Hello Zucchini Bread!

We hit pay-dirt today!

On our usual Friday trip to the big city for speech therapy, Shea and I almost always stop off in my old stomping ground and hit my favorite grocery store, West Seattle PCC (Puget Consumer's Coop) on California Ave.

I do love and sadly miss this grocery store. They have wonderful organic, local produce, in-house butchers, excellent selection of everything and nice cashiers. But I really love their in-house deli and bakery. I always get a grilled panini sandwich and a whole juice for lunch while I do some of our normal shopping. Plus, since we have identified Shea's food allergies I always comb through the entire store for new interesting Gluten Free products to try.

Well, the gold star this time goes to the PCC in-house kitchen! They have started making gluten-free/wheat-free mini-loaves of Zucchini Bread that is really more like cake. We tried it today and it is a home run. Both kids gobbled it up for dessert and begged for more. It is very moist and fluffy and quite sweet; this is definitely a dessert.

It is always a gamble to try some of these gluten-free products. If Shea won't eat it then it is wasted. No problem with this one though; the loaf is gone already. Wish I bought two. They also were offering a Pound Cake that we did not try but I certainly will next time. They also had a Pumpkin bread but it wasn't Wheat/Gluten free.

I was impressed. I will look for and buy it again. Good on you, PCC! Way to make the trip to the city worth it every week!

Update: Shea's fine motor and Sensory issues

We had the long awaited meeting about Shea getting OT services through the school. He had recently been re-tested with the Peabody for fine motor skills and they also ran the Sensory Integration test too.

There weren't many real surprises; Shea has significant sensory integration issues. He is Hypo vs. Hyper meaning that he needs extra stimuli, big touch, heavy weight, lots of movement. This kind of makes sense because of his "low" lone issue in his face. But, the schools don't give services for Sensory Integration issues; our only chance was to have him qualify for fine motor.

It's all good information but the piece by piece conversation cataloging in detail all of Shea's "challenges" is always really hard to hear.

I wonder why they don't automatically start off with what the kid is good at but they didn't. I suppose they are trying to be economical with time and just jump right in but it always makes me pissed, defensive and depressed as I am sitting there.

So, after all that, Shea's fine motor skills did not test low enough for him to get services so basically the whole meeting was for naught. We did get to talk about a lot of uncomfortable things there were pretty upsetting for me though. Like how Shea is pretty aggressive and explosive on the playground; hitting and pushing.

Because of his hypo-sensitivity issues, they are going to try some new things. For example: they would like to put a big pad out in the playground up against the fence. This would be a "bounce off" area where it will be ok to push, and hit and run into it at high speed. Great. Something tells me that will be a popular area among the boys of the class whether they have "sensory issues" or not. They also suggested a big, thick nylon rope for tug-o-war.

I brought up the sibling issue again. Molly is Shea's prime role model on everything and I know that how they play together is effecting how is playing with the other kids. I had suggested before that Molly could come to the class for a visit so that their interactions could be observed and maybe some gentle suggestions could be made. By someone other than me. I've tried, believe me. I am the broken record but if a counselor or Shea's teacher could talk with Molly and give her some advise I think it would go a long way.

That suggest sort of went flat last year and no one seemed to have the time. But, at this latest meeting, Shea's teacher suggested for Molly to come visit during recess and that she would talk to her. I think we will try that.

The potty training came up again, of course. Apparently they are having no success at school and not really even trying. In P-4, they don't really encourage kids to go potty together so he is getting no role model action there. Last year in P-3 they did but now they are big kids and it is a privacy issue. They also don't want to stigmatize him or make it obvious to the other kids which could be bad or embarrassing down the road. I guess they are right.

So, we are in the same place we have always been but a meeting like this seems to suck the optimism right out of the room. There is something about having all these challenges painted out one by one before your eyes that is very disconcerting.

I know they are doing their best and they like Shea and want to see him succeed. I do value their input and appreciate the time they spend. But, it does point out how rigid this system is, how the bell curve rules and being inside or outside the standard deviation is the prime discussion point.

I like the suggestions of different kinds of play or something new to try. You know, real life stuff. But, when someone shoves a sheet of paper with numbers all over it, I tend to go blank and get irritated. This is my son! Not a data group!

"You know, this doesn't mean anything to me. Please don't waste your time going through all these numbers because it doesn't mean anything. Let's just talk about Shea." I suppose I was rude. I don't really blame them, this is the pool they swim in.

