I was going to write a post about the amazing week we have had and that post is coming.† But now I need to write about ëjunkí.

For as long as I can remember my Mother and Daddy collected junk.† I called it junk, my parents called it discovered treasures.† You name it, they collected it.† My Daddy collected old toys, lunchboxes, cookie jars, furniture, putters, marbles and on and on and on.† Mother loved jewelry, glassware, old linens and more.

You would think that if for no other reason besides osmosis, I would love old things.† But I totally went the other way.† I loved modern and stark whites and bold splashes of color.† Old things held no appeal for me.

My mother always smiled and said, ìOne day you will appreciate them moreî.† And as with most things, she was right. †While I donít collect things I do appreciate the beauty in something hand stitched 100 years ago or a beautiful piece of furniture.

For 40 years they collected.† They spent hours upon hours ëjunkingí as they called it.† They traveled across the country in search of their treasures.† Since my Mother died, Daddy hasnít ëjunkedí very much.† Now that he has remarried he is back doing it, but not with the excitement I used to see on his face.

He has 4 huge building filled with his ëjunkí.† Throughout the years he would show me various things and tell me what a great deal he got on something and how much it was ëreally worthí.† I would always say the same thing, ìIt isnít worth anything sitting in this building!î.† I just didnít understand it.

Daddy decided to have a huge yard sale this weekend.† The buildings filled with junk just happen to be in our backyard since we are living at my Motherís house since Daddy remarried.† I have watched them pull out boxes and boxes just shaking my head at the vast array of ëjunkí.

Yesterday afternoon I finally got it.† I watched Daddy walk around and gently touch a small figurine or pick up an old tablecloth.† A little smile would come over his face and I knew he was thinking about my Mother; where they were when they bought this, maybe a joke they shared, maybe a touch of a hand.† All of a sudden I understoodÖ.it wasnít so much about the ëjunkí, it never was. It was about the ‘journey’, the laughter, the love, the excitement.

It was about the memories createdÖ

I miss my Mother so much today…

Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose. ~From the television show The Wonder Years

Everyone has their own “where were you story”.† This is mine.

I lived in California at the time.† My phone rang and I was still asleep.† It was my Mother, from Alabama.† She said, “Turn the TV on”.† I grumbled and mumbled about her waking me up so early.

I stumbled into the den and turned on the TV.† I saw the North Tower on fire.† I asked my Mother, “what happened”.† She said a plane had flown into the tower.† As she and I were on the phone talking, we watched together, from opposite ends of the country, the 2nd plane crash.† I don’t really remember exactly what happened next.† I do remember calling a couple of people in Cali.† I knew most of them, like me, would be asleep.

Ever since Kei was old enough to understand we have talked about it.† I have shown her videos and songs and movies.† She told me today, “Mom I think I would have run away if I was a firefighter.† I don’t know if I could have gone into that building.”† I told her of course she would have.† We are strong when we have to be.† It is how most of of are made.

No matter what I show her,† there is no way to convey the ‘feeling’.† I felt like a zombie for several days, everyone did.† It shook us to our very core.† It changed us as a nation.

It was the main reason I moved back home.† I wanted to just be home.† I left California in October.† I remember how different the airports were.† How my best friend couldn’t walk me to the gate, how there were guards with guns everywhere.† I don’t remember being nervous about flying, even though flying isn’t my favorite thing.† I just wanted to be home.

Today as we sat and watched videos on YouTube it is still just as horrifying.† We still gasp as we watch the 2nd plane, as we see people jumping to their death, as we see firefighters covered in ash, I still cry.

So much has changed in my life since that September 11th day.† I am home, my sweet Mother is gone, I have the most wonderful child in the world.† But sometimes I wonder what I and everyone else lost that day….

God bless and be with everyone today who lost someone in 9/11, everyone who was affected by this tragedy, which is pretty much everyone in the world….

A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Something dreadful happened Saturday.† It was unthinkable!† I could not believe it.

Now, it wasn’t as horrible as the great football debacle of ’08 when Kei turned to me while watching Alabama football and said, “Did he just score a homerun?” but it was close.

