7 Ps Rule needs to include "Patience"

You know the 7 Ps Rule, right? If you were in the military, I'm fairly certain that you've heard it multiple times. If you teach school, you most likely had to memorize it during your Master's degree classes (except they usually did the 6 Ps to omit the one "questionable" word). And if you ever need to remember how to prepare for something, it's one of the best rules to keep in mind.

Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss-Poor Performance.

Yes, I know there are many different variants on this mnemonic device. But, this is the one I learned first both from sitting through graduate-level courses when my parents were getting their Master's/Specialist's in Education degrees and by having military members in my family. Over the years, it's served me well.

However, today Youngest Son needs to add the word "Patience." More grammatically correct, it should be "Patient" as in "Patient Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance" (deleted the objectionable word since he's still not allowed to swear). In a few weeks he'll be celebrating his birthday and we've agreed to allow him to invite over his closest friends for a pizza party and then for them to go to the movies that evening. The female guests will have to be picked up by their parents after the movie while the male guests can come to our house for a sleepover. He's been texting all of his friends today and bugging me for specific details, such as start time, menu, etc.

He's forgotten that his father and I have not finalized any plans. He's also forgotten that he's still grounded at the moment and if he doesn't earn his privileges back in time there won't be a birthday party. His friends are all trying to arrange their schedules and make suggestions for things to do and ingredients for the pizzas but we don't have anything confirmed at the moment. Big shock for him and his buddies if it's all for nothing!

I admire his desire to be sure to plan early enough in advance so that all of his friends have the opportunity to check with their parents/families to ensure if they'd be able to attend. I'm just not happy that he's getting their expectations up for something that may or may not happen. Plus, the parents also won't be very happy if they change their schedules around to accommodate something that isn't happening.

Oh well. Not much I can do about it at the moment. I told him to be sure to let everyone know that nothing has been confirmed yet and that he's just checking to see if they would be able to attend. That way, we can also plan for how much food and how many tickets we'll need to buy.

We'll see what happens.

Accepting suggestions on "training" a teenager!

Again! I can't believe I have to go through this crap again! The kid is 13 years freakin' old -- how much longer will it last???

I had to go to an appointment today. Usually I can trust Youngest Son to be on his best behavior (or something like it) while I'm out for a little while. I come back and what do I find? I find one of the premiere rules of the house broken and him lying to me about it.

We have a very strict rule about the computer. Because of the questionable content out there and the threat of viruses, worms, and Trojans, we do not allow our children to access the computer unless we're with them or we give them a five-minute window to check email or Facebook. We did it that way with Eldest Son and we're doing it that way with Youngest Son. Even though he has a computer in his room, there is no Internet access to it (not even Wi-Fi) and he's not allowed to turn it on without our permission. I have a special key that allows Internet to be connected if he needs to work on a homework assignment but either Husband or me is in the room with him while he's online. Usually, though, he wants to use our main household computer (from which I also run my online business) because it's newer, faster, and has more programs. Again, though, he must be supervised while using it.

I was gone for an hour and came back to find that not only had he been on the computer when I was gone and without permission, he'd also accessed the Internet and even looked into the history folder for our web browser. That threw up red flags all over the place because he could have been to a site we don't allow and deleted the information. So, I asked him what happened while I was gone.

Nothing. He gave me the standard teenager shrug of the shoulders and a monotone "I don't know" as an answer. I started listing the items he has privileges to use and/or owns and which ones he would be losing as he continued to feign an inability to recall anything he may or may not have done over the hour that I was away from home. Finally he said he looked at the history to see if we had bought him a birthday present online.

He must think I have "stupid" written on my face because I don't believe that for a moment. And I told him that as well. His birthday is over a month away and I certainly wouldn't purchase anything this far in advance, mostly because I never know when he's going to pull a stunt like this and end up grounded again.

A couple of years ago he took something of mine and lied about it. I could prove that he did it and even showed him the evidence. He continued to lie and for over half and hour he lied and lied until he realized that he was just digging himself a deeper hole of punishments. And every time he continued to lie or did something else against the rules, we just added the time for that infraction onto what he'd already earned. The kid was grounded for about six months! You'd think he'd have figured it out by now that we, his parents, are much smarter than he is and will find out when he does something wrong (especially since he's not good at covering his tracks) and that just admitting to what he did and apologizing would get him in far less trouble than lying about it.

