My tribute to our son, Michael....

So I thought I should write a little tribute to my son Michael because its been a Jennifer overload on my blog. Michael said it's all I can think of this summer.  I did write the story of Bev's Best April Fools Day, 1993 (http://bev-benyamin.blogspot.com/2011/04/my-best-april-fools-day-ever.html) when I found out I was pregnant with him, but that's about it.

So this ones for you Michael! 

Jennifer has always been the straight A, creative, gifted student and Michael is the natural born athlete and musician, just like his father.

One of the things that amazed me about Lorens when we were dating is that he was good at every sport he's ever tried.  I realized that it must be natural born talent when Michael showed signs at an early age of being just like his dad.  When Michael was like 5, he would spend hours shooting hoops in our driveway.  He was on the basketball teams in grammar school.  When he was going into 6th grade, we moved to Manhattan...Kansas that is.  He won the Little Apple Optimist Club's Annual Hoop, Holler & Shoot  free throw contest for his school.  He was only 11 years old and he made 8 out of 10 baskets from the free throw line, breaking a 23 year old school record.  The winner from each of the 10 area schools got to be in the Free Throw Championship during halftime at the televised Kansas State University vs. Texas basketball game at KSU in December, 2005.  He made 7 out of 10 baskets that night and was given an autographed T-Shirt and an award.  He was one of 10 kids that made it to the Championship out of about 800 that tried.  Its a really big deal for these kids.
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This was an article about the contest last year....

Kansas State Collegian > 

Elementary students to compete in free-throw contest at K-State games

By Tiffany Roney

senior staff writer

Students who like to hoot and holler from the stands of Bramlage Coliseum have the opportunity to cheer on not only the Wildcats, but also some half-pint players, when fifth- and sixth-grade athletes compete during the game tonight.  This competition is part of the Little Apple Optimist Club's "Hoop, Holler ‘N Shoot," an annual free-throw shooting contest.  Thad Hall, chairman on the "Hoop, Holler ‘N Shoot" committee for the Optimist Club, said 838 Manhattan area kids participated in the event this year.   "A huge number of kids participated, so it's a big honor for these kids to make it to the Bramlage shoot," Hall said.

Prizes for the winners include a $100 grant to the classroom of the first-place boy and first-place girl, scholarships to basketball camps, plaques, autographed T-shirts, K-State merchandise, fast food coupons and more.  Hall said the participants show a healthy level of sports-style pride in representing their grade schools. He pointed out many K-State students are probably graduates of the schools represented.

"There will possibly be future K-State students shooting at this event, so it's always good to support our local kids," Hall said. "It's a good event for our community, and I think it's a fun event for the kids as well."  Tipoff time for all games is 7 p.m., and all "Hoop, Holler ‘N Shoot" contests are during the halftimes of their respective university games.  The event is sponsored by K-State Athletics; The Manhattan-Ogden Public Schools U.S.D. 383; local radio stations 97.5 Power Hits, Q 103.5 and 1420 "Talk of JC" KJCK; Kansas State Bank and McDonald's.

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We moved back to the Chicago area after the school year when my husband lost his job.  Mike was on his middle school basketball team both years.  When Mike started high school, he wanted to try organized football.  He never played football before high school.  This video below is of his first game quarterbacking in 2009 as a H.S. Sophomore.  He completed a 50+ yard pass within the first 10 seconds of this video.  At 50 seconds into this video, Mike makes another long completion (my favorite one).  At about 58 seconds into this video, I'm the nut in the white shirt, galloping sideways down the sidelines, arms waving for the receiver to keep running.  Then I try to compose myself so I'm clapping.  

Michael was Jr. Varsity, #17, in 2009, Quarterback
Willowbrook Warriors
"Silver & Blue, Through & Through"

He threw for over 300 yards this game but his favorite part was the quarterback sneak for 2 points at about 1:50 into this video.  His coach told Mike after this game that Mike was his fantasy football player of the week.

He was on the football and tennis team for 3 years.  But this year, his senior year, while he loves football, he's decided not to be on the football team.  His grades were really bad last year and we encouraged him to make some tough choices.  If he wants to go to college and have 1/2 a chance in life, he's going to have to concentrate on his school work this year and get his test scores up.  

He had to make a decision about giving up some extra curricular activities.  He surprised us when he said he'd give up football.  He said tennis is his favorite sport and what he wants to do in life (well besides girls and his garage band).  He never played tennis once before high school either.  I never would have thought of him as a tennis player.  But he's so quick and so tall, (already 6'3" and still growing).  He's got a long reach with his long arms and so not much gets past him.  Turns out, he's perfect for tennis.  He wears a size 18 shoe (so far, he's still growing) so its been tough finding him good tennis shoes unless they're online.

His tennis coach has been working with him and clocked Michael's powerful serve at 80 mph.  He said Michael could make it to the State Championship this year if he keeps at it.  He said Mike could possibly get a Tennis Scholarship like he did if Michael concentrates and devotes himself to tennis this entire year.  There will be a lot of colleges watching. 

One of Michael's favorite players is the tennis great Andre Agassi.  Agassi's father was in the Olympics for Boxing twice and is an Assyrian from Iran just like Michael's dad.  So Michael is 1/2 Assyrian just like Andre.  Michael also refuses to cut his hair.

Below is a picture of Michael last year as a Junior at the Willowbrook Varsity Tennis Invitational.  There were 56 players from 8 high schools competing in the tournament.  MICHAEL WON 2ND PLACE.

