Everything But the Easter Bonnet

What a perfect weekend--the exact kind of weekend I needed to revive my spirit!  I've got that end of the school year burnout and I am longing for the summer to begin.  I'm longing for slow starts to my morning, coffee (or tea) and a novel on the deck and the early morning sun kissing and bronzing my skin.  So Easter was just the awakening my soul was beckoning for.

On Maundy Thursday Alee and I went to church for a beautiful service celebrating the Last Supper.  Kevin drove to SEMO to attend a senior recital of a fellow music composition major classmate.  Demi sang several of his original pieces of music. 

On Good Friday we finished cleaning the house and then headed to the niece's house for a fish fry.

 King Ralph and my niece's spousal equivalent prepared and fried the cat fish and crappie.

  The platter heaped full of arty clogging yum. 

 

The girls sat on the deck gazing out at the niece's thirteen acres of land,

sipping wine in fancy wine tervis-like cups. 

 

 A wine, that was tasty, but chosen solely for the fact that the label bared a rabbit--an Easter Bunny

 (looks like I needed to charge my phone hehehe)

 

It isn't family fun till the cousins act silly. 

No one can blame it on the wine and beer because two of these crazies are under twenty-one -

 that's just their regular ole' selves. Let us not talk about the Duck Dynasty wanna-be cousin.  Someone please explain this beard craze that is over taking the country?! 

I DO NOT understand it...there is no beauty in it!  

 

Saturday was left to yard work.  No matter how many times we raked in the fall and winter we still managed to fill three bags of leaves and yard clippings.  Dam never-leaf-ending-pin-oak. 

 Watching the Blues game...sorry my Blackhawk friends. Another overtime win!  

And our handsome, officer, Air Force pilot nephew arrived for a steak dinner and a slumber party. 

 

Easter.

 

Beautiful. New life. Easter.

 

Baskets of Easter goodness for those home and away.

 

Next there was church. 

 

Then there was the traditional missing cousin picture. A sign baring that MIA cousin's name.

For years it was

Major C.  So imagine the joy he feels when it isn't his name on the sign.

(top: first cousins, bottom:second cousins)

 

Countered by an M photo--of I'm not missing, you all are missing 

(sadly baseball knows no holiday)

 

We ate and ate. There were Mai Thais with umbrellas (Lin you like that?)

 

Dessert.

 

 Lots and lots of yard games--washer, ladder golf and bocce ball.

 

 There was the bunny mask that makes an appearance every Easter

 

To end the day...

We had a mini family concert--Aunt Linda on the piano, Princess A dug out her flute, and D and Alyssa sang...this song

That my friends is how we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ. 

 

How Did I Do It?

I had this crazy day at work on Friday.  Kids meeting their fate in the principal's office, one right after the other.  I was buried in manila folders.  It was a two martini kind of day.  Except I was baby sitting that night for an old co-worker, turned good friend's kids.  Oh how I miss those old co-workers.  They were the ones that made work feel like family and made it worth getting up and going to work.  Now I go because it's a paycheck.  I'm digressing.  Sorry. 

No Friday cocktails for me!

I am not scared by three kids.  It was my (still is) life. Their needs are just of a different type now.

On a beautiful spring evening I played "get out of math jail" with pre-school-boy-genius Kyle.  One must perform an addition or subtraction problem in their head in order to earn the right to slide down the slide.  That's right, five year old Kyle can spit out the answers to problems like: 9+7 and 20-10 and down the slide he came, problem after problem.  Allen saddle backed his big brother and whipped down that slide attached to him.  Little Addie Mae was happy and all smiles in her swing.  The dog, yes the dog, even got in the action--may end up being the blame for the Tommy John surgery I will be needing after hours of fetch the plastic golf ball. 

