Ride-along with Riley

So for my next installment in the dramatic, deeply emotional series called...well, I guess to be completely accurate, it'd have to be a mashup of "If I Could Turn Back Time" (with apologies to Cher, for blatantly stealing her title, even though the song itself has nothing to do with my situation...but whatever...) and "Time for Me to Fly" (with condolences to whoever's reading this, for putting that tune in your head...or, you know, you're welcome...whichever works for you), we turn to Riley, who followed up his brother's departure for college by celebrating a birthday...and becoming eligible to apply for his Learner's Permit.

(And that, my friends, is a perfect example of a whackadoo run-on sentence...which when I think about it, kind of encapsulates my mindset right now, so I'm not gonna change it. But anyway, I beg forgiveness from any English teachers out there. Yes, I was definitely taught better than this. What can I say--I've suffered a great deal of...Motherly Distress...this month...so I appreciate everyone cutting me some slack. Now where were we?)

Oh, yeah: ay yi yi, with the younger son forging ahead and aging up a year...as he always does in August, to be fair...but in tumultuous 2018, it was just a wee bit more than I was prepared to handle. Nevertheless, it happened, and we were determined to celebrate...the 3 of us who remained in Casa WestEnders, that is. First there were presents--a book Riley had picked out himself from the Planetarium's gift shop when we visited a few weeks ago; some dumbbells and a sandbag to enhance his at-home workouts; and a comfy beanbag chair to lounge in while reading or using the PlayStation.

And speaking of exercise, on his actual cumpleanos, Riley chose to accompany me to the outdoor bootcamp I attend most weekends. (Because who wouldn't opt to get all hot, sweaty, and tired, first thing in the morning on their special day? I swear--KIDS, man...) Perhaps he was thinking about the fact that we tend to hit up Whole Foods afterwards, for breakfast and coffee--so I suppose that does sort of count as dining out for your bday, yeah? (Sure, we'll go with that...) To round out the food category, in our family the honoree always gets to decree what they'd like for their birthday dinner as well. Riley selected fish tacos, so we shopped for the ingredients after we'd finished our fitness romp and calorie-replenishment.

Aaannd, it's a good thing all of that was fun, y'all...because I'm telling ya, the next ritual associated with turning 15 left quite a bit to be desired, to say the least. You see, earlier in the Summer, Riley had participated in the Driver's Education program offered by our school system, which meant he could take the first shot at his practice license on or anytime after his birthday. However, the excitement of reaching such an important milestone in a young person's life was unfortunately overshadowed...by the 6-hour period of languishing at the DMV waiting his turn to be helped. (Yeeaahhh...Riley was quickly indoctrinated with a Life Lesson in how sometimes, Adulting absolutely SUCKS...and the DMV is a prime example of that phenomenon. Sorry, buddy...)

Husband and Riley endured about 4 hours of this (2 of which were spent standing with the overflow crowd outside the actual office, in 90+ degree heat), at which point I was able to come and take over the delightful task of...sitting and fuming. At long last, we were summoned to one of the stations, where Riley was able to present his paperwork, pay the required fee, sign some forms, get his picture taken, and FINALLY take (and pass) his written test.

The end result was that he earned his temporary permit, allowing him to drive with a supervising grown-up for the next 12 months and log his hours...with the reward being that at this time next year we get to return to the scene of the crime--um, "DMV"--to repeat the whole...gosh darn....process. (Maybe they'll have worked out the kinks in the system by then. Or an even happier thought: you get to make an actual appointment for an on-the-road test, so we might be able to avoid all the malarky. Fingers crossed...)

Whew! With that out of the way, there was no time to rest on one's laurels, though, because the very next day was the kickoff of the 2018/19 academic year. Yaaaayyy? I'm joking--even with the crazy busy season we had, Riley was ready for classes to begin, as he always is after several months of free time. As a Sophomore, he didn't have any of those "new school" jitters he experienced a year ago, either. He had his schedule downloaded, supplies organized, lunch and soccer gear packed...basically, it was all under control. He even had a plan for the first day, which involved avoiding the inevitable transportation snafus that seem to occur the first week of each new term, by skipping the bus altogether, and walking himself to school instead.

So there you have it: a pretty eventful week in the life of Riley. After all, how often do you have a birth-iversary, earn a new privilege, get to start working on mastering a skill that will serve you your whole life, and begin 10th grade. ..all in the space of 3 days? Right, that would be "once in a lifetime". (Oh, was that rhetorical? My bad...) And now, I believe that while things are settling down, it would be an excellent time to search for some of that leftover cake! Shhh!!!