Lesson #150,153-Online Dating Explained by Someone Who Has Never Online Dated

Okay, So have y'all watched the show "Online Dating Rituals of the American Male" on Bravo Network?  All I can say is that there are some really crazy people out there and Thank God I am already married and not out in the dating world.  Of course, people who are around my age have some baggage so I feel terrible for my single friends.  Most people around my age have been married, have children to consider, have figured out who they are and what they want to do in life and have a good idea of who they are looking for.

Watching this show gives me a greater appreciation for already being married.  One poor guy met a "lady", and I use that word lightly, who was already drunk when he got to the date.  She was a vegetarian and he ordered ribs and in her drunken stupor she explained to him that her best friend as a child was a pig and talked about how her family killed her best friend and she had to eat him.  Of course, it went downhill from there. After reassuring her that he would order ribs from a pig who she wasn't familiar with, he ate his ribs and she drank some more.  She lit up a cigarette inside the restaurant and he wasn't a smoker.  Then she wanted to kiss him and he had to tell her "No, thanks". Poor guy!!

Another guy had set up multiple dates for the same evening and had planned on meeting another young lady later in the evening.  Date #2 showed up early for the date and crashed his date with Date #1.  His comment was "When has a girl ever shown up early for a date in the history of dating?".  Yeah, he's right.  I was never ready on time for a date.  Hair and makeup had to be as close to perfect as possible.

There are some crazy people out there.  Yep and they are ready to date!!  They may look totally normal online but be really crazy once you have ordered dinner!! My suggestion would be to meet for coffee before going to an expensive dinner when you are meeting someone for the first time.  You don't want to have to pay for a $39.99 Surf & Turf dinner with cocktails for someone who is crazy!!

Honestly, I would never want to be back in the dating world ever again.  I have a low tolerance for BS, crazy people and having to get used to another man's cologne.  My husband and I aren't perfect and there is no such thing as a perfect person or perfect marriage so he deals with my faults and I deal with his.  My biggest complaint is that my husband doesn't turn his socks and Tshirts the right way before he puts them in the clothes hamper.  His biggest complaint about me is that I am forgetful.  I have had Mommy Brain for 15 years.  I can remember the words to a song that I haven't heard in 20 years but I cannot remember to pay the insurance bill when I promised to do it "tomorrow".  I literally pass the insurance office when I pull out of my neighborhood.  How did I forget that??

Another reason I wouldn't want to be in the dating world is google.  Now people can google you!!  There is Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and I am a blogger so I actually put "my crazy" online for everyone to read!! 

There is always going to bars and meeting people but who wants to do that?  I mean, I want to go to bed at a decent hour. Maybe that's why Happy Hour is around 4:00 in the afternoon.  It's for the over 40 crowd so the singles can meet up and have dinner and get home before 9:00pm!!

Singles could always meet someone at church but everyone is usually on their best behavior at church so you don't really know who that person is until you see them outside of church.  Even then, they may not be themselves because they don't want you to tell anyone at church how they really act outside of church.

So, there ya go.  That's why people online date.  I have never looked at an online dating site, for obvious reasons, but if I had to create a profile I would probably put my best pictures online, maybe fudge my age by a few years, add a little to my education, make my life seem a little more exciting than it really is and then wait for a "wink".  Yeah.  I would suck at that!! 

Thank you, God, for my husband!!

Lesson #150,152-What's A Mom To Wear??

Okay, So what is a Mom to wear?  Now, we can all get tips on what NOT to wear when we go to Walmart.  Just sit on a bench near the checkout and you will be amazed at what people wear in that place.  Hopefully, we all know that pajamas and fuzzy slippers are not appropriate for leaving the house and going shopping.  Okay, you can wear them if you go to Walmart but if you are going to Target or the grocery store, please leave the Hello Kitty pjs on the floor in your bedroom. 

Moms are constantly being picked on about Mom jeans and yoga pants.  If it were up to me, I would live in my yoga pants and my favorite long sleeved tee shirts.  My high fashion consists of Guy Harvey and Vineyard Vines Tees.  My "Mom Jeans" are from American Eagle, $30, and they don't look like Mom Jeans.  My favorite shoes are my 5 year old, well-worn Sperry topsiders.  I look at some Moms in carpool line and they usually look much like I do.  Some have played tennis and have their tight shorts on and their butts look amazing. Some have taught exercise classes all day and they look amazing in their yoga pants.  Some Moms have just left court and have been litigating cases all day and they look great!! Some Moms are in their yoga pants and a side pony and rock it.  Let me clear one thing up.  My yoga pants have never been to yoga.  I just love them!! Now, I do Pilates and dance in them. (Dance=until this pro/am dance competition is over and then I will be back to Pilates only!!)  Some Moms just look like a hot mess.  Usually I am one of them.  I am going to work on this.

