Time Warp!

So I’ve just gotten back from Ft Worth, Texas.  Brendon, his friends Erik and Mary, and I went down there  to go see the Rocky Horror Picture Show with the shadow cast of Los Bastardos. We had such a great time! We left at around 10am on Saturday and got down to the DFW area too early to check into our hotel.  So we took a little side trip to the Grapevine Mills Mall, where we went to GameWorks, a huge arcade and had a blast!!! Mary, Erik and Brendon preparing to play Dance Dance Revolution. All three of them had so much fun and thorough enjoyed themselves.  There are no pictures of me on this machine as I do not dance on machines while others are watching!! We all rode this one “game” which is two stories tall and as you play your chair goes up or down based upon game play. We laughed so hard and squealed as the chairs dropped.
Us two girls left the boys to play games and we went shopping. Grapevine Mills Mall is sooooo huge and we had such a great time wandering through stores and just chatting about life.
After a spending several hours at the mall we made our way over to the hotel, after receiving some GPS assistance from my phone. The DFW metro can be so crazy and if you make one wrong turn you can end up someplace you never wanted to be, QUICKLY! When we got to the hotel all four of us were ready to kick back and relax for a few. So we ordered in Pizza and Pasta from Pizza Hut and played a Steve Jackson card game called Munchkin. I think Mary and I were mostly lost during the game. The only think I really know is that Erik is a ruthless player, but Karma took a little piece of his Tushy because he LOST!!! HA!!!
We got ready and left for the Rocky Horror Picture Show around 11pm for the midnight showing at the Ridgmar Movie Tavern.
As we waited in line for the movie we met these two hysterical guys, Michael and Liam. Now Michael is a big, beautiful, black man and Liam is an adorable, little Irishman with amazing long red hair.  What an interesting pair!!! They fit quite nicely into our group and asked to join us for the movie.
Now for those that don’t really know much about the movie or the plot, the Rocky Horror Picture Show is more of an experience rather than just a movie. It began in London as a play in 1973. It grew into a movie and then into an amazing cult classic. One does not go to Rocky to watch a movie, you go to throw things or yell things at the screen, or to watch the shadow cast act out the movie in front of the screen. It’s all about audience participation and just having a great time. During the movie water guns are shot into the air, toilet paper is tossed about the theater. cards are flung with gusto, and everyone dances in the aisles! Of course, the movie is totally inappropriate but when taken with a grain of salt and in the best of attitudes it can completely be an exhilarating experience.
I began going to see Rocky as a teenager when I would spend the night with a girlfriend. Of course, my parents would never have allowed me to go to a midnight movie, especially one of this nature. But I am completely thrilled to be able to share this experience with my son. For me it’s just part of experiencing the fun in life and learning to just live beyond the “rules” just for a couple of hours. Sure I shouted some things that a son should never hear come out of a “proper” mother’s mouth. But lets face it, I’ve never been one to be “proper” or to act as expected. We all joined in the yelling, dancing, throwing and being inappropriate; and we all had such a great time! We laughed so hard that I think we all ached the next morning!
After the movie we sat in the parking lot talking with Michael and Liam and just being silly and enjoying life. We were eventually kicked out  of the parking lot and returned back to our hotel room around 3am relaxed and happy. The boys played game while Mary and I crashed! We awoke late the next morning and found our way into an IHOP. We enjoyed a full breakfast and shared tales about the movie the previous night. As we were checking out Brendon and I were being a bit silly and acted out one of the signature actions from the movie and one of the employees at IHOP immediately recognized it and asked if we had gone the previous night. This again spurred another round of how great the experience had been for all of us.
As we drove home we discussed what a wonderful weekend we had all had together and what a perfect group had gone.  We all admitted that we were taking a sense of relaxation with us that we hadn’t experienced in a long time. We then listened to several Stephen Lynch songs and the laughter started all over again.

THANK YOU

 

Brendon

Erik

and Mary!

for making this weekend so much fun for me. I am so blessed that my son has such good friends and such wonderful people in his life. Thank you for letting a such an old married woman go with you and to share this wonderful experience! You guys ROCK!

Birthday Boy

So tomorrow is Brendon’s 20th Birthday.  It’s hard to believe that August 27, 1989 2:53 am my little critter was hatched! He was a beautiful baby boy and he was a complete delight. He was born with those big brown eyes and he knows how to use them.

Brendon’s first Christmas with Papa looking on in the background.  He was such an observant baby, always wanting to take everything in.

This is his second Christmas when he was 17 months.  He was always soooo happy, he was always smiling and laughing. Even at this age he was very interested in pushing buttons. And he loved to talk on the phone. He would put the phone on his shouder and jabbering away, usually to his Aunt Ta. In the middle his Brendonese jabber you would hear him say “OK!” or he would burst out into laughter.

This is my favorite photo of Brendon.  You can just see the happiness and light in his eyes.  He has always known that he was cute and he used it to his favor when he was little!

