Oh, brother.

It's been a while since I updated you on several of my bajillion brothers. Wouldn't you love to know how they're fairing?
Johnny is settled in to his new home and school in Kentucky, a-studying away. He's not a-working away because he hasn't found a job. His qualifications ("I can do tai kwon do and have a bachelors in Bible and bench press 450") are hard to match in this troubled economy, but his wife has found work.
Nate is not only a graduate student in PA now, but he is also teaching freshman classes. This is a terrifying thought to me. If I walked in and saw this youngster with lunatic hair at the front of the room I'd march right down to the registrar's with a drop slip. He loves the area and his classes, but I think the teaching is more time-consuming than he thought. to my surprise, hasn't died at his own hand yet, but he has changed cell phone providers twice and locked himself out of the house once. That child is a walking disaster. I forgot how stressful it was having him around until our last phone call - then I was fretting for his safety again. He definitely brings out the mother hen in me.
I don't know how Joey is because his free minutes start at 9 and I often get out of work at 10. I can't coordinate calls. I hope he's still alive.
Abe's last cross country meet was last week, and he has more free time now which he is spending with strep throat. Remarkably, he came over to my house and asked in passing where he should get his prescription filled. Um, Abe? I'm a pharmacist! By the way, he saw the nurse practitioner on campus and she wrote his prescription with, you guessed it, an error. A biggie - she dosed penicillin twice daily, which essentially makes it ineffective (I will not go into detail about which antibiotics depend on TIME the minimum killing concentration is exceeded versus LEVEL by which killing concentration is exceeded, but it matters). I was able to call and correct it, and she was sweet about it and actually thanked me since she had no idea that the dosing interval mattered, but I stand by my opinion of nurse practitioners. In general, they do not have enough training to write prescriptions.
Sam, Izzy, and Matthew are all hanging at the house doing school and other growing-up things, I presume. I asked them to join me for an upcoming race and got snubbed. Stinkers.
I think that's everyone. Sometimes I leave one or two out.
Now I'm off to pack for our trip. I wish all the right clothes would just hop in my suitcase by themselves!

Abe's first meet

Since today was lil' bro Abe's ONLY local cross country meet, and his first ever, we decided we should attend. For interested parties, he finished 6th in a field of 324, 5th if you exclude the non-collegiate third place finisher who was a sponsored runner and like, 35 years old. I think Abe, myself, and Abe's coach are a tad nonplussed about his time. It was a 5k, and he finished in 17:59. That's amazing, but I know his coach expects better placement. However, Abe is a long distance runner through and through. In illustration, his best (and only) half-marathon time is 1:17ish, about 5:55 splits. His splits today were 5:48. I definitely expect to see better times as distances increase as the season progresses.
Not that I'm not proud of him, of course! I just know he'd prefer to place.
By the way, you know what's nerve-wracking? Watching your baby brother race. Gosh, I got so anxious!

Our plan was to run in the park where the meet was held after it was over. David was supposed to do ten, but it was incredibly hot and sunny and he was beginning to feel dehydrated. We packed up after 6 miles. I'm worried because hubster hasn't gotten any double digit runs in yet, and his half is in three weeks! I don't want a "failed" long run to taint his training, either. Do you have any tips for him to get over the hump? After a freezing cold 18 miler last winter I was SO averse to tackling another long run that I waited 3 weeks before my next attempt. How can I motivate him to give it a go again tomorrow morning? He's really not feeling it!

PS Sometime this week I'll be an aunt again! Just a little over a year ago we welcomed baby Jacob. Soon we'll be saying hi to baby Luc!

The brothers in question

I think you deserve to see the brothers after hearing all about their schooling, don't you?
Here are Johny and Joey. They think they are awesome. Random guy in the back is the infamous Bob.

Here's Abe... Jazz half marathon 2009. Not that you can see a darn thing...just imagine me with slightly shorter hair and bigger muscles.

Here's Nate at his graduation. As you can tell he got most of the Armenian genes.

And the semester begins....

