Eight and Half Men

I don't tell a lot of stories about my bigger boys. For one thing, they're older and a lot of the events in their lives happen out of reach of my watchful camera eye. And for another, I'm actually cognizant of their privacy. So imagine my surprise a few weeks ago while the boys were cleaning up the kitchen, Trace said that I "didn't love him."

"What are you talking about?" What could I have possibly done now?

"You never put Ross and I in your blog!" So much for privacy issues. This one's for you Trace, whether you want it or not.

We've lived the lives of gypsies and consequently have lived in several places. One such place was Tulsa. From the start of Trace's 6th grade year until the fall of his sophomore in high school we lived there. He made some really good, life long friends in Tulsa and they keep in contact via Internet video gaming. I used to give him a bit of hard time about this. Then I started blogging... yeah...so anyway... Since we moved to the Kansas City area we are now 4 hours from Tulsa making it much easier for Trace and his friends to get together and have an actual face to face encounter rather than over their little headsets.

Right about now, I'm starting to get more than a bit jealous. I really want one of those headsets.

Just before Christmas break, two of Trace's friends came up for the weekend. It was such a success that word spread all around Tulsa that Trace's house was the place to be. So this past weekend, half of Tulsa showed up for a record long sleep over. Okay, it really wasn't half of Tulsa, more like a quarter. Six, count 'em, six guys ages 21 and 22 drove up from Tulsa Friday night to spend a long weekend at our house.

Here they all are on the staircase. The only one missing is Ross. He was invited for the photo op but refused. Notice Ryan sitting on Trace's lap, who jumped at the chance to hang out with the guys. From the bottom up: Rob, Jesse, Kevin, Michael, Dan, Bossett and Ryan and Trace. This is their "I'm totally cool because I can look pensive with my fist at my chin" pose. Oh, I forgot someone something. That's my duvet cover hanging over the railing behind them serving as a backdrop. Its freshly washed from a bit of puppy sabotage.

Jesse was departing on Sunday evening because he had to work on Monday. They guys just hung around in a circle talking about nothing. It was a total North Dakota Goodbye.*

*North Dakota Goodbye's are total folklore, told to me by Darrell who claimed to have experienced them many a time while he lived 9 years in North Dakota. Darrell said a NDG lasted about 3o minutes starting when the exiting person announced they were leaving until they actually left.

At one point, they moved back into the kitchen and before I knew it they were all standing there watching Yo Gabba Gabba. See, it really does draw audiences of all ages. Ryan is hanging out, literally, with his new buddy Kevin.

Jesse finally left and the guys retreated to their lair, where I pretty much refrained from entering.

One huge draw, other than Trace's mother's sparkling personality, is the pool table. I would wake up at 3 am and here the clink of pool balls 2 floors below. But that's pretty much all I heard. Eight guys in the basement who were up most of the night, were surprisingly quiet.

So where did all these guys sleep? I have no idea. I know air mattresses were involved, and Dan slept on the sofa upstairs, but the others... let's just say I didn't think it was a good idea to enter a room full of young 20 something guys unannounced. Just sayin'.

It was one of the easiest sleep overs I've ever hosted. They never asked me to cook for them, although I offered multiple times and they even brought some of their own snacks and beverages. As they all gathered this morning around 9:00 to hit the road, I made one last offer to make them pancakes (refused) and told them all they were welcome to return anytime. And I even meant it.

Trace is now experiencing the let down of the empty basement. Ryan is missing 6 extra buddies. Ross is enjoying the return of his bed and the girls are glad to have the air clear of the extra testosterone. Their not used to being out numbered.