*Tracy, Bridget, Officer Brett, me, and Vanessa*

The weekend before last, I took a roadtrip down to Red Bluff with my friend Bridget & her two friends, Vanessa & Tracy. We were supposed to go to the rodeo but never made it, due to some inconsistencies between the internet ad & the reality of our reserved motel room which escalated into a "situation" that caused us to call the police. When the owner refused to give us our money back even with the assistance of Officer Brett, we turned on the hot water in the shower, cranked up the A/C full blast & went on down the road to a clean motel room for half the price, where we got ready for the big event of the entire trip: The Palamino Room. Once we arrived, we paid our cover charge of $8 each and did a little bit of dancing (VERY little on my part, as I am still trying to recouperate from the hip & rib injuries from the 4-wheeler accident). We decided it would be more fun, not to mention quite a bit cheaper, to drink the drinks we brought with us & basically had us a ho-down tailgater party in the parking lot of The Palamino Room. Bridget was in cowboy heaven! I ended up drinking entirely too much wine, threw up, & had to be driven (lying in the back of the truck bed) back to the motel room to sleep it off.

We awoke the next morning & went out to breakfast before heading back home in time for Tyson's basketball game. Needless to say, I wasn't feeling all that fabulous, but it wasn't until the next day that I realized that I was actually sick. And it wasn't until a couple days after that that I could hardly breathe, my throat was so swollen. When it progressed to the point where I was waking up crying because my throat, ear, & head hurt so bad, I finally bit the bullet & went to the doctor. (When you're uninsured as I am, you tend to avoid doctors & heal on your own.) He informed me that I had strep throat & prescribed some antibiotics. It's been a rough month!

I have, however, managed to stay on top of all my homework & transcription, as well as work on creating an advice column with my friend, Ganey, for the college newspaper (complete with online blog so students can post their questions anonymously: http://askanythingthosegirls.blogspot.com/). It came out in print today but they haven't posted a link to it online. I'll post it here when they do - I'm really excited about it!

Briefly, other stuff that has been going on includes:
* Tyson is playing for two basketball teams - Ashland & Phoenix/Talent (& starting on both, co-team captain of the P/T team). At one of his games yesterday alone, he scored 24 of the 38 points!
* My nephew, Johny, is coming next week to stay with us while he looks for work & gets a place of his own.
* My friend, Lisa, was let go from the Siskiyou Eye Center.
* I think I'm going to pass on the Italy trip since I can't take Tyson with me. I'd love to go, but am not devastated by the idea that I may not. It just doesn't feel right & I know while there may not be another opportunity like this one, I will eventually get to do my traveling.
* My new friend, Clay, colored my hair a cinnamon brown... Let me know if you like it or the frosted blonde look better.

Happy Easter! Ours began great. Tyson had stayed the night at his dad's house the night before for a belated birthday celebration. I picked him up early and we went to church with my friend, Bridget, and her family in Ashland. They had coffee, hot chocolate, and goodies there. The service was held outdoors and it was pretty chilly but very enjoyable nonetheless. Tyson & I have both missed going to church & agreed that we need to go back more often.

Afterward, we went with Bridget to her parents' ranch out by Emmigrant Lake & had a BBQ. Tyson got really excited upon hearing that they had a quad and would let him ride it around the property. After a 2-minute tutorial, he was off and running, beginning at a snail's pace and gradually becoming more confident. I know Tyson is a safe & responsible kid & he was wearing a helmet, so I wasn't too concerned. He was so proud of himself that he asked if he could give me a ride & I enthusiastically took him up on the offer, skirt & all. I told him to drive safely, since I didn't have jeans on to protect my legs if we wrecked. Everything was going fine until we drove up on the side of a hill & the steering locked when Tyson tried to turn out of the curve. Once I saw that we were headed straight for another quad that was parked by a fire pit, it was too late to say or do anything. We slammed into the parked quad at probably 25 mph or so & went flying. The quad we were riding didn't roll over onto us, thank goodness, but we were both thrown a significant distance, landing on the other side of the fire pit and somehow managing to avoid the broken glass bottles & nails that were everywhere on the ground around us. I landed straight onto my right side with no hands down for protection, landing on my hip & ribs, then continued to roll a few more times. Apparently, this is pretty much what happened to Tyson, too, since we ended up right next to each other on the ground. Several moments passed before either of us could see straight, much less realize what had happened & catch our breath. The first words out of Tyson's mouth were, "Mom, are you okay?" before he began wheezing in a way that terrified me & gave me visions of a rib jutting out through his skin or a stick puncturing his lung or some similarly fatal injury. I replied weakly, "I...think...so...You?" He said he thought he was, too. Then I said a word I never use in his company & he said that he was a dumb-ass. Nothing like a life-threatening crash to lower our inhibitions about swearing in front of the other! As much as I didn't want to move, I thought we should get up & walk back to the house to tell Bridget's parents that we might have damaged their 4-wheeler. Tyson was more concerned about me "getting sued" than his own injuries, bless his heart. On the walk back, he said that of course something bad happened. I asked him why he would say that & he reminded me that it was Easter morning 5 years ago that we got the call about Shannon. I couldn't believe it - this was the first year I hadn't thought about it. We managed to get back up the road to the house & Bridet's mom took one look at us & asked, "What happened? Did you wreck?" Considering that we were both covered in blood, dirt, and soot from the firepit, I thought this quesiton was a tad redundant & replied, "Uh, no. Why do you ask?" & then proceeded to tell them what had happened. We got cleaned up as best we could & came home to recouperate.