Alaska: dumping ground for pedophile priests?

Sorry folks, this ain't pretty. As a human being, this makes me sick. As a Seattle University Alum I am livid, nauseous and horrified.

From the Seattle Times:

"A lawsuit filed Tuesday accuses Seattle University President the Rev. Stephen Sundborg of knowing about an abusive Jesuit priest yet allowing that priest to remain in ministry when Sundborg served as provincial — or head — of the Jesuit order in the Northwest from about 1990 to 1996.

Sundborg is one of several defendants named in the lawsuit, filed by more than 40 men and women who say they were sexually abused as children or teens in Alaska years ago by Jesuits or those supervised by Jesuits.

The suit claims that as provincial, Sundborg had access to something called "hell files" — files containing information about Jesuit priests that was "not public," and "not good."

Tuesday's lawsuit says Native villages in Alaska were essentially a "dumping ground" for Jesuit priests unsuited to serve anywhere else. That characterization has repeatedly been denied by the Jesuits. However they also have paid out millions of dollars in recent years to settle sexual-abuse claims in Alaska."

Let's not read that one again!

The best neighbors in the world

I haven't waxed nostalgic about our terrific neighbors much. But, I should. I am reminded often at how fortunate we are to have good friends just next door.

Let me explain.

I met Kathleen and her daughter Mary when the girls were just babies, about 1 year old. I had joined Co-op preschool at South Seattle Community College and we hit it off. I didn't last with Co-op for very long, something about me just isn't really very cooperative, I guess. But, Kathleen would come over to my house in W. Seattle every week and we would have a big long play date with the kids. Soon she was pregnant with #2.

I remember the first time I met her husband Casey. He was almost as ornery as my husband Jake and got along famously with very little preliminaries. He left that night with, "I showed up thinking I wouldn't like you people but I was wrong. I do." Now that is honesty.

Time goes on. #2 kid was another girl, Clare. We moved to Vashon and even though it is only a 10 minute ferry ride from W. Seattle, not many friends made the trek. But, they did. They would come out with the kids for a weekend night and hang out. We would have BBQs and laugh and drink a bit too much and talk about them selling their house and moving to Vashon.

Well, they weren't blowing smoke, they did just that. But, wait it gets weirder. At the time, real estate was HOT and they sold their house in 3 days for full price. They frantically looked at everything available on Vashon in their price range, something like 5 houses. I listened to the horror stories of the sliding hillside above the house or the sheer cliff at the edge of the lawn and I opened my mouth with those fateful words.

"You know, our neighbor is selling her house FSBO (for sale by owner). I think she is asking $240K" Well, of course, they checked it out and it was "just right".

It has been interesting. The kids have easy access pals. Which at times can create some little kid drama but most of the times it is just wonderful. I take all the kids to movies and Casey just dropped Molly off from taking them all swimming tonight. Shea is the lone boy of the batch and has a special place in Casey's heart. Summer days are filled with kids running back and forth between the yards and scamming Popsicles off each household. As it should be.

There have been times when I have taken it for granted and have not appreciated it as I should. But, this is a rare and special thing; friends and neighbors. We love you L family and we always will.

Dr. Tweedy, work your magic

Tomorrow I take Shea for his first dentist appointment ever. And, none of us are looking forward to it.

Nothing against Dr. Tweedy who is, in my honest opinion, the most wonderful Pediatric Dentist in the Seattle area...hands down. In fact, a visit to her office is more a kin to a visit to Chuck E Cheese than any memories that I have of dental visits when I was a kid. This gal and all her wonderful staff have got it down to a fine art.

But, this is Shea we are talking about. He is extremely reluctant and protective of his mouth. After all, this is the kid with low tone in his lower face. This is the kid who can't quite make his tongue and mouth work. Needless to say, teeth brushing is tough. Jake has established the routine and Shea will actually brush with him successfully, but not with me. He farts around, he tastes the toothpaste, he brushes his tongue, etc. But, Jakes manages with a mix of strong direction and praise and gets him to actually do it. Then, afterward, Shea scuttles to me and proudly shows off his clean teeth. Amazing.

"Shea, we get to go on the ferry boat tomorrow and see Dr. Tweedy, the really, really, really fun lady tooth doctor!" I enthuse with all my might.

"No. No. No." Pleadingly without missing a beat.