I don't know what to do. Seriously. This keeps happening over and over and over and I'm sick to death of it. Right now his "privileges" are to eat, sleep, use the bathroom, do his household and yard chores, and practice his trumpet. He can read while he's in his room (he's got LOTS of books on many subjects). But there will be no television, video games, computer, MP3, cell phone, telephone, texting, or going out unless it's to walk the dog or we're all going somewhere together.

This is my first summer home in years. Usually I'm deployed away to work a disaster and I've missed being able to just spend free time with him. No schedules; no worries about work or him having to go to school. He's only been out of school three days and he can't keep it together! I really worry about him in the future.

End of the Junior High Era

Today was Youngest Son's last day in junior high. Next year he'll be a freshman. Lord help us all.

I'm incredibly proud of him and am very, very happy that he's had some great experiences and made new friends since we moved to this town three years ago. He's been in three school theatre productions; he's participated in All-District Honors Band (was first-chair trumpet, too); attended the State Band Contest; has made the honor roll; and has a gang of friends that he really enjoys hanging-out with and who enjoy having him with them. As a kid who moved from school-to-school, I know it can be hard to fit-in when you're the new kid on the block. Youngest Son learned a lot more at a faster pace when he was homeschooled, but I agree with him that his past three years in public school have helped him grow in many different ways.

I'm especially proud of him as he has received the President's Education Awards Program Award for Outstanding Academic Excellence. To qualify for it, he had to have a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or more over his junior high career and test above the average and rank in the top of the State's Assessment Program that's given every year. He received a very nice certificate and a lapel pin that he can put on his jacket when he goes to high school. He pointed out the "autograph" of President Obama on the certificate and I told him that an auto-pen did that. He said he was surprised they just didn't Xerox it and is not impressed by it. He was actually disappointed because he didn't receive a plaque for best brass student in band and was awarded for his academics. I reminded him that it will be his academics that helps him get into the college he wants and will follow him through life. A plaque won by your "nemesis" whose parents can afford for him to take private lessons in order to be better than Youngest Son will only someday be an unwieldy paperweight that your children won't even be able to get rid of in a yard sale.

I think he feels a lot better now. And he enjoyed his last day there. No, he didn't participate with one group that wore the colorful Morph Suits that everyone was buying around Halloween and at least he wasn't dared like one of his other friends to come dressed like a princess today. He made sure he had phone/text numbers for his friends so they can get together over the summer before high school band camp starts in July.

Eldest Son texted me today that he's learned how to weld in his sculpture class in college. I told him I was proud and that the welding experience can also be used in other jobs as well. He hopes to finish his classes soon so that he can graduate in the next semester or two.

One going into high school and one leaving college soon....where does the time go?

Survived another sleepover!

Why is it when Youngest Son has a friend or friends over to spend the night I'm the one completely exhausted the next day? It's not like I'm up watching movies at 2:30 a.m. or trying to finish the last slices of the jalapeno pizza they ordered on a whim!

Fortunately, Youngest Son's friend (to whom he was going to introduce the game Warhammer 40K) enjoyed it very much. I loaned him some of my army since he wants to play the same one I have and he picked up the rules very quickly. They played for over 3 hours and then started another game this morning. We all then went out-of-town to the closest gaming store and Youngest Son's friend had left-over birthday money that he used to purchase some figures so he can start his own army. We even bought him a really cool figure that was already put together and painted that he saw and liked (and it wasn't too expensive) and gave it to him as a belated birthday gift. After having lunch and a running a few more errands, we came back to the house and Youngest Son began teaching his friend how to assemble the figures. They got two done in the short time they had left and they're both looking forward to the time after school gets out for the summer when they can spend more time together assembling, painting, and playing with the figures and ships for their respective armies. I'm very, very thankful Youngest Son has friends here. We were worried that it would be hard for him to make friends since we're "not from 'round here" but he's fitting in with a pretty good group.

Well, this is going to be short 'cause in an hour Syfy is going to be showing the new "Treasure Island" with Eddie Izzard, Elijah Wood and Donald Sutherland. DEFINITELY want to see it!!

Sleepover time again!

Just a quick post 'cause I'm trying to get things ready for tonight/tomorrow. Youngest Son is having a friend over for the evening and to spend the day with tomorrow. He attended his friend's birthday party last weekend and bought him a present that has had the friend fascinated all week.

