5 posts tagged “teens”
So, I've decided that I really need to step-it-up on this blogging thing. Especially since I've only been posting on the weekends, which was not my original intent. And I really don't know why it's happening.
Yeah, okay...I'm lying. Big time. I admit it. I know exactly why I don't write during the week. It's because of all of YOU! Yeah, you read that right...you.
Because, frankly, I have so many other people's blogs on my favorite/have-to-check-daily/if-not-several-times- daily list, that by the time I wade my way through all of their posts, I have absolutely no time to devote to my own senseless ramblings.
So, starting Monday, I'm going to start something new. I'm going to quickly browse the posts when I first sit down at my computer in the morning, read what's there (and try to resist reading all of the comments, which most times takes longer then reading the post itself) and if someone hasn't posted yet, I'll just have to catch their post the next morning. That's right! I'm going for moderation. That'll be a tough one for me, I'll let you know how it goes.
The other thing I need to stop doing is making almost every post about Ang. That's going to be a hard one because she gives me so much material to work with! And of course, the fact that she always lets me take her picture doesn't hurt either.
I just don't want my other kids to ever think that I post about her all of the time because I like her best, or anything. Because I don't. As a matter of fact...sometimes I like her least. (Just kiddin' there Ang!) Of course, I love them all the same...just in different ways and at different times! And right now? I don't even have to worry about any of them thinking anything about this blog...because none of them even know about it!
So...seeing that it's not yet Monday. And...seeing that my kids won't be reading this so the other two won't feel slighted, I'm going to post yet another little photo series of Ang, who went for her checkup today. (Notice that I got my camera back!)
That one picture is of the questionare that they have the kids fill out when they become 'adolescents'. She was laughing as she filled it out because for her innocent self, so many of the questions are just crazy. (The ones about sex and drugs, etc.) I hope they stay crazy to her for a looonnnggg time!
But, being the jokester that she is...the last question asked,
"If you could change one thing about your life or yourself, what would it be?" And she writes:
"I would want my toenail to grow back."
Because, ewww, she managed to rip off one of her big toe nails over the summer in a freak stubbing, plus getting stepped on and then a re-stubbing accident.
So we cracked up when she wrote it down because no one ever notices that it's missing because she paints the skin with whatever color nail polish she's wearing...and it doesn't bother her at all.
The worst part was, the doctor asked me to step out of the room while she examined her...and then looked at the sheet Ang had filled out and discussed the whole 'toenail' thing with her..and Ang went right along with it, and never told her that she had just been joking.
Sometimes I wonder where this child came from...
Up to this point, I've always (well mostly always) had a visual or two (or ten) to go with my commentary. But not this weekend. Why? Well, maybe it's because I almost always keep my camera in my purse but recently...Ang has been 'jackin' my camera and not returning it to where it belongs! This is why you won't get the pleasure of seeing my very p,o.'d face when, on Friday night, Ang and her BF K kept changing their intended plans...every 15 min. or so until I was just about ready to blow and scream "NO! NOW YOU GO NOWHERE!" Because I hate, hate, hate the fact that they never seem to be the ones dictacting the plans. And how they are always the ones who are just going along with everyone elses' plans, no matter how many times they seem to change. Plus, I had my step-son coming over to visit post-surgery 'Husband-of-Mine' and he was visiting around dinner time so....yeah, I had to actually have some sort of dinner prepared.
So, Ang and K come home from school and the (original) plan was that everyone (in the world, apparently) was going to the movies together to see The Grudge 2. Okay, fine. That 'fine' was my assuming that they (the whole world) were going to the 7:30 showing. But suddenly, after ten phone calls, it seemed that they (the whole word) were in fact going to the 9:35 showing. Which is when I was all "Oh, hell no...! Because all I could picture was me having to drive an hour (round trip) to drop them off, (which would entail our having to leave our house at around 8:15 so they could get there early to ensure that the show wouldn't be sold out) and then making another hour long (round trip) trek back to pick them up, and we wouldn't get back until somewhere around going on midnight and...come on!...I was already tired, what would I be like at that hour? (And to all of you who are saying to yourselves, 'What's the big deal? You never post anything until after midnight anyway!" I only have two words for you...SHUT UP)
BUT, by some miracle, my daughter springs a "how far is so-and-so theater from us?" at the last minute, and, as it turned out to be the same mileage away, but in the opposite direction, and it started at 8:10, I was all, OKAY, I'll take you there...final offer. So, apparently, everyone was able to secure rides to the same show.
