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More library adventures

I like our little library here in our new town, but it still feels as though we are visitors. Someone from my family is at the library at least once a week at the minimum. D. was there for a couple of hours once a week to have his French tutoring. I come both by myself and with a herd of children fairly regularly. I am used to being somewhat conspicuous, and even if someone doesn't remember my name, they at least remember I'm that woman with all the children. But instead, when I'm in there, it's as though I'm wearing an invisibility cloak. It's weird and disconcerting.

That's the prelude to my two library stories I have to share.

The first involves math. Today we went in because it is the week they are handing out the first round of prizes for the reading game. Most of my children had completely filled their cards with their reading stars (one star = 15 minutes of reading). [Sorry, can't help kibitzing here.. as a librarian wouldn't you want to get …
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Changed

I admit it, I was pretty clueless when I was younger. I thought I had the world all figured out and I was also pretty darn sure I was correct in my assumptions. And then I adopted.

I won't kid you, adoption totally rocked my world in multiple ways. One of those ways was shaking up my belief that I had things all figured out. And I did have them figured out for a white girl coming from a place of pretty significant privilege. I knew I came from a place of privilege, but I didn't fully understand the extent; how that privilege seeped into every area of my life and thought.

Watching my children navigate a not-so-kind world has changed me. Caring for a young woman who the harsher voices among us would reduce to the single word 'illegal' has changed me. Seeing the world from a very different lens than the one I was used to using makes me realize how very, very wrong I was about so many things.

Because it only takes one person yelling obscenities at your beloved child and sh…
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Blogging failure

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Between vacation, getting back from vacation, and having a majorly unpleasant cold sweep through the family, blogging hasn't happened. I think that this is the longest stretch I've gone in years without posting something. It feels odd. I'll if I can't get back on my game. Let's see if I can catch you up on what has been going on.

We have a new licensed driver in the house. TM got his driver's license yesterday, much to his great joy. Today, he drove Aster to the dog park and drove himself to work. TM also learned that he was awarded Employee of the Month at work this month. I'm pretty proud of him.It is hot. Hot. Hot. Hot. I do not like super hot weather. I will be glad when it goes away, though it doesn't look as though that will be any time soon. (I do not like super cold weather, either, but you can at least put on another layer for that.)Did I tell you that M. was officially accepted into the competitive Veterinary Technician program for the fall? Ev…
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Actually someone did take pictures

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J. took some and TM took the rest.




















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Vacation notes

We are in the middle of our vacation at J.'s aunt's and uncle's beach house up in Michigan. We have adult children tag teaming to get both time up here and to make sure the animals at home are taken care of. (Can I just say how wonderful it is to have such responsible adult children? They are all terrific.) It has been a great few days so far with perfect beach weather. We have swam, paddled kayaks, played games, read, done puzzles, napped, eaten lots of good food (J. grilled an amazing tasting turkey the other day), walked on the beach, eaten ice cream, and generally relaxed and enjoyed ourselves. I'm not sure how many pictures have been taken. I know I haven't taken any, but I think TM has. We've just been too busy enjoying ourselves to worry about that. I also haven't blogged if you hadn't noticed. I haven't really thought about that either. In fact, this is the first time I've pulled the laptop out since we got up here. Here are some brief t…
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Some days I'm too tired to blog...

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so you get cats.


This is Midnight, Hemingway, and Nefertiti this morning. Usually these three don't have all that much to do with each other. Well, at least Nefertiti doesn't have much to do with any of the other cats. But there was a chipmunk outside the window. Oh, how these three wanted that chipmunk. It would run back and forth, up and down the sidewalk, and the cats' heads would move back and forth as if they were watching a slow motion tennis match. Eventually, the chipmunk stopped running and the cats went back to their mutual ignoring of one another.
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Sweating

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Remember when I was moaning about how cold it was in the dead of winter? When I couldn't fathom every being warm again? Remember when I moaned about the very cold and wet spring we had when there was no decent weather to just sit outside and read? We've had a couple of nice days between then and now, but...

Now it seems as though the weather has decided it is necessary to go the other direction. We are in the middle of a string of 90+ days and it is uncomfortable. The humidity is high and the sun is hot. There's nothing like living in a place that has a 130 degree difference. Especially when my preferred temperature range, and the one where I'm most comfortable and happy is between 68 and 78 degrees. We haven't been there much this year.

Despite the uncomfortable temperatures, J. has been sweating it out in the barn finishing the stalls. He is so close to being done. I'll show you the in progress pictures and then tell you what still needs to be done.

This is E…
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