Husband, Youngest Son, and I enjoy playing the miniatures game Warhammer 4000 (also known as Warhammer 40K). It's a fun strategy/tactics game played with miniature figures and vehicles on a tabletop that you "decorate" with obstacles and terrain to make it look like you're "invading" another world. Husband plays the Space Marines -- humans, and has his battle suits painted with the 35th Infantry Division patch on them. Youngest Son plays the Eldar -- an alien race that is very powerful and has a special character called an Avatar that can basically walk-through the playing area "killing" anything in its path. I play the Tau -- an alien race somewhat based on the Samurai/Bushido code where they believe everything is "for the greater good" and use highly specialized weapons that don't require the soldiers to be close enough for hand-to-hand combat (VERY long-range weapons). Youngest Son's friend was looking at different types of characters and picked the Tau as well. The gift Youngest Son gave him was the Codex for the Tau -- a book published by Games Workshop (the publishers of the game system and who make ginormous sums of money on the expensive figures, paints, books, and accessories to play the game) which explains who the Tau are, what they do, how they fight, what they believe in, and then specifics on each type of character and the weapons, vehicles, and other accessories they can use during the game.

In the game, teams or individual armies face-off on large tabletops and roll dice to determine if they can move and/or attack and must remain in-range of other persons/items/equipment, if required, and everything is based on whatever you roll on the dice required for the type of movement or attack you're attempting and a chart in the book that tells you if you're successful or not. Simple, huh?

Yeah, I'm still trying to learn it all and this game has been out since the 1990s and Husband used to play it a LOT back then. I never got involved with it and probably wouldn't be now except that Husband lucked-out on an entire Tau army with additional personnel, vehicles, and lots of extras that had the whole set been sold at a gaming store or online would have cost over $400, easily. He found it at a thrift shop for $18. For that low of a price, how could I resist? Plus, if I ever get tired of it, I can sell-off the items for the going rate and definitely more than double my money! That is, if Youngest Son doesn't try to get them -- he keeps asking me if I want to trade armies with him. He just doesn't like it because my basic strategic move is to set-up my armies at the far corner of the table and shoot at everyone from there because I have weapons that have a range of 36-inches and most tables aren't that big. That means, almost no matter what I roll, I'll hit them.

So Youngest Son and his friend are going to attempt to play the game tonight since his friend is really, really desperate to see how it all works. I told him I'd loan him a few figures to play with so he can get the idea. Then tomorrow when we go out-of-town to get the huge bags of dog food I need for Celeste and Harley and to take Husband for an early birthday lunch, we're going to swing by the gaming store so that his friend can spend some of his birthday money if he wants to on an army (or parts of one). Then the two boys will be able to play each other at their houses once school is over and might be able to enter some of the tournaments at the gaming store during summer vacation.

I've tied the voices in my head to the back of my skull for the day. I'm not in a manic mode today and I'm holding well on keeping myself out of falling into the depressive side. I'm sure they'll get free and the story will continue again sooner-or-later, but for now I have to decide which figures I'll let the kiddo borrow for the evening. Fortunately, my metal figures (which they no longer make) are really too powerful (and expensive) for a beginner and he can use my plastic figures (which are easy to repair if one should accidentally fall off the table and break).

And, yes, May the 4th be with you!

Am-Dram: Junior Edition -- Ad-libbing Addiction

The second production of The Borrowers is over and the kids did very well tonight. The crowd wasn't as large and there were the rude ones who wanted to talk all through the performance, but the actors and crew did a great job of keeping everything going as smoothly as they could.

Youngest Son, however, did get a talking-to on the way home. He did a really good job and is one of the few actors who doesn't have a microphone but you can hear him throughout the theatre. Sadly, he's got too much of Husband and me in him. We both get bored easily when things are too easy and we both have a very dark and dry sense of humor. That being said, Youngest Son almost doesn't stand a chance. He has friends at school and hangs out with some as much as possible. Most of them are in band and/or theatre as well. But he is known for being annoying. I even saw a post on his Facebook page that said she thought he was nice but that he's too annoying and too much of a smart aleck in band class. And some teachers report that he can be irritating in class when he gets bored. I tell them to keep him busy and they won't have a problem with it but they never listen to me.

One bad habit he's picked up is ad-libbing when something isn't working right. He doesn't go way off on a tangent that isn't related to what's going on, but he's quick with a response or, especially onstage, ready to grab the spotlight until whatever is causing the problem can be remedied. For example, in class one day his teacher was upset at the amount of noise the students were making. She asked, "Why do I hear talking?" and Youngest Son, without missing a beat, said, "Because you have ears!" (For the record, he didn't get in trouble for that -- just told to "shut up.") During the performance tonight, I could see the wheels of his mind turning when one character skipped a section in which Youngest Son was supposed to exit the stage. He stayed out there trying to look like he belonged in the scene until he finally heard a pause long enough for him to yell, "Yes! I'll be running away, and with this wooden spoon I don't know where it came from!" as he grabbed a prop another actor had dropped and made his way off the stage.