So, dropped them off at the theater but I wasn't sure if they were sold out yet (because...remember? The whole world is seeing the movie this weekend! Duh!) but I waited around back where they have this whole glass enclosed exit and you can get a clear view of the lobby and the ticket lines and the snack bar. ANYWAY, since I had a clear view of them exiting the ticket purchase line but I had NO IDEA of whether or not they had actually been able to purchase tickets, I tried calling Ang on her cell. But, apparently, we have bad service in that particular area because it kept going right to her voicemail (hate, hate, hate that!).
So, as I could see her inside the lobby (from my car), she could not see me outside (since it was dark) and I'm so sure that she didn't expect me to be stalking her from afar (which I wouldn't have been doing except for the fact that I wasn't sure whether or not the show was sold out and I didn't want to have to double back after I had already reached home!), I was able to see her meet up with her other friends. Which is when I noticed (immediately) that one of her friends, put his arm around her shoulders. And, as I watched for a few more minutes (yes, alright! I was so cursing the car that had pulled up in front of me, paritally blocking my view. Want to make something of it?) as she was walking towards her girlfriends, he put his arm down around her waist. OH WHAT? Which lastest only about a minute, because then she was off in one direction to talk to her friends and he was off in another direction to hang with his.
BUT, you can be sure, because I am so (okay, not) the coolest mom around, I couldn't resist trying to call her one last time on her cell. And, it was a miracle...it actually went through.
Me: "Hey, were you able to get tickets?"
Ang: "Yeah, we're good."
Me: "Okay, great. Who's there?"
Ang: "Um, a bunch of people"
Me: "Okay." (And now unable to control my 'gotta know' disorder..)
"So, who was that guy with his arm around you?"
Ang : "WHAT?"
Me: "The guy...who is he?"
Ang: "Mom? What?"
Me: "The. Guy. Who. Had. His. Arm. Around. You. WHOWASHE??"
Ang: "Oh! He's just one of my BFFLs! (Pronounced: 'Biffles') (Which, translated, means 'Best Friends For Life'.)
See...I really am a cool Mom because I know these things. Ahem.
Me: "Oh. (Clearly not expecting that answer) I don't remember hearing of him before."
Ang: "That's because I just met him last weekend at homecoming..duh! Just kidding...love you Mommy.."
Me: "Oh, okay...you just met him last weekend and already he's a biffle?
Ang : "Got to go Mom, we have to go get a seat,. Love ya 'G'!"
Me: "Yeah, go ahead..love you too...just behave, 'kay?"
But the phone was already disconnected, and I could see her heading off with her girlfriends...with no (male) BFFL in sight, but then again, my sight was limited from my spot in the parking lot (thanks again black car partially blocking my view!).
And I sat there another minute because...I remembered what it was like to be fourteen. And I want her to have her freedom. But then again, I know what's out there these days. And I know that what's out there now is a lot worse than what was out there when I was growing up. But I can still smile. And still maybe relax a bit. Because I also know that what she (at fourteen) and 'C' (at just turning seventeen) are doing, and what I had been doing at their at their ages are very different things.
Thank God for that.
Holy moley! This weekend was packed with school events...and I'm exhausted. Friday night was my younger daughter's 'Fall Festival' at her school and I ended up taking her and two of her friends. They run around and do crafts, decorate pumpkins, play games, dance to a d.j.'s music, eat donuts and drink cider. But it's all inside of the school. And it gets hot in there with all of the kids and their parents. And, inevitabley, I'm the one who gets stuck toting around everyone's jacket and pumpkin and goodie bag along with my own jacket, purse and camera (can't forget the camera!)
Here are pics of Am. and her friends (Am. is the one in the middle):
At some point during the evening, it hit me that this would be our last 'Fall Festival' at the school, as Am. is in fifth grade and will be moving on up to the middle school (OMG) next year. And I realized that I had been going to the Fall Festival for the last ten years, at least. As much as I complain about having to go every year...it's kind of bitter-sweet to realize that this one will be your last.
