The Countdown Is On

So Jenn from Juggling Lifeand Fannie from This Isn't What I Ordered have both tagged me for a Mom Meme. And I'm going to do it, I swear. Just as soon as I can narrow down my bad parenting moments to just ONE, and come up with seven good things about my kids. The latter should be easier than the former.


In the meantime, let's talk about the fact that it's about T minus 48 hours until Shannon gets here. Shannon is a very complicated subject right now. First of all, I'd like you to go and read this post about adolescent angst by Suburban Correspondent at The Womens Colony. Wow, I'm full of links today, right? Seriously, go read it...I'll wait.


Did you read it? I hope so, because this pretty accurately describes my feelings about Shannon right now. Mourning the loss of my sweet little girl, and hoping she turns back into a human one day. I was discussing this with my oldest daughter the other day, that every time I think I've turned a corner with Shannon, and she seems to be being nice and cooperative, it turns out it's only because she was after something. It's a little disheartening, actually.


Like S.C. and her daughter, Shannon and I were close when she was younger. She was my little mini-me, my snuggle bug, the kid who still loved me while my oldest was going through the adolescent thing. I loved that sweet little girl so much. I still love her, but there are times, a lot of times, when I really don't like her very much.


I don't know what's going to happen when she gets here. Is she going to be happy to see us? She mentioned on the phone once that she wanted us to change her plane ticket, so she could come earlier. She was "homesick", she said...even though she hasn't left home yet. She said she feels like Arizona isn't really her home anymore, and she wanted to come to Colorado.


She changed her mind though, deciding that she wanted to spend as much time as possible with her "boyfriend." I put boyfriend in quotes because...ok, she's 14. His name is Michael. She really likes him. Hell, I really liked him. He is a really, really sweet kid. Which made me wonder what he is doing hanging out with Shannon, but I digress. In fact, I talked to the mother of the girl that Shannon is staying with a couple of days ago, who assured me that not only was my daughter not giving her any trouble, but she's pleasant to have around and very polite. Say what? Don't you wish they could save some of that for you sometimes?


So, she will get here Friday night. Will she be glad to see us? Brokenhearted from leaving Michael? Sullen? Excited? Morose? Depressed? I have no idea. She's not going to have her friends to fall back on when she does arrive. After the holiday weekend, when her dad goes back to work, she's really going to have no choice but to spend time with Kylie and me. I promised her new bedding for her room, and a guinea pig. The guinea pig was a deal I made with her when I first told her we were moving, way back in December. We just got a really sweet deal on a huge wooden cage for the future guinea pig too. And when I say sweet deal, I mean it was sitting out in front of our neighbor's house last Saturday, and I rang her bell and asked her if she was selling it, and she said, "Oh lordy, I'm moving and I just can't deal with that thing. Just take it, PLEASE!"


I have to admit, not having her around has been...peaceful. No arguing, no snottiness, no attitude. Well, unless you count the six year-old. Having one child with you, all the time, from the time she wakes up until the time she goes to sleep is...exhausting. I'm not even sure exhausting is the word. Let's just say that I felt the urge to visit Tipsy's today. I came away with a large bottle of Barefoot Zin, red, that I may crack open here very soon.


See, I'm having very mixed feelings about this. I want her here, but I want her here and NICE. I know, I'm asking too much. I want her here, nice and appreciative of all the things I've done to try and make this easier on her. Which will happen when it snows in Phoenix, in July.


I have to admit, I'm nervous. She, on the other hand, has been having a grand time in Arizona, staying with a friend. They went to a concert last night by a guy who calls himself NeverShoutNever!. I'm confused by that...it sounds like the name of a group, but it's just him. Unless he's performing, then he has a backup band. But the NeverShoutNever! name is just him. His name is Christofer Drew, I think.


So Shannon got a picture with this guy, and I love the way she looks. I swiped the picture off her MySpace page, by the way, so shhhhh. I think she'd not be happy if she knew. But I just love the expression on her face. She looks so cute, and her face, to me, says, "Holy crap, I can't believe I'm standing here with this guy!"

She's going to have the opportunity to make some friends before school starts. In Colorado, the high schools play softball in the fall. Her high school is having position and conditioning clincs during the summer. The first two are next week, after she gets here. I hope she realizes that this is really a good opportunity for her to meet some kids, and not moan about it like she first did when I told her about it. It's like...I'm trying to help you here kid. I wish you could help me a little.

47 hours, 30 minutes, and counting.