Jake has left the Nest

Jake moved out on Sat. He told us about 2 weeks ago of his plan, but I was in denial. Ara and I have tried very hard to be open and receptive to our children as they grow up, but in spite of that Jake held his cards very close. I know he is resourceful and will probably be fine, but I still can't help but think that he is making things much harder than they need to be. I was totally surprised that he called when he was halfway to Ohio. He sounded so chipper and excited and I didn't/don't want to rain on his parade with all my tears. So I think I got all the tears out (maybe not) and I'm already putting a care package together. So far I have razors and laundry sheets packed--need to get some goodies and then send it off.

Oh yeah he's in Dayton Ohio with a job lined up at Crown Plaza, training is supposed to start tomorrow and work starts next week. He drove the whole way by himself, following his girlfriend and her mom and step dad. He said his butt really hurt; I wanted to say my heart hurt, but I just kept quiet.

Not Seeing It, Not Feeling It

I will be so glad when all this yard sale stuff is out of my living room. Jake, my ever-loving trash picker, keeps dragging stuff out of the piles and up to his room. I am letting go of some of the old kids toys. Face it, they're teens and keeping the toys isn't changing that. Still hanging on to the legos and kinex. All the Easter eggs are bagged and tagged, and there is three sacks of stuffed animals. As of today Jake's taxes are done. He printed them, signed them and (hopefully) mailed them. For some reason that was stressing me a lot. Over spring break I dyed Andi's hair a dark brown. She been begging to color her hair for a long time, and I have been stubborn. A friend used some of her moms leftover dye and it was a horrible reddish color. I hated it. This dark brown looks much better with her skin color. She was actually sent to the nurse by a teacher because she looked so pale with the other color. Still trying to do P90X. Not seeing the results like in all the youtube videos, but still working hard at it. I convinced Ara to buy some 25lb weights so I can use the 10 and 15 that he's hogging. I know he can do heavier weight than 15lb! We're on week 10 and counting this as our first round, since we gave up last time due to the flu. 3 weeks to go to end the phase and then on to the second round, and that's where I'm hoping to see results. And it would probable help if I recorded my weight and reps so I can push myself harder. I love the Plyometrics (jump training). The weather is perfect for running/walking but the pollen is killer right no. I had the window open for a few hours and woke up with a raging sinus headache. We ran out of Zyrtec yesterday. Back up meds are Benedryll and no one wants to take that. Book club is this friday, and I'm not feeling the book at all. American Rust. Only read the first chapter and it has a Of Mice and Men feel to it. Yuck.

Wouldn't you know, as soon as I proclaim I am working from home on Tues and Thurs I had to work in the office on Thurs. Grrr. And since my meeting ran late, I asked Ara to be home in time to take Cole to driver's ed. Turned out I got to Williamsburg in time, but since I already had Ara tasked out with the dirty chore of taking Cole, I stopped at JCPenny's on my way home. I have their credit card and it was customer appreciation day (extra 20% off when you used your card). I browsed the clearance racks and scored two bras and a Nike sweatshirt---my grand total was $25.47. Ara wants to participate in the community yard sale this year. It's on the 16th...so I have begun the gathering of items to put in. I am not thrilled about this---I'd rather just donate or freecycle everything, but Ara is insisting. It's always so much work. I cleared out the hall linen closet today. Found some sheets and curtains to put in. Turns out I cleared a whole 2 shelves---so I moved the stockpile of toiletries I've been keeping in my closet to that closet. Still grocery gaming so I have lots of toothpaste, shave cream, and deodorant. I did a quick run through on the kitchen and only came up with a souvenir can opener that at co-worker got me from Hawaii. And the rest of the downstairs is pretty bare...I'm know were going to have to dig through the attic to get more stuff. I am not looking forward to that at all. Spring Break for my high schoolers is this week. Today was the first day off. No alarms before sun-up was awesome. And Jake even agreed to drive Andi to her friends. Shocker...that was the first time he's ever volunteered to do that. We have no big plans, other than the above mentioned get read for yard sale activity. Day One: Friday Jake took his friends to Busch Gardens, Cole is fishing the James with his friends, and Andi is hanging out at her friends.

Cars

Oh BTW, the Cube is fixed. Ara found a guy that used to work at the Langley AutoBody Shop when it was open...and he did a great job.
Jake's car cost 1100 in repairs to get it to pass inspection. and needs about 600 more to be completely safe. He had another accident last Thurs. He hit a deer and took out a headlight. Ara ordered those and hopefully they'll be in soon. So maybe a dented up car was perfect for him. I gave him some seat covers and febreezed the car out for him, even though he's gonna junk it up within a month. A mother can only hope. And I made him clean his windows!

