What I Know For Sure

Oprah writes and talks about "What I know for sure". She's covered all different subjects from her certainties about love to growing old. One thing I know for sure is the people in Texas are the nicest people! I know.....all the places I haven't been and all the people I haven't met... Okay, I guess it reads better if I say "In my life, so far, I know for sure that the people in Texas, that I've met, are the nicest people there are... in my experience." But seriously, I love the people here! Whether it's the corky "Keep Austin weird" people, the people you can tell were raised in the south because they're so polite, or all the people who have moved here from other states and countries and have brought part of those places with them. I love all the friends I've made here and am so grateful to have them in my life. We've had our trials here and my new friends have always been there for me and my family. The first friend I made here was Robin. She is a great representation of "Texas niceness". She and her daughter, Shelby, started a mother/daughter book club and invited Jacklyn and I to join. I've included a photo of all but one of the moms in the club. Jacklyn took the picture in "nightshot" so it looks like we have a spotlight on us. Anyway, I have other great new friends that aren't in this group that I don't have a photo of, but they are just as wonderful. And all my old friends, that are just as nice as people from Texas, are always in my heart. I just love the people here and had to share! I'm also thinking the title of this post will be a recurring one.....

Trina, Me, Kim, Ana and Robin

Tragedy Close To Home

Because this blog is now my journal, I feel like I have to post about the recent tragedy we're facing. I'm worried that I won't have the right words for Reily. I can see his confusion and sorrow and I want to not only help him through that, but help him to learn from all of it. He's growing up so fast and this whole thing has made it seem even faster...

This weekend there was a car accident here in our neighborhood. Four teenagers were in a speeding car that lost control and crashed into a rock wall. Two died instantly, one is in critical condition and the driver is okay. The driver is a boy Reily plays hockey with. He's only 15. After the accident, he ran away so he's been arrested on three counts of failure to stop and render aid. I'm sure more charges will come. There is so much talk and speculation of what happened even to the point of fighting. Why did this boy run away? Did he leave his friends to die? Was he just scared and didn't know what else to do? People want to place blame and can't agree where it should lie. The adults, kids or just the kid driving? It's gotten kind of ugly! (Our homeowners association is even arguing over how to fix the wall and how long mourners should be able to write on the part of the wall still standing!) Needless to say, Reily is pretty freaked out. He sees everything wrong that happened that night, but he isn't sure how he should feel or does feel. I've told Reily that all the boys made bad choices that night, parents made bad choices that night, and the neighbor who gave the boys his car keys made a bad choice that night. We've talked a lot about how dangerous driving is and that it needs to always be taken seriously. I've told him that if I don't let him do things with friends sometimes it's because of my fear that something like this could happen. I've explained to him that by the time your teenage years are over you've lived such a tiny portion of your life that it isn't worth ruining the rest of it for a bad choice. I've also told him that I hope Mikey's family and friends will love him and be there for him. He's going to live with this the rest of his life and I'm sure he will be haunted by it. Reily's home from school today with a hurt ankle and a cold. It's come at a good time. He's needing to talk about all of this and I'd rather it be here at home with me than at school. In less than six months, Reily gets his learner's permit and we'll start teaching him how to drive. I feel such a huge responsibility in teaching a child to drive! I think this horrible accident has already started to teach him. I hope he learns not only the laws of driving, but his responsibility being a driver and a passenger. The accident happened very close to our house so we drive by it at least four times a day. The news is there, police are there and people are there placing flowers, notes and religious items. It's hard to not think about it constantly. I hope I handle this with Reily the best way possible...wish me luck!

"Live Music Capital of the World"

Austin is called the "live music capital of the world" because there are more live music venues per capita than such music hotbeds as Nashville, Memphis, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and New York City. I've thought about this a lot lately. I was feeling a little sad that we hadn't ventured out more into this HUGE state we now call home. There's so much to see and do here in Texas and I feel like we've done very little of it. Then, as they started to release the lineup for this years Austin City Limits, it hit me that we've really done a lot in Texas, it's just been here in Austin. We have greatly taken advantage of living in the "live music capital of the world"! We've lived here almost two years, and in that time, we've seen Rob Thomas, Jewel, The Rippingtons, John Mayer, Los Lonely Boys, Van Morrison, Corinne Bailey Rae, Aerosmith, Damian Rice, Fiona Apple, Boney James, Norah Jones, Motley Crue, Eric Clapton, Acoustic Alchemy, and Tower of Power. Ron and Jacklyn saw Aly and AJ and Reily went to Projekt Revolution and saw Linkin Park and My Chemical Romance. Along with all of these concerts, we've seen Altar Boys, Philobolus, STOMP, Man of La Mancha, Pirates of Penzantz, Tuna Vegas, Mama Mia, The Lion King, and The Mikado. I do want to see the rest of Texas, but there's this big roadblock keeping me from doing it... Austin! The music and musicals keep coming and it's hard to not take advantage of it. We love living here in the "live music capital of the world" and hope to be here for many years to come.

Sweepstakes!

The Henry Middle School boys choir took sweepstakes at the UIL sight reading competition yesterday. They received perfect scores from all the judges. This is the first year the boys choir has done this, so as you can imagine, the choir director was really excited as were all the boys! Unfortunately, it isn't an event parents can attend, so I don't have any pictures. We will get a CD of their singing, which will be great. I'm proud of Reily and this group of boys. I've watched them work really hard this year and I feel they deserved this win. I'm sure they will all feel a sense of pride every time they see their trophy in the school's display case. I know I will. Way to go Hawks!

Jacklyn's New Smile

I'm writing this post to let everyone know that Jacklyn got her permanent crown put on this afternoon. We've waited months for this to happen and today was the day! We've had three other appointments to do this and each time we've had to wait for her gums to heal more. Jacklyn has written on the calendar "permanent crown" with a big smiley face on each appointment date only to come home and write "it didn't happen" with a sad face. Today the smiley face prevailed! With this victory comes a mouth guard that will allow her to participate in PE, recess, tennis and all the other physical activities of an eleven year old girl. She will continue to have cosmetic work done to get the teeth looking just right, but the hard part seems to be behind us. It's hard to believe that her accident was on December 1st...just over eighteen weeks ago. She has been so brave through all the procedures and exams and I will always admire her for it. The other person I will always admire because of this experience is Jacklyn's dentist, Dr. Lowery. She wasn't our regular dentist, she was our friend's dentist. She made room for Jacklyn during her busy day and won us over immediately. She's been so gentle and kind. Whenever I'd leave the room during a procedure I'd return to find her holding Jacklyn's hand in my absence. She's a mother and she brings that part of herself to her practice. I can't even begin to say how much I've appreciated that. Jacklyn has trusted her completely through all of this and that has made all the difference. We know that there's a chance more painful procedures lie ahead, but with doctor Lowery by our side, we can get through it. Today, before we left, I asked if I could take her picture with Jacklyn for my blog and she was so excited to do so. After the picture, Jacklyn thanked her and gave her a hug as always. As Dr. Lowery was hugging Jacklyn she told her that she was now family to her. Thank you doctor Lowery!