All was perfect till bedtime.  Addie: head down, cuddle blankie, eyes closed, zonked out.  Kyle: book time, head down, zonked out.  Allen: book time, head down, CRIES FOR "MOMMMM-ME".  How ever does Kyle share a room with his brother is all I could think!  I ignored the cry like any good mother (babysitter) would and let the little guy cry himself to sleep.  Then I took to the couch for a night time nap.   At 10:30pm I hear this screaming cry, "mommm-me, mommm-me, mommm-me" and out walks a half asleep Allen.  I sprung from the couch, scooped him up in my arms and reminded him of the magic powers he had--close your eyes, sleep and when you wake your mommy will appear.  He could have given two cents about magic powers!  

Like a phone-obsessed human I grabbed my phone and captured a Snap Chat to send to my girls

 
Still screams of "mommmm-me" carried on...till finally I tossed him in his mommy's bed.  Eventually he calmed and quieted.  Oh the joy of night terrors. NOT!  I wondered how I use to do that myself...and I didn't even work full time.  

Which brought me to my thoughts this morning.

This morning I was late to church for Palm Sunday service after I got lipstick on my shirt and had to change my clothes seconds before walking out the door.     

However did I manage to get three little girls ready for church all on my own, every Sunday morning and out the door at 9am?

How?!

King Ralph was either on day shift or was sleeping after a midnight shift; which left me to tend to our girlies single handedly.  I guess when it is your life and you are in the moment, you know no different.  I just rolled with it.  The girls always had slicked back ponies, pigtails or sponge rolled
hair, pressed dresses and shined shoes.  How did I do it? 

As I sit back and reflect on the motherhood I can imagine no greater pleasure than the joy of pure and utter exhaustion.  Would I do it again? Sure! Because in the end the pay off is greater than all the years of perpetual tiredness I experienced.

Break Time Flashback (or the blog I forgot to post)

Spring break is in full swing.  Our little castle has a revolving door. Just as one kid comes home for spring break, the other one leaves to return to school.  Sisters passing in the night.

We started M's break with a night out for Mexican...where we drank and laughed equally--while gorging on chips and salsa.

The next day it was D's sorority mom's day while M was home, all the Avery girls (you know it is the trifecta of the double sisterhood so why not have all the sisters together) loaded in the car.  I took to the back seat of my own car, let Princess A drive, M ride shot gun and I was Miss Daisy for the day, and headed to D's college town.

We went to the worst winery!  I couldn't refrain as I sampled the reds, from letting the word "horrid" whisper out of my mouth.  We settled on the only drinkable wine--a rather sweet white.  The more we drank the more we regretted paying $17 for something that was more of a $6 bottle.  Anytime someone tries to create a label by blending their cat's picture with Van Gough's Starry Night you know it's not gonna be good!

  As usual we made the best of it--sisters together

 

   After the winery we all went back to D's room where the silliness continued

While D has no plans except to lay on the couch, watch TV, have hourly feedings, and take a voice lesson.  M kept herself quite busy.  M was busy working on her practicum, and was lucky to return to the place that sparked her interest in both business and education: her Alma Mater.

It wasn't that long ago that M and her favorite teacher looked like this. Rocking twin day with there matching curly hair, breast cancer awareness shirts and animal print shoes.  Teacher and student.

Flash forward a few years and they look like this--mentor and wanna-be-teacher.  

They sport different hair styles and glasses, both with a shared passion for business education.

Then M took to the front of the classroom and taught the students about investing early.

When the two weeks were all said and done, we all return to school.  To which I say-- let the count down to the end begin!

Monday's in the Bag, Bring on Tuesday!

Last week I had a few of those--"it's been a day" kind of days! with winter lingering on and on.  In the office I freeze in the morning and sweat to death in the afternoon.  Tweens fill the chairs that line my wall.  When I feel like falling to the floor...I let my mind drift to Lin's advice of having a mai tai.  The kind of cocktail that takes you from the office to tropics in a few sips.  I went directly from work to the grocery store to fill my cart with rums and juices and fruits for garnish.  Then I came home to fill the shaker and pour out the nectar of deliciousness, till I had this baby in the palm of my hand.  No drink umbrella required.  Half way into my second mai tai I was beginning to forget all the "friends" that filled my chairs.  The phrase "you go Glen Coco" was drifting away.  Dr. Lin knows exactly what to prescribe!  Prescription: repeat as needed.

