Rising to the Challenge, and Saturday Plans

Hey! Ask me how my head feels today, just go ahead and ask me!!

Yes thank you, I feel great! Really good. Still the ringing in the head, but no horrible pain. I can live with that!

I felt good enough to run errands with the kids this afternoon. We actually did several fun things in between errands, as it was nearly 50 degrees out and sunny. We stopped by the sliding park- there is a parking strip, you walk across a field of grass, and on a hill, there is a great big long slide. The kids who had been there just before us had left it muddy, and you barely scooted down it, so I sent a kid back to the car for my car blankie. It is fleece, and allowed us to slide much faster! Lots of fun. Five slides each, and then back into the car we went.

The next fun thing we did was to go to Gene Coulon Beach Park. First we stopped at Kidd Valley and had fries while listening to 50's music, and then we walked out onto the dock. We didn't walk far or long (I didn't want to push it physically), but it felt good to be out in the good fresh air.

Next stop: Library. Now comes the challenge part. Boy is cut off from the internet after abusing the priviledge here at home. I told them it was a short visit, pick a book and we're out of here. Next thing I know, he is on the internet in the kids' section of the library. I asked him to get off, reminding him of his restriction. He denied knowing about it, and gave me a mouthy answer. I told both kids to get to the car, NOW.

Girl followed me, but Boy was a bit slower. When he came out, I asked him where the book he was going to check out was, and he told me he had a fine, and that SOMEONE was in an all-fired hurry, so he couldn't DEAL with it. He was downright nasty in his tone, just snarling at me. It was completely unacceptable, and not the first time he has spoken to me in this way lately. Papa and I had talked about how I needed to be when he chose this path, so I guess I was prepared. I told him he needed to speak to me in a respectful way, and he replied that he would rather WALK home than ride with me. And the mouthiness continued. So, long story short, I made him get out of the car, and he just stood in the parking lot, glaring at me. I then made him start walking. It is 2.5 miles home from the library.

I watched him from my rear-view mirror long enough to see that he used the cross-walks and made it through the busy intersection, then called Papa on my cell phone for support. At his suggestion, I followed Boy, honked at him, and handed him my cell phone. He had been running so had gone some distance. I then drove home, the Girl fuming in the back seat the whole way. When we got home, I called Boy on the cell phone, and told him to make sure he came home with it, or I'd send him back out there. I also told him I loved him, and would see him soon, to which he replied, "Yeah, right."

I then called Dy, to wait out his walk home. I know he is almost 14, and some of you may think I was silly to worry, but the Boy, bright as he is, is still working on crossing streets safely and looking both ways, so this was a really big deal. When he came home, he was still angry, and it took a long time to get him to even see that he had chosen to walk, and that it was the consequence of speaking to me in such a nasty, rude way. He obviously did just fine, and decided to walk leisurely at some point, because his hands were filthy, and he had rocks and sticks in his pockets, lol.

Phew! Teenagers are tricky creatures, aren't they? I have to pat myself on the back a bit, I didn't yell, I stayed in control, I was cool- an iceburg. A tower of calm. Pretty good for a chick who just got over a 3 week long headache, don'tcha think? ;-)

On a lighter note, I do get a break from the little bums tomorrow. My old friend from high school, the same one who went to the zoo with us the other day, is coming over in the morning, and we are heading to the zoo again, only sans children this time. We will head straight for the tropical rain forest house, my fave spot in the whole zoo, don'tcha know. I have been experimenting with watercolor pencils, and have a sketch I want to keep working on. He will bring his camera as usual, and we will spend a couple of glorious hours just being. I am looking forward to it.

It is wonderful to be able to have a male friend. He and I knew each other in high school, and then dated for a year or so while he was in college. We came to the mutual agreement that we worked better together as friends that in a serious relationship. The cool thing, is that unlike any other relationship I have had, when we said, "Let's just be friends.", we actually did it. Twenty-five years later, and we still talk on the phone about twice a month, and see each other about once every other month, usually cooking together. I hav known him longer than the Papa Dude, so he has never complained. He trusts me, and over the years has grown to love my friend as much as I do, so it works out well. I love it!

I told my friend he would be doing the cooking tomorrow, and that I may need to rest at some point in the day, so we will do pizza. Easy, and everyone can make thier own. This is very basic compared to the things we usually cook. We do Thai, Korean, Vietnamese, Chines, Cajun, Indian. We have done some non-dairy, non-wheat Italian and Mexican, too. The more exotic, the better. It sometimes takes us 4 hours to shop for our ingredients (course that means stopping for lunch, ya' know), and another 4 to cook the meal. We always buy the kids hot dogs, just in case, but do encourage them to try the foods. Papa usually works in the yard while we are busy in the kitchen. I think they are doing some birthday shopping tomorrow, because someone you know will be turning 41 next week! 41. I swear I don't feel that old.

So, that was my day, and that is my plan for tomorrow. I hope those of you fighting crusty eyes and hacking coughs feel better very soon, hugs to you.

LB