Kids...aren't they great? er...great!

And you need to say that both ways...aren't they great?? with loaded sarcasm and then again aren't they GREAT!!

Alex got in trouble at school. I haven't heard from the school on this issue - he told me. Completely forthcoming, because he knows that if I hear about stuff like this from say...the principal...blindsided, if you will, that I'm going to lose it. But now if the principal calls, I'll at least be prepared. Apparently he was jacking around in the parking lot after school with his band-mates. And for whatever reason was sitting on top of his friend's car. Why? No idea...don't really care. It was time for them to leave so they could meet me here and we could caravan down to my house for band rehearsal bonanza...so he leans over the side, knocks on the window to talk to them. The boys inside would put down the window a crack, but when Al would start to talk, they would put it back up. hahahahahahaha from the inside of the car. rmph from Alex. knock-knock-knock again...window down...alex starts to talk...window up. hahahahahaha. So this continues again, and now Alex is beating on the window shouting "Hey, guys...open the window! It's time to go!" (how he thought they were going to leave with him still ON TOP of the car is beyond me. a sane person would have gotten off the car but whatevs.) Still no open window. So now Alex pounds on the window, completely frustrated and shouts "OPEN THE FUCKING WINDOW!" Ummmmm, yeah, that's right - that's my teenager dropping the f-bomb in the parking lot of his private Catholic high school. Sweet. And of course, because it's my son, the athletic director just so happened to be in the parking lot and heard him. Awesome. He comes over, orders Alex off the car, asks him his name and what the difference between a window and an eff-ing window is. (A friend of mine found this question ridiculous, as it was very clear that a window is open and a fucking window is closed. HA!) Alex, I'm sure, was stammering and red-faced and speaking in octaves only dogs can hear...gave the guy his name and muttered some sort of inaudible response. The guy told them to basically get the heck out of dodge and told Alex he could expect to be called down to the office. Whoops. This happened on Friday, and I never did ask him if the office called him down for a counseling session on swearing...they haven't called me, so it can't be all bad.

My husband did not react as badly to this as I had thought. A part of him was relieved to see our good-natured teenage boy actually get into some kind of trouble, as my husband has his own troubled high school past...I think the asshole-puckering that ensued after the incident was enough to teach him his first lesson on swearing awareness.

On the flip side there's Owen. He wrote an essay a couple of months ago for school "What Being a Good Citizen Means to Me." He told me about it, but I didn't really think much of it - until yesterday. He apparently won the essay contest for our county. I didn't even realize this was a county-wide competition. Oh yes...and it went down to be evaluated for State recognition as well. Whodawa??? He won the county, but didn't place as high in the state. For his county winner status he gets to go to the Indiana State House and visit the governor, get an engraved plaque, a $500 savings bond, a certificate from the governor, other prizes from the Indiana State Trooper's Association including a scholarship to their "Respect the Law" camp over the summer..and then then troopers will come to his school's end of the year awards ceremony and make a presentation there, as well.... WOW. Owen is amazed. Julie emailed him to congratulate him on his honors and his response? "I didn't really think about it, I just wrote." He can't believe he won something just for writing an essay. I haven't even seen it...so no, I don't know what he said. He wrote it in school and the teacher submitted it. He's not even sure what he wrote. He remembers that he was studying the Scout law for his Arrow of Light and wrote some things about being loyal and helpful and friendly, but he really doesn't remember what he wrote or even how long the essay was. Oy vay. Not helpful. Hopefully we'll actually get to see a copy at some point during the process.

So it's been a parenting up and down for us in the past couple of days.

We got to enjoy our outdoor living room set this weekend...love, love, love it. Hopefully it stays warm through the weekend so we can sit out there some more. Must.buy.more.wine.