2010. What can I say. We experienced many milestones and earned a few more gray hairs (that I do not color...yet).
Milestone #1: My 17 year old son got his driver's license!
The year and a half that his father and I required our son to drive with his permit was interspersed with a handful of tense moments. That being said, my 15 year old daughter now has no desire to get her license. Her comment after a particularly hair-raising moment in the car?..."You're scaring me!!!" Seriously though, he has turned out to be a very good driver — cautious and safe. That's my boy. He's a lover not a fighter so I will never worry about him drag racing the dork in the car next to him.
Milestone #2: The Paavola Academy closed.
I no longer homeschool the kids. They now attend the local high school just a mile down the road. This is all bitter sweet for me. I loved having the kids home during their Junior High years but I hated nagging them to get their homework done. We all loved getting to sleep in and now...it's up before dawn to catch the bus at 6:45 AM! I loved the flexibility to use our time as we wanted. Now they are controlled by the clock. Yes I have more time to myself to work and to do other things, but it seems I am really good at wasting time. I will spare you the details. All in all the transition from home to school has been smooth. They are both getting good grades and doing well. There are a few things we didn't have in our homeschool; drug deals in the middle of math class...fights in the hall...(that one is debatable)...mean girls...kids throwing chairs and breaking tables...making out in the halls and lock downs. Yep. Our tax dollars at work. I pray for them daily.
Milestone #3: My "hunk-a-burnin-love husband" and I learned how to ballroom dance.
Yep. And he likes it!! We now know how to do the Waltz, Swing, Rumba, Fox Trot, Mamba and the Cha-Cha. It has been a really fun time. We even have special shoes!!!!!
Milestone #4: We fell in love with riding the motorcycle together (me on the back)...
We love riding so much we decided to get his aged, weathered, ugly used 1983 Honda Goldwing painted a beautiful sparkly red. Boyd said it was an "antique". I just saw ugly. Before we had it painted, I must confess I had motorcycle envy. The friends we ride with all have sweet, gorgeous, shiny bikes. When we show up with ours the Sesame Street Song..."One of these things is not like other, one of these things just doesn't belong..." keeps running through my head. But NO MORE!!! By spring, we will be riding our very own pretty, sparkly red "antique" Goldwing. We are in the middle of planning a week-long motorcycle trip this summer! I can't wait. Not looking forward to helmet hair though.
Milestone #5: I am growing my hair out from pixie short to...I have no idea how long...
Milestone #6: Boyd and I completed 90 days of P90X!!!
It was torture. Second to childbirth, it was physically the hardest thing I have done. Now, in order to keep myself in shape, I need to figure out some other things to do. ...must...stay...in...shape...
Milestone #7: I started a side business to earn some extra money.
If you are interested in finding out what I am doing...contact me via email.
Milestone #8: I said goodbye to a dear, dear friend and mentor of 20 years who moved to an island far far away. No, she's not dead. She moved. After a year of asking and waiting...she's finally on skype!
Milestone #9: I fell in love with texting!!!!!! Of course I do not text and drive. That would just be stupid and irresponsible now wouldn't it?
Milestone: #10: I got an iPad!!!!!!!!
...and I love, love, love it! It goes everywhere with me except to bed. Even I have limits. Although it has sometimes been found on my nightstand...Hey! I should see if Apple would hire me to be an iPad Ambassador to middle-aged women everywhere!!! What a great job that would be!
Well. I know there were other milestones in my life, but these were the ones I could mention without remorse or embarrassment to myself or others. Next month's topic?: Motorcycle riding—It's all about how you look on the back of a bike.
