As Michael left the house to go to school a few minutes ago he said with great vehemence I HATE RAIN! I second that emotion. We awoke this morning to the scary sound of constant rain, 100% worth of it, predicted to last all day.
This is scary because there is a little creek at the bottom of my backyard, and while normally it's a trickle, during heavy rains it can overflow the banks. We quickly realized after moving into this house in 2005 that we would need to re-grade the backyard and put in french drains, which we did.
In 2009, I got laid off from my paralegal job at Home Depot in June, and that fall, we had a historic flood, that threatened the house. It came to within a few feet of the doors. If the rain had not slacked off in the afternoon, we would have been in trouble. Naturally, we have to pay flood insurance every year, which I complain about bitterly, but I do see the necessity of it. On that day of the great flood I was working a part-time paralegal job in Duluth and I drove home for over an hour -- normally it would take me about 20 minutes. Michael was in the middle school and could walk home, but Alesia was in high school and her bus couldn't get near the house. I had to drive around a bit just to be able to get home, where Mother was anxiously awaiting us all. My front yard had over a foot of water and I had to literally wade up to the door.
Flooding is VERY scary.
If I ever buy another house I will keep in mind the importance of living on high ground. My brother, who lives in Columbia, was fine during the recent awful flooding because his little house sits up on a ridge.
Lola has the right approach to dealing with rain. She just sleeps all day. She doesn't even ask to go out. It almost makes up for the fact that on pretty days she barks at the door every 5 minutes..
***************************
Michael is now officially a college student, and adjusting to it pretty well. He only has two classes. On Mondays and Wednesdays he has a Public Speaking class at 10 and Art Appreciation at 1:00. The Public Speaking class is supposed to last 2+ hours but she always lets them out early. He doesn't mind making speeches, so he isn't too concerned about that class. The Art Appreciation class is more challenging, but he enjoys it. The teacher has encouraged him with his drawing, and he has purchased pencils and art stuff on his own, which is huge. He hates spending money on anything except car stuff or tattoos.
He needs to register for next semester but he has a parking ticket he needs to pay and that's preventing him from registering. I told him not to dispute it, to just pay it, but he's stubborn and feels like he shouldn't have gotten it. He parked in the Visitor lot his very first day of classes. I told him to go in early and get a parking sticker but he didn't listen to me.
I thought about writing a blog recently called How to Outwit Your Teenager -- but I don't have enough material. I am still figuring it out.
I am kind of fanatic about folks taking vitamins because I know we don't eat well enough to skip them, and I view a good supplement as an "insurance policy" of sorts. I've been successful at getting Michael to drink Emergen C -- which has a ton of vitamins, not just C -- when he has a cold. When he recently finished his cold he went back to refusing vitamins. I finally said "You know vitamins are good for hair and skin." He Googled that. Suddenly, he was agreeable to drinking the Emergen C in the mornings. He refuses breakfast 98% of the time, but I feel like if I can at least get him to drink the Emergen C I'm not sending him off on empty.
He went off this morning wearing black Vans -- his work shoes -- even though I told him it was pouring rain and he needed heavy tennis shoes to keep his feet dry. He usually goes outside after his first class and sits and does his homework for Art, but today he will have to sit in the Library or somewhere dry. Of course, he didn't listen to me and wore the Vans anyway... with purple socks and a green shirt. Now I have to figure out what to tell him to get him to wear better shoes. Common sense doesn't appeal to him at all, nor to any teenager, I suspect..
*************************
I like actress Melissa McCarthy a lot. I think she's very funny. I love the fact that she's fat and has a great career. Michael and I watched Tammy last night. Melissa and her husband wrote it and he directed it. There were some genuinely funny moments but there were also a lot of times when I winced at how idiotic the main character acted, and how disjointed the story seemed. It has a plethora of big name actors - Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates, Allison Janney, Dan Ackroyd, Gary Cole, Toni Collette, Sandra Oh. None had very big roles except one, Sarandon. Susan Sarandon really played her hippie grandma character to the hilt, and made her scenes come alive. I like to watch her in movies; I try to ignore the fact that I disagree with most of her politics. She's a fine actress.
Michael loved the Kathy Bates character, a lesbian who like to blow things up. Like Sarandon, Bates makes her scenes fun and rises above the script.
I told Michael when I was putting movies in my Netflix queue I was actually trying to order the newer McCarthy movie, Spy and I accidentally ordered Tammy by mistake. It wasn't a complete waste of time but I hope the next time Melissa and Ben write a movie they will flesh out the script a little more.
*************************
I wrote an entire blog yesterday and my internet connection failed and I lost it. I thought about re-writing it but I decided nah, it wasn't that great anyway. It was an essay about what I wish I could go back and tell myself when I was a senior in college. The biggest thing I would say is to relax and have more fun, and be less anxious about everything. I wish I had enjoyed my youth more..
**************************
Halloween this year was far more pleasant than in past years, mainly because I cajoled Michael and his friend Eric into answering the door for me [Michael] and holding Lola [Eric] between 6 and 8, which is when we got the most trick or treaters. Michael was charmed when one toddler decided to just walk into the house and look around. The mom was apologizing profusely and Michael just chuckled and led the little guy back to the door. He gets a big kick out of small children. I could hear it all from where I was sitting, upstairs in my room, trying to read.
I answered the door a few times after they left. The final time, it was some 12 year old boys and Lola squirted out onto the front porch. The boys brought her back for me, and petted her effusively. So cute. Lola loved the attention.
Two little girls dressed as princesses asked to see Lola and they had a fit over her, petting her and talking to her.
After the boys left, Lola managed to find a stray Snickers miniature that Eric had dropped and she ate the whole thing, wrapper included.
She told me later that Halloween is her new favorite holiday...
this is my back yard..
Recent Comments