Shopping...lots of shopping...

So...really I thought daycare was expensive when they were little...please could someone have warned me about the expense of high school? My big girl is shopping for her class ring...and Oh how I'd like to post a photo here, but you can only do it if you sign in to the site etc...and it won't let me save a photo. Sad...anyway...she has good yet expensive taste (no comments about where she could have possibly gotten that from) and I am so excited. The choices for class rings are SO SO SO SO much better than in my day...and no it really wasn't that long ago...I mean 25 years wasn't that long ago right? I digress...she has it narrowed down to about 6 choices...but is definitely leaning toward one style. We get to see the rings in person in a few weeks, so that will either confirm her choice or maybe she'll see something she likes better.

I so remember the excitement of those days in high school. I still have my ring and wore it probably up until the time Steph was born. (I think that is when it stopped fitting me lol) Immediately following the ring purchase of course we have homecoming. The big girl has already begun spying dresses. Another fun shopping outing :) And...did I mention the week after that is her Sweet 16 birthday? Perhaps we should hold a fund raiser to accommodate the month of October!

Sigh...I find myself sighing a lot lately at the thought of her oldness (is too a word!) -- I still appreciate her everyday...her brilliance, her humor, her love. I'm trying hard to savor these fleeting moments!

Exhale...

I finished my summer semester today. *sigh I was to the point previously that the end of the semester signaled an out of sync time for me...a time without every minute of every day scheduled and I usually had a hard time adjusting to it. As I get closer to the end of the journey...these small hiatuses (is that a word?) become more and more welcome. I have two weekends off...we have two days scheduled at magic waters, hope to get up to Kenosha to get in some beach time with my brother, one memorial service, and then continue to work on the to do list around the house. We got A LOT!!! accomplished today, the first of which was the arrival of my new mattress. The 15 year old one that I got when I was pregnant with Stephanie has been replaced by a new non flip very tall, very dust mite free mattress. I sealed it up in every kind of water proof, allergy proof, zipper cover ever made, including the box springs because really, the whole dust mite thing gives me the heeby jeebies. So currently I have my newly waterproofed mattress sitting waiting for my newly sanitized mattress pad to come out of the dryer. That brings me to my next point...does your washer have the 'sanitize' setting? Cuz mine does, and although it takes about a year and a half to wash one load...I feel better knowing my bedding, towels, sock and underwear have all been sanitized and dutifully scoured by the 180 degree water. You think it really sanitizes them or is it all in my head? I don't really know or care, but I do know that I like the sound of that. Really, not too many things in this house are sanitary, what with the domestic engineer of the place working 70+ hours a week you know, so I appreciate even the slightest bit of sanitation. What this house needs is an Alice. For sure.

Tomorrow, church, and then more organizing of my bedroom and my scrap room. I also need to mow my lawn. A friend of ours said today...."gee who mows your lawn?" To which I replied, "nobody...can't you tell?" All right, point taken...I'll mow the stupid lawn tomorrow. Tonight, I have to take Cinderella, I mean Stephanie, to the ball (I mean Cherryvale mall) with the prince, (I mean the boyfriend). The teen years have hit full fledged as I've been instructed to drop them off at the mall and please don't linger. Hmmmpph. Guess I can actually do something for me with this new found free time. ;)

Where'd that little girl go?

Here it is...the first day of driver's ed for my daughter...notice the ear to ear grin on her face? I let my internship know that I couldn't make it tonight, since after all, it was my daughter's first night of driver's ed!! So, after work, I took Kristina to the dentist for a cleaning....did you get that....a cleaning? By the time we left, she had had a tooth pulled, two air abrasions, and some sealants replaced that were lifting. OK, anyway, we ate some pizza quick and were off to Driver's Ed. As I'm walking out the door, Kevin says, "Do you have the camera?" :) OF COURSE I HAVE THE CAMERA!!!! We were off to the Drive Right place, because I surely don't want her to learn to drive wrong, (bad joke I know) as we got out of the car, I said, OK, go stand by the sign so I can take your picture...The look of mortification that appeared on her face would scare even the bravest of mom's! "Stand in front of the sign! In front of everybody? MOOOOOOOMMMMM!" I guess that was a no go in her book. (Somebody raised her to believe she has choices. I have no idea who that could have been) So, we stealthily moved over to the "Drive Right" car in the back of the building to sneak a quick picture, so that all of the other pubescent kids would not know that Stephanie's mother had to take a picture of her at her first Driver's Ed class! By the time we moved to the front of the building my overbearing Mom power took over. Just stand there quick I said! (As 25 other kids were trying to get by) so I can take your picture. She stopped for a nano second, but the camera suddenly had to show me the "favorites" (no idea how this happens or how to get rid of it) so, the picture by the sign was lost! I dropped her off...(no kiss or hug in front of others--that's a high school rule too) and I was on my way home. Hmmmmm...not quite sure how I felt about that. Excited, yet a bit sad...where did the last 15 years go? Only 3 more years and she'll be off to college. More on that topic, MUCH later...She'll actually start DRIVING in two weeks! She came home and showed me her work and declared that she already knew all of that. High Schooler know A LOT you know. She was off to her pile of homework. By the way...her midterm came yesterday....All A's in her honors courses and 1 B in choir!!! Needless to say, she was a bit miffed. I just told her she was obviously too smart for choir! Until next time...