Will the teenage stupidity EVER stop

Ok so I just got a call from the Lakewood Police Department, Mallory just got a ticket for throwing a "missile".... This is going down as one of the stupidist tickets in history!!!

She was walking through the Home Depot parking lot and was observed by a Lakewood Police officer picking up a bottle and tossing it on the ground. She didn't damage anything, didn't aim at anything and the bottle was not hers..... OK yes it is stupid but what ever happened to warnings??? She has NEVER been in trouble with the police, nor had a police contact.

Now I get to go to court with her on June 13th, you can't even just pay it, we have to go see a judge.

This seems LIKE A TOTAL WASTE of tax money in my eyes - am I wrong??????????

Teenagers and Punishment

So Mallory has finished the school year, but she failed a couple of electives. I was trying to calming talk to her about this when she exploded with major attitude. I simply tried to tell her that she totally wasted her time since now she will have to take those electives next year. MAN SHE GOT MEAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She stomped up to her room and I overheard her saying some AWFUL things about me... I have never felt so hurt, some were lies, others I can not even repeat without my stomach turning. So I opened her door and told her to pack her crap, she could move in with her Dad. That stopped her in her tracks, she knew she had messed up.

A typical teenager, she tried everything in the book:

Guilt - "I have had a really tough couple of weeks", "I am trying my hardest" (NOT TRUE), "I am sorry I am stupid, not perfect or a great kid, sorry I don't have better friends."

Emotions - "I love you mom, you're the best" "I am sorry, sorry, sorry".

Basically Ron had to intervene which was strange, Mallory and I generally get along great. Sor we decided as punishment for the horrible things she said, she has to pull all the weeds in the garden in our yard........... She thought she got off easy until she saw it. After working feverishly for about an hour in the hot sunshine she had completed 1 square foot, however, she never complained.

Our reasoning for this approach was that I love this garden but don't have time to weed it, she needed to do something special for me AND we wanted her to experience manual labor since that will be her only job option if she continues down a bad path in school.....

I also explained to her that she did not have to be perfect or brilliant - if she was, I wouldn't like her. I also told her that I love her friends, I just worry that their bad decisions will cause her secondary pain (physical, emotional, etc.). As you saw in my previous blogs her friends have been making some VERY poor choices.

Tranni adventures

So Ron has been working hard getting the transmission in, we have only had to go to the parts store and dealership a couple of times to get the strangest things I have ever seen. The damn thing is like a chinese puzzle. I have been trying to be helpful but apparently I am not quite Tim the tool mans assistant yet.

When your husband says to lower the red jack while he is under the truck, DON'T lower the black one.
DON'T panic when something doesn't look right in the engine and ask him to crawl out to look at it - the whole thing doesn't look right, it looks more like a life size 3-D puzzle.

So I resorted to doing the girliest things I could to help him:

I "franken-sewed" the seat to the truck that had torn
Washed grease off of parts and bolts (Gross)
Sanded rusty parts
Spray painted parts that were uygly (I would have spray painted the whole truck, but Ron said no).
Tried not to panic when I was in the kitchen and Ron called the home phone from the garage to say "help me", thank god he was not impaled or bleeding, just balancing the transmission on a jack and needed assistance getting tools.
I brewed tea and coffee
Made Food (that didn't make anyone sick)
Attempted to do anything asked to help but mostly I wasn't strong enough to help.

Anyhow - The truck may move in the next day or two, I am excited!! Really - I am excited!

Yet another Car Accident - TEENS!! UGH

So last Friday I took Mallory to the funeral for the her friend that stole the car and rolled it and died. Well, apparently the death of a friend and bad choices don't change the decisions these kids make. Yesterday I was enjoying some much needed sleep when Mallory came bashing into my room crying because her boyfriend was in a car accident and at Littleton Hopstial. So, doing my motherly duty, I drove her to the hospital and got the details.

He is sore and bruised but not dead (although his parents may fix that) - He was wearing a seatbelt but was driving without a license or a permit OH and somebody elses car.

His passenger was not wearing a seatbelt and hit the windshield, fortunately he didn't die either, but he will have a nasty mess of scars on his face to remind him of his choice to go riding with a wreckless unlicensed driver.

The woman whom the car T-boned's condition is unknown.