Tyson mainly just has some scrapes around his waist line & a bruised rib, but he's so young & athletic that he still went to basketball practice tonight. I, on the other hand, am a little worse for the wear & am having a hard time moving. When we came home, I soaked in the tub to get some of the dirt out of my scrapes because I'm too big a baby to scrub at them & then took some Advil & laid down for a nap. While I was napping, Seth came by to bring an Easter basket for Tyson & came up to check on me when he heard what had happened. He was very kind & sympathetic. When he left, I came downstairs & Ty & I curled up on the couch with a blanket & a movie. Seth came back a little while later with some leftovers from his Easter dinner with his fiance & her family & heated them up for us. I feel guilty for admitting this, but the whole time I was wondering what his ulterior motive for being so nice & thoughtful was. But as far as I can tell, there wasn't one...(?)

So, that was Easter. Today I had a math quiz that I'm not allowed to make up, so I had to throw on some sweats & take my gimp hiney to school, then pick up tapes in Ashland. When I was coming home, I figured that I should probably stop by Wal-Mart for some household items while I was out & managed to back into a truck in the parking lot. I didn't realize that I couldn't see clearly due to my inability to look as far as normal over my shoulder, but I completely didn't see him until it was too late & I'd backed into him. I felt like crying out of sheer frustration, but somehow held it together & exchanged insurance information with the guy, who was very cordial about the whole thing.

Anyway, I'm beat & am gonna take a couple more Advil/Aleve/Tylenol/whatever I can find & go to bed. I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow, consisting of math, a test in my music class, and core & cardio, which I'm not really sure how I'm going to do but figure I should at least show up & then go from there.

First of all, I'd like to say Happy Birthday to my big brother & sister, Allen & Christine! I hope it's a special day for you both & that you will feel cherished & reflect upon the many good things in life & know how much you are loved.

An an entirely different note, I applied to the Study Abroad Program in Italy finally for Fall term of 2009. The program is a 10-week term, beginning Sept. 25th & ending on Dec 13th. You all know how badly I want to travel and as I've mentioned before , I really feel like this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity, especially considering that I have the Ford scholarship & they will pay for 90% of the expenses. From what I have gathered thus far, I need to come up with around $700-$1000 for a 10-week stay in Florence, Italy. Amazing! Copy & paste this URL into your browser for the program itinerary (for those who are interested): http://studyabroad.roguecc.edu/studyabroad/studyabroad.html

I got an email from the program director about a half hour ago confirming that Tyson would be allowed to go, but I would need to figure out how to pay for him, and obviously the Ford Foundation won't be helping with that expense. I'm not exactly sure what the right thing to do is. First and foremost, I don't know about leaving the country & not being with Tyson for 10 weeks. That's an awful long time & and an awful long distance. Additionally, I'm not sure what I would do with him if I do go. He doesn't want to stay at his dad's (and we all know that I am not keen on the idea, myself!) but I know Seth would be horribly offended & guilt trip Tyson for not staying with him. Something I was considering is to have Tyson stay a week each with several of my friends & his, to mix things up & not be too much of a burden on others. If anyone has any thoughts/suggestions/advice on this, I'd appreciate some input.

I just wanted to post & briefly recap our birthdays. We didn't end up going to the cabin for quad-riding, camping, and BBQing on Friday as I'd hoped. It was becoming too much of a hassle with no electricity up there & trying to make sure everyone had a ride & camping supplies.