There are preseason football games starting and I already miss being a football mom.  I can still go cheer on the team and help sell refreshments but it won't be the same.  Then again, my heart was in my throat watching Michael get hit, so maybe I'll enjoy the games even more.  And in the end, its exactly what needed to happen.  He has more time to work on his grades and tennis.  If you ask him, he's got more time to work on girls, his song writing, guitar and drum playing with his friends.  They got some studio time last week and he said it was heaven.  He is thinking he'll be a professional athlete or a famous rock musician.  I don't want to be the one to crush his dreams but I did let him know the odds are against him.  I told him, you need a back up plan Michael, like a college degree. 

Lorens reminds me that Michael IS a gifted musician, showing signs ever since we got a piano when he was 2 years old.  If he heard you play something, he could play it.  Lorens was upset I lost the guitar tuner the other day.  Mike said, "dad, don't worry about it, I'M YOUR TUNER".   And he tuned it perfectly by ear.  He plays guitar at school and will be playing in the guitar ensemble on stage this year.  He spends hours each day on Tux Guitar online writing music that he then plays for us.

BOTH of my kids are awesome in their own, unique ways.  

Even though I'm not a football mom this year,
I AM A LUCKY MOM 
TO HAVE MICHAEL AS MY SON.

Michael,  Homecoming, 2010

2010, Michael was Varsity, #16, Tight End

f

Bev's week from hell/my nest is full again.

So, how was your week?

This was our week over here at Bad Luck Central:

My daughter started and ended college this week and was in an Earthquake, and a Hurricane.  I was a Full-time Day Care Provider for a teething 2 year old during a Chicago heat wave with my thermostat stuck on heat and set to 90.  I was a  mentor to my son on his bad, first day back at school.  I was the driver of my injured husband to the new Hospital, which, of course, was on fire & I failed my CDL tests.  

So I haven't written in a few weeks because its been a stressful time, lots of tears, not much to laugh at.  My daughter made it into the college of choice but I didn't know how we would get her to D.C.  I figured, maybe if she's away from us she'll be spared the family curse that seems to be upon us.  I WAS WRONG.

Wednesday was so stressful, that as I was dropping off my husband at the Emergency room at 8pm, I shouted into the sky, "IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE THAT CAN POSSIBLY GO WRONG TODAY?"  Big mistake.  By 10:00 pm, the fire in the hospital had been contained and I started to laugh as I thought about this week, it had been a total Bev/Lucy bad luck week.  Maybe I should start from the beginning....

MONDAY, 8/22/2011:
Monday, my husband and our daughter flew to D.C. so she could start college at one of the most expensive private colleges in the U.S.  Even though we're poor, she's extremely talented and gifted and was awarded almost $45K in scholarships to attend so we thought she could go.  The airline tickets were made possible thanks to our niece Aimee.  She used her airline miles from her new job in Texas to get two tickets.   When Lorens got back from D.C. Monday night, we started looking for smaller apartments so we could send Jen spending money each month.

TUESDAY, 8/23/2011, THE EARTHQUAKE:
The next day, Tuesday, less than 24 hours after she arrived in D.C., I was watching T.V. and they interrupted  for a special announcement.  The largest EARTHQUAKE to hit D.C. in over a hundred years had just struck.

I was shaking as I dialed her cell number.  I got a constant busy signal.  I was hysterical until I finally got through to her an hour later.  She said she was in her dorm room when the earthquake hit.  She's OK, just a little shaken, they evacuated the college and they were all standing outside.  I was way more freaked out than her.

Being the major smart ass that she is, and trying to make light of it so I wouldn't worry, she said, "Don't worry mom, the hurricane will put out any fires from the earthquake."  

I said, "HURRICANE?!!!"

That's the first time I had heard about the 2nd disaster 
that was about to hit D.C. this week, Hurricane Irene. 

That was my Tuesday.

WEDNESDAY, 8/24/2011:
I had to babysit our terrible two Grandniece Grandniece and their dog, and agreed to babysit them as long as necessary.  The 2 year old is getting her molars in and it was very hard to make her happy.  I'm usually funny, silly, Auntie Bev to her, but nothing was working this morning.  I was stressed out, tired and feeling way older than 45, running after her all day.  Lorens promised me he'd be home by 5pm to take over for me until she fell asleep.  She was like a terrible 2 on steroids over tired.

Then the phone rang.  It was my daughter, crying, "Mom, I'm not going to college here anymore, please get me home NOW!"  She talked to financial aid, bottom line, it will be 4 times greater out of pocket than what her award letter indicated for her to attend this University.  Turns out it's about the 8th most expensive University there is, and we're poor.  And Jennifer doesn't want thousands of dollars in student loans when she finishes college, not that we could ever get them.

I was still on the phone with Jen.  My mouth was hanging open but I didn't know what to say.  My head was spinning with the thoughts I had only a few days ago, that my child had made it out, she was getting away from this life.  Now those hopes and dreams were fading away, all in a phone call, it was over, she was coming back to this life, back to nothing.  

Just then, Michael walked in the door and slammed his books down and went up to his room.  He said he had a bad 1st day back at school.

So, hoping Jen wouldn't hear the tears in my voice, trying to hold it together for 1 more minute, I told Jen I needed to call her back.  I was having major family drama at home today on all fronts and needed 10 minutes to gather my thoughts and call her back.  She asked if she could come home before Irene.  Oh yeah, I had almost forgotten about Irene.  

You know Irene, she's the 
CATEGORY 3 HURRICANE
 that is expected to hit D.C. on Saturday.

My daughter goes to D.C. for less than week 
and she is going to experience 
an Earthquake and a Hurricane?  
Oh yes, she's definitely Bev's/Lucy's daughter.

