Getting old...or just closer to independence.....

Kaitlyn Elizabeth passed her driving test!!! So in a bit we will have TWO teenage daughters on the road...able to drive by themselves....without us....alone.

Well....that isn't quite accurate. We have one teenage daughter and one 18 year old who is constantly reminding us that she is 18 and an adult. Of course, Kirsten has been telling us she was an adult since....well...since she could talk. When she was a toddler though it came out like this, "I'm a dolt." We would all laugh and say, "A dolt? You think your a dolt?" There are some days...now that she THINKS she is an adult....that we say, "Yes....you are a dolt!" By show of hands how many of you out there look back to when you turned 18 and now realize how immature you really were.

Ahh...it's all part of life. Kirsten is not a dolt...and most of the time she is VERY mature....she's just 18.

When Kirsten turned 13 we gave her a sock hop. Then AFTER the party I made everyone that helped us buttons that said, "I survived Kirsten's 13th birthday party!" I think on her 19th birthday I will make everyone close to us buttons that say, "I survived Kirsten's 18th year."

You know Hillary Clinton has only said one thing that I ever agreed with....and IT wasn't even original. She quoted an old African saying that states, "It takes a village to raise a child.".......

Amen sister!! What would we do without all of you? How would we have made it thus far? We wouldn't have.

HAHAHAHAHA!!!! All of this over a drivers license. We still have High School graduations, college, weddings, grandchildren.......and Keaton hasn't even turned 14 yet!!! Of course, since he stands now over six feet tall, and converses on a higher plain than most, I forget that he is only 13.

Anyway.....thanks to all of you who have stood beside us up to this point....and for all of you who will be brave enough to stick it out a while longer.

And if you see our daughters driving around....by themselves....all alone.....say a little prayer...for their parents.

Calling HGTV!!!

AARRRGGG!!!!

I can't tell you how aggravating it is that after nine months we are putting the house back on the market again.....and it feels like we are starting ALL OVER!

Paint has to be touched up, trees have to be trimmed, the garage has to be cleaned, the kids rooms have to be purged, things we received for Christmas have to be packed, I am painting the rest of the kitchen, Jeff is replacing tile and I am redoing the bathroom AGAIN.

Jeff and I just returned from trying to pick out a new shower curtain and accessories for the main bathroom and instead of it being fun...it was just depressing.

On the bright side.....Jeff got our taxes done and sent off this morning. YIPPEEE!!!

And...if anyone out there is reading this.....when my mom was here this past weekend we watched several movies. I highly recommend "Becoming Jane" ....the story of Jane Austen and a lost love. It of course was slow....but beautiful. It kind of made me want to take a crack at reading Jane again. SHE'S SOOOOO HARD TO READ! We decided as a family it would be easier to rent Pride and Prejudice, Sence and Sensibility, Emma and Mansfield Park and have a Jane Austen movie marathon. You could top it all of with the "The Jane Austen Book Club"...which was pretty good too! But beware....there is a lesbian couple in it. I think it was PG13.

Also...if you like westerns "3:10 to Yuma" was good....kinda violent but well acted.

OHHHH.... Almost forgot...."Martian Child"....John Cusak...... LOVED IT!! It was such a great story!!

100 Days and Counting....115 tops

In the ongoing saga which could be titled "Our Impending Move to Washington" we have given up trying to make very many decisions.

When our move fell through after Christmas we took our house off of the market and decided we would just hunker down and wait for our oldest to graduate from High School. Hunkering consisted of the children and I staying here and Jeff continuing to fly back and forth on a semi-regular basis.

When we made this decision it seemed right....and honorable. Our oldest, although she is now 18, is still our child. Leaving her to live with friends until May no longer seemed the prudent thing to do and separation from my husband seemed the proper sacrifice to make for my first-born.....in theory.

Then January 2nd came and we had to take Jeff to the airport.

This is all I have to say to my young friends who are recently married, about to be married or who are contemplating marriage. ......

Think very, very carefully before you EVER decide that spending time separated from the one you love,.....your other half..... would be the best course of action for your family.

