Mama On The Move

I know I'm blogging about Ben at college a lot right now.  It's because the majority of the time, the rest of us are sitting in an empty house, wishing we had furniture.  We go to the library every morning to check our email and stock up on a fresh stack of books.  We come home and the girls do school.  Then we go to Barnes and Noble every night to read more books.  See?  Not exactly blog worthy. But then I got this from Ben: My Religion teacher asked who all in the class was there because they actually want to study religion.  Me and two others raised our hands and she said, "You three get A's for the semester.  Everyone else, leave."

Ben's Religion class started today.  One student asked, "Will we be converted to a new religion by the end of this class?" The teacher looked at him for a moment and said, "Yes, you will.  I can tell you are a weak soul.  Everyone else should be fine though."

Ben has two roommates at college.  One is single, and one has a girlfriend. The single one told them, "Too bad you guys are taken, there are a lot of good looking women here!" The other taken roommate responded dryly, "Yep, all Ben and I can do is run to the end of our chains and bark."

Katie and Emily were reading a story about someone who wanted to go to culinary school to learn to be a chef.  Katie mused aloud, "I wonder if anyone really ever wanted to go to school to learn to cook?" "Of course!" Emily responded, "What about Rachael Ray !?" "Rachael Ray isn't real !" laughed Katie.  "That's just an actress!"

This is how our Sunday went: Ben was planning to move into the dorms on Wednesday which was listed on the school calendar as the day incoming freshman can get their dorm rooms.  Just as church ended, however, he got a text message from someone reminding him that athletes had to move in on Sunday by 1:00. Fortunately most of his stuff was already together, so he just flung it all into a suitcase and we got ready to go.  I asked him if he minded the girls coming along since they really wanted to see his new living space.  He didn't have a problem with it, so we all loaded into Kerry's car and took off with less than an hour before check-in was over. When we arrived, I walked in with Ben to find out the check in procedure.  The co-eds at the desk asked him if he had brought his school passport which he received on registration day and which showed that he had completed all requirements to move into the dorms.  No passport, no key...

Driving Long Distances - In Hawaii, our GPS never mentioned distances greater than about twenty miles.  You never heard, "Drive two hundred and thirty three miles and then exit right."  The kids and I take great delight in the large numbers Gladys-Agnes (our GPS) says.  We all agree though, it's unsettling to drive such a long way.  Normally if we did that, we'd be underwater. Cruise Control - I bought my van on Hawaii.  I have never had the opportunity to use the cruise control in it.  It didn't occur to me until I was driving down a major highway with no sign of stopping for a couple of hours and then I couldn't find it!  I finally located it on a switch sticking out of the side of the steering wheel (when did they start putting it there?) and then I was trying to figure out how to make it work while driving seventy miles an hour without wrecking. Speed - In Hawaii we have one five mile stretch where y...

For those of you who haven't heard me crowing it from the rooftop, Ben received an academic scholarship to college which will cover almost 80% of his tuition. We toured his college this week and they had an official signing of his scholarship papers.  I thought we were just doing the tour and didn't even bring my camera.  I didn't want to look like a dorky mom taking pictures of her baby's first day at Kindergarten.  I had to take this shot with my phone.  We were very impressed with the campus.  It's a great size, not too big, not too small and has some extremely cool architecture.  We had planned for Ben to live at home in order to save money but he is actually required to live on campus, so we are scrambling to outfit a dorm room.  Apparently all dorms have extra-long sheets, so we can't just use sheets we already have (of course). Seeing the dorms brought back a lot of memories for me and Kerry.  We kept comparin...

One of our first requirements on the mainland was a new vehicle.  The Army will only ship one vehicle for you.  If you want to bring a second auto along, you  have to pay for it yourself.  While we have loved Kerry's Honda, it is fifteen years old and we didn't feel it would be cost efficient to bring it on this move.  So Kerry has been researching vehicles for months . I actually became concerned about his addiction.  Every time I walked into the computer room, he would have a sexy car website pulled up, full of sleek shiny vehicles showing off their enormous headlights.  Displayed wantonly across the screen, the cars were singing a siren song, beckoning him to run his hands over their leather seats and breathe deep their evocative new car scent. If I came up behind him unexpectedly, he would quickly flip the computer screen off and turn to me with an innocent expression.  "You're not fooling me," I informed him.  "I loo...

A child in China says her mom's the best But she doesn't know that that's what the rest Of all kids say about their moms. But I know that they are all wrong For my mom is the best. Mom, you showed me many things And maybe I can't fly But you taught me how to soar How to glide over mountains And so much more. You give us things we can repay Money borrowed, toys But you give us something we can't ever give enough Back to repay you, And that's love.

Well, we've made it.  Sort of. We have left our island home and arrived in the land of corn and Lincoln.  We are trying very, very hard to be happy and love it here. It's not easy. There has been a drought here and everything is dry and dead.  Walking across the grass is like crossing a field of crumpled paper sacks.  It's ugly. We accidentally drove into a less-than-stellar area while looking for a place to eat and it was ugly too. The kids have been unusually silent. And when they are not silent, they are bickering more than usual. Ben stays plastered to his computer and when someone else needs the computer, he lays on his bed and stares at the ceiling.  Yesterday was my birthday and he gave me no gift, wouldn't go to lunch with us, and offered no assistance of any kind in making a cake.  I'm trying not to be hurt.  I'm trying to love Illinois.  I'm trying to find the good stuff.  This season will pass and we will mak...

Aloha, y'all! The kids and husband of one fantastic person here, Emily as our spokesperson (Writeperson?). So we noticed that every year on our birthdays, we get a nice little piece on the blog about our existence, where Mama says how old and we're turning and wishes us a happy birthday. So this year, to show our love, we decided to hack her blog and write one for her! Because hey, for my part, I just want to say my mom ROCKS. You know Proverbs 31, where it basically describes the perfect woman? Add the most epic sense of humor and the ability to cook spectacularly, and boom! My mom in a nutshell. But really, Mama, the thing I love most about is just... you. You're funny (read that as "bust-a-gut, ohmaigawsh HILARIOUS"), determined (like sitting there for an hour with me trying to figure out Algebra), smart (actually doing it), wise (with Bible stuff! And boy stuff!), a great cook, a teacher, a confidante, a best friend, a great role model, and an absolutely, al...

Last night, I had the air conditioner on and the bedroom was nice and cool.  Kerry dropped off to sleep right away but I stayed awake to finish a page-turner that had me enthralled. When I got to the last page, I had gotten chilly.  I tuned off the lamp and snuggled up to Kerry who is always like a little furnace.  "Mmmm, you're warm," I said as I scrunched up close. "That's because I just farted," he responded.