Happy Valentine's Day!

I can't believe it's already February 14th!  Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

I've kind of neglected this blog over the past couple of years. But I'm hoping to get back to it now that some things have changed and a few people have moved on to bother other people and have hopefully stopped stalking me and my writings.  (We shall see, won't we?)

We've had a great winter so far. LLB is starting to take her SATs and ACTs. She's thrilled with all of that -- NOT!  This week she's off to an Honor Band with some of her classmates -- we are hoping the weather will hold and that she can get to and from without hitting any snow or bad weather. Upon her return, she's got big plans that include tubing, visits from old friends, directing the pit orchestra for the musical, and more! She's one busy girl, but she wouldn't have it any other way.

My boy is doing well. VMI is a challenge, but he is enjoying his time there.  He made the Deans List for the first term-- no surprise there.  He's being inducted into the National Honor Society for College Freshmen. He's just received a letter stating that he is being considered for a scholarship, too! His hard work is paying off. We are so proud of him.

My boy is a great kid, unfortunately, another cadet doesn't appreciate him or his work ethic and has decided to try to make his life miserable. (I've got my eye on this person and I can make a phone call at any moment if I decide things have gone too far. For now, I'm watching it all play out.) This particular cadet has taken my boy's food stuffs, moved his things around, and even took a swing at him. This kid is on my list and those of you who know me well know that the one place nobody wants to be is on my list.

So now we have this:  My Cadet was given a Rat Ring by his senior when they had "breakout" at the end of January. It turns out that the ring is now missing - along with the ring given to him by his girl at Christmas. My Cadet - who is very careful with his things and is trying desperately not to wrongly accuse - doesn't want to say they were stolen, but will say that they are both missing and nobody seems to know anything. I'm a bit upset that this sort of thing happened - especially with such special items -- I can only hope that I am wrong about who I think took the rings, but my gut tells me that I'm right...  And my gut isn't wrong all that often.

We are all hoping that the rings just appear one day before the end of the term in May.  As I told my boy, we can replace both items. They won't be the same, but at least he'll have a Rat Ring to pass down to his Rat one day. I reminded him that those who love him and support him are what really matter -- stuff is just stuff...  (except when it's stuff that means something - then it's harder to remember that it's still just stuff.)

So as we move into spring, we'll be visiting colleges with LLB, getting ready for the musical and the HUGE cast party that goes with it, and generally being the busy people that we are. Stop by and I'll fill you in on our day to day excitement... well, I'll try for once a week, to start, ok??