The Mini Van

It rained today! Yea! It rained! Hard - for a long time. And then I remembered that JB had taken the top off of his Jeep over the weekend and I wondered if he had put it back on before heading to school this morning. So, I sent him a text and asked. He replied that he had put the top on, but his Jeep was at home. He had ridden his bicycle to school. (It's about 6 miles!) He then told me that he was already home (he has an off period the last period of the day on A days), and that he had an adventure to tell me about when I got home...

I had no idea how terrifying the adventure would be! First of all, he's okay. A little scraped up, but no permanent damage was done to the boy.

On his way to school he was riding in a school zone in the bike lane, when a woman in a maroon mini-van decided to make a U-turn. She didn't look where she was going and ended up heading straight for him! As in a head on collision in the bike lane! He did some quick thinking and tried to jump the curb, but the bike he was on is a fancy street bike with super skinny tires and the curb was about 12-inches high and only the front tire made it up. He went down. The rest of the bike and JB were banged up pretty badly. A couple of hundred dollars of damage was done to the bike and the nurse at school spent quite a bit of time bandaging him up before he could even go to first period.

Now all of this is bad enough - my child has minor injuries and his bicycle has major injuries. But the thing that really set me off was that the woman made eye contact with him and then SPED AWAY!!! She didn't stop to check to see if he was okay as he lay splayed on the street; she didn't offer help; she didn't apologize for running the kid over. She looked at him and hit the gas. What kind of person does that? He was too stunned to get a license plate number.

There is nothing we can do about this incident, but please, if you see a teenage boy in trouble, stop. He's someone's little boy. He's probably not a serial killer - or even a hoodlum. He's probably a good kid. And he might be mine!

Pecan Street Festival

John and I went to the Pecan Street Festival today. The girls were busy making Homecoming mums, and my both my friends who like to do stuff like that were sick, so John sacrificed and went with me. I had a blast! I love looking at all the creative stuff, and trying to figure out how to make it myself. I see visions of me doing shows like that someday. (It'll probably never happen, but I can dream.) I usually end up buying some small gift for someone, taking a few pictures of really cool stuff (I forgot my camera this time), and spend a great deal of time watching people.

Austin has the most interesting folks in the world. Leslie (the resident cross dresser) was out taking pictures with the tourists, but he's not the only interesting person out there. There are people covered head-to-toe with tattoos and piercings, people with kids in strollers, dogs (and sometimes cats) on leashes, a guy with a snake draped around his shoulders, countless outlandish hairstyles, great bands on the side streets playing all different kinds of music, people handing out political pamphlets. All in all, it's very entertaining to me - and FREE. You should go with me sometime.

Thanks, John for going this time!

The Second Half

Today is my birthday - number 47. Amazingly, I feel younger now than I did 10 or 12 years ago. It's amazing what a little sleep can do for a person. As I pondered this particular birthday a few months ago, I realized that this is most likely the half way mark in my life. Several women in my family have lived to be 94...hence, 47 is half way done. I have to wonder what the second half will be like. The first half was filled with obligations. I had to learn to walk, talk and feed myself. Then they (whoever the omniscient "they" is) expected me to go to school for 13 years. Then I chose to go a bit longer. Then I began working for real, had kids, taught them to walk, talk and feed themselves. Then began to get them through school. And now it's almost done!

The second half of my life should be just that - mine! Whatever will I do with myself? I can tell you that I started the second half off with a bang. I went today, to get a tattoo. Just a small one, but a tattoo just the same. WAHOO! This is gonna be fun! (Oh, and thanks to the ladies who went and held my hand - I love you guys!)

September

Normally I dread September. It seems like most of the really bad things in my life happen in September (even though it's my birth month). This September has been filled with fun...