I finished giving my Grandniece her bath, turned off the chicken/oven, dressed her and laid down with her in my daughters room.

I was quietly crying, looking around at all Jen's awards.  Years of working towards making something of herself, to get out, to get away.  Now I knew she's not going to go to this University, which accepted her, her #1 choice for years, something she's worked towards her entire life.  Pondering my next move, I wiped away my tears, still feeling guilty because I didn't have the time or money for either of my kids at that moment.  

But the baby wouldn't fall asleep, it was too hot.  I had to get up and deal with it.  Why was it so friggin hot?  Then I remembered I caught the little ninja my Grandniece, an hour ago, standing on the stairs, next to the thermostat (to reach the top of the fish tank) pouring the entire open bottle of fish flakes in. There was fish food EVERYWHERE, and it smelled like dead fish in my house.  Lorens hates fish and I haven't cooked it in the house in 20 years, unless I'm mad at him.  He's not going to be happy when he gets home.  OH WELL.  I could see she had actually pushed the lever DOWN to "HEAT" and the little lever had snapped off.  It was set to 90.  No wonder it felt like heat was coming out of the vents, IT WAS!  I used a pen to snap the broken lever back up to A/C and turned the temperature down to 72.

HEAT MYSTERY SOLVED.

With the A/C now on, my Grandniece FINALLY fell asleep and I went upstairs, checked on Mike, tried to give him words of comfort and wisdom and then I called Jen back.

Jen was over the initial shock and tears, so was I.  She said, "Mom, I can get a degree in Anthropology at a school in the Chicago area, I'll be able to volunteer in the inner city and just live at home.  There are great colleges in Chicago.  A college education is a college education.  I'll be fine."  

The baby woke up 20 minutes later when the doorbell rang and the 3 dogs started barking like a pack of wolves.  Just enough of a nap to make her more cranky, great.  I was ready to kill whoever just rang the doorbell.  It was Lorens.  I opened the door, wondering why he didn't use his key.  He said he got hurt helping his friend.  I thought, yeah right, likely story.  It was probably just an excuse to get out of babysitting.

I thought,  I'm going to do a hand off with her like a professional football player and run for my room.  So I gave him 2 Tylenol P.M.s.  Then I said "here you go!", and I put her down like I had dreamed of for the last few hours, hand off complete.   He said "Bev, I can't move my hand or shoulder!"  I said "OK, GOODNIGHT," and ran upstairs.  Bad wife, I know, but I really, really needed a few minutes alone.  So after a 5 minute break upstairs I was calm and already feeling guilty.  So I came downstairs thinking, we'll just tag team with the baby the rest of the night.  Lorens was gagging from the smell of fish, giving me a dirty look, assuming I had cooked some.  He said "drive me to the hospital right now or call an ambulance."  I looked at him, his hand and shoulder were swollen to twice their normal size.  So, OK, I guess he wasn't faking.  I felt dizzy myself, my high blood pressure was probably through the roof by now.  Maybe the hospital was a good idea.

But I didn't have a car seat for the baby and our Niece was already at work.  I finally got a hold of her fiance' to come pick up his daughter, told him I had an emergency.  They weren't the only ones with drama today.  He was 5 minutes away and came over to get her, 14 hours after we picked her up.  That was the best part of my day.

I rushed Lorens to the emergency room and went to park the car.  I parked and just sat there for a minute, cried a little more and shouted into the sky, "IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE THAT CAN POSSIBLY GO WRONG TODAY?"  Then I went inside.  When I asked why there was such limited seating, they said it was because they had so many exam rooms in this new E.R., more seating was unnecessary.  They were wrong.

During hour 2 in the supposedly "new and improved" waiting room, with nowhere to sit, I thought, once again, can this day possibly get any worse?  JUST THEN, the lights all started flashing, and an alarm was going off and on.  Then an automated voice came over the intercom "CODE RED, CODE RED, CODE RED".  And I thought, Lucy, what have you done now!!!  You should have kept quiet and stayed in the damn car.  

So I went up to the receptionist and said, "Is there a fire?"  She said "Yes there is", as if she was saying have a nice day, and went back to her work, she was going to leave it at that.  I said, "Soooooo,  should we evacuate the hospital?" as all the lights were still flashing.  She said, "No, they're working on containing it, just don't open any doors."  GREAT.   The automated lady on the intercom  made an all clear announcement about 15 minutes later.  By that time I felt a migraine coming on from the flashing lights.  Lorens said he'd had enough of this "new and improved" E.R.  He said the Tylenol P.M's were starting to work and he just wanted to go home and go to bed.  He woke up every 2 hours in pain which means so did I.

THURSDAY, 8/25/2011:

I spent Thursday figuring out how I was going to get Jen and all her stuff home in the next 48 hours before Hurricane Irene.  I swallowed what was left of my pride and borrowed money for a train ticket and to ship her belongings home.  Hurricane Irene is scheduled to hit D.C. on Saturday afternoon, right after Jen's train is scheduled to leave with 100mph winds pushing it towards Chicago.  Great.

Then our other niece (the mother of the 2 year old) called and said I may need to babysit her daughter full-time, 5pm-1am, second shift.  I held back the urge to scream and laugh like a crazy woman and said as calmly as possible, "Sorry, no freakin way.  The starting time for my new job is 6am."  Now she's mad at me.  She can join the club.  I really hope I get the job tomorrow, knowing my new, other option, is watching a 2 year old full time.