Okay, so what are we supposed to wear without being judged?  I refuse to dress up to go to carpool, the grocery store and Target.  I watch reality TV and see these ladies on "The Real Housewives of..." all around town in cocktail dresses, full makeup, eyelashes and hair curled.  Not a ball cap in sight!!  Let's settle on something comfortable.  I am, by no means, someone to be giving out style advice but maybe I can help moms spruce up their wardrobes with a few simple tips.  Again, just to be clear, we don't need to wear heels and be uncomfortable to look good.  We can wear a solid colored tee with an inexpensive thin cardigan (from Gap Outlet) over it to look a little nicer than just the tee.  A white tee and a white collared shirt are your best friends.  Everyone looks great in a crisp white collared shirt, no matter what size you are!! You can throw a scarf around your neck if there is a chill in the air and look great. Something like this:

Or this:


In the summer, we can wear things like this:

Or this:

I am short so I don't have some of the options that some of my tall readers have so here are a few tips for us "Shorties".  "Petite" women should never wear long skirts.  It makes us look 6 inches shorter.  We should not wear Bermuda shorts.  We should not wear bell bottomed jeans, no matter what real stylists tell us!!  Some of us petite girls are told not to wear Capri pants.  I disagree a little bit.  If they are longer capris, they don't look good on us.  If they are calf length capris, those are fine.  Shorter shorts make our legs look longer!!  We can create that illusion of being tall, even though we are not.  I can't wear long dresses or skirts.  Tall girls can rock those cute Maxi dresses.  We cannot!!  Y'all tall girls, just go on with your bad selves!!  Us short girls will be in our short skirts and dresses. 

We don't have to "dress up" to look nice.  Invest in a nice belt.  I bought a belt from Gap years ago that I only paid $30 for and I wear that thing all the time.  A nice leather belt will usually set you back over $80 but if you think about it, you will wear it with nearly everything from shorts, jeans, capris or even over a cute dress.  Spend a little money on your belt and get a good one.  You can buy less expensive sandals at TJ Maxx or Target to set off your look.

Now, even though I am short, I hate wearing heels unless I am at an event or church.  It isn't practical to wear heels when you are a mother who works at home.  Chasing around children in 6 inch heels is impossible.  Plus, wearing them to the soccer field will ruin the heels!!  Save your heels for church, charity events or maybe even date night!!

Buy some inexpensive jewelry from a downtown boutique or even a vintage store.  Some of the jewelry that my mother wore in the 70's is still in style now.  Layer small bracelets or a silver cuff to dress up an outfit.  Most moms can't afford real gold earrings so just be sure to buy "gold" earrings with sterling posts.  That will make you look great without the expensive price tag.  As the saying goes, fake it 'til you make it!! You don't need a string of $5,000 pearls.  You can get the $20 string and nobody will know the difference.  Here in the South, a string of pearls is an essential part of your jewelry box.  You can raid your mother's jewelry box and find a string.  If they need restringing, you can buy a cheap skinny ribbon and restring them yourself and tie a bow at the end.  Restring them in any color ribbon to go with any outfit.  Simply tie a small knot in the end and roll them onto the next color of ribbon.  Easy!! Also, friends can help with jewelry.  Trade a few necklaces and earring for a month and make a new style!!  Borrowing and trading can be fun!!

Okay, so I hope this helps.  Now, don't judge me if you see me in carpool line with my ball cap on and NO PEARLS!!!  Much love to all of you Moms who work so hard every day!! Your work can often be overlooked unless it is not done.

Lesson #150,151-Stop Me Before I Volunteer Again!!!

Okay, So I have a problem.  It is a very serious problem.  I am not sure if it is in any medical dictionary.  I am not sure if it is physical or mental. (Probably mental!!)  I have a problem saying "No".  It's an easy word to say, right?  It's only 2 letters.  It's not hard to enunciate.  It's something that other people have no problem saying.  I can use it in a sentence but I cannot use it as an answer to being asked for a favor.  What is wrong with me??

