Delegated Authority

. . . Justin Alan made his grand entrance into our lives!

Born in the southwest corner of the Mojave Desert at Edwards AFB, California at 4:17 am, weighing in at 8 lbs 15 oz, and measuring a whopping 24″ “tall”.  Big brown eyes and a head full of wispy brown hair! 

[To my recollection, it was about 112 degrees the day before, filled with glorious sunshine!]

Dad brought Jason (aka Adam) in to see you and he immediately declared that he was going to call you Justin, no matter what we named you!

You were our little “buddha”, a chubby, healthy little fella, who loved to eat and loved to sleep! (some things never change!)

You have come a long way from the little boy who refused to learn how to read, to the young man you are today with a voracious appetite for reading and words themselves.

You are quite a young man, Justin.  I love you very much!

Happy Birthday!

I received my review from the University of Maryland yesterday. 

As it stands, they are only accepting 70 transfer credits (out of the 200+ I have, and the 90 they can possibly accept).  I’m really not thrilled with that, and I will be talking to my advisor to see if there isnt a way to bump it up a bit.  I was really hoping I could get the full 90.

Not that accepting 70 is bad- its pretty good, I guess, all things considered.  However, those extra 20 credits mean I have to go to school an extra year. 

That wasn’t part of the plan!

Angela got the feeble voicemail I left on Sunday “just saying HI and checking on my boy”.  Being a mom, she asked Jared - have you checked in with your mom since you’ve been here?  His response?  Something akin to … uh, no.

Bless her :)  She called me yesterday!!

Apparently they are all doing very well.  Jared is up and at’em early in the morning to help with the work around the farm, or to head off to town to work with Pat.  He’s working hard and learning new things :)  Clio and Max are enjoying his company too!

They went to Rob & Heather’s last Saturday and had a blast, and to a renaissance festival, even ate peach salsa and tofu (not at the same time!).

After putting in a hard week of work, they have big plans to go to Monterey, Big Sur and the beach this weekend, to give him more of the California experience before he heads home next Wednesday.

I can’t wait to see all the pictures and hear all the stories!

Thanks, Ang.  Mom to Mom, you know I needed that!

I dont have to be technologically savvy.  I have 4 people in my immediate family, 3 who live with me, that I can, and do, depend on for any technological help I may need (which can be a lot sometimes!).  There is not much impetus to change when I have all the help I need at my beck and call.  They TRY to teach me, I can say that.  But when it comes to technical stuff, I’m lost.  Try as they might, Dennis and Adam, Justin and Jared have yet to get me to be self-sufficient when it comes to computing. 

However, even they will have to agree that I am making progress. . .  baby steps, yes, but progress just the same!  I mean, look at me now!  I have this blog. . . and I recently got my very own Flickr account and posted some pictures.  :) 

Friday I ordered my very own (first) laptop!  Its a Dell Inspiron 1420 (with a blue case, of course).  After consulting with my tech savvy family, I jumped online and went through the process of “building” my laptop.  I had NO idea something so simple could be so complicated!  I had to choose every little thing.  Its a good thing Dennis was there or I would have been terribly lost, and who knows what I would have ended up with!

The instigator of my new found technical eagerness is my going back to school.  I think if I have a laptop, maybe I can make the most of my 2 hour commute to and from work- and use it while I am sitting on the bus…at least that is the plan. 

Either way, I hope to parlay the laptop into a big learning experience.

UGH!

Okay, sue me.  I gave in yesterday and called my “little boy”.  They weren’t home… so I left a message. . .

No news is good news, right?

I’m sure he’s having a blast, otherwise I would have heard from him

8 days to go . . .

On another note. . . D and I had the whole house to ourselves (Justin was with friends for the weekend), probably for the first time ever!  It was fun, but weird knowing that no one was going to just walk in at any moment, and we could do whatever we wanted without giving any thought to who might see ;~)

That was a text I got (the whole thing) on Wednesday morning from Jared.  The only thing I’ve heard from him since he landed in SLO California.

I miss the boy. 

Giving him space is h a r d.

Two weeks is l o n g.

Today is a big day!  My youngest baby bird is flying the coup. . .  temporary as it may be. . .

Jared is currently winging his way west, to Central California - to visit for two weeks with his cousin Pat and his wife Angela and their cuties, Clio and Max  :)  Jared has never been west of Frederick, MD.  He’s only been on a plane once before, and that was a quick trip to Myrtle Beach.  He’s flying solo this time!  Its unfortunate that he’ll arrive at 3am EST, but I guess that is what happens when you traverse the country.

Pat & Angela live on an organic farm and Jared will be helping them out with that as well as helping Pat out with his cabling business.  Throw in some visiting with more cousins, Heather and Rob, and he should have a bang up time!

I’m a little ~sigh~ sad about him heading off, but excited for him at the same time.  I’m hoping he comes home with lots of pictures and wonderful stories from his visit!

Sure is hard to let that last one go. . . . .

Today is my Dad and Stepmom’s 29th anniversary

They’re the best parents any “kid” could ask for.  I’m forever greatful they’re mine!

Happy Anniversary!  Hope you have very many more to come!

Love you!

 

Okay, I have my Flickr account, and I’ve loaded pictures! (Can you believe it?)

Go here to check out the Kenny Chesney Flip Flop Tour 2007!

See you there!