SHE IS 18 YEARS OLD

Birthday girl in the middle!

My first 2 children are 18 months apart.  It has always been a good thing.  Our firstborn son has no memory of life without his little sister.

Our two oldest the year we bought our farm.

They have ALWAYS been best friends.  When you constantly hang out with your older bro and his buddies, your friend-group tends to contain a lot of testosterone.

All her best friends were guys.

She used to complain about it.

She didn’t have many girlfriends and she had always longed for that close-knit, same-sex, like-minded sisterhood.

Elementary school through middle school, this girl was one of the boys.

Many years ago, one of my best friends was listening to my daughter explain the unfortunate situation of her all-male friend group.

My friend presented the cutest advice.

All she said was,

“It’s all gonna work out for you.  Just wait.”

Our church home launched a new satellite location a couple of years ago and it has been a great blessing.

My girl found a wonderful group of girlfriends to walk through life with.

She is a senior in high school now and is dual-enrolled at the local community college.

Studying is her top priority now, as she is applying for nursing school in the spring.  She dreams of becoming a nurse, getting married, and having a houseful of children.

One of the many gifts happening is a new room for this gal (and her little sis).

We are doing a little sprucing-up of the second floor of our home.  We built our home over ten years ago and with four children living upstairs, it is time for a little updating.

New carpet, new tile floor in the bathrooms, fresh paint and even a couple of new vanities are happening.

It is going to be fantastic when it is done, but for now, it is a disaster.

I figured, let’s just get the entire thing completed at once, instead of dragging it out over several months.  This means the entire upstairs has been somewhat unlivable for 2 weeks.  DH and I are now sharing the master bathroom with everyone in the house.

We have a carpenter who has been doing most of the work.  He came into our lives through the Pawnshop.

I love him.

• He is an ex-surfer.
• He wears Ron Jon t-shirts.
• He just bought a new flip phone.
• And he talks like the turtle in Finding Nemo.

Like, totally radical, Dude.

At one point during the construction mayhem (about a week ago), our surfer-contractor had BOTH of the girls’ bathrooms completely destroyed.

Gnarly, man.

He was laying tile, moving light fixtures, installing vanities and he apologized to my girls for the inconvenience.  There were no vanities, no lights, and no sinks.  The tile floors were completed but the bathrooms were loaded with construction tools.  Tubs of 20-minute mud, disheveled light-fixtures, paint, grout, caulk, toolboxes, sponges, buckets, so much stuff.

Both upstairs bathrooms were unusable.

Our surfing contractor was none too happy to have displaced the young ladies in the house.

The great part was what Mr. Surfer stated in his apology.

It went something like this:

“Yo, duuuuude, I got your bathrooms wrecked.  I didn’t mean to have them both out of service at the same time.  Y’all can’t even get to your sinks.  And I know… ”

He stopped what he was doing.  Looked us straight in the face, smiled from ear to ear and said with gusto:

“GIRLS LOVE SINKS”

Let that sink in (LOL).

After much laughter, we decided that, yes, he was right.

We do indeed, love sinks.

GIRLS LOVE SINKS

As we examined the evidence, we agreed more and more with our totally tubular contractor.

EXHIBIT A

I don’t like camping.  Never have.  Not even when I was in college and had no children.  I don’t like sleeping on the ground.  I don’t like eating hot dogs.  I don’t like bathing in creeks or ponds.  Oh, and there is the lovely chore of closing the campsite, packing everything into the truck, AND UNPACKING and washing everything after we returned home.

Once we had children, what I thought couldn’t be any more miserable got worse.  Not only did I have to sleep on the ground, fight bugs and eat hotdogs, I also had to take care of four children without the accommodations of home.  I had to pack all the necessities and food for 6 people.  I had to feed my family of 6 (3 times a day).  I had to keep them somewhat disinfected,  And properly manage children pooping outdoors.

Without a sink.  

Torture, I say.

I now realize that the reason I hate camping is because I LOVE SINKS.

EXHIBIT B

Imagine, you are in a public place.  You are with your homies.  And suddenly there is a situation that needs to be addressed.  A girls’ meeting is called.  Your peeps need to get your opinion, your feedback or just vent to a listening ear.

It doesn’t matter if you are five or forty-five.  Where do the girls meet when there is a crisis that needs to be discussed?

The sinks.

At the rollerdrome as a child, where did we meet to gush about our latest crush?

The sinks.

At the college party, where did we meet to rant about our garbage boyfriends?

The sinks.

We were serving Thanksgiving dinner at church last week.  DH and I were helping get the food arranged on the serving line and donning our plastic gloves when we noticed our two daughters were MIA.  After asking around, searching, and texting them, guess where we found them?

In the girl’s bathroom.

Why?  Because GIRLS LOVE SINKS.

EXHIBIT C

I don’t know about you, but when I am in a funk I tend to head to the bathroom.  A hot shower.  A long bath.  A facial scrub.  A few highlights.  A new coat of polish.

For whatever reason, these things are therapy.  Nothing replaces prayer, fellowship with loved ones, or good ole fashioned complaining… but when it gets quiet and I need to regroup or unwind, the sinks are where it’s at.

Have you ever seen Legally Blonde?  I love that movie.  Elle Woods (played by Reese Witherspoon) goes to the salon anytime there is a crisis in her life.  A mani-pedi is the cure for whatever ails you.

I don’t run to the professional salon (because I’m poor), but I have been known to escape to my bathroom.  When the kids were little, after dinner I would often retreat to my tub while DH managed the troops.

If you don’t believe me try it.  Next time you are feeling down- go blonder.  It makes everything better.

Why do we find therapy in our bathrooms?

BECAUSE GIRLS LOVE SINKS.

Happy Birthday, Cutie!

I hope you have a great birthday, feel lots of love, and enjoy your new sink.

I love you!

Mommy