During a scene change, he and another actor were bringing out one of those wooden cable spools that they decorated to look like a spool of thread. The other boy started arguing over which side went up when, a little to loudly, Youngest Son said, "It really doesn't matter what side goes up! No one can tell. Now make yourself useful," as he handed the boy a basket to put onstage. I was embarrassed. Husband was laughing himself silly. The audience thought it was funny, too. Great. That's all he needs -- positive reinforcement from total strangers.

At least last night and tonight another actor made his entrance on-time. Youngest Son told me that if he'd have had to wait a while he was trying to think of something to do to fill the quiet space and all he could think of was reciting Eddie Izzard's "Bees and Wasps" bit from his stand-up act. I told husband this and he, of course, laughed hysterically as he imagined our 13-year-old onstage reciting a monologue asking questions like, "Do earwigs make chutney? Do spiders make gravy?" And, yes, in a way I'm glad he was thinking of something to do -- but this is a kid who once he gets started has a hard time stopping. He loves the limelight and isn't afraid of too much when trying to get it.

So, I can't say that all of this comes as a surprise, but after the ad-lib last night and the continuation tonight, I'm almost afraid of what will happen tomorrow night on their last performance.

Almost....but I'm still going to watch.

Am-Dram: Junior Edition -- Opening Night

Youngest Son is performing this weekend in his junior high's production of The Borrowers. He and most of his friends are all in the show and tonight was opening night. One of the actors had been sick during the day and missed school. School policy says that if you don't show up to school, you can't participate in any after-school activities (games, dances, performances, etc.). Poor guy wasn't feeling too great when I saw him this evening and another actor took over the part. He had to come out with the script in his hands because he didn't know the lines but did a really good job as a last-minute stand-in.

I was asked by the drama teacher/director to do some old-age makeup on one of the girls so that she'd look like the mean old lady she's supposed to play. I agreed (in exchange for free tickets) and enjoyed showing the kids how I could take one of their friends from a fresh-faced young lady and make her look old and grouchy. I wasn't as pleased with the makeup once I got out into the audience and I discussed with the director about changing it and making it more noticeable for the last two nights. She agreed and I'm looking forward to seeing the look on her face tomorrow night when she's made-up. She was shocked tonight -- so tomorrow could be horrifying for her. But, I made sure to give her a good pep talk before the show because she was so nervous. She'd played the Genie in last semester's production of Aladdin and was worried she'd set the bar too high for herself since this is a drama and not a musical. I told her not to worry and to remember that the audience may have read the book or seen the movies but they don't know the lines for the play. All she'd have to remember is to get out there and have fun with her part and she'd be just fine.

And she was. Actually, they all were. Oh sure, there were forgotten lines and cues and props that went missing. That happens in any show. What I was worried about was Youngest Son. He has a habit of ad-libbing when something's not quite right or if he sees something wrong. Did he do it tonight? You betcha he did!

It was funny that Husband, one of the other actor's father, and the junior high assistant principal were there for the performance tonight. They were all major characters in our recent Am-Dram production of Arsenic and Old Lace. When one of the Borrowers suggested reviving Mr. Clock with some elderberry wine, we all thought it was kind of ironic since that's what killed the 12 men in the cellar in our play. I was praying that Youngest Son wouldn't say something like, "No! Not that! It's from the Brewsters' house!" and, fortunately, he didn't. But, when the Borrowers left a "sugar cube" onstage during the scene change to Youngest Son's scene, I could hear Husband laughing because we both knew he'd never let it just sit there.

And he didn't. Youngest Son is playing Gypsy Boy, a Romanie Traveller, and is decked-out in a horribly mis-matched outfit which is perfect for his character. Mid-scene, he walks over to his "caravan" to get a boot and stops to pick up the "sugar cube" asking, "'Ow the 'eck did this get out 'ere?" After going to get the boot and not finding it, he comes back out and says, "Well, there's supposed to be a boot but I canna' find it and it's supposed to be in me caravan but it's not so why don' ya' sit down an' I'll tell ya' about it?" I heard from him after the show that some of the kids were thinking about throwing the boot over the set and hitting him with it. I'm glad they didn't -- it would have just made him improv even more. Fortunately, the other actor onstage remembered his lines and kept the scene going so that Youngest Son could recite all of his lines and didn't have to ad-lib anymore.

It was a little rough in places, but all-in-all the kids did a great job. Looking forward to seeing what happens tomorrow night!