"But, she has fun toys and she is really nice and funny and we then can go to Petco and look at the fishies and the kitty cats afterward." I say, hoping it will blunt the reality.

"No, no, no..."

Getting a good look at his teeth has always been challenging and will test Tweedy's staff tomorrow. I remember at Children's Hospital at the Cranial Facial Clinic they couldn't even get a good look at his pallet when we visited. He has always been very protective of his mouth.

When he was a little, little baby, he did one of his stupendous falls down the stairs and bonked his front teeth. I remember seeing blood seeping around the tooth and it still hurts to think about it. A while after that we noticed the tooth becoming discolored. I thought it was damaged and becoming a "dead" tooth but since then the tooth seems normal and white near the gum although still discolored. My hope is that Dr. Tweedy can give us an opinion on that.

Vashon, who's water supply comes from an aquifer, has no fluoride added to the the water. It is normal practice for the children on the island to take fluoride drops during the early years through 12. Maybe the discoloration has something to do with that? Maybe I didn't give him enough? Or gave him too much?

Hopefully, Dr. Tweedy will be able to give us some information with the brief glimps that Shea will allow her. Wish us luck. We will need it.

UPDATE:

It went as well as could be expected. The hygienist was very understanding and pretty informed real about Shea's issues and worked hard to get him to warm up but he wasn't going for it. He got to see the tools, ride the chair, get bribed with various tooth related tid-bits but he wouldn't show his teeth.

They asked if I would like to have a private exam room where I could hold him down so the doctor could look at his teeth. Yes, I would, thank you very much. So, that is exactly what we did. Dr. Tweedy is a very mild, gentle person, she visited with him for a while but then he climbed on my lap and I just held his arms down and tried to keep his head still. He was annoyed then pissed off and then screamed his head off. But, that is one way to get him to show his teeth. The Dr. was able to examine the discolored tooth and said that it was just fine, not a dead tooth and the gums looked healthy. She counted his teeth and even managed to floss them all in a very short time.

Whew. Shea recovered well, in fact went right back to his normal chirpy as soon as he got his bright blue balloon. They assured me that he handled it very well and that I should be very proud of him. And, he even gave the hygenist a hug good-bye!

Would I do it again? Yes, absolutely. I already arranged the next appointment in July. But, it was pretty stressful. Something about hearing your kids scream his head off maybe. My hope is that it will go a little better next time. But, all in all it sure could've been worse. The wonderful folks at Dr. Tweedy's came through again.

Power to the bystanders

I just got back from another one of those "Conversations on Bullying" that was sponsored by the local Unitarian Church. It was really interesting. Sad and scary but very interesting.

I learned something I did not know today; maybe it is intuitive or maybe not. Apparently, the most profound effect on changing the bullying dynamic is for the bystanders to stand up and say something against it at the time.

Silence is acquiescence. Ignoring is reinforcing.

"That is not ok!" said at the right time can change everything. It has more power than parents and teachers getting involved. More powerful than treating the individual bully and victim.

The speaker today is a clinical psychologist who specializes on children's socialization. She was instrumental in developing the Second Step bullying education program for schools. Come to find out the Second Step is the program that is used in our local school and many school district in the US and the UK.

Although evidence of the program was everywhere in the early grades, I am not seeing it being used in the 4th & 5th grades.

I have a real problem with this. The younger kids definitely need this but the older kids do too. I think that with younger children, the teachers see the bullying more and they can address it. But, with the older kids, they are more secretive and sophisticated. They are smart enough to know not to do it in front of a teacher or any adult.

Most schools don't even think they have a problem because it flys under the radar.

I am going to try and push for the "Conversation on Bullying" to be brought to our elementary school specifically because we are seeing more and more of it this year in the older grades. Now, would be an excellent time to refresh or remind parents, teachers and kids alike just how damaging bullying can be and it is NOT ok.

Reunion jitters

I have been getting those "Someone is looking for you!" spams from Reunion sights in my in box lately. I barely noticed them and just promptly delete as I am always afraid that some scary virus will ride in on one of those. I didn't think anything about it.

Well, sure enough, I guess the powers that be (the Bellevue High School 1983 class president and friends) have decided to have a mini reunion at 26 years. Something about, the 20th was SOOOO much fun and we couldn't wait until the 30th. So, voila! Come to an east side bar on Jan. 17th and reunite with all the high school pals.

