Habitat

Volunteered for Habitat for Humanity yesterday with a bunch of people from work.  It was HOT but fun, as always.

I love to hang out with work people outside of work, because we get to know different things about people, other than they're lawyers.

Here are my friends Brandon and Dean.

They're good people.

Here is proof I actually worked that day.

 I am nailing floorboards to the joists.  Basically, all I did that day was correct the mistakes made by the people the day before.  Seriously!  They made their joists too long, so Hubert and I had to sit on the joists and cut them shorter, and then the house would stand forever tall and all would be well.

The house made of love, and volunteers.

Greek fest and remembering

Went to the Greek fest with Judy and co. yesterday.  Her oldest son, Anthony, was home on leave from the military for a week.  It was the one year anniversary of the loss of David.

It's hard to believe it's been a year since David passed away.  Sometimes I'll think about something the four of us should do and I'll go to email Judy and then suddenly stop because I remember.

Sometimes it seems like this has been the longest year too, and I've spent many nights bawling my eyes out with Judy about how much we miss him.

I'm glad she made it through this year, even though it's the hardest thing she's ever done. 

Colorado Children's Chorale at Vail

What do you say about the amazing kids who perform beautifully against the most gorgeous mountainous backdrop in the middle of summer?

Wow.

There was a performance in Vail Village before noon.  

We got to eat lunch in a serene setting with the birds chirping and the breeze keeping us cool.

Then it was off to the Amphitheater to watch the real performance, complete with additional singers and alums who came back for one last song.

I don't think there was a dry eye in the house.  It was beautiful.



Georgetown Loop

We went to Georgetown to ride the train with the Myers today.  That was fun, even if you're not a kid!

The 3 foot narrow gauge railroad is nestled in Clear Creek canyon where you can check out all the mining that took place in Georgetown and Silver Plume.  The train goes in a corkscrew fashion and climbs 600 feet in one direction. 

First we rode the steam engine.  We stopped along the route at the Lebanon Silver Mine where Paul was a volunteer miner with our guide, Faith.  She was fantastic, but Paulie didn't come home with silver in his pockets.  We got to go 500 feet into the mine where we saw all the offshoots to the different parts of the mine.  Much of the lower sections were filled in with water (cold water, the mine stays at a constant 44 degrees so the water was chilly!).

The ride to complete the loop from the mine was on a diesel engine, which blew out lots of debris.  It was icky, and I picked that crap out of my hair for a week afterward.  The history and gorgeous views of this place make it worthwhile to visit.

Afterward, we stopped at Tommyknockers Brewery and had lunch and sampled their beers.  It was delicious and a great way to spend the day!

Tough

We visited with Brett and the kids yesterday.  They are so sweet, and thankfully still in shock.

Paul got his ass kicked by Austin, the 3 year old, on the video game - Black Ops.  It was humbling, I'm sure.

Brett's pissed off, and I can't blame him a bit.  It's hard to see the hurt in that family right now.

We polished off a bottle of Jack and Paul drove home as I burst into tears.  Sucks.

In Memory of...

The world lost an amazing person today.  Kris had worked at the adoption agency I used for 19 years before passing away suddenly from a stroke.  She was 40 years old.

When I called the agency in 1998, it was Kris I spoke with.  She made an appointment to come see me and talk through all my questions about open adoption, including that which I didn't know I didn't know!  She was always smiling and laughing, and she had a touch of cynicism and sarcasm so I knew I could always be myself around her.

She was a birthmom too, her son was 7, I think, when my son was born.  Kris had since married Brett, a police officer, and became pregnant about 3 months after I did.

We spent time together during birthparent group, which was our quasi-therapy sessions to which all birthparents were invited.  We also talked a lot during the preparations for our annual adoption picnics.

We lost touch for a bit until we ran into each other at the liquor store one day.  I noticed that the man in front of us had an enormous bottle of Jack Daniels, and I looked at the man himself and realized I KNEW HIM!  And of course, it was Brett, and Kris was with him.  The four of us stood there and talked a bit, realizing that we lived just down the road from each other's house.  We made plans to get together for dinner.

We spent a bit of time together, never realizing the camping trips that we spoke about, unfortunately.  The pain of losing Kris is tremendous to me, but that's nothing compared to the void left in the lives of her husband and two children (ages 12 and 3). 

Sometimes you really have to question why God makes these types of decisions.  I can't possibly understand how the world is better off without Kris, or why these kids needed to grow up without the love of their mom.  We will miss her laugh, her smile and her warmth every day.

Happy Mother's Day!

To my mother, who raised a strong-willed, open-minded fireball who loves you anyway.

To my son's mother, who is raising a strong-willed, open-minded loving boy and giving him so much more than I ever could.

To my grandmother, who raised two girls through hard times and taught me the strength of family.

To my aunt, who wished, and experienced, and lost her chance at permanent motherhood.

To my cousin, who is a new pro at motherhood with a beautiful daughter afflicted by cystic fibrosis.

To my cousins-in-law, who all allow me to reflect on their perspectives of motherhood, young and experienced.

I love you all.