Our Lone star adventure

This weekend I found myself sitting on the ground at the LBJ presidential library lawn during the Lone-star Jam 2012, let me set the stage for you... 98 degree heat, 100% humidity, no breeze. A few thousand of local Austinites, age 25 and above, T-shirt stands with tank tops for $30.00(?!?) and a few dozen beer stands... And me..with FOUR teens, age 13-15. Now in all fairness this was our very first Lone star Jam adventure, so as a mom I was somehow under the impression this was a FAMILY event, which it is, once your kids are in COLLEGE. i also figured out immediately that this was going to be a very long day. I was as excited to go as the kids, so, we hurried and arrived just shortly after the gates opened at noon.. Look again up at the temperature for the day, and within ten minutes had seen everything we were going to see for the day, but for the three 15 yr old girls sake we decided to make the best of it, we found our drink booth for the day.. the SNOW-CONE stand. Giant mounds of shredded ice for $4.00( we spent our money here! No over priced clothing for us!) Now to be fair, the bands that play nonstop were GREAT! And they performed nonstop, and thats why we came right? We found ourselves changing our seating spots often, chasing the shade, and trying to avoid two things,#1-people with no clue of what personal space is, and #2- people who were drinking way to much, way to fast.. THERE IS A SNOW-CONE BOOTH PEOPLE!! Find it, use it!! The thing the girls found entertaining: people watching, they LOVED seeing all the different styles of clothing being worn or not worn, and all the cowgirl boots, they video tapped a girl who obviously needed more snow-cone less beer, giving lap dances, they took pictures of one of their High School teachers having PDA with another of the same sex, Dawson got to help/observe myself and another bystander get rescue to help an unconscious and unresponsive lady , heat and beer just takes it toll after awhile people! FINALLY the sun set, and our moods lightened and we began enjoying ourselves..all in agreement that next time we will not arrive at the break of dawn but instead wait till the sun goes down, as this seems to be the best time to stretch out on the cool grass, watch couples dance, and truly ENJOY the concert! Lessons learned and now we know. oh on a side note make sure you eat before going, the line for the burger stand is LONG...I mean LONG.. But after six hours in Dawson did not care and had entered his testosterone driven need for food.
Side note from me, mom, if you go make sure you take another adult with you.. Because I also forgot that once we are in public, speaking to me in anything but snippits of attitude becomes very uncool for teens of all genders..

The tale of the broken boy..

Ever walk into a Middle or High school gym and see how giant we are growing boys these days? I mean they put the men of the 70's and 80's to shame! They are HUGE, almost six feet tall and sporting facial and body hair my husband can only dream about... And these are the same BOYS on my sons athletic teams..ahhh my boy, still shorter than my 5'7, and not sporting any man hair,( that he has let me know about!) but soft baby peach fuzz cheeks, still pink and begging for mommy kisses daily! My boy... who is a growing man at heart, and gives his all like he is built like one of those giant boys, is broken again for the THIRD time since February. In 2010 during an everyday little league football practice he suffered a tackle which led to DOUBLE compartment syndrome in his lower left leg, the loss of three small areas of muscle, which was far better than the amputation they originally went into surgery for... But he healed quick and we wrote that injury off as just a fluke, but here we are again two years later with once again mounting ER bills..Feb he fell backwards during basketball practice and hyper-extended with possible slight dislocation of his left elbow... Two weeks after the cast was off from that he had his left thumb sat on during praise and worship time with his youth group...so you might think.. That cant be bad... Try three fractures and a crushed joint!!! Which was misdiagnosed at the first ER and only discovered at the very next ER visit due to a fractured left wrist during a little league football game!!!! Orthopedics have put me on their parent "watch" list I'm sure.. Sorta of like the list the airports keep..only i get the looks like" what ARE you doing to this poor sweet baby!"" where I then want to whip out the latest and greatest team picture he has had taken and show them what he is up against! So parents of boys... Please stop feeding them miracle grow and give my little sapling of a boy to catch up.., at least we are now out of all sports, Doctor said he was not even allowed to hold a bubble wand, for at least three months.. time to heal and grow some healthy bones..but please none of that man hair..I'm happy with his peach fuzz as long as the lord lets him have it!

My new love!

Holy mother of everything that is holy... I have found my new summer love! For the past five months I have been on a very restrictive carb diet... More of a lifestyle change, most days it's a breeze, but every now and then it's a pain, a HUGE pain, because everything on the face of the earth these days is full of carbs! And I'm only allowed 35 grams each day! Try it.. It's hard!! But today the gods smiled on me and introduced me to SUGAR FREE, CARB FREE, ZERO CALORIE daiquiri mixer! Just add ice, rum, water and mixer and ta-da... You are good to go ( or if you make a entire blender full as I did then good to stay home!) either way.. I am having my FIRST alcohol drink in FIVE months, thanks to this wonderful find! I also scored some low carb piña colada mixer ( just 3 carbs per serving) at our local Specs, but if I can go zero carb and still enjoy then I have found my drink of the summer! Plus... Are you ready!?!?... It tastes WONDERFUL!!!! Apparently they have a full line of these mixers and as the summer progresses I will keep you updated!
Toodles for today :)

And the crazy returns...

