Railroad Tracks

Matthew has now embarked on the passage that marks the beginning of "tween" years. Wednesday marked the day with a visit to the orthodontist. He's got braces on and it'll probably stay on for about 1.5 years. Besides the fact that Tony and I will be making car payments into his mouth, he's been whining about how uncomfortable it is. I don't know how this feels since I didn't have braces growing up but Tony certainly can empathize. Matthew's diet has consisted of anything that can fit through a straw, pastina soup and mashed potatoes. As of today, he's still uncomfortable but I trust in time, the pain will subside.

Community Service

Matthew has to perform 30 hours of community service. I know, you're asking, "What did he do to deserve that"?, driving his bicycle under the influence or maybe a brawl at the local pub. No, my friends, it's all part of going to Catholic school. He needs to complete the community service to prepare for confirmation by the end of eighth grade. I know, it's weird but it's the truth.

Anyway, Matt completed 3 hours of his requirement by volunteering to help with a charity Harley Davidson motorcycle ride for the American Cancer Society today. He spent the morning coloring posters, inflating balloons and registered bikers for the ride. It was a bit surreal to say the least. My kid who is barely a teenager with a bunch of hard core burly bikers.

The bikers that arrived were the ones you typically see portrayed in movies. The ones that are complete with tattoos, head bandanas, chains, denim and leather everywhere. Apparently they are nicer people then you think. Who knows, maybe they are probably doctors and lawyers during the week but come the weekend they're hog riders. While Matt and Sue helped out, I was busy checking out the bikes.  I really miss riding my motorcycle but I was not about to spend $30,000 for a new one, a sports car maybe but not a bike. Anyway, he enjoyed it a lot more then I thought he would. He even met some of his classmates there which really made it more enjoyable. So what's next? He still has 27 hours to go. Maybe I'll have him trim toe nails at the local old folks home. Yeah, now that's community service. 

Domo arigato...Mr. Roboto

Hard to believe, we've been back almost a year now. We've done lots of projects around the house, I've organized the place, cleaned up and hey, even found a job. The one thing that has always been a bother to Tony and I is the rock that takes up valuable parking space in our driveway. Persistence does pay off. I finally found someone who was adept in getting that rock out of the driveway. What the heck, we decided to remove all the rocks on the property. In particular, there is a rock that sits in the driveway straddling the space between my driveway and my neighbors. This past winter proved to be pretty hair raising. If we skidded, we would hit that monster rock going down the driveway and cause mega dollars worth of damage to the car. Nope. That's it... no more. All the rocks have to go.

Today was the day of reckoning. Mr. Roboto, the machine came with two other huge pieces of excavation machinery up the driveway. The rock that defeated the last contractor, was gone in a mere 20 minutes. Shows you all you need to have is the right equipment. Mr. Roboto was a 40,000 pound jackhammering machine that pulverized everything. Nothing could stand in its way. Once that persistent rock was taken out, Rob our new contractor proceeded to work on all the other rocks in the driveway. 7 hours later, 150 tons of rock (now pulverized) were driven off the property. What a beautiful sight to have the rocks gone. We'll have so much more parking once I get the paving company to come and do its job.