Officially The Parent of a Teenager

So, my son turned 13 today. Now, mind you, I have raised teenagers before, so I am not entirely foreign to this particular creature. However, this is the first time it's been a boy... and my first-born child.
The actual teenager-ness began a while ago. The sulking, the hormone-driven smell (and subsequent AXE attacks). The first hints of facial hair, the phone ringing constantly from "friends" who just happen to be girls...
BUT it really hit home last night when I stayed up until 3 A.M. watching the video of his birth and homecoming. His first bath at home. Myself, struggling to nurse him, because we were both new to the idea. His tiny cry. The loving way his daddy and sisters and grandmas and grandpas and aunts and uncles held him, each for the first time.
Then I walked into his room, and looked at my man-child, asleep in his bed. His now giant hands and feet, so different from the tiny ones in the video and my memory-- and his sweet sleeping face, so much the same, made me well up with tears.
I don't think I ever wanted anything so badly as I wanted that little boy.
And on this day, his thirteenth birthday, I am looking back, yes, to that sweet little boy who has held my heart in his tiny fist lo, these thirteen years. But I also see hints of the beautiful man he is to be, and my heart aches with pride and joy that God, in His infinite mercy has let ME be the one to hold tight to that hand.
I thank God for my sweet TEENAGE son!!! I love you John! I always have and I always will!!

Frugality 101

Wow! This summer, I am the POOREST I have ever been! The "economy" has hit hard in this middle income household, and I think I might be feeling the pinch that some of my less fortunate neighbors feel on a consistent basis.

I have to admit. It is NOT FUN being poor. But I have learned some tricks to stretch the (borrowed) dollars...

1. Top Ramen CAN be eaten for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
2. Dad was right. We actually DON'T own the electric company! So turn off the stinkin' light when you leave the room!
3. Who needs cable?
4. Valet parking is for chumps. Walking is good for you.
5. RED BOX rocks.
6. I can cut hair just fine.
7. When your phone gets shut off, the bill collectors have a harder time reaching you!

Here's to saving money, being frugal, and hoping the economy recovers!

SOON!

Fine Wine Pairings

Let's class this up a bit.

Tonight, I prepared a gourmet meal for a party of 13 (unlucky, I'm aware, but what is one to do?)

The Menu

Kraft Macaroni and Cheese (it's "the cheesiest")
Chicken Franks
Buns
Shasta Carbonated Beverages
Dessert: S'mores cooked over an open flame

My conundrum: Which wine to serve (of course!)?

I started with a light Cabernet Sauvignan - Two-Buck-Chuck- to be exact; it paired nicely with the Macaroni and Cheese, but was a bit weak for pairing with the Chicken Franks.

For the Chicken Franks, I chose a drier, more full-bodied Two-Buck-Chuck Merlot. Its sweet mixture of plum and cherry-blossom overtones really accentuated the sodium benzoate in the franks.

Here's my dilemma:
When serving both, as I did, should I go conservative with the Cabernet or come on strong with the Merlot? READER: I await your response. I am due to host many more dinner parties in the near future.

Rude People

So here's something that REALLY steams my clams, if you know what I mean. RUDE PEOPLE.

Last night, my sister and I are walking to the ladies room at a popular cocktail lounge (a Michael Bolton, Kenny G, look-a-like pair appear there nightly for your entertainment), and we are fast approaching the facilities when this brazen younger woman RUDELY cuts us off and grabs the handle to the door, entering without a second thought to the ladies (us) who were clearly there first. I don't think I need to tell you how tempted I was to ope the door, exposing said ruffian to the eyes of the lounge-because in her haste, she had forgotten to turn the latch, and the little sign above the handle still read "VACANT."
Well, I'm a God-fearing woman, and I did not give in to that particular temptation, but WOW! I wanted to! She SOOOOO deserved it.
So what about you, gentle reader?
Feel free to leave me a post about your latest encounter with RUDE PEOPLE. I'd love to hear about the shenanigans others have to endure at the hands of the rude.

Book Review: Wuthering Heights

Okay. So I decided to take precious time from my LIFE and read a "classic" novel: Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte. More like "Smothering Shites." To say this book disappointed would be a very sad understatement, indeed. About half way through the book, when a couple of the main characters died, and I felt NOTHING, I almost abandoned it. But then I thought, NO...it MUST have a redeeming quality! Look! Someone has written a lengthy introduction! It has a bibliography, for cripessake! IT IS A CLASSIC! And so, I pushed on. More minutes and hours of my life STOLEN by this piece of crap. Yeah, I said it.
The characters in this story are all mean, vindictive, hateful jerks who go around saying how well they love the other mean hateful jerks, when really, they are all inbred psychos who end up dying of the grippe or the flu or some other thing. Who cares? This book gets two giant thumbs down. Classic Schmlassic. I want the names of the good folks who say "Oh this is a CLASSIC!!" Just because a turd is 2oo years old, doesn't make it a classic. It's just an old turd.
Don't waste your time.

Next on my reading list: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.