Imagine the glee I felt at the constant chatter of an impending winter storm.  A chance snow day.  A chance I was crossing my fingers (toes and legs) to have happen.  I so badly wanted a quiet-interruption-free start to my week to get that feeling of being accomplished had.

Saturday the Post-Dispatch posted this weather report



Being in the "go crazy folks" section I immediately started a pot of gumbo and mixed a mai tai.  And I waited. Waited for the ice. The sleet. The snow.  But mostly for that text from work saying "snow day."  Some time between Ellen's twitter crashing photo and the Oscar presentation for costume design, that text came.  I have never wanted a snow day so badly.  My wish came true.

I left work today with that feeling of accomplishment.  A calm that every week should start with, easing into the crazy.  And so I say.

I'm ready. Bring on Tuesday! 

"You Go Glen Coco!"

Lately my days have been filled with so many "friends" desk-side I have resorted to calling my four chairs club seating for my fans.  I actually tell students to have a seat in my fan club area.  They look at me with this queer sort of gleam before they get it. When I returned a text to my daughter telling her I had lots and lots of friends one day, she replied "you go Glen Coco."  So here I am thinking for the last week that my nickname could be Glen Coco, when today I discovered it is "bay-bee gurrrrl." Yes only in a middle school can you enter a classroom and have a student blurt out, "hey there, how's it going bay-bee gurrrrl?"  Snarl.  Bay-bee gurrrrl doesn't exactly having it going on lately.  (Except a few times last week when a glass of Pinot Noir eased my influx of "friends.")  Some kids are just too cool for school.

Working in a school means there is always that "one kid" that can turn a smile on a face, on even the worst of days.  Although today was far, far, far from being a bad day, that "one kid" for me not only made me smile, he made me giggle--in a happy kind-of-way.  This kid loves everything about weather.  I swear one day we may all see him on TV and I'll be saying I knew him when...  Last week I got a seven slide power point on the weeks severe weather...today I got an email  

 The Weather Service says we have the chance for significant snow SUNDAY NIGHT. Believe me, I am NOT looking forward to more snow, but I must be honest.

"There are model-to-model and run-to-run differences with
thermal profiles impacting Ptype with the later system, but this
one has the potential for significant amounts IF all stays on
track."

SNOW!  Please let this weather prediction be an absolute hoax.  I truly can not take another flake.  I can't stomach pulling my snow boots on my feet, or putting a shovel in my hand.  I could however enjoy a quiet friendless day in the office while wearing my workout clothes.  Either way I adore that "one kid" to pieces.  Bad weather forecast or not.

----------------

When I got home from work I made it my mission to call a neighborhood trustee and voice my opinion.  Lucky for him he wasn't home so I left a gentle nasty gram voice message. 

Let me paint a picture for you.  The date is February 24.  Since, say, January 6, we've had several spring-like break out days.  The kind of days that had folks strip their homes for glistening colored lights and green wreaths.  I almost have to believe that some neighbors froze their tukhuses off striping the Christmas holidays off their homes. 

Not. Our. Subdivision. No!  It is a week from the start of the Lenten season and this is how I would give directions to my house....make a left at the hideous bell tower that is the subdivision entrance, oh ya, the one that has all the Christmas decorations adorning it.  Grrrrrr! Red jingle bells. Pine wreaths that light up at night.  Candy canes.  Really?!  Where is the lazy prick who hung that holiday cheer? 

So in my gentle nasty gram I offered up King Ralph and I to de-Christmas the hood. I sit here waiting to see if the trustee returns my call or sends the decorating committee to clean up. 

And that my friends is how bay-bee gurrrrl works it!

They Came. They Went.

Every time the girls come home from college this scene dialog is played out
as we say our good-byes and bid a safe trip back to campus. 

President's Day

It's not just Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln day.

  It's.  President's.  Day. 

So let's take a minute to remember this guy, who wasn't too popular, but lowered the price of postage.

