College, Boys, Love, Family. . . .

As Sprat is heading back to College, I have been looking back on how the hubbs and I got where we are.  We started out as two dumb young people trying to make a living and learn about life.  The hubbs and I met during my first job out of college.  I moved several hours away from my folks to go to work in a lab right out of college.  Luckily, one of my friends from college also worked at the lab and we were able to get an apartment together.  The hubbs was my lab partner and for me it was love at first sight.  We worked third shift processing blood samples for area doctor's offices. 
Now twenty-eight years later we celebrated our twenty-sixth wedding anniversary and our oldest is getting ready to turn twenty and head back to college  for his sophomore year and our baby has already started his junior year of high school.  Wow!! time has really flown by.
There are so many emotions that follow dropping your child off at college; dread, excitement, sadness, love, fear, and hope.  I think dread and fear sort of go hand in hand.  You dread the thought of leaving them and you have a lot of fear about whether they will make it on their own or not.  Excitement comes for all of the new experiences that are waiting for them. Sadness from them growing up and not being the little boys that you brought home from the hospital and held and watched as they slept.  I think hope and love go hand and hand.  You have so much hope for their future and the overwhelming love that you feel believing that you have raised a good kid that is now a good person.
Here is to the new school year, prayers for all the kiddos heading off to school and the parents coping with the new adventures.  Stay tuned for updates from MA. . .

Photos to Round Out the Week. . . .

Sprat serving Lovefeast before he heads back to shool

Broiled Figs with cream cheese and balsamic vinegar

Yummmm!!! 

Big T on the second day of school, I missed that first day picture 

Last but certainly not least Mama's new glide ride. the retro Thunderbird. 

Sprat will be taking my not so old car to school and this is my new ride.  

A Little Trip Home for the Boy. . . .

Sprat and I went for a visit to mom and dad's before he heads back to school next week.  It is always so good to go home for a visit, I like to show my kids where I grew up, where I used to work and the schools I attended.  Mom and dad have a favorite little place they like to eat in town  that is right across the street from where I worked when I was in high school.  

Things have changed so much in my little home town.  They have so many cute little shops and quaint little spots to eat now.  I am so glad that things are thriving in my little home town and I know I can always go home to visit.  

Sprat drove us in my old car, the one that he will be taking back to school, he needed some highway practice before we hit the road to Boston.  He drove well, he does have a little issue with speed, especially in my old car.  It has a little more get up and go than his first car he drove.  We had some great conversations and I feel like I got a little closer to my boy on this trip.  He has grown and changed so much since he was a little fella and we would take this trip to visit mom and dad.  I do believe that car rides are the best way to connect to your child no matter what their age.  We had such a good time, visiting with mom, dad, and my brother.  We missed seeing my sister but we did get to have a quick visit with my niece at the drug store.  

Mom gave Sprat several old t-shirts (Sprat calls them retro, I just call them old) and we celebrated his birthday while we were there.  Sprat also came home with an old straw cowboy hat that he loved and begged mom to have.  

I highly recommend a road trip with your teen before they go off to college, it is an eye opener.  

Stay tuned for pictures of the new school and new dorm and weepy mama. . . .   

School and Cars, Boys and Cars, Moms and Cars . . . .

First day of Junior year.   Yayyy, the hubbs and I had our traditional celebrate the kids going back to school date.   Big T drove to school, still trying to get his hours, with the hubbs.  I worked a half shift last night so they let me sleep in a little so no pictures of first day of school.   The hubbs and I had our traditional back to school breakfast out and  then we drove to pick up my new wheels.  Yep, Mama is getting her very own wheels. I have not had a car that was my very own since before we were married.  I have always had what would pull the boat and what would haul the kids and all their gear.  The hubbs always had a company car so what ever I drove had to cover everything else.  Now that Sprat is in college and I am not hauling everyone to baseball, football and everything in between I can try and find my very own car.  I am so excited.
I have been on a heated search for Sprat a car and have not found anything that fits my pocketbook or my specifications for my kiddo to have.  I did, however, find a neat little gem for myself.  It is more than I wanted to spend on Sprat but less than I had anticipated spending for me.   So, Sprat is getting my not so old car to take to school.   I am not very happy about that but I am pretty psyched about my little T Bird.
The hubbs and I are debt  free except the house and plan on staying that way so, my specs on cars had a whole lot to do with cost and mileage even for myself.  I have been pounding the internet looking for cars for Sprat and on one last ditch effort on tip from a friend I found my little T Bird.  I guess I am in my mid-life crisis.  Since I was a little girl, I have always secretly wanted a convertible and this little T Bird just fell in my lap. 
Sprat is over the moon about getting my car and Big T is happy to have Sprat's first car.  We just have to get Big T a license.  A few more hours to go on his supervised driving and he will be there. 
Stay tuned:  School, Cars, College, Boys, and girlfriends. . . . . . . . . .

Summer Jobs???

