Tomorrow

Tomorrow afternoon, following my youngest son's flag football game and end-of-season pizza party, I will embark on a 4 hour journey with my eldest son to take him to inpatient drug and alcohol treatment. This is a journey I took with my father almost exactly 16 years ago. A journey that I thought would end with my son in my arms. Maybe I've already told that story.

I am ecstatic to report that my son is not a father (wow, that sounded like Maury Povich), and I am not a grandmother (whew!) so I don't think as much hangs in the balance with this situation. However, my husband has made it painfully clear that he cannot live with us if he continues to blow every responsibility off in order to get stoned. I understand his reasoning and I agree with him.

Wish me luck for tomorrow and the following two-day orientation. I'll be home Monday night.

Breast Rash

If you want to read a most rediculous urban legend that has been circulating via e-mail since 2003, go here. The picture is so blatanly photoshopped and I love the use of the terms, "more certified doctor," and "milk canals."

Transition

My oh my how quickly things change around here. We are now going through a brand new transition. Some day I'll get to push the proverbial baby out.

My son is coming to live with us. He has set fire to most of his bridges and, although few are completely burned down, he is left with few options for where to go until he turns 18. Advice solicited!

About a month ago, my aunt and uncle decided they couldn't handle him anymore and began the process to relinquish their guardianship to the State. They've not been allowed to do that thus far but they've made it clear that they don't want him back in their house and he doesn't want to be there anyway.

Enter the social worker. She is an awesome woman who makes it clear that she is working for Zack's best interest but also sympathizes with us (aunt, uncle, hubby and me) about the difficulty of the situation. She called me when aunt and uncle first contacted the State about relinquishing and asked for my opinion of the situation, which I gave unflinchingly, and asked if we were an option for Zack's placement.

Until this past Wednesday hubby was vehemently against having Zack come here to live. Not because he doesn't care about the kid--because of the financial, emotional, and sanity draining nature of caring full time for a kid with as many problems as my number one son. However, after lengthy discussion with the social worker, we both agreed that we could do it. Not without many troubles and a lot of stress, but we can do it nonetheless. I forgot to include the LOVE part. Zack has a lot of love to give and he's fiercely loyal when you gain his trust and respect.

I am incredibly nervous going into this endeavor. I cried a little yesterday and I'm sure I will have many more days of stress and tears, but this life is coming full circle. He was with me at the beginning of his life and now he'll be with me at the end of his dependent life. It is my sincere hope that he will grow wings while he is here.

And soar when he leaves.

This and That

I'm having a lot of feelings today and I need to get them out.

First, something funny.

My dog, Ruby.


For a long time she's had this habit of stealing stuffed animals from various places around the house and cuddling with them. She doesn't chew them up, she doesn't pee on them--she just moves them and licks them or cuddles them. Usually she does this when she's home alone.

So I've had this cute little scrubby bath-tub pig friend for a couple of years. I bought it to give to a friend who got married in October of 2005 because they love pigs. They call them "pink pork" because of a family member from Cuba who didn't know the word "pig" for a long time. I never got around to sending it because I'm a procrastinator and life always seems to get in the way.

A few weeks ago I noticed that Ruby had discovered Pink Pork in his hiding place and moved him onto my bed. I didn't scold Ruby because she's not doing anything bad and really it's pretty cute. So, I moved Pink Pork onto my dresser, which I thought was high enough that Ruby couldn't get to him, and I thought I would still send it or at least give it to another friend. Then I left for a while and came home to discover Pink Pork on the living room floor. I thought it was strange and put him back on my dresser. The next time I noticed Pink Pork in a place other than where I was sure I left him, I assumed my kids had gotten to him and were playing with him. I asked them both and they hadn't been playing with him so I wondered if I just thought I had put Pink Pork on the dresser.

So today I conducted a test. Before I left this morning to go have coffee with my dad, I made sure Pink Pork was on the dresser. Hubby had already left for work and kidlets were on the bus to school. When I came home about two hours later, Pink Pork was no longer on the dresser. He was on my bed, happy as a, well, pig! Obviously Ruby is enamoured with Pink Pork. The thing is, how did she manage to get him off of my dresser without knocking over any of the various things made of glass that are in front of the place where I put little Porky? I wish I had one of those video baby monitors so I could see how she does it.

I gave Pink Pork to Ruby. It's clear to me now that they belong together.

I think I'll save the other stuff for another post. I'm still working on slowing my brain down to pluck out a few thoughts.

Hasta luego, que les vayan bien.

Welcome Hank!