FRIDAY, 8/26/2011:

Well, its currently Thursday night, 10 minutes to midnight in Chicago, so by the time I post this it will be Friday.   I was offered a job as a school bus driver if I can pass the CDL test.  I have my truck driving test at 7am.  I had planned on studying all this week, and then all of this happened.  I'm afraid of all the things that could go wrong with me driving a 40 foot, 2 ton vehicle.  I don't want to have to add anything else to this week from hell post.  I need to go to sleep.  Goodnight.

UPDATE:  IT'S FRIDAY AFTERNOON:  I thought I had studied enough for my 3 tests.  On the way there, I was pretty confident I would pass....UNTIL I GOT THERE AND FAILED.  You get 3 chances.  On my second attempt, they were all new questions, luckily the ones that I had studied, and I passed with flying colors.  I got my CDL permit and I start work on Monday at 6am, training behind the wheel.

Nothing catastrophic happened to any of us.  Maybe this week of bad luck is over.  I got home and checked my e-mail, I have some new followers on Twitter, a screenwriter and publisher from L.A, Lawry's Steakhouse in Chicago (Yummy) AND BEST OF ALL, an anchor woman from CNN!!!  Maybe someone will say, hey, I know someone that can help this chick get published.  Where's some wood, I need to knock on it, quick, because I still have my nieces damn dog and Michael came home sick from school today.

And my daughter made it home, safe and sound.  The earthquake and hurricane only caused minor damage.  She may not be at American, Princeton, Stanford or Yale like a few others in her graduating class, but the students that were, along with her entire senior class, voted HER "Most likely to rule the world".   She was also voted Best Actress, starred in the Improv Troupe and Speech Team, winning 1st place and the most points ever earned in speech team.  She is in the National Honor Society, has won countless ribbons and trophies, broken records, and is a gifted writer and a natural comedian.  She was accepted into several top universities, but now,  it's to late to start anywhere else this semester.  She will start community college in Chicago in January.  She's saving up to go to Kenya for 2 weeks next summer to volunteer in an orphanage through Daniel Radcliff's (actor who plays Harry Potter) volunteer program (http://www.volunteerhq.org/about.html).  Then she plans on transferring to University of Illinois at Chicago.  Their Anthropology program is highly regarded.  She wants to volunteer in the inner city.  She'll be fine.

It's D.C.'s loss and Chicago's gain.
They're just lucky I live 800 miles away.

Signed, Mama Lioness

1/2 empty nest, day 1.

So this is the day I had hoped for?  

Then why the panic in my stomach and the tears in my eyes?

Why wouldn't the butterflies fly out of my stomach?  

Because my 18 year old daughter is alone,
at Freshman Orientation in Washington, D.C., 

hundreds of miles away, that's why.  

You hope that your child will graduate high school, 

she did.  

You hope that your child will be accepted into a top university, 

she was.  

But with that comes your teenage child moving out of your house, in my case, hundreds of miles away, to Washington, D.C. to attend this university.  She's there right now, only for a few days, for freshman orientation and I feel like I'm holding my breath, waiting for her to come home.

Lorens said, "Come on Bev, let's have a day like we use to have before we had kids", (to try and stop me from worrying, biting my nails and being a nervous wreck like I had been all day).  So we bought a steak burrito cut in 1/2, a 6 pack of beer, and we went to the rocks at the lakefront.  It's at the part of Montrose Harbor where you look across the water at the skyline of downtown Chicago, its beautiful and one of my favorite places in the world.

We sat on the rocks in the sunshine, there was even a cool breeze.  We watched fisherman with their lines in the water,on the pier, relaxing, merely hoping for a bite.

We were at the harbor exit to open water, watching boaters taking their boats out of the harbor for a dinner or sunset cruise.

We therefore, got to judge every boat getting ready to go out onto the lake.  We quietly ranked their boats as we fantasized about which one we would sail away on, one day.  We waved to the boaters from the rocks where we were sitting, and then we all held up our drinks in a mutual cheers to each other.  

Us with our cans of beer, 

them with their glasses of wine or champagne.  

Lorens saw my face and so he continued to try and remind me of good times we had here in the past, coming here to make out circle.  We use to talk about our plans for life, what an adventure it would be, and how we would raise our future children.  We both said we would want our children to go to college.  We wished our children's lives would be an ADVENTURE, not a struggle for survival like ours had been.

So we told our children, don't be like us.

If you apply yourself you can be anything you want in life.  

You can get out, get away, get better, be better. 

If you believe in yourself and work hard.  

And she did it.  I'm so proud of her.  So, I try to tell myself, parents do this all the time.  Their children go off to college and they're OK with it.  They fly away, out of the nest, just like I hoped for when she was a bratty teen a few years ago.  But now it seems to soon.  She's only 18. This is crazy!

So Lorens reminded me that she needs to move on to the next part of life, and so do we.  Its a day to say cheers to each other, celebrate, we did our job, we actually did it and so did she, she got into a great University.

I'm grateful that I have a good husband that reminded me that today is a GOOD day, that our lives are good, that our daughter is at COLLEGE, WHERE SHE BELONGS.   She got a chance to get out and she took it.  Good for her.

ONE DAY, ONE OF THOSE BOATS COULD BE HERS.

SHE'LL HOLD UP HER GLASS OF CHAMPAGNE 

AND TOAST THE ONLOOKERS RATING HER BOAT.

SHE WON'T HAVE TO ADMIRE THE BOATS 

FROM THE ROCKS, WITH A CAN OF BEER.

UPDATE:  She made it back home safe and sound.  They thought her Chicago accent was funny (What ACCent are they tALKing About?)  She can't wait for August when she goes back for good.  I am breathing easy again.... until then.  

