Party on

Happy Sunday! It's gray and overcast in the northeast and somewhat cool. After sitting in a football stadium in 95 degree heat yesterday with over 100,000 of my closest friends, I am thrilled to have clouds in the sky...even some rain would be nice. Speaking of nice, something not so nice is going on in my backyard....

Either a neighbor is hitting golf balls over the trees into my yard or a bird is dropping them from the sky as I am finding used balls very close to my windows and patio. Sheesh....Somebody has a nasty hook on their drive. The closet golf club is three miles away, so either my neighbor is swinging as hard as he or she can or Tiger Woods is playing golf in the back woods...not sure, but if one hits a window, I am sunk. And so, I am going to have to stay vigilant as I walk Diva Dog out back. I have been hit on my back by a wayward golf ball in the past and let me share this with you...."OUCH!"

OK, on to something else.....After the football game, we tried to meet up with the big leftie. Apparently, he got tired of the game and left early while his parents and sister toughed it out in the heat. Our seats were at the top of the stadium in row 91....yes, that it 91 stairs to climb. If it wasn't so hot, I would not have walked back down the stairs and waited in line for 30 minutes for three bottles of water, but I was melting and needed hydration. So after climbing the stairs for the third time, I was determined that if I had to leave my seat again, I would not return. Therefore I watched the end of the game from the concession stand area. It was a rough game any way, so I did not need to be in my seat near the sun to watch the end. The cheerleaders were more interesting that the game.....

Anyway, after the game, we sifted through the 100K of fans and could not locate the big kid. Little did we know that he was loooong gone....boredom set in....he got hungry....wanted to go back to the house...no worries about his family. I am so glad, after all, we did come to campus to see him and not the game. I don't want him to worry about us and look out to make sure that we were settled and doing well....then I found out why.....

The kid was exhausted. As we picked him up at our parking space two miles from the stadium, he shared that he had gone to bed around 2 am. Impressed, I could not help but share my admiration that he had studied until 2 am on a Friday night....then the truth was revealed.....

The little house behind the bus terminal had over 200 of their closest friends in their house and backyard for a party with Hawaiian punch and cookies (yeah, right). Yep, the guys are little Martha Stewarts who had created a party that people will not long forget. Tea cakes, bananas foster, and perhaps a little Merlot, right? Wrong....kegs...red solo cups....pretzels....

Am I miffed? Nope! In college, I would have loved the little house by the bus terminal and to have held a party for 200 people without dropping a dime of my own money. It sounded like a great deal of fun. This is what college is all about except you have to add the attending class, reading, and studying and writing papers..... right?

With that said, we finished dinner and I had made a large pan of baked ziti, chocolate toffee, and stuffed cupcakes for the guys. Wonderful Sparky had sent his favorite chocolate dipped macaroons from the bakery. As we stopped in front of the little house by the bus terminal, I was given a mandate: "You are NOT to come in."

BPM: "huh? not come in....why?...what are you hiding?"

Buddy: "Nada....it's really dirty....didn't clean it. Don't want you to pass out."

BPM: "It's OK for me to pass out in the heat of the football stadium but not OK for me to pass out in the living room of your home?"

Buddy: "Right....it's dirty and you will be totally grossed out and maybe want to vomit."

BPM: "That's crazy...." As I looked at the trash on the porch and the crushed red Solo cups next to the trash can.The red cups were not only on my son's lawn, but scattered around the street. I also saw more red cups at the party that was going on across the street. it seems that the little red solo cup is quite the smash in higher education.As depicted in the attached Toby Keith video, the kids pay homage to the red solo cup.....

And so, I did not enter the little house but stood by the car as the kid took to cooler filled with food and treats into the 'dirty' little house by the bus terminal. After saying our good byes, I began to place myself into a 20 year old's head....not wanting my parents to enter my house meant a few things.....

The place was indeed a mess....the house smelled from beer, alcohol and feet....the keg is still in the living room with drunken room mates sitting on the big sofa....Perhaps it is a combination of all of the above.....Then again, I have to use my powers of deduction to figure this one out. I could have used my omnipotent powers as a parent to push passed the guys who were barricading the door, but I decided against that strategy, although I may make a surprise visit one night...then again, if I cannot trust the kid by this age, then I will never be able to do it.....

Therefore, I backed into the car....turned the air conditioning way up since my body temperature was still pretty high...settled into my seat and shared a bag of Skittles with Tink and Dad...It's all good....let him take care of whatever is behind that door.....I actually do not want to know....Sometimes it is best to live in a fog than daylight when it comes to this aspect of rearing kids.....OK, it's time for me to collect the latest round of golf balls in the yard....have a great day!