 

He’s always been such a matter of fact child and this picture expresses that beautifully. He has always had this ability to march to the beat of his own drummer without caring what everyone else was marching to.

Brendon in his Pokemon pjs made by his Grandma. For quite sometime he would not wear pjs unless they were made by his Grandma. Brendon and my Mom are very close and I am so blessed that they have such an amazing relationship. He enjoyed spending every summer with Grandma and Papa.

It’s not a very clear picture but My Mom has spent many hours watching Brendon play video games.  It’s a pasttime they enjoy to this day! Only now they play the Wii together.

 

Brendon wanted to play the flute or the trombone (he really wanted the flute), but when he talked to the band director he was advised that with his long arms and ability to find the right pitch he was a born trombone player.

Quite like is mom, he felt the need to explore other instruments.  He went on to learn the tuba and the souzaphone.  This picture is from his freshman year at John Marshall High School in San Antonio.

 

This is a photo from his Senior year at Moore High School.

 

Once we moved to Oklahoma just after the start of his sophomore year he found this great group of friends, which he is still close to today. The photo above is Heather, Brendon, JO (Jeremy), and seated is Erik.

He’s not afraid of looking goofy! Actually he’s really good at it! He enjoys making others laugh!

I tried to teach him how to dress appropriately but apparently it didn’t stick!

If the shoe fits then wear the box on your head!

Or don a hat with ears in the middle of a restaurant.

Look at me I’m doing the graduation dance!

 

Bowling sitting down….it’s a new technique he’s perfected!

He’s the light of my life and I’m so blessed to have such a great kid! He’s a wonderful grandson to my parents, a great friend and just a fun peron to be around. He’s brought me so much joy and happiness over the years and I am looking forward to seeing what the future holds for him.  Brendon, I hope that your life is full of happiness, love, light and fun! Keep being just who you are because I love everything about you! 

Having fun

Saturday was a busy day. I got the pleasure of attending Jeremy and Kasey’s wedding.  It was a lovely ceremony and the bride looked radiant. For a young couple they are so in love and are making a great life for themselves in Virginia. However, they are missed by their friends here.
They are part of the “dumpster gang.” Brendon and his friends used to hang out under this big tree at school.  Nearby was the telephone recycling dumpster. So I jokingly called them the dumpster gang. And for the most part this clan has stayed in touch since they graduated two years ago. All of them are now making their way in life and setting out to conquer their own little corner of the world.  It’s interesting to watch these kids grow into adults and set out on their own trail.
After the wedding I had a scrapbooking party to attend! Oh what fun! Two cricuts, five women, tons of paper, glue, embellishments and lots of snacks! Although I was finished with the project I had brought with me from home, which was a beautiful black and white wedding album for the above mentioned bride and groom; I thoroughly enjoyed making a few cards and helping the other women use the cricut. It was a great time of creativity, sharing, laughing and just relaxing! Thanks Tara for opening your home for all of us. We truly appreciate it and I can’t wait for the next one!
Sunday was a very relaxing day. I really didn’t do much of anything as I am still not sleeping well and it’s wearing me thin. So I just lounged and played on the computer since Brendon had to work all day.
For dinner I took my sister to Ted’s Cafe Escondido compliments of my hubby.  Mick had taken an accounting class and Tammy acted as his tutor for the class.  This was Mick’s way of saying Thank You for all of her help with the class. Ta, we truly appreciate all you did to help Mick with his class. Great Big Thank Yous!!!
I truly enjoyed the food at Ted’s, it really it great. And their QUESO! Where we live, when I asked for a cup of queso I got a cup of grated cheese.  Mick and I really do miss great Mexican restaurants. So while there I took a mobile picture of the queso and sent it to my darling Mick and said “mmmmmm queso at Ted’s!” Then I took a picture of the grated cheddar from Ta’s fajitas and said “mmmmmm queso where we live!” Ugh! I  so miss living in the south. But it was great to get out and have a nice meal with just me and my sis. It’s hard to believe that my time here is already half gone, it’s just flying by so quickly!

Proud Momma

I am sooooo proud of my son! He traded in his 1990 Pontiac TransSport van for a new car.
For those of you that know Brendon you know that this van was appropriately dubbed the P.O.S. It is loaded with problems and parts have been replaced from the salvage yard. But Brendon never complained about driving such an atrocity. He was just grateful to have a vehicle that got him from point A to point B.
We went shopping for a new car in hopes of being able to trade in the van on the cash for clunkers program.  He was able to get $4500 out of this van!! We paid $400 for it! So it’s crazy that he was able to get that much for a trade in.  I’m not an Obama fan, but my son says, Thank You for giving him WAY more than POS was worth!
He bought a 2009 Chevy  Aveo with a sticker price of $15,000 but after trade in and discounts it was $8300. He qualified for the loan at the age of 19, without a co-signer!! I am so proud that he hasn’t let himself fall into the credit card and debt trap.  He has a great credit record and only suffers from lack of credit.

