The twins next door

I was working out in the front yard today when the 5-year-old twins next door came over to investigate. We were chatting while I dug up weeds and Haley (the shy one) asked "What's your daddy doing?" I smiled at her and said, "Sweetie, he's my husband and I think he's paying bills."

Later I was watering the herb bed in front of my son's bedroom when I squirted him lightly through the screen and he squealed. The girls giggled like mad and Hannah (they daring one) said "Make your brother scream again!" I had to explain that he's my son and I'm his mom.

It's even funnier in hindsight - like they thought I was their age because I was having conversations with them like equals, not talking down to them like kids. They are very fun neighbors to have.

My little big man

Saturday night was prom night for my son. What a great experience for him to go to a small-town prom where the senior class is less than 20 people so that both the juniors and seniors go, it's held in the gymnasium and a committee of junior girls did all the decorating. They had an ocean cruise theme, a DJ, election of a prom king and queen, and were announced at the door upon arrival by a senior member of the faculty.

In comparison, proms in LA are held at hotels or other off-site venues and are decorated and catered by professionals. There are usually hundreds of people in attendance, the elegance is kind of cold and impersonal and I understand that they no longer elect kings/queens because it's considered a divisive popularity contest.

My son danced all night and even danced with his girlfriend's art teacher, who taught him the Texas Two-Step. Katie was so happy that he danced so much - apparently a lot of boys consider dancing a sissified activity.

Here is the lovely couple before the dance.

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Damn, it's been a long time since I've had my blog open for business. I was inspired by someone I don't know but have come to admire because I read her entire blog in the past two days and feel like she's a kindred spirit. Thank you, Hollywood Farm Girl, for reminding me of the freedom of writing for oneself.

I started this blog in 2001 because all the cool kids were doing it. I started it as part of a social circle of people that I'm mostly still in touch with online, but now we all meet at our posting board and have pretty much left off the blogging.

I stopped posting in 2006 when I was working for a really repressive, controlling company and feared I would lose my job if they found my blog. I left that job a couple of months later, but never started this up again. Of course I had surgery and spent a lot of last year recovering. I'm recovering in so many ways at this time in my life, maybe I can keep some of my thoughts better ordered here.

So I have returned. Triumphant? Maybe not exhuberantly so, but I have survived my life's changes over the past couple of years and that in itself is a triumph.