This year I have three siblings in college, and they're gearing up for a long year. Let's review, movie style.
Johnny: ***
First we have Johnny, who is getting his doctor of divinity degree. Because his bachelors in Bible wasn't enough. Sorry. I don't mean to be sarcastic, but I have psychoanalyzed my older brother and decided that he is pursuing the "lifetime student" moniker because he doesn't want to fail. Johnny is brilliant and multi-talented, but I have no problem with him using those talents for the ministry. I DO worry that he's been a student for a million years and recently transferred schools, which means losing a semester of credits. Plus he and his wife left secure jobs in order to move. I'm under the impression that Johnny would just rather not be out in the real world...perhaps because there are few churches looking for a pastor who loves TV wrestling, Harleys, Latin, watercolors, body building, and Descartes.
Summary: High hopes for new school but may have been better off staying put, staying employed, and graduating sooner.

Nate:****
Nate landed a plum stipend at his university of choice, pursuing his masters, then doctorate, in something obscure (I know he studies Milton). He moved cross-country, leaving behind his position as a university stand-out, and his dear sister (aka babysitter). He taught his first class Monday, loves the area he moved to, and is excited to start his research project. And so far he's only had two emergencies to call me about and only locked himself out of the house once.
Summary: Sure to stand out in this environment as well as the undergrad scene, but might kill himself/others/go broke/etc accidentally.

Abe:*****
I give Abe five stars because I already confessed he's kind of my favorite. But he's earned the stars with his combination of athletic and academic scholarships that pay for 80% of his school. He's taking on a lot this semester: track and cross country, 19 credit hours, a new job, writing for the school paper, lots of walking (no car), and a double major pre-law/pre-med. He gets bonus points for buying me a poster of Audrey Hepburn because he thinks I look like her. Aaw.
Summary: He's already the fastest on the cross country team, but meets with other schools could challenge; he's very bright and clever but I'm a tad worried he's biting off more than he can chew for his very first semester.

Joey:***1/2
Joey's not in school but he should be. He didn't plan quite as well as the other siblings financially, and has been having to take semesters off to work. He's also been floundering a little as far as what he wants to do in life. But he seems to have picked up a pretty good plan, applying for the Merchant Marines.
Summary: He's got the grades and the athleticism; he just needs to commit himself mentally. I have high hopes.

So there you have it. My none-of-my-business, meddling, busy-body, over-protective view of the boys. You may consider this venting, because of course to their faces I am always supportive and everyone gets 5 stars (I don't really rate my siblings, either!).
If you're an older sibling (or older mentally, harhar), do you get pushy and protective? Do you still, um, boss around like I am sometimes guilty of? Is anyone else just starting out a semester and have a rating for their OWN school year?

Another Brother

For the past 4 years David and I have been babysitting my brother Nate while he earned his bachelor's (actually, bachelors - he double majored!) at Loyola University - one of the universities right near our house. He graduated this Spring and will be moving on to graduate school in Pennsylvania.
With Nate gone, David and I were worried about empty nest syndrome. Who would call us at 8 am when his car broke down and he needed a ride to class? Who would call at 6 pm when his car broke down and he needed a ride to work? Who would call at 10 pm when his car broke down and he needed someone to show him how to change the oil? Who would call at 6 am when his car broke down and he needed help duct-taping the bumper back on? (Are you noticing a pattern here?).
Luckily, the nest won't be empty long. I just found out that Abe, the running brother, got a combination of academic and athletic (duh) scholarships at Loyola that he couldn't pass up. So he'll be out neighbor!
I'm looking forward to having Abe around. I love Nate, but he was TROUBLE. He called me to question the expiration of foodstuffs on a regular basis ("This sour cream says it expired last week, but it smells ok, but there's pink goop around the edge. Is it ok to eat?). His car broke a lot because...he's kind of a disorganized slob and honestly he doesn't take care of his belongings. He's brilliant, but he's a double English Lit and Philosophy guy, so he talks a lot and you can never win an argument. He came over to watch the Superbowl and brought Plato along to read during commercials. And he had the convenient habit of appearing at dinnertime or at our restaurant of choice just as we sat down. We'll miss you, Nate, all the same!
Abe, quite unlike Nate, is a neat-freak but impeccably polite and reliable. He is king of on-time, emperor of the thank you note, president of easy conversation. He is clean, organized, and quiet. He's like a grown-up (oh, wait, he's going to college. He is grown-up!).
So now Abe is filling Nate's shoes. My first order of business? Get that kid to teach me how to run fast! And speed my marathon up!