Margaritaville

Okay. It has been a l-o-n-g time since I have drank much. Last weekend I drank a glass of wine (1 glass!) at a friend's 50th birthday party. It made me sleepy. It was quite pathetic.

Tonight? I drank a margarita..no..two. Three? My children say it was three. (I'm not so sure they aren't telling me a story).

It was sure long overdue!

We have been busy.

Busy waiting.

For the past month. I have spent two to three days a week sitting in waiting rooms of different family physicians, gastro-interologists, cardiologists and eye-doctors. It has given me some time to spend with each of my sons and my husband. But it involves a lot of, well, waiting.

We discover that Austen may be following in brother Brian's footsteps with some red-flags for keratakonus. He is still too young to tell. What can we do? Wait (and wear his glasses).

Our washing machine broke. How long did we wait? 2 weeks. 2 weeks without a washer? Lot's of waiting. Waiting for the machine to be fixed, and waiting in laundromats. Oh well. I got to read some unusual magazines and do a lot of people watching.

I have agreed to be on the Call Committee at our church in our search for a new Pastor. Our interim has graciously extended his stay for 14 months. It appears our congregation is looking for St. Peter on roller skates. I think we will be waiting for a while.

On a more positive note. Austen has a job. He can only work 20 hours a week because he is still 15. He has been doing maintenance and will be a lifeguard for the Flying L Water Park. He is very excited...and worn out from fixing cracks and painting bridges. Me? I just wait for him in the car at the end of each work-day. While I read miscellaneous magazines..or simply listen to the wind howl on the Flying L. Dude Ranch.

Big B and Cody have made a tentative offer on a small property and building for Cody's Euro-Trans Automotive. There is a numbers game going on and we are..you got it..waiting..to hear back from the Realtor.

Big B also fell off our 4 wheeler last weekend. Big B managed to roll the bike over himself as well as burn his hand on the exhaust. He has been home for a week. It has made for an interesting week.

And finally there is Odyssey of the Mind.

The Central Texas Regional Tournament is next week. Today (the last weekend before the competition) I met with 4 of the teams. I cannot help them in any way. It is the beauty and the frustration of coaching OM teams. You see kids learn skills and problem solving techniques you can never imagine...and you see kids destroy those solutions on a whim because they are children.

As coaches..all you can do is be supportive and wait for the kids to solve solutions that are glaring at you. Sometimes, kids find simple solutions. Sometimes..if you wait long enough, they find solutions far more elegant than you (as a coach) can ever imagine. Usually? They simply run out of time.

So I return from a day at the Club where I have supervised 4 teams. It is not one of my better days. I am not as patient as I once was. I threaten to send kids home for just playing (and I am a HUGE advocate of play). I ask them if they are serious? I ask them to tell me, just exactly, when they think they will have x, y or z finished. I return home and vow to never do this again.

I know I don't mean this. But I also know I am not being fair to the kids on these teams.

I return home to a dinner invite from some dear friends.

Big B and I gladly accept and drag two of the three teens along...and what do you know? They restaurant is have a margarita special with any entree. Our order was late..so another free margarita.

The boys drove us home after (ahem) waiting for us. Now there's a change in pace.

It has been a long time since Brian or I have visited Margaritaville. It's a nice place to visit.

Wouldn't want to live here.

I hope I am much nicer tomorrow.

Cast of Characters-in 6 Words

It all started with a challenge to e.e.cumming to write a novel in 6 words.

His reply?

for sale. new baby shoes. unused.

There have been a series of books, magazine articles and curriculum plans floating around lately that encourage this way of clearing your thoughts, editing your words, etc. Thought we'd have some fun with it.

For starters, the backdrop, our home.

chickens, laundry, wind chime, books, tea (home)

Members of la familia would be...

amused and bemused, celebrates all people
(Big B)

humbled by Grace, aspiring agape love
(me/Nicole)

Goofy. Elegantly connects dots of life.
(Brian-Scott)

Sensitive, sullen, hooligan. Flashes of Genius.
(Cody)

Fun loving. Reader. Deep thinker- Underestimated.
(Austen)

This is actually pretty fun. I challenge you to create your own family cast of characters-in 6 words. (no more/no less)