July

Gosh this month is flying by! We have a new member of the family,..this is Brooklyn. She is 3 and a Rhodesian Ridgeback. Apparently this breed was originally bred in Africa for hunting lions, known for their tenacity in fighting off and protecting their loved ones. While I dont anticipate any lions, per se, I always feel safer with a big dog. We got her from a cute young couple in Vancouver (no lions there either). She minds beautifully, is very sweet with us, stays where she is told, and is very obedient. However, not sure bravery is her best skill. Shanghai, who's elderly and declawed, gave her a swat across the face and now she gives him the right of way.

Anyway, don't need a lion killer, just a good dog and one that might intimidate anyone that shouldn't be hanging around. Kassi built a deluxe dog house in woodshop that she will use as her condo when not sleeping on the deck outside the door. We also got a hot tub about 2 weeks ago ! Yay!!!!! It is great We poured a concrete pad so it could sit under the fir trees. SO we relax in the forest! That was my thought when we bought this house, I am so thrilled it is done. Kassi said, "well gee, your're not going to start crying are you?" I told her maybe and blinked alot.

Anyway
Kassi has a new job at Burgerville in Woodland. For people that don't know what Burgerville is,..it's a fast food chain in the Northwest that specializes in local (Oregon grown) and seasonal foods. Kind of healthier version of the usual burger place. THey have fresh asparagus, berries, Tillamook cheese, etc,.. She is the counter girl. She was telling me the other day how much she likes this job,..she loves talking to people and making conversation with strangers. She now has some elderly regulars who she really looks forward to seeing. That's Kassi. Too bad she has no interest in medicine, she would be great with patients. Oh well. The good thing is that she can still work there after school starts back up. She has also been tanning, and picking cherries.
Her senior schedule is pretty full,is volunteering at the crisis pregnancy center, and she still tells me that a boyfriend just takes up too much time. She's probably right. I am envious of her confidence. I'm pretty sure that she is more confident at 17 than I am at 43. Defintiely a better sense of what she does and does not want for her life.
Kassi turns 18 at the end of the month. Wow,..that makes me technically the mother of ADULTS. Ugh... and yet I am so crazy about these two kids that I wouldn't change anything that got us to where we are. Good and bad. We have all learned and
grown from the ugly stuff too, and it is great that they already have that attitude about adversity. Will make their "life to come" so much easier.


We (Kassi, Melissa... my sister, Christina, and I) are going on a cruise at the end of August to celebrate Kassi turning 18. REALLY looking forward to it.









So the brother got to come home from Missouri (misery) for the 4th of July.It is about 110 degrees there, with humidity in the 97% range. He said their sgt told them "Got a straw, well suck it up!" It was great to have him home and harder each time when he leaves. He won't be back now until at least October, and a possibility of going "active" and getting stationed before that. This time I actually got teary the night before. I told him it would be fine, just me"bein a girl". We still talk and text often on the phone, which is nice. It's great to see him also so confident in himself. He had signed up for two college courses (thru the Marine Corp) and has almost finished one of them. He didn't even tell me until this visit home. I was stunned, he didn't need me to cajol or even suggest that it would be a good idea, just did it on his own. I told him how proud I was of the decisions he was making, and he just hugged me and said, "I'm trying Mom, I really am." I had to turn my head because, of course, I was in tears again.