For some reason, I was considered "lost" and a couple of old pals contacted me and asked if I was interested in going. My first instinct is, "Hell No!" I did not have a particularly wonderful time in high school. I remember it being particularly snobby and mean spirited. I had a few good, solid friends but pretty much kept to my own little world. I remember some of the kids being amazingly cruel and predatory. Hell no, I don't want to see them.

But, upon rethinking, it was fun to see the people that I did like at the 20th. I reconnected with some people I had lost touch with. I also found the people I had liked back then, I still really liked. There were some very nice folks, like me stuck in a school where many of the kids where filthy rich and spoiled. It was fun to reconnect and I was definately planning on going to the 30th. Why not this one?

Ok, I am game. One of my dear old friends lives in W. Seattle and she said that she would pick me up from the ferry and we can go together. I suggested we could go to dinner before to catch up and then head on over to the shin-dig.

I am nervous and excited. I feel like having a complete overhaul but have settled for a snazzy new blouse and perhaps a quick haircut on Saturday. My first anxious thought was, "I am such a matron." but then again, we are all the same age. Time is kinder to some but who cares.

So, I have a week to twit about it and I expect I will have a good time. It will be good to see Lynn and Marybeth. And, I am hoping that Mitchell (the high school boyfriend) will show up; haven't talked to him since I was pregnant with Molly.

I will faithfully report back.

Warrior Cats and the joy of voracious reading

The Warrior Cats series by Erin Hunter is not for the faint of heart. This is an exquisitely detailed, daily account of the life of feral cat "clans". The stories are quite raw with drama, intrigue and some violence; loyalty and hard work is rewarded while there are those who "choose" to live from the dark side.

When we first found these books, I started reading it to Molly before bed and I was honestly pretty shocked at the graphic depictions of the scuffles between the clans. Mostly about territory disputes and loss of resources, these story are a little microcosm of the human condition in tribal form. Rich with tradition, myth and ritual, these cats live their lives with dignity and purpose, with focus on love and friendship and making good choices. There is liberal dosed of forbidden love as cats are not allowed to mate outside of their clan. Yet, females are respected and honored and have important work to do. This is not a chauvinistic cat society. Motherhood is honored and the children "kits" are treasured as the bright hope for the future that they are.

Although, our pre-bedtime reading has moved on to other "lighter" reading, Molly has dived into this cat world with what I can only call voraciousness that does not surprise me as I recognize it in myself.

Erin Hunter, actually four writers, crank these books out pretty darn fast and have found a winning formula with these series. There are 17 total books from the main series, 2 field guides, 5 Manga (graphic novels) and one special addition. Molly has one by one devoured them all in just mere days. Now, as she waits impatiently for the next book, she has turned to the beginning and is starting it all over again.

I remember my mom saying that being able to give the joy of reading to your children is one of the best gifts a parent can do. I so agree.

Smart bomb

Gluten-Free Product Review: Nana's Cookie Bars

I want to thank Dave G. for submitting this excellent Gluten-Free Product Review! Sounds good! How did I miss these? Thanks, Dave XOX

Nana’s Cookie Bars

A gluten free snack

This is a preliminary assessment of the snack product, Nana’s Cookie Bars, which this author has studied extensively in a laboratory that also doubles as a kitchen. The reason for this research it that Nana’s Cookie Bars would seem to be as nearly addictive as a non-addictive snack product could possibly be. What follows is an in-depth analysis of the precise nature of this addictive quality. Why exactly are Nana’s Cookie Bars so good?

Preliminary conclusions: beats me.

As of this writing, Nana’s Cookie Bars have become something far more than a mere staple of my gluten-free diet. They are a food group unto themselves. They are as essential to my continued happiness as loud music and women with tattoos in the smalls of their backs. They are as indispensable to my existence as the air I breathe and the water I occasionally bathe in, and I anticipate that soon they may have their own place in the periodic table of elements.

The technicians behind Nana’s Cookie Bars have created three flavors, Berry Vanilla, Chocolate Munch, and the irresistible Nana Banana--the specific item this author is sadly dependent upon. Nana’s Cookie Bars are soft and crumbly, and may end up on the floor if placed in small hands. This author would recommend unwrapping the bars and rolling bite-sized balls to be stored in sandwich bags for toddler consumption.

Negative remarks, addendums, and caveats:

To date, Nana’s Cookie Bars have advertised no merchandise or special offers that might allow the buyer to achieve some small savings by including with a purchase a sufficient number of box tops or “proof of purchase seals.” Nevertheless, in anticipation of such an offer I am currently bagging, boxing, and storing all Nana’s Cookie Bar boxes I acquire as a result of my addiction.