Happy-paid-day-off-work!

Puppy Love

D came home for 24 hours.  M is home and begged her sister to come home to hang with her.  While M gets to enjoy a President's Day holiday from classes, D does not and made the best of her time home before departing this afternoon.  D is completely fine with the lack of holiday because SEMO had four and a half days of canceled classes due to ice and snow.  Monday is college class catch-up day. 

There was no one living thing happier to see D than her puppy dog.  D squealed when she greeted Uli, and Uli rolled over to have her belly scratched.  They have been best pals since we gifted D with Uli for her 12th birthday.

This is how D and her best furry pal spent three hours of their day on Saturday.

 Puppy Love.

Day Interupted By Love

Valentine's Day.  The day King Ralph asked me to marry him twenty-seven years ago.  One of the best things I ever did in my life!  While he always gives me a sweet gift on this day, usually in a small box, I write him a love note--that has a romantic movie connotation. This year's note was a reflection on King's Ralph famous saying "I say black, you say white"...because he will never accept, no matter how many years we are married, that I'm usually the right one [in this relationship]. (excuse me while I giggle) We bicker like Al and Peg Bundy, and love.  A love that will live way past the test of time.

They didn't agree on much

In fact , they rarely agreed on everything

They fought all the time

and they challenged each other everyday

But, despite their differences,

They had one important thing in common

They were crazy about each

 

--The Notebook

 

 

Happy Valentine's Day! xoxo

  

To top off this day of love King Ralph and I decided that we didn't want to fight all the young lovers in restaurants, opting to create a magnificent meal of love in our own kitchen...well me in the kitchen, King Ralph in the frigid-icy-outdoors grilling.

MENU

Biltmore Mansion Century Red Wine

Rum and Coke

 

Shrimp Cocktail

Morton's Steak House Salad

Sister Shubert's Rolls

Bacon Wrapped Beef Tenderloin

Red Wine and Garlic Mushrooms

King Crab Legs w/ Clarified Butter

 

Bailey's Hazelnut Chocolate Martini

   

The happy-loving-couple was stuffed with food and love!

 

THE END

 

A Night at the Opera

I have to admit that when D left for college, and my castle was emptied of princesses, I had a bit of an emotional break down.  It caught me off guard.  I mostly cried because I had dropped M off to live, three hours away the week before, in a house that I like to call a shanty shack--that faces a building that looks like a crack house.  (Reason to SEE for one's self where your kid picks to live before co-signing a lease.)   But having my baby D gone meant my job as a mother had taken a big turn in the road.   A turn that had me eat a half of sheet cake in three days.  No joke!  I shit rainbows for a week.  No joke!  Icing dye does strange things to one's system. When I flushed the toilet it hummed Judy Garland singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."  

Taking time to reflect on why I was sad meant accepting the voids of the very things the girls each add to our home. Princess A has a calm balance.  She is a voice of reason in the house.  M it's her constant humor.  She just has a way of making just about anything and everything funny. D is her music.  Her voice is always in song  (a radio you can't turn off Princess A likes to refer to her as) and the tinkering of the piano adds to the musical joy that fills our castle.  When they leave--silence.

So it is pleasing to my heart that D is attending college so close to home that it allows us to enjoy her musical moments.  Sure most of them are in the middle of the week, which has me rushing home from work, collecting King Ralph and jetting 100 miles down the highway, leaving me sluggish at my desk the next day.  All worth it!  So imagine our glee when the opera was on stage on both Friday and Saturday night.  I took the Saturday option. 

It was D's first college production and her first opera. D studied all summer long for this moment.  She studied a woman who works with mature, seasoned opera voices.  She was thrilled to be the only freshman cast...not only in the ensemble but as an under study for a main role.  She viewed the understudy as a learning experience. 

D had fun sending Snap Chats to me from back stage during dress rehearsals   

 

 

 I have to say, regardless of the confused, choppy nature that The Magic Flute is sometimes reviewed as presenting...I think its whimsical and humorous staging was a good place for an opera maiden like myself to start. 

