On the Market

Yup, it has happened. Shnookie 1 (let's just call him Corbin for this post. Ya know, since I'm too lazy to edit the photo. ((Totally cracking myself up))) has turned 16. And besides being able to get his license to drive, it also makes him eligible for a license to date. Wa-hoo!

I had this flash of inspiration--20 minutes before he was to arrive home from school--that I should put a sign on the garage that would embarrass him. So I whipped it up on the computer, chuckling all the while, and got it slapped up there, JUST as he and his friend walked up to the house. Was he embarrassed? Does he LOOK embarrassed? lol (He's the one on the right, btw.) Actually, he responded how I'd hoped and seemed quite tickled (although he wouldn't be too tickled by my use of the word 'tickled,' teehee). My son is a guy who doesn't take himself too seriously, and that might be my favorite thing about him. Although it's hard to choose, cuz he is one amazing kid. And I'm not just saying that as his mother; it has been scientifically proven by 4 out of 5 dentists. Or something like that. And thus begins my shameless bragging about my oldest... (hey, once a year, I'm entitled, right?)

I often tell Hubby that Corbin is the person I wish I was at his age. He has tons of friends, from all different walks of life, and he has them for all the right reasons--because he's kind and unassuming, and people are just drawn to him. He really takes pleasure in knowing people and intereacting with them, but doesn't need to be the center of attention. In fact, adults who come to visit call him shy (which his friends think is hilarious), but it's not really the right word. I don't know what the right word is, lol, but he's got some Grandpa Williams in him, and he's just not one to showboat. (Unless if it's just us, and he's talking about his sweet b-ball or skating skills. Then it's downright obscene how that kid brags! :))

Corbin has a great sense of who he is and is pretty darn secure with that person. I love the crazy streak in him that prompts him to wear my knee-hi pink fuzzy toe-socks on the basketball court. I swear that kid could make anything look cool. It's all an extension of his sense of humor, which is razor-sharp. It could make him world-famous, but never will because of the afore-mentioned absence of showboating. Fine with me!

Have I mentioned that he's happy? Teenager AND happy, you ask?? Mind-boggling. Starting as just a tiny lad, he had a very infectious smile and playful spirit. I look at him now and can't figure out where he's hiding that pudgy little fellow...until he smiles. I live for that smile! I swear I'd do anything for it. Luckily, I don't have to do much to see it, cuz he's a pretty cheerful guy. We were talking as a family once about how to handle anger, and he shared his pointers. Hubby and I were all "What? You get angry? Did we miss that millisecond?"

I'm gonna have to save the rest of the brag list for next year, cuz I could go on forever! I haven't even gotten to how he gets good grades, works hard at his sports, does the dishes and chores without being asked, is a great big brother, and single-handedly feeds and clothes a 3rd-world country every month. (Okay, maybe just a 2nd-world country.) I do, however, want to mention how I admire his spiritual side. Sometimes Hubby and I wonder about how his 'soul' is doing--but only because that whole "non-showboating, laid-back, don't say an extra word if you can avoid it" thing keeps him from blaring his feelings to us. Then we'll find out, totally by accident, of something extra-ordinary that he's done that shows us how solid he is. Happens all.the.time. He has great values, is willing and ready to stick up for them, and somehow manages to inspire others to live their own truths. All of that without hardly ever speaking. Truly amazing. I feel so blessed to have him in my life. I just hope--as impossible as it seems--that there are 3 more like him out there, somewhere, for his sisters to marry.
I love you, Corb-a-lulu-man!