So, going on at the same time as the Fall-Festival, was the Homecoming football game at my two other children's high school. My son is totally not into sports. Nor is he really into school events. So, consequently, he didn't go. My daughter Ang., however, (and her friends) went because (and I quote) "..duh, there'll be hot guys there..". Not that she's into football at all. She really knows nothing about it but she becomes all 'I'm rallying for the team!' if there's a social event that she can attend.
No, really, I'm glad that they went. High school somehow flies by and the more you become involved in and experience, the better.
Her friend K. stayed over night and Saturday I took them shopping as they decided at the last minute that they had to have new dresses for the Homecoming Dance (which was that night). I took them to a little boutique in town and surprisingly they each found a dress that they loved. We then grabbed Husband-Of-Mine and headed to a flea market near us where they found some good buys. Afterward, we went home and the girls primped and accessorized until it was time for me to drive them to the dance.
They ended up coming back to our house afterward along with another friend. The next morning Husband-Of-Mine drove them to the 'Puff Bowl' (senior girls play football and senior boys cheerlead) at the school and they came home and crashed for a few hours.
I, on the other hand, was furiously cooking and cleaning because I had invited my mother, sister, nephews and great-grandmother over to celebrate C's birthday. He's turning 17 on Wednesday. I also decided to make it a family party for Am. since she turned 10 in July but we were on vaca. at the time so we never did celebrate with the family. How lame is that? Tagging off of your other child's special day and making them celebrate together? What can I say...at least I didn't make them share a cake!
FUNNY STORY regarding my sis and me. We were talking about two of our fav. shows, Desperate Housewives (I know, I know!) and Grey's Anatomy (sooo good) and a couple of other shows that we faithfully watch so she says, "Yeah, that's all I watch though, just those four shows. Oh wait, I take that back. I was cleaning the kitchen yesterday and flipping through the channels and I found myself watching, I hate to admit, THE FLAVOR OF LOVE!"
I swear to God, I almost snorted my wine out of my nose! (You'll see why I couldn't believe she that if you go back and read my post from last weekend...especially since I hadn't told her anything about my having watched it! Hopefully some day I'll learn how to add a link but until then, just go back and look!:))
And then, I swear this is true, she explains the show to my mother and grandmother and when they question why she bothered watching it she said "you know, it's like a trainwreck...you don't want to slow down and see it, but you can't help yourself!" I was sitting on my hands and biting my tongue so as not to start shouting..."You read my blog, didn't you? Even though you don't even know that I have one...you must have! You've stolen my material! Here, I'll prove it! I wrote it last week everyone...look at the date! And she said that she only watched it yesterday!"
But at the same time, I remembered that maybe there were a few people in the room that I wouldn't want to know about my blog, because, well...you know. AND, I realized...of course she watched Flava-Flav and said, practically verbatim, the exact thing that I had said, because, we are SISTERS. And the universe throws this weird shit at us all the time. (Last time it was her saying "Oh! I totally have a new favorite comic...Kathy Griffin...have you heard of her?" And I was shrieking, "OH MY GOD! SHUT UP!!" because I had become obsessed with her a couple of weeks before and kept going on and on about her to Husband-Of-Mine because I love her so.) So yeah, we're definately on the same cosmic plane (or maybe it's the 'Cosmo Plane'...no actually it was the 'Cosmo Train' but that's a story for another day!). Back to the Flava-Flav thing, whom I now realize I've given way too much blog-time to, I whispered to her, "Holy shit, you will not believe what I have to tell/show you about this subject but it'll have to be another time!"
A full day later, I still haven't sent her my blog or told her what it was. But I did show her the pictures of Ang. and Flav. on the t.v.
Life is so funny....
