Look, I sincerely apologize for my lack of Bloggage last week. My excuse (this time) is music class mania! I’m teaching like crazy right now. When all is said and done, I will have taught 14 classes of dinosaur music (our current theme). That’s nearly 10 straight hours of dino-music-madness! This is my really busy week with classes yesterday, tomorrow, Thursday and Friday. Yes, full-time teachers do this and WAY more ALL the time, but with two dino-namic offspring (and swim lessons, and getting to the gym, going for runs, writing, reading…oh talking to my husband)…I’m dino-pooped! (Well, not pooped out by dinosaurs, just dino-tired as opposed to dog-tired). Of all weeks to give up my daily, Diet Pepsi in the afternoon! What was I thinking?! (Well, here’s what I was thinking: I’ve decided that what with all the whacky chemicals and weirdness in soda – especially diet – I should switch to herbal tea which is obviously way better for you. Plus, I don’t really want to grow a third arm out of my stomach which may have happened had I continued my Diet Pepsi junkie habits. Ahhh, but Diet Pepsi – it’s good. It’s amazing. Wonderful Diet Pepsi goodness. It’s life-changing….wait. no. stop. That’s just the addict-withdrawals talking. Ignore!)

Aside from relinquishing my favorite beverage in the world (next to red wine and coffee, of course…I won’t be giving those up any time soon), I’ve had to make peace with the fact that my boys – not even close to teenagedom yet – are already planning their escape from living under our roof.

Matthew announced on the way to swimming last week, “When I’m a police officer when I grow up, I’ll live in a different country.”

First of all, I had to get over the shock that he’s moved on from being a fire fighter to another boyhood-dream occupation. Secondly, I demanded why he’s got to be all ‘I’m not only leaving you, Mom, I’m leaving the country!’

Matthew continued with his plans, “And I’ll have a wife. She’ll be my best friend.” [That’s pretty great, huh?] “And we’ll have five children – three boys and two girls.”

I’ll admit I got a little distraught that he’s already planning on not only moving away but he’ll be taking my grandchildren far away too. When I asked him what country he’d be living in he said, “One of the ones where it’s night time right now.” (As in, on the other side of the world). So, I listed off a few countries – and yes, very selfishly they were all mostly places in Europe that I’d like to visit. When I listed England, he jumped on it. “Yeah! That’s where they talk the same way we do, right? In English? I’ll live there!” Apparently, he’s opposed to learning a second language.

After I complained for a bit about how he’d be so far away and Mike and I wouldn’t get to see him, his wife/best friend and our grandchildren very much, Matthew promised that they’d come visit a lot in this way: “We’ll drive our car on to a jet – a jet that can have one car on it. And we’ll come visit.” Excellent! At least it sounds like financially our eldest may be able to take care of us in our old age. I don’t know how much police officers get paid in England, but it sounds like quite the lucrative career.