Would you like to be on the decoration committee for the UA Charity Auction?  "Yes, of course, I would be glad to help."  Would you like to be on the decorations committee for the Union County Community Shelter?  "Yes, of course, I would be glad to help."  Oops, the committee chair has to drop out.  Do you mind being the decorations committee chairperson?  "Yes, of course, I would be glad to help."  Do you mind helping with the Red Cross Ball?  "Yes, of course, I would be glad to help."  Do you want to dance in a pro/am dance competition for the Union County 4-H Foundation?  "Umm.  Well, I am not a dancer."  But, you have to.  You cannot say no.  You have to say yes!!  "Yes, of course, I would be glad to help."  What was I thinking????  Not only do I have to dance in front of a panel of judges but I have to take dance lessons twice a week, learn the routine, buy some dance shoes, wear a dress that is sassy enough to do the Cha Cha in, sell tickets, get people to vote for me, solicit sponsors (which I am terrible at.  I will go into that later.) and arrange for my friends to come and cheer me on!!  All of this while having a teenager who plays soccer in Charlotte twice a week, a husband who likes a hot meal for dinner every night, going to the gym twice a week to get my body in shape, buy proper "underpinnings" (which I will also go into later.), spray tan and get my toenails and fingernails done (before flip flop weather.) and get my eyelashes, hair and makeup done the day of the dance competition.

Now, let's talk about soliciting sponsors.  This is my weakness.  I never mind giving to a charity, going to fundraisers and spending money on auction items or making a monetary donation.  I never mind serving food at the local homeless shelter.  I actually love doing that.  I never mind being on a decorating committee but ASKING FOR MONEY!!  Kill me now!!!  The way that this competition works is, really, the best dancer may not win but the person who raises the most money wins.  Now, if I am going to dance in front of 200 people, I want to dance better than everyone else!!  So, I want to win!!!  I don't want to be in last place!!  My sales pitch needs editing.  It goes something like this: "Umm, Hi.  I'm Colette Bromfield.  I am trying to raise money for the Union County 4-H Foundation and I am doing a, sort of, "Dancing with the Stars" competition.  If you would like to sponsor me in the competition, I would appreciate it so much.  If not, that's okay.  Really.  Don't feel obligated to do so.  Ya know what?  I'm sorry for asking.  Never mind."  When really I am thinking "I spend a lot of money at your place of business or I send you lots of business so you really need to sponsor me!!"

Now, let's talk about "underpinnings".  My wonderful friend, who is a dance instructor is allowing me to borrow a dress that she probably spent well over $2000 on.  It fits, thank God, but it is very low cut in the back so my "go to" strapless bra won't work.  I need to find a bra that crosses very low in the back or get one of those "stick on" bras.  If you have ever worn one of those stick on bras, you know how weird those things feel.  Then there's my butt!!  I have recently lost about 30 pounds and I think most of it was in my butt!!  I ordered a pair of panties with "booty pads" sewn in them.  Most people have trouble with having a booty that is too big but mine is too small and this dress accentuates my flat booty!!  Hence, the booty padded panties!!

My toenails haven't been painted since November so they are looking pretty bad.  My dance instructor has asked me several times if I am going to get those things done before the competition.  I have assured him that I will.  I haven't had a manicure in a year so my fingernails are of varying lengths so he is concerned about that too!!  I don't want to do the press on nails because, knowing me, one would pop off during the dance and I would probably step on it with my dance shoes and bust my rear end in front of everyone!!  Yes, that would be funny but I am already nervous enough so I suppose I will get some gel nails put on by a professional.  I also need big hair and big makeup.  If you know me well, you know that I only wear makeup on days that I absolutely have to.  I do not leave the house without mascara and chapstick!! I mean, I do have standards!!  My daily uniform consists of yoga pants, a T-shirt and a ponytail.  (I have always said that even if I was a multimillionaire I would just have better T-shirts!!)

