A Couple of Days in the Life of the Silly Old Woman who Loves Her Children Anyway

I don't really think anyone reads my blog, but it is a good way for me to kind of keep a journal so I am going to write it anyway. As I mentioned before, we sold Mom's house and we found notes she had written on calendars, in checkbooks, on the backs of grocery receipts, and actually in journals. Much of what she wrote is records of phone calls from her daughters and rememberings of Dean coming to watch a ballgame with Dad. Some are reminders of birthdays and anniversaries, bills to pay or appointments to keep. But some of her entries are revealing secrets that I didn't know about my mother. I am saving these for another time, though. But finding them has made me think that maybe recording the goings-on of everyday life is important. I love reminicing with my mother's writing so here goes with some of my daily happenings for anyone who may be interested.

I have four children--3 boys and 1 girl. My fourth child was born almost ten years after his closest brother so he is kind of the second family. Nonetheless, he and his brother are very close. They fight the best, laugh the best and hangout on the desert or in the mountains the best. K.C and Brian (except for their sweethearts) are best friends. They also abuse their mother the best. The whole thing started early 2 April 2009. I teach school at Mountain Crest High School in Hyrum, Utah. My contract time begins at 7:10 a.m. and I make it to school on or before then (most mornings) and begin my day by turning on my computer and checking my email. As usual, I arrived in my classroom (218), took off my coat, turned on my computer then delivered my lunch to the refrigerator in the faculty room while my computer booted for the tasks of the day--reading and answering my email, taking roll, entering grades, and shopping for an affordable airline fare to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in June (again another story.) When I got back to my classroom and opened my email, first to catch my eye was a mail from Brian--my third child who lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado and whom I do not see very often. I'm always thrilled when I get something from one of my kids, but I exercised much discipline and saved it for last. After a mail from the vice-principal about what a terrible job we did with our practice disaster drill, one from Dover Books trying to sell me cheap paperbacks, one from CEA updating me on the pay cut I will have to take for next year, and one telling me I could earn up to $20,000 a day if only I would send just $29.95 for my free CD, I took a deep breath and opened my letter (I use this term loosely because no one really writes letters anymore) from Brian--my third child who has a warped sense of humor. It read something like

Everyone;

Congratulations, Doug on the new baby. (Doug is my first child who lives in Smithfield which is very close to Hyrum, but I don't really see him anymore than I do Brian who lives in Colorado Springs.) Then he went on to write--I don't know what to do! I just talked to K.C. He is thinks that Andrea (his sweetheart who is one of the most kind, beautiful, sensitive, thoughtful, young women I have ever met [and I have met a lot of them because, as you remember, I am a school teacher]) is pregnant and they don't think it is his (K.C's). (Another digression--now K.C hasn't always had the best of luck with women in his life, but we all thought that Andrea was the one for him. Like I said before, she is one of the sweetest, kindest, most sensitive and beautiful young woman I know, and I know a lot of them.) First I got so ticked off at K.C for losing her that I wanted to disown him, but Brian--my third son who believes himself to be the great comedian of the universe (he is also an amazing father of three more amazing children) went on to write that he was afraid that K.C--my youngest child whose sweetheart is one of the sweetest, kindest, smartest, most beautiful young women that I know--would run off and do something stupid like join the Peace Corp (which I don't believe is a stupid thing--that's just what Brian--my third child who has no conscience about abusing his mother--said) or get a job out of state (Huh? this comes from Brian--my third son who thinks he has an amazing sense of humor, is an amazing comedian, abuses his mother and, by the way, lives out of state, as I mentioned before.)

I paniced. My 1st hour students began taking their places at various postions around my classroom (218). What was I going to do? I had to teach, but I had to recuse my youngest child, (K.C who hasn't always had the best experiences with the women in his life but has Andrea--one of the most --well you know) from himself. I decided that I would go get him right after lunch and insist that he come and live with Tim and me. He could have his old room back (Tim just refinished it) and I would leave him alone--no nagging about chores, no nagging about school, no nagging about the fact that he hasn't had the best luck with the women in his life (except the sweet, sensitive, smart and amazing Andrea [who I now believed is carrying another man's child.]) (Sorry, Andy, I don't have any pictures of you on my computer and I don't know how to get one off my cool picture thing that you gave me for Christmas.)

At Cache Count School District, when a teacher needs a substitute, even if she has no more leave because she used it all being a wonderful daughter who never abuses her mother decided to take the rest of the day off anyway. She started using the computer to get a substitute for her remaining classes of the day so she can rescue her youngest son from himself. But one last email must be written to Brian--her third child whom she loves dearly anyway--to find out why K.C--her youngest child whom she also loves dearly thinks that the baby is not his. By the way, her daughter Leslie had no part is the whole thing because she rarely abuses her mother except the time she failed to tell her she was going to NYC for the weekend (maybe.) (This is a picture of Leslie's legs and feet--actually it is a picture of William--her youngest son who will never abuse his mother.)

A reply!?! It went something like this:

APRIL FOOL, MOM!