School of Rock and Pothole Parties.

Yup..that is how this year is starting out. School of Rock and Pot Parties. Oops. My bad. That is Pot Hole Parties!

 Big B informed me today that he and one of his neighborhood assoc. partners in crime, have made signs and everything to advertise this  pot-hole filling adventure of theirs. They posted a sign for this party on the entrance to the sub-division. It sort-of reminds me of Tom Huck painting a fence. A few  neighbors have joined them...base has been poured, spread..and more is on the way.

While Big B plays in the dirt? I have continued to hang at the Teen Center. It has been interesting..lot of strange twists and turns with work politics. And while there were a few times last summer where I felt like Arnold Schwarzenegger in kindergarten cop. There were a few weeks during the holiday season when I felt like I was reliving THIS SCENE. In WAY over my head! Only, you know, the teenage version of this scenario.

Better than you

 I finally, spent an afternoon by a lake near the Center.  A little over a year ago, the Center's long-time director passed away at this lake.  I spend a lot of time just sitting still looking at the water, praying..and then I whisper to the  Lake. I wonder if the old director can hear. I ask for guidance.

And then? I pull myself together and get back to work. I focus a lot of energy with our Odyssey of the Mind teams. It is 5 weeks before the regional tournament, so I really can't tell you much. What I can tell you is that we have 14 teens involved in the creation or demolition of toasters, armored cars, trash monsters, dancing penguins and magnetic marble mazes complete with elevators.

And then we have our School of Rock. A month ago we decided to set aside some time on Saturday afternoons to play some rock..just play. Introduce any teens that wanted, some basic chord theory, learn songs they wanted to learn..and just mess around with music. Then one of our maintenance guys informed me he could play some B.B. King..and some Santana. We practiced together a few times during a lunch break. He invited his son and his son's wife to join us. So today? We had fun! 8 teens in one room working on some vocal recordings..a mix of Christina Aguillar and some rap music. We had guitars and keyboards in another room working on La Bamba..and lots of teens planning to bring more instruments next week. Our school of rock..is taking on a life of it's own..and musicians are jumping on board and mentoring/volunteering our kids.

I stood back at one point during the day and watch the teens..some were playing video games, others were dancing (they are ALWAYS dancing), the Odyssey teams had taken over the art room,  a recording session going on in the kitchen and guitars, drums and keyboards in the learning center.

Ultimate coolness.

At home, things are returning to "normal". Cody is back from his mini-vacation with his girlfriend's family. As I type, he and Justin are working on a car in the garage. Austen is back at work at the restaurant, Big B is asleep in front of the t.v., and Levi is organizing his toy cars. Brian and Angee are back in Austin.

So that is my year so far..my husband is talking neighbors into filling potholes, I'm whispering to a Lake for guidance, Odyssey madness has begun, I'm surrounded by a whole unexpected slew of amazing musicians..and my family is home...or nearby.

I am lucky.

weekly menu:
tomorrow (Sunday): make your own omelets
Monday: spaghetti, green beans, bread-sticks
Tuesday: Irish stew, grilled cheese with olive and tomato sandwiches
Wednesday: make your own quesadillas , pot of beans
Thursday: swiss steak mozarella with baked potatoes and salad
Friday: left-overs
Saturday: dinner at Pap's Italian Grill (Big B and I  usually order eggplant parmigiana, and grilled veggies..the big boys? raviolis or huge sandwiches Levi- he likes the eggplant and noodles...lots of dinner rolls for the table)