Look At Those Pukes!

When I was growing up the punk rock scene was really big. It was not uncommon for me to go to school with kids who had colored Mohawks. One guy always changed the color of his hair to match the holiday we were in. So you knew at Christmas, his Mohawk would be green and red.

I had a friend, Jennifer Johnson, visiting me. We were on the way to church. My dad was driving. We were stopped at a light and crossing the street in front of us were some of the above mentioned type of people. My dad says, out loud for everyone in the car to hear, “look at those pukes.” J.J. turns to me and asks what a “puke” is. I had to explain that it was anyone that my dad felt was not “normal”. I was used to his comments, but my friends were not.

I remember thinking that he was just so old and didn’t “get it” and I was never going to be like him.

I am now 41.

I was at the pool last night because they were having a teen BBQ and DJ party and Courtney wanted to go. First of all, some of these kids should be locked up. I know that it is still kind of in fashion for guys to wear baggy jeans that fall down below their waist, way down, but I didn’t realize that they wear their bathing suits the same way. And what’s up with these girls wear see through bathing suits? Really? See through? And did the music HAVE to be so loud? I was trying to talk to my friend, but I couldn’t hear what she was saying back. (Actually I could care less about the music, it was really good and I like music.)

And to make matters worse, Scott and I actually schedule our time at the pool when we know there are going to be as little people there as possible because, you know, WE ARE TURNING INTO OUR PARENTS.

I think I might take Courtney to get a Mohawk or a piercing.

Who am I kidding? I don’t want MY kid looking like a “puke”!

Pick A Winner

So I am driving to work today and behind me is a very good looking blonde in a BMW.
The windows are not tinted, so anyone can see in any of her windows and get a clear view of what she is doing.

Anyone.

Now, I had looked, really glanced, just to see what was going on behind me, because I was going to need to punch it right out of the gate to get over so I could make my turn ahead. If you have ever driven with me, you know that I consider my ride to work a contest and the more time I can take off of yesterday’s drive to work, the better my ride in is.

But I digress…

So I glance in my review and see Blondie digging for gold in her nose. This was not a scratch. It was not a quick inspection, it was a full on up to the knuckle dig.

All the while she is inspecting what she is doing in her mirror.

It was like a train wreck. I couldn’t not watch!

Then, after she finishes her expedition, she runs those fingers through her hair and straightens her bangs. All without so much as a wipe off on her clothes first.

Are you kidding me?

Grossness.

Clearly she needs to tint her windows.

And just so you know, the light changed, I was not first through the intersection and I missed my turn, causing me to have to take the long way to work.

Which didn’t do anything for my stats today.

Put A Fork In It...It's Done

When your faith is stretched so thin
that you can see straight through your soul-
-Sugarland

Faith is defined on the web as: A strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny; an institution to express belief to a divine power.

For the last 14 years I have had faith that my child would, not be healed, but would progress significantly. I thought by the time that she entered high school, friends would be made and life would be less hurtful and hard for her.

Prayer is defined on the web as: The act of communication with a deity.

For the last 14 years I have prayed that I would know what to do when it comes to parenting her; that I would know what decisions to make when it comes to her schooling and when it comes to her autism treatments.

Lately, I have had so much trouble with these two words and EVERYTHING that goes with them.

I can tell you this…14 years into it, I fell no more confident than I did when they told us she had autism.

But my faith has been shaken a lot over the last year. The loss of a couple friends – one to anger and one to selfishness, watching people’s marriages dissolve like it wasn’t worth the time or effort to save and a myriad of other things that are little but add up.

And I am sure that many of you will want to quote scriptures to me that prove that prayer works, and that things happening are God’s will and not mine. I get that, I really do.

And I get that nothing is ever easy and I believe that when I tell Courtney that anything worth doing is not going to be easy I am telling her the truth.

But the people who tell me to just pray and have faith and that all will be better need to understand that I have done all of that.

I have done all of that – so what else do ya got? Because, really, right now I am open to anything…aliens, cults, drugs…so what else do ya got?

And no, I am not going to do any of those things. But right now, this minute, I am done with everything. Tomorrow, we will try it again, but as for today…

Today I am done.