I didn't think that I did much of anything this weekend...until I started to write about it. It was a three-day weekend for my kids (Monday was an 'observance day'...observance of what? The moon? The fact that I don't like to get up at 6:15 a.m. on school days? A day in which someone could stand and 'observe' the difference in me when I don't have to roll out of bed until 9:00 a.m. or so? ) Oh! Maybe if my kids 'Googled' it they would find out that it was actually a Jewish Holiday! And that it might carry some meaning about why they had the day off from school. But instead, the state/country keeps these things shrouded in mystery so as not to mix 'church and state'. Of course, it's perfectly okay for our President to talk about 'thanking the good Lord' and such. Just don't tell the kids why they're getting a day off...they may be exposed to diversity...'Heaven forbid'!
Okay, 'nuf said about that.
Friday after school I took my ten-year-old over to one of her best friends house for a sleep over. Her mom just had a baby a week and a half ago, so I of course went in hogged the baby all for myself. What a cutie-pie.
It was so nice to cuddle with a newborn. And then it hit me...I felt old. My youngest 'baby' is now a few months past her tenth birthday, and my oldest 'baby' will be seventeen next week! Of course, I'll be turning forty on Wednesday, which doesn't help matters much. You'd think the fact that my husbands kids each had babies this past year would have put me over the edge as far as feeling old, especially when people say, "Wow! You're a GRANDMA!". But the truth of the matter is, I'm only a Step-Grandma. Not that I love them any less. I love them like crazy, but, my husband being eighteen years older then me, his kids were already in their twenties when I met them. So I never referred to them as my "Step-children", because they were already adults. And they have a Mom and the babies have two Grandmas. So I sign our cards, Love Dad and 'D' or Love Grandpa and 'D'. We (unfortunately) don't see much of any of them, so when we do get to see them, it's more like we're spending time with 'R's' kids and the babies. But seeing that baby this weekend...well...I guess that feeling 'old' really isn't the right word. I just felt, different. Because I really don't feel old. But I don't feel young anymore, either. I just feel like I'm in some sort of limbo. Not really fitting in to any one place....strange. But he was beautiful and 'our' newest babies are beautiful too...and they make me smile.
So, I spent Saturday chauffering my fourteen-year-old and her friends from one house to another and then finally just with my daughter and her best friend, we stopped at a local 'street fair' where we managed to purchase a few really cool pieces of jewelry and the girls ran into a few of their friends.
Next, we made the trek to a nearby apple orchard that we've visited the past few years. Sometimes we pick apples, other times we're lame and just buy the apples that they've already picked and purchase a few other yummies from their country store. But the one constant is our love of the fresh, hot donuts. OMG, they are so good. And this is coming from someone who does not touch a donut 364 days out of the year (because really...HOLY FAT CONTENT!!) but just one day in Oct. I feel that I can say "screw the fat!", because these are that good. HOWEVER...
Upon arrival at the orchard, I decided that it was just NOT going to be one of those 'picking' days...seeing that it had just rained for two days straight and I was not going to chance taking the car mud bogging amongst the apple trees...so we said "So what! We'll just pick up big bags of apples from the 'already picked' bins...besides...we're really here for the donuts!" And then we discovered some disturbing yet exciting news...the place had new owners. Mmm...this news could go either way. It could be bad (very bad!) if they didn't have the delicious donuts BUT...they had added a few cool things, one being a huge corn maze. (I didn't care one bit about the corn maze; I could close my eyes and spin around in the parking lot and be lost for hours, without paying eight bucks!) but the girls were psyched to try it out. So, we went forward with an open mind. The place looked a little different...they didn't seem to have as many pumpkins as before and they had moved things around a bit. The good news, however, was that the donut line was waaaaaayyyyyy long. And I'm not saying that was good news because I just love to stand in line with a bunch of strangers for an hour so that I can get some donuts. I was just thinking that with a line that long, the donuts must still be very yummy. I hoped. Or maybe all of the people were also returnees from past years and just as clueless as we were. Either way, we decided to go do a little shopping in the 'country store' thing they have. I've always loved it. In the past. Unfortunately, the past is what 'was' and the present is what 'is' and the present wasn't looking so good seeing as they took most everything out of the cute country store! It was very disappointing. Most disappointing of all was the fact that the couple of apple bins that they had in there were practically empty! Any way, we bought absolutely nothing inside so I decided that I'd at least go stand in the two-mile long line to get us some donuts, while the girls went wandering around with my camera.
