Also exciting

that i got to see the whole DB fam yesterday for a little bit as they made their way in from the japan! babies = ADORABLE. Grandparents also pretty cute. Sorry about the issues with everything, again anything i can do to assist, just let me know. :-)

It's just a collection of metal parts, right??

Seriously. Who mourns a truck's death? i do.

The truck has officially moved on. yes, technically it "moved on" well over a year ago but because i am proving to be frighteningly true to my New Mexico upbringing, i am all about leaving ones broke-down truck "up on blocks in the front yard" until such a time as I "get around to fixing it!"

Well, another truck came. Old truck never actually got fixed. Sort of became storage moving toward liability then thinking about high school for the big girl and massive house cleaning/re-arranging and "bulky stuff" set out on the curb for pick up and me thinking "it's time!" Time to donate the old truck. time to move on. time to embrace the extra space and let our two car driveway actually accommodate our two (working) cars for once. Very nice man came right on time. Sign here and here and here. I'll just attach these pully things here and here and viola! You're done. Thank you for your time/donation. Have a nice day. It looked sad. I'm sad too. Couple of things occurred to me in that moment, looking at the truck all propped up and about to be towed for the last time:

1) I love/d that truck
2) I had that truck longer than I've had almost anything else (kids, relationships, various homes, friendships -- the one caveat here being the Big Girl who beat the truck by just a few months)
3) Symbolically, that truck did a whole hell of a lot of heavy lifting (first major purchase after supposed partner for life broke up with me, nice/obvious indicator of Alt Girl identity, big and powerful and able to be lived in if necessary making actual allegiance to any one home pretty much unnecessary, cool reference item at parties, RED with a padded plush bed -- nuff said)
4) Almost all my really great pictures/memories involve the truck (even if they're defined by the lack of it for some reason.)
5) More than anyplace i've lived (remember we moved ALOT when i was a kid) the truck defined my (MY) space. Like a turtle. No matter where we were if we were in the truck we were home.

{blah} k. so.... now i feel like i'm getting (getting??!) maudlin. It's just a piece of machinery right?

I'll stop. Entered into the record though, the bumper stickers:

"We have enough youth -- How about looking for a fountain of smart?"
"I'm more invested in the fate of communities than I am in the catharsis of individuals"

YAY!

We just heard yesterday that the Boo is going to the High school she/we wanted (her) to go to! Whoo Hoo! Such a relief to have that sorted out. Also sort of pleasing/gratifying to find that she was accepted to some of her "Plan B" schools as well (Which given that these school were by and large other people's "Plan A" makes for a significant statement vis a vis her hard work applying/shadowing/interviewing/testing lo these last several months!)

yay again. so happy. so relived.

In other news, it would appear that the DB Fam is coming back to the States. Very lucky/fortunate for them/lovely for me that they were only minimally affected by the disaster/have the visa's citizenship/wherewithall to be able to decamp ahead of what is sure to be even harder times in that afflicted country but sad (super sad) that Mrs. K will be separated from her peeps (even if it's not for long.) Glad to have you all back, sorry for the circumstances. Let me know if i can do anything to make the US stay better/more fun!