Patriots vs Duxbury

What a way to end the month!  The Patriots Charity team came to DHS to play the Duxbury “All-Stars” for charity.  Our friends & neighbors had extra tickets & invited Coco and me.  Not only were they tickets, they were VIP tickets.  We got in early.  There were wristbands for autographed footballs, thrown by Patriot players.
     We stayed out seats in the front row, right by the Patriots bench.  We were eager to see which Patriots showed up.  I recognized Jonathan Jones early.  He played college ball at Auburn.  War Eagle!  Coincidentally, I had my orange Auburn sweatshirt on.  I tried to get his attention.  I had to sneak a picture of hi on the bench to send to Caz.
     Coco initially turned down a wristband.  He gets shy at the oddest times.  Even when Rosie, Caz’s buddy got one, he bailed.  A second attempt did the trick though.  He capitulated.  In the end, he got to catch on over the shoulder pass from Elandon Roberts.  What a memory!  I am so glad we went.  We have such a short time left before he goes off to college.  I plan to take advantage of all that time.

Easter 2019

Another successful family holiday.  We had my side of the family over for Easter dinner.  We are not religious folk.  We are not observing the holiday as a lot of people do.  But it is a reason to get your loved ones together, eat good food and drink merrily.
     Demi does invite her family.  Some used to come occasionally.  With more of them in NC now, I think those days are over.
     Demi will not allow us to host and to run out of food.  There will never be a doubt that there will be enough food.  No one will go hunger.  No one will go thirsty either.  There was lamb, roasted veggies, 2 styles of mac & cheese, salad, lasagna and croissants.  That was just dinner. For starters, there was a salmon pate, shrimp ring and charcouterie.  Dessert was a strawberry shortcake trifle and key lime pie.  Winner, winner!
     Having the family around was nice.  Sure my parents are next door but they don’t leave the house much.  My brother’s family just got back from a very long road trip to NC to see my sister in-law’s family.  My brother’s kids are a great age for Easter.  They still believe in the Easter Bunny.  They like to have Easter egg hunts.  Coco is a great sport.  He likes to participate with them.  Caz would too, but being off to school, he can’t.  Holidays aren’t the same with out him.  This was the last Easter  with at least one of my sons around.  That is why it is so important to get in the extended family time while you can.  And different is OK.  It doesn’t mean it’s bad.  I just miss my son.  And I will miss them both next year.

Personal Finance

Coco just ran through the same process as his brother.  Once you turn 18, you become a legal adult, so it’s time for your own bank account.  This helps with going off to college.  It is also another step towards being aware of your finances.  Sure he probably could have stayed with BOA, but I can’t stand that bank and he gets Fidelity accounts for free, while I work there,

     As part of the process, we talked  about what each account is for.  We talked about general investing and finances.  We opened an IRA.  We talked about the importance of saving now.  Coco understood he long term investment horizon, risk tolerance and investment models.  He will also get an infusion cash to that IRA, since I opened a minor custodial account years ago, on his behalf.

     This is just another important topic to have in regular conversations.  Talk about it early and often.  These kids need to understand financial obligations and responsibilities.   I feel like I would fail them, if I stayed quiet.

Game of Thrones Day

This is it!  The final season of Game of Thrones starts tonight!  Coco is trying his best to catch up in time.  Caz will be watching in Auburn.  I can’t wait for us to be all together to talk about it.  Not a show you want to watch with your parents.  But it will be fun to recap with them.  Winter is here!

Happy 20th Caz

No more teen years.  Twenty seems like such an adult age.  It really is a milestone.  Hope you have a great birthday son.  We love you.  I am sure you will find some way to celebrate in Auburn.

War Eagle!

Report Card

Coco looks like he is leaving high school on a high note.  Third term report cards are out.  Coco made honor roll.  That is a great accomplishment for him.  He has come so far from the trials and tribulations of his freshman year.  He could easily have senioritis, which to some extent he does.  But he is making the grade.  He knows he still needs to submit final transcripts.  So proud of him.

Egypt Live

The Discovery Channel was promoting a big live 2 hour spectacular.  A live archaeological dig in Egypt, with Josh Gates, host of Expedition Unknown.  I thought this was perfect for Coco.  He wants to study history and archaeology, but be interviewed on the History Channel. I planted the seed with Coco early.  And he was interested.  We spent the two hours watching the team dig and the explanations of what they were digging for, the history of Egypt, etc.  But as Josh was cluing us in, Coco was coming up with more facts.  He knew about the Egyptologist already.  He gave Demi and me a brief bio on him.  He was really into it.  So much so, he and Demi watched another episode of Expedition Unknown together.  It was nice to have them have some alone time. 

The Classics

Coco has been on a book tear, ever since his birthday.  He is on a mission to collect a lot of the classics.  Not just classics, but specific editions of each book.  He really likes the hard bound books with the decorative covers, similar to the copy of "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" that he got for his birthday.  He finally just finished reading that.  No Coco is on to the unabridged "The Count of Monte Cristo", a thousand pages of really tiny font.  Also on this list:

War & Peace
Anna Karenina
Don Quixote
Macbeth
Hamlet
A Midsummer's Night Dream
Othello
The Three Musketeers
The Great Gatsby
Great Expectations
A Tale of Two Cities