 

D models her costum Turkish costume



     

It has always been custom that we give D flowers on show night. 

 That will never change no matter how far from home the stage is.

 

When the curtain on the opera came down we were waiting in the lobby to give her hugs and kisses and high fives for a job well done!

Where she accepted another gift of flowers from her dorm roommate.

 

It's these moments that keep me from eating sheet cakes. 

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

I sent this text to my friend:

February 5, 2014

Dear Snow Shovel and Snow Boots:

I wanna break up with you!  I just don't want to love you anymore.  What do you say?  Maybe we can get back together in a year, but for now I think we really could use a some time apart.

With warmest affection,
Jodi

She told me to let her know if I heard back from my snow shovel and boots.  Imagine my surprise when yesterday I did.


February 9, 2014

Dearest Jodi:

I beg of you, don't say goodbye
Can't we give our love another try
Come on baby, let's start a new
'Cause breaking up is hard to do

Fondly,
Snow Boots

Dear Snow Boots (and Snow Shovel)

I call "uncle!" You win!!

Regretfully,
Jodi

That's right folks, shoveled another two inches of snow.  Uhg! 

Say No to Snow

Winter seems to have grip on us and I am tired of it!  I swear I am developing a case of SAD.  I feel like I have no oomph.  I feel lackluster. I just want to curl up under a blanket in the corner of the couch, looking at King Ralph holding fort in his leather recliner.  I feel like going to work is a huge chore.  I'm tired of freezing in the office, wearing my winter coat at my desk.  I feel like...like I am pinned under the blanket of snow that, if it melts returns just as quickly.  A matter of fact it's snowing again.  Enough!  Enough I say!! 

That first big snow--the one that called off school for the first three days returning from the holiday/winter break--didn't seem so bad.  Well driving home from New Orleans through the storm seemed pretty bad, but the no school the next day, going to work in a quiet building, finishing up those loose ends that had been sitting on my desk since December 23, 2013, that didn't seem bad. 

Our sweet abode glistened in the 12 inches of snow

 

I made it to work despite the snow

 

I entertained myself at work by writing on the white board

 

With D still home on her college winter break she played in the snow after work with me...

 

We made snow angels

 

and built a big ole' snowman

 

The snow melts and returns

 

and school is called off.  Yet I still have to keep going in. 

Which causes me to have a bit of a temper tantrum...

until I calm down and reflect on the fact that on these days

 I can wear comfy work out clothes to the office.

 

 I'm going to go out on a limb here and predict that I will have a few more days of workout wear to the office this winter.  In the meantime I will continue to hash mark my calendar to the day I get my summer hall pass again.   

 

I'm Back!

I can't believe it but its been since July 3, 2013 since I last blogged.  I have a billion reasons why I quit on my blog...so here goes.

TOP TEN REASONS I STOPPED BLOGGING
1. Someone--who won't fess up--shattered my laptop screen IT'S REPAIRED FINALLY!!
2. I have to work snow days while every kid in town gets to sleep in for an extra week plus...with more to come I am assuming
3. Shoveling snow. Shoveling snow. Shoveling snow! And building snowmen.
4. Blogging from an iPhone is more challenging than I have talents for
5. Was busy painting M's bedroom and unearthing delightful treasures
6. Recovering from the November eyebrow wax job I got on Mom's weekend in Springfield--the petite Vietnamese gal turned them into quotation marks 
7. I've been busy trying to conquer Candy Crush level 70
8. Busy drinking Pinot Nior, lots and lots of Pinot Nior...and chocolate martinis
9. Someone revoked my summer hall pass and sent me back to work
10. Went on an RV vacation to Maine

Here's to what tomorrow and every day after has to bring!

