First Day of (High) School

The first day of school has always been tough for me- another year gone by...they just keep going faster.  This year is by far the toughest.  Our two oldest- in college for cryin' out loud- the other 3- all in high school.  They didn't appreciate me asking- 'do you have everything you need?'- well of course they do, they are omniscient teenagers... and anyway, if they didn't have something, it would probably be someone else's fault...'what are you going to wear tomorrow?' to which Brendan just stared at me and said, 'why, what are you going to wear tomorrow?' hmmm.....I guess it's time for me to grasp that the new shoes, pencils, the smell of a new eraser- (these were all highlights for moi) are not so novel anymore-we have moved on to the days of who likes who, football, soccer, 'she said that you said and I did not say that'.  I miss the days when they were thrilled with a new pencil box and crucial decsions included what lunch box went best with which backpack...
So to my highschoolers- 'In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life. It goes on' - I love you all more than coffee...

Everyone Needs a BFF

This is dedicated to my BFF, Erica.  It was her bday on Friday and it marks our 21st year of being friends.  We met our first year at Highline and since that first movie we went to (Tango and Cash.....which was awesome) she has stayed with me through it all.  Here is to one of the few people in my life that has been a constant.  She is a great listener and can tell me when I am acting like  a jerk (and I will actually listen to her, which is something) I have attached a pic of when she was just a bit younger that her 39 years, but she's hardly changed at all- love you E!!

We Really Are Lucky

Why a blog?  I have several friends with really good blogs...good writing, funny stories, cute kid pics and  a great way to sort of stay in touch if you can't see each other every day.  For those that know me I am-




1) Not a phone person- I really do hate talking on the phone

2) Not really a Facebook person- it's...too...well...Facebooky, but popular enough that I just made up an adjective to describe it.  It always really scares me when someone that was really mean to me tries to 'friend' me now...why didn't you try that 25 years ago???!?!?  I am a skeptic for sure.

3) Not really home enough to stay on track with anything even though I try- (see #2...just because I have not responded to what you have 'written on my wall' does not mean I am mad at you...)



So just briefly- married to Del 7 years ago-(well almost 7) - we have 5 kids between the 2 of us- 4 girls and 1 lone boy who will either be a great husband or a priest.  Today they are 19,18,16,15 and 14- I really always did want 5 kids- you could say this was the 'easy' way to do it, as far as the whole birth process goes, but I obviously wouldn't recommend it.  They have really all done amazingly well- I have read many books about the horrors of trying to blend families and comparatively, our journey has been quite boring although I am sure Del would disagree with me.



We are entering a new phase of this journey - next Thursday Meg(18) will be  moving into the dorms to start her first year of college.  Jamie(19) is already back at school in Wisconsin starting her 2nd year of college.  It's strange to think of all the adjustments we will make- the remaining kids are re-arranging rooms, 2 less to cook for, 2 less showers-no matter how you look at it it's still 2 less and it's hard not to feel the 'loss'.  It's been so fun to watch these kids grow and listen to them talk about their dreams...maybe it's easier for me since I am a bit more removed as the step-mom- (I actually prefer 'para-mother')- to be able to sit back and enjoy this part of their lives and not feel as 'old' as Del says it makes him feel- it's too bad that there has to be such a conflict- parents feel like this is the end of something while for the child, it's just the beginning. We will just have to pray and turn our worry over.

We are lucky and here are 5 of the biggest reasons why-