Youngest Son: Unplugged

Teenagers. They think they know it all. They think that they're the first person to ever think of or do something in the history of everything. They believe they're invincible, physically and emotionally, and that they can do what they want, when they want, how they want, and that parents will never know the difference.

Where have I heard this before? Oh....that's right! I posted about how Youngest Son tried to abuse his Facebook privileges and posted items that were not appropriate. And that post was only two days ago! And guess what? He tries to pull another stunt like I won't punish him twice in a week.

Today I allowed him to look at his Facebook page while I monitored everything he viewed. I only allowed him 15 minutes of time online because he's still on my naughty list for the previous infraction. Today, however, he did use common sense and didn't repost items from his friends and even avoided watching videos some had posted because he knows that the house rules say he's not allowed to open documents or watch videos without prior permission (because of the possibility of viruses, etc.).

This evening, he went into where the family computer is and asked Husband if he could look at his Facebook page. Husband was in the process of signing-in to a website and told him that he (Youngest Son) could not look at his Facebook page at that time because he (Husband) was using the computer. Youngest Son stomped into the living room where I was watching television. I had not heard anything from the other room and asked why he was so upset. He told me that Husband had stated that he (Husband) would never supervise him while he looks at his Facebook page and was upset about it.

I went into the other room and asked Husband why he wouldn't share the responsibility of supervising Youngest Son on the computer. Husband said that he didn't say that and called Youngest Son into the room. Finally, I got to the truth -- that Youngest Son had lied to me in order to try to get me to make Husband let him (Youngest Son) use the computer.

Wrong move.

My kids have known all their lives that one of the worst things to do is to try to play Husband and myself against each other. Asking for permission from one and getting rejected and running to the other to ask the same question hoping for a different answer is not allowed. And getting caught doing it, well, that's just going to make any punishment worse.

So, tonight I decided that Youngest Son needs a good example of just how much he won't die without Facebook. Or the Internet as a whole. Or his cell phone. Or any other electronic devices.

That's right. I've unplugged a 13-year-old, much to his disappointment, and he can now learn for the rest of this week and all of next week (into the weekend as well) what it was like when his father and I didn't have video games or text messaging or television (except when the news was on when our parents watched it). Nothing electronic will be allowed. Not even small toys that run on button batteries. He can read, draw, walk the dog -- lots of activities that generations of us did before every child seemed born with a Nintendo DS in their hands.

He'll only be allowed to have his cell phone when we leave home (in case of emergencies) and when he's at school (for emergencies only as well). No portable game systems. No console game systems. No MP3 players. He can use his calculator for math class but he won't because he doesn't need it. And he can listen to the radio when he's going to bed because he's got the same problem I have -- if it's too quiet when trying to go to sleep, sleep never comes.

And Husband and I won't be punishing ourselves through this. We can use all of the electronics we want. We can watch the only television in the house when we want (he'll just have to go to his room). And we can play all the video games we want, even though we won't. I've always hated it when trying to punish a child and ending up being on the receiving end of the same punishment (no television, etc.). Now he'll have to deal with hearing us going on with our lives while he contemplates the error of his ways.

Hopefully he will learn from this, even though it does give me an easy topic to blog about when nothing else happens during the day.

Youngest Son in deep doo-doo tonight!

Teenagers. They think they know it all. They think that they're the first person to ever think of or do something in the history of everything. They believe they're invincible, physically and emotionally, and that they can do what they want, when they want, how they want, and that parents will never know the difference.

They're wrong, of course. Dead wrong. Really wrong. Absolutely wrong. Hysterically wrong, even.

And just as I was about to post on my blog that nothing of any interest happened today other than hours and hours of rain, thunder, and lightning, I saw it. I went to my Facebook account to see what my family/friends have been up to over the past few hours and enjoy some pleasant entertainment. Little did I know that I would be seeing things -- suggestive photos, offensive phrases, etc. -- in my news feed. Not from my adult friends, but from Youngest Son.

I loudly yelled for him to come into where the family computer is and asked him what in his little head thought that posting or liking these items was appropriate. He denied clicking on one but said that the second photo was funny. He'd only looked at the top of the photo and didn't see the graphic imagery in the bottom. He also had "liked" a page about a cartoon character that I reviewed and found every-other post had something offensive, or at least inappropriate for a teenager, in them. And this wasn't for a cartoon character designed for adults (i.e. Family Guy, The Simpsons, anything from "Adult Swim," etc.). This was for a kids' cartoon show -- so obviously this was not an authorized page.