Holiday Road

I have been spending my "summer hall pass" time doing the exact thing I neglected to spend time doing last summer—connecting with my girl friends that get neglected during the school year.   I have had long lunch dates and longer morning coffee dates.  I have had long, long distance phone calls with some of my best girl friends who live far away.  I still have my usual super long breakfast date on the calendar…the kind of breakfast where you sometimes tip more than the bill as an apology for taking the table for endless hours because you fear the dinner crowd is starting to roll in.  I have babysat my co-workers babies (because when you don’t have babies other’s babies are a joyful novelty).  I've taken the time to lie in the sun bronzing my skin.  I've read lots of books.  I've had the traditional family night of dinner and a movie at the drive-in.  I have just about solely supported the existence of the Redbox at the gas station at the top of the street. But summer is just about to get a whole lot better!

King Ralph and I are soon setting out to explore this great country of ours in the camper—minus the offspring. (It’s all part of the leaf turning over that we both have to learn to accept.)  We are going to cross a few things off our bucket list.  We are getting packed…maps and books on tapes (to which the girls have proclaimed seems a little geriatric, but I think seems like a great idea that won’t cause me car sickness and keep my summer reading list in check), hiking shoes and camelbaks.  We are going to sit by campfires in the mountains and sip blueberry and raspberry beers, or few glasses of pinot noir and grill yummy foods while talking about the girls we miss that soon will all be gone from the house.  We are going to eat Maine lobster, in Maine and cups of New England chowder.  We will walk the footsteps of our fore fathers and eat great Italian food. I will sing solo to King Ralph as we fly down the highways and he will play the air guitar on his leg, while steadying the steering wheel with his other hand.  We will not worry about if the trash gets to the curb or if the dog is being fed.  We will be a carefree couple.

It’s still going to be our usual Griswold style vacation, except this time it’s just Clark and Ellen on the open road.     

The Fall Back Plan

Our humble castle feels a bit empty since M has been gone since June 5, living the upstate New York life of water ski instructor at a posh "Parent Trap-esque" camp.  Being a ski instructor doesn't come without hard work and study.  M is now Red Cross lake guard certified; a mere 24 laps in the pool as one of the qualifications for the certificate.  The snap chat she sent, post-test, was titled "never so happy to pass a test!" with a wearied child in the picture.   Then there was the standard CPR and life guard certifications--passed, of course.  However knowledge of the best certification M needed came in the text form to her sister...the conversation was a good laugh for the family.

Princess A asked in a text "what have you been doing today?"

Then Princess A came up with the fall back plan: M will drive the tour ferry, she'll be the tour guide and D will provide entertainment.  Certainly the only ferry tour boat with a singer who sings Italian arias...and Japanese songs as well.  My friend added, "Princess A can sell her baked goods as well."  Ooooo yes, she is quite the baker!

And so we waited and waited and waited to hear about the test.  Finally this past Monday the NY license dude came to camp to administer the test.

I pleased to announce that of the six water front counselors that tested three passed the NY public vessel exam--M is one of those three!  That's my girl, she was not about to settle for a spotter in the boat.  She excels as always!

So if anyone out there knows of a good place to buy a captain's hat, we were thinking this girl needs one.  She may not be driving a ferry boat (yet) but she sure as hell is licensed to do so.  Which calls for the fashion to celebrate.

Captain Maddi Phyl.

The Famous Cousin Name Sign

Over the last decade plus we have spent holidays snapping pictures of the cousins—holding a sign up with “Charley” written a sheet of paper (for years his wife’s name was on paper too and then no more) then posting it on Facebook, texting it…so that the one missing cousin knew he was missed. So goes the life of an Air Force pilot. 

 

 

Since Charley joined the Air Force right out of college he has been home with us for one Christmas; one Christmas in over ten years that the cousins were all together…and it was recorded with the snap of a camera.

Last Thanksgiving M was gone with the MSU marching band performing in Florida and she asked “did I get my name on a sign?” I replied that we reserve that method of record for Christmas only.  (We've never had to do two names on signs before and honestly that might have really set in the feeling of absence.) 

Until Father’s Day. 