Instead, my friend & neighbor, Bridget, hosted a girls' party for me at her house. She made a fantastic fruit dip & fruit platter & grilled a bunch of yummy veggies on the BBQ & asked everyone to bring a bottle of fruity alcohol so we could make blended drinks. I wore my tiarra & brought over my "Ladies' Night" CD I just burned with all the great chick party songs & we danced & got goofy.

Tobyn was being more than a little obnoxious & was complaining about her drink, asking everyone to take pics of her, and basically just trying to run & steal the show. We decided to go down the the Little Brown Jug to do some karaoke (within a drunken walking distance from my place). Tobyn continued to pull her crap there & I finally had had enough & snapped at her (which would surprise anyone who knows me -- I'm a pretty tolerant person). We have since made peace with each other, once she apologized for behaving that way on my special day & acknowledging what she had done.

The next day, on my actual birthday, Tyson & I went out to breakfast at a local diner & curled up on the couch to watch a movie. He was getting pretty antsy, so I told him I wouldn't mind if he stayed with Triston. I proceeded to watch "My Best Friend's Girlfriend" with Dane Cook, which I've been wanting to see but can't watch with Tyson, & read an entire book from cover to cover in 4 hours just because it was my birthday & I could. It was so relaxing & wonderful.

My sisters, Kathy & Laura, who live in Arizona, decided to get together for my birthday & went to get pedicures (well, Kathy did because she needed one in order to wear the "casually slutty" leopard-print shoes we purchased together last summer & she wore in honor of my birthday), massages, & daquiries. Kathy photo-shoppped me into the pics & posted them on facebook with funny little captions "recalling" things we all did together for my birthday. It was great! The funniest thing about it, though, is that my friends on facebook kept commenting on how much it looked like I enjoyed my birthday based on those pics!

For Tyson's birthday, I ordered him some XBox 360 games he's been wanting (one of them being Guitar Hero Metallica!) & took Jordan & Triston with us up to Eugene Friday after the boys got out of school. We stayed the night with Krista & Dustin & their absolutely wonderful kids & watched Marley & Me. The next morning, we made a big breakfast & I took the boys to play laser tag at Putter's, an indoor, multi-level, black light laser tag course. I hung around for a couple of games & then decided that Krista & I should do some Goodwill shopping while they played a couple more sessions. It's sort of become one of our traditions when I'm up there visiting. It was a short visit & we left Eugene around 5 last night.

Today, I'm trying to get some transcription done & stay on top of homework, but it's hard to concentrate when the sky is blue & cloudless & the sun is doing its best to lure me outdoors into its warmth. Anyway, I'm gonna try to get a little more done before I succumb to the temptation!

Today was Tyson's 13th birthday and I am more in love with him every single day I know him. I know I gush to a disgusting degree to any willing party on (at least!) a daily basis, but today of all days, I think it's in order.

I woke up this morning & did my usual morning ritual of crossing the hall to Tyson's room & rapping lightly on his door before opening it (he's a teenaged boy -- I am NOT taking any chances!) & told him to wake up & jump in the shower. He sits straight up & the first words out of his mouth are, "I'm a teenager today!" I grinned & told him Happy Birthday, to which he replied, "Can I play hookie today since it's my birthday? I'm getting straight As & have only missed one day of school this year so far." And really, how could I argue with that logic? He was pretty stoked about that. I then told him I would make him anything he wanted for breakfast in bed & he told me that he just wanted me to come snuggle & watch The Morning Show With Mike & Juliet for 15 minutes before I had to start getting ready & he'd get breakfast later. I wasted no time in accepting the invite & as I flopped onto my belly beside him, I wrapped my arms around him & told him that I am so glad I got him for my son. He told me that he was really glad he got me for a mom & added that we both really could have it much worse.

God has blessed me so completely with Tyson. I think this is why I'm unlucky in love. I can't be greedy, so I should just be grateful that I won the mom lottery. And when I need a guy's opinion or someone to snuggle with or give me a backrub or help me clean house, I have one! Sure, there are (ahem) certain areas where a woman my age might appreciate some male companionship that a son can't provide, but that's so insignificant in the big scheme of things. And Tyson has been so much more supportive, understanding, encouraging, and compassionate than any adult male I have ever known.

Today of all days, I just wanted to shout it from a mountaintop (or virtually from a blog into cyberspace): I love my son. I am so proud of the young man he has become. Happy 13th Birthday, Tyson!!!