I love my Tuesdays and Thursdays! Somewhere along the line I decided to take those days off and the price of gas has cemented that. And I've even been able to take a few Fridays too. So I do a few hours from home and two 8 hour days (which almost kills me)in the office. Today in between loads of laundry and work emails, I caught a nap, read a book and found a few cool Internet sites. I'm already a fan of tiphero.com which led me to FaveCrafts.com and TipNut.com

Ara is painstakingly dethatching the yard with a thatching rake. He has the front yard done and halfway done with the back yard. We're on 1/3 of an acre, I think. And then we'll do another round of weed killer and hopefully the yard will bounce back. He's in some fantasy land thinking that this is raising his metabolism and that he'll have rippling muscles by the time summer hits.

Last weekend I found a $20 on the ground at Dairy Queen after chanting for three days in a row that 'money come easily and frequently'. So now I'm a believer in The Secret. lol. Trying to get Ara on board to chant with me. haha. We watched the video on netflix and I checked out the website, made a bulletin board with everything I want to attract my way---like a new car, roller blades, etc. Ara thinks I'm a nut, I think I'm overboard trying to counteract his pessimism.

I started the crochet along project hosted by redheart yarn. I only have two of the squares done, and they're already done and starting a knit along project now. It took me forever to choose my colors and the you tube videos help out tons. This is my first Afghan. If I could keep track of my camera I would post a pic. maybe later.

I also discovered the trick to getting Ara to take/pick up Cole from drivers ed....if I slam down a beer with dinner Ara won't let me drive...tee hee. I still have a mini coronary every time I get in the car with that boy. We don't call him Zippy for nothing.

And the drama continues...
me and my snarky mouth told Jake he was never driving any of our cars again. Over the weekend he spent the night at Matt's, but when Ara and I drove past the place where his girlfriend is staying our truck was parked there. So I jumped to conclusions that he stayed the night there, and not at Matt's. He insists that he stayed at Matt's and went there for breakfast. That's when I got snarky and told him if he thought he was old enough to play house he could get his own damn car. So on Tuesday he bought a car. He got a 1999 Ford Escort Sedan, red, badly dented, mismatched tires, cracked windshield, and expired inspection. So today, I helped him get set up with auto insurance. Since the car is titled in his name, he can't be on our policy anymore. Lucky him got a great deal on a side shoot policy from ours. He qualified for preferred rates since that's what we have and he has been on ours for 3 years with no accidents. Glass Masters is coming tomorrow to replace the windshield, and I scheduled an appointment for new tires and inspection. He pays for the glass, I'll treat him to new tires. I even picked up some new wiper blades at walmart today.
Cole was home today. His back is in knots and he's been on the heating pad all day. He seriously needs to be in a bubble this year. He hasn't made one full week of school since the mono episode. His junior year is a hot mess.
And I had no cavities at the dentist today. I got three gold stars from the hygienist, and raced straight to walmart and loaded up on candy.

March Madness

March Madness has hit our home, and I don't mean basketball.
Jake veered off the road and side swiped either a very overgrown bush or a tree badly in need of pruning. So the cube is officially damaged goods. The whole passenger side is scratched to high heaven and the column along the windshield is badly dented. No injuries. Only cosmetic damage and no other cars involved. First wreck out of the way!
On a good note, Cole did his orientation today at Dream Catchers (therapeutic horse riding). In spite of his swearing and calling us every name in the book on the way, I think he's going to like it. He'll be a side walker for riders with special needs. He looked like he was having fun in the ring today. Next weekend he attends a horse grooming and tack class and then he's good to go.
Ara and I are still doing our P90X workouts. We usually skip Sat. workout, but I'm okay with that--I'm not signing up for a fitness contest any time soon. My goal is to be able to do at least one pull-up, just one. I sucked at the arm hang and pull ups in the dreaded middle school fitness test every year so that's on my bucket list.
Andrea and Jake have a sneaky streak and keeping up with them is going to be the death of me. I did get word that Jake is planning on moving out at the end of summer. Not revealing sources. I told him I knew, his eyes almost popped out of his head. It will surprise me if it materializes. Also his bank card got hijacked and over $150 was made in purchases before we realized it--Ara was on top if it luckily, because Jake was clueless. We made him call the bank and report it and take courtesy pay off his checking account so no money goes to it from savings. After the wreck, I told him that his dad would be transferring money every week to his savings from his paychecks. Jake can't remember his online user-name and password and the one time he went to the bank to make a transfer he did it the wrong way and caused several overdraft fees. Definitely don't think he's ready to live on his own. And he recently told me that when he went to take a shower that he literally gagged because he smelled so bad. I seriously don't know why he's like this because I think I raised him better than this. You can tell a 18 yo to shower until you're blue in the face, but in the end his own smell gags him. And what kind of gf would put up with the stink. Hoping he gets his head out of his ass soon. This is not what I envisioned for him at all. And that my friends is one of the hardest things about parenting....letting go.
And by the way, I am airing out his room today...thankfully its in the 60's here.