Charley moved home last weekend!  Okay, well not home but as close to home as he has been in the last decade plus.  When you are stationed four hours from St. Louis we are going to go ahead and call it “home.”  Which called for a change of rules.  We weren't just snapping that famous cousin picture at Christmas only because it is so rare that AF pilot Major Charley is ever pictured with the cousins.  And so our family gathering of celebrating fathers called for the only photograph I took the whole day.  Oh ya, and a name change on the sign. 

Charley said "for once it isn't my name on the sign!"

Nope that would be upstate New York Maddi's name on the sign this go-round.

Let's cross our fingers that we can repeat Christmas 2011 and photograph the six cousins together once again. 

I'm feeling very hopeful.

Turning Leaf

This moment is a bridge between
Past and Future -- carefully cross it.
This moment is choice -- Make it.
This moment is life -- live it.

-- Pum Sandhu

This summer hall pass, all this home alone, has me remembering what it was like when I was a SAHM--minus the thundering roar of children’s voices echoing throughout the house.  (The house is still and silent; only the noise I create vibrates the walls.)  The days when I washed floors on a Tuesday at noon, ran to the stores at ten in the morning and picked up, continuously, after the entire family.  Answering the phone ten times a day to King Ralph’s calls of what are you doing; never believing my answer of “laundry”, still, on the sixth call.  Because contrary to his male belief system; it actually took most the day to crank out the laundry for a family of five…in between loads of laundry and dusting furniture, packing in a few chapters of a great novel. Oh, and blogging.  Aaaahhh; the good ole’ days.

When it isn’t my summer hall pass season I feel it a literal chore to wash floors on a Saturday.  Running to the stores is an after work obligation to feed the family or secure toilet paper and laundry soap.  Laundry is done mostly when King Ralph announces to everyone that he is on his last pair of underwear and will forced soon to wear his cleanest dirtiest pair.  The only phone call King Ralph shares with me each day is the one I make on my way out of work.  Often I am so tired from answering phones and talking to preteens and teens that I make my calls short in opt for silence.  How life has changed.  The changes keep on coming, no matter how much I try to stop them.

This year King Ralph and I will take a summer vacation minus the offspring.  We have been awful lucky that we have daughters that treasure family vacation time—road trips, long camping trips cross country, singing in the car while memorizing the words to all those “best of” albums from the days-gone-by; albums that savor what really good music was all about.  This year it’s different.  Not that the girls don’t want to be with us, they just have chosen different paths for themselves.  M is off in New York (I have a good story coming soon), D has taken a full time job this summer in hopes of stashing enough cash to join a sorority.  The one thing as parents we refuse to pay for…not mention I so don’t think D is the sorority kinda girl, but wants to be “like” her sisters.  This in a sense is endearing.  But college is a time to figure out and learn who you really are, and figure she will.  Princess A was offered to join in on the vacation fun, only to inform us that she is not an only child and at twenty-three does not want to see how it tastes.  Really I think she prefers to save her vacation time for jet-setting to California to visit a particular (remaining unnamed) young man.  A girl with a real job savoring every day of her earned time off.  And so the leaf of life takes a turn.  Question. Are any of us really ready for the leaf to turn?  I say no.  Maybe it’s because, we are all so nostalgic for “what was”…because our children defined who we were for so long it is hard to imagine being “just a couple” again.  As romantic as a couple is there is certain romance to family—a love of time shared like none other.      

    

One day the leaf will turn yet again. 

My Summer Hall Pass

This is one of my favorite times of the year, the time when I have my summer hall pass.  Eight weeks of unpaid leave from work to play with friends and family, sleep in, do laundry and wash floors in the middle of the day on a Tuesday, and for the first time in my parenting life be home alone with my thoughts.  The girls are all off working full time.  

First let's take a minute to reflect...

 

about best friends excited to have graduated high school

or that M is off in upstate New York working (first getting trained and certified) at an elite girls summer camp, making new friends from across the oceans and building her teaching skills, all while taking in this view.  A matter of fact that lake is her office--M the water ski instructor.

Well I suppose I better churn a little more laundry and then read my book.  The life of a girl with a summer hall pass. Tough life!