He'd finally earned between 5 and 10 minutes of Internet time to check his emails and Facebook page without us having to stand directly over him. Guess what's happened to that?

I made sure to post on his page using his account (since I don't allow my children to have Internet accounts for which I don't have password access) so that all of his "friends" would see the new rules. Any future inappropriate posts by him will be deleted and any inappropriate posts to his page by his "friends" will be deleted and reported to Facebook. And the "friendship" just might be terminated as well.

I respect his privacy as a person by allowing him to do those things which need to be done in private behind closed doors (bathing, dressing, etc.). But, as his parent, I assert my ability to check on anything he has or brings into the house to ensure that it is deemed appropriate for a teenager and not something that we do not allow. That includes anything "brought into" the house via the Internet. My house; my rules. And his older brother can attest to the fact that those rules are absolute -- he got caught a few times with inappropriate items and faced consequences for it. As long as someone is residing in my house without paying rent, their share of the utilities, and insurance, I get to see everything. And with Husband having previously worked at one of our state's penitentiaries, he's very good at quickly turning-out a room to make sure nothing is hidden.

Eldest Son has tried many times to warn Youngest Son about how things are going to be as he grows up. With the 10-year difference in their ages, Eldest Son knows what Youngest Son will be facing in school with friends and enemies alike. He's tried and tried to warn Youngest Son that "Mom isn't stupid! She will find out! And your dad will too and if he finds out first he won't hide it from Mom!"

Poor, poor Youngest Son. He thinks he's so mature. He has no idea just how much more maturing he's still got to do. And he'll be doing it without the company of a lot of friends if he doesn't straighten his act up now.

Sleepover Survivor's Summary

Last night was hysterical! Youngest Son had two friends over for his first "group" sleepover. One of his friends wasn't able to attend but the other two were more than happy to make up for the missing energy in the room.

Oddly, they wanted to start the evening by watching the DVD we have of this year's school musical. Youngest Son and his friend Leonard were both in the show. Leonard was the lead actor and had not seen the DVD yet (the show was produced in November 2011). Youngest Son, Leonard, and Sheldon were having a blast watching the show, telling backstage stories, and re-winding the action to see the goof-ups and other silly things going on during the performance. Sadly, the student they "hired" to make the DVD only filmed one night out of the three productions and had a field day with the zoom button. Let's just say that if you get motion-sick easily, you do not want to watch the DVD.

After that we ordered pizza. I made sure each of the guys brought their own bottle of soda or other suitable beverage because I didn't want to go out and buy a lot and have a bunch of caffeine-laden sodas (which I don't drink at all) lying around the house. Three large deep-dish pizzas lasted a lot longer than I thought they would. Teenage boys are notorious for scarfing-down anything that's covered in pepperoni and cheese but there was still some left this morning. After the pizza-snarf began, they decided that they wanted to watch a real movie. Leonard had never seen Star Wars: Episode IV, A New Hope which just completely baffled me since all of the guys are pretty well-versed in nerdy/geeky genre information.

Quick note here -- you may recognize the names of Youngest Son's friends from a television show. They call themselves "The Big Bang Club" at school and each kid has a character and they even call themselves by those names. They even added a female friend of theirs (as Penny) so they'd have the whole core cast.

Back to the story. Since I'm also a huge Star Wars geek (seen the original trilogy movies over 1000+ times each), I asked if they wanted to see the awful 1990's "remakes" with "added special effects," the original theatrical version (my favorite), or the latest Blu-Ray release for the 30th Anniversary. I was impressed that they picked the theatrical release. So, I popped-in the DVD for them and waited for them to be amazed with the movie.

That didn't take long. Not the being amazed part. The being interested part. I forgot that teenage boys also have a short attention span and when it came to watching the entire movie, that wasn't going to happen. Youngest Son and Sheldon wanted to prank-call Penny because Leonard is upset he broke-up with her and they wanted to leave a message on her voicemail about it. (No, I'm not kidding. "Leonard" and "Penny" really were "dating" and have broken-up now.) Then they each wanted to play with their Nintendo DS units. Then they saw Youngest Son's Chess 4 set and wanted to play that. All of this while the movie is still playing in the background. Husband agreed to be the fourth so they could play Chess 4 -- a game designed, you guessed it, so four people could play chess against each other at the same time. Sheldon said he knew he was going to be slaughtered because he and Youngest Son play chess at school all the time and Youngest Son beats him easily. And he did again on this version -- he wiped-out the other three players in almost no time.

