They are back

The children returned home. I asked what their favorite moments were on the trip. Unanomously, they all said playing in the snow. They had been to Hood River and to a resort at the coast. Hood river won hands down. In an old decrepid barn full of rats they had gone hunting with a pellet gun, under adult supervision of course.



Trevor told me they climbed on the roof of the house and used the roof as a giant slide. Riley did not participate in this activity. I know the house. The back side butts up against a hill. It would make a fun slide. There is a small three foot drop at the end. it is just enough to give a thrill without giving the parents a heart attack. There is a drop on the other side of the house of 20 feet, but Trevor said they stayed away from that edge.

I remember climbing on the roof of my Grandmother's beach house at Sand Pines. You could climb up the wood pile and reach the roof. Tom tells me of swimming through the fish ladders at Detroit lake as a teen. My Mom told me of jumping off the gates at Bonniville Dam, way back when she was a teen. Its what they do, challenge themselves, get a little excitement. I know they wont be extreme sports participants. They were just looking for something to do with a little edginess. Sounds like fun. I would probably want to try it myself if I wasn't so old with bad knees.

They headed to the beach after a day of playing in the snow. This is the destination where in their own words "The event" happens. This hotel has an outdoor pool they keep heated. At this time of year the cold air creates a deep fog on the pool. Trevor has been swimming. His eyes are blood shot and tired. They are playing some game and swimming fast. He bumps into someone in the pool. All he does is brush her breasts accidentally in the water. That is all it takes. He backs off quickly, swimming away to his friends where he proceeds to tell them about the hot babe in the water he accidentally touched her breasts. His friend looks over at the woman, "Dude thats my mom".



What better compliment can a woman of five children, over the age of fifty, receive than being mistaken in the fog by a young teen as a "hot babe". Everyone laughed and it became known as "The event" .

The boys ran into another friend's daughter at the resort. Riley heard she was in the building and ran down to say hi. That is all he said, I understand. She is now a beautiful teen. Riley stands there looking at her, completely tongue tied. He ends up retreating back to his room for more video games, unable to carry on a conversation with his old friend who is now a beautiful teen. I know he will eventually learn to talk to girls, but at the moment he has reached that time where boys are boys and girls are girls. They don't play together. I guess the next faze is dating and I can put that off a long time.

I have been wrapping packages like crazy. I think that we now have a satisfying number without breaking the bank. Tom will shop on Christmas eve as usual. It is his tradition. He knocks it all out in four or five hours, what takes the rest of us weeks to accomplish.



I was putting names on the packages. I find labeling Tom's packages difficult. I don't call him Tom. I have never found that name fits him. He has always gone by our last name. We were introduced by his friends who all call each other by nicknames. It was easy to pick up the same habit. Now it just doesn't seem right when I use the name Tom.

It is such a normal and common name. Tom is a much richer and deeper person than his name. He needs a name more unique than Tom. Sometimes I can think of a few names to call him when I am not so happy with him, but right now I am really excited about the gifts I am giving him.

I spent a lot of time searching for books he would find interesting. He is a copious reader. My job is to find books he would not normally pick himself, yet still find interesting. Unique and different. I am really proud of my choices this year. Everything from a history book to a biography to a few fictions and award winners. He will love them all. I used Barns and Noble's web to find award winners. Then I spent hours at a book store thumbing through titles.
It is a Shirley thing to give books. My Dad was really big on giving books. He loved to stimulate the mind. He would be smiling and pleased to see the stack of books I was gifting.