Juggling Life

A Debt that Cannot be Repaid

 

   We remember. We give thanks to those who paid the ultimate price while protecting our freedoms.

Anti-Gleek

Social Butterfly and I were trying to introduce MVP to the unadulterated joy that is Glee:

MVP: I’ve seen dumber things, but not on national television.

MVP (As Rachel starts singing Poker Face with her biological mother): What the hell? This seems like a very inappropriate song to sing with your estranged mother.

He might have a point on the second one.

Family Feud

My good friend Jen—who has quite a ways to go before the teen years arrive in her house—made this comment on yesterday’s post:

Good for her for making the Dean's List! Good for you for sticking to your diet! What a fun, supportive family. Do you people ever fight?

Posted by: jenrantsraves | May 27, 2010 at 07:21 AM

The answer to that question is . . . but, of course!

Things that we recently beefed about include (but are not limited to):

• MVP’s newfound inability to put down the toilet seat (I spent 18 years training him and one year with roommates ruined him).
• Who needs to turn over the computer so that the next person can get do homework get on Facebook.
• Whether or not I am a misunderstood frugal person (I may shop, but I do it at Target, not Nordstrom (usually)).
• Whose job it is to pick up crap left on the kitchen counter (hint: not mine).
• Whose turn it is to empty the trash unload the dishwasher water the plants.
• The perceived difference among various parties as to whether certain practices fall under the category of a) parenting or b) nagging or c) spying.
• Who should have taken care of the toll road bill before it accumulated fees and penalties totaling $812. By the way—after I researched things on the internet and Mr. Fix-it spoke to someone by phone we have settled for the original tolls plus $5—for a total of $27. The excessive penalties are designed to punish “scofflaws,” not one-time offenders.
• If Mr. Fix-it needs to leave work at work.
• Who will be driving the ‘96 Honda that was MVP’s car and is now Danger Boy’s car when Social Butterfly gets her license in November. Certain parties have accepted that whatever car joins the family will not be a Range Rover.

Still and all, I’m going to agree with Jen that we are a fun and supportive family. Have a great weekend with your special peeps!

Homecoming Redux

      I have a feeling she’ll be wanting some real Mexican food soon!

Grownup Girl got home last night—at 9:30. She was a bit chagrined to find the whole house in bed, but we do tend to roll up the sidewalks early on school nights.

She caught the luckiest break in the world today—my ex-brother-in-law just had someone quit where he works and she got the job for the summer. What a pleasant and welcome surprise.

When I got home today she and I did some Wii Yoga together and then I whipped up her special request meal—pasta with homemade pesto. Not wanting to derail my Weight Watcher’s points for the week I made myself an alternate, healthier version and while it wasn’t quite the same it was quite good.

She shared the great news that she made the Dean’s List for the year—we’re proud of her, as she is of herself.

Danger Boy was certainly happy to have his siblings’ help on his Bio project—creating a replica of an island that was the habitat of an imaginary animal he’d dreamed up—common name the Keebler Raccoon Bear; scientific name Ursulus Racconus.

DB is notorious for being the non-creative type and I have a sneaking suspicion he knew that while he was willing to turn in a lame project (he consulted the rubric and rightly figured that he really didn’t need all the points in that category to do well overall) the rest of his family wouldn’t let that happen. MVP created the mountain and glaciers while Social Butterfly made snow.

Now everyone is gathered around the TV—rooting for the Padres; GuG is a huge baseball fan and happy to be watching it on the big screen with Mr. Fix-it.

And once again, the party pooper will be played by me—aka she who needs her eight hours a night no matter what!

Dog Days Redux

The sleeping arrangement has sorted itself out--though I was unable to capture the shot Suzy wanted:

Please take a picture of Roxy being ordered off the couch. With Beaux and Buddy laughing in the background.

Posted by: Suzy | May 20, 2010 at 04:15 PM

During Beaux’s convalescence we fully ceded control of the Love Sack to her.

Which left an empty bed that Roxy is more than happy to occupy.

Roxy is a smart dog (we have to whisper that around our sweet, but not exactly Mensa-material beagles) and as such she comes when you call her—which means you can take her places.

                        She’s a nature girl for sure.

We Said “Yes”

I love putting something up on the blog and getting the benefit of everyone else’s experience and advice. In the case of Social Butterfly’s desire to cliff-jump from The Devil’s Punchbowl it was Yo that set my mind at ease—she’s actually jumped into the pool and knew the water was deep enough.

