Tales of the Ordinary Days

Headline banner to the paper in the fall of 2013 before Ben's shenanigans (and for our use in life lesson training for him) It's been over ten years since my divorce. When I recently thought of this milestone, I was doubting my mental math. Has it really been that long? Then I remembered the faces of our three young sons at that critical point in time. Comparatively to their 19, 23, 26 year-old selves today, I know this timeline to be true. I vividly remember picking up our youngest two from grade school on the day I filed. I was pretty sure they hadn't a clue on the news I was going to deliver. My intuition was correct. I painfully watched as they both broke into sobs following my disclosure. Grant simply cried, while twelve-year-old Ben pleaded with me. "Will Dad still be your best friend??" It seemed like such an odd thing for my young son to say at the time. And it has probably taken these past ten years for me to fully appreciate what he saw in his...

(Grant, Ryan, Nick, Sean) First Sunday of summer break Summer break is official now for both of my kids still in school. With this annual reprieve comes the balancing act around fun vs. responsibility. As you can surmise, I lean on the side of responsibility while the kids lean on the side of fun. A battle at times, but usually with some resulting balance. At age twenty, Ben is becoming an old pro at this feat. He started his forty-hour-a-week labor job last week. Up at seven, he knows that improper balancing of fun and responsibility lead to long work days. Needless to say, he is taking full advantage of this long Memorial Day weekend, knowing his Tuesday 6:30 a.m. wake up call will be here soon enough. But it does typically take about a week for Ben to make the full adjustment. Grant is in that one week zone right now. With finals completed last Thursday at noon and a week off before summer football begins, I can hardly hold him down. "But, Mom, it's my first day ...

I spent $70 on a life size poster of my son. This was an "ask" of the football parents for senior night. I didn't even give it a second thought. My son certainly wasn't going to be the only one without a poster. So I proudly purchased it, knowing it would have potential reuses at playoffs, graduation, etc... Thank-you, Skutt, for the win streak the allows this treasure to keep paying for itself. This life size image of Benny Lane has since shown up at two games post-regular season. Looking at the rolled-up poster in my garage this weekend, I decided to hang it on my front door for good luck (and increase my return on investment). Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day. I took my dog for a leisurely walk in the afternoon. Our walk began with my inspection of this front door decoration with a view from the street. I was pleased. As Cookie and I finished our typical loop around the neighborhood, we came upon two walkers. These two young girls of Asian descent...