(loud sigh). I'm leaving to go on the road again. Here I come, Cleveland. Then here I come Pittsburgh. The farm will be happy to see me when I get back.

Dear Mom...

Dearest old (and I use that word STRICTLY in the endearing sense...you are not actually old) Mom,

I had a realization today...a revelation of sorts. I realized that I have been modeled and molded directly by you. Yeah, yeah, people are a product of their total environments, and the influences that shape a person are a collective effort of many sources. This is true to some extent, but for me, I see you when I look in the mirror. I kind of see Dad, like my ears and my tallness, and my eyes I think, but the total package...mostly you. I do these funny things that you would do, such as separate all the trash and recycle and get excited about composting. I make my bed most of the time, and about once a month or so I make a "mini resolution" to make my bed all of the time, which lasts about a week, then I don't make it and the train derails. I'm not a parent, but I imagine that if I was, I would do things like make chore lists for them, make them wear hand-me-downs, tell them fantastic bedtime stories, read to them incessantly, and brow-beat them into learning the piano, for which they would thank me profusely later in life. By the way, profuse thanks for your outrageous amount of stubbornness and dedication to ensuring that I learned how to play the piano, whether I liked it or not. Most of all Mom, thanks for teaching me how to be a good person. Thanks for teaching me that it's ok to get mad, say some stuff, then cry and apologize. Thanks for teaching me that womanly strength goes beyond being handy in the kitchen and knowing how to handle a vacuum cleaner...it is bearing, loving, raising, and being a true friend to nine kids, giving up so much of your own early adulthood to bring us into the world. Thanks for teaching me how to wash dishes by hand (I never use the dishwasher), how to make jam and can stuff, how to make lists, how to eat for really cheap. Thanks for loving me in spite of my teenage antics, and being willing to laugh about them later.

I'm lucky to have a Mom like you.

Love, Rach

I'm a Grown Up Now!!! I Have a Mortgage!!

I own a house! Well, actually the bank owns it, they're just letting me live there and pay utilities.

Spring is here! Stuff is growing!!!

Spring is in full swing. And it happened overnight...we went to Montgomery, AL for a weekend and came back and Winter had flown the coop. We had 8 days straight of high 70s to mid 80s, even spiking up to the 90s Sunday and Monday. Baby green leaves are pushing themselves out of branches everywhere, and the air is thick with pollen (thanks mom and dad for good genes and no allergies). The best part...the dogwoods and the sycamore in the backyard. I cannot look at a sycamore tree without thinking of my dear old dad and the dead stick that almost met its untimely demise, only to be planted in a corner in the backyard in blind faith! The huge sycamore right outside my back deck is now a green mist of tiny velvety green leaves. The dogwoods of course remind me of the undergrowth in the redwoods, with their delicate pink and white flowers. Too bad the flowers don't last a little longer. Well, out with me to the backyard where Brandie and I are slaving away building a stone patio.

Funny conversation I heard this past weekend while waiting in line to see Avatar:

Little girl about 6 years old: "Daddy, you have TWO chins! Are you gonna stay like that forever?"

Daddy: (says nothing and looks at mom, mom rolls eyes)

Little girl: "Daddy?"

So I had to take a motorcycle safety class this week to get a special sticker for my bike that says I am legal to drive my motorcycle on the Army Post. It actually turned out to be a lot of fun and I learned a lot. We did look like a bunch of dorks though...driving around tiny cones in an empty parking lot in circles for hours. I learned a lot about proper technique for riding in corners, and slow-speed maneuvers for parking lots and tight spaces. The worst part was that it was so cold riding in to class in the morning. Monday wasn't so bad...about 40 or so. But Tuesday. Oh geez. It was about 35. Plus the wind chill. And windshields look really dorky on a Harley so guess what I DON'T have. Yeah, a windshield. The last time I remember being that cold was when I worked at Brighton. It was so funny though because the other people on the road would look at me like what the HECK is wrong with that chick she's straight up CRAZY.