On the Eve of 9/11.........

I'm sitting here tonight, in my house, with my husband and one of the boys, our cat, dog, tortoise and turtle.  I'm sitting here tonight and I'm thinking about all of those families who aren't sitting with their loved ones.  Or who are and don't know how long they have with them because while searching for survivors, remains and clearing rubble their loved ones inhaled and were exposed to chemicals that are killing them in one way or another.

I'm grateful to all who serve our country--whether in the military, as first responders or as other public servants.  I'm amazed as I think of how many people ran towards buildings hit by airplanes, on fire and on the verge of collapse.  I'm amazed as I think of how many untrained, ordinary people helped others to escape and survive.

As I sit here tonight with my comfortable life, I am grateful, amazed and incredibly sad to think of all we lost as a nation on that day.  I'm also struck by how much we've lost since that day.

Too many people don't think about the events of that day often enough.  Too many of us aren't grateful to those around us who make our lives possible.

Tomorrow as I consider 9/11/01, I'll take a moment to pause and consider those who died, those who survived and those who continue to serve.  What will you do?

What a long strange week it's been..........

We almost bought a house.  No, seriously, we had an offer in, a finance guy and a counter offer.  Then the sellers didn't like our counter to their counter, and they sold the house to someone else.

Which is a bummer, I'm not going to lie.  I'm sort of hoping that their deal falls through and they come back to us.  Is that mean or pathetic?

So, now we're house hunting.  We have a pre-approval and everything, just like grown-ups.  Now all we need is a house.

In other news, Devin paid off part of his punitive damages by singing karaoke for us on Saturday night.  Our good friends Rox and Terry, as well as my mom, Gavin's girlfriend and her mom came to watch.  Also on hand were Gavin and Nick--both of whom joined Devin on his last song.

His first selection was Bitch by Meredith Brooks, which he did well at.  My favorite was "I'm a goddess on my knees."

His second selection was Rapper's Delight by the Sugarhill Gang, which he put forth a valiant effort on.

His third selection was chosen by the DJ who thought it was hysterical that Alex and I had chosen this as a consequence.  She went with "Man I Feel Like a Woman."  Gavin and Nick joined in on that one, and the three of them had a great time with it.

Ah Nick.  I'm going to miss Nick when he leaves for school on Sunday.  Not only has he been a great influence on Devin and Gavin, but he is a charming, sweet young man, and I will miss having him around.  I know that he is going to have an amazing first year at college, but I also know that his leaving may lead to moodiness, depression and irritability around our house.  Who knows how it will effect the boys.

There are tragedies and natural disasters happening all around us.  Be nice to people folks, we all have needs sometimes, and we all have bad days.  Making someone else pay for your bad day isn't cool--so says Roman, the produce guy at my Lucky's.