Causing A Ruckus

Last night the doorbell rang around 8pm, as we were all unwinding from the hectic birthday party for Dad's youngest son.  The mass of 8 year old boys had worn us all out with the shear amount of energy they all had.  Conner answered the door as I jumped in the shower.  When I came out of the house, my hair all wet and clutching my PJ's, I saw a bunch of police cars and Conner in the middle.  Not a sight one wants to see outside of their house at night.

Apparently one of the neighbors had complained about our trailer parked by the curb.  One cop came to check it out and had no clue what to do.  So he called a second cop.  Who had no idea what to do.  So they called another...until 4 police cars were out front.  And each one was either on their laptops searching for city ordinances prohibiting our trailer from staying right where it was, or one the phone with a superior trying to figure out the same thing.  And they came up with nothing.  They said to not worry about it for the time being. 

My step-mother Anita, was all upset and has decided that we're going to have a "Griswald Christmas" at the trailer; fully decked out with twinkle lights, fake snow, tinsel, an inflatable Grinch, and a small Christmas tree on top.  Tackiness is to rule this holiday season.

Just A Little Embarrassing

The other night, after a nice Colorado dinner of meat and potatoes, it came up that Mamma Melody Finn had been reading this blog and all the things I’ve written about good Finn genes going to waste and wanting to get married.  I’m fully aware that I’ve written all these things online for the whole world to read and they’re all absolutely true.  I just never know who’s reading this, or even if people are reading it, and when people mention it face-to-face it’s a little embarrassing.  Especially when it’s the mother of the boys I’m writing about…Just a little embarrassing.

She Graduated!

She did it! Little sister Molly graduated from high school with Honors! She'll be off to UNC Chapel Hill in the fall. So proud of her!!!

It's bizarre to think that it's been 10 years since I've been in high school myself.  So, so weird.

Flying Home

I'm flying back home to North Carolina today to stay for the next two weeks.  My brilliant younger sister Molly is graduating from high school and because I miss most of her big life events, it was mandatory that I attend this one.

I'm flying out of Durango, to Denver, to Chicago, and finally to Charlotte at midnight.  Since Charlotte's still two hours away from home, Mom is coming in the morning to drive my butt back to Asheville.  She wanted me to get a hotel room for the night, but I'm stubborn and would rather spend what money I saved for this trip from my tax refund on say, a hair cut instead of a hotel room.  So I'll be spending the night in the airport--an excellent way to save money on accommodations only if you're a glutton for the most uncomfortable sleep you've ever experienced or again, you're just plain stubborn.

The promise of a night's stay in the airport makes the inevitable flight delays much more tolerable because I'm not chomping at the bit to have already arrived somewhere else; I'm perfectly content to hang out in the Durango terminal reading my sexy vampire book as I would be in Charlotte doing the same thing for the next 12 hours.  The only thing against being stuck in the tiny Durango airport for another 3 hours is that they don't have any magazines for purchase.  That's one of the few remaining joys of airplane travel=the plethora of glossy magazines.  The little old lady in charge of the gift shop filled with blankets, stained glass, mugs, and fake deer antlers said that they simply don't deliver magazines anymore.  Makes me want to pull some sort of Bear Grease stunt on the magazine delivery truck.

Matching Silver

In the midst of Melody showing me family photos she showed me a large leather-bound collection of her and Denny’s wedding photos. Both of their siblings eloped which cause their parents to require a grand event for Denny and Melody’s nuptials.

 Check out those Buddy Holly glasses. Pure love.

One of the things that caught my eye was Mamma Finn because of her amazing hairdo. Apparently in accordance with the traditional 25-anniversary symbol of silver, Pappa Finn got her a silver Cadillac convertible. Being a lady of immense style, she promptly went to the beauty salon and got her hair dyed silver to match her new automobile. She also bought a silver mink stole to complete the picture. For the rest of her life she had a silver beehive that she wrapped in toilet paper every night to keep it in tact while she slept.

I really wish I could have met this woman.

Children

Conner and Dan would probably faint if they knew I was writing this down for all to read although they’ll probably never read this anyhow.  So here goes.  At my fervent requests their mom, Melody, has been showing me old family photos.

The boys are hands-down the cutest little kids ever.  Seeing them makes me want to have kids because damn, why let those gorgeous genes go to waste?  I mean, just look at ‘em!

 Speaking of children, I’ve noticed that people grow up fast around these parts.  So many of our friends back in Austin aren’t married and don’t even have kids on the brain.  Most of us are trying to figure out what to do with our lives and find a way to have both happy-hour and health insurance at the same time.  For heaven’s sake, only one of my friends have even gotten married and she only had a small, family-only kind of ceremony.  But here in southern Colorado I’ve met those who’ve been married and divorced by 25, divorced with two kids by 27, and married with kids and owning their own home.

Despite my desire to not let the Finn genes go to waste, the thought of Conner and I having kids within the next 10 years seems completely implausible.  We just have too many plans already that don’t involve children.

I should probably not go too overboard with show-and-tell so that it doesn’t come back to bite me in the ass once we swing through North Carolina to see my family and all the awkward pictures start flying about.