He has named her “Radio.”  He loves the movie “Radio” and we frequently quote it to each other.  Plus Radio was a little ‘special’ and so is this car as it does have some minor hail damage.  Or maybe it’s the fact that he feels ‘special’ driving it because this is the first manual transmission he’s ever driven, so we do a lot of chugging, killing the engine and barking the tires.  Plus there is the fact that Radio Flyers are red, his favorite color.

It’s a nice looking little car and I am so proud of him for being able to take on and handle this debt all by himself! He’s such a great kid, I am so blessed to say that he’s mine.   Brendon I love you great big bunches and I’m lucky to be your Mom!!!

School and Sickness

First let’s talk about yesterday. Brendon, Mom and I went to Oklahoma City Community College, OCCC, where Brendon is currently going and the University of Oklahoma, where he hopes to be going this fall. We were trying to get the details about the post 9/11 GI Bill and determine where he will be going to school this fall. We found out that he will not be able to attend school at OU this fall as he is too late to be admitted. This is quite okay, because he has one class left at OCCC before receiving his Associates degree and OU does not offer that one class. So he must spend one more semester at OCCC before transferring to OU. But he can take another class or two at OCCC which will transfer. Now in order to be eligible for the GI Bill he must be attending more than half time. Brendon thought that it would be better for him just to take the one class he needed and just pay for that class out of pocket in order to save all of the GI Bill for OU.  I couldn’t understand why he would want to pay for even one class when he could have it paid for!! So we spent quite some time arguing back and forth about this. I knew that really he was just wanting to slack for a semester and take just this one class which isn’t really even a class.  It’s more of a project that he needs to meet with his teacher once a week on but there is no class time. During this argument as to whether or not he should be taking more than this one class and utilizing the GI Bill of course, my history came up.  I had been offered a full tuition paid scholarship to the University of Central Oklahoma and I declined it in favor of getting married to his Father. Now that I am currently 40 and unemployable due to my many health concerns I don’t think I missed out on anything (not that I ever felt like missed a great opportunity by not taking the scholarship). But the fact is that I lived my life on my terms and did exactly what I pleased. However, Brendon’s situation is a bit different because he is wanting to pursue a degree. I even asked Brendon what he would advise Erik if he was the one with this opportunity. Brendon said that of course Erik should take the GI Bill and take a couple of extra classes to have his school paid for. So for the life of me I couldn’t understand why Brendon would want to do anything different than that. But the truth is that I wanted him to do it and therefore, Brendon wanted to do the exact opposite. Just because kids can be that way!!! But he went to work in the evening and came to his senses. He decided it would be for the best to take the GI Bill, have school paid for and receive a monthly stipend too! So I’m glad that he’s decided to help himself out. And it was a nice opportunity for me to really revisit that time in my life and to realize once again (20 years later) that not going to college was the right decision for me. Because right now other than a diploma on the wall, it would not be benefiting me at all.
Today, Brendon had the day off and it would have been an excellent opportunity to spend the day doing something fun with him. However, my body had other plans. I had gotten a great full night of sleep I felt great in the morning. I did enjoy a good hour of playing Wii with the boy.  But then I went to the grocery store with Mom and BOOM!!!! Migraine!! ARGH!!! But I took my meds in hopes of getting rid of it quickly. I even helped Mom make chicken soft tacos for dinner. I also secretly hoped that eating something healthy would help relieve me of my headache. I also had a soda while cooking and eating dinner because sometimes the caffeine will help ease a migraine. But no such luck. So after dinner I took another dose of meds and then a nap.  Again…..no relief! I was quite bummed because Erik called and was hoping to go out and do something fun with the two of us but I had to decline.  So the boys went bowling but not before bringing me some Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream from Braums!!! Thank you Brendon! And the ice cream was the magic ingredient to cure my headache. I had been prepared to give myself a shot in order to finally get rid of that nasty headache but the ice cream was better than a shot of Toradol. THANK GOD!!! because the ice cream felt much better than a shot did too!!!!
Brendon and I did get the application for the post 9/11 GI Bill filled out. I am so excited about being able to provide this benefit to him. He has been paying for school for 2 years now by himself. But now that he has just about received his associates degree it’s time for him to move to a four year school like OU. And I’m not really sure he could afford it even though he’s living with my parents and working full time. So by being able to have school paid for it will certainly be an excellent opportunity to give him a great start in life once school is over. 
All in all today was a mixed blessing. I was able to help my kid apply for his scholarship, we had great fun playing the Wii together, and I enjoyed helping Mom cook dinner. But the headache put a damper on the like a wet blanket all evening. But I am grateful that I was able to get out of it without taking a shot. Because I always experience drug hangover the next day. So since I’ve been home I’ve been struggling with getting my body to cooperate.I have to remind myself to just be grateful because I could have it alot worse. So tomorrow will be a better day!