So, he will lose his license until he is 18, do some community service and have to deal with the wrath of his parents but at least he is alive. His parents will probably be sued by the lady whom he hit, he will most likely have to pay to replace the friends car and have lots of time to think about what he did.

I wish as a parent we could pick their friends, never let them out of our sight, hug them even when they hate us and more..... I wish that teenagers were capable of rational thought.

The Transmission has landed

I am SO proud of Ron - He went out to the garage and took the transmission out of the truck. He is excited and so am I. So - those of you with money placed on how long it will be before it runs better start counting your pennies!! :)

Susan's Happy 30th Bash!!

Ok so you know those super boring adult birthday parties that we all get invited to and dread going to.............. Well, Susan's was NOT one of those. Holy Cow - we had such a good time, the following were some of the highlights:

-Adriennes admission that she has her father's cheeks (not the ones on her face)
-Adrienne commenting on Susan's dads butt...
-Beautiful 3 yr old Andy jr being the dancing queen
-Grisinger Step Father playing his guitar just made the party SO GOOD - wow, I never knew the talent
-Andy explaining that he keeps his wiener in a cage............ actually his wiener dog was in a cage in the bedroom, but it still sounded funny.
-Ron and Amber accidentally kicking the soccer ball over the fence and Margaret retrieving them with wooden pickets of a fence like chop sticks.
-The fabulous cake with a picture of 6 month old Susan drinking a Shlepps beer, although it did freak me out to eat the frosting part of her face.

The whole party was lots of fun, what a great group of people. For those of you that don't know them, I wish you could - they are GREAT PEEPS!

Yo Peeps!!!!

Ok so Amber is getting into a weird stage........ OK - since birth, but anyway she is calling everyone including Ron and I her "Peeps", I have tried explaining that I take offense to being called a nasty sugar coated marshmellow treat, but she just takes it a step further and explains that if I were put in the microwave I would blow up just like a peep....

Cute huh???

10 days flew by......

Ok so I haven't posted in 10 days but here is what has been happening...

Mallory had a friend that died last week... He stole a car, ran from the police, wrecked the stolen car (rolled it 8 times) and died.... Apparently his girlfriend was a runaway (she was also in the car - now gravely injured and missing a leg). He was running from the police because she didn't want to be found - DUMB DUMB DUMB DUMB.... Well not only was she suicidal and depressed - now her boyfriend is dead and she is missing a leg.....

So in light of the fact that the only death Mallory has dealt with was her grandpa she didn't quite know how to deal with it........ so she ditched a class..... makes sense right??? NOT...... she ditched class to build a memorial (made out of poster board and cigarettes) in honor of the dumb ass that made the choice to run from the cops and die.... I am not trying to be hard headed but teaching teenagers about choices is like teached a dog to scoop their own poop...

Work has been really crazy - No pun intended.... We have started daking Department of Correction kids and in addition, we got a guy that was "too dangerous for jail".......... how does that happen.

I am getting worried about school - I need to find 3 volunteers to get free counseling during my practicum (6 sessions on the weekends)....... the problem is that it can't be family and the majority of my friends are in New Jersey.

So far, working nights has done my body good and bad - my diet is terrible and I am down to a size 6...... getting close to looking like a 12 year old boy...... anyway - I love you all and I hope to share more with you soon.

Love yall.............. Coni

Whoa relaxing is nice

OK so I have been reading a lot and playing Princess Peach.... Not much to report. Amber has been attending the Jeff Foxworthy spelling bee......... She keeps spelling out profanities......... She threw out an "F" bomb the other day and my hair almost fell out... I think we can thank her older sister for that one.

Mallory has been driving quite a bit and the other day I was sure she had lost her mind. We were going up a hill on Kipling in my Volvo which is a turbo and she was doing like 20mph... I told her to step on the gas and she said "mom it's floored", OH CRAP - - we crept up the hill and the car seemed to recover. Turns out the throttle system sensor was malfunctioning..... I love my car but DAMN it acts like sensors are dog treats........ when it wants a treat it throws a sensor.

A word of advice to anyone who has a check engine light - ALWAYS take your car to an auto parts store such as Checker or Auto Zone. They will plug a computer into your car and tell you what is malfunctioning, if you take your car directly to a repair shop they charge $100 just to tell you why the light is on!

Anyway - my NOT SO TURBO car has miraculously recovered, my nerves however are another story....