SB went on Sunday and had a blast—though it was unseasonably chilly and they had lots of wind. Because it was so cold she only made a couple of jumps—it was scary, but fun and she definitely plans on going back.

The thing about teenager is that everything is a balancing act. You have to make everything into a complicated equation and hope it balances in the end.

In this case the equation went like this:

Girl that’s been encouraged to be fearless + parents applauding her for jumping off cliffs in their presence (Crystal Lake in Mammoth) + knowledge that if you keep saying no to a (semi-) reasonable request you risk not being asked in the future + getting input from your blogging buddies = permission to go.

It was the right decision—just because she’s my baby doesn’t mean she’s still a baby.

Chancles de Baile*

One of my student’s is turning 15 this week and I was honored (and surprised and delighted) to be invited to her Quinceanera. Since the invitation said 4:00, and I had no idea if there was a schedule of activities and I’m by nature a totally OCD punctual person, I arrived at 4:00.

Birthday Girl: Mrs. Juggling! You’re early!

Mrs. Juggling: The invitation said 4:00

Birthday Girl: We just put that because Mexican people are always 3 hours late!

It was okay though because her much older siblings and their spouses and friends that were there to decorate were lovely people and I got to know them really well. Time flew and soon enough more people started arriving—among them three other students of mine.

It was my intention to sit out the dancing because: a) I was the only white person and not familiar with the music b) I have no rhythm and c) I was unable to fortify myself with an adult beverage.

The four girls were having none of it. “But Mrs. Juggling, you’re not allowed to say no to the birthday girl.” So Mrs. Juggling shook her groove thing and had a great time doing it. I loved the group dance, the bouncy Mexican music and the babies on the dance floor. They loved me being out there—I even got applause (I’m sure was for effort, not skill, but still!).

It was truly a lovely experience and I would have loved to stay longer, but as I pointed out to the girls even if they skip school tomorrow I have to be there bright and early!

* Dancing Shoes

The winner of last week’s book giveaway was #12, Nancye Davis—congrats and send me your snail mail; I’ll get everyone’s books in the mail this week.

My piece of advice for just about anything is: "Listen to everyone's advice but in the end do what your heart tells you to do."

nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net

Posted by: Nancye Davis | May 22, 2010 at 09:26 AM

Hmmmm . . .

Social Butterfly and I were headed into Rubio’s for a bite to eat when she realized she didn’t have shoes. She was right in the door when the manager said, “Please put on some shoes.”

I ordered and we ate at an outside table.

Social Butterfly: That rule really confuses me. I washed my feet last night in the shower, but I’ve never washed my shoes.

Hmmmm . . .

When the Apple Doesn’t Fall Far from the Other Apple

Danger Boy is called Danger Boy for a good reason. He likes to do things that are dangerous. Like jumping off Sunset Cliffs without checking with his parents first—when he was 14.

       This is not allowed. For obvious reasons. Kids do it anyway.

Social Butterfly wanted to go on a hike with friends and jump off into the Devil’s Punchbowl last year. The answer was a resounding no, with my strongest argument being that she was too young to drive with a teenage driver and that the water level was likely to be too low to be safe since we were in a drought.

This year she’s a sophomore and has many friends who are well past their one-year with no passengers limit. Also, we’ve had above average rainfall this year, so water levels are high. She has an invite for this weekend.

Basically the only argument I’m left with is “It scares me.” I went looking for video to check the whole thing out and what did I find?

The kids in the video? The friends she wants to go with. Sigh.

Apparently my fear of heights skipped a generation. And Danger Boy is not the only person in the family that deserves that moniker—or a permutation thereof.

The Chicks are Coming Home to Roost

MVP rolled in about 3 pm today—after starting out in Colorado yesterday morning. This was his first long drive with his dog, so instead of doing it straight through he arranged to stop for the night in Utah.

When he said he was going to stop and camp for a night I had visions of him pulled off in a random field—ripe for a traveling serial killer to attack with an ax (I cannot help where my mind goes!). Thankfully he anticipated my worries and had made reservations at a KOA campground. Somewhere along the line he got all responsible on me. The nerve!

I have dutifully fed him pasta with homemade sauce and a huge green salad as an antidote to days of road food and there is freshly-baked banana bread for tomorrow’s breakfast.

His dog, Roxy, and Buddy and Beaux are getting along great—though Roxy is a bit baffled by the no-couch rule.

Next Wednesday Grown-up Girl will have completed her 2,000 mile solo trek from Chicago home and then we’ll be one big happy family together—well, for the three weeks until MVP flies back to Colorado for a summer class.

It feels like we’ve got a revolving front door sometimes!