Did you have a Summer job when you were in high school?  Perhaps you had a regular job during school?  I did the Summer job thing when I turned sixteen and then found a job that would work with my school schedule and my cheer-leading schedule.  That job followed me all the way through college and thankfully it did. I had great bosses during my school job, they were hard on me but that taught me a lot about working for someone and dealing with people.  I want my kids to learn those same lessons, they cannot learn these things from the hubbs and I tough. 
Sprat, has tried to find a conventional Summer job with no luck. Thankfully he has offered himself up to be a handyman for anyone that needs him.  He has been doing yard work, mowing grass and spreading mulch,  for a couple of ladies in the area and has cleaned out a garage for one lady.  Yesterday he came home and said he had used a jackhammer to take down some bathroom tile.  The last few weeks he has been helping a gentleman gut a house and he has learned to take down dry wall and now to use a jackhammer.  I think that is really cool.   I am thankful for people that will take a chance on a young person and let them help out and do things and maybe even teach them a skill.  Sprat is learning  a lot this Summer. 
Stay tuned as we gear up to start another school year, one a sophomore in college 13+ hours away and one a junior in high school. 

Cape Cod, Lobster Rolls, and Iron Maiden. . . .

Sprat made it home from the Cape safe and sound.  He sent me pictures of his plate after he had finished a lobster roll.  In case you do not know what a lobster roll is, it is a yummy po boy type sandwich with lobster type salad on the bun.  I have never seen one in person only pictures and have read about them.  I want to try one so bad.  I love seafood and I was going to try one while we were at the Red Sox game last year but they were so expensive I did not try it.  We did our first trip to Boston for the college visit with Sprat in true Dave Ramsey style, we stuck to our budget and sadly the lobster roll was not on our food budget.  I wanted to get one this last visit but we did  not get to go into Boston.  Sprat spent the last part of the week with his girlfriend and they played on the beach at Cape Cod and ate fish and chips and the fabulous lobster roll.  Yes, I was terribly jealous that my dear son got to have that lobster roll and all I got was a picture of his empty plate with a side dish full of slaw because, the boy does not eat slaw.   We have another trip scheduled to take him back to school and I WILL have my lobster roll, one way or another. 
I love my family and I love my hubby with all of my heart but I absolutely detest having to rush everywhere we go when we get to go to neat little places like Massachusetts.  There are so many things that I would like to see there and yes I guess I am being selfish.  We would not have gone to the Red Sox game if I had not insisted we try and get tickets.  They were all thankful for that because they all had a really good time and it will be a wonderful memory for my boys to have with their dad. I am all about making memories and taking pictures of everything.  As I am writing this post my three favorite fellas are out making memories now.  The hubbs has taken the boys to an Iron Maiden concert.  Yes, all of my fellas are metal heads.  I begged for pictures so hopefully I will get a few. 
Stay tuned for a few pictures from all of this fun. . .

Orientation, Learning, Loving, and a Little Sightseeing . . .

We drove up to Massachusetts for orientation on Sunday.  Sprat had seen the campus but the hubbs and I had not, in fact, Sprat spent a great deal of time on this campus last year with their lacrosse coach.   Monday was an all day affair for all of us, the parents went to their sessions and the students went to their own.  We saw Sprat only a few times on Monday, he had fallen right in with some of the kids from his other school and a couple of lacrosse kids.  We did get to hear a wonderful motivational speaker and the one thing he said that I am sure those kids will not get until they are older was;  "If you do not choose your own greatness, someone else will choose your mediocrity."  I am not sure if these are his own words but that little sentence spoke volumes to me.  This guy was great and the kids seemed to be very receptive to him.  We found out later that this same gentleman had spoken at their orientation for the last three years and every year the current students that are helping with orientation stay to hear him because he is that good. 
We saw Sprat briefly just to give him his bag to get settled in his dorm and then we were off again. They had plans for the students all night and all the next day.  I thought I would be able to handle all of this but turns out that was not the case.  It is very hard to let go of your first born and apparently I am a control freak and do not hide it well.  LOL!!! 
While Sprat was having his day of orientation and the hubbs and I had a day to ourselves we decided we would check out the surrounding areas.  I found a quaint little antique store and yes I did pick up a little item.  The gentlemen that run the shop were very nice and I think I will go  back when we take Sprat in the Fall.   So many nice things and so little room in the car this trip. 
We met up with Sprat and his girlfriend and said our good byes, he is spending a few days with her and her family before heading home.  On our way home we stopped by the Lindt chocolate factory outlet to pick up some much needed chocolates. 
The hubbs got his new company car right before we left so we were able to take it on our trip.  This a top of the line car with all the bells and whistles, some of those bells I could have done without.  At one point we were going through a construction zone that required us to move back and forth over the white line in order to stay within the zone.  The car started making weird noises and flashed a cup of coffee on the dash board with words saying driver alert or something to that nature.  I busted out laughing because apparently us moving back and forth over that white line through the car into a frenzy.   We got use to that one, then we were almost home and it started raining, there was a car in front of us that was turning.  We were not even close to that car and our car started flashing red lets on the dash board that flashed across the windshield and a loud noise sounded and we abruptly slowed down.  That scared me to death! 
A note to car manufacturers all of that is enough to cause a wreck!  We do not need lights flashing across the windshield and loud noised going off when we are trying to focus on the road.  I told my husband he needed to figure out how to disable that crap quick! 
A few pictures to finish up this post:

The quaint little antique store 

One of the neat items we found, a note said it was not for sale.

The college had trolleys to take the parents around 

This is the library 

Stay tuned, I am waiting on pictures from the Cape from Sprat.  He was going to visit there.