After that they talked and laughed and watched the last minutes of the movie before the credits started to roll. Once the movie was officially over, they decided to play games on our PlayStation 3. We have some that are for up-to four players, so they each grabbed a controller and started playing. After they tired of one they'd put in another. Soon they wanted to play Lego Star Wars and took turns trying to play in co-op mode when only Youngest Son knew how the game worked.

Finally, around 11:30 p.m., I told them they needed to get off the PS3 and get their sleeping bags out. They didn't necessarily have to go to sleep, but I was going to bed and wanted to be sure that they got some rest since Leonard's parents would be by early to pick him up for church. Husband had already fallen asleep, so I went to bed to read while listening to make sure the guys were okay. A pillow fight broke out between them. Actually, to hear them tell it, it was a "pillows versus 'bag of wet cement' fight" since Leonard's pillow was a lot firmer than the other two's. Soon they teamed-up and it became a pillow ambush. They finally decided to watch Star Wars: Episode VI, Return of the Jedi because Leonard had never seen that one either and wanted to know why everyone thinks the "It's a trap!" jokes are funny. He stayed awake long enough to hear "It's a trap!" in the movie and then drifted-off. Sheldon fell asleep and then woke up and went back to sleep after the movie was over. Youngest Son stayed-up for the whole thing and turned off the TV and DVD player when it was over. I had already passed-out in bed after the beginning scenes had played.

I got up at 5 a.m. like I do every morning to take my medication and let the dogs out for "walkies." I could tell the boys had tired themselves out because there wasn't a peep coming from the living room floor. Either that or Cat had slept on their faces and killed them, but I was pretty sure that hadn't happened. Usually there's a little snoring out of Youngest Son, but he was too tired to do so. After going back to bed and getting up a couple of hours later, Leonard was awake and playing on his DS; Youngest Son was just starting to awaken; and Sheldon was still crashed-out on the floor. I ordered them up and to get ready so that we could go out for breakfast at the worldwide-franchised evil clown fast food restaurant just a couple of blocks away. While the kids ate, Husband, Celeste and I sat and had some breakfast as well while waiting to return the boys to their parents (who were to meet us there). Husband said his coffee was McCrappy and realized why he never goes there for breakfast anymore. Ever. Once the parents had retrieved their offspring, we returned home.

Fortunately the guys didn't mess-up the house and things were easily put back in order. We thought about taking Celeste to the self-service dog wash a few towns over but they're closed on Sundays. So, I went and took a nap.

I remember the days of sleepovers at my house and going to parties at friends' houses. Everyone believed they could stay up all night and not have to sleep and sometimes punished those who did by dunking their bra in water and putting it in the freezer. At least the guys didn't do silly things like that at our house -- although one admitted they wanted to try the "hand in the bowl of warm water" trick. The only reason they didn't was because Mythbusters had already proven it didn't work. Lucky for them. If they'd tried it or if it had worked on my hardwood floors, there would be three "geeks" learning to sand, stain, and seal 79-year-old wood with their toothbrushes. And I don't believe there's an app for that.

Dull, dull, dull: Part Deux

Another uneventful day. I should be grateful, I guess. Usually when my days are incredibly busy they're not busy in a "good" way. My job requires a natural/national disaster for me to be employed and it's kind of embarrassing being the only person in a room cheering for a hurricane to make landfall so I can earn a paycheck and pay some bills.

I did supervise Youngest Son preparing for his friends to visit tomorrow. There will be three teenage boys (including Youngest Son) "camped-out" on my living room floor tomorrow night watching movies and playing video games. All of them are highly intelligent and easily bored if they're not intellectually challenged. Fortunately, being a parent and already having raised a child who's now in college, I know that large amounts of soda and pizza will keep their appetites satisfied and the large library of DVDs, board games, video games, books, etc. will keep their minds entertained. At least until the caffeine wears-off and they collapse on their sleeping bags. I get to enjoy the "I'm not tired" protests during the evening as I remind them that they'll have to get up the next morning and then watching them amble around the house like zombies because they believed they could stay awake all night.

There was some good news today from my Internet friends. A "friend" of mine became a U.S. citizen today. I only type "friend" with quotation marks because my friend, his wife, their family and I have never actually met. We're all fans of RiffTrax (from the creators of Mystery Science Theater 3000 -- that'll be another post someday) and we along with a LOT of other people have become friends over the Internet. But I'm very proud of his achievement. I have another "friend" in that group who became a citizen as well. I'm not collecting non-citizens and converting them, but I'm glad of their choice to join our great experiment and now they'll be able to become disgruntled with their government representation just like the rest of us.