Who teaches empathy?

That article really got me thinking. Who is responsible to teach children empathy, compassion and respect for others?

I would immediately say; of course, it is the parent's responsibility. And, in a perfect world each and every parent would take this responsibility very seriously indeed. But how do we as a society make sure it is being done? Who enforces it? The victims? The bystanders? The penal system? There in lies the tricky situation for the public schools.

If the lessons aren't being taught at home then it ends up being the "village's" responsibility. Ignoring it just has too much cost for our society.

I am sure every teacher out there would much rather focus all their time on curriculum and teaching. Time is short and they are already forced to spend way too much time on prepping for standardized tests. And, yes, unfortunately they are also expected to teach children empathy and mutual respect as well.

In a nut shell, I think that is where the bullying issue comes in. As they say, "Hurt people hurt people".

I do think that if a child comes into the school setting and is bullying other kids, the school needs to nip it in the bud. The victims need help obviously but the bully does too. And, no, "stickup for yourself" is not help.There needs to be strong, appropriate, very serious consequences presented, promoted and understood. The parents need to be brought into the discussion. Little kids need to learn from day one appropriate ways of treating others. Set the rules early and enforce them. In extreme cases, the child should be expelled. I guarantee those parents will sit up and take notice if their kid doesn't have a place to go each day. The bully needs to be taken out of the mix and given help before it is too late. If we don't do this we are condoning it, we are reinforcing it, we are enabling it.

I feel for public school administrators. They are in a tight spot on this one. But, by not being clear and consistent about a bullying policy it will end up biting them, one way or the other. And, for the Tukwila School District we can see just how hard they are being bitten.

Tukwila School District sued; did not protect autistic boy from bullies

My god.

I guess a few school districts will need to be sued for administrators to take protecting kids from bullies seriously.

From the Seattle Times,

"A discrimination suit has been filed on behalf of an autistic former student in the Tukwila School District, alleging district officials failed to protect him from bullying and tried to declare him a truant when his parents pulled him from classes.

The suit, filed Monday in King County Superior Court, contends the man was the victim of almost daily harassment when he was in the sixth and seventh grades by several boys at Showalter Middle School and now suffers from Anxiety Disorder and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

The boys beat up J.B.M., shoved and pushed him, stole his books, slapped, punched and kicked him, hit him on the head with books, called him disparaging names, spit on him and poured liquids on him, the 17-page complaint alleges.

School officials told J.B.M. to stick up for himself and no action was taken against "the bullies," according to the suit.

Officials then took a recess away from J.B.M. when he yelled at other students and used "inappropriate language," the suit alleges.

They also ignored warnings from an education specialist and district psychologist that J.B.M. was the victim of bullying and that the problem needed to be addressed, the suit says.

At one point, the suit alleges, J.B.M. was told not to contact his mother at school."

Potty training update: "I'm pooping."

Well, the update is that there is no update. We have sort of regressed a bit on this front and I am trying to remain calm and low key.

I felt that Shea was getting stressed out by all the focus before the winter break and we decided to just let him be. I think it was a good decision because he has started to be quite forthcoming with potty details.

"Shea, honey, what are you doing?" I holler.

"I'm pooping." He responds.

Gotcha.

This is new. He used to hunker down out of the way, contemplatively do his bizness and then needed to be chased down for a change. Now, he not only tells me what is going on, with words even, but he will tell me when he wants a change.

He will say "wet" and head over to the diaper zone in the morning when he gets up. And, will ask me to change his pants after he poops. He still is very reluctant to sit on the potty chair and will only try it right before bath despite a chocolate bribe. He doesn't have the patience to just sit and wait and will say he is done, step into the bath and then will go. I wonder if that means he just doesn't have the muscle control yet?

Shea will be 5 in April. When am I allowed to official panic? When should I seek "professional help"? Whatever that is. If we back off will he regress further or just figure it out in his own way? Are we enabling him and we should just buckle down?

Withdrawl

Old man winter strikes again with his pals; Sunday night snow storm, power outage and Cable TV/ Internet down.

When the power goes out around here, which it does quite often, Jake swings into action. He prides himself on his preparedness. So, when the power went out at about 9:30 Sunday night, he had a deep cycle battery set up with a reading light for me and the ubiquitous bedroom fan (for white noise) within 10 minutes flat. The power was on by the time we woke up, so he didn't have to do the whole generator thing but he was poised. And, maybe a little disappointed?

