Good morning!

Happy thought for today -- this weather is perfect! It's sunny but cool, warm enough inside for me to keep the heat off (thank heavens!), but cool enough outside that I need a wrap when I go out. Really my favorite time of year.

The cats are quiet this morning, but they had a big spat last night. Moose was feeling feisty -- perhaps he likes the weather, too? Anyway, he kept jumping on Miss Kitty, who loudly told Moose that his behavior was unacceptable in polite company. She ran away, he chased her and did it all over again. This went on a few times until I threatened to lock both of them in the family room. I never do it, but they don't know that. They did settle down eventually, but it was a very loud few minutes!  Kind of a buzz-kill, after a very nice dinner with my aunt and uncle from Manhattan. I love getting together with them. They come up every few months -- they really love the Cape -- and we always meet for dinner. They are so sweet, and so interesting to talk with. Just this trip, they started entertaining the idea of possibly moving up here. Maybe. Possibly. I hope they do. It would be great to have more family around. I miss the days when we were all only 2 hours away from each other. Facebook connections are great and all, but it's really not the same as connecting in person on a regular basis.

Ok, off to have coffee, get ready for church, then spend the day watching football and outlining Administrative Law! I know, how can I stand the excitement. It's tough, I tell you. I try not to get overwhelmed by all the rowdy fun. Heh.

September 11

This is always a hard day for me. On the one hand, I hate that so many people make it into a glurge-y kind of thing, complete with saccarine-filled schmaltz. On the other hand, it's hard not to. There is so much sadness surrounding the events of this day. I lost 3 high school friends when the towers went down. I was lucky enough to have all my family and friends stay safe. Some of them live in Manhattan, and my step-daughter was stationed at Fort Belvoir, VA and frequently attended meetings at the Pentagon. I remember being terrified all day, until I heard that my family were ok. Then I felt guilty because I was so grateful, when so many people lost so many of their loved ones.

Everything changed for me that day. I appreciate my family more, or at least I try to. After that day, I started to examine my life, and to ask myself if I was where I wanted to be, and if not, what I had to do to get there.

I started to think about going to law school again.

Of course, 4 years later, my personal world stood on its head again, but I always think of 9/11 as starting the examination process.

2001 was a watershed year for me in other ways, too. My son graduated high school in the beginning of June. My step-son was incarcerated at the end of June. My grandmother died in July. While I was at her funeral, my old, beloved cat started sliding into her final illness. We put her down a week after I got home from Gram's funeral. I got another cat, Miss Kitty (aka Kit-Kat. Just can't bring myself to call her that). My husband and I started to go through a rough patch that year.

Watershed. Big-time.

Some things got better, some got worse. Steve and I got better, then he got sick. Miss Kitty is now my forever friend, although it was a tough adjustment for me -- she's not like Loco, my old cat, in any way. My step-son gets out sometime in the next few weeks, we hope. My son is all grown up, working at a very good job that he loves, and is getting married in about a month.

Life happens all the time, whether we're ready or not. And I just keep swimming.