Housekeeping; the Trilogy

Trish -- the guy singing "Rocky Road" is a musician named Jon Allmett You can find his music at this website and specifically, the "Some Trees Grow Bananas" CD is the one you’re looking for. We got his CD at Camp Sunshine and have enjoyed it immensely. Or at least we did, until in a pathetic attempt to make a measly five bucks I sold my boom box at a garage sale with the CD IN IT and have never forgiven myself. Nor have I ordered a replacement because yeah, I’m lazy and it’s less work to just complain about my own stupidity.

Amy in NJ -- Ha! About DZ! Although really, he’s laughing instead of me, because I bought his book and gave him a profit, didn’t I? You’d think the least that could happen is the book would magically suck away a few pounds of my abdominal fat, what with a title like that. I sort of thought that by merely reading the book, my abs would become flat. Like the rapid, rapid eye movement would burn off hundred of calories and be the equivalent of a million sit ups. Um, didn’t happen.

Kati in Atlanta -- I am beyond sad to hear the news. In a selfish way. For you, though, I am thrilled. I would love to hear more …. E-mail me, or something. Sadly, you’ll be gone from clinic by Kendrie’s next appointment. (sniff, sniff) Best of luck to you! Please keep in touch!

Anonymous -- (thank you, the vast majority of you, who leave your name and town or state …. "Anonymous" just feels so ….. well …. Anonymous.) You asked about the white sand on our vacation last week. We were in a resort community called Seaside, which is next to Watercolor, in the Grayton Beach area. About 60 miles west of Pensacola. (West? East? My gosh, I stink like rotted cheese at geography.) Those local communities (Gulf Trace, Rosemary Beach, etc) have all been fantastic at welcoming and supporting The Lighthouse Family Retreat and I can’t say enough great things about them and their hospitality, especially if you’re looking for a beach getaway. We’re hoping to go back this fall, just because we liked it so much. And I want another chance to ride around town on a rental bike with my leg-flab flapping about in the breeze.

Lisa -- you asked about the latest on Blaine. Currently, he’s doing prep-work for his next surgery, which we think will take place in mid-August. We’re trying to figure out if we can get my mom out here, or if he’ll go it alone again. A lot of that will probably depend on how my kids behave in Oklahoma later this month, and whether or not my mom is “suddenly unavailable”.

Amy from St. Pete -- I’m not sure if Blaine’s mom should get credit for training Blaine, or if he just popped out of the womb in OCD order. He said even growing up, he was one of those obnoxious kids who wanted the books on his shelf arranged alphabetically and his underwear folded in quarters in the drawer. But I think it’s fabulous you planned to do the 100 Things idea for Fathers Day and would love to hear how it turned out! Lisa C in CT … how did your slide show turn out, as well?

Leesa -- thank you clearing up the SAHM mystery with your comment “Nothing makes us happier than cleaning up after everyone else.” {re. end of school year parties} I’m beginning to realize that there are people, in addition to my immediate family members, who seem to operate under the delusional belief that this is true. And several of them have kids who go to school with my children.

Bethany -- thanks for saying thanks, though, on behalf of teachers everywhere.

LeeAnn -- our End-Of-The-School-Year-Interview is very scientific and precise, and involves technical, skilled, thought-provoking questions such as:

What was your favorite lunch item this year? “Nachos” (Kendrie)

Who were your best friends this year? “All the boys and not all of the girls” (Kellen)

What was your least-favorite subject this year? “Science. I don’t like it because it’s complicated.” (Brayden) (Don’t feel bad, Brayden, I agree, love, Mom)

What do you want to be when you grow up? “Someone who takes care of animals, but doesn’t have to hurt them” (Brayden)

Who were your best friends this year? “Nicholas, Jonelle, Miranda … and there was one more … who was it?? …. Oh, yeah, Kailyn” (Kendrie)

What did you think of your teacher this year? “She was nice and she loves Florida” (Kendrie)

The interview has about twenty questions like this on it, and we do it the first day and last day of school every year, then I put them in the kids’ scrapbooks. I have to admit, the answers were a lot funnier when they were younger, but I still enjoy doing it.

Haley -- don’t feel bad or apologize for being obsessed with grammar and spelling! I used to be, until so many people felt it was necessary to point out evry singl miztack I mad in mye jurnell entrees. Then, it wasn’t so fun to mention anymore. Butt I toatly stil am.

To those of you who have asked when I’m going to finish the “How our family became complete” story … well, I thought that I had. I got pregnant with Kendrie and nine months later, a doctor pulled her out of my bagina with salad tongs. The end. Not sure what else you want to know, although I’m certainly open to questions.

To those of you who have asked about the surrogacy story … well, I’m not sure. There are so many more people involved and I don’t want to break anyone’s confidence. Plus, to be honest, I’m not sure **what** you want to know. So post your questions in the comments and I’ll see if I can answer them without delving too deeply. It’s one thing to talk about my own cervical mucous on the internet; it’s quite another to discuss someone else’s.

And along *those* lines ….. D, how exciting! Keep me posted!

Allison -- I have to admit, most of the things we’ve done in Atlanta have been primarily kid-friendly, and I don’t know if that’s anything you are interested in. We’ve enjoyed the Atlanta Zoo, Jump Zone, Fernbank Museum, American Adventures, and Six Flags. We’ve attended a Thrashers game and a Braves game. We’ve spent an enjoyable afternoon or two at Briscoe Park in Snellville, gone several times to Stone Mountain, and have every inch of Children’s Hospital covered. If you’re looking for volunteer opportunities, you can always get involved with CURE and Camp Sunshine. But I have to admit, Blaine and I haven’t spent any time there as adults in many, many years. But Morgan was nice enough to say you could contact her …. Look under your original comment and e-mail her! Best of luck to you!

Carrie -- thank you for your encouraging comments about our upcoming Alaska vacation. I haven’t said a whole lot about it here because I don’t want to be too obnoxious, and once I get started, I AM SO FLIPPING EXCITED THAT IT’S PRETTY OBNOXIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!! We have had this trip in mind forever, and have been planning it for well over a year. You want to know where I’ll be in exactly fourteen days??? On a boat, with a guy named Captain Larry, whale-watching, in JUNEAU, ALASKA!!!! (See? Obnoxious.)

And finally, saving the very best for last, quite a few of you have inquired about Camp Jack since seeing his photo in my Lighthouse pictures. I am thrilled to say that Jack and his family are doing great. His mom Jen closed down his Caringbridge site not because anything was wrong, but because even the half hour, or hour (or more!) a day we spend updating those sites, and these sites here, are time spent away from our family. When a child has fought a battle as courageous as Jack’s, you certainly don’t want to fritter away a single minute doing anything that seems less important. So Jen closed the site …. but …. public demand for her beautiful writing and awesome updates prevailed, and she’s considering starting a blogger site like this one. In the meantime, she sends out occasional bulk e-mail updates on Jack and Kate and if you’d like to be included, e-mail me personally and I will send you (with her permission) her e-mail address here so you can contact her. Jack recently finished kindergarten, and just celebrated his 6th birthday, so if nothing else, you can use the e-mail address to send him big birthday wishes!

And I think, with that, I am finished. Caught up on these interactive comments that I have been meaning to answer for quite some time, and simply haven’t. Just haven't. Because I get distracted. Easily distracted. Doing important things, traveling import --- ooooh, look, something pretty!