Endings

Swim season is done.
Many, many hours of practice.
Meets in the blazing sun every Thursday.
With some on Saturdays.
So now I'm creating a new photo book to remember the moments.
The focus and intensity of competition.
The fun with friendships.
The thrill of victory.
And the agony of defeat.

She qualified again to compete on the varsity level.
She qualified to compete in the State finals.
She came within 2 seconds of an All-American time in her 50 yd freestyle.
She was 8th in the city in backstroke in her division.
She was 15-20th (sorry don't know exactly) overall in the state in her division.
Great season.
Many goals to achieve in the next year.
Congrats Miss Liss!

First Date, last Child

Scene I: Some oriental nail shop, about seven blocks from home
Time: 7 1/2 hours prior to departure


The day begins with pedicures. Mom agreed because she was sorely in need of one herself. Great care was taken to match toe color with dress color, with gold accents. Mom is miffed because the nail lady forgot to give her the hot stone massage. She gets a $15 card for her next pedicure. She is pleased. Daughter is pleased with her end result.




Scene II: Girls Bathroom at Home
Time: 4 hours prior to departure


Bathing ritual begins. Leg hair must be defuzzed. Hair washed, rinsed, repeat and conditioned. Plenty of mousse applied prior to blow drying to ensure hairdo stays in place.



Scene III: Friend's house
Time: 3 hours prior to departure


Hairdressing begins. Lucky for her, her BFFs sister is a hairdresser. She returns home 1/2 hour later concerned that her hair is the same as her BFF. This just isn't done.




Scene IV: Girls Bathroom at Home
Time: 2 hours prior to departure


Beauty rituals begin. Big sister assures her that she can make her hair look "different." Meticulous detail to attention is taken to apply makeup perfectly.



Scene V: Family Room at Home
Time: 30 minutes prior to departure

Those present: Three older siblings along with some spouses of said siblings, noisy, rowdy response to her grand entrance.


Dress is made suitably modest by artfully draping a "shrug" or sweater to cover the shoulders. (dang near impossible to find a modest dress these days)



Scene VI: Family Room at Home
Time: Arrival of Date!!!
Notation is made of his efforts to match date's dress. Awwww.


The boutonniere pinning. Awkward moments for both youth, trying to get flower to stay upright while mom is taking photos, amidst coaching and silly comments from older brothers and sisters.

Scene VII: Family Room at Home

The wrist corsage applying. This is a less awkward moment, although the comment section was still in full force. (I wish we had had wrist corsages when I was young!)

Final Scene: The pose prior to leaving

Young man is suitably respectful to Dad, promising to get his date home at a reasonable hour. They give one last pose prior to stepping out the door.

"Sunrise, Sunset," from Fiddler on the Roof playing in the background as the scene fades into darkness.

Cleaning the Teenager Rooms or,

A.k.a. Dumpster Diving in Your Own Home.
Last week I was still trying to get out of the doldrums, not worrying about my kid every minute of the day and checking the email every 10 minutes to see if he had written, and I got the cleaning bug and attacked his room and the teenage daughter room. Here's a sampling of what I found:
School notebooks from junior high.

Tons of extension cords.A basket from 1988.Trash, tons of trash....enough trash to start my own landfill! I don't think garbage can and teenage brain commute. I have been looking for these for weeks!The sacred family backpack. Purple color for Mesa High, which has been passed down from sister to sister through the generations. Sorry girls, it's in the garbage.

Enough money to start my Alaska travel fund.Old gaming systems (this one was in daughter's room......)Now I finally know where the knee brace went.

And I created enough dust to cause 500 people an allergy attack. But now I feel cleansed and purged and we'll see how long it lasts.......until the next cleaning frenzy begins, or I need to find something that is missing.

Guess Who got Asked on her First Date??

The doorbell rings, no one is there, except Wait..

A mysterious package.

Wonder who it's for?

Following the instructions.

Aww, she knows who it is.

October 10, 2009

Mark that day in your history books.

WARNING TO MY TEENAGERS!

We are coming home tomorrow!

No parties!

Wash all the dirty dishes!

Clean up your rooms!

Thankyouverymuch.

Love, Mom

How To Get Teenagers to Do Almost Anything-A Tutorial

As the mother of teenagers, with the 7th and final child in process of being raised, I feel that I am fully qualified to present A Tutorial on How to Get Teenagers to do Practically Anything.....

Step 1:

Select the proper time of day. Anything before 11 AM in the morning is considering an unholy hour and expect to be greeted with sullen looks and resistance.

Step 2:

Be prepared to provide large amounts of food-the greasier, the better.

Step 3:

Provide the proper atmosphere by allowing the choice of music to accompany the hard workers. The ipod adjustment is extremely important. (large purple sombrerors are optional-go rabbits!)

Step 4:

Using tools as microphones can provide good incentive to get the job done.

Step 5:

Volume is not optional-the louder the better. (earplugs provided upon request)

There you have it-my brief tutorial. What were they doing? Well, sheesh, I have to have something to blog about tomorrow don't I?