Oh, It's Long. But It's Funny.

In our neighborhood, the houses are all but on top of each other. There are a few fenced backyards, but for the most part people actually enjoy space. If you fence your yard, you only get a very small, itty bitty, tinsy weensy little space. Our yard is not fenced for that very reason. Our back porch light is on tonight for no reason in particular. After lying the kids down to sleep, Paxon who is extremely missing his dad, asks me to lay with him. I tell him I would stay in the room for a minute, but he wrapped me around his finger the second he says, "But mom, I just want to snuggle you." Not only has Paxon never used the word "snuggle," but he just doesn't ever want to snuggle anymore. So of course my heart melts and I lay in bed with him for a minute. Okay, okay, thirty minutes. He was playing with my hair! Even if I wanted to leave, I would not have been able to ;) Anyway, I finally leave a little before 8:00 and decide I am tired and going to go to bed too. And that's when you feel old-wanting to go to bed at 8:00pm on a Saturday night. I step into my room and I hear these kid voices as if they are in my bed room. I crack the blinds and look around for the culprits. My eyes dart all over the lighted "backyard" but I can't see anyone even though I can hear their voices right in my ear. This goes on for who knows how long as I am growing frustrated with myself that I can't find any kids but I can hear them clear as day. They are talking about how annoying their school teachers are and what fun things they want to do this summer. I think I might have even joined in the conversation once or twice, not that they could hear me... After giving up and going to bed, I realized they are too loud for me to sleep. This time I stomp over to the window, YANK my blinds up with all the frustrated annoyance I am feeling (mostly at myself) and there, just a very short few feet away from my now bare window are five pre-teen boy faces baring ten eyes all very round, very startled, and looking right at me in my pajamas with no bra on (although I doubt they could tell that last part). It took me a few awkward moments to adjust to the situation of six humans all acting like racoons after an outside light is turned on catching the harry theif in the trash can. But it finally dawns on me that they have all climbed the great willow right outside my window that is still leafless from Utah's winter. No wonder I couldn't see them earlier... Time out: how cool that these neighborhood boys are just hanging out in my great big tree on a nice warm spring evening?! I think it's awesome! After these (what shouldn't really be) embarrassing moments, I give the kids an even more awkward half smile like I was the one caught with my hand in the cookie jar, amd slowly close my blinds again, which of course get stuck due to I'm sure the frustrated annoying yank I gave them less than a minute ago. I have to pull the blinds back up a little to adjust them and finally get them closed all the way. Meanwhile these boys are not moving, talking, or taking their eyes off of me as I even more awkwardly fumble with my blinds. After my protection from ten racoon eyes is up I just stand there, motionless, until I hear them start talking again. I recover with a sigh, and head back to my bed deciding I'll read for a little while until the racoon boys call it a night. If you made it this far, I hope you felt the read was worth it and got at least one good chuckle out of my rediculous embbaressment.