The Good: 14 years and counting...

So this weekend Jack and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary. It's really unbelievable it's been that long. I remember being in NYC at our friends apt. (hello Ted and Julie) and at that time Jack and I had been married not even two years and they said they had been married five years. I remember thinking...wow, that is forever. I wonder if I'll we'll make it five years... thankfully x 3 almost! Well, the actual day was April 30th but between Jack's schedule and getting a sitter, Saturday was our night! We went to one of Jack's favorite restaurants in Seattle (Metropolitan Grill) and probably thousands of others favorite as they are actually rated one of the top ten steak places in the nation. Our first trip there was during a house hunting trip when Jack first took the job with Starbucks. Since that time Jack has been several times for work but it had been a while since I'd been. It was nice to actually dress up, leave the kids, and have a night to ourselves. Well, maybe I really wasn't dressed up but for me wearing a blouse that requires an iron and heels of any sort, I classify that as being dressed up. Conversation goes: "Jack, what do you plan to wear?" Since most of his clothes are in California, he says "I guess I'll have to wear some suit pants with one of my dress shirts." So I ask him what I should wear. He says "something nice". So I stare at my closet for about 15 minutes. Finally when I ask again if he has any opinion, he asks "what are the options". So I answer, "I have these jeans, or perhaps these other jeans. " Hmmmm, looks like it's jeans.

As I'm writing this I must share just one other incident that took place yesterday. So we have a friend who is a Washington State Patrolman. Jack has mentioned to him kind of jokingly (and kind of not) that one day we may need him to pay us a visit all suited up and in his patrol car to come have a visit with the boys...(ok, actually Ty). Well, although Ty was awarded 'Very Important Cougar' at his school for the month of April and the reasons were listed as : he is respectful, willing to help others, and works well with others, we know that another Ty lives in our home much of the time. This Ty is also very smart but in a manipulative way. Ever since he was a baby, he was one we had to watch. He wasn't even two years old and I'd hand him two sippy cups, one for him and one for Connor and immediately he'd quickly drink half of one of the cups but each time as he'd approach Connor to give him his cup, he'd give him the half empty one he had just downed and keep the full one for himself. The stories are endless. So we finally decided it was time for someone to pay a visit to the Ty that lives in our home. This is where Officer Wilkes enters the picture. He drives up Saturday afternoon and knocks on the door. Ty and Connor are both upstairs watching something on TV. Jack yells for Ty and says there is someone here to see him. Ty, excited thinking it's his friend Joe across the street, runs down quickly. As he turns toward the door, a shocked look appears. His first reaction is "Mom, I'm hungry, I need to get something to eat." Of course, that isn't an option at this time. (And he had just had a McDonald's happy meal an hour earlier.) So they sit down in the living room and talk one on one. As expected, Ty sits very still has direct eye contact and pays close attention to everything Officer Wilkes says. I did at times feel sad for doing this as I'd see his eyes at times start to look glossed over. Officer Wilkes also comes prepared with a VHS tape in his hand with Ty's name written across the front of it. He tells Ty it is a tape recording of some of the not so good things he's done recently. Now to be clear, Ty is a very good kid and frequently we are told how respectful, funny, and helpful he is but lately we have had issues with him being sneaky and stealing (or as he likes to say, "performing disappearing acts") with anything from treats to toys to money and also just plain disobedience with what he would say for good reason. I can't tell you how many candy wrappers I've found hidden underneath his bed or money that I have found in his backpack that has come from who knows where. In the end, I think the visit was a success. Of course only time will tell. The best part was Officer Wilkes told Ty he'd need to take him out to his car to write up the visit. It was on official paper even indicating his height, weight, and eye color. At the bottom he had Ty sign the form. The funny thing was the moment the door closes and Officer Wilkes left, Ty suddenly went running back upstairs very quickly. We could see him running from the media room back to our bedroom and then back out again. When we asked what he was doing, he said he was putting something back in our room that belonged there...some candy it turned out to be. He's either going to be extremely successful or a criminal...hopefully the end result will be a great scrapbook page and a few laughs in the future.

So this morning I'm getting ready for church and Ty says to me "Mom, in the Roddy household, we don't celebrate Mothers day just once a year, from now on every Saturday and Sunday is Mothers day." Oh the charm!