Okay, so here is my new spill to all of my readers:
If you enjoy my blog and have a few extra dollars, please throw me a few votes.  You get 10 for $10 but feel free to buy as many votes as you can afford. (It's a tax deductible donation.) Go to the website and vote for Colette Bromfield and Jason Manus.  Here is the link:
http://donate.union4hfoundation.com/product.sc;jsessionid=D868A8446E491E19560ADE43A75AD9B2.m1plqscsfapp05?productId=30&categoryId=1



I need your help!!  Thank you all for your votes and keep them coming!!  I have a couple of people who are great fundraisers and who do not take NO for an answer that I am going up against in this competition.  I will keep you informed of how I do in the competition.  It is on March 22.  I am quite sure that there will be a blog all about the funny moments and if I can figure out how to do it, I will post a video of the dance on my blog.

Love to you all!!  Now go and vote for me NOW!!!

Lesson 15,150-Aging Parents

Okay, so I have entered a new chapter in my life.  It's the hard part of life that everyone will eventually face.  In our 40's, we have our own children and families to take care of, friends who are in need of support and the part of our lives where we have aging parents.  In the past couple of months, I have attended a few funerals of people who I never even knew but they were one of my friend's parents and I had to be there for my friends, while also taking care of my family and aging parent.  Some of us are blessed to still have parents that are in good health at 90-something and some of us have parents who are 60-something and in failing health. This is tough.  So, in between taking care of our families, we make time for our parents who are aging and make casseroles for friends who have lost a parent.  We drive our children to soccer practice and drop off a casserole.  We go to the grocery store and run an errand for a friend in need.  We go to the doctor because at 40+ our bodies are falling apart and we need mammograms and colonoscopies and start having blood pressure problems and then we go to our parents house and fill up their medicine boxes for the week.  We take our parents to the doctor and pick up kids from school.  Some days we don't even get our beds made because we have so many things to do.  Some of us work and still manage to find time to do all of these things and still make time to bake a cake for a friend.  It's almost humorous the things that we find time to do with everything going on.  We have to find humor in these crazy times in our lives.  Throw in a load of laundry, take a shower, put the clothes in the dryer, go pick up the kids, restart the dryer, help with homework, restart the dryer, cook dinner, restart the dryer, get the kids ready for bed, restart the dryer, take my nighttime meds, load the dishwasher and go to bed.  Wake up in the morning, restart the dryer, take the kids to school, restart the dryer, call you sick parent, finally fold the clothes in the dryer.

Some of us have elderly parents or elderly in-laws who live with us.  I have tried to get one of my friends to write a blog about her "Adventures With Mom" but she won't but boy does she have some good ones. You have to see her act out what her Mom does for it to be funny.  Her Mom is a hoot and she doesn't even realize it!! She is in her 80's so she lived through a lot of things in her life.  She has lived through lots of Presidents, wars, the Civil Rights era and Women's Lib.  She has probably washed clothes on a washing board and couldn't figure out how to use her daughter's high-tech washing machine.  She lived before TV's were in every room. She lived when there weren't phones in everyone's home and before cell phones.  She probably doesn't know how to turn on a computer.  She probably sat around a radio and listened to The Lone Ranger.  She probably listened to Frank Sinatra on a scratchy record player.  Her Mom has to be a tough to have lived this long but she is getting frail and needs supervision. Same thing with lots of our aging parents.

My Dad is in his early 70's and has health issues.  Everyone will tell you how sweet he is and how much they love him and he has tons of friends but if he needs something, he only wants his daughters there to take care of him.  Getting him to understand medical jargon is up to me.  Getting to understand his finances is up to my sister. He takes medicines which have side effects so he has to take another medicine for a side effect and then that medicine causes him to have another issue.  Tack on surgery to that and then there is another side effect and more medications to combat all of those side effects.  He gets dehydrated easily which effects his kidneys.  His kidney tests are high and he doesn't understand that because he has never had problems with his kidneys.  Then he takes a medication for diabetes and it has side effects on the kidneys. He has to take fluid pills and that has side effects on his kidneys.  His feet are swollen and he won't keep them propped up and argues with me when I try to explain that gravity is not his friend when he has fluid built up so he has to keep them elevated above his heart.  That just makes him angry to have to sit around with his feet propped up and sleep with his feet elevated.  Then he needs to eat more protein so he calls me every 2 hours to see if it is okay to eat something like peanut butter or bacon.  Salt isn't your friend when you have fluid overload but he likes bacon and he likes grits with salt so he's going do what he wants to do and then complains about the fluid!!!  "Well, Daddy, the swelling won't go down if you don't keep those feet up and lower your salt intake!!"  And at what age do you start counting your bowel movements every day?  "If you have one, Daddy, you're fine!!" If he has only one, he gets worried that he is constipated.  If he has three or more, he's worried that he has diarrhea.  So, I pray that he has 2 every day!!  I'm quite sure that I will do whatever I want to do when I am in my 70's!!  If I live to be 73, and I want bacon and my sodium level is high and I have fluid on my ankles, I am still going to eat bacon!!!  Then I am going to call my son and ask him why my feet are swelling!!

