Just a musing

I was getting dressed this morning and looking at myself in the mirror and I was thinkingf, "If there was a way to go back in time and not eat all the cheeseburgers that I have consumed in the last 20 years I would look better for my 25 year high school reunion.  But I would be so miserable that I probably wouldn't attend."  

Very little is more therapeutic than a really good cheeseburger.

Teenage defiance

Yesterday I experienced yet another first with Amanda.  This is how it went down.  We had just finished lunch and Amanda went and sat on the couch and I went to my bedroom.  From the living room I heard Amanda ask for a pudding cup and I said, "No."

This was not the answer she wanted and she said, "Come on Dad."  And again I said no.

I promise, not a minute later I walked into the kitchen and I catch Amanda putting a spoon in the sink and holding an empty pudding cup.  Her answer was, "Uh oh.  Don't tell Mama."

I said, "Mama isn't the one who told you no, I was."

Amanda kind of laughed and said, "Not scared of you."

A Good Day

Amanda comes to work with me most every morning during the summer.  It's a practice that started some years ago and one that doesn't look likely to change anytime soon.  Especially now that she helps so much.

Every morning she helps me straighten my office up from the day before because I don't bother doing it before I leave because I know we'll handle it in the A.M..  Then she helps my mother and sister sort the mail.  Then she helps either accounting or order entry/reception.  That is, unless she wants to sit in with her BFF Heather and just gossip.

Today was an interesting day because after she helped me with my office she realized my mother and sister weren't coming in and Heather wasn't here.  So she simply helped take papers back in forth between order entry and the receptionist.  A few minutes before it was time to leave for lunch I went down stairs and heard her talking to a freight salesmen.  Amanda walked up to him and explained that she worked at JCM, gave him her business card and talked about the convention we just returned from.  The receptionist asked Amanda where the convention is going to be next year and Amanda accurately informed her that it would be in Denver.

The thing that I loved about this three minute exchange was Amanda prompted it all and said things in a way that was more mature than just a few weeks ago.  The interaction she gets with the adults in my office is the best therapy she could have and I know I am blessed to be in such a situation to provide it for her.

The school year ended more than a month ago and all I can say about Amanda's 7th grade year was she got her money's worth.  She matured so much in the new environment that it is nearly impossible to list all of her new abilities so I won't really try.  What I will say is this, she has become the most delightful person I have ever been around in my life.  She is considerate and animated.  She is loving and animated.  She has become quite the conversationalist and did I mention ANIMATED?

By animated I mean this little person is aware of what she is doing and is going for maximum effect.

Like today, she told somebody at my office, "Texas Rangers won last night."  He replied, "No they didn't, they lost in extra innings."  Amanda threw her arms in the air and said, "You asked the wrong person."  He said, "I didn't ask you, you just told me."  Her final reply, "Don't even start it."

Last week in the pool I had the fountain turned on for the first time.  It's a basically a sprinkler that throws an arc of water.  It can be adjusted so that it shoots high across the pool and and rains down.  Our entire time in the pool I had it on a low setting and Amanda simply stayed under the falling water for thirty minutes or so.  When it was time to get out of the pool I set the fountain on the higher setting so it would cool the water that will otherwise boil.  Amanda sees the water raining down and yells, "Hold on a minute!!!"  She then swims out to the middle of the pool and floats on her back for about five minutes and says, "Oh Yeah!!!  That's the stuff!"

And finally, Monday night we had three kids over while their parents went out for the evening.  The six year old girl is precious but the two year old is well, well she is two so she is pretty much like a badger with rabies.  The three are in Amanda's room with the door closed and they are laughing and playing.  The kids parents show up and I'm talking to the dad and now the sound from Amanda's room is akin to the monkey cage at feeding time.  The six year old comes out and tells her daddy that the two year is about to tell on her but she only did what she did because the little badger was being mean to Amanda.  The daddy tells the two year old to come out of Amanda's room.  As the child leaves you hear Amanda exclaim, "OH THANK GOD!!!"

And that is what I say too.  Amanda has surpassed what I have ever dared thought possible and she is only fourteen.  These next few years are going to be awesome.