I feel very well taken care of.

Now, the cable TV, I didn't miss. Oh sure, the kids really like their two PBS stations. Molly is buried in a book almost non-stop these days and, if Shea has some cars, he is happy man. I did sort of miss my favorite news shows: Countdown with Keith Olbermann and The Rachal Maddow Show on MSNBC but we can certainly live without that for a day or two.

But, the internet hook up...we were down for almost 2 whole days! That was missed. I admit it, I am addicted. I communicate almost completely with my clients via e-mail. I love the automatic paper trail. I felt nervous and stressed, like I was missing something important. What if a client had a question and I didn't respond in good time? See what I mean? But, I also missed my news surfing and info gathering. And, I missed my blog. I felt quite literally un-plugged. Not in a good way.

Jake, who maybe a year ago couldn't even turn on a computer, has discovered Craigslist. So, even he missed the hook up. The kids missed PBSkids.org and a variety of kid friendly websites.

I guess I was the worst hit but I realize that our whole family is firmly part of cyber world and there is no going back.

Not again!!!!!???????

Our tax dollars at work?

Movie review: The Tale of Despereaux

I took the kids to see Despereaux last night and we all really, really liked it. First, the animation was just beautiful, incredible. The movie strayed pretty liberally from the book but we weren't too upset by it. The book had a simplicity and was so enchantingly written that it would have been very hard follow it closely for the movie.

I would highly recommend this movie for old and young alike. The discrimination that Despereaux suffered because he was different from all the others really hit home for me. But, it gets resolved successfully and creates a very good, positive message.

Yes, I would buy this movie and watch it several hundred times with the kids. It also made me want to read the book again, just to see how far they strayed.

Good flick!

Buffalo Chili for dinner

One of my friends called to ask if I would be interested in some buffalo meat. I know, what a weird question to come out of the blue.

But, apparently, the Sacred Earth Foundation (the nonprofit running Ekone ranch) was culling 2 buffalo from their herd as a fundraiser. Both had been raised on organic, sustainable grasslands in Goldendale, Washington. The meat was being butchered and sold through friends by word of mouth only. I was not sure how much meat 2 buffalo gives forth but my friend was getting 450 lbs. to distribute to her friends. And, that was only 1/4 of the beast.

"Ok, sure. Why not?" It sounded like a good cause and I am always up for buying clean, not industrially produced meat. I threw in for 25 lbs. of various cuts; a couple of roasts, some T-bones that are literally 3 inches thick and a whole bunch of ground. In fact, my freezer is packed but I am not complaining.

Tonight is our first night trying it out. The ground is perfect for chili and it cooked up just like beef. It was a brighter, redder color than ground beef and has less fat. So I was careful to use a good splash a olive oil to brown.

Shelley's Buffalo Chili

Olive oil
Yellow onion
Celery
Variety of canned beans of your choosing: kidney, black, small red, great northern white, etc. I like mixing several kinds of beans
2 cans chopped tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
I packet Simply Organic Chili seasoning packet

Saute onion and celery till limp-ish then add ground beef/buffalo and brown. Add chopped tomatoes and beans then bring to simmer. Add tomato sauce. Add more sauce, water or beer if you like thin chili. Cook for 45 minutes or so.

Serve with grated cheddar cheese sprinkled on top.

2009?

Happy New Year! 2009? Really? It's hard to believe. It sounds like science fiction to me yet here we are.

Thanks and accolades go to David & Sally and their spontaneous New Year's Eve party. Desert pot-luck with Champagne; what a brilliant idea. Jake stayed home with Shea and had an early night. Molly and I went to the shin-dig. Blurry eyed, after the fireworks, we headed home in the freezing rain well after mid-night.

New Year's Day was spent with family at my mom's house. We were all snowed in during our usual meeting day, Christmas eve, so we made up for it in style. The food was fabulous, the gathering was festive and once again I am reminded how much I love my family.

My best memory of the day has to be the serious bonding that is naturally occurring between Shea and his three year old cousin Travis. He talks laps around Shea and has the high energy precociousness that is hard to ignore. A real friendship is emerging. Shea showed Travis the fine art of car racing and Travis shared his Batman obsession. Watching it all, I got misty about those two boys growing up in proximity. They will know each other their whole lives.