Well, at least I posted today. Some days it's harder to think of a topic or something worth reading. I'm pretty sure by the time this weekend is over I'll have good subjects. Oh, and Presidents' Day has already been writing itself, so be sure to come back that day!

When did screeching become in vogue?

Many people seemed to enjoy my post the other day where I ranted about how people act around my service dog, Celeste. While I try not to rant too much about things, I find myself doing it a lot. It's because I've been diagnosed with a low tolerance for stupid people. That doesn't mean that if a person is simply unable to learn due to either a disability or lack of resources available I'll hold it against them. The "stupid people" I'm talking about are those who choose not to use either their education or the common sense with which they should have been born.

Today is one of those days. This afternoon, Husband, Youngest Son and I decided to go out for lunch. We've been to many restaurants in our local area and most are very accepting of Celeste because she has the legal right as a service dog to accompany me. For some reason, the places I have the most difficulty are Chinese restaurants. I'm not sure if they're simply worried someone will call the health department for them allowing a dog in their restaurant or if they're worried I'm there to check the immigration status of their employees. Because of the hassle trying to explain to someone who barely speaks English that she is legally allowed to stay with me and they can't make me sit away from everyone else or not go to the buffet because they don't want her close to the food (even though she completely ignores it), I usually avoid those places.

Our restaurant of choice today was a locally-owned Mexican restaurant where the first time I took Celeste there they weren't too sure about her but now they know she'll stay quietly under the table until we're done and never disturbs others or eats anything dropped on the floor. They, along with most of the restaurants I frequent, forget that she's with me during my dining experience because she's so quiet and well-behaved. Of course she is -- she's a trained and certified service dog.

The problem is even though the restaurants know that she's allowed to be there, other patrons do not. And when out in public, I know there are people who are allergic to dogs (those with serious allergies, not just the sniffles) and those who are afraid of dogs. Today, we were walking into the restaurant as a group of people were walking out. As I told the hostess how many people were in our party, I suddenly began to hear screeching to my left. Apparently, a teenage girl on her way out with her family saw Celeste and decided to let everyone within a one-mile radius know that she didn't want to be near a dog.

For those of you who don't personally know me, let me give you a bit of information about Celeste. She's a Beauceron -- a rare breed here in America but a very popular French herding dog breed that has in the past been used as a police dog and was used during World Wars I and II by the Allies. The breed dates back to the 1500's and the Doberman Pinscher and many shepherd breeds were created from the Beauceron's bloodline. She's an AKC Champion and weighs about 85 pounds. Basically, she is an imposing figure for anyone not familiar with her and though she's not trained for aggressiveness or "protection," all she needs to do is look someone in the eye and they usually give her a wide berth.

The girl began to squeal in a very annoyingly high pitch while jumping up-and-down next to Celeste. The rest of the group she was with was trying to shuffle her out the door, but she continued to jump while muttering something about, "Don't let the dog look at me!" So badly I wanted to turn around and say, "Hey! If you'd stop acting like a lunatic she wouldn't have even noticed you!" Youngest Son was incredibly embarrassed when we sat down. I asked what the problem was and he mentioned that the girl who was screeching is in his 7th hour class this year and that she acts that way at school, too.

It completely baffles me how people act around a service dog. The most outrageous scene we've experienced (so far, anyway) was when we were at a shopping mall and Celeste and I entered the elevator because (1) I wanted to visit a store on a different level and (2) dogs can navigate escalators but not easily and it's very dangerous if they're distracted. As we entered a teenage girl began to scream at the top of her lungs. The pitch of her voice went higher and higher as she began to crouch in the floor and scream, "It's a dog! It's a dog in here!" Then she followed that up with just higher and higher screams of varying lengths. I tried to explain to her that if she would stop screaming, Celeste would stop looking at her. Even her friends began to back away as if they were trying to deny they ever knew her. I told her that if she didn't want to ride with a dog that she was welcome to leave and held the door open for her. Nothing was going to stop her from her hysterical attention-grabbing act. Even a small child standing with her mother in the elevator said, "What a big baby" in the teen's direction.

What is it with attention-seeking idiots who feel that their sophomoric actions will improve their standing in others' opinions? I hear people talk on television and social media about "drama queens" and can only imagine that these people are auditioning for the title. Why in the world they'd want to be known for that completely escapes me.

But, rest assured, as I find more examples I'll be sure to document them. This isn't a challenge for those of you who know me to try to make the blog. If you do, I can pretend that I've never met you just as well as those other gals in the elevator did.