People do it all of the time. Women stay behind for their jobs,so that their children can go to school....or because they are small.....while their husbands work far away from home. And in this day and age it should be easy. We have cell phones, email, text messaging, IM and webcams for crying out loud!!!

But let me tell you something. If the events of your day only make sense when the one you love walks through the door and puts his arms around you.....If eating is only enjoyable when you are sharing it with the one who earned the money to put it on the table.....If you can not sleep without your legs intertwined with the knobby knees next to you......if your favorite sitcoms no longer make you laugh and you begin to wish that the "Lost" would just quit whining......you should probably think twice before putting more miles between you and your other half than is drivable after quitting time rolls around.

For those of you whose beloved have spent time serving our country.....I applaud you. But unless you belong to the greatest generation,remember when the Fab Five ushered in the British invasion or thought you could join our military to put yourself through school and never dreamed you would actually have to SERVE our country.....you CHOSE a life which you KNEW would mean time apart from your loved one.

Yes....I'm griping in a semi-sarcastic, tongue in cheek kinda way. The funny thing is Jeff is actually home right now. Some people write as a way to cope, or process what they are going through. I write because I seem to suffer from some need to share our lives with those I love....whether they want me to or not. And when Jeff is gone I don't seem to have much to share.

I am hoping that as February winds down and Spring approaches I will be so busy that the blues will make way for my need to share all that will be happening in our lives.

In March we will be putting the house back on the market, Keaton turns 14, Jeff and I will celebrate our ballerina anniversary...22 years....get it two two....tutu...ballerina anniversary. Yuck yuck yuck!....we will celebrate Easter and our friends Nick and Brittney are having a baby! April brings...THE PROM. And May...OMG....May means our friends Lindsey and Daniel's new baby, our friends Noah and Kate's wedding festivities, KIRSTEN'S GRADUATION!!!!....and lots and lots of packing.......

Hence the count-down.We move June 1st if the house sells before graduation....June15th if it doesn't.

Because we loved him.....and always will

Last Sunday we had a dear friend leave us. We are very happy for him although we will miss him so very much.

Unfortunatly he didn't go to a place to which we could hop a plane or take a road trip for a visit. We can't save our money, study travel brochures, contact the local visitors center or PLAN that once in a lifetime trip to go see him. So,although this is an AMAZING opportunity for him.....it pretty much sucks for us.

Because you see....we can't just buy a ticket....and there are no roadmaps to eternal life.

All we can do is invest our lives in a one on one relationship with the one who has gone on to prepare a place for us.

Our friend Frank Starr did just that many many years ago. In doing so he gave up what the "world" had to offer and chose a life where only one thing was certain.....eternity with the one who created him....and others who choose to follow the same path.

In choosing eternity Frank was not guaranteed a life free of pain and suffering....or a calm sea. And from what I know of Frank...our old surfer from Cali....a calm sea would have been just a little too boring for him.

So we who are left behind will mourn. We will shed tears not for Frank....who is free of the shackles that bound him the past couple of years.....but for ourselves. Because in knowing Frank we were all brought closer to our creator....and are better because of this. His departure leaves quite a hole in our hearts.

As for me....the news junkie....I have spent this past week scanning the headlines as I always do. I have watched and waited for the scroll along the bottom of the screen that proclaims Franks passing and have felt as if something was missing when it wasn't there. I guess this will pass with time. Although...in a news world which waits with anticipation for every tidbit of information of the daily goings ons of the likes of Brittney Spears.....there appears to be no justice at this glaring ommision of news that will indeed impact the world...in that ripple affect way of which we so often speak.

Frank left his girl Cindy behind. At his going away party, through the fog of grief, I heard someone say that we would take care of her. Somehow I doubt that....I believe she will be taking care of US for a very long time to come.

And I for one, will never see a Hawiian shirt, a surf board, or a motorcycle with flames painted on the tank without feeling a little bit closer to my heavenly father.

So I dedicate this entry to Frank and Cindy....and to Christie for watching for it. I love you all.