Summertime Antics

Well, folks, Team WestEnders was back at the proverbial grindstone, once the festive vacationing portion of our Summer concluded. (Sigh...I miss it already...) After all, there were still plenty of tasks left to keep us occupied. (You know, lest we become bored, or something equally dreadful).

For Riley, this began with a 2-week camp volunteering position that he'd applied for back in the Spring. He'd never done anything like this before, so he wasn't sure what to expect, but he reported that he basically supervised little kids (3rd graders in Week 1, 1st and 2nd graders in Week 2) in lots of indoor and outdoor activities, designed to keep them busy and entertained all day. He really enjoyed the whole gig, and seemed especially amused by the munchkins. For example, he relayed that one day, early on in the experience, some of them asked him "if he could even fit into a car...because he was so HUGE!" And they also marveled at his ability to move logs--that to them appeared gigantic--telling him how strong he was...all of which must have been very ego-boosting to a young High Schooler put in charge of  a group of children for the first time!

No sooner had he finished his service to the Youth of America, than he had to report to his own camp, a pre-season soccer extravaganza designed to get potential players ready for the school tryouts. Two half-days and one full morning-to-night session of running, dribbling, shooting, defending...and whatnot...with lots of his mates from both the school and club teams, added up to a whole bunch of sports tune-up...and fun, according to Riley. (Sounds utterly exhausting to me, but fortunately, all I had to do was take care of chauffeuring him back and forth...)

And then, the very next day, the rigorous High School auditions kicked off (Ha! Sorry...) at the gruesome hour of 7:30 a.m. (I mean, I GET it--it's as humid as I can only imagine Hades would be, so the coaches are trying to hold workouts before the temperature climbs, and makes it even more uncomfortable later in the day...but it's still awfully early to be so...vigorous...in my opinion...) After a week of this, competing against dozens of other candidates, Riley survived the two rounds of cuts, to be selected for the JV team. (Hold please for proud mom moment...well done, buddy! Okay, I'm good, carry on...) Now, of course, that means the grind of daily practices--punctuated by twice-or even-thrice-weekly games--commences, and lasts for the next several months. (Um....yay? Just kidding--I'm not really complaining, since I love to watch him play...)

Sooo what has Derek been up to, during all this soccer-palooza? Well, his focus has been on the old "countdown to college" agenda. Oh, wait...what I meant to say was "His mother has been plowing full-speed ahead with preparations...and dragging his sluggish teenage butt along for the ride". (Yeah, that's definitely the one...) Such as, the critically important "choosing and signing up for a meal plan" step...which honestly required approximately 5 minutes of our attention, as it involved identifying the absolute most generous one...and clicking on it. With that out of the way, we were...or rather I was... free to complete the terrifying procedure known as "paying the semester bill". With the exception of buying a house, I'm pretty sure I've never transferred that amount of money before, and it caused me no small amount of anxiety to do so (but I'd better get over that, right? Since presumably I'll be repeating it every 6 months or so, for the next 7 years...ay yi yi...deep breaths...)

Finally, after all the stressful financial business was taken care of, we arrived at the more pleasant part of the proceedings: SHOPPING! (Which naturally required even more outpouring of money, but SHHH, we're not going to think about that, 'kay? Thanks...) Utilizing the university's helpful recommendations, as well as my own expertise as a...household manager...I compiled a list of items Derek would need, in order to equip his new dorm room. Some things we already had at home, so I simply added them to a pile; others we tossed in a cart as we wandered around Target. Toiletries, bedding, laundry supplies, towels, ETC.--there were so many choices to make that I worried I was overloading the poor boy, but when I inquired as to how he was doing, he claimed to be fine.

That is, until we abruptly reached the straw that broke the camel's back, if you will--and it came in the form of an innocuous device known as...nail clippers. Yep, there we stood in the manicure aisle (which was probably a dangerous enough feat to attempt with an adolescent male, in hindsight), comparing options to help one accomplish the seemingly uncomplicated task of grooming one's digits. I guess that was the problem, really: that there were even multiple features to consider before committing to a purchase. I'm not kidding--he actually rejected a couple of them because...he didn't understand the design and therefore didn't feel confident he would know how to use them. That should have been my first clue that my beloved son was D-O-N-E with this particular outing, yeah? After eventually settling on a pair of tools (covering both fingers and toes), a relieved Derek blew out a gusty sigh and commented, "We took longer on that, than anything else we've done so far today. And NOW, I'm tired!"

Fortunately, we were also finished, so we were able to check out, and then escape the retail madness. All in all, it was quite a productive couple of weeks, and our previously daunting To Do List has been considerably shortened, thank heavens. And now we've earned ourselves a brief breather, before we have to regroup and tackle the rest of our chores. Bed Bath & Beyond...and Home Depot...and Staples, here we come! Whoo hoo! (Groan...)