I got my eye on you!

Supervising teenagers is a dangerous and challenging profession. Without any help from others, they are genetically driven to do stupid and dangerous things. And they certainly won't take much advice from anyone who just might...might...have some clue about how life works.

But before I go off on a tangent about teenagers (okay, MY teenagers...not just teenagers in general), let me get to the point of this. Which is not just about supervising teens. It is more about supervising teens who are dating.

So far, in our house, that has been our oldest son...Son20. Now that he is 20, we pretty much just hope that we've taught him well enough that he won't do every stupid thing he thinks of. And we know he has plenty of condoms. And the girl he dates is pleasant and mostly polite and they seem to treat each other with respect and affection.

But he wasn't always 20. There were the girls he dated when he was going through high school. And along the way, there were all the rules about how one light must be on when the two of you are watching TV...you can't both lay down on the couch under the blanket to watch TV...you can't take the girls to your room even if they really do want to play Nintendo...etc...etc...etc. And for the most part, he is a good kid and listened.

But it may be different when Daughter14 finally starts to date. It might be time to break out the intimidation stick and beat a couple boys with the stern looks and threatening presence. The problem is, I just don't have it in me. I'm pretty thin...so I don't look very threatening. And I have some concern that my stern look really looks more like I might have a bit of gas. So we might have to think outside the box on this one.

Like the first girl Son20 dated. Her parents were nice and polite. But for some reason, the kids always preferred to get together at our house to watch TV rather than go to her house. It wasn't until after they broke up that Son20 revealed the reason. It seems when they would watch TV at her house, the rule was the door to the family must stay open. Well, no problem there. But just around the corner from the family room door, in the living room, her dad would take that opportunity to clean his gun. Every time. It was the cleanest gun in Connecticut, without a doubt.

It was also the two most intimidated kids on the east coast!

I don't own a gun. Not a real one anyway. But I'm sure I've got that Nerf pistol around here somewhere!

Wanna catch a movie?

A couple of days ago I got an e-mail invitation from Dorky Dad's Facebook page. He invited me to check out our movie compatibility. How could I resist? I mean, if we only lived about 1300 miles closer together, we might even be able to catch a movie together. Just two good blogger buddies hanging out at the cinema.

But then I took the little quiz. Oops!

While we scored as "casual buddies", it seems clear that if we tried to choose a comedy we would both enjoy, the entire outing would end in a war of raisinetes and goobers. On the other hand, we do seem pretty compatible on the...uhhh...love stuff. But I don't think I'm driving 1300 miles just so Dorky Dad and I can share a box of kleenex while we sniff our way through The Way We Were.

But the fun thing about this Facebook movie compatibility test was that it also let me compare my score to any other friends who had taken the quiz. Again, how could I resist?

And who would I match up with best? Jessica from Oh The Joys!

It looks like we could spend a fun evening at the movies and not have any difficulty at all in finding a movie we would both enjoy. Sounds good to me!

So Jessica, just let me know when you're free and I'll meet you in the lobby.

I'll be the one in the Park Ranger outfit. ;)

Let me be your hero!

I know, I've not written for a while. Bad blogger! But I've had to write so much for work that I was tired of writing. I wasn't totally absent. I've tried to visit your sites now and then. But sometimes leaving a comment was even more typing than I could manage. And some of you have written just to check on me...and I'm greatly appreciate that!

But while things at work left me not wanting to write, it didn't entirely stop me from having some fun. No way. I definitely needed some recreation and the kids have provided it. They have totally sucked me in and now I'm addicted.

That's right...I'm a Guitar Hero!

The kids have been playing this thing for months. Guitar Hero I and II. And of course, Rocks the 80's. I've watched from time to time...but it didn't have that much appeal. Until the finally talked me into trying just one song. They finally put that cherry red Gibson SG in my hands...and I was a rock star.

OMG! How is it possible to have that much fun without really playing the music? I don't know...but I did! Single player mode or multi-player mode. Choose your level and off you go, rocking the house with some awesomely hot licks. Iron Man. I Love Rock and Roll. Killer Queen. Free Bird. I can play them all!

Okay, so I mostly play on the Easy or Medium level while the kids are doing Expert, Career Mode, etc. Big deal. I can always play when they aren't around!

I don't own any leather pants and it has been years since I've had long hair. But don't let that stop you! Go ahead, throw your keys and your undies. Well, gentlemen, you can hang on to your undies! But you can still stand on your chair, hold up your lighters (or in these days, your cell phones), and enjoy the show!

But I promise to take a bit of time from my concert tour to write a bit more often in the future.