Taste of Chicago... NOT

So, I heard the Taste of Chicago started yesterday.  

I was trying to remember the last time I went.
I remember going there as a teenager with my mom.
We saw the Phil Donahue show and got really sunburned.

I remembered going there with friends,
 a few years later, before I was married.
But I couldn't ever remember going there with Lorens.  

I told him, "We have lived back in the Chicago area for 5 years now.

And you've NEVER taken me to the Taste of Chicago
and I want to go this year!"

He said, "Oh that?  I already took you to that!"   

I looked at him like he was nuts.
I said "WHEN did you EVER take ME to the Taste?!"

He said, "You don't remember sharing those ribs and pizza? "

 "Or those unique hot dogs?"

"It was all really good, but it was REALLY expensive."

I had no idea what he was talking about.  

He said, "You remember, don't you?
I took you there when we were dating."

I said "Dating?"
  "What are you talking about?  1988?" 

He said, "Yeah, that's right, it was 1988!"

I said, "Do you realize, that was 23 FREAKIN YEARS AGO?  

Maybe some stuff has changed."   

He said, "No, I heard they still sell small portions of over priced food."   

Then he said, "We can cook it ourselves, it will be just as good.  I'll go shopping right now and pick up some Vienna Hot Dogs and a slab of ribs we'll throw on the grill.  You start the side dishes.  It will be great, thanks for the idea honey, it will be Taste of Chicago Burbs!"

Lucy!!!! 

So I got to cook and clean this afternoon before I went to work.

It tasted nothing like Taste of Chicago.

I made sure of it.

But the portions WERE bigger, and there were NO crowds.

And I still have money in my pocket.

And I didn't have to walk miles after eating.

Glad I brought up Taste of Chicago ... NOT.

Our miracle baby graduates high school

A few days ago, on Sunday morning, I was cleaning the house.  Jennifer was scheduled to graduate High School at 1pm and we had her graduation party planned for 4pm.  I was still in my cleaning clothes, hadn't showered and had no make up on.  Jen comes downstairs and says, "come on mom, lets take a picture".  I look up and there she is, in her cap and gown.  My miracle baby.  The one we prayed for.  The one some doctors told me would never exist.  I was crying in this picture and continued to cry until after graduation.

She is funny, kind, intelligent, beautiful with a smile that lights up the room and striking blue eyes.  She's a gifted writer but most important to me is her compassionate heart of gold.   In her 4 years of high school, my favorite award ceremony was a few weeks ago when she received the Human Relations Award for "Demonstrating a strong belief about human rights and caring through exemplary service".  You had to be nominated by 2 or more teachers.

They had to write why they nominated you.  This is what 3 teachers said about Jennifer:

Brett Blair.    Jen has been an amazing leader on Speech Team, not only as a co-captain this year, but over her three years as well.  She often puts others before herself, and tirelessly works to bring the greatest success to her fellow teammates.  Jen will be greatly missed, yet her penchant for other people's successes will undoubtedly transcend beyond Willowbrook."

Chuck Sheridan:   Jen is such a wonderful person!  She's the student I could always count on to cheer me up on a bad day; that's just the way Jen is - even when she's having a difficult time, she goes out of her way to support others who need it.  More importantly, Jen is extremely compassionate and supportive of others; she is ready and willing to stand up for those who are being mistreated and is never shy about it.  The world needs more compassionate advocates like Jen, and knowing Jen, I'm confident that she will never lose that innate empathy, for which the world can be grateful.

Terri Woebel:  Jen worked incredibly hard for so many Willowbrook programs this year. Jen made me so proud during our spring play; not only did she make the audience roar with laughter as former Chief Inspector Wanda Dreyfus, but she also led warm-ups each night, helped other cast members with their parts, and assisted me whenever I needed anything.  She stepped up as a leader and was a role model for both the cast and crew.  The Pink Panther Strikes Again would not have been a success without her.  Largest ticket sales for a spring play in years.

She was voted "Best Actress" by her Theater Troupe, 

was voted "Funniest Person" and 

"Most Likely to Rule The World" 

by her Senior Class.  

Her room is filled with trophies and medals from her achievements in Speech Team, Theater and academics.  She's been accepted into one of the top 100 Universities in the U.S.A and was awarded their largest scholarship because of her achievements.

Jen walked across the stage and was given her diploma by the Superintendent .  Then, she was suppose to shake hands with her Principal.  Instead, she asked him for a high five and he said "sure Jen!"and high fived her!  That's my Jen!

She's going to major in Anthropology, the study of human behavior to help with human rights. She's going to minor in Creative Writing.  She's a gifted writer as well, witty with a great sense of humor.  We all think she could be the next Tina Faye from Saturday Night Live but she's decided,  after college, she plans on joining the Peace Corps.

Congratulations to "Our Miracle Baby"

 Jennifer.

(Jen with her Grandfather)

(My sister Dawn & Jen)

(Our niece Jacklyn & Jen)

(diploma in hand, after graduation, June 12, 2011)

My kids made the front page of their school newspaper, so I've heard.....

Michael gives me forms to fill out for credit recovery (athletes version of summer school).  I was upset with him, told him he needs to straighten up over the summer and get these missing credits made up or no football camp, no sports whatsoever.  You want to be a student athlete?  STUDENT IS THE FIRST WORD IN THAT PHRASE BUDDY!

He says, "Hey, at least I was on the cover of the school newspaper with Jen."  I said, "What?"

