I'm Finished Whining

You know, every once in a while, you just have to get it out of your system. And I did.

Our sons are wonderful and that alone is enough to be thankful for.

My mom was getting on me about Joey's grades in high school. He was really close, but one semester he didn't make a 3.0 GPA. At a 3.0 GPA they are eligible for a good student discount on our car insurance, and when you insure boys...well, it's pretty expensive.

I finally told my mom, "Listen. He's not out messing around with every girl at the high school. He doesn't do drugs. He doesn't drink. He's not out until the wee hours of the morning every weekend. We know where he is all the time, and who he's with. If the worst thing that he does is NOT get a 3.0 GPA, we can handle that."

She finally said, "I never thought of it that way. You're right."

End of subject.

So, to paraphrase this to myself, "If the worst thing that happens in Alex's life is that he doesn't go to his high school prom, then he's in pretty darn good shape."

So now I'm done whining. I think. At least I hope.

Alex's First Election

Yesterday was Primary Election Day here in Ohio. As I've stated before, Ted and I both feel that voting is NOT just a privilege or a right; it's a DUTY, and we take it very seriously.

Joey went to vote in the afternoon, but Ted and I had chiropractic appointments in the early evening, so we went to those, then picked Alex up and the three of us went to vote.

Although Alex is 17 right now, he'll be 18 by the time of the General Election. Therefore, he is eligible to vote in the primary, but for candidates only....no issues. He has taken this EXTREMELY seriously, and we are so proud of him for that. The women at the polling place also told him how great it was that he was voting.

The polls closed at 7:30 pm, and we got there about 7:05. Because of Alex's rather unique situation, he was not able to use the "touch screen" system to vote. He had to fill out the front of a large envelope, then had to use a provisional ballot, which meant that he had to fill in the ovals in front of the candidate's names he was voting for, with a special pencil they gave him.

After voting we received a sticker, but the lady who was giving them out, gave Alex a strip of them and said he should put them all on to celebrate his first election. He didn't put them ALL on, but he put on several.

The ladies told us that he was the ONLY 17 year old they had vote yesterday, BUT only two 17 year olds had registered, so that's 50%. I read in this morning's newspaper that throughout our entire county, there were a fair amount of 17 year olds who voted...79 to be exact.

There was a higher voter turn out than what was expected, and I think that's great. At our precinct there are at least 12 registered voters with our last name. As we finished signing the register, one of the women said, "Well, all of the *******s have now voted!" (meaning the ones with our last name) Seven of us are closely related, and the rest are distantly related, so it was nice to know that they all take it as seriously as we do.

Congratulations to Joey for voting in his first presidential primary, and congratulations to Alex for voting in not only his first presidential primary, but his first election!

My Dateless Sons

This was taken in Myrtle Beach, SC, when Alex was 8 and Joey was 12.

I don't know what the problem is, but neither of my sons has EVER been on a date!

Joey is 20 and he is an old fashioned soul deep down inside. He thinks that Archie Bunker from All in the Family is absolutely right about everything. (I have NO idea where he got that!!) Anyway, I think that he is so afraid of rejection that he won't ask a girl out. He's never had a circle of friends, because he hasn't found other guys who have the same interests that he has. Can we say "lack of compromise" here??? He's so set in his ways that he gets upset when people don't see things his way. Yes, he can drive us crazy at times, but he has many good qualities too. He's a hard worker, he's very dedicated to what he decides is important. He's a good looking guy too. He never went to a high school dance, and whenever I mentioned "PROM" to him, he just cringed and said, "MOTHER!" I really do think that he's terribly afraid of asking a girl out and her saying "no" and that is what is keeping him from doing that. If I ask him if there are any nice girls in any of his classes, he tells me that he doesn't even look at them and he's taking classes for an education, that's all.

Alex is 17 and has not been on a date either. His personality is soooooooo different and I think we might be making a teeny weeny bit of progress with him. At least he is no longer having a royal FIT when I mention "PROM" to him. He just simply says, " I ain't going." (He says "ain't" because he knows that I can't stand it!) I told him that we're forming a team to get him a prom date. As you can imagine, he's not too excited about that. There are several potential prom dates in mind, only these girls don't know it yet, hahaha! He would be a great date...he's got a real sense of humor, and is very good-hearted.

They obviously inherited their lack of confidence in dating from their father...I'll explain that in my next post.

In the meantime, I'm going to keep working on Joey having his first date and Alex having his first date AND having a prom date!

I think I've got my work cut out for me!

This was taken this past October as Alex was turning 17 and Joey was 20.

Happy Halloween

My head is throbbing today, but my plan is to just keep on plugging away. I know that it's sinus pressure, but I'm already taking so many different medications right now, that I hate to throw anything else into the mix. So I suffer.

I've ventured out of the safe confines of the bedroom, and can post a couple of pictures of Alex in his costume Saturday night.

Yep, he went as Jim Tressel, head coach for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Fortunately everything we had to purchase to pull this costume off can be worn in the future, although knowing Alex, he'll try to get away with not wearing the athletic shoes again. He said they look like nursing shoes and they make his size 14 feet look even bigger than they are! You know what Alex??? GET OVER IT!

