Gummy bears and teenagers and happily ever after.

This is Alex.  He turned 16 the other day.  It's a big deal, apparently.  Driving, dating, working and all that junk;  basically being a miniature grown-up.  It's a right of passage--a milestone, right?  Parties must be planned, presents must be carefully purchased and memories must be made.  And let me tell you...did we ever party!  Three parties, actually.  One smallish family dinner with shrimp kebobs on his birthday, a ginormous extended family dinner a few days later and then a huge friend party the next weekend.

Which brings me to the gummy bears.  Let me just add this as a word of warning to those who are contemplating the food menu for a "teenage" party.  If you value your sanity, do NOT under any circumstance purchase any item that has the word "gummy" in the title.  If there is one thing I have learned from the past few weeks it is that gummy bears are never a good idea.  Especially if they end up not in the bellies of those lovely brats you have invited, but thrown around your yard in an all-out food fight.  And might I also add that anything gummy does not melt with the rain or get picked up by the birds.  It gets sticky, glues itself to whatever surface it is lying on and will likely still be there after the zombie apocalypse.

So what was I talking about?  Oh yes...memories!  That is what we are making folks!  Truthfully, I remember exactly two details about my 16th birthday.  First, I had a party of some sort in which people I think I liked came and invaded my house.  Second, the boy I had sat and stared at in health class all year asked me to be his girlfriend.  And I said no.  You wanna know why?  Well, besides the fact that my parents had told me I wasn't allowed to date exclusively and I was SUCH (insert sarcasm here) an obedient child?  Because I had just met another boy.  The boy of my dreams, actually.  Funny, sweet, and devilishly handsome...I was a goner.  I was in teenage love and any part of life that did not directly relate to my new-found love became unimportant.

I guess my point is that it's not the parties or the food or the cute decorations that your mom spent hours making that will imprint in our memories.  It's the people you love.

So where is this boy of my dreams now?

Well...actually, he's upstairs in the kitchen fixing breakfast for our four-year-old.  ;)

How's that for a happily ever after?