Who Is Cooler? You or I?

I've had a lot of time to re-think the HS experience for the past 2 years while watching Dillon go through it. At first it was hard because he is different than I. He thinks the popular kids and "Jocks" are jerks and in general, stupid, and purposely will not wear the "preppie" clothes I buy him because he doesn't want to be that guy. He wears jeans and concert T's, Chuck Taylor's, and has long hair (as long as his dad will allow). He is an artist and hangs out with girls with black fingernails, heavy eyeliner, multiple piercings...you know, the works. (But he brings home all A's, gets his homework done, and is serious about going to college and being a vet. So it all balances out.) I see what his perceptions are about the kids who were like me in HS and I know that he is wrong about those kids. If I had known him in HS I might have thought he was a stoner or just a slacker and I would have been wrong. No matter what "group" or "clique" they fall into, no matter their strengths or weaknesses, all HS kids have doubts about themselves and think that they look wrong, say the wrong things, aren't smart/skinny/pretty/buff/athletic/handsome enough. And it's too bad that it takes 20 years after graduation to figure that out.

I did have a bit of a clue about all of that when I was in HS. Stella (whose name has been changed to protect the innocent) and I became friends in Jr. High and as we became closer and started talking, we each realized that we had been ambivalent about the other and our preconceptions were all wrong. I remember thinking she was so cool but probably wouldn't want to be my friend. And I distinctly remember, having a sleepover, and she and I laying in my bed one night in HS having a girl-talk. She told me how she thought I was aloof at first (she didn't use the word "aloof" but I don't remember the exact word - same general meaning) but once she got to know me she realized she was wrong. I've been fighting that perception my whole life. What comes off as aloof is actually an almost debilitating shyness that I have yet to grow out of. It drives my Type-A husband crazy! With people I don't know so well I present as prickly and totally don't mean to. Once I warm up, though, I hardly shut up.

Hehehe. Now I've gone on and practically forgotten the point.

Oh yeah, point is:

High School kids always think that the person seated next to them is cooler than they are and they are all wrong. The end.

Gardening On the Back Burner. Again.

So yesterday was a perfectly beautiful Mid-Atlantic Spring Day.

I spent it in the emergency room with Noodle.

I don't mean to be rude here, but these kids are really cutting into my free time. I was planning on ripping up all the plants in my backyard and putting new ones in with my name on them. The overgrown shrubs are history and will be replaced by an ornamental tree, jasmine, a rose bush or two, hostas, callas, impatiens, ferns, daylillies...I can't wait!

Well, actually, I guess I can. HRH went to a birthday party Saturday night in which they went roller skating. Long story short - she got up, then went down. And broke her fall with her left wrist. She was still favoring it and it was purpley and bumpy on Sunday morning so OFF to the Emergency room we went. Four and a half hours, 3 x-rays, Motrin and a splint later, we were home and the day was over. She was almost disappointed after all that time to only have strained it. I think she was actually hoping it was broken after wasting her entire afternoon at the hospital!

Anyway, she's still a bit sore but in a week or so she'll be good as new.

And my garden will keep.

Twenty-Year Legacy

I haven't been writing because I've been reading. I picked up "The Time Traveler's Wife" a couple of days ago and barely did anything until I put it down this afternoon. It was different. Different in a good way. The end left me yearning for more and wondering...Is that the sign of a good writer? Or a writer that dropped the ball?

Anyway, except for a lingering cough I'm all better.

Well, except for the fact that I've had my steadily advancing age thrown in my face this week...I got an email from my HS class president. Apparently, it's time for my 20th Reunion.

There is NO WAY that 20 years have passed. Just last Friday I was at a mixer with my girlfriends. We were dancing to Springsteen and REO Speedwagon...we TP'd the football players houses before the big game...we got Connie's brother to buy us beer then drove to the new construction site to drink it and talk about boys. I was skinny. And unlined. I had made few mistakes, but had few experiences. I could see my whole world from my front porch and I was content with that. When I think if the road I have traveled for the past 20 years, I am exhausted but wonder: why have I not gone further? Twenty years is sufficient to discover penicillin. Or gravity. To create a nuclear warhead. And what have I done? I've cleaned countless bathtubs. I've emptied thousands of dishwashers; made a zillion beds. But I get up every day and the same chores need to be finished again. Just so I can go to bed and start over tomorrow.

But twenty years is also enough time to instill values...morals...ethics in my children. Dillon will be an adult in less than 2 years. I've worked 16 years toward the goal of making him an independent human being. One that can be trusted on his own to make the right choices. To choose the high road. To perservere. It was almost too easy. Did I do it right? Is there something I missed? I don't think so.

Twenty years has passed in the blink of an eye and a new generation is dancing to Usher and Bowling for Soup. They know to wear their seatbelts and not drink and drive. They are the legacy that moms like me will leave behind. They are not successful because they grew up with clean floors and gourmet dinners. They are successful because we have taught them to be.

I'm OK!

Ok. It's been a week that I've laid in bed and FINALLY, today, I feel human again. My legs are weak, and my voice is froggy, but I was awake for most of the day, which is a big switch from last week.

I went to the doctor on Friday and it turns out I had a massive sinus infection gone awry. He put me on some antibiotics, and while I'm still hacking up a lung, I am awake and mobile. Yay!

Unfortunately, I was too sick this weekend to get out in the yard in the gorgeous weather we've had. I have plans... Big Plans that are aching to be executed.

