticed until the last time we went, they start giggling and I'm trying to make light of it and I said "Ew gross! What's Monkey Farts supposed to smell like?" Without missing a beat, Ace looks at me like DUH, and says "Bananas!"

8 Reasons You Didn't Get A Photo Card for Christmas

Hope you all had a fun and blessed (not stressed) Holiday!

No. She's only 9.

"So you're saying that when I fix my hair it's ugly and when you fix my hair it's cute."

"No. That's not at all what I said."

"Yes it is. You said it didn't look good when I fixed it."

"No, what I said was, you need to brush your hair."

"No. You said my hair didn't look good. Then you fixed it and then you said it looked cute."

"No, that's not what I said. Did you brush your hair?"

"No, but I didn't want to brush the curls out."

"Well, you have to use a pick, or your fingers so that you don't brush out the curls, but you have to do something so it doesn't look like bedhead."

"That's not what you said."

"That IS what I'm saying."

"You think I'm no good at fixing my own hair."

Eye of the Tiger

Okay, maybe not a TIGER but definetley a really, REALLY, big Tabby. He scored his first goal this year. Not this game, but if he had been able to play offense, who knows! Of course, when he's not engaged, he's standing around kicking dirt. I have pictures, but I'm not going to show you that.

I'm gonna show you his smooth moves instead.

Look, she's getting ready to applaud!

Little Miss Beauty Pageant

The "Western Wear" portion of the county fair pageant was held Friday night. It was her first time to do anything like this and it was her big idea. She brought home the packet from school and begged and pleaded to "Please, please please be in the pageant?" I said yes, which brings us to this... and this...(Daddy forgot to pull back far enough for you to see her bright pink boots with her jeans tucked inside.) She drew number one in her age group 7 to 9 and so she had to go first. I had to walk her around the outside where the girls entered the stage and so was forced to sprint around back to the front and watch her from the back of the crowd. They had called me to work at the High School Friday and the combination of being in charge of a days worth of teenagers and responsible for the beauty of a beauty pageant contestant got the better of me and there was no charge in the video camera and only enough juice in the camera for about 5 pictures.

A nights reprieve and a chance to regroup and recharge batteries and we were back for "Party Wear" today at 4:00. Yep, she's an uptown girl.

The competition was tough and I was very glad I didn't have to be a judge, because really, how do you choose between all this cuteness?

In the end she didn't make it to the final four, which hurt her feelings for a quick minute. But we reminded her that she was one of the only girls who had never been in a pageant before and did super for her first time! And John quickly added that it probably had more to do with the fact that we didn't sell as many tickets and add space in the program. :) The boys all rallied around her and we went out for a bite of pizza to celebrate her beauty and bravery. She's the "Queen of Us" for sure.

Wordless Wednesday (My favorite kind of Wednesday)

Love Stinks

I often think about what I would have liked people to tell me before I had kids. You know, warned me about. Like, "Do you have any idea home much kids throw up before the age of eighteen?" or, "Do you know how much it costs to cloth and feed teenage boys and how fast their feet grow?" Well, I've got one today. A little nugget that my forty-five year old self would like to pass down to her twenty-five year old self.

Remember when you were a sophomore and somehow got the guts to ask A boy to the Sadie Hawkins dance and he said yes? Okay, remember how your Mom decided it would be really funny to take him a bouquet of flowers and a chocolate bar, because boys are supposed to bring flowers and candy to a date? You said no, you were too shy, but she prevailed because she's the boss of you and eventually you thought, "yea, that's kinda funny". Then thirty minutes before the dance he called and said, "Why don't we just meet at the dance so we can hang out with our friends?" And your Mom made you go to the dance anyway, even though you wanted to crawl in a hole. Then, he took pity on you and drove you home and gave you your first kiss and the next day told all his friends it was like kissing a Saint Bernard? You remember that, right?

When your kids get to High School, you get to relive that ALL OVER AGAIN. And since you had the brilliant idea to have four kids....use your multiplication table. Yeah. And even though he says it's all fine, and they seem to be acting very mature and responsible about the whole thing, even though he says they really like being friends without the romance. You may as well be holding the phone when He calls to say he'll meet you at the dance instead.

In Honor of Somebodies 17th Birthday....

Minute to Win It Christmas Edition

We Love Our Eagles

How the Cookie Crumbled

The kids marched 4th in the preliminary in the State Competition Monday. They were in second place after all twenty-three bands marched. We were second, behind 2008's gold medal winners. The ten finalists marched their shows and when the top three schools were announced, we were not among them. The kids placed fifth according to the five fresh judges in final competition. The kids were fairly devastated and their director gave them a good talking to and by the time the adults showed up at the bus, he gave us a good talking to, too. "I don't want to hurt any body's feelings here, but you parents need to get those sad looks off your faces and cheer for those kids. They did a great job. They did exactly what we asked them to do, and this is about them, not me and not you."

He got the kids together at the hotel and talked to them about scores. If I heard and understood correctly, there are five judges and they rank each band as they see it, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and so-forth. All five judges rated the gold medal winner 1st, so 5 ones added up to a score of 5. If every judge agreed on the 2nd place band, the best possible score would have been a 10. The 2nd place band scored a 23, third 24, fourth 25 and fifth 26. He said he had never seen anything like the disparity in the scores, but "that's the way the cookie crumbles."

He's right, they were terrific. I'm only sad, because I know how badly they wanted it. For the Juniors and Seniors this was their last shot at a medal. It was late last night when it was all over. We headed to the hotel, slept it off and headed home this morning. We picked up John at about 4:45 and everyone was subdued but not destroyed. Tomorrow's a new day. He said his new goal was to be an All-Stater in the individual UIL competition coming up later in the spring. We could not be prouder!

Wow! What a week!
After the excitement of Saturday, we started Sunday with having our cars painted and papering the band halls with every poster you can imagine! There were posters for every section of the band with the kids pictures on them, "State" posters, "Congratulations" posters, smack talk posters, corny posters, inspirational posters, you name it, the Band Boosters covered it. And we covered it in lots of glitter.


There was more car painting and getting things ready for goody bags. Monday night practice and prayer meeting. Then signs painted with the kids names on them. We fed them Thursday morning after their last morning practice. The football boosters fed them breakfast on Friday morning. We had a big game on Friday (we lost, our perfect record marred) and then this morning their last practice before State followed by a prayer service and pizza party. Yes, we've been praying alot.

In addition to all this band fun, I went to two Halloween parties for the Littles on Friday. I got to Ace's party with a box of Capri sun coolers in my hand. His teacher said "Girlfriend! Keep your juice boxes I've got plenty!" So I went to put them on the shelf where his packpack sits, which is right behind his desk. As I approached, he whispered out of the corner of his mouth, "Leave the juice and go away." Can you believe that!? Well, I never! Actually, it made me laugh pretty hard.

Tomorrow roll call at 10:30 and rolling out to San Antonio around 11:00. The kids will be eating dinner tomorrow ni.ght at Mi Tierras. Monday morning we march 4th in preliminary competition at 9:45 a.m. I'm going to try to keep you updated on Monday if I can remember to pack everything, and the chargers to everything....