OH YEAH, Both of my kids are on the cover of the school newspaper at the same time, a school of over 2,000.  Michael, for Tennis,  Jen, for her role in Pink Panther.  I hear there's even an article about Jen inside as well.

Neither one told me, they didn't think it was a big deal.  Jen said she "threw it away.  Why?  Did you want to see it Mom?"

Statements like that are one of the reasons I have high blood pressure.  Damn teenagers.

YEAH, I WANT TO SEE THE PAPER!!!!

I WANT TO SEE IT, SCAN IT, SHARE IT, FRAME IT, 

COPY IT, ACCIDENTLY BRING IT WITH ME TO PARTIES, 

LEAVE COPIES EVERYWHERE, ETC."

YEAH, I WANT TO SEE THE DAMN PAPER!!!

I've told both of them, that if I don't get one of those school newspapers by the end of today, I'll hire a photographer, go to the school, (wearing my big sunglasses, as my photographer snaps pictures of me), and announce LOUDLY, THAT I'M THE MOM WHO'S KIDS ARE BOTH ON THE COVER OF THE PAPER (and who are not in any trouble), HOORAY FOR ME (I mean them)!!!!

Note to other teens:  if you're in a newspaper, ANY NEWSPAPER, for something good, MOM WANTS TO KNOW ABOUT IT!  And even if its for something bad, MOM STILL WANTS TO KNOW ABOUT IT!  (So we can hide you.)

Brats.

So, I don't have any pics to add to this post........ YET!

But I am REALLY, REALLY PROUD OF BOTH OF THEM...... Brats.


Update, 5/28/11:  Yay!!!  I got the newspaper!!!  No cameraman needed, lucky for them.  I would have taken it out of their allowance.  You can barley see Michael on the cover.  I told him that picture of him isn't big enough to get him out of trouble, LOL.

I don't have time to blog about Princess, my bad dog....

I don't have time to blog about this, because I babysit in 1 hour, but I must.  So as my friends know, I've been trying to get out of doing housework for 2 days.  Then I heard some people say the world is ending on 5/21.  When my husband called to ask how my housework was coming along I told him I thought housework would be an unnecessary way to spend my last days on earth.   He said something like, if I put the same energy INTO my housework, that I've put into trying to get OUT of it for the last 2 days, it would have been done already.

So I was trying to be a good little housewife and get it done.  I did my dishes and had just swept and mopped the floors in the kitchen and front room when it was time for his doctors appointment.  He stopped at home to pick me up, he wanted me to go with him.  Perfect.  The floors needed to dry anyway and it was an excuse for me, once again, to get out of any more work.  I figured, oh well, at least the dishes and floors are done.

I need to get to the point, because he keeps yelling up the stairs that I don't have time to blog about this.

So, we come back from the doctor, open the door and this is what I see: The Jewel bag that the 2 loaves of stale, French bread were in, on my kitchen table is now in pieces, in various places, all over my kitchen and front room floors.  The 2 loaves of French bread are missing.

Lorens starts screaming at Princess about her taking food off of the table.  But I told him, "You can't just blame Princess, you don't know it was just her.  I look at Princess, she looks at me, because we both know it was her if its missing food.

Princess is the black lab (mama's baby) - young, crazy, fat, usually a bad dog seconds after being left home alone.

Angel is the yellow lab (daddy's baby) - old, usually innocent, except shes a digger outside.

But then I also see what looks like dirt, or MUD, all over both floors!  I say, "Yeah, but what is this?!"  I picked up a chunk of it, and it was mud!  I said "Angel  must have gotten into a house plant too!"

I thought good, at least they're both in trouble now and its not just my favorite dog, Princess.

The trail of dirt and mud leads into my front room to my largest house planter, about 2 ft. high.  I said, "Angel must have jumped up to get her paws in here, that's a lot of trouble to go through just for the urge to dig!  At least Princess had a good reason for being bad, she must have been very hungry to eat all that bread!"

Then I see something sticking out of the dirt, just barley, it was pretty covered up.  I pulled it out, it was a 1/2  loaf of French bread, about 12", buried in my giant houseplant!  Princess had dug a hole about that deep and put the loaf in, longways even, and then she covered it up with dirt, probably with her nose because the planter is pretty tall and she's not.

The dirt she dug out went right into the toy box for my Grandniece that was sitting next to the planter.  I babysit in 45 minutes, there's mud all over all her toys and books.  I really don't have time to blog about this (which is what my hubby keeps screaming upstairs to me right now).

Lorens looked right to Princess and she looked away, knowing,  if its stolen food, she's busted.  I said, "There's no way to know for sure which dog did it, they're both guilty!"   So he walked away and I thought Princess was a lucky, bad dog.  

Then he came back with a wet, white, wash cloth.

Utt Ohh

I had butterflies in my stomach.  

I felt like we were at the doggy police station,

both of my dogs were about to get paw-printed,

and I knew what was about to happen.  

Princesses' paw prints 

were going to be a 
crime scene match!

He rubs the cloth on Angel's snowy white paws, as she wags her tail and licks him.... RAG COMES BACK CLEAN.  Angel was released with a pat on the head and a "YOU'RE a good girl."   

Then he rubs the rag on Princesses black paws (which I was hoping was just the color of her fur).   Princess has her tail between her legs and her head down..... THE RAG COMES BACK MUDDY.  

Lorens yells at Princess shes a bad girl, go lay down and no din din for her tonight, she's eaten enough.  Then he tells me, this house is just as dirty as when he left this morning, thanks to me and "my" dog.  Earlier, I was sure the smell of floor cleaner would distract him from the fact that not much else was done today, but thats not working any more, thanks a lot Princess.

