Quiet

After a week of having 2 extra teenage girls around, we have returned to a more quiet household. Mr 19 and the girls have all left. Mr 19 returned to college 7 hours away and Hubby and I delivered the girls to one of their parents for the remainder of their trip home on Saturday. My house, though still disorderly, is very quiet. Hubby is also gone as harvest FINALLY got started. (Only 3 weeks and 2 days past normal)

Last week was organized chaos as Miss 16 and the two extra teens, Lolo and Sissa, had swim practice twice a day. If you know swimmers you know that after swim practice all they can think about doing is EATING, and eating a lot of food. My job was to keep them fed, healthily fed. Each morning before they got up I set out cereals, toasts, yogurts, juice and fruit. (you know nothing about the 2 loaves of monkey bread that I made for them... nothing!) At noonish I made lunch and had that ready and waiting when they got home from practice, and around supper (dinner if you aren't from my background) I made two meals, one for my family and one for the swimmers. They were the same meal, just ready at 2 different times to allow for better kitchen and table access. I washed towels when needed and once had to wash clothes as practice was in the middle of a just rained on football field that resulted in mud baths for all. Don't worry, I kept my family in clean clothes all week, I only meant that I only had to wash Lolo and Sissa's clothes once.

The girls were tired, exhausted at times, but enjoyed each others company immensely. They had friends over each night they were here, sometimes other swimmers, and sometimes, gasp!, boys! They made a mess of Miss 16's room which must have driven her crazy since she is such a neatnic. In fact she had her room cleaned within hours of the girls being gone.

Also last week Mr 19 packed himself up and headed east to start college classes again. I didn't think it would be hard to see him go again, but it was. I said goodbye just before I had to take Lolo and Sissa to meet their ride (45 minutes away) and I cried halfway there. It's a good thing Hubby was along to drive since I had a problem with my eyes, they kept dripping.

Hubby started harvesting today. It's a relief and a stress all at the same time. Last year harvest began on August 1st, this year it began on August 23rd. The rains, cold nights, cool days and lack of sun and heat led to a very, very slow maturing of the crops. In fact many aren't anywhere near harvestable even yet. It will more than likely prove to be a highly stressful harvest season for all of us.

School starts this week, so this gradual quieting of my household is probably good for me. At least it didn't happen all at once. My days are still busy but the literal noise in the house is much less than it has been. I'm not sure it's a good thing. A little chaos in a house is a sign of a busy, happy family.

Selling Something?

Recently we have been looking to update my vehicle. We've been researching (and if you know my husband you know this is a HUGE project: must. research. everything.) and trying to make up our minds on wants and needs, and just plain like-to-haves. Of course price is also a factor, along with color, because I will NOT drive another maroon vehicle, I WON'T I WON'T I WON'T!!

Researching has led us to a few car dealers and with car dealers come car salesman. I have nothing against a salesman, my dad works sales, my husband used to work in sales and friends have worked in sales. Selling and being good at selling things is a job and a talent. Not everyone can be nice to everyone who steps up to their business. Being a good salesman means being a proficient actor. However, in our research I have come across people who I can definitely say are not good salesmen. (Yes, I said Men)

I am getting rid of a van, a mini van. I may or may not get another one, but that isn't the point of this post. Here is the point:

If you are a salesman and a husband and a wife come in, driving a van, and talk about purchasing a van or smaller SUV from you, and it is VERY obvious that this vehicle is going to be a vehicle for the wife, then I would recommend to you that you actually make eye contact with the wife, you should speak to the wife, you should find out what the wife wants, and you should behave as though the wife is actually in the same universe as you are. As the wife I have the power to completely refuse to buy a vehicle from you, there goes your commission. I would also recommend that you don't poo-poo what the wife deems important and not important in a vehicle. Once again, I have the power to refuse to buy a vehicle from you, and I will do it in a heartbeat.

We have a salesman we have dealt with for years, and although he is 120 miles away he has the salesman touch down pat. When he calls or when we stop by, guess who he talks to AS MUCH AS or more than he talks to my husband. That would be me. He realizes that in order to get a sale, I need to be convinced, and I need to know that what I want is what's important. I know he doesn't give a flying fig what my life is really like, he doesn't care how my family is, or what I will be using the vehicle for, but he acts like he does, and he listens when I speak. After I have said what I want/don't want, he doesn't show us things or recommend things that don't have what I want/don't want. Overall he's making me feel like my time is valuable and he's not going to waste it.

So to all you salesman I have dealt with recently who were more interested in Hubby's opinion and his thoughts and to the few of you who were more interested in my chest size, there is a very specific reason I am not buying a vehicle from you, and the reason is you. Get a new job because you are not going to make it as a salesman.

Responsibility

Bet you thought this post was going to go on and on and whine about how my children never pick up after themselves, and never do what they are told, right? Well, you are wrong, though there is one in particular who does that, this post isn't about him, oops, I mean isn't about that particular subject.

This post is regarding Miss 11 and her complete ability to baffle me. Or it could be my inability to understand her, one or the other, and who's responsibility it is to keep her moving forward.

Late last week Miss 16 and Mr 19 were fortunate enough to be at the lake with friends. Miss 16 was staying at a cabin with a friend and her family and Mr 19 was off gallivanting with his friends at a nearby lake. Miss 11 was stuck home with us, as is not unusual since she is only 11. We felt sorry for her, and decided to take her out for ice cream.

