Driving, Teaching, Diving, Eating

What a long day! Took Cody up to get his driver's license today--he passed. Hooray! No more trips to Longview for diving practice (unless of course I need the car and just wanna watch him, which I do often!) Poor guy was so darned nervous he was shaking (I remember well!). If anything, the tester said he needed to relax and speed it up. Hehe, probably the last time I'll tell him that!

The pictures go in order--he's leaving to get his haircut this afternoon, first time driving all alone, getting in the car. Then backs out into the driveway and the phone rings. Hangs up, continues on out into the street. And turns onto the main street and he. is. out. of. my. sight. *sigh* I hate that part.

Wanna see what that looked like 22 months ago when Niki got hers? It's sooo different, not even CLOSE to the same pictures here!...................................

Well okay, same. But the trees were changing colors on the second set, that's something!

One end of town is the testing facility, the wayyy other is where you get the actual license made. Did that loop and got home for lunch. Sent Cody off to my niece for a haircut (school, you know) and got Alex started on his first day of homeschool. I think he had fun, I know I did. I also think I need to tweak it a bit. 4 1/2 hours of mostly direct instruction was a little more than I expected. We'll see how it goes the rest of the week and then we'll fine tune that curriculum--because I CAN! We didn't get to start in the morning because of Cody's stuff, but usually we'll start at 9 and be done by 12:30. Then I type until 2 or 3 and have the entire evening to do what I need to do, diving meets, groceries, eat two plain Pringles with hamburger dills in between (that's an invaluable tip there), whatever!

In my well-thought-out fantasy life, this is the plan. I know things come up. But I also know I need to keep them at arms length because Alex's education is our priority. Also because John teaches so late most nights, I'm the only parent home for. If I mess with the morning then I mess with school. If I mess with school, then I mess with typing. If I mess with typing, then I mess with the evening. If I mess with the evening, well......y'all will get another rendition of I Would Die 4 U. Who knows, maybe a little Mony Mony too? Or how about Run, Joey Run? So you see how it's in all ya'lls best interest if I just stick to the plan.

And...with that said, I'm off to plan a healthy dinner for my kids. Oh hey. Wait. Niki's with friends, Cody's at practice....it's just me and Alex. Pasta with Prego for him....Whey smoothie for me. And type. And while I type, I remember that life is precious, and the mom next door who died last week in that crash gave me fine example of living life joyfully. She definitely did that, and I have no doubt that attitude was what her family will remember forevermore. Alright, best get things done before you tune in tomorrow to see me posting the motions to YMCA. Or Devo's Whip It! (Still hanging onto Major Tom tonight--until the landing is complete!)

Be Nice, It Matters!

Janice, my bud over at Twist and Skewer, has kindly overlooked my meaniness to Democratic candidates, recognizing that I'm nice to Democrats who aren't running for office. I hope anyone else who reads my blog and might be offended understands me. I'm big on believing if I know something is right then I would be part of the wrong by not taking a stand. It's a simple thing for me. I have a personal relationship with being wronged and nobody taking a stand on my behalf that could have made it right. And it would have changed everything. That's why I'm outspoken from time to time, and I welcome differing opinions anytime anywhere, so long as they correlate with mine. (kidding)

So thanks, Janice, because your comment brought this to mind, and I reailzed I should clarify myself. Here is what she said:

Stacey at JameeForever who is kind and encouraging to all(except Democratic candidates!) and consistantly leaves lovely comments on everyone's blogs.

With that being stated, then you guessed it, she has bestowed upon me a pretty darned nice award. And a beautiful award, might I add! Here is the award by definition:

The Nice Matters Award: This award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world. Once you've been awarded please pass it on to others who you feel are deserving of this award.

And it's time to pass the award--and I'm picking a new one for you. You've heard me blog on and on about my bff Kelly from my high school days. She just dropped her little baby boy off at MU and drove home alone. Alright, maybe not little, a baby only in her eyes, but still I don't wanna think about those days to come. But...on the upppp side, Kelly's begun dating again (she's divorced). She's a new blogger--geneologist, writer and extremely artistic. I'm excited about her new blog (finally!). That's Kelly in the photo, standing on my left. Not my right, that's a guy, that'd be silly!

If you're reading my blog, then you're my kind of blogger, so try and overlook Kelly's 'deep thoughts' from time to time--she is a teacher, she can't help it! The only 'deep thoughts' I have, I likely got from Jack Handey. Oh yes, there really is a website dedicated to the vast vastness of Jack Handey thinking-ness! Wait! I'm gonna be teacher starting tomorrow--tomorrow I begin homeschool for Alex! I need a school name, hmmmm....that's something to think on.

So there you have it, I bestow niceness upon Kelly, because she's about the nicest person I know. She'd do anything for me except my toenails. And probably no bikini wax either. Would you, Kel? But aside from that, she's down for it! Gosh, now I'm hankerin to sit on the front porch of her little cottage! Kel, I'll be up soon. I'm almost out of Dunkin Donuts coffee anyway! Thanks again, Janice, you're too darned nice to me!

*I picked the music as I was hearing more about the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Landing a day early to avoid the hurricane, and landing despite a tear in the heat shield on its underside. I pray that the decision not to repair this tear was the correct one.