So I'm holding a loaf of muddy bread in one hand, cleaning MUD off of my clean floors with my other hand.  Floors that smelled like muddy Murphy's Oil Soap in the front room and muddy Lysol in the kitchen because they were cleaned AN HOUR AGO and the floors were still wet.  I started laughing and couldn't stop.  I felt I needed to blog about this real fast.  Lorens told me I don't have time to blog about this, he's said it about 10 times already, while I continue to blog about this.  The baby's things are still full of mud and she'll be here in about 20 minutes.  He's right, I really don't have time to blog about this.

(I just screamed downstairs to Lorens that the new rule is, if I'm holding a loaf of muddy, stale French bread, I get time to blog about it!)

Princess better be careful because now that I'm writing this stuff down, this is the second time shes been the bad dog in my blog.  I probably would have forgotten about the other time too if it wasn't written down, mama's memory of bad dog is short, shes my baby.   OK, Well, I don't have time to blog about my many Princess excuses either.

Time to go finish cleaning my floors, AGAIN, just my luck, thanks Princess.

Oprah shows a mom with grace, and her name is NOT Bev.

So, I was sitting there this morning, watching Oprah, balling my eyes out listening to her talk about the mom with cancer that left the tapes for her daughter & hubby before she died.  Tapes teaching her daughter all the lessons she wouldn't be able to.  That way, her daughter could hear her mothers voice and get words of wisdom at different milestones in her life.

Then they were talking about the tape when she told her daughter to embrace her new step-mom if her dad chooses to move on, which she hoped he would.  Oprah was saying how "gracious" she was to encourage them to move on.  I STARTED CRYING HYSTERICALLY AT THAT POINT.

My hubby said, "God Bev, I agree, her bravery and grace were amazing, this is really sad, but CALM DOWN!  I said, (mumbling through tears), "I, I, I, know, but thats not why I'm so sad.  I, I, I'm sad because I just realized I, I, I, don't have any grace."  As I'm still trying to talk through the tears I say, "Cause I'll, I'll, I'll come back and haunt your ass and your new wife too if you re-marry and have new kids without meeeeee."

He hugged me, laughing, and promised me he would "pine" for me forever.  That should have made me feel better, but it didn't.  Damn it.  Thanks Oprah.  Now I was feeling guilty, thinking maybe I should work on my grace and say its OK for him to move on if I die.

Then he looked at me, all concerned, and as I waited for him to say something lovey-dovey he said "maybe you should take 2 Midol's."  I looked at him with daggers in my eyes (cause how dare he blame my sadness on..... wait a minute, what day is it?  Damn it,  it never even occurred to me, and now it infuriates me even more that he knows the cause of my mood swings better than me), I suddenly stopped crying and didn't feel guilty anymore.  And I thought.....

LET HIM PINE AWAY FOR ME FOREVER!

You miss me?  You miss having a wife?
Watch the damn tapes!

My kids miss me and want motherly advice?
They can watch the damn tapes!
I spent the last months of my life making tapes?
WATCH THE DAMN TAPES!

Sincerely,
Mother with no grace.

My mom, Fran Richardson, the adventurer.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!

(my mom & me, 2008)

ABOUT MY MOM, FRAN RICHARDSON:

I had the best mom in the whole world and all the other moms were jealous of MY mom.  Ok, well in my mind thats how it was.  My mom passed away suddenly last year, on January 31, 2010.  I thought I'd share with you what kind of mom she was on this Mother's Day.

As a kid, my mom took me on adventures of her own making, spur of the moment, free adventures.  Trips all over Chicago.  We went to the Lincoln Park Zoo, the beach, walks through woods, teaching me about nature, hikes across Chicago, learning to look at the top of the buildings at the history and beautiful architecture in Chicago.  We would walk through cemeteries looking for headstones of famous Chicagoans, teaching me Chicago history.  Then there were trips to parks all over Chicago, bike rides, walks along the Chicago River, collecting boysenberries that we'd go home and make jelly with.

There were the occasional trips to the Chicago museums, the Planetarium, the Aquarium, movies and plays.  There were trips to Kiddyland, and even a family vacation to Disney World and a new puppy when my brother graduated 8th grade when I was 7 years old.  Our Halloween costumes were handmade by her and usually won the awards.

And thats just the tip of the iceberg of the kind of mom I was lucky enough to have.

In the late 1960's, my mom once heard a woman screaming in the hallway of our apartment building on Christiana & Sunnyside.  She had 3 small kids and a sleeping husband.  She went into the hallway and saw a man was attempting to rape/kill a woman.  My mom went back inside our apartment, took an old antique gun we had, with pieces missing, went into the hallway and scared the guy away.  When my mom got an award from the Chicago Police Department for bravery, my dad (who was sleeping when it happened and had no idea) was furious.  I was proud of her bravery.

In the 1970's, when Roosevelt High School didn't have money for the Soccer team to go to the state finals, and the football team didn't have a grass field to practice on, she had fund raisers and bake sales and went to local businesses asking for donations to earn the money for it.  The principal wrote a letter to her saying the Soccer teams ability to go was all made possible because of my mom's hard work.  And then, at the football banquet, they called her up, made a speech about how great she was, and gave her a special award and plaque they had engraved for her, with the football team and staff cheering her on!!!  She was just a mom, helping out her community in her opinion, and was embarrassed once again.  I was only 12 at the time, but I knew how proud I was of her once again.

In the hot Chicago summers she took all of the neighborhood kids of every race and color to the family swims at the local pool and said, "Yes, they're all my children" so all the kids could swim.

