So there once was a bunny named Ralph,
who kept pretty much to himself.
When Levi came to visit,
from his cage he’d made exit.
And now we no longer have Ralph.

So….meet Jack and Shredder – our new bunnies!

 It’s Homecoming week at the high school – something I always wondered about when I was a student there.  Do alumni actually come home to go to this game?  Is there much more different about on a bigger level besides the current “homecoming court” “pep assemblies” and “floats” (which they no longer have…fondly remember the hard work put into our infamous sophomore float that had a culinary motif and “Fork the Eagles” as the slogan…we thought we were being very creative!).
As an alumni, it’s exciting to see my kids get so pumped up for the games.  Trey is a die hard Spartan fan and won’t miss a home game.  He truly would go to all the away games if someone would take him.  He LOVES the idea that one day he will be a Spartan.   The football players are so cool to him and the whole game day atmosphere is right up his alley.
I took him to the homecoming pep assembly today and he was in heaven.  Sprayed his hair blue, wore his jersey and soaked it all in. Go Spartans!

Guessing most of you who read my blog don’t know that I used to be a smoker.  Not a  two pack a dayer or anything like that, but it was a part of my life.  I enjoyed it and found it relaxing even.
I was a Camel girl, then turned to Marlboro Reds.  Dee wasn’t a fan, but put up with my habit (truth is, we would be at a bar and I would think I was hiding it…ha, like that’s possible) but I quit for good the day my dear friend was diagnosed with lung cancer.
Still, I have a fondness for Marlboros – even won a trip from them that ended up not working out for whatever reason, but they sent me a $4000 check to compensate.
It’s not often, maybe a time or two when I am out having a drink with friends, but there are times that I miss it.   Don’t get me wrong, I don’t ever want to be a smoker again, but sometimes I think about it.
So on with my story…last week as I was driving to a board meeting in Silverdale, I had that “wow, I really miss smoking” thought run through my mind.  A smile crossed my face and I was lost in the memory until my boys started arguing and brought me back to reality.  I didn’t think another thing of it until we were at the meeting.  Levi had asked to use the restroom in the restaurant and when he came back, he came up to me and said, “found these in the men’s room” and dropped a pack of Marlboro Reds on the table I was sitting at.  You would have thought he dropped a bag of crystal meth on the table by the shocked reactions, but I knew he was just doing the right thing and had no interest in the cigarettes.  He was more curious about them and how they would have ended up there rather than what they were.  His birthmom smokes, so he wanted to give them to her.  Very sweet, but a conversation about how you don’t gift found cigarettes to other people and that it, perhaps, wasn’t really appropriate for him to be giving her cigarettes in the first place.
As I drove home, it made me really think about the world and the brain and how it’s all interconnected, the thoughts and happenings….deep, huh?
(and no – I will not be going out to buy Marlboro Reds anytime soon!)

So if you are a Bainbridge Islander, you know about the Quiet Room on the ferry.  It’s not posted, it’s just known and the people who sit in there take silence very seriously.  Evil glares are given if someone dares to forget to turn off their cell phone…it’s the Quiet Room!  When I was a commuter I would sometimes escape to it after a long day to read a book or shut my eyes for a few minutes.
Now that I have kids, I know it’s a place I will probably never go into again.  I have pondered paying one of them off to be silent just so I could take them in there to see the looks of horror as a child walked through the door.  I haven’t tried that yet….
As we were heading off on our cross state adventure this summer, I thought it would be funny to bring our herd up to the door of the quiet room to take a picture.  Only a few glanced up, but it was so worth it.  Here’s the pic I will treasure until the day I walk through the Quiet Room door with a kid in tow!

Rainy and wet was how the day started, but the boys were excited (all but one…who asks each year to stay home w Mama).  Erin had some tears when we dropped them off, but big smiles when we picked them up.  She missed her big brothers!
Headed to Mora for a treat with Maymay and Alice after school – gotta love a tasty tradition!