Random

I didn't sleep much last night. Mickey barked and woke my up around 1. He quieted down after that, but it took me a lot longer to settle down. He barked again around 2, at which point I got up to let him out (which involves me and a leash because the fence is almost done, but not quite). He was quiet after that but I could hear other dogs barking and howling in the distance (I'm sure that's what he was barking at in the first place). In the three (or is it four?) weeks we've had Mickey, he's only barked in the night twice, so don't worry Kirsten, we love him and aren't sending him back:)!

At 4:45 Mike's alarm went off. He is playing in a golf tournament today. Jonathan also had to get up at that terribly dark hour because today is his last day "on the set" of the movie he is a production assistant for. We didn't know the exact time Jonathan needed to be there though, so we were going with the time Mike had to pass by there on his way to golf. This worked for me because it meant not getting out of bed to take him. What didn't work for me was falling back to sleep though. Being the (sometimes) helicopter mother that I am, I had to stay awake to make sure when Mike and Jonathan got to the set that someone was there so he wouldn't be all alone in the dark of (still really) night.

When I say "last day on the set", I mean the last day they are filming locally and the last one Jonathan committed to. I am hearing rumors, however, that they'd love for him to continue helping them, but next week they are filming about 2 hours away. Maybe someone is able to drive him there one or two days, maybe they have room and board for the crew... These are things I've heard. Yikes! I'm not sure what we'll decide on all of this. He is LOVING this! It is right up his alley!! BUT... I miss him. Also, he is getting mixed messages from his on-line teachers about missing work this week. One teacher, who I love, thinks it is a fabulous opportunity and told him "Pleeeease...don't worry...try to do at least one or two assignments a week, but definitely take advantage of this fantastic opportunity!", but the two other teachers, who I'm not nearly as fond of said... "Please let me know how it goes and try to not let the glitz and glamour get in the way of you reaching your educaitonal goals,[the typo was hers not mine]" and "Please make sure you call me to take the oral portion. You are two weeks behind. You should be on 4.07 this Sunday. Here is a review for the oral test. Call me today, if possible." Yikes again! Parenting may get physically easier as the kids get older, but decision making gets exceedingly harder!! I have to point out that the teacher who didn't want the glitz and glamour to get in the way of his educational goals is his drivers' ed teacher! I mean you and I know safe driving is in deed one of the most important things a person needs to learn but it's not usually spoken of in terms of "educational goals", and as for the "glitz and glamour", he is not getting paid for this and he's been there everyday for between 10 and 14 hours sometimes with only a boxed ham sandwich lunch for compensation. The best part of this opportunity, aside from the fun he is having (and the fact that they are loving him so much) is that it will be a great resume and college application builder (how's that for helping the educational goals?) Not to mention this may truly be the career field he chooses, aren't educational goals only a means to an end (like a future) not the end itself?! On the other hand, the guy who seems to be Jonathan's biggest mentor this week told Mike that he will no longer be on the set as of next Wednesday because he is starting school here. This is the university that I've had in the back of my mind for Jonathan for a while. This guy just got out of the Navy and is going there on the GI bill. In all likelihood Jonathan will not be going anywhere on a GI bill so he (we) will depend on the Bright Futures Scholarship to help with his bill. Which brings us back to the need to kiss up to these teachers and do the work needed to get into college with Bright Futures and other scholarships. So now do you see why I can't sleep?!?

I am in a big de-cluttering mood, yet have no real energy or desire to act on it. While blog-hopping the other day I saw something about this book which is currently on hold for me at the library. On CD, so I could actually listen while de-cluttering, since I am all about multi-tasking anyway. However, I currently have three different books to read for three different upcoming bookclubs coming up in the very near future, so again, see why I can't sleep?

The cat is out of the bag and the kids ever moving Theatre company is moving to a great new location (after they do two final shows at an old but newly renovated location). They are without a doubt the best kids theatre around (and I don't say that just because my kids are in it), but for the past few years they've been relegated to performing in the poorest of locations. Not anymore! Watch out, there's not stoppin' 'em now!

I have been cruising through a large (industrial size?) box of hot chocolate since the weather has cooled off. There seems to be no stoppin' me either!

I had the privilege of hearing Pam Tebow speak last night. She was amazing. She talked a lot about "God stories" and it was kind of a God story how Mike and I ended up at this event last night. A few weeks ago I was glancing through a magazine and was reading an article about a family that did a lot for young single mothers and their babies. A thought crossed my mind that I should do that, and not two hours later we got a phone call inviting us to this event. We were given an opportunity to financially support this local organization which we did with a onetime gift. When it came to the part about supporting them on an ongoing basis. I indicated that I would like to offer the gift of my time (not that I have much of it, did you see my last post?) When Jonathan was a toddler, long long ago, I was a mentor for a teenage mother. When I signed up I thought "teenage mother" meant 18 or 19, but this girl had actually just turned 13!! Sadly I didn't keep in touch with her (I wonder if I could find her on facebook?), but just thinking about this I realized her daughter would now be older than she was when she had her!! (There's lots of YIKES in this post huh?)

Well Madi (the only one here besides me, Jake spent the night at a friend's house) is now up and so I guess it's time for me to start the day of reading and de-cluttering, and continuing to ponder all of these parenting (and volunteering) options that are before me.

Or maybe I'll just go back to bed!