The Florida Cousin

A quick update to keep you in the loop. Tricia, my Florida cousin-in-law, is here on the far left. Next to her is her mother-in-law, aka my Aunt Sandy (my favorite most wonderful aunt in the WHOLE WORLD). Of course, you know the other characters here. We had a FABULOUS time yesterday and I fed her everything I could think of because I love to feed people and they brought pie so we ate that, too. We all fought for airspace and talked like we had just seen each other ten minutes ago. She left her husband and kids back in Florida and is here to see family and friends and to remember she is a WOMAN, as well as a wonderful mom and wife. Doesn't that kind of break do us all good once in awhile? (Well, I guess you MEN reading this don't need to be reminded of your womanliness so you get a pass.) We women have a much harder time with it, generally, because taking care of everybody is what we do. And, of course, that isn't true universally but when Grizzly left a few minutes ago to go camping by himself (with JoJo as his only companion), he didn't look the least bit conflicted. I'm just sayin'.

The Bo, The Trish, The Aunt - We could not feature "The Donald" as his hair was in for its rabies shots.

Trish let me take a few pictures of her (and put up with me because this is NOT her favorite thing) but isn't this darling? I absolutely love photos of people laughing with their eyes closed. One of my favorite senior pictures of Bo was exactly like that. It embodies lovely abandonment to mirth. I'm big on mirth. This shocks you I know.

And one more, because I can.

The Illinois/California cousins are due in tomorrow. Updates coming but WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE these shots of Minky's Marvels in tomorrow's post. She got some serious air last night. It was other worldly. Not even human. Exactly.

Copyright 2009

Mea Culpa...Mea Crazy Woman of Many Cousins

Do you see these people? These people are all cousins of one sort or another from my biological father's side but connected to me through a PRECIOUS aunt (they are her children and grandchildren). The Aunt and I haven't seen the biological father for over 22 years for good and compelling reasons which don't belong in this post.

I haven't seen these cousins for about seven years for no good reason at all except life busyness and proximity. Last week we reconnected and did we every have a BALL. Unless you're around family all the time (and we're not) you forget that family wackiness and humor runs exTREMEly deep and is like finding an oasis in the Sahara. Right after our visit they left for Arizona to see more family on his wife's side. They'll be back tonight. What does this have to do with anything? Well, I'll tell you at some point, I'm sure, after you sit through some boring details. You're free to go now.

The guy standing to my right and hiding behind me is my cousin, Joey. (His lovely wife, Laurie, is on the far left and the rest of these beauties are their daughters. Except for me, Bo, and The Wild Man. We are not their daughters.) His brother, Rick, (another cousin) lives in Florida. His wife, Tricia, just arrived in town a few days ago and so we have another cousin we want to see. She is coming over for breakfast tomorrow. We haven't seen her in about four years.

Two days ago, my mother informed me that a niece from her side (my cousin) is in California on business. She lives in Illinois. She wants to get together. I haven't seen her in ten years. She also wants to pick up another cousin who actually lives in California. I have never met this cousin and had no idea she was in my same state. I lived part of my life in close proximity with her dad back in Illinois. Apparently, he and I don't talk very often. In fact, the last time we exchanged words was 32 years ago. We're not mad at each other and have never had a falling out. Our family just doesn't do "close" all that well. We only knew each other as kids for a short time and, well, life goes on. And one side or the other would have had to make family a priority. That didn't happen either. We have a serious legacy of non-bonding issues. Everybody can live without everybody else. (MAJOR EXCEPTION: My family - the one YOU know - is making deliberate changes to this rule and maybe cousins are beginning to feel the same.) So, these Illinois/California cousins are coming to town on Saturday and it would be good to see them.

But what are the odds that nine cousins from four different states, and different sides of the family, all converge, unbeknownst to each individual group, after many, many years apart, and all within a week of each other?

Do you realize the true, earth-shattering, underlying meaning of this? I HAVE TO CLEAN MY HOUSE!