Par for the course, my place in line was behind a biker guy and in front of a family from the city. It was entertaining, to say the least! The icing on the cake was that when I finally got up to the front of the line (after at least 45 minutes), I ordered our cinnamon sugar covered donuts and the woman goes to the back....and comes back empty handed. "Uh, I'm reallyy sorry, but we only have plain left." WTF? Plain? Plain! I waited forty-five friggin' minutes to get fat-laden, once-a-year, cinnamon sugar covered donuts and they RUN OUT (of what? Cinnamon and sugar? How can you run out of cinnamon and sugar? It's not like they make them with the cinnamon and sugar inside of them. It goes on after they come out of the fryer!) So yeah, just my luck, the biker dude got the last of my donuts. So, what was going to be a dozen and a half purchase (not just for us! I was going to take some home for the rest of the crew...I'm not that far gone!) turned out to be an order of six. They were pretty good, because they were all hot and steamy...but they weren't OMG! these are soooo good! like they would have been if they had the cinnamon and sugar on them. I'm better off for it, actually, since I only ate one. 'A', however, was feeling mighty p.o.'ed.
Then...for the final topper of the trip to Sucky Orchards (as we're now referring to it), the girls went to get tickets for the corn maze, only to discover that they stop selling tickets two hours before closing! Soooo....yeah.
After our adventure at the orchard, I decided to really torture the girls with a trip to the Wholesale Club near us that we belong to. Of course my daughter managed to finagle a book, a three-pack of camis and a hooded sweatshirt (with the breast-cancer logo on it) out of me before the end of the shopping trip. (Yeah, I know, I actually tortured myself by bringing them along!) And all of this was AFTER she mortified me in the 'Incontinence' isle, (which also carries vitamins, which I was shopping for) when she loudly asked, "Mom! Do you want to get these?" I looked up to find her halfway down the isle, holding up a wharehouse sized case of Depends. "Um, no, I don't need those yet, but thanks!", I replied. And shortly thereafter, when I apologized for running over her friends foot with my cart she replied, loudly, "That's why none of my friends ever want to come over!" The woman next to us apparently thought that it was funny since she proceeded to break out into laughter. (I wouldn't encourage her...seriously!)
We then went home and brought in all of our purchases, which brings me to the Flava-Flav portion of the post. (You know you were wondering how he could possibly fit in to my weekend.) I'll tell you how. While we were putting away the groceries, the girls put on VH-1 which was airing a few episodes of the ridiculous "Flavor of Love" show. Have you ever watched it? I hadn't either (although I do admit to a few sick weeks, a while back, watching him and Brigette Neilson on the 'Surreal World') but I had seen previews of it here and there and I was always all "yeah, like I'd ever watch that crap..." Which, of course, is exactly what I did...for an hour and a half! Even after the girls left and went downstairs to watch it in A's bedroom. I even got to the point where I was calling down to her on the intercom, "Did you see that? She's craazzzyy!" I couldn't help myself. It's like driving past an accident and slowing down, not because you want to be careful not to hurt anyone else, but because you have this sick interest in seeing something so that later you can say "ewwww! it was sooo gross, why did I look?" And that's pretty much what I said after the show(s) ended.
Unfortunately, I have a feeling that if I'm ever channel surfing past that car-wreck of a show again, I'll probably find myself slowing down to get a closer look.
I'm thinking that I can't be the only one who hated getting their picture taken when they were fourteen. But I did. Hate it, that is. My father would whip out that camera and I would cringe, because I just knew, that no matter how diligent I was about keeping an eye on him, he would inevitably end up snapping a photo of me when I was either eating or talking. Usually it was while I was doing both simultaneously. And I remember BEGGING him to rip up the awful photos of me. And he would laugh and say, "After what I just paid to have these developed? I don't think so".
Which is why I'm amazed at my own fourteen-year-old daughter, who seems to never stop taking photos of herself. And posting them on MySpace...for all of her friends to see. And I'm not talking cute, posed, with-just-the-right-light photos. I'm talking about the goofier the better.
And she even throws in a sweet, serious one every once in a while, just for good measure.
Good for her. At least when she's blogging and in her thirties, we can safely bet that she won't have a lame picture of a flower on her page instead of her own face, like some people I know.
