CA Girl

Today was a bittersweet day for my lovely Kristin. She had a fantastic first year in middle school. She made a gaggle of great friends who all love and respect her. She also had an amazing group of teachers who all go the extra mile, not just for her, but for all their students. She was really blessed. And so were we. One in particular, would be her Drama teacher. Mr. Ryan. He is truly an exceptional teacher. He wasn't just the Drama teacher--which before the school year began, I assured her that Drama teacher's are the best! And he delivered for her.--he also taught these kids the art of debate, script writing, directing, and most of all confidence. Confidence like I have never seen before. In just 9 months time, I watched my daughter absolutely bloom. Yes, I can take credit for that, but I also have to allow her teacher some as well. All of his kids grew. Sadly, he will be moving onto greener pastures. He is going to be the Drama Director at the new high school...

One of my favorite bumper stickers is one I saw on a fellow Coastie family's car."Support search and rescue: Get Lost" I suppose you can say I have been lost. I certainly lost all track of time. Where did my week go? Why haven't I posted in so long? Fortunately I save all my sent emails so I was able to go back and read them. Where was I? As it turns out, I had slipped into a bit of a funk. I didn't do much of anything. My house reflected that. I am working on getting out of it. My house still needs some rescuing, but with three kids isn't that always the case? At any rate, no need to send out the dogs or any other SAR team. I am here. I will be myself again, and maybe even reclaim a little of the old me.

Today, Ryan found a rock. Ryan threw the rock up in the air. Today Ryan learned about gravity. Today Ryan learned ice and Motrin can be good.

This little gem is from October of 2005. I was about 38 weeks pregnant, and desperately wanting this kid to be out of my body. I couldn't walk. I could only waddle. I was in pain constantly. Not labor pains. Just pregnancy--this-kid-has-gotten-to-big-pains. This particular tale is about our adventure at Oktober Fest on post at Fort Belvoir. Oktober Fest had games, rides, food, entertainment, vendors, and of course beer. Now we certainly never went for the beer or even the food. We went for rides, games, and entertainment. We had gone every year previous, so it was understood that we would go that year too. Over the years I have visited many theme parks and fairs. When I have visited these places, I always saw pregnant women. Not one per visit, but several. I always thought they were nuts; in fact I still do. Why on earth would you want to even be there? You can't ride the rides. You are big, pregnant and miserable and now you have to wander around all day on swo...

When I was 19, I lived with my good friend Angela in a loft apartment. To make getting down the stairs less trying for us, we would slide down the stairs. To make this sliding more efficient, we wore "sliding suits." These consisted of sweats with tube socks pulled up over the legs. A few times we both landed on the floor.There was even a period of time when I had a broken leg. I would crawl up the stairs, and then put the bad leg over the good one to slide back down. Of all the crazy things we did, I have no pictures to prove this. And even if I did, I seriously doubt I would share such sensitive information. Yesterday, I was being a mom and cleaning up messes. I used a wicker basket to gather all the toys, papers, shoes, and books that had magically appeared in the living room. Next, I carried the basket up the stairs to return the items to their proper homes. Ryan followed me and asked if he could help. My first reaction is no, I'll do it. What!? He wants...

Today we honor men and women who have served our country, and those who are in service of it. Whether they have served or are serving now, they all do it with great risk, love for their country and its people. Thank goodness for these brave souls who make our freedom possible. May we always think of them, and thank them today and everyday. I also want to thank the family members. Having been one myself, I understand military life; at least a little bit. I never had to have my husband deployed to any place scary. Being in the intelligence community, he was the one he called on the guys who went out--more or less. I have no idea how or what he did in his job. It was high security. I will never know. I am fine with that. I don't want to know. I have known at least three women whose husbands went to war. I was so scared for them. I can not imagine how they must have felt. And yet, they carried on their daily lives and gave reports whenever they got any. I admire these w...

My daughter's middle school drama department held its third annual One Act Writing Competition. All of the Theatre Arts One students participated. There were 154 in all. Only 9 plays would win, but all would perform. All of these plays were written and directed by middle school students ranging in age from 11-14. Kristin wrote a humorous tale about a slumber party being crashed by boys. But the girls taught them a lesson about make up in the end which left them scattering. Hers was not chosen, but she was guaranteed a part in one of the nine plays. She got the lead in a play entitled "The One Acts" in which "Ann" is trying desperately to figure out what to write about for her one act. The play was written by a 6th grade student. The kids did not have microphones, so the volume needs to be good and loud. She shined in this little performance. The character she portrayed is nothing like the person she truly is.