I have bathtub caulking that is good enough for my kids' tub but not good enough for a cousin to look at if they sit down on the toilet and happen to see around the shower curtain. I have carpeting in the study that makes the dogs happy when they smell themselves on it, but which probably wouldn't recommend itself to visiting familia. I have kitchen grout that is light gray in design and dark gray in reality. Time for the Clorox and a toothbrush. I have a mountain of laundry - yes AGAIN. Who has time for laundry when you're graduating people, for Pete's sake?! I'm gonna try out that "move a mountain" Bible verse today and see if I can get my Mt. Everest over to my neighbor's house. Maybe they'll do it all before they realize it's not theirs.

So once again, I beg your kind and caring indulgence as I remain A.W.O.L. in Blogsville preparing for family and three weekends worth of graduation parties still to attend (including Bo's!). I am not visiting you. And I'm a worse person for it. I am missing out! But I sure coulda used you in the bathroom last night as I chiseled out the caulking with a hammer and screwdriver. I hit the tile with my knuckles so many times my hand looks like I'm a prizefighter. I could make up a great story to go with these bruised knuckles. Maybe I'll just abandon this whole cleaning and functionality idea and lay a bunch of empty booze bottles around while sprawling on the couch. I'll display my fighting hand and describe my most recent barroom brawl. I'll wave them toward my messy kitchen and empty fridge.

Yeah, that outta put off the next visit for another 20 years or so. I should SERIOUSLY write a book on entertaining. It's obvious I have a gift.

Copyright 2009

Bo, The Graduate 2009

I will start this post off by apologizing to all of you for not visiting YOUR blogs in the last several days. It has been a whirlwind, as I'm sure you know, if you've graduated children or been a graduate yourself. Believe it or not, it never dawned on me that we would be attending all these parties as well as graduation ceremonies. I mean, I knew we had the parties of ten girls (from the ten core friend families) but then add in all the OTHER senior friends and well, wow! It is party central starting last weekend through the next three weekends. But what great fun!

Last night........indescribable. I watched my sweet Bo walk down the aisle as a high school graduate. It was surreal. I didn't cry because I couldn't. Each set of parents (in a graduating class of forty) had the privilege of handing their graduate the diploma he or she had earned, and then giving a sixty-second blessing. I had to stay focused and not look like a wreck when all I really wanted was to sit and have a good, heart-felt cry.

But here she is walking toward us:

The Wild Man with Bo:

And another one just because it shows her cute shoes and my cute kids - oh be still my heart!

The proud and happy family - The Wild Man, Me, Bo, and Grizzly

Bo and TWM have been privileged to be part of an incredible homeschool choir through Peoples School of Creative Arts at Peoples Church in Fresno. The choir has over 250 homeschooled kids from K-12. The High school portion is called Concert Choir and Bo is also part of Girls' Ensemble. In the photo below, some of the graduating seniors (who were in the choir) perform. When I can figure out how to get this off of my video camera I will upload it. They're amazing. I wish you could hear them now.

And this shows the size of the whole graduating class: (There were about 1,000 people in attendance.)

It was the most marvelous experience for me to witness this event. Many of you know I left home at 15 and, though I tried to forge ahead, my life was so topsy-turvy I left school in my junior year. I never went to a prom or wore a pretty gown. I missed high school dances and senior events. Senior trip was something I heard about through a few friends but never experienced. I didn't graduate until my early 20's and only then because I wanted to start college. So, if I tell you this was a thrill, believe me. My heart was intensely delighted (as well as healed) to watch my daughter do all these things, and more. To see her standing there in her cap and gown last night was a full-circle experience. This time, with God's goodness and graciousness, it came out right. We broke the cycle of failure and dysfunction and crossed the finish line, with the honor of a full ride academic scholarship. I'm still shaking my head in wonder.