We have to find humor in our aging parents!!  We have to be there for our friends when a parent passes away.  Nothing meant more to me than looking over and seeing 2 rows of beautiful ladies at my stepmother's funeral.  (She was my Mom for 24 years. My Mom died in a car accident when I was 9-years old so Katherine was my mom for much longer than my real Mom.  Of course, I will always love my real Mom and Katherine because she treated me as her own.  She saw me graduate, get married and have my son. She wiped my tears when my heart got broken.  She gave me advice about life and she was always right!!!  Of course, I didn't think she was as smart as she really was until I was about 25-years old and then I realized that she wasn't stupid!!  She was right!!)  We have to be there for our family.  We drive kids hither and yon.  We help with impossible school projects.  We cheer for them at sporting events in the freezing cold and the scorching heat.  We have to keep the house and clothes clean, no matter how many times we restart the dryer.  We have to take care of our spouses.  We have to be there for our siblings. We have to be there for friends, family and loved ones.  We have to do things to better our community.  We have to make sure our children know that not everyone lives like they do.  There are people who have it way better and way worse.  That's Life!

This time of life is definitely the hardest. Being there for everyone is tough and sometimes a juggling act.  If you find time for a little exercise and a nap occasionally, don't be hard on yourself.  Take some time for you!!  I need a manicure and pedicure really bad so I am a little bit glad that it is winter because my toenails look horrid!!  My eyebrows look like a caveman and my wrinkles have not been Botoxed in quite some time!!  Sorry, I look like this but I've been taking care of  "My People"!!

Lesson #15,149-Even Sick People Can Be Funny

Okay, So let me explain where I've been lately.  First, there was summer and now it is fall and I haven't been writing lately.  No, I haven't been in an insane asylum but I may as well have been.  There's been summer fun, school starting back, homework and driving to soccer practices and games and tournaments and blah, blah, blah.  Not making excuses but...Well, yes I am.  Anyway, throw in a health scare and having a hysterectomy, which, by the way, is no big deal anymore.  If you need one, find a good GYN that can do it with a laparoscope and have it done!!  I was sore for a week and a half and then I felt normal again.  I get tired a little more quickly but it was exactly 3 weeks ago today so that's to be expected.  Now, onto more important issues.  Daddy has colon cancer and has been in Stage 4 for 9 years and so I know that isn't good.  He had to have surgery the day after Thanksgiving and the poor man had an NG tube in his nose and couldn't even eat on Thanksgiving Day!! Eating is his favorite pastime so I felt really guilty for eating while he was in the hospital.  Funny thing happened when he had surgery, I saw some guys that I went to high school with and they work on the local ambulance service.  Boy, did these EMTs have some stories!!

Okay, so here goes...

They go on a call and go into the house because there was a sick child.  Checked his vital signs.  Maybe a little elevated temperature.  Maybe a little diarrhea and nausea.  Mom thinks the child may have a virus or something and Grandma pipes up and says, "Tell 'em what we caught him doing yesterday."  They turn to Mom and she says, "Well, we caught him sucking on the Chicken Diaper."  They looked at each other and said, "Chicken Diaper?  What's a Chicken Diaper?" and Mom says "Ya know?  The diaper in the bottom of the package of fresh chicken that soaks up the chicken juices."  OH MY GOSH!!!  Thought I was gonna pee myself laughing at that one!!  I don't know what that spongy thing is called but from now on it's a Chicken Diaper!!


They go on another call to the bad part of town and find a man bleeding from his abdomen.  They go to check his wound and see 7 different wounds.  They ask him what happened and he said that he ran into a knife.  They asked him how in the world he ran into a knife 7 times.  They look up and see his wife standing there.  "Oh.  Never mind."  (I think someone got caught cheating!!)


