Home Sweet Home

On Thursday we head out for a mini vacay back to Washington!
I'm so excited, I haven't been home in over a year, and I miss it. Yes, I've taken up permanent residence here is SC, but Seattle will always be home!
The reason we're heading out west? My niece Brittany is getting married! I'm still not convinced she's even legally old enough to do so, but any excuse to hit the great Pac West.
So, here is a list of things I hope to accomplish while back in my home state for 4 whole days:
1. Slurpee!!!
2. Visit my favorite coffee stand in Arlington, and hopefully say hi to my barista if she still works there!
3. Jack in the Box!
4. Spud's!
5. Downtown, the pier, Pike Place, and all that.
6. The zoo!
7. Slurpee!
8. Papa Murphy's!!!
9. Kayak Point or Camano Island state park, which ever.
10. I know its a long shot and not very likely, but a visit to the islands would rock!
11. Friends, friends, friends
12. Slurpee!
13. See's Candy!
14. oh, and 1 more Slurpee!
Just hope I can fit it all in.

Stop Growing, NOW!!!!

So, everybody got home safe and sound from their adventurous summer. What I failed to mention is that my kids were not returned to me the way I left them! Joey grew at least an inch. Joel about 1/2 and inch. Joey is wearing a size 10 men's shoe, and is almost his dad's height. Oh, and his voice is cracking. Joel is completely out of the "T" sizes and wearing big boy sizes. His feet jumped a size or 2 as well. Mackenzie is pretty much the same. But she is an enigma, she really just doesn't have huge growth spurts.
To make matters worse, they all started school Monday. Really, the house was just way too quiet without Joel. And coming home from work with the house completely empty this morning was just weird! But I have to face the facts. My babies are growing up, and I must learn to deal with it. But man, where did the time go?


The whole bus stop gang


Joey being 13 now, didn't want his mother trailing him to the bus stop with a camera looking like a crazy lady. Go figure!

Home Sweet Home

After being gone most of the summer, the kids are finally home! Kind of, but I'll get to that. We also have a new resident. Russell is officially living with us, as Wes was just made his legal guardian. School starts Monday, but we are mostly prepared. Just one or two last minute things to get.
The kids got in to Charlotte late Friday night, so we stayed the night with Penny and Zack so we wouldn't be pulling in at 1 am. We all slept in a bit, and got on the road around 1. Just before Penny left to get Keith from the Columbia airport, finally home from Iraq.
One of my favorite Joel quotes so far: I was getting him settled in the back seat, and he is just yammering away about his trip. As I'm shutting the door, I guess he said "hey mommy" but I didn't heart. And I'm still trying to get myself in the car and get settled. So he says to Wes, "She NEVER listens to me!" That and he was making sure that eeveryone knew that nobody could play with his new DS but him!
On the way out we made a quick stop at Jack in the Box. Charlotte actually has the closest ones, and I desperately needed an Oreo Cookie shake and some fries!
Once we got home Saturday afternoon, we worked on unpacking and cleaning out closets and drawers, trying to make room for Russell's things. After that, the kids were out the door to find their friends. They missed me so much that both Joey & Mackenzie spent the night with friends last night!
Welcome home!
Oh, and Teri...
Joey says Joel started crying Friday night because he missed you SO much, and he's called me Aunt Teri several times already.

SCHOOL!

I registered the kids for school today, and I have to say I'm excited! No Rachel, not because I'm ready to get rid of them. I'm actually a little sad that they've been gone all summer and will start school almost immediately when they get back. I'm excited FOR them. No, really.
Joey is starting his *gasp* LAST year of middle school. He got into the advance art class (which he is SO excited about) and advanced band. And because the French teacher is no longer teaching at the school, he is taking Spanish instead. He can't wait to start testing it out on his cousins, not to mention testing out what he already knows with his teacher.
Mackenzie is starting her **another gasp** LAST year of elementary school. And she finally made it into GATE (gifted and talented enrichment program), even better, she will be in the same class as her best friend Blythe (see here).
Joel is starting ***one more gasp*** KINDERGARTEN! This is especially exciting for him as he is the only of my kids to not have attended pre-school and/or PreK. So it is really his FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!
I'm so excited I could almost cry! My babies are growing up!

