Drew's theme song

There is a song that describes Drew to a T. "White and Nerdy" has become his officially unoffical theme song. Unfortunately I can't post it on the blog, but you can click here for the full-length video. Enjoy!

Busted!

On school mornings we are out the door at 6:35 a.m. and head north. We pick up two other 9th grade boys, avoid the trucks on I-97, snake our way through suburbia, pray we don't get stuck behind a [smelly] yellow submarine known as a school bus, comment on the parking lot antics of high schoolers, and finally inch our way to the front of the school where the boys can get out. Other than the 6:35 a.m. duty call, I have thoroughly enjoyed being the morning carpool mom. Here's why: I have learned so much.

This morning I learned that my wonderful, bright, intelligent, sarcastic, loving child has a menu of responses for our afternoon chats. So when we talk at 3 p.m. and I ask "how much homework do you have?" he goes to his mental menu:
a) not much
b) none
c) tons but I really want to play video games so I'm telling her a or b

Similarly, answers to "how are you?" are just as broad:
a) fine
b) hungry
c) ok

Not only did he admit to rarely deviating from his pat monosyllabic answers, he also told his carpool buddies that his mom (that would be me, yours truly) will keep talking no matter what he says, so he purposely doesn't say much. BUSTED! All this time I thought I was asking open-ended questions and that Drew's dislike of talking on the phone was just keeping his answers short. Nope. Wellllllll...the dork is in for a bevvy of new questions this afternoon, much more than the "how was your day?" or "what did you learn?" I just have to figure out what they are. Better yet, maybe I'll quit talking altogether and see what happens. Hee hee!

Whew! We made it.

Welcome to 2009! I'm usually not a big fan of the new year's celebration - honestly, why not celebrate EVERY first of the month? or celebrate EVERY Monday? - but this year is a little different. 2008 was a roller coaster. The days were often filled with knuckle whitening changes in direction, life went whizzing by at exorbitant speeds, there were moments of pure joy, sparks where one felt like they were floating weightless, vertigo inducing heights and drops, and moments where it felt like the car was careening off the tracks. It was definitely not a controlled ride.

Now that we have arrived safely in a new year (thank you to the engineer who properly installed the seat belts and roll bars!), I feel the need to celebrate. It's not a dancing-in-the-streets celebration like when one's sports team wins a title, but more of a "whew, thank goodness THAT's over," and get your land legs back before buying a soda and waiting in line for the magic tea cups. No resolutions. No parties. Just a big sigh, a hug to those waiting for you at the end of the ride, some sustenance for the body, review the pictures (yep, mouth was open yet again), and get in line for the next ride.

So here we are in the new hours of 2009 and waiting for the magic tea cups. After this it's off to the animal park. Will we see you there?