Mother of the year, right here.

You all probably know that I'm not much of a drinker. I don't like the feeling of not being in control of myself...or the sneaking suspicion that someone is going to "need" me for something and I won't be able to take care of it. Plus, I'm not a big drinker of any liquid. I get too full. So, I can never seem to drink enough to get drunk. I'm always the one in any group who is "the lightweight" or the "tea-totaler".
Anyway, Friday after work a bunch of us went out. We went to a little bar that's about two miles from my house. Jay was in Philly and Braden was at work at Dorney Park. Keith...well, he was around but going out later. Soooo, we're at the bar for a couple of hours and I had four mugs of beer. Very unusual for me, and I was feeling pretty good. We were having a great time...talking, laughing, etc.
So, anyway, I come home and walk in the door to an empty house. My first thought is I'm going to go right to bed in the quiet. Well, my phone rings, it says it's Braden. "Hello," I say. "Hi, this is Melinda from Dorney Park First Aid" "Yeah?" I say. "We have Braden here. He says he hasn't eaten in 24 hours, and that he's feeling light headed and has chest pains." "Chest pains," I ask? "Anytime there's chest pains involved, we recommend a trip to the hospital. Can you come and pick him up and take him to the ER?" Now, Dorney park is about 45 minutes from here. I reply, "this is going to sound really awful, but I went out after work and had a couple of drinks. I really shouldn't drive to Allentown, and my husband isn't home." In a somewhat critical voice she says, "Ok. We'll call an ambulance." "How is he now? Chest pains, really?" She says he says he feels better but he has to go to the hospital before he can come back to work the next day. "Tell him I'll call my husband and we'll meet him at the hospital."
So I call Keith....at a bar, and tell him to come home so we can go. I feel embarrassed, and like the worst mother ever. But at the same time, I know how Braden is and he can be a bit of an "overstater", so I truly doubt there's anything wrong with him. We get to the hospital to see Braden, in a hospital bed, eating a turkey hoagie, laughing with the nurses and the guy from the park that went with him. I wanted to strangle him. Turns out everything was fine, but I had to admit to someone I wasn't in control enough to drive my son to the hospital, and answer questions about why he didn't eat for 24 hours. (he had dinner the night before....what am I supposed to do follow him to school to make sure he eats his lunch?).
Plus, he really ruined by buzz.

Rapture = good weekend???

I've just had a great weekend. Braden had prom on Friday night. I had bookgroup. Joe, Renee and Brighton were here for the weekend. Last night I went to the college graduation party for the daughter of one of my bookgroup friends. I took Renee and Brighton with me, and he was so cute, "performing" for all the people there. It was such a nice time, sitting around talking with a bunch of women I have a lot in commonn with (well, except for the fact that they all have wildly successful children, and I have children that are getting by). But, other than the all-these-colleges-are-vying-for-my-children-stories, it was wonderful! Plus I saw a friend that I used to work with that I haven't seen in years, and it was like we hadn't missed a beat. I had a great time!

Today, I'm going grocery shopping, doing laundry and planning on spending some time reading, in the sun of course. Also, I'm going to plant the vegetable garden and weed my periannual garden.

For those of you who asked, here's a picture of my tattoo. It was taken right after I had it done. It's "calmed down" a lot since then.

Prom and Ink

This week has calmed down a little. Nothing new has happened, thank God. Braden's attitude is improving a bit as he slowly realizes he's the one that did something wrong, not me. JJ found someone to buy his car so he can put the money toward his brother's lawyer. No one has heard a word from Gio.

Last night was Afro's daughter's prom. She's only a freshman, but was invited by a junior. Here's a picture of the two of them before the prom:

Oh....I finally did something I've been wanting to do for years. And years. I got a tattoo. It's on the inside of my right wrist and it says "breathe". I love it. For at least ten years I've wanted one, but always chickened out because of the pain involved. Plus, I was never really sure what I wanted, or where I wanted it. But, I finally decided, then all I had to do was overcome the fear part. Braden and a coworker "you won't - ed" me into getting it. Now I have it. I love it! I'm kind of proud of myself.

Duh, Losing

Well, what a great freaking week it's been. (Tons of sarcasm there, if you couldn't tell)

First of all, JJ's brother was arrested for arguing in a WaWa with his girlfriend...then the cops proceeded to beat the living daylights out of him in the paddy wagon...I know it sounds very Rodney King-ish, but it's true. Two broken wrists, stitches in his head. And the cops kept saying to him, "No judge will believe you." Andrew has been here many, many times. He's a good guy. And JJ is a wreck over it.

Next up on my plate of misfortune. Gio's P.O. took away his home visits. Not because of anything he did, but because it's a really bad, crime-ridden area where he's from and she doesn't want him there. This happened three or four weeks ago. Since then, he's become miserable. Stays in his room, hardly talks to us, refuses to do any work at school, etc. Last Saturday, Keith and I ran to the store after dinner and when we came home, my car was gone and so was Gio. He (keep in mind he's 15 and doesn't have a license) took it and drove to Easton. Hung out over night then took a bus to Philly. We recovered my car...minor damage, but not Gio.

Now for the last part of this trifecta of shit....Tuesday night, I caught Braden sitting in his car, in the driveway rolling a joint. This isn't the first time he's been caught smoking. He told me he'd stop. He's knows, beyond a shadow of a doubt, how I feel about pot. After seeing everything Renee went through, you'd think he'd steer clear. Anyway....I told him that if he was going to continue to smoke, he was going to have to go stay somewhere else. So....the next day I get a call from his principal. He got into a fight at lunch time and was being suspended for five days. But, while the principal was talking to him about the fight, Braden told him that I kicked him out of the house for smoking pot. Wonderful. Let's bring the school into this. So, Braden's been miserable around here....and as you might recall from his youth....when Braden's miserable, everyone's miserable.

I quit.