I don't think I fully grasped the magnitude of the whole thing until I sat down to tell you about it this late night. I looked down the long road when I was pregnant for her. I saw the finish line and knew what I wanted even then, but I couldn't fully grasp how it would feel or who she would be, or who I would be, for that matter. I think I could sum up much of my life by saying I have failed forward. But this is full circle. This is thriving. This, THIS, is a happy ending. She is not her mother's child. She is SO much more.

Thanks for loving us and walking with us on our journey.

Copyright 2009

Thunderstruck By Graduation!

Tonight we'll see this:

Bo will graduate from high school after thirteen years of homeschooling. Just yesterday we were doing a "Hungry Little Caterpillar" unit study in kindergarten. Today she asked me if I ever remember not knowing how to read. I told her I don't remember not knowing but I definitely recall learning. I followed my mother around the house reading from my "Fun with Dick and Jane" book. (There's a story behind that for another post.) Bo said she remembers struggling to learn but not being unable to read. Books, reading, and writing are so much a part of her very essence now, I don't think she could delineate where she ends and they begin. They aren't what she does, they're what she is. And when that flower opened, I was there to witness it. What a gift.

With thirty-nine other homeschooled students, we will hand our kids (our young men and women) their diplomas. And we will close a chapter of our lives. What's done is done and what's undone is undone. There was never enough time, energy, or opportunity to do everything I had envisioned I would do. But I pray it is enough. I brought my lumpy loaves and a couple of fish to God and he has multiplied them beyond anything I was capable of achieving. I couldn't ask for more.

And last night we did this:

The kids and I went storm chasing. (These are stock photos but look so close to the unbelievable lightning storm we caught up with that they could be ours.) We try to storm chase every chance we get. This time we were able to drop right into the center of the cell and watch it explode all around us. Lots of strikes on the ground, great intercloud activity, a HUGE column with pink hues, a lightning ball all curlicued up into itself and bursting across our vision, as well as one strike that headed straight for the ground but veered off to the left at a sharp 90 degree angle.

At one point we saw a huge strike hit a transformer and explode into a sky full of brilliant aqua. We stayed long enough to watch repair crews arrive. The Wild Man wanted to pick their brains about exactly how much damage there was, but I doubted they would welcome inquiries in the middle of a storm so, he lost that bid.

The piece de resistance was when lightning burst forth directly on top of our SUV and made us nearly blind. We ducked, screamed, and plastered our hands to our eyes in self defense. And then, of course, the thunder was immediate and rocked the whole car and our ear drums in a blasting and long rolling percussion. WHAT A RUSH!!!!!!!! Now THAT's what I'm TALKIN' about! You can storm chase for a long time and not get THAT lucky. Oh! And the dogs were with us. They did great and loved the pelting rain that came right afterwards.

(Yes, I know this hobby is slightly dangerous but you're actually pretty safe in a car. And with all the trees in the fields and other outbuildings and poles to hit, it would be unlikely to seek us as we are fairly well insulated. And this is interesting: "The odds of being struck and killed by lightning are actually quite slim, about 350,000 to 1. You are fifty times more likely to be struck and killed by a motor vehicle." (from Starry Skies.com). So I guess by stopping in the middle of the storm instead of continuing the drive, our odds of living went up exponentially!)

Once the lightning moved off, the kids had to get out and stand in the wind and rain with arms splayed and faces upturned to the sky. Oh, and that smell. Is there anything that compares with the smell of a summer storm? Those of you in Big Weather Country probably get this all the time. But in California, it's much more rare. Bo says it was God celebrating grad night. I'll go with that. We are thunderstruck by thirteen years. God gave us a picture to remember the feeling forever. :-)

Please forgive me for not visiting you more this last few days. I will be back in between all the festivities and parties. And of COURSE I'll be showing you pictures!

Copyright 2009

Whatcha Been Chewin'?

Minky and JoJo would like to bring you today's update. It's a good thing, too. I'm still just a little spittin' mad at Blogger. It's better this morning but not fully fixed yet. (The dogs had to create this photo post backwards because nothing can be rearranged.) So I'm leaving now to assume my position on the fainting couch and sending this post to the dogs.



