Life…with a teenager

Who is this strange young man who looks amazingly like our son, but increasingly has the personality of a lemon…sour!

We’ll…maybe not ALL the time.

Who is this contrary young man who refutes and rebuts everything we say?

Who is this boy, whose recent favorite phrase---“That’s just awesome”---really means “Would you please just leave me alone.”

How did this happen?

When did he become this…teenager (especially without our knowledge or our consent)?

It seems like it just happened…overnight.

When we arrived in Laramie, he still resembled our “little” boy…albeit, maturing.

In three short weeks he’s become someone we’ve never met before.

I’m not sure I like it. Not so much that he’s becoming non-communicative, or a smart aleck or full of sarcasm.

No. What I don’t like…what scares me…is my boy, nay, my “child,” is growing up.

I’m just not ready for it---not now.

Too much has changed in our lives. Too many firsts and new beginnings are fast coming our way and I’m just not ready to share my home with…a teenager.

[Sigh…]

Someone just told me that 13 year olds “disappear,” but then they return...around age 20.

[Double sigh…]

Yep. Life...it’s a changing.

So what happens when one…

• moves far away from family & friends, or

• moves to a small town, or

• moves far away from family & friends and moves to a small town, or

• doesn’t have any friends in the new small town, or

• doesn’t have a job to meet & make new friends in the new small town, or

• has family who are gone all day at work or school in the new small town, or

• stays at home (a lot) to get boxes unpacked and the house in order (and besides doesn't have anywhere else to go) in the new small town, or

• all of the above

One starts talking to their computer...is what (case in point with this post)!

Just took a break from unpacking a half-dozen or so boxes and trying to figure out where to put what…or what to store or what to give away…when this popped into my head.

I’m just being silly…or am I slowly losing it? You be the judge.

Actually…I’m just having fun and entertaining myself. Yeah. Right!

More than just a Farmer’s Market (or a whole lot to learn)…

The Laramie Farmer’s Market has turned out to be more than just a bunch of kiosks where we purchase local produce and other comestibles, including the best ever kettle corn.

Last Friday, I decided to try some handmade soap with Emu oil to (hopefully) help combat the inevitable dry skin common to Wyoming. Linn, the vendor, suggested I purchase a “family-friendly” scent…Juniper Breeze.

Linn informed me that Emu Oil is an animal by-product…before she rubbed some oil onto my arm. I told her, “That’s okay, as long as the animal isn’t killed just for the oil extract.” She assured me that all parts of the animal are used. Indeed, they also sell Emu meat.

So I walked away with my bar of soap thinking…Emu must be some type of sheep…or goat…or a Lama-esque animal. You laugh!!…while Andi, is probably just rolling her eyes…at my ignorance! Yeah…I was surprised to go online and discover that Emu...is a bird!!!!

I’m glad to know I’m still not too old to learn a thing or two…and you might just find a handmade bar of soap with Emu oil in your holiday stocking this year!

Later, when Linn saw me leaving the market, she caught up with me to tell me about the local square dancing club, which of course, I had already looked into--- but can you see S square dancing?! Umm…don’t think so!

Lots of nice and friendly people here in Laramie.

Hasta entonces…

Laramie on National Television

The University of Wyoming Cowboys played rival Texas Longhorns yesterday afternoon at War Memorial Stadium here in Laramie. The Longhorns, I understand, are ranked # 2 in the nation for college football. The Cowboys and the Longhorns have met but a mere 3 times on the gridiron, and yet…are intense rivals.

The game was a sell-out (over 31,000 in attendance) and pretty much the event of the season thus far. Unfortunately for us, we were too late to purchase reduced faculty season tickets…pretty much the only way we could get into the Texas game. I heard one of the Sportscasters mention that Texas Longhorn fans had to purchase UWYO Cowboy season tickets just to attend yesterday’s game.

We watched the game on cable TV and if we had opened the windows we probably would have heard the roar from the stadium, which is a mere hop-skip-and a jump from our front door. We drove by the stadium just prior to kick-off and could see the fans sitting on the bleachers…this is, a small town after-all. In fact, when we do go to watch a future game, we’ll leave our cars in the garage and walk to the stadium to avoid the hassle of parking...or maybe we’ll bike the 2-3 minutes it will take to get there. The pleasures of small town living!

During the game, the TV cameras would occasionally pan to the sights beyond the high stadium seating to views of the mountains and hills that surround Laramie, which is really what this post is about...Laramie, Wyoming on national television…probably one of the few times the rest of the nation will catch a glimpse without having to trek out here for a visit.

