the day the silence ended...

I had the house to myself for an entire week.  Matt, Alyssa, and Abbey went to Texas to visit their uncle, and Rex, Marti, and Ashlee went to Brazil on a mission trip.  I got bored at times, but it sure was nice being on my own schedule and having a quiet house for a while.  I was excited to see the kids when I picked them up at the airport on Sunday (which is another story altogether), but without Marti here to be the one in charge, I'm playing "mom" again for a few days.  I don't mind it, except that the kids are still in "vacation with Uncle Chuck" mindset, which means I'm having to nag them to clean up after themselves and all that stuff.  I hate sounding like the "bad guy," always saying "come get your cup" or "is this your plate?" or "make sure this is all cleaned up before you go to bed."  A necessary part of being the responsible adult, I suppose.  I'm sympathizing with moms everywhere tonight, though, because after cooking dinner, no one really ate any.  Well, Alyssa did have some salad, and I would have made the rest  of the stuff for myself anyway, so I guess it's no biggie.  Anyway, random thoughts of the day.  Rex comes home tomorrow, so I can at least split the responsibility.  I figure, however, that by the time I have my own teenagers, I will be well-experienced in raising them!  Later.