The sweater vest was hard to find, but we finally were able to locate it online. It's the "official" vest that Jim Tressel wears on the sidelines.

Alex borrowed the tie from The Collection of Harold. Harold is my dad and has enough ties to open his own tie shop. I'm serious. He had this big quilt rack that he kept all his ties on and one day my mom moved it to run the sweeper underneath it. BIG MISTAKE. It fell apart and for kicks, she counted the ties as she put them back on. There were over 400 (yes, that's FOUR HUNDRED)! Anyway, we knew that dad would have a tie that Alex could wear.

Alex had a great time at the party and people really enjoyed his costume, so that's all that matters.

At our old house, I would carve 3-4 pumpkins every year. I just loved carving pumpkins, no matter how messy the whole procedure was. I even cut out magazine pictures of pumpkin faces that I like, and save them in a file. Here at our new house, we don't get any trick or treaters, and our house sits about 75 feet back from the road, so it's hard to see the the carved pumpkins. Therefore, I don't carve them now, but here are a few that I did a couple of years ago. One year, back in the late 90s, I even carved "Chief Wahoo" of Cleveland Indians fame. Yes, I took pictures, but they are the old fashioned kind, real hard copies, and I never scanned them into the computer.

Have a great Halloween everyone!

Social Events

When I was in high school (way back when) homecoming consisted of a night of football designed to bring back the alumni, a reason to conduct yet another popularity contest by selecting a queen, and a very casual dance in the gym after the game.

Times have changed a little.

Last night was our local high school homecoming football game. It is pretty much irrelevant that we lost 22-6.

The important things were that the alumni were honored and a queen was chosen. Our high school has a regular choir and several select groups. Back in the day, we only had the choir and one select group, the Chorale. I was fortunate enough to be in the Chorale.

(This is where I really made out...I took a lot of classes my freshman, sophomore, and junior years and basically had no study halls, all with the intent of goofing off my senior year. It worked, hahaha! I had FOUR classes in the music department that year: Chorale, Choir, Stage Band, and regular band. Of course I also had government and a couple other electives, but it was basically a pretty easy year. Intentionally.)

One of the retired music directors directed the alumni Chorale, mixed in with current Chorale members, in the alma mater before the start of last night's game. About a decade or so ago I participated in this for a few years. It was fun. I picked up the music ahead of time, learned my part, showed up for rehearsal an hour before game time, sang at the game, went to my seat, and that was it. And for the record, I was NOT the oldest alumni in the Chorale!

Last night I chose not to participate. In fact, I was at school working until the middle of the second quarter, but that's another story.

At halftime homecoming attendants were recognized, then senior attendants were selected as the king and queen of the event. I've always considered this a personality contest, but that's my opinion.

(I'm making a few assumptions here, based on the last few years' events, since I was NOT at last night's game and didn't listen to all of it on the radio. If I'm wrong on anything, I'm sure Christa will straighten me out!)

Tonight....ah yes, tonight is the Homecoming DANCE. Over the years this has become much more of a formal event and it's on the night following the game. Girls wear formal dresses, and the guys wear suits (they don't usually get tuxes for this event, thank goodness).

From the first day of school in August (I didn't realize this until I spent a little time with a few high schoolers that I had NOT given birth to) dates for Homecoming are arranged. Because dating has changed over the years, many kids go to Homecoming in groups, and/or as friends, with no "romantic" interest at all.

Alex is a high school junior. Alex is stubborn. Alex is bull-headed. Alex will not listen to reason.

How bad is it to want your son to go to Homecoming?? I just want him to experience a semi-formal social event that doesn't include dancing with your aunts, cousins, mother, or grandmother (like a family wedding). He has his own car, so he wouldn't need to be chauffeured to the dance. He has a suit. He has ME to help him select a corsage for the girl he would take.

But noooooooooooooooooooooo, we can't go to Homecoming.

Why, you might ask?

Because Alex doesn't want to.

He continually says that he's just not interested. Personally, I think he's afraid of being rejected by a female. However, we know people who have daughters who are in high school (our high school and others in the area) and I'm sure that he would have a date....a friend date....but he's just not interested.

Joey never went to Homecoming or Prom. I didn't push the issue too much with him because he is just not a social person. I didn't want to shove him out of his "comfort zone." And besides, I knew that I had "Mr. Personality" waiting in the wings.

However, "Mr. Personality" has disappointed me.

Okay, so maybe I'm trying to relive my youth a little, but is that so wrong? I know that once he got there he would have a great time. That's just the way he is.

I'd been asking him about one of his friends, Tim. "Is Tim going to Homecoming?"

"I don't know MOTHER."

"Come on...you have to know if he's going or not."

"I said, 'I don't know.' "

It went on from there, but really isn't worth repeating.

The other day, when I got home from school, Tim was here.

"Hey Tim...are you going to Homecoming?"