During commercial breaks we got a glimpse of the schedule of the upcoming college games to be televised on Versus (cable network channel) and alas, the Cowboys are not on the schedule.
S thinks the Cowboys probably aren’t a ranked high enough to warrant TV time and that the only reason yesterday’s game was televised was due to the second-ranked Texas Longhorns. Oh well…

So…if you missed yesterday’s game, which I’m sure most of you did, you missed some sights of Laramie. Not a big deal, but it sure was nice to see bits and pieces of our new small home town on national television.

I get my kicks when I can…

Thanks for stopping by…

September 11...

I’m so ashamed. I forgot that today is September 11. I can claim that I’ve been so confused with the days lately…not getting a newspaper or having to be anywhere…but I have The Washington Post as my home page and I knew it was coming, and yet, I still forgot…until I turned on the TV this morning. I don’t want to ever become immune or complacent…or forgetful about this day (or August 29, when Katrina devastated New Orleans), especially since I’m so far away, and today…I especially feel so very far away.

I wasn’t at “home” in Arlington…on the East Coast…for that 8:46 am moment of silence. I was here, on Mountain Time, at 6:46, just waking for a new day. I wish I had remembered, so I could have paid homage at that moment in time, like I would have at “home.”

I was working catty-corner from the Department of Treasury on September 11, 2001 and was sent home soon after the Pentagon was hit. The streets were filled with terrified and sobbing D.C. workers, all trying to call someone on their cell phones, which, as a result, overloaded the system and no one was able to get through to anyone else. Fortunately for me, my dearest friend from Maryland was able to get through to my phone to let me know that J’s school was keeping the kids in class until parents could come and get them. Her call was such a relief since it was his first few days as a kindergartener in a new school where we didn’t know any of the other families, but especially because S and I were both on the D.C. side of the Potomac River.

I remember the terror I and the other thousands of D.C. workers felt as a jet flew low overhead, knowing full well that the skies had been closed. Then someone shouted…”it’s a military plane!” I remember seeing the smoke billow from the Pentagon as I drove a young, terrified co-worker home (once I was able to retrieve my car) and I remember the sound of the military jets flying all night long, patrolling the skies for weeks afterwards. I want to keep on remembering all of these things and exactly how I felt that day and the weeks afterwards so that I never do forget what happened…or the people whose lives were lost that day. So I will make time today to watch the special programs and to read the special tributes…

On a positive note…I will never forget that September 11 is the birthday of two young and adorable friends…one was born on September 11, 2001, and the other was born on September 11, 2008. Happy Birthday to them!!!!!

Edited to Add:
[oops...that should be September 11, 2007. So sorry to M...ito!]

Where the deer and the antelope play…

On Sunday, S and I decided to try and catch a glimpse of some of the famed Wyoming Antelope.

So we took a 15 mile cruise along Happy Jack Road…a two-lane, wide open highway running approximately 37 miles east/west between Laramie and Cheyenne (and parallel to the more traveled I-80).

Happy Jack meanders through high plains timberland

and an open plateau

with lots of fanciful looking rock formations

all under Wyoming’s bright blue…Big Sky.

They say Antelope poise high on the hills, which we weren’t lucky enough to see, but we have plenty of time and who can complain with such beautiful and unspoiled vistas…except for this.

We passed a dozen or so cars going and coming and an equal number of hikers and campers coming down from the hills, which we’ve heard offer great hiking, picnicking, boating and fishing.

I’m continually awed by the beauty that is Wyoming. To be sure, there are so many many more breathtaking and awesome places on earth…but with snow-capped mountains in the distance and (places like) Vedauwoo and Happy Jack a mere 10-15 minutes from our front door, it makes for a pretty awesome place to land.

And oh yeah…Sunday was a “peak” day...

Peaks and Valleys

Since moving in 3 weeks ago, I’ve hit the "peaks" and the "valleys." Up until last week, I was more-or-less up near the peak. Then…Bam! By mid-week I tumbled at an extraordinarily fast speed down into the valley. I just wanted to be back home…in my house…or having coffee and a bagel with a walking buddy…planning a dinner party…or just hitting all the familiar places.

I’ve made my way back up the peak, but it’s been somewhat of a slippery slope with some backsliding.

Maybe it’s the moon, which was totally awesome last week.

Yesterday afternoon was one of those “aha” moments…I remembered we’re on a journey, which, despite the occasional tumbling into the valley, is also an adventure full of exciting “firsts” and new beginnings and that we’re lucky to have this opportunity to explore another slice of life in this great big country. (Of course…Europe would have been a great option too!)

So here’s to the peaks and the valleys…and all that’s in between.

Thanks for checking in…