Harley

I've always said that when Alex goes off to college, I'm going to buy a Harley Davidson. While driving to Minneapolis this past weekend, I saw a Harley for sale and stopped to take a look at it....there's no harm in a look....right?

I pull the car over to the side of the road and took a bit of the curb with me.Alex looks over at me and says "Mom, why do you want to drive a Harley? You can barley drive a car."

OUCH!

Side note....Alex also asked why I would want to ride a Harley when he goes to college because "I'll have old Grandma arms"

Frustration

I would do almost anything to never have to deal with Alex's dad ever again. I'm envious of parents who get along effortlessly with each other even if it is just simply for the sake of their children.

My ex-husband has many issues and obstacles to deal with including being bipolar and I understand the challenges that that brings for him, but it's so hard to allow him to have a relationship with Alex and protecting Alex. It's sometimes a very fine line. He recently broke up with his girlfriend which adds stress to his life and accentuates the disease. I've been keeping Alex busy on the weekends, but his dad wanted to see him Saturday night and I allowed it.

When I picked him up on Sunday, breaking my own rule of not picking Alex up at his house, he was ready to pick a fight. As much as I've grown as a person since we were married, there is something that makes my regress to a broken, abused woman when I'm in that situation. I'm frustrated with myself for allowing him to once again, be more powerful than me, to hurt me, to hurt Alex, and bring fear to my world. What he did is unimportant - what I need to learn is what I need to do to keep Alex at a safe distance where he can know his father, but keep he and I safe. After being divorced from his dad for six years, one would think that I would have learned how to do this, but obviously, I'm still growing.

Waterpark Fun

Our summer has been crazy busy thus far! Alex has had golf, baseball, bible school, and I've crammed in a full semester of college into 5 weeks plus two weddings. BUT - we're all done with our commitments and now it's time to have some fun!

Bubble Blowing Contest

And Last, But Not Least

On Sunday, after the wedding, I drove to upstate New York and paid a visit to Niagara Falls. We took the Maid of the Mist tour through the falls, which I highly recommend if you're visiting. It takes your breath away. Once you get down into the falls and feel the rain on your face and hear the roar of the falls, you really get an appreciation of just how magnificent it really is.




We spent the entire day on Sunday in Niagara. There's a Hard Rock in the Falls area that we had lunch at before heading back to the hotel in Cambridge Springs for the night. My flight left Cleveland the next morning and before I flew out, I had to visit my Mecca - the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame.



For a woman who grew up with the songs of Elvis, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendricks playing in her room, this was like the holy land. To see the actual piece of paper that Purple Haze was written on and the family Bible that Elvis had, or the Porsche that Janis Joplin cruised in, or the piano the John Lennon sat and wrote some of the greatest songs in R&R history at ....well, there really are no words. You're not allowed to take pictures in the museum, but I did snap one of Johnny Cash's tour bus that was outside the meseum.




I know it sounds a bit pathetic, but to be that close to musicians you admired most was awesome! I spoke with some of the employees at the museum who were also musicians and those people truly LOVED their jobs. I don't know if they even cared that they were getting paid to be there every day. The love that someone can posses over a silly little piece of music creates a passion that is overwhelming.

Party Time

And after the wonderful ceremony, the Anderson's must get their party hats on! The social time, reception, dinner, and dance were all located in the hotel where the ceremony was held.

My favorite person in the world....Heather with her husband (aka my cousin) Dave



The other adorable flower girl



Don't know what kind of dance this is but you see a lot of it at wedding celebrations in my family



The father/daughter dance



Cori dancing with her uncle Joel



Joel with a college buddy



Who let these guys get on stage?




Me and the only single eligible bachelor at the wedding



Joel dancing with the flower girl



And yes Just Mom.....I caught the bouquet!!!! What can I say...I made a wonderful bride. Always a bride, never a bridesmaid

The Wedding

My cousin Joel's wedding was beautiful!

The Groom and his boys



How adorable is this little flower girl???



Becky and her father







That magic kiss



The newlyweds

PA - Part 1

Now that my summer semester is complete, I can finally get around to blogging....which is way more fun than going to school in the summer anyway.WARNING - the next few posts will have a mega number of pictures!

After Alex's baseball game, he and I drove to Minneapolis which is about a 4-hour drive from where we currently live. My flight left MSP at 10:00am and Alex was staying with his aunt and uncle in Eagan....which is where we're from. Alex stayed awake the entire trip up to the last 5 minutes of the drive chatting about how sure he was that Terry and Kathy (the aunt and uncle) missed him and how happy they would be to see him. Yeah...no security issues here.

My cousin Jody's daughter LaTasha flew with me since this was her first time flying and she was unsure of where to go and what to do. Being older and wiser and wanting to look out for the best interest of cousin Jody's daughter, I offered her advice that came in a pretty champagne glass called Mimosa's to ease her anxieties.

We had a lay over in Detroit so we met up at another airport bar. The best part about traveling for me is meeting people and I am a social sally when I'm on the road so kicking back in a bar was fun fun fun.



I just packed everything into one bag and carried it onto the plane, but Tash packed her apartment into a suitcase. Upon arriving in Cleveland, we realized that the airline left her bag in Detroit. Tash was singing at the wedding and everyhting was in her bag (literally everything she owned....she packed) so we ended up waiting in Cleveland for four hours until the next flight from Detroit arrived with her bag. The hotel where the wedding was at was in Cambridge Springs, PA and that's a two hour drive from Cleveland. I told Tash...you'd better stay awake and help me navigate. "Okay Amanda" she says. Thirty minutes into the drive...Tash is snoring away.

The area of PA where we needed to be at was located near Erie. The hotel had this antique ambiance to it and both LaTasha and I said, upon walking into the hotel, "It smells like Grandma Anderson's house".
I totally got lost going to the hotel and navigating was difficult because the area is a common wealth area and it is just township after township. The farm houses are right off of the road without driveways and there are tons of curves so you're only driving like 40mph. It's also a huge Amish area....which I will tell more about tomorrow.