The difference between boys and girls

Well, I had planned to work on the next pantry post yesterday but my boy decided to spend the night after he dropped the car off for his dad in the afternoon (who had a dinner and meeting to attend).

Since I knew he was coming over, I baked lots of potatoes in the oven and used half of them (with an onion) later for fried potatoes to go along with a quick stir fry. Yes, I know stir fried dishes are usually served with rice but he is a "potato kind of guy".

It struck me how life is different with a young man type person in the house. I let him watch whatever he wanted on TV, which is how we ended up watching an Ice Road Truckers marathon... not what I'd normally watch... but it was surprisingly interesting. It's the perfect show for us to watch together as we can follow what is going on while still chatting and getting caught up on the latest news of his life.

I didn't watch such shows when Stephanie was in college and living at home. When Christopher first signed up for one of the Internet communities, the advertisements which kept popping up were for.... shall we say.... alternative lifestyles?

He couldn't understand why until a friend told him, "Dude, it's probably your favorite movies". He reminded the friend he was raised in a household with a mother and an older sister... thus, the movie list. He quickly added additional favorite films such as The Godfather and Fightclub and the advertisements switched. :)

Steph and I are not outdoor kind of girls. We both have a very fair complexion and burn easily (she got a sunburn in England!). When she was in early elementary school, we did do a little bicycling together... searching for Pooh tracks mostly. (She played tennis with her father.) We enjoyed taking a picnic to the beach and dipping our toes into Lake Michigan, especially on very cloudy days and not for long.

Christopher and I spent hours hiking trails for our Nature Notebooks, looking for rocks and bugs and Indian Arrowheads and... but not snakes. While he would eat any picnic items we would bring, he much more enjoyed Happy Meals on the way to the park... I think it is that meat and potatoes thing again.

Stephanie made certain to call from Ambleside on my birthday (even if she did have to leave a message), knowing how much Charlotte Mason means to me. Christopher wrote "Happy Birthday" on my Facebook page (I just set up an account this week, mainly to view pictures on Stephanie's page). He remembered because the reminder popped up on his Facebook page.

Stephanie buys me things like lavender water and British DVDs and teapots and teacups and... tea... for presents. Christopher takes me to movies such as Transformers and Star Trek.

When Stephanie visits, we stay up late watching British flicks after the children have gone to sleep. As mentioned before, Christopher has me watch shows about truckers.

If anyone wonders how I became such a well rounded person, they have only to look at my children.

All that to say... I'm still working on the pantry post. :)