Guilty Pleasures

I was sitting in the DMV today wondering when my horns and pitchfork would arrive.  The three hours I sat there waiting did not pass uneventful…for me at least.  Needless to say I like to people watch and on this occasion several small bands of teenagers (about 16 I’m guessing) entered through out the morning bouncing in the front door.  Two small groups of giggling girls and a boyfriend girlfriend set.  They were truly the only people at the DMV that seemed excited to be there.

Entering with hair bouncing and a boyfriend attached at the hip, the girl announces she is there for her driving test because she has just turned 16.  I grinned and then smirked, wondering if she would leave as happy as she had come(Yes, I know I’m slime for thinking this).  Five minutes later a separate band, of once happy girls greet their mom (sitting next to me) with mixed emotions.  One girl is excited she passed the driving test and the other upset for failing as she tries to convince her mom that her friend got the easy test.  Smirk #2 slips out at this point (more slime for me).  At this point I am wondering how hard this test is and if I should have read the manual more closely.  Then again, I do have over a decade of driving on my side so hopefully I’ll be okay.

After getting plates for my car and paying several huge fees, I find myself taking the test to finish out my morning at the DMV.  At this point I glance up to see the girl (hair no longer bouncing, with boyfriend still attached) talking to the clerk).  The clerk loudly announces, “You can’t have a license today, you failed.  You missed 11(Smirk #3 comes – Something worse than slime for me.  Side note: I did feel bad for her).  Let me reschedule for next week.  Oh never mind, you are going to have to reschedule yourself .  I don’t have any room for you.”  Boyfriend still attached tries to comfort girl.  I believe a total of 2 of the teens I saw grace the DMV actually passed.

Relieving myself of my guilt, I am issuing an offical apology to all the 16 year old kids I smirked at today…and yes I did pass.

Star-Spangled

The Fourth turned out to be quite the event for us. The kids were great sports, letting me spangle them with red, white and blue ribbons, tatoos and other assorted decorations that should have been reserved for a Christmas tree.

The kids were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for most of the day.   The Rands spent the day with us so everyone had a buddy.  We love having them close by.  Hudson ran a killer 3-legged race and placed a competitive last place.

Once again we find ourselves with an incredible family picture…ha!  Will seems to be the only person ready for the moment.  Hudson showed the wear from the day in his tears and Annie just cried to fit in.

Random Thoughts on Pico…

Now that I am done teaching I feel like I went from being way too busy – needing 27 hours in the day, to trying to figure out how to fill up the hours and pass the time.  Yesterday I let pico be the filler.  In the process I had a thought provoking moment.  Yes, I’m looking to pico for philosophical depth.  Tasting what was supposed to be the final product, I realized the recipe majorly lacked flavor.  I decided to play chef and do some improvising.  In the end, the pico wasn’t too shabby.  Valuable lesson learned for me: if you don’t like where life is taking you…change what you’re doing.