is really hard. I liked being a freshman the first time around much better. Now when I don’t exactly know where to go or what to do I risk embarassing myself and Ashley which is a much more serious offense. Of course everything I do embarasses Ashley as well it should. I tell them that embarassing them is my job. It insures that one day they will move out.

Ashley has now entered the realm of high school and I am sure you all remember that you are never smarter than when you are in high school. I remember being amazed at how smart I was when my parents did not appear to be all that bright. But after I completed college and had two kids, my parents became genuises!! That must have spent all those years I was busy being so much smarter than them studying and learning about life because the transformation was truly amazing. When I call my dad now with my tales of woe concerning my kids he gets tremendous pleasure. He doesn’t even try to hide it, he’ll laugh right into the phone. It seems no matter how sad pathetic my tale is he can always top it with something my brother or I did that was much worse. His advice for Ashley’s problems is PMS shall pass. His advice for Michael (being that he is just like my brother Tony) is to kill him before he gets to big for you to bury him. Those I feel are not the words of encouragement I would expect from such a wise man. Well, if what they say is true you pay for your raising and if paying for that is anything like buying Christmas and birthday presents I will be paying for my brothers as well. HA!