Just when I think all is right and good I get a text message that goes like this:
Dawson: mom come get me.
Me: why? ( I'm at the liquor store excited about my first night with no kids)
Me: what happened? You have been waiting for this night forever!?
Dawson: I think I broke my thumb
Me: what? How?
Dawson: a kid sat on it and it hurts.. A lot .
Me: I'm sure your fine
Dawson: please? I'm in crying and in pain
Me: Well stop crying, I will come look at it.
Dawson: ok
The pictures tell the rest of the story! X-rays did not show a break... Yet... But due to severe swelling they couldn't be sure, splinted, and will redo X-rays in ten days, gave him some pain mess, and as the smile returned and the tears disappeared he asked to go back to the teen lock in at the church! ( bless those meds!)
I get home feeling to disgusted with myself for doubting his pain to make my special treat from the store, just crawl in bed and enjoy the quiet, because I realized, we are home, meaning the crazy days have returned with a vengeance so I better rest up, because I'm going to need my strength!(and possibly a bigger bottle of vodka.)
Toodles for today.

If I hear....

Honestly if I hear Ma'am , or Mom, one more time I'm going to scream, or cry, or both!!! I DON'T want to be a teen again, or even in my twenties, but my thirties were pretty good, still young enough to fit in,and crazy enough to want to, but now...at 45... I just don't seem to fit anywhere. If you have hung out with a group of teenagers lately, you get this. The days of common sense, and common manners are gone, they wear me out fast trying to live so fast, they have no regard to time, or anything other than themselves, I know each generation goes through this right of passage called the teen years, I have just never lived it as an adult!!!
Then there is the flip side of this birthday coin, I am still young enough at heart to want my belly button pierced, wear trendy clothes, and play my music loud... But all before 9 pm thank you very much. So hanging with the crowd in the cafe at the hotel is out, they all have let their hair turn silver, wear stretchy pants and shoes that are way to supportive... Not my group... Not yet... But I feel it coming.
One last word of caution, when you turn 45, do not let yourself wander down to the teen party side of the beach, they have stripper poles in trucks, more beer than ocean, and the girls gone wild crew... No wait... Was that MY CHILD(no it wasn't but made my heart stop for a second!)...head back down to the adult side as fast as you can, before you hear the dreaded words MA'AM, or even worse MOM, because then no matter what age you are you suddenly realize.. This is NOT where you belong.

Tummy time!

Although I may find haters in this, it was my choice, my decision and I do not regret it... Yet.
Maddie will turn 15 this month, my oldest turned 25, and I turned 45 on the 12, I have never had a birthday make me as grouchy as this one, I can't pinpoint it, but damn where did all these wrinkles come from? That being said.. Maddie has been asking for over a year to pierce her belly button, I told her on her 16th spring break she could, but yesterday found us taking a break from the beach and sun at the local tourist shops, and then to the local tattoo shop ( the only place on the island that does piercings) Maddie wanted to get her ear pierced in places she doesn't even have ear... and as I'm standing there listening to the gentleman explain to her how very much it's going to hurt, and the dangers, well I bolted on my decision and told her we should just pierce our belly buttons together! ( mine is a re-do, had it done before but what the heck..)I figured this would be the lesser of the two evils, and not seen near as much as a swollen, infected , red ear..
so we filled out forms, and did this together, memories she will have forever, a good memory, not one of sneaking off with friends or using an old needle and doing it herself in her room like my oldest daughter did, but of laughter, nerves, and love. It's not permanent, she can take it out if she chooses, it's not written in stone, but the memory is, and that makes it all worth it... Also the pain of the process now has her swearing off any future piercings... Shoot,swish,SCORE!
Toodles for today 😉

Spring break 2012

I am insane, I should be locked away. I am on vacation by MYSELF with four squirrelly teenagers!
The past two years I have managed to let the teens talk me into the three hour drive south to our favorite place, Port Aransas TX. We try to go at least a couple times during the summer, but spring break is when they love going the most( of course!) Now, Port A as busy as it gets, only hosts to a handful of spring break partiers, those who's parents either couldn't or wouldn't let them venture farther south to Padre, so the beach is full of families ( other parents look as stresses as me!) and high school/pre-college age kids... Yes there is a few college kids doing the normal beer pong on the beach scene, but it's generally very mild.
Today is day three for us here, day one was spent driving, checking in to hotel, then mad dash to the beach where the water was freezing, wind was blowing, and beach was empty, ( it starts clearing out around five when all the beachcombers head to town to shower and eat).Day 2 found the boys fishing off the pier, the girls walking the beach trying to look older than they are, ( I stand close to them and pretend the whistles are for me!) and although still windy, it was a warmer wind, and the sun warmed my skin ... Resulting in a nap which in turn ended in a sunburn ouch! Today Day 3 promises more of the same and the rest of this story will be in pictures, they tell our story the best!
Toodles for today!