Today S. informed me that she has about a week left of schoolwork to do. I can't believe it. I could probably go get her some more books, but I'm really excited for her to be done, actually. It seems like now we can get sown to work on 'vocational' type stuff. Last week we bought Quickbooks for her and she has been working through the book to figure out how to set up as a secretary for R. We are going to pay her so we can write it off on our taxes (not that we really need more deductions, what with 10 dependents on one income) and I am excited to really get into the homemaking type stuff with her. I think it will be fun. She has promised she won't see this as the end of learning, though, and so I'll continue to assign books. And she will keep up on her music-that I don't have to remind her. She has to be reminded that there ARE other things to do besides play piano and sing. It's a lot of fun to listen to her sing around the house. Well, most of the time, anyway. Sometimes I get a little tire of the "Phantom of the Opera" music.

It's amazing to me to watch S. grow into young womanhood. She is such a different 16 year old than I was. She lives in a completely different world. I was the public schooled, MTVed, troubled teen. By the time I was her age I barely ever came home anymore. She is always home. She's never even seen MTV. (She's reading over my shoulder and said "what's MTV?") The only time she's set foot in a public school was when she used to have to go with me to vote. (Oregon now has mail-in ballots) But she is much more mature than I was at 16, for all her sheltered life.

She and I like completely different things a lot of the time too. I like fabric, she likes beads. My idea of an island vacation is Ireland, hers is Hawaii. I tend more to rainy and gloomy, she likes bright and sunny. I go to bed early and get up..well.. kind of early.. she likes to stay up late and get up late. I like chocolate ice cream, she likes all kinds except chocolate (can you understand that? I just don't understand that.)

But we do like some of the same things too. We both are "very fond of walking" (Does the new Pride and Prejudice still bug you Lyn?) and we are not afraid of getting wet. Mexican food, salsa, country music (the hillbilly songs, not the redneck) and neither of us can function with out our morning coffee.

It's interesting to watch children grow up and become their own person. Suddenly rather than telling her all the time, we talk back and forth and she has her own ideas to contribute. Somewhere our relationship shifted and now even though I'm still in charge she is more and more my second in command rather than just one of the peanut section. (Which is what we tell the kids when they feel like they have to contribute their 2 cents on things that they weren't called on for. "we don't need to hear from the peanut section! :)

Well, anyway, it will be a lot of fun I think, to spend more time working on things side by side in the coming days. Maybe she can help me get organized.