This is where Alex said, "Come on Tim, we have to go....NOW."

"Hold on a minute....Tim? Are you going?" I asked.

Tim said, "Yes I am...with ****, a girl I'm friends with."

"Did you hear that Alex???? TIM IS GOING TO HOMECOMING."

Tim said, "Alex already knows I'm going."

Let's just say that I shot Alex a look that said it all.

After Tim left, Alex said that he purposely didn't tell me because he knew I'd flip out.

FINE.

WHATEVER.

I'M DONE.

So tonight, while most area teens are at the Homecoming Dance, my teenage son will be sitting here at home with us.

Hmmmmm.....maybe that's not so bad, after all.

But he's definitely going to Prom.

A First

Tonight Alex will be attending his FIRST rock concert! I'm completely relaxed and calm about this milestone in his life because he is going with....his dad and his uncle!

Niece Holly got A.P. and U.T. tickets for this concert back in the spring. They were gifts for Mothers' Day and Fathers' Day. She also got a ticket for herself. Not too long after getting these tickets she decided that she may not want to go and asked Ted if he wanted to buy her ticket. He, of course, jumped at the chance. Recently A.P. was talking to Alex and commented that she might be interested in selling her ticket to him for the concert. Naturally he said YES!

So Alex will be going to his first concert tonight and I'm really happy for him.

I can remember going to my first concert. It was actually with Ted and happened to be our FIRST date on my 19th birthday, July 22, 1977. Ted had been to concerts before, but I hadn't and was SO naive! We went to the old Coliseum near Cleveland (although it was only a few years old at the time, it's now no longer there and the Cavs moved to downtown Cleveland). While we were waiting for the opening band to come onstage we were talking a little and I was taking it all in.

*Sniff* *Sniff* "What's that smell?" I said to Ted. "It smells like burnt pork chops."

He said, "No, it's not burnt pork chops," as he tried to hide his laughter.

"That's what it smells like," I said.

"It's pot," he whispered.

"What?" I said.

"Marijuana," he said again.

Loudly (naturally) I said, "MARIJUANA??"

He quietly said, "yes."

We've laughed about that SO many times since then.

By the way, we saw Climax Blues Band and Bad Company and I had a great time.

Tonight Alex, Ted, and Tim are going to Blossom Music Center, near Cleveland, to see Rush. I know that they'll have a great time too.

Alex is a big AC/DC fan, but he'll really like Rush tonight.

(But he HAS to go to school tomorrow!)

What a Kid!

The other evening Ted and I went out to our local Chinese restaurant for dinner. They always have flavored ice cream, but that night's flavor was blueberry, and we're NOT blueberry lovers. We decided to go to the park for ice cream...which means...

seeing the "boy" at work! We have NEVER in three summers of his working there, visited him at work. We really weren't sure of the kind of reaction that we would receive, but it was great. He didn't go off and hide. He didn't get all goofy and embarrassed. He just grinned and started talking to us. It was so cool to have your teenage son acknowledge you IN PUBLIC!

It was pretty obvious that the women (not the teenage girls) that work there just love him. One of them asked him if we were his parents, and then said that he should introduce us to her. He simply said, "Parents....Boss. Boss....Parents." Then we all laughed. She said that he invited her to our house to use the pool, but then wouldn't tell her where we lived. It just so happened that that day he didn't have time to eat lunch at school (locker issue during his 25 minute lunch period) and the ladies that work the grill at the park fixed him up. They made him a steak sandwich and he had some other stuff too.

It was nice to see him interacting with his co-workers, and we were thrilled that he didn't seem embarrassed to have his parents visiting him at work.

What a kid!

Alex

One year, while on our annual vacation to Myrtle Beach, SC, Alex decided to write in the sand with a stick. This was the only phrase that could be captured though. He was going through that phase when he said (and wrote) weird, goofy things.

Little Alex is 16 now, and has been since last October. He's a little over 6' tall, but no matter how tall he gets, I will always be his mother! And I never miss an opportunity to remind him of that. Last summer Alex took his bookwork for drivers' ed. He and I did some driving, and his opening comments were usually along the line of "we're gonna die mom, I just know we're gonna die." He has done well and and has accumulated almost 40 hours of driving time. Of course several of those were spent driving through the local cemeteries, which happen to be a very interesting place. I enjoy going through the cemeteries because they make me think of people I haven't thought of in a while...there was the guy I went to high school with who was killed in a motorcycle accident a year after we graduated, there is the late county commissioner whose headstone is in the shape of our county, there is the grave for the baby of someone I went to high school with, etc. It makes you realize how fragile life is.

Anyway, this morning the driving instructor (whom I know because we teach together) picked up Alex and they are starting his driving time with her. He will need to get a few more hours of night driving in and then he will be able to take his drivers' test. He sure has grown up fast.

Alex is dressed up as Robin (of Batman and Robin fame) for Halloween on the left. He was about 4 or 5 years old then. Above, he is dancing with his cousin Kelly at her wedding last May. He actually enjoyed it, but I'm not supposed to tell people that!