• Monday I took two dogs and two cats to the pet clinic at school to get their shots. Trying to get an angry cat into a carrier (and then have the other one walk into hers and sit down), load them all in a small car, drive 6 miles in rush hour traffic, get them out, get their shots, load them up again, drive to swim practice, get them out and wait, put them back in (with an additional person), drive to musical rehearsal, get them out and wait, put them back in (with ANOTHER person), and drive 6 miles back home was so funny I had to laugh out loud.
• Tuesday John to me to a Jason Mraz concert. He's one of my favorite singers, and it was phenomenal! 'Nuff said.
• Wednesday I got to help out the middle school cross country coach with her meet. Even though I have no children running XC at this time, I still love the sport. It was a blast to get to help so that parents could watch their own children run.
• Thursday I got to watch a bit of Daughter A's rehearsal while I waited for a meeting to start. Seeing her in her element was uplifting.
• Friday, for the first time in my history as a teacher, I graded my own paper. I made a 100, but lost 10 points for failing to put my name on the paper. I cracked up when I was fussing at my students for not claiming this "perfect" paper when one of them said, "Umm, Mrs. Wilkinson, that's yours. It's the one you did as an example."

Life is funny. Enjoy it.

Grandparents' Day

Today is Grandparents' Day. I'm sure some card company dreamed it up as a way to sell more cards. (At least that is what Daddy would say.) Our church has a special breakfast on the morning of Grandparents' Day to honor all the grandparents - duh. So Daughter B represented the family yesterday as they set up, and JB and Daughter A went this morning to serve. The Wilkinson household fulfilled all obligations. That's what I was thinking while I was running through the grocery store at 7:30 this morning.

Then, as I sat in church with heavy eyes (this 6:45 am swim schedule is tough on me, and I'm not even swimming), I began to think about my grandmother, Mamaw. The brown/country one. Both of my grandmothers were called Mamaw. One was pink skinned and one was tan - hence, the brown Mamaw and the pink Mamaw. Then as I got older I got more politically correct and identified them by where they lived rather than skin color - town or country. The Country Mamaw was the one I spent the most time with. She and I always had an incredible connection. She could infuriate me or make me incredibly proud. I always knew she loved me, no matter what. When I began to think about her I realized that most of who I am is because of her. She taught me so much by simply being there for me to watch.

She taught me to put my family first, to support my husband no matter how crazy the venture, to treasure my independence and rely on God, that no matter how tired I might be I could always do a little bit more, to be demanding of myself and others - but be forgiving, that honest work is always honorable, that math is important, to laugh at myself, and how to drive. I could go on forever.

I keep a piece of her (her diamond pendant) around my neck all the time. I think about her daily. And even though some people thought she was a bitch, I hope I'm just like her when I grow up... I love you, Mamaw.

Can I Have a Clone?

Last night was open house at the kids' school; the night for parents to go meet all the teachers. When I was a high school teacher not many parents came, and I knew that the ones who did were gonna have really good kids because they cared enough to show up. For that reason, I always go to open house. Up until now this hasn't been that difficult - even with twins. I've managed to make it to meet most of the academic teachers. This year was a bit of a stretch - 3 kids, 21 teachers, 1 mom, and 8 class periods to get to them all....With a little creative scheduling on my part, I managed to see most of the academic teachers, again. Sometimes I just popped in and said, "I have 2 other classes to go to right now, but I'm ____ Wilkinson's mom. Is there anything I need to know? Please email me if you have any problems." They were all very gracious and assured me that all was well. This is the only year I'll have the privilege of having three high school students, so I was going to make the most of it! It was even kind of fun. It should be an exciting year.

My Backyard

Everyone is gone this evening. Out with friends or out of town. I'm getting to sit in my backyard and just enjoy. I love my backyard. When we first moved into this house, the yard was what we bought...the house just came with it. By today's city standards we have a huge yard - between a fourth and a third of an acre. It has evolved over the years. We started with a deck and riding toys for JB. Then John built the world's coolest fort with the wood we got from taking the deck apart. (I was afraid the girls would fall and bust their heads open since it was raised.) We poured a patio and put in the kids foot and hand prints. For years it was the best place to roller skate. Even my best cat ever's footprints were fossilized there. Later we added a swing set, a soccer goal, a trampoline, and a wooden pirate ship. We've had chickens for years who talk in soothing voices if you sit near them. A clothes line is strung among the trees (we started with over 60, but have had to take a few out over the years). A screened in covered patio has been added, and a few years ago we put the pool in. This yard has grown with my children. And through it all - from the days when JB would put a blanket on the deck for me to lie on while he played because I was on bedrest to now with teenage parties, it has been the best backyard anyone could have...I'm very blessed to have a little piece of heaven right here. Life doesn't get much better.