Growing Up

Our leaves are starting to turn, and a few are already falling. We’ve been having the most beautiful weather, aside from it being cold and rainy weekend before last (October 2-3). The farmers are gathering in the soybeans and the kids have probably picked the last of the pumpkins of the season. What a wonderful time of year!

THE FALL BALL
So the big news for us has been the Fall Ball at school. It was a couple of Saturdays ago (the 3rd). This was supposed to be the Homecoming Dance, but due to the way the schedule worked out DA’s homecoming was early and they had no time to put together a dance that week. Hence, the Fall Ball.

The news that had been cooking around our house was that Ben had asked one of his classmates if she’d go to the game with him as well as the dance. She said yes to both. They did sit together at the game which was of extreme interest to Vicki and Jenna. Vicki was too polite to watch, but Jenna had no such qualms and would keep us updated.

As the dance approached the lady coordinating the event put out a call for chaperones. Ben was okay with me and Vicki volunteering so we signed up. That evening we headed out to DA.

I need to start out by saying this was my first high school dance. I was too shy or backward to go to any when I was a student. Before the dance Vicki coached Ben on a lot of things, from how to treat his date to how to do the YMCA motions. I helped him tie his tie.

DA’s Fall Ball was a very nice affair. Almost all of the boys wore ties and the girls wore dresses. Vicki and I worked the checkin table and only watched the goings on in the gym where the dance was for about five minutes. In over three hours of music Vicki and I knew about four songs (YMCA wasn’t one of them).

What’s sort of funny and sad at the same time is that most of the girls and boys didn’t dance together. The boys all hung out together and the girls all hung out together. Ben never danced with his date. Several of Ben’s friends had also asked girls to come to the dance and they never danced with their dates either.

Now I realize I’m not the best one to give advice when it comes to a dance. I don’t have the best credentials in this area as you may have noted. But it seems to me that if you ask a girl to go with you to a dance and even pay for her ticket you ought to dance with her. Just sayin’.

COLLEGE VISIT
I think Vicki and Jenna have gone on their last college visit. Tuesday they drove to Cleveland, Tennessee to visit Lee University. This is the same college where our youth group went to camp back in July.

They had a good trip and enjoyed visiting the college, but came home having crossed it off the list. I think it is safe to say now that Jenna has her sights set on Trevecca University in Nashville. Of all the colleges she’s looked at that’s the one that feels like the right fit. Jenna submitted her application process today. Now it’s just a matter of the scholarship process goes.

As excited as I am for my daughter, I keep thinking that my little girl is about to step out into the world. Where has the time gone?

DRIVING WITH THE STUDENT DRIVER
I must say Ben’s driving is coming along very nicely. I don’t feel the need to correct him much at all. Most of the time I’m just co-piloting when he needs to change lanes or navigating when he’s driving somewhere he’s never been before.

One day he told me I need to drive to school so that he could study. All the way to school I heard comments like, “Rolling stop,” “You’re doing 80,” “Don’t ride their tail,” and “Gee, Dad, don’t you know how to drive?”

I finally looked at my son in the passenger seat next to me and said, “You aren’t getting much studying done.”

He muttered something about being too scared.

Joe