Test, Loose, Paint, Deadline

Dude took the ACT test for the first time Saturday.

He’s known about this test for a month. So of course, Friday night he panicked.

Him: “I’m totally going to bomb the math portion.”

Me: “Did you study any of the problems in the book I bought you?” (I bought him a book specifically for the math and science sections of the ACT).

Him: “No.”

Me: “I seem to recall suggesting to you that you might look over the material in the book and on the ACT website so you would be prepared, so you could avoid this panic the night before business.”

He shrugged.

“Well. It’s too late now. Just do your best and we’ll see what happens.”

We looked at this test as a practice test. We (and by “we” I really mean “me” because he really doesn’t give a rip at this point) have every intention of taking it again his senior year. In fact, he’ll probably end up taking it again shortly after, or during the semester of, the math class he’s scheduled for next year. That way, the math / science sections will be fresh and he’ll probably do better.

But at any rate, I didn’t push him. I reminded him, at times, that “the ACT test is coming up in such-and-such weeks, are you ready?” But other than that, I didn’t MAKE him sit down and study or anything, I left it up to him.

And he blew it off, apparently.

I dropped him off at the school at 7:45 Saturday morning. He had his ID (driver’s license!) and his admission ticket, two #2 pencils, an approved calculator, his cell phone (which was off. The ACT website was very explicit – if the phone vibrated or went off, the student was disqualified) and some money for snacks at break.

He was physically prepared – I’m not so sure of his mental preparation.

He finished a little earlier than I expected, so I wasn’t up there to meet him when he finished. Kevin and I went to pick him up. Though he wasn’t exactly chatty (Dude has never been the chatty sort), he did voluntarily give us some information about how the test went. He’s pretty sure he aced the English / Reading portions (which I knew he probably would), but didn’t feel overly confident about the math / science sections. He was surprised by the science section. He was expecting questions about … well, science. Instead, he said the entire section consisted of four graphs and all of the questions were based around those graphs. He didn’t feel like he bombed it, but he wasn’t overly confident about it, either.

He said he saw a few of his buddies there. When he named the kids I had never heard of them before. I’ve always wondered how Dude got along with other kids, did he have a lot of friends, etc. (Jazz always talks about his friends so I knew he had a lot of friends, but I wasn’t sure about Dude since he doesn’t talk about stuff like that), but now I’m pretty certain that there is a side of Dude I’m not privy to, a more confident and friendly side that he doesn’t show me. And I’m getting that feeling from just some little tidbits I pick up here and there.

Anyway, it was nice to hear him talking about his friends and that he had some people to hang with at break. It also served to show Dude that taking the ACT test was just another brick in the maturity wall – that it was a necessary process to an independent goal. I don’t know that he thought we were mean for making him take the test, but I do think he thought it was not necessary. After running into some of his friends, I think it reinforced, in his mind, that it is necessary and he’s involved somehow. I think it made him feel good.

So, now we wait to see what his score is. He has very adamantly told me that I’m not allowed to tell anyone his score. And we set it up so that not even his high school will receive the score. For now, he just wants to wait and see how he did and we’ll take it from there.

I’m totally okay with whatever happens. He can always take the test over again (and he will), I’m more concerned with the fact that he DID it. He now knows what to expect and he now knows that all of this talk about college and getting a job thing is REAL.

Welcome to life, son.

Unbeknownst to me, Jazz bit into some corn on the cob at Easter dinner.

You don’t bite into ANYTHING when you have braces.

As a result, a bracket broke off as we were on our way to school Friday morning.

His orthodontist doesn’t work on Fridays. (That’s so annoying). So, Jazz went the whole weekend with wax stuffed in his mouth to keep the bracket from flopping around and making him cranky. It’s not hurting him, it’s just annoying. And it’s affecting how he plays the saxophone.

I just called the dentist’s office. Apparently, they can’t simply glue the sucker back on, they have to make wire adjustments, blahblahblah (I sort of zoned out of the process, quite frankly, I was more concerned with the when can you fix it sort of thing) and it takes time, time they don’t have in their schedule right now. But, since he has a regular appointment coming up, they said they would fix it at that time – killing two birds with one stone.

Which I’m normally okay with, but this thing is sliding around and is really quite annoying, so I’m taking him after school today so they can remove it. At least it won’t bug him until he can get in for his regular appointment.

What is really weird about this whole situation is that Jazz LOATHES vegetables. I have to make him eat them, and by make him eat them, I mean I have to sit there and watch him chew and swallow the five that I make him eat.

He never voluntarily eats vegetables – ever.

So when he told me that he ate corn on the cob over at his grandmother’s on Easter, I was both shocked and ecstatic. Maybe NOW the kid will eat his veggies without me harping on him! Maybe he’s FINALLY outgrown this aversion to veggies!

Um, no. He only ate the corn on the cob because he knew that I would ask him if he ate any vegetables and nag him because he didn’t. So, to avoid the nagging session, he ate corn on the cob.

Only, he wasn’t supposed to, not with his braces.

So this means that the bracket coming off? Is indirectly MY fault. Naturally.

*sigh* I can’t win.

Kevin and I spent part of our Sunday painting.

We painted the soffits first.

Before paint, sink side:

Before paint, range side:

Kevin rolling on the eggplant color on our soffits:

After paint, sink side:

After paint, range side:

This paint is really funny. One angle, it looks dark purple. Another angle, it looks brown. Which is exactly what we wanted to happen. We’re really pleased with how it turned out. It really contrasts nicely with the cabinets and gives the whole room a splash of color.

Kevin and I painted the rest of the kitchen a medium khaki color. He trimmed, I followed with the roller. You can’t tell that much of a difference until you see it up against the white beam, but I think it gives the entire kitchen a “warm, welcoming” feel and I just love it.

We’re nearly done with this project. We still have to repaint our trim and put that back on, then look for some artwork to hang on the walls. But I’m going to go ahead and stamp this project DONE because I’m sick of talking/thinking about it.

As I’m sure you’re equally sick of hearing/reading about it.

I also spent some of Sunday traveling to two client locations and taking pictures of their structures so I can put them on their websites. I have a client waiting on templates now and another expecting templates very soon. This week will be very busy for me.

Now that we don’t have any income coming in, I’m really going to focus on trying to obtain more clients, that way, I’ll have income from both my home business and an outside source (when I get a job outside the home).

I think Kevin and I are both getting a tad nervous about this money situation. We’re not hurting, but we do need to cool it on the spending.

It’s time to tighten our belts.

We’ve done it before, we’ll do it again.