We drove to the ice cream place, actually it's a miniature golf place that just happens to serve ice cream, and stepped up to the counter to decide what we wanted. There were two people working, a mother and son I would guess, and they both started talking to us. Heaven forbid! Miss 11 was trying to make her decision when one of them asked, "What can I get you? Waffle cone, plain cone, dish?" She looked at me, clearly panicked to have people speaking to her, with a question in her eyes. I explained her options and she whispered the answer to me, I relayed it to the attendant. The attendant picked up the waffle cone, walked back over and asked what she wanted in it. Again Miss 11 got the panicked look in her eyes, and I just took over, telling the attendant what I wanted, Hubby then told them what he wanted and Miss 11 was still trying to decide. Finally she whispered in Hubby's ear what she had decided and he passed the information on. End of transaction, we got ate our ice cream (mine was licorice chip by the way, mmmmmm!) and walked to the van.

As the evening progressed I thought more and more about how shy Miss 11 can be, and I worried as mother's do about how we sometimes coddle her. I wondered whether I should have forced her to order her own ice cream, or if just making her life easier was ok.

Then yesterday I had one of those "oh my gosh my kids don't need me" moments. Miss 11 has volleyball camp this week. She attends for 1.5 hours every morning. It's in a building she has spent time in often for various other volleyball related activities. I have always had to walk her in to those activities, stay until she was comfortable with her coach, or sometimes stay the entire time, and if I left I always had to be back well before she was done waiting where she could see me.

Yesterday we got to the building, she opened the van door, hopped out and said "see you afterwards!"

"Wait," I said, "don't you want me to walk you in?"

"Nope, I'm good!"

"Um, ok, I'll be waiting in the parking lot when you are done, I'll park by the building, look for me there."

"Ok, bye Mom, love you!"

And off she scampered. I had added the wait for you in the parking lot part just to test her, and she was fine. She didn't care if I was coming in, or walking her in, she was completely fine being dropped off. It was strange, especially after the few days spent worrying about the shyness. She didn't know who was her coach or who was at camp, and none of it bothered her.

So now I wonder, what do I force her to do (order for herself) and what do I just wait for her to be comfortable doing on her own?

Ear Muffs

Last week we went to SuperSister's best friends farm. She raises mini horses and full size horses. We had a great time wandering through the mini pen with the new babies. My girls were in love and both begged to bring one home.

The best part was watching my Niece. Although she has been at the farm several times, and she begs to go, she still has a slight fear of the animals and spends her entire time wandering around with her hands over her ears. For some reason she has chosen this as her scared look, and she does it all the time. You can see her in the bottom left of the photo with Miss 11.

Less Needed

Yesterday was a big day for Miss 16. She was very nervous, but she persevered and passed her driver's license test! So now we have 1 more driver in the house, and because of that I am just a little less needed at home. Sigh. Though I love that I won't need to schedule my time around when both girls need rides, I am really going to miss the times I had in the vehicles with Miss 16. Not always, but many days when I picked her up from school I got a little glimpse into what her days are like, she usually had something to tell me, or something to complain about, and I will miss those few moments we had alone each day. Yes, we'll probably have times at home alone before Miss 11 will need a ride home, but it's not the same. There are too many rooms in the house, too many things that need to be done, and too much temptation to be in separate rooms. I'll miss those trapped in the car with mom moments of one on one time.

Twin Cities Tour

We are home from our vacation in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Although it really didn't feel much like a vacation, we didn't do a lot of touristy things, we didn't sit on a beach and relax, I didn't read any trashy novels. But, we did stay in a hotel, and the girls swam in the pool there, so I guess there is that.

Miss 16 had her Doc appointment with her surgeon, long story short, more monitoring required. So although it was a short to the point appointment, this way we have a direction to take.

Mr 19 went along and stayed at my Hubby's sister's place. He took over their basement for a while and hung out with his newly graduated cousin, SuperSwimBoy. SuperSwimBoy will be moving on to swim at Gustavus, a college close to his home town. The boys hung out, went to a Twin's game that lasted 16 innings and generally caroused for "hot chicks."

The girls have a cousin who is 15, she spent time with us doing some shopping, gossiping and driving. Miss 11 has run out of too many things in common with the girls at the moment, as they mostly talk about who's hawt and who's not... but they included her some, and I appreciated that.

My favorite part of the trip was a visit to Trader Joe's. I brought home a few bags of goodies and I am conserving them so I can whip out a treat now and then when I'm feeling sorry for myself and the fact that I live in a town with crap for grocery stores. (why, oh why doesn't Trader Joe's have an online shopping sight??)

I'll be heading out on Thursday for a birthday celebration with SuperSister where Supersister, Miss 16, Miss 11, SuperSisterinLaw and maybe Hubby and Mr 19 will be going to the new Harry Potter flick. I can't wait!

So just in case you wondered if I got kidnapped while I was in the big city, no such luck, I'll be around to bore you again soon!

Love Of My Life

This day I will marry my friend, the one I laugh with, live for, dream with, love.

Twenty years have flown by, and I am more in love today than I was then. I can't believe how lucky I am.