They go on another call.  This time they know this guy.  He's a "frequent flyer" to the ER because he is "suicidal".  Apparently, this guy claims to overdose on purpose quite frequently and sure enough, they walk in and he starts flopping around on the floor, faking a seizure.  Once you have seen someone have a real seizure a few times, you know what it looks like.  These guys were onto his act.  The guy had on nothing but his underwear and it was pouring down rain outside.  They have had enough of his antics so they load him on the stretcher with no sheet or blanket and wheel him out to the ambulance in the pouring rain.  They said his belly button was full of water by the time they got him out to the ambulance. ((Hee Hee))  He stops mid-fake-seizure and asks for a towel.  They told him that they didn't have one.  He got mad and jumped off of the stretcher without even getting in the ambulance.  Again, if you've ever seen a real seizure, you know that a patient is a little dazed after one so they made him sign a release and he hasn't faked a suicide ever again!!  Score!!

I suppose you have to have a sense of humor to do what these guys do every day.  They see some horribly tragic situations and some really funny ones.  I told them that they needed their own reality show.  Only with the funny people though!!  Oh and here is my Public Service Announcement for the day:  If you see one of these, PULL OVER AND LET THEM THROUGH!!

Lesson #15,148-Summer Time!!

Okay, So, I cannot decide if summer is too long or too short.  Our school runs on a year-round schedule but it is not really "year-round".  They do get about 6-7 weeks in the summer.  That is not very long and we all wish it was longer!!  But then again, if I hear "I'm bored.", "Can somebody come over to spend the night?", "What time will so-in-so be here?", "Can we go bowling?", "Can we go to the record store?", "I don't want to get up", "I don't want to go to the pool, or play soccer outside or ride my bike or do my summer reading or anything else that you suggest"!!!!!  "I'm hungry" is another of my least favorite sentences to hear.  "Can we go to Bojangles?" and "Can you pick me up some Chick-fil-a?" makes me want to cringe.

We are so lame that we didn't eat hotdogs and hamburgers on the 4th of July!!  We ate leftovers from Olive Garden.  How lame is that??  What is wrong with us??  We made up for it today and ate hamburgers for dinner.  Had to do it!  So, Happy 5th of July, People!!  We celebrated Cinco de Julio!

We are heading to the beach in a few days for one more week there before school starts back!  UGH!!  Okay, So is summer too short or too long?  I suppose it is according to the day that you ask me!  I am not looking forward to getting up early again and helping with homework and soccer practices and projects and book reports and all of that again!!  Then again, I won't have to fix lunch and snacks 100 times a day!!  After the beach, all we will have to look forward to is fall break!!  That is my favorite part of the year round schedule! 
 
So, tell me how you all are keeping your children occupied this summer.  Especially if you have an "Only Child"?  We have had a lot of sleepovers!!  Borrowing other people's kids are the way to go when I have only one!  They are probably tired of entertaining their multiples!!  So, I am helping them out, really!!  Right??

Lesson #15,147-Summer Break!!!!!

Okay, so school gets out today, for summer, here in NC.  I'm not sure how I feel about that.  Super Excited about not having to get up at 6:00am for 7 weeks!  No homework for 7 weeks.  No packing lunches for 7 weeks.  No projects for 7 weeks.  No studying for 7 weeks.  No tests for 7 weeks.  That being said, there is also no going back to bed at 8:30am for 7 weeks.  No lunching with my friends for 7 weeks.  No peace and quiet from 8am-3pm!!  I will be hearing "Mom, I'm bored" about 5,000 times over the next 7 weeks.  I will have to stock up on snacks and lunch food.  There will be stinky teenage boys in my house at all times.  My floors will not be clean for 7 weeks.  There will be cookie crumbs and potato chip crumbs in my sofa cushions for the next 7 weeks.  That's okay though.  Sleeping past 8:00am is a treat for me.  Now I just need to find a quiet hairdryer so my husband doesn't wake me up when he is getting ready for work.  Maybe I can find some earplugs that really work!!  Maybe I can also find a shock collar that shocks my son every time he says "I'm bored"!!

I know that I love summertime and there are some great reasons to love summer break and believe me, I do!!  There are also some great reasons to hate summer break!  I am already dreading the "I'm bored, Mom" and "Mom, can I have a friend over?".  I'm dreading the crumbs and the smelly teenage boys.  I'm dreading the sticky floors and the elevated grocery bills.  However, the warm weather and sleeping for 2 more hours a day may soften the blow!!





I suppose there could be nothing worse than having a kid that has to go to summer school.  That must suck!!

Happy Summer Break, Everyone!!!