In the winter, she kept a sled in the trunk of her car in case the urge hit her.  She lived right by the big sledding hill in Springfield.  On January 28, 2010, it was a Thursday, she was driving by and saw all the kids sledding down the hill.  So she pulled over, got out her sled, climbed that hill numerous times and went sledding with all of them.  She was 72 years old with as much spunk as them.  She died suddenly of a heart attack, 3 days later on Sunday, January 31, 2010.

GIRL SCOUTS:
My mom was also an award winning Girl Scout leader for over 20 years.  Some Tuesday nights, my older sister and I hated the fact that our mom was one of the leaders and therefore, there was no way out of Girl Scouts on any Tuesday night, ever, for any reason for us.  Its only now, as an adult that I realize what a gift it was.  Thats the reason I have great childhood vacation memories.  Because of the fund-raising we did, we got to go on trips.  It was a way for my mom to give her girls vacations that would otherwise be impossible at our meager income.

Girl Scouts was an escape for me from the reality of being a poor kid in a big, urban city like Chicago.  And the core values of the Girl Scouts were the same as my mom taught us in our home. When there was an earthquake in Guatemala, we had a bake sale and sent them money, things like that.

In the winter there was Juniper Knoll Girl Scout Camp in Wisconsin and in the summer it was Butternut Springs camp in Indiana, (I think those were the names, it was long ago).   But my favorite camp of all, my favorite vacations with my mom, forever and always, will always be the ones at:

WHITE PINES DUDE RANCH IN OREGON, IL.  

It was heaven on earth for me. 

http://www.whitepinesranch.com/pages/weekendprograms.htm

White Pines Dude Ranch with my mom, a ranch just for kids:

The ranch was incredible to me.  Nothing a kid like me from Chicago could ever imagine.  I'm the baby of the family, my sister was already to old for Girl Scouts and so this is a special memory of  vacations of just me and my mom (and about 50 other girl scouts, and 5 other leaders).  I didn't know why I loved it so much.  I was a poor, inner city kid from Chicago, but I loved everything about the ranch.  

On your first day there, you got to go down to the horse barn and choose a horse and that would be your horse  for the entire week.  We learned how to groom, feed and saddle our horses, and we were responsible for doing our chores for our horse for the entire week.  We got to horseback ride, like twice a day, on trials through the beautiful hills and countryside, You could choose to do different activities, say, if you didn't like horses.  I, obviously, don't remember much about anything else except that I loved horses and did every horse activity I could with my mom.  All because of my mom and Girl Scouts.  They were such great adventures.

After my mom passed away last year, I found out that my Grandmother lived on the family farm in North Dakota and rode a horse to a one room school house with her siblings.  I also found out she WALKED across the Grand Canyon to see her grandmother, my great grandmother. Maybe that's where our love of outdoor life & adventure came from.  (see my story, My Grandmother, Ethel Litchfield, The Adventurer.)

As I got to be a teenager and dropped out of Girl Scouts, my mom still tried to find adventures for us to do together.  I thought I was too old to go on adventures with her, I thought I had outgrown them.  Sometimes she would pick me up from school and say, "you're kidnapped."  I would protest, I wanted to go home and watch T.V.  But she drove me and my dog to the woods, we'd get out and just hike and talk, and before long, laugh and relax and enjoy nature.  Or she would drive to an apple orchard in Wisconsin to go apple picking, out of nowhere.

One time she booked a weekend trip for just me and her to the breweries in Wisconsin.  At the end of the tour they give you a small sample of their fresh, cold beer.  It was Wisconsin.  As long as you were a teenager with a parent, it was OK to have a beer.  And my mom let me!!!  She adapted to the fact that I was a teen and still thought up fun adventures she thought I'd like.

My mom was an incredible Grandma to mine & my sisters children.  She was the grandma you always wanted.  She would often kidnap my kids for adventures.  She also planned major vacations with them, a way for my kids to go on vacations that I could never give them.  In 2005, she took my daughter by train to the Grand Canyon for a week.  In 2008, she took my son by train to Washington D.C. to explore the capital for a week.

My mom was an active member of her church, went to aerobics twice weekly, and walked to work almost every day.  She never smoked a day in her life, was a volunteer at the nature center teaching kids about nature.  And she was the #1 Chicago Cubs baseball fan.

Below is the link to the slide show from my moms memorial service. Its full of pictures of my mom with friends and family that were special to her.  There are many pictures of my mom and dad, they were married for 45 years before he passed away suddenly in 2000.  There are many pictures of her with her best friend Bobbie, whom she traveled with on many adventures.  There are pictures of her with my 2 children, who are the younger of her 4 grandchildren.  There's one of them on the lawn of the State Capital on the 4th of July and another on a boat together, I love both of those pictures.

My favorite pictures in this slideshow below are the one my son took of her on their adventure to D.C., 3 years ago, when he was only 14.  Its of her looking out of the train window, her beautiful reflection looking up.  And my other favorite one is of her and my daughter at the top of the Grand Canyon.  My mom was walking  in the footsteps of her parents, where they met and fell in love 70+ years earlier (see my story, My Grandmother, the Adventurer at http://bev-benyamin.blogspot.com/2011/05/my-grandmother-ethel-litchfield.html)

Thought I'd share to honor my Mom on Mothers Day.   

Happy Mothers Day to the spirit of my mom and to all the mothers of the world.

The slideshow below is from her memorial, so it is a LONG slideshow.
Slideshow link, Fran Richardson 1937-2010

(Christmas time, 2009, a few weeks before she passed away)

I