On Tuesday, September 25 I received the phone call that I'd been waiting for. Iris was in labor and they wanted me to come. I've posted a few photos here, with permission from Iris and Solly, of her long and beautiful labor and, of course, their beautiful son, Henry "Hank" Orrin Perry. I won't go into details about the birth as it is their story to tell, but please enjoy the photos.

Summer Vacation Photo Essay

Finally I am posting pics from our two-part vacation at the end of August/beginning of September!

We bought a new car this summer: a 2003 Subaru Outback--a car that I've been wanting since they first came out. The funny thing is, the other two families we went camping with have a 2000 blue Outback and a 2001 green Outback respectively. We looked like dorks but we didn't care!

Here she is on her maiden voyage!


This is Ruby's favorite way to travel.

But sometimes we make her go in the back with the kids.

Self-portrait with girl sticking her tongue out.

The first thing the kids wanted to do when we got there was go swimming. They were offered this raft to play on by some other people hanging around. Here are six-sevenths of the kids from all three of our families. R-L: Eli, Isaac, Jeremyah, Meadow, Michael, Caleb.

I'm so glad my kids learned how to swim...finally!

Despite his best efforts at dodging the camera, I caught this rare photo of Eli smiling.

Here are all seven kids at the table eating. R-L: Meadow, Isaac (you can only see his sleeves next to Meadow), Jeremyah, Josiah, Eli, Michael, Caleb.

Two of my best number one girls: Melanie and Meadow. Melanie is super-mom to Michael, Josiah, and Caleb.

This is Odin proving his skills. Bowhunting skills, computer hacking skills, beer opening skills. Odin is Melanie's hubby.

R-L: Jeff, Kim, and Melanie. Jeff and Kim are mom and dad to Eli and Isaac. Jeff is also the owner of the company that my hubby works for. He's probably the best boss in the world.

Odin says, "Peace out homechickens!"

Hubby and Melanie. Gawd I love these two!



A beautiful photo of two beautiful women. I love these two also!

Six out of seven kids (and a mom) adopting salute stance. I think they were saluting the hawthorn bushes. And of course, my defector daughter!

This beautiful snag was along side of the twisty-turning mountain road where we went for a hike in the hazy hills. There was a forest fire about 30 miles northwest that sent smoke all over, obscuring the ridges.

Ruby the trail dog. She had so much fun running as fast as she could and then turning around to see where we were.

The Columbia River Basin with a blanket of smoke hanging over it.

Michael turned 12 this month! He's very gifted with stringed instruments. I gave him my old bass guitar for his birthday.

Moonrise on the lake.

Jeff holding our finished-off bottle of Milagro Reposado tequila. Leyenda del milagro tequila!

Firelight sparks.

My Mellie and Me.



Kim with her lovely youngest son, both such a pleasure to have on the trip. I've only just begun to get to know Kim after being acquaintences for about 9 years. What an awesome mom and WOMAN!!

Mellie and Odin. Falling in love all over again!

On our way back to the highway from the lake we saw this cliff. Over the years people have scaled its rocky face to spray paint the year on it. Click on the photo to see it enlarged so you can see the painting. I think the earliest year we saw was 1928.



This is an old building in a settler's town that we saw on our way to my mom's house. We saw the sign for a historic town and thought it might be a ghost town, but it turned out that people live there still. It's a cute town, though.

For part two of our trip, hubby and I dropped the kids off at my mom's house and headed north to an island in the Straits. Here is hubby on the foggy morning ferry.

A month or so before, hubby and Jeff did a job on the island (they're environmental scientists doing wetland delineation and water and gas monitoring among other things) and stayed in an apartment on the piece of property they were working on. The Jeff made a deal with the owner, giving hubby and him the opportunity to bring wives to the island for a getaway, with the apartment being the accomodations. This is a big deal because accomodations on the island are sparse and expensive. It's a two bedroom, fully furnished apartment about a seven minute casual walk to the "downtown" area of the biggest town on the island.

Here's one of the bedrooms complete with a king sized bed which Ruby could sleep on with us!

A chair for Ruby.

The livingroom.

The dining area and kitchen behind it.


Cascade Lake.

A pretty pond.

Hubby, Ruby and I at the top of the highest point on the island. If you look closely you can see my hometown to the left of me across the water.


A big, beautiful cedar on the trail we hiked.

Light through stone window.

The tower at the top of the mountain.


Queen Anne's Lace. I never knew that when it goes to seed, the flowers form these little cups that look like hummingbird nests. Nature is so cool.

Lake reflection.

This was the view from our breakfast table the morning we left.


The ferry ride home.

Mountains upon the straits. These mountains have been my home since I was born. They give me comfort.

Sunset on the pond.

Thanks for scrolling through all of these pics. It was an awesome vacation. Much love to all of my companions...you all made it such a pleasure!