Domestic Partnership

I was recently shopping for car insurance. Mine expired in July, so I was doing my yearly price check. On one site, as I was filling out their questioneer, they asked about marital status. Apparantly you are a higher risk being divorced over being married, but that is for another post. Anyway, one of the options on this particular site was "domestic partnership". I liked that, because I am neither single, nor married. Calling Wes my boyfriend sounds oh so very 11th grade. Especially after living together for a year. So I asked myself, do we qualify? I mean, most of the time, domestic patnership is a label given to same sex relationships. But, if I am living with, and commited to a person, isn't that precisely what we are, domestic partners? We share a house, bills, a blended family, chores, stress, money woes, pets, and all that other stuff. The only difference from us and a married couple is that we haven't made a public statement in front of friends and family, and clergy or legal authority that we will love honor cherish till death so us part. I don't want to down size marriage here. We are very careful not to present ourselves as married, because we aren't. We might be one day, but for now, we aren't.
But, just because we aren't married, does that mean we shouldn't be considered when it comes to certain things that are preserved for immediate family only, or for discounts that occur when you are married? So that has me thinking about the whole same sex marriage debate. I know I'm stepping into some murky waters here, but have to say, if two people love each other and want to get married, who am I to say they can't? How does it insult my marriage or relationship if two men wnat the same right to marry the one they love as I am? If a church has an issue, that's fine, then the church can chose not to officiate over the marriage, but where does a democratic government of a country that holds equal rights as one of its biggest concerns get off telling a same sex couple that the LAW does not allow them to share the same legal rights as other commited couples?
I'm just saying, if I ought to be able to use the domestic partnership title, why can't someone else get married?

If we were Jewish....

Joey would be a man. But we're not so he is just another 13 year old boy. But on this day I'm still having a rough time coming to terms with the idea that I am the mother of a 13 year old. But what a great 13 year old I have! Joey came into the world making my life a little miserable, having weighed in at 10 lbs 8 0z. No, I did not have a C-section. I did however pledge my love to the man who gave me my epidural. Joey's was a well attended birth. He had mom (of course) and even waited for dad to come home from Turkey before making his appearance. Also there were Grandma Marci and Aunt Teri. Stopping in to visit were Anne and Brian, Uncle Ernie, Brittany, and Grandpa Larry. As hard as bringing him into the world may have been, he was a piece of cake after that. Aside from some breast feeding issues at first, we was the best baby ever! He slept through the night within the first couple of weeks. At 3 weeks old, he traveled by car from Seattle to Ft. Campbell, Ky. He went through a terrible 2's stage, but by the time he hit 3 had worked it all out.
As time has gone by we've learned so much about Joey. He is very empathetic and caring. He is artistic and musical. He has played piano, trumpet and French horn. He's very smart, though convincing other's of that was a challenge at first. He doesn't test well, so he's always had to proove himself the hard way. Being the oldest he's had to become more responsible than most of his peers at his age, but responsible he is. He is easy going, and puts up with a younger and sister and brother who worship him maybe a little too much sometimes. Overall, he's just such a great kid, and I feel so blessed to have him as MY kid.

In Memorium

George died July 22nd, 2009, sometime around 1-2 pm. She was 15, and survived by many family members that loved her, others that tolerated her. George was contrary right from the bieginning. Starting with her name. We were assured by the veterinarian she was a he, so we name "him" George. Then, he turned out to be she, but the name still stuck. Geoge came into my life as a 2 week old abandon kitten September of 1994. She was my first baby. I had to mix her formula and feed her every 4 hours through an eye dropper. Then I even had to wipe her behind. Those first few weeks she slept in whatever shirt I had been wearing that day. During the day, she pent most of her time under my shirt close to my belly. As time went by George became a bit rebelious, choosing to eat the dog food over her own. She got quite fat. She didn't like too many people, she tolerated Mike and I for the most part, and I think she even frew fond of my dad. Although she seemed mean, she was protective. Out other cat, Tahli was challenged mentally, and not very good at sticking up for himself. When one of our dogs got a little overly frisky with Tahli, George came to his recsue, only to growl and hiss at him when he tried to thank her. George was a world traveler, having been born in Turkey, and lived in Tennessee, Germany, Washington, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. Not to mention all the car and plane trips it took to get to those places. In the last few years, she lost a lot of her weight. This last year she got very thin, and the last week she was barely skin and bones. She was a pain in the butt a lot of the time, but nevertheless, she was family and we will all miss her. Most of all me.
A big thank you to Pet Rest in Goose Creek, SC for taking such great care of departed pets, most off all George. They were so nice, and thoughtful. They even sent me a memorial card. Rest in peace George.
**Regretably, I have no pictures of George on this computer. Once I track down some of my photo discs, I will post for those of you who did not get to meet her.