crossrhodes

I can’t stop looking at this picture. It’s my absolute favorite today! My brother captured this shot and these are his kids. (Frame by Katie Pertiet)

1. I got pulled over for the very first time in my nearly 20 yrs on the road! (I noticed I’m more intimidated by female officers than even big, burly men.) She thought I wasn’t wearing my seatbelt. Hah! I NEVER drive without buckling up just like I never leave the house without wearing a bra! I’m so OCD about it that I won’t even back out of my driveway until my passengers are buckled.

   I think the neatly labeled accordion file — in which I organize my insurance, registration, take-out menus, and store coupons — gave away my OCD. On the front cover, in the largest font my P-touch labelmaker can print, it reads, “IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS! PLEASE RETURN TO THE GLOVE COMPARTMENT OR ELSE!” Such an anal person must be wearing her seatbelt!

2. I made my first all electronic check deposit today! We are leaving our local bank for an entirely online ONLY bank. It’s a sign of the times! Our lives are so digitally integrated that the only time I ever have to go to the bank is to deposit odd checks (i.e. birthday gifts, store rebates, etc.) As soon as our favorite credit card company offered point-and-click checking, I switched!

   How does it work? I scan the check, submit online, and then into the shredder it goes! What a brilliant idea!

3. And lastly today, our big boy James is getting his first ATM card and checking account. I know, scary! It’s not actually in his possession yet. And he won’t get it until he has paychecks coming in and we have a long, long, long lesson about money management. But it’s time since he’s going to be writing us rent checks pretty soon. LOL! Just kidding, James =)

   Think about it: his first “real” bank does not have a store front. In no time, the concept of a local bank will be as foreign to him as a black Michael Jackson! Imagine that?!?

Two more months…

before I get to wear scrubs and sneakers everyday. That’s my favorite perk of hospital work!

Two more years…

before I can put school behind me and finally move on with my life.

—

I like this picture I found online. It reminds me of William Congreve’s famous quote:

But now the Dawn begins, and the slow Hand
Of Fate is stretch’d to draw the Veil, and leave
Thee bare, the naked Mark of Publick View.
Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned,
Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.

The length he will go to save a few bucks! In this case, I guess it was worth saving a thousand dollars or two for a shed this size. Don found it for free… well, sort of. The owner wanted it off her vacation property for nothing. But Don had to buy a gigantic trailer bed to bring it home. And now he and James are slowly but surely installing it in our side yard with nothing but muscle and some McGiver ingenuity. That’s my Don!

Yah know, for all the trailers we have in the parking lot, you’d think we lived in a horse farm or had a construction business or something. We have more trailers than we have cars and home.

Fini! Completato! Terminado! School is over! Nowww what are you gonna do with your kids??? *hehe* Mine is getting a summer job or else… or else Dad will find a job for him and he may not like it.

He had a rough start this school year with AP Calculus and a pile of Honors classes. But heck, that’s two more levels of calculus than the average high school kid has! We’re happier with a C in a college-level course than an A in a regular high school courses. He’s already taken his SATs twice, a year earlier than required, and scored above average both times.

Two girlfriends, a slew of ROTC commendations, and a rank promotion later, I am reminded how fast he’s growing up! We were talking about his college applications the other night and I said, “This is it, James. Say goodbye to your childhood.” He didn’t care; he can’t wait to grow up and do whatever he wants without answering to mom and dad =) (What he doesn’t know is that mom and dad will just be replaced by a boss and a wife or a bossy wife! *hehe*)

We’re still struggling with the question, To Drive or Not To Drive? Neither Don nor I are willing to lend him a car or sit in the passenger seat while James learns to take on the road. Yes, yes, it’s inevitable. But maybe an uncle or a grandpa can teach him instead =)