This!

30 Years Gone

30 years ago,on the night of 9/2/83, I crawled into bed beside my Grandpa. I woke up the next morning and discovered that he'd died next to me in the middle of the night. 

Without question, it was one of the most awful - and pivotal - days of my young life. It was never about the manner of his death, but about losing HIM. In many ways his loss shaped who I was to become.

It's hard to believe that today marks THREE decades since that morning, but time has a habit of marching on and leaving both the good and the bad in the distance.

 RIP Little Grandpa, and thanks for the time we did have together!

Junie = Tough

Junie just came down the stairs. "Guess wat? I stepped on a piece o' glass, and it got stuck in my foot but it's ok cuz I got it out myself." We were about to rattle off a standard "That's nice honey," when she brought out the paper towel she'd used to wipe off her foot. It had a fair amount of blood on it, like that of a minor nose bleed. She dug out a chunk of glass and cleaned it up herself without so much as asking for help, much less crying. For a six year old, that kid is one bad a*s b**ch. :)

Sad but True

Sad but LOL (and true): We went looking (just looking) at new washers today, and time after time Lisa walked away from a model in disgust. "What's this 'made in America' crap? We don't know how to build things anymore. Where's all the good Chinese stuff?" she said.

Tommy Morrison

RIP Tommy Morrison, age 44, a former Heavyweight champion and star of "Rocky 5". He's had HIV for years, but the cause of death was not yet announced.

Rabbit Food

We just finished a dinner of fresh vegetables and salad . . I don't know what to say. It was lettuce and green things for dinner. For DINNER people. WTH???

What's this "we" crapola?! You refused to eat...it was me and the kids that sat down to veggies and salad for dinner, and it was delish! - Lisa

I had two bowls! - Me

Neighbor Drama

The neighbor's teenage son went a little haywire and started smashing the ceramic pots on his Mom's porch. Lisa told him to knock it off, he mouthed off to Lisa and walked towards her,  I got  in his face and said some things, etc Turns out he's angry because he knocked up his girlfriend. Boo-hoo. Now you wrecked your Mom's porch, pissed off your neighbor, got your neighbor's 300 pound husband in your grill, and, oh yeah - your girlfriend's still pregnant. Well played kid.

Lemonade!

My kids have a lemonade stand in front of our house. If you are living in or visiting our area, and are unwilling to see the dreams of a six year old girl ground into the mud, then please - STOP BY.

Update: They scored about $10 bucks, divided 4 each to the Bookends, 2 bucks to Smiley.

KAL Flight 007

30 years ago this weekend the Soviet Union shot down KAL Flight 007, an unarmed 747 passenger flight that had wandered into their airspace. All 269 people aboard were killed, and their bodies never returned to their loved ones. I remember this happening, and I remember asking my Mom permission to stay up and watch Nightline because I thought there was a good possibility we'd be going to war. To the passengers and crew murdered by what truly was an Evil Empire, RIP.

The First EVER day of Public School for the whole of Team Slap!!!

Ok, I posted it way late. But better late than never!

Caveat: Junie attended a public montessori school in K3, and Smiley was in a speech program at a public school for k3 as well.  But *as a family* this is an inaugural day!!