Hello!! MInky here, with news from my beautiful self. Look how the sun highlights my eyes in this remarkable photo. And do you see how I have my two front socks pulled up just perfectly so they match? I amaze myself. I am 8-months-old now and looking for ways to "go greeen" by composting the trash, recycling, and down-sizing. If I find it, I chew it.

Here's a small sampling of some recent work:

That red thing in the middle is actually supposed to be for dogs to chew on. Every time I chewed it, it got smaller and smaller. It’s kinda freakin’ me out. Pieces of it are showing up when I go outside to do my business. That’s not right. It seems to be following me.

(Oh my good grief. Could I BE any more bored? JoJo here. If you’ve been puttin’ off a root canal, now’s your moment. It might be more entertaining. Minky's probably gonna drag on and on about this piddlin’ life of hers and makin’ a big deal outta nuthin’. She’s never faced a bear or caught a cat by the tail. You know, the stuff REAL dogs do. I’ll just keep sittin’ here prayin' an anvil falls on my head.)

Anyway, look at these! These gloves are made out of Kevlar. My dad got some for work and they worked out great so, he got some for me, too. He thought we could wrestle and they would save him from my shark-like teeth. He was wrong. I found where he left the gloves and finished ‘em off.

Underneath that red thing below is my chipmunk. You might wanna look away if you’re squeamish. I pulled all of his guts out and I think those plastic things on either side might be his bowels. Yeah, I think I disemboweled him. When I bit down on him they made squeaky noises. I have that problem once in awhile with my digestive system. So does JoJo. Hers are loud which I think is AWESOME. It happens when she flops down on the floor.

Here’s me in mid-flight catchin’ the chimpmunk carcass. If you look right in the middle of that gray SUV behind me, you’ll see if heading right for my open jaws.

(You did NOT TELL THEM about my personal issues…..what a rat fink. You must work for the Enquirer. I have no dignity left.)

Well, I could be a professional journalist, I'm sure. And every good reporter needs a few pencils, some gum to work off the energy of waiting for that breaking story, and a comb to maintain a good appearance. That's why I hunted these up:

So then, in the spirit of journalism, let me ask you Madam JoJo, what have you been up to?

Well, finally a subject of interest to your readers. I haven’t been chewin’ stuff up all over the house like someone whose initials are Minky. I bark when I need to, like when people we know come over. And I generally maintain my happy-go-lucky attitude when you’re not buggin’ me, which leaves me precious little time for happy attitudes, I can tell you. But here's a shot of me in one of those rare moments:

Okay, well that’s enough about you. Now let’s get back to me.

Here’s another GREAT action shot of me on the fly. Check out that hang time and the air I got!

I look kind of chubby, but I'm not. I'm really just fluffy. My mom says she looks kind of fluffy, but she's not. She's just chubby.

So that's the latest from the home front right now. Happy tails to you from me and Happy Jo!!

Copyright 2009

To Whom It May Concern..Part II.

Well, the last post sorta sums up the whole thing. BLOGGER IS HAVING A MELTDOWN.

My text disappears; I can't edit; I can't drag and drop photos for rearrangement; my page won't load completely; some of YOUR pages won't load completely. Some of these are known problems as of last week but there is still no status update as to a FIX. Hello? Blogger? Is this thing on? Posting is kind of THE thing, isn't it? Without the ability to post, well, uh, what's the point?

Debbie, at Jadehollow said last week she was having similar problems. I'll try posting this again and we'll see what happens. I just wanted you all to know I'm still alive!

Book Winners!!

Congratulations to the winners of the Jordan Rubin books:

1. Reginia at Tetertots
2. Libby, at Neas Nuttiness
3. Jillybean, at The Post It Place

And Reginia, you won the signed copy! Email me your shipping info ladies and they are on their way Monday. Thank you everyone for entering and posting. I promise the next contest will be international!