After all my emotional ranting yesterday, one might think I would have felt better, but the sour day continued long into the afternoon. It was a frustrating work day and the pickup of the kids from school wasn’t much better. Traffic was hell and I almost died like theee times (not counting when I made my daughter drive). I was in no mood to go sit at a coffee shop with my son who was also in a foul mood. We have a 2 hour wait for my daughter to finish her after school activities and so we just drove home.

That means I did 3 round trips to the school yesterday and that equates to about 3 hours in the car. 🙄 The last “leg” home I had my daughter drive to start forcing her to learn the grid and be able to get around without google maps. These are skills that we used to get automatically because we did not have a personal computer giving us turn by turn directions.

She has resisted this because she seems to like to be chauffeured. She wants the independence and to drive the car when she wants, which is on her terms and that seems pretty random. That’s a teenager. I got another dose of “your music sucks” right away and because she was driving, she switched the input to the radio. At least she has pretty good taste (or similar to my own) so the station was good.

I have not ridden with her since she got her license and she has become much more confident and has already picked up some bad habits. Following to close and braking hard and fast when it feels almost too late. It was terrifying. I tried to coach her but she just brushed me off. When I tried to explain the main east-west streets she said nothing. Then I asked her “so which major street will we cross next?”.

Her reply was “I don’t know because I wasn’t listening”. Oh boy! As we approached home we had the “dinner” discussion where she turned her nose up at everything and refused to accept any suggestion. I’m over arguing in this topic and just let it go. I’ll cook and she’ll either eat it or not. /shrug

This all sounds so awesome.. I know!! So where’s the redemption??! Good things are worth waiting for I guess. 😜

After arriving home things took a turn. I helped my son with his last missing Spanish assignment and got a text from darling daughter that “spaghetti would be fine as long as it comes with crescent rolls and Dr Pepper.” I’ll take that compromise.

At dinner she had her soda and I had a glass of wine and we had great conversation. Jim had already eaten so it was just the three of us. There was smiles and jokes. It was like a ray of sunshine that broke through a very overcast day. Then they emptied the dishwasher without a complaint.

In the evening I had a lovely conversation with my friend Steph who now lives in Galveston. We’re trying to plan a girls trip or some visit to her new place sometime soon. Later, Jim and I watched a show and Z and I made brownies. The evening turned out really great. It was a nice reminder how quickly things can turn around, and how the little things do matter.

My daughter who constantly complains about food said it was the best spaghetti I had ever made. And I said “thanks to Prego”. She went on to describe some things they have made in in foods class and I asked her to bring home recipes she likes and we’ll cook together. I’m filled with hope once again.

Today will be another full day and I’m getting ready to finish my hour of cardio and get back home. I’ve got a mountain of work to do. Five weeks of contract left and I’m and counting down the days. I can’t wait to get back into my MFA and am very much looking forward to taking a class… but that’s a whole other blog post waiting to happen.

☮️ ❤️ 😊,

~Miss SugarCookie