I picked up a rubber band and sneakily fired it at her [taking great care NOT to aim at her face of course].† After it hit the mark perfectly she screamed and picked it up and fired it back.† It went 1″ and fell on the floor.† I laughed, thinking that she had just had a misplaced finger but NOOOOOoooooooooooooooooo.† My child, my beautiful child, did not know how to shoot a rubber band.† I immediately took her outside and taught her my secrets and tricks handed down through generations.

She caught on quickly and proceeded to beat me at the infamous, “Knock Down the Diet Dr. Pepper Bottle” game.† Alas, I taught her too well.

She then got several of my sheets and built a tent worthy of a Sultan. This was a mulit colored, tied to the trees and hammock, flappy flaps everywhere kinda tent.

She had to rest for awhile due to the high stress factor of the job.

Finally it was finished, complete with a sky light.

Kei found a caterpillar this weekend.† Look how beautiful it was.† It was so fat that we thought it was going to POP!

The next morning Kei yelled for me to come look at “Tinkerbell” [yes we name EVERYTHING around here!].† Can you see her?† Due to the fact that we did not ever look up to see if indeed caterpillars have gender, we call her “HER” ok?

We can’t wait to see what beautiful thing it will become.

We played a lot with Nomad.† Ah Nomad…what can I say?† He barks like crazy, he drives us nuts, he licks us all over, he almost pulls our arms out of the socket, he spills† his water on the floor, he chews everything in sight, he chases the wind, he jumps up on the counter,† he bites our toes and butts and fingers, he smells like..well like a DOG; but my girl loves him to pieces. [and so do I]

This was also a hot dog grilling, hamburger eating, laying in the hammock, reading out loud, watching TV, sleeping late, laughing until our sides hurt weekend.† It was perfect.

Be blessed,

We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today.† ~Stacia Tauscher

As we start our 4th year homeschooling I was thinking about friends.† Over the years I have had many friends.† High school friends, college friends, married friends, best friends, girlfriends, talk all night friends.† As a woman I feel very blessed to have great friends.† I honestly do not think men have the same kind of friendships and I feel sorry for their loss.

When we begin homeschooling I didn’t really worry about the whole ‘socialization’ thing.† Kei is hugely outgoing and makes friends wherever she goes. My best friend was in California but I knew we could still keep in touch.† I wasn’t concerned.

We joined our HSing group and I met some of the most amazing women in the world.† There is a group of 6 or 7 of us who get together usually at least once a week.† It is a group with common goals; they want the best for their children.† They have listened to me, cried with me when my Mom died, played Santa when I was laid off, brought us food, laughed and laughed, talked for hours, jumped for joy at my triumphs, lifted me up when I was way down, gone on some of the most amazing adventures, had spend the night parties with, shared ideas, recipes, advice from everything from kids to dogs, been the best friends ever!

What makes this so wonderful is that these same Moms are also my daughter’s best friends Moms.† When Kei was in PS, I was homeroom Mom.† I never got to know the Moms.† They would breeze in when we had a party to bring whatever I asked them to bring. <usually the same few moms> and breeze out.

My HS friends, hopefully, will be there until the end.† We will go through it all together.† I am so truly blessed to have these amazing women in my life.

If I had to offer advice for new HSers, it would be to find a group.† Our HS group has over 100 members.† No they aren’t all my best friends but I found the place where we belong.† You will too. Find your group, your place, your niche.† It will make this ride so much sweeter.

What a great few days!† Kei had a production of sorts on Saturday night.† Our children’s theatre group was doing a little show called “Front Porch”.† It was mostly teenagers and adults but 2 girls danced and Kei did a monologue.† She did an amazing job!† Here it is.† It is about 2 minutes long. 🙂

Kei Quilters AUDIO

She did it in a HUGELY Southern accent and it was so funny.

She has spent a lot of time this week working on her fairy houses.† She has made fairy houses since she was little.† Here is a picture of her at 6.† She still gets just as dirty!

She is building a entire city now.† Here is the hotel.

This is the restaurant complete with plates of food.

This is a delicious fairy treat she made with water and spearmint from our garden.

Liv spent the night and the girls had a blast as usual. There were plays to be put on, fairy houses to work on, knitting needle fights <fully supervised by me of course>, dress up and Liv went with us to Kei’s “Front Porch” and to church. Fun times.

ìThere is no difference between living and learning… it is impossible and misleading and harmful to think of them as being separate.î ~ John Holt