Weekends to Remember

I am back to posting about once a week or less. I wish I had a good reason. I suppose I do. I don’t always have a lot to write about. Or what I’m thinking about is a difficult topic so I’m not sure how to proceed. I do best when I write in the moment- either angry or happy or fired up about some injustice. So when I’ve mulled things over for a while in my brain it takes a while to get out on paper. Plus, this time change has really messed me up. I’m ready for bed around 8 pm most nights!

Enough of my excuses! I’m going to share my past few weekends with you. It’s something, right?

If we go back to September 21st-23rd we go back to Family Weekend at my daughter’s college. My mom and I headed down there and the mobster met us.

We picked up Rock Star and took her to dinner. We didn’t go until 8 or 9 in the evening so it was a pretty short night. With my daughter there is always shopping involved but I can’t remember if we shopped that night or not.

Saturday we went to breakfast at a very crowded IHOP. We ran some errands, did a bit of shopping, and then headed over for the football game. It was a good game although our team was robbed! Bad call after bad call.

 

After the game we tried out a “historic” restaurant which ended up being a really good choice. It was far enough from the main strip that it wasn’t crowded when we got there; it did pick up quite a bit later on. It was your basic burgers and fries and ice cream place, with a few other things tossed in. It was decorated adorably! Historic signs and gas pumps all around. I’ve seen pictures of what they do around Halloween and they go all out. It was great food and a great time.

 

We ended up in Rock Star’s dorm after dinner and there was a fire alarm! How many times can you say that happens when you’re visiting your kid? And, that same evening as we were going in I was confronted by a crying a college student who asked me for a “mom hug”. So I did. I hugged her tight and told her everything would be okay.

Afterwards Rock Star asked me, “Did you know her?’ Nope. She said, “I turned back and saw someone hugging a person who looked like my mom. And then I realized it WAS my mom!”

Sunday we went out to breakfast again and ran some more errands. It’s tough not having a car on campus. We dropped her off at her dorm in the early afternoon; she had a sorority function around 3. The three of us continued to walk around campus. My mom wanted to see her old residence hall and the old gym where she took most of her classes (she was a PE major).

I almost got into a brawl with a spoiled, entitled college boy. He and his friends were on skateboards and apparently the three of us were taking up too much of the sidewalk for his liking. The mobster actually stepped off the sidewalk onto the grass and my mom got over on my side of the sidewalk but I guess it was done a little too slowly for Prince Douche. He kept talking to his friends about how awful we were for not getting over and taking up all of the sidewalk. I let his initial rant go but when he kept talking I stopped, turned around and watched him as he continued to skateboard away. At this point the mobster grabbed my hand and told me to forget about it. As he told me later, “I saw you stop and turn and I thought, ‘Oh no! What is she going to do?’”

Truthfully I wouldn’t have done much. I planned to stare him down and if he had dared to say anything else I was prepared to let loose on him. I don’t think it would have come to fisticuffs but I was prepared. I’m spunky when threatened.

Two weeks after Family Weekend was Fall Break for Rock Star. She headed home and we both went to our alma mater’s Homecoming game. She got quite the reception from her cheerleading friends. Everyone seemed really excited to see her. Our team won so that was good. I prefer winning to losing.

I took her to one of her favorite restaurants around here and made the meals she requested. My niece even came out one night because she heard I was making chicken packets.

Her visit was way too short but I’m happy I got to have lunch with her the day she left. I also sent her back to school with her Halloween care package. She had to wait until she got back but she did have it.

The following weekend I was missing my mobster so I jumped in my car after work on Friday and headed to see him! I was going to totally surprise him but I suck at surprises. I have no idea how I pulled off his surprise party or surprising him by just showing up! He only knew for a couple of days though.

I stopped about 7-8 hours into the trip and spent the night at a hotel, and then got up and made the rest of the trip. He had to work in the morning anyway so it worked out nicely. I got there and he made me breakfast. It was good. Eggs, bacon, a big cup of coffee. I’m pretty sure he included toast.

Later that day he, T, and I went to the mall to try to find a dress for T. Then we were off to a hockey game. I love me some hockey! I like it even better than football. I had a great time despite the fact that we scored two goals within less than a minute with five minutes left in the game and we STILL lost! The other team managed to tie it up and then won in overtime. It was a fantastic game regardless of the outcome. To top off our evening out we headed to Texas Roadhouse for dinner.

