thunderbolt

Wow, what a crazy week this has been. Jacob began 6th grade and Sophie entered high school. It's the end of elementary school for Jacob and the beginning of high school for Sophie and I'm not sure it could have been any more stressful. As a parent, I worry to death that the two of them will have good teachers, that they'll do well in class, and that they'll avoid the pitfalls that befell me when I was their age. I recall my last year of elementary school as a weird year in which hormones were raging through my body. I was bigger than most of the other kids, had hair growing in strange places, had experienced a voice change that took me from soprano in the school choir to bass, and felt like a complete nerd because of big hair, big glasses and a low self esteem. In other words, 6th grade kind of sucked. I was lucky to have my best friend, Matt, to hang around with, but I don't recall ever being 100% happy during that year. I'd talk back to my teacher, have outbur

Jacob got braces last week and we thought the next year was going to be traumatic for all of us. The first night, I've never heard him cry in pain so hard and for so long. There wasn't a dry eye in the house that evening. The next day, his mouth was still sore and he was irritable because he couldn't eat any of his favorite foods... which are basically the ONLY foods he eats. Besides milkshakes and glasses of whole milk there was nothing he could eat. The third day, however, things began to take a turn for the better and he's been improving ever since. Tomorrow will be a full week and Jacob's been a real champ. The kid seems to be taking the new addition to his mouth in stride and he's back to being his wise cracking self. I know, kids get braces all the time, but Jake endures so much in his daily life that this seemed like too much. I'm really proud of how he's doing. He's really maturing. Speaking of maturing, Sophie has high school orientation tom

Not sure why I haven't been putting up notices that new columns are appearing on Popdose. Seems like as soon as I finish something my mind is already on to the next thing I want to write. Anyway, today I have a new Goin' Country column up at Popdose. Please check it out! http://popdose.com/goin-country-the-hot-country-songs-for-the-week-ending-81013/