My Baby Gets A License

As with every teenager Brendan had been bugging me to get his drivers license. I was able to put it off for a while because someone had hit my car and broke the mirror. Brendan had put some fishing line on it until I could get it fixed. I also wanted to clean the inside of the car before bringing it to the repair shop.

Brendan asked if he went to the driver ed place and they said the mirror would be okay could he try? Well we did and the officer said it was ok as long as it was usable. Now, after me asking for weeks, he wants to go home and clean the car. That's twenty miles round trip. ~ but we did it.

Now we go to the DMV to renew my tags as they are due this month. We get to the driver ed place and Brendan doesn't have his permit on him. So home we go and get it. I asked "Are you sure you have everything" He replied "Yes Mom"

Now he passes his test and we come back at 1:00 for his driving test. The officer takes three others out before coming to Brendan. "Are you ready?" "Yes Mam" Brendan says proudly. She asks for his permit and insurance card for the car. I go to the papers from the DMV and it's not there!! Of course I pulled out everything from the glove box telling her I just had it when I renewed my tags. As I kept looking she asks Brendan "Are you a good driver?" "Do you obey the laws of the road ?" Of course he answers yes. Now she asks me "Mom is he a good driver" I told her I felt he has more to learn but I feel safe in the car with him.

She looks at Brendan and says this is you're lucky day and writes passed on his permit. That's right ~ no driving test! She tells him congratulations and to take his permit and birth certificate to the DMV and get his license. Guess what? While in the car Brendan tells me he doesn't have his birth certificate. So back home we go.

Here's the fun part. As we're walking into the DMV Brendan turns around. He left his permit and birth certificate in the car. I continue in and the lady asks if he passed. I told her yes but said I wish there was a way to delay his license telling her the events of the day. She said "We could do that". Brendan takes care of all the paper work and now it's time for the eye test. She looks at me and winks. She turned the machine off three times. (This is a small town the DMV if often empty, maybe one or two people). Well we couldn't hold it any longer. We both start laughing.

Brendan didn't think it was very funny but to me ~ it was well worth the trips back and forth.

Worms On My Ears

One morning I woke the boys up and was making breakfast when I heard Christopher yell from the bathroom "Mommy I have worms on my ears!!"

Of course I ran to him and looked. No they were not worms but he did indeed have a long blister on the top of each ear. How did this happen?

It all started with a week long trip to the Cub Scout Jamboree. I thought I had everything ... snacks, extra drinks, cards, sunscreen, and first aid kit among other things.

Being sensitive to the sun I made sure Christopher and I always had our sunscreen on during the heat of the days. However, I had his hair cut before the trip and never thought of putting sunscreen on his ears.

The top of Christopher's ears were sunburned to the point where they blistered. At the time it was not very funny because he was so uncomfortable but it does bring some laughs today looking back at it.
Believe me ~ that never happened again.

Beleek Irish Porcelain

When my parents got back from Ireland in '86 my dad was going through things he got for some friends. He told me of a lady that wanted three items. She said if she had any leftover money just buy her something nice. He bought her a Beleek Irish Porcelain vase and asked me what I thought. Of course it was beautiful. That's all I heard.

Shortly after losing my dad in '93 I took the boys to the mall for pizza. We walked around the mall and I noticed a little nic nac shop. I went in to look. (Yes, my boys were good enough to take to a shop like that lol)

After walking around for a bit I noticed a locked lighted curio cabinet in a corner. As I was looking the owner came to me and asked if I was interested in anything. I told her my mom had three Beleek vases that were destroyed during the earthquake and would love to buy her another one. I couldn't believe it was Beleek.

She told me of a friend that went to Ireland ... yep you know the story. My eyes started tearing as she repeated the story to me. She pointed to the vase in the middle cabinet on a stand with a sign that said 'not for sale' and before she could finish I said 'that's the vase my dad brought back to you from Ireland'

She gave me a hug and said she loved it so much she contacted Beleek in Ireland and arranged to be a distributor here in the states. After my dad died she brought the vase to display in the store to share the story of how she started selling Beleek.