About Dugger

A couple of weeks ago I snapped a few pictures of Dugger playing his guitar. I managed to get two shots before my battery died. One of these days I'll have to convince him to let me feature him in a photo shoot. Last year I finally contacted one of the local music shoppes here and asked about guitar lessons. They referred me to a teacher and both boys started lessons in the Summer of 2009. They both have continued with lessons but Dugger has really taken to playing the guitar. He has bought two guitars since the time we bought him his first guitar several Christmases ago. Dugger has several friends that play guitar and he likes to get together with them and play. He and his friends go to the local coffee shop and listen to local bands. He also enjoys sitting around at home learning to play sections of favorite songs.

Doug has instilled an appreciation of a wide genre of music in all our children. I think that enjoyment of music and the fact that all of them have played a band instrument through 7th grade gives them a greater appreciation for and enjoyment of music than I have. Doug and Dugger converse a lot about rock music history, bands, musicians, etc. Doug and Mimi have spent hours selecting songs for her I-pod. He has a knack for selecting songs she will like from a wide variety of genres.

Dugger has also gotten a job. Yea! I think he really connected with the interviewer. Dugger spent a lot of time talking about his volunteer work and experiences at the zoo. Evidently the man conducting the interview is new to town and has some children so he was quite interested in places his children would enjoy. In true Dugger style as the weeks have progressed he has had some difficulties. They gave out uniforms in grocery bags which Dugger is positive he brought home but we can't seem to find it. Then he forgot he needed tan pants to complete his uniform. So there was some last minute shopping required. He did manage to turn up in a uniform opening night. Hopefully he will settle in and be a good employee.

What else? Dugger finished his first year of college and passed all but one class. I tear up as I write that. Both tears of joy and those tears of how did my baby get to be so old. He is still interested in majoring in psychology.

I continue to see sparks of growth into adulthood. He still keep us on our toes and corners the market in keeping us worried. The other night he called to let us know he was staying out later than planned because he and his friends were going "ghost hunting".

I'm not sure how one goes about hunting ghosts or why one would want to hunt ghosts since that implies the possibility of finding a ghost. It does cause the parental concern meter to go up just thinking about a group of teenagers running around in the dark at or near a cemetery (where else would you find ghosts). I've had the trespassing discussion, the respecting the solemnity of the resting place of people's loved ones discussion, the do not climb on statues because they can fall and kill you warning, etc. with him as he endeavors to hunt for ghosts. So when he called I simply reminded him to be safe and not to do anything stupid.

Now his younger brother was sitting on the couch ease dropping in on this phone conversation. T-Man is laughing as I hang up the phone. Now I am feeling a little stressed and I turn to him and say, "What's so funny?!" T-Man says,"Mom, you just told someone who is going ghost hunting not to do anything stupid. Isn't ghost hunting already stupid?" You know what? T-man's got a point there!

Message here: Don't do anything more stupid than what you are already doing!! Can I get that made into a refrigerator magnet, bumper sticker, t-shirt and mug logo? Will others buy them?