Day One - Done

I couldn't fall asleep last night. That always happens when my schedule changes (ie I have to get up extra early) ... by 3:00 am I fell into a restless sleep.
6:45 am came too early. I hate mornings.
No, really. I do. I'm not even kidding.

After getting Max over to Andrew's, I came back home and walked past my very inviting bed, where I KNOW I would have fallen asleep easily, and got water sprayed all over me instead.

The worst thing in the world for me to do first thing in the morning is get wet. I'd rather shower at any other time of day.

So, I guess you can tell this day started out well?

Before I continue with my rant, I'll take a break to show you what my youngest has been up to in his bedroom:

He has taped all the mouldings, electrical sockets and light switches with painter's tape. Then he added the diagonal line on each wall, which, by the way, he is very excited about. Do you have a good computer moniter?
Does your screen display photos well?
Do you get a good sense of colour?

I'm only asking because my 8 year old desk top monitor sucks, but this new 19" LCD wide screen ROCKS! And the colours look awesome. And I think you need to have a rocking good monitor to appreciate the colours my boy has determined his room will be:

Neon lime green on the top.

.

Brilliant blue on the bottom.

.

What's not to love?

.

.

.

I'll tell you what's not to love...

BEFORE:

AFTER:

WHOA!

Am I a whiner today or what?

I will eventually find a way to love that place again.

Probably not this week.

.

.

So, back to today.

Actually, I'll back up and mention that yesterday I drove from the lake to Port Kells to drop of my truck at the mechanic's. My Durango will be transporting half a dozen guys to the Gorge at the end of the month, so I think it should have oil, brakes that work, and a glove box that closes.

I left my truck in the parking lot, then drove with Clint back to our place where we met up with Max and had the afore-mentioned sushi dinner.

We all got into Clint's truck and drove to Abbotsford. Max and I dropped him off at his place, then drove back to Langley, stopping for groceries first.

.

This morning, I drove Max to Andrew's, myself to work then zipped out on my lunch break to return Drew's trumpet to the music store and then went to the Driver's Services office to surrender Clint's licence. He's had two speeding tickets in the past two years, so they are slapping him on the wrist and suspending his driving priveledges for one month. Don't get me started. (Too late. I've started.... His first ticket was last summer at 2 in the morning. He was at camp, and one of the kids had fallen into a bonfire and was badly burnt, so Clint took him to the hospital. He got a speeding ticket on a deserted road at 3 am. Then this year, he was on a back road in Abby, going down a big hill, and he got pulled over for going 5 kms over the limit. Because of those two tickets, he loses his licence for 31 days AND his "N" designation starts over. TWO MORE YEARS OF ONLY BEING ALLOWED TO HAVE ONE PASSENGER. TWO MORE YEARS OF LIVING UNDER THE THREAT OF LOSING YOUR LICENSE FOR THE SMALLEST OF INFRACTIONS.)

.

.

Ahem.

I am more upset about this than he is.

.

So, I stand in line to turn in his license and am told, "Your son has to come in. He needs to surrender it personally."

Wow. Guess how annoyed I am now?

I stomp out of there and go back to work.

I sneak out at 3 pm and head straight to the freeway. I have a half hour drive east to Abbotsford ahead of me.

Well, it should have taken half an hour.

But 15 minutes before I got on the freeway, a drump truck took a left turn and ended up in the median, causing a circus to break out in both directions.

I got to Clint's office at 4:15 pm.

We surrendered his license at the Abbotsford office, then I brought him back to Langley to Jul's for a haircut.

.

.

God bless that sister of mine. Just as she was finishing up Clint's hair, Andrew dropped off Max. And as we prepared to leave, she offered us dinner.

.

Do you know what she'd made?

Roast turkey.

With mashed potatoes and gravy.

And jello.

.

So, anyway, by the time we get home, it's almost 7 pm and Max announces, "Now that I'm working, I don't have to do chores."

He's well on his way to manhood, with that whole"I make the money, someone else can look after the place" attitude.

He had a shower then went out.

.

I told Clint I'd take him home in an hour, I had some yard work I wanted to tackle. He was sitting at my computer, checking his Facebook page, when he said, "I'll do the lawn."

.

.

.

He said, "I'll do the lawn."

And he did.

Cheerfully.

Children are the best things in the world when they grow up.

After he finished, he climbed onto the roof and trimmed the wild jasmine.

On our drive back to Abbotsford, I mentioned to him that I had spoken to someone who thought my son was cute.

"Which son?"

"I'm assuming she was refering to you. She's around your age."

"Oh."

We talked about him going to camp and helping out there this summer, and the likelihood of him hiking up Cheam again.

"She said I was cute?"

"Yeah."

"Not hot?"

"Would you rather be hot?"

"Mom. I'm too old for cute."

.

.

I dropped him off, put another $75 worth of gas in the tank and drove home again, arriving home after 10.

In the past 24 hours, I've spent 6 of them driving.

This could be a long ugly summer.

.

.

Three things I'm thankful for:

1. I'm exhausted. I should fall asleep quicker tonight.

2. My laptop is getting fixed tomorrow. So much for the "could take 4 - 6 weeks" speech I got.

3. My lawn is cut and the jasmine vine is trimmed.

4. My sister.

5. Turkey dinners.

6. Friends who get awesome new jobs - way to go CK!

7. Friends who've saved cans and bottles for three years and are giving them to the M2M bottle drive. Thanks JSY.

8. Friends who have grandchildren and go all gaga about them. Congrats, CS.

Shalom,