 

It was a quick trip. I was on the road the next day by around noon. It was still totally worth it.

The following weekend I went to the Garth Brooks’ concert. It was freezing! Literally. The concert was delayed for almost an hour because of the freezing rain we had. We walked almost a mile from where we were parked to the stadium where the concert was held- outdoors. I discovered my boots were not waterproof about a minute into our walk. On top of that we walked around the entire stadium trying to find our entrance. Then we get in and we were probably ten rows from the very top.

I admit it. I’m a seat snob. As I told someone, “I think it was Garth Brooks. I mean, it could have been anybody really. They could have just put a hat on some random guy and played the tracks. We wouldn’t have known the difference.” Seriously, we were so far up that even with the Jumbotron it was hard to see. If I can’t have at least a decent seat I would prefer not to go. I guess I figured all the seats would be good. They watch football games there, right?

Nonetheless, I was crowded into my seat like a sardine along with about 84,000 other people. It helped keep us warm, I guess. My feet were still frozen at the end of it. However, despite all the setbacks it was a good time.

He is a great performer. Honestly, after hearing all the rave reviews I was expecting a little more, but once the music started playing and the crowd got into it a good time was had by all.

The following weekend I was once again headed down to see my daughter. I left on Saturday morning since it’s only about three hours away and we didn’t need to meet until 11.

It was Ladies Weekend for her sorority so that was fun. I got to meet her big sister in the sorority, or her “big”, and her “gbig”. I also met a few of the other girls, along with their families.

We started off with a scavenger hunt downtown, finding various stores they had set up for us. Afterwards we went to lunch with her big and gbig and their families. Then we were off to the mall to try to find a dress for Initiation for Rock Star. We didn’t find one, but she did get a few other things, plus some snacks and water for her room.

 

We went to Texas Roadhouse, one of her favorite places to eat and then headed back to the hotel where we did face masks and tried to follow along to a Bob Ross painting video.

Let me tell you, it’s not as easy as he makes it look. Mine sucked! At one point I was prepared to say that Bob Ross and I were mortal enemies, but #1 he’s dead so it’s really hard to feud with him, and #2 I have finally figured out what our problem was.

We did not have the correct tools. We were using acrylic paints; he uses oils. He had already put a nice coat of titanium white on his canvas and we did not use the wet on wet technique. He uses a very large canvas and we were confined to a 9×6; it’s very difficult to give justice to majestic mountains when you have to paint them small. Plus, where will you put the trees? We also did not have a palette knife or a spray bottle. All very useful tools. It makes a huge difference. I’m willing to give it another shot with the proper supplies. In fact, Picasso wants the three of us (me, him, and the mobster) to give it a try as a fun family activity.

The next day I took my baby girl out for breakfast and then back to the mall for one last effort to find a dress. For a final fun activity we painted pottery at the local pottery place, which we discovered while we were- you guessed it- on the scavenger hunt!

That takes me up to last weekend which I spent with the mobster and which I have already detailed.

And just so Picasso isn’t left out… he got his learner’s permit back in October. He hasn’t driven at all since then but he has it. He is the polar opposite of his sister. She couldn’t wait to get behind the wheel. He’s more like, “I really need to have a tutorial before I get behind the wheel of a car.” Nonetheless, we went out to dinner to celebrate. I had been craving sushi and he indulged me.

Last night he had his fall String-Along. He looked so handsome in his suit. We went out to eat after that, too. I suggested Steak-n-Shake but he wanted Chinese. How could I say no?

 

I’ve offered to take him to see The Grinch this weekend. It’s snowing here and it has put me in the holiday spirit. He has declined, however. He told me it didn’t look like that great of a movie. Bah humbug!

Sometimes those jam packed weekends make writing a little difficult. I bring my computer with me almost all of the time but I rarely open it. I’m way too busy having fun and making memories! I’ll try to do better with updating the blog here. I do enjoy it and as I said in my very first post, the sad part about following blogs like this is that when you begin to recover most people stop writing. I don’t want to be that person. I’d like to think I still have a lot of material left!