Piles

No, this is not a scene from an episode of Hoarders, this is what is usually waiting for me on Saturday mornings. Four feet deep and eight feet wide! I am not the type to keep up during the week, there is just no time so it piles up until the weekend. It is so daunting when I start, but I have to say, there is a sense of accomplishment when it is all clean and fresh and the dressers are all restocked. It is an easy mindless duty, I have it down to a system, one basket for each person, and I am training the kids to help. Someday they will be hanging out at a laundrymat like I used to in college, and will probably long for the days when mom used to take care of it all.

In the Clutch

Last Friday night, the weather was finally right for baseball, sunny about 65 degrees, perfect. We have been sitting through freezing temps for weeks now, for some reason they start baseball in February in Georgia. The season has not been going great Chris's team had yet to win a game and now they were down 6-0 in the 4th inning. Suddenly their bats came alive and they got the score to 6-5. In the last inning the opposing team put in their best pitcher, two players got on base, then he struck out the next batter, and the next and I see Chris walking up to the plate with 2 outs and the game on the line. Oh great I thought, I was out of my seat and pacing around behind the bleachers I couldn't watch. Jim and I shot each other a bad look -- Chris is going to experience what it is like to blow a game for his team, after this great comeback. It reminded me of a scene from that movie "Mr. Destiny" where the main character's entire life hinged on one strikeout, if he could only go back and change it...

Both sets of bleachers were silent, it was win or lose. Chris got up to the plate and blasted one to the fence which scored 2 runs and the game was over -they won! It was high-fives all around, he was the hero for a night! They presented him with the game ball. We were so proud, all the parents in the stands know how great that feels, when its your kid who comes through in the clutch. What a night!

The Forgotten

I am usually ultra-reliable, if I say I am going to be somewhere I am there, no doubt.
Well last week I messed up, Chris has joined the school chorus (yeah!) thus adding another obligation and scheduling wrinkle for me. So when I was at my work desk engrossed in my latest project, I was totally caught off-guard when my phone rang and the sweet voice on the other end said "Mom, where are you?" OMG I had forgotten to pick him up, he calmly said "its okay Mom just hurry." It was a full half hour past when he was supposed to be picked up. I flew out of the office and over to the school, they were not happy, they handed me a bill for $12 for aftercare. At this point my calm, cool and collected child burst into tears in front of his classmates. I felt terrible! He was mostly upset because they were penalizing me for forgetting.

I have rarely experienced this type of scenario, like I said I have never forgotten him before! I just kept apologizing, no excuses, just plain forgot.

How do I mend this, I thought. I needed to stop at WalMart to pick up some things, so I let him pick out whatever it was he wanted (within reason) I needed to fix this fast! He chose Flaming Hot Cheetos.

Probably not the textbook version of how I should have handled it, but on the way home he said "I am feeling better now Mom." Thats all I needed to hear.

No Prom Here

I am bummed- my son has opted to skip the Prom!, He didn't really give it much thought (as far as I know). I was shocked, it was such a big deal back in my day. I guess it is more of a "girl" thing to get excited about getting dressed up for a night on the town. His school is having it at the Fabulous Fox Theatre, can't believe he will miss it!

No photo-op for Mom. Maybe when he is a Senior, I can always hope.

A Job I Love

There has been a lot of talk lately in our house about career choices, higher education and the like. Mainly because my eldest son is starting to map out his future. It all starts with the questions when you sign up for the standardized testing... what colleges would you like your scores sent to? Well heck if he knows where he wants to go or what he wants to do with his life, he would be content to just hang out in the basement and play x-box.

Jim and I have different plans for him...

I am ready to sign him up for the military, oh except there is a war going on, not as enticing!

He often notices that my job doesn't pay anywhere near what I would like it too (REALLY)! But I can't let him lose the lesson that I, in fact do exactly what I love to do , it is convenient for my mom duties etc., so I compromise, no exotic vacations, or trips to the salon, but also no dread when I get up in the morning, to fight traffic to get to a job I find boring either.

Here is the website to the magazine I design, http://www.townelaker.com/ click on the covers and you can check it out. I did not design the website itself however.

I hope he can find a career that is interesting, the path to it over the next several years will indeed be interesting and expensive, no doubt.