Tales of the Ordinary Days

Ben ~ 12 years old Ben just left for Day Two of his first job.  A month shy of his sixteenth birthday,  Ben has been quite excited about this first time feat.  He landed this job at a newly opened breakfast restaurant after much persistence in hopes of being a gainfully employed bus boy.  Instead he was hired as a host.  I do have to say that when he called in exuberance to tell me he got the job, I as a bit surprised that his initial role would be the host position.  The mother in me had a few pangs of angst thinking it would be a bit better for my free-spirit middle child to learn the ropes cleaning tables rather than throwing him onto the masses on Day One.  But as with many stages in parenthood, this one was out of my hands.  This one was up to Ben. Yesterday morning began with a scurry of me trying to locate a birth certificate and Social Security card requested by Ben's new employer.  As I unsuccessf...

Grant and I just got back from a weekend in sunny Phoenix.  I would describe it as a "weekend on a whim" and was nothing short of fantastic.  With all of my travels, Southwest Airlines has not only deemed me as an A-lister, but they have also issued me the coveted "Companion Pass".  Basically I name my companion and for a year (up for renewal :)), my named companion accompanies me for free anywhere that Southwest flies.  The only restrictions are that he flies with me and that there is a seat available.  So as you can gather with my opening statement, Grant is my free travel companion. With Ben touring Europe with his classmates last weekend and Grant and I looking at our activity free weekend in Omaha, we decided to capitalize on our travel opportunity and go on an adventure.  Phoenix was our choice...warm, sunny and plenty of family.  We boarded the plane with no specific plan other than some good company with people we love...