Ahhhh, it will have to wait.

Sick

Sooooooooooooo sick.......

More Crap

Cough... headache... sore joints... ears hurt... fever... eyes blurry... sore throat... skin hurts to touch.

Didn't sleep last night - everytime I fell asleep, I coughed myself awake within 20 minutes.

Oh yeah, and I started my period yesterday too.

Bring it on!

This Is Crap

Warmest day this year.

Sick again.

Cough like a seal.

Simple Prayers

Nothing profound.

The simplest of simple...

...just sending out prayers for Pope John Paul II and the College of Cardinals.

Educational Multitasking

So here's what you do:

You turn on the TV to the History Channel. Then you start cleaning:

~laundry
~Windexing
~vacuuming
~dusting
~ironing
~etcetera, etcetera.

Oh, and:

~Painting your toenails is good too. But do it first so they can dry while you're doing all that other crap.

The result is that you learn all sorts of incredibly cool and terribly useless information! I've learned about Count Dracula, Werewolves, Three Mile Island, and Mary Shelly just today (which shows you how much in need of a good wipe-down my house was).

The only real drawback is that you pick up lots of Half-Facts. Because you're not REALLY paying attention. So later, if you want to work some of your newfound knowledge into dinner conversation, you need to remember to keep your contribution short so as to not look like an idiot for only half-knowing what you're talking about. (This admission, I'm sure, will explain a lot to my friends.)

But back on the bonus side, if you have enough to do, the History Channel repeats itself after a couple of hours and you can pick up the missing bits here and there.

I'm already on my second round of Dracula...

Fear Paralyzes Me

Dillon got his license during Spring Break.

After his first day back to school, he walked into the house and promptly announced, "Stephanie and I want Starbucks." In teen lingo this means, "I want to drive somewhere."

I wanted to say no.

I wanted to SCREAM, "NOOOOOOOO!!! You're a baby! You can't take that device of death out onto those roads where you are inexperienced and just last week a kid caused a horrible accident then died while drag racing in the afternoon! What if you don't come home? What if a policeman comes knocking at my door? I will shrivel up and die without you. I need to keep you here with me where you are safe and I can protect you from danger and evil and tragic accidents that fill up the evening news!"

What I did was throw the extra key at him and say, "Sure. Just be careful and look both ways even if your light is green."

Then, paralyzed, I sat on the couch and kept one eye out the window while I fought back the tears that Mackenzie didn't need to see.

Chicken & Bridget

Tater left today for Colorado. A quick trip - just 3 days.

But it was the perfect opportunity for a girls night. My girlfriend, Lisa, brought dinner, "Chicken Out", and Bridget Jones' Diary 2. It was so funny - I keep replaying in my head the Prison/Madonna/"Like a Virgin" scene.

And I giggle.

"SuperBras" for EVERYONE!

...And He Said, "Ante Up!"

So yesterday was Easter.

I'm upstairs doing my hair and down in the dining room I hear my mother-in-law say to the grandchildren (five of them, ranging in age from 10-16), "Today we're playing for money!" And the pitter-patter of 10 feet scattered about the house, digging into piggy-banks and purses.

They were playing poker.

And look who won:



Let's see...we forgot it was Good Friday and ate Sausage Jambalaya after cracking into the wine about 2:30 and blew off Easter Mass, but we did partake in the 2000-year-old tradition of gambling on the day that Christ was risen...

Yup, we're good.

Dopey

Still have that cold.

My parents, Tater's parents, Tater's sister and her kids are coming on Friday. I've been busy getting ready.

Cold medicine makes me dopey.

Sick & Pitiful

I thought I was getting a cold early last week, but it was just a teaser. The real shebang showed up yesterday. Nothing life threatening, just a headcold, but It. Is. Nasty.

So here is a pitiful entry for a pitiful diary and maybe all will be well tomorrow.

Crazy In the Capital

So my sister, Alison who is visiting fom Indiana, and I decided to go to Our Nation's Capital today. We took these offspring with us:



The ride on the Metro sounded like lots of fun to them until about 40 minutes into the trip. "How much longer?' "I'm thirsty." "I'm hungry." "I'm bored." "Will there be a tunnel?" But little did we know, the fun was just beginning. We set our compass towards 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and after 5 blocks, saw about this much* of the White House.

*(Hold your hands up, in front of your face, in the shape and size of a basketball. THAT's how much of the WH you can see.)

That fun lasted about 4 minutes. Then it was time to walk on..."I'm hungry." "My feet are tired." "I'm thirsty." "I don't WANT to ride in the stroller." "I want to go home." "This is boring."

So we walked on. And ignored them. And looked for a restaurant, because we were hungry too. But it appears that our founding fathers weren't very forward-thinking when it comes to planning spaces for future Starbucks/Paneras/Mom & Pop Delis. The real estate was all taken up by super-fancy buildings with limestone, columns, statues, rotundas...But no. I mean NO restaurants. There were a few hot dog stands on the street, but none of us were that desperate.

So we head on around the Washington Monument. It was surrounded by a huge fence and a sign: "Washington Monument closed for renovation. To reopen in Early 2005."

Isn't THIS "early 2005"?

We kept walking.

"I'm hungry." "My feet are tired." "I'm thirsty." "I want to go home." "This is boring."

...and kept ignoring.

In our search for food, we passed the Smithsonian station and jumped on there. We ended up riding the Metro all the way back home and eating at a restaurant right by our house.

And we were still smiling: