Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town (and so is my mother-in-law!)

Joey and his sisters at the Fantasy of Trees
And I want this and this...
Syd at The Groovy Pad for her birthday
Kelsey's wiffle ball birthday party
One of only a handful of Joe and Kris pics!
Halloween 2008


Well, it's been a month since I've commented on the current status of the Birchfield clan -- Though I will admit I have been updating my Facebook status MUCH more frequently! What is it about Facebook that sucks us all in? It's kind of an alternate reality where we all still get along with our high school buddies and we request to be "friends" with people we barely know, people who are friends of friends, or just people we plain ol' haven't ever liked just for the sake of upping our friend totals on our profile pages. It is like some kind of drug for the 30/40-something set. It is MADNESS. I digress...

Anywhichits, there is not a whole lot to update here. There has been the usual goings on, Halloween, birthday parties, school (and more school), the annual Fantasy of Trees trip and Thanksgiving. Oh, yeah, and Joey is driving now -- legally. The girls are both pulling down As this year, both growing like weeds and both counting down the days until "The Man" jumps down our chimney -- well, we don't really have a chimney. The big guy comes through our door with the MAGIC KEY left on our doorstep 5 years ago when we moved into this house. For those counting, he'll be here in about 3 weeks. That means I have 18 days to get everything done, as the in-laws will be arriving on the 21st. Better hurry up on this entry!

Coming up for us: Kelsey's in the school spelling bee again this year, having won her class bee, two more weeks until school is out, visits from the in-laws (complete with brother-in-law and pug-in-law) and Christmas. The house is lit, the trees are up and all the stuffed animals and Christmas knick-knacks are bobbing and singing on my living room shelves. The Christmas cards are sitting on the computer desk waiting to be printed and stuffed. The Christmas stamps are bought. Christmas candy bowls are filled and presents are stacked on the playroom table, scheduled for wrapping this weekend.

By all accounts, I seem organized and so prepared for this Christmas season. I might also mention that the Pepcid bottle is almost empty, the fingernails are worn down from absent-minded chewing and the Xanax bottle is on the nightstand, standing at attention. So if you get your Birchfeld Christmas card this year imprinted with only the words, "Ah, the hell with it," don't be surprised!

I'm going to post some pics at the top of this entry of the last couple of months' activities. Hope everyone out there in blog land is staying healthy.

Happy Holidays! And for all my *Christian* friends who get SO offended by my wishing them blissful December days, I will also send out a "Merry Christmas!"

~Peace

Yes, We Can

Last night, I stayed up late to witness history. Joe was on a work trip 4 hours away. The girls were tucked into their beds and the dogs were snoozing quietly on their pillows in the floor beside me. Lights out, sitting in my warm, cozy bed, I waited impatiently for election returns. I flipped the channels from CNN to MSNBC, even to FOX News (God forgive me), wanting the latest alerts. Then, during a quick goodnight call from Joe, words burst onto the screen announcing the projection that Barack Obama would be our 44th president. H-I-S-T-O-R-Y, people.

Granted, I probably wouldn't be as interested in it all had Obama not been my candidate. But he didn't start out as my candidate. In the primary, Hillary Clinton was my candidate and I was disappointed with her defeat. So I turned to Obama, interested in what he had to say. I can tell you that from the outset there was never a CHANCE I would vote for John McCain. Even before the Republicans decided every woman in America was an idiot and placed Sarah Palin at his side. I just couldn't do it. He is nearly as old as my grandfather would have been were he here today. Did I agree with any of my grandfather's politics? No. He was a swell guy and I loved him, but he lived in another time and his politics were outdated in my young opinion. So, too, John McCain.

My Republican friends are posting notes on their Facebook pages, great sarcastic notes about now they can quit their jobs and just rake in all this money the government is going to give us now that Obama has won. The Christian folks I mingle with at school during the week are quoting Bible verses and talking about *getting what we deserve*, as if God is punishing us all with an Obama win in the election. I want to scream at these people and ask them to look back at where they were 8 years ago and where they are now and tell me that they are really in a better place. I don't know many people who can say they are. Can anybody really look at our current president and wistfully yearn for 4 more years under that regime? I don't see how.

I get how bad it stinks when your guy doesn't get in. I sat in St. Mary's Hospital 8 years ago, the night Syd was born, and watched the confusion at the beginning of the Al Gore/G.W. debacle. I know how sick I felt when Gore was robbed and how sick I still feel when thinking about how different things could have been had he won. But even so, if Al Gore had won that night, history wasn't made. He was just another 40/50-something white man entering the White House. The status quo.

So my question is how, even if you are Republican, Independent, whatever, how can you not feel privileged to have lived long enough to witness this? How can it not impact you at your core? If these Republicans, who are supposedly the most patriotic, flag-waving, U.S.A.-loving bunch in the land, are truly who they claim to be, how can they NOT be moved by the strides that were made by merely electing a man of color as the leader of our country? By electing Obama, we have stood by our "Land of the Free" label, where all men are created equal, right? I thought it was most interesting during the speeches last night that the group with McCain booed at the mention of Obama's name and the group with Obama cheered at the mention of McCain's name.

So do I think life is going to be all kinds of fabulous now? No. Obama has years of difficulties ahead. The mess he has inherited may not be fixable. But at least he is interested in fixing it. At least he is interested in something other than big oil and another 100 years in Iraq. At least he acknowledges the economy crisis and the need for healthcare reform. At least he is interested in reversing the damage we have done to our planet so that we can leave our children and our children's children in a survivable environment. At least he SEES us. At least.

Today, I woke the girls and told them they were alive when history was made. We talked about how their children will read history books about the first black president and how they can tell them how excited their mother was that night. And I hope those books will be filled with details of how our country entered a new era that night. I hope -- something I haven't been able to do for eight long years.

I'm going to post a little snippet of his speech last night, just the last 3 minutes or so. You can find the rest just about anywhere on the net. If you love him, enjoy. If you don't, well, maybe you might give it a listen, a real listen, and have a little faith. That's about all we've got left anyway.

~Peace

West Wing

My good friend, Christine, living down in sunny Florida, sent me an email quite a while back and, as I do sometimes, I saved it to read later because at the time I was running to the store, running to the ballpark, running to school, running SOMEWHERE. So this morning, this beautiful red and orange and yellow and green and brown fall morning, I decided I would catch up on all my saved e-mails while the kiddos were at school, while the house was peaceful and while I enjoyed my breakfast of egg-white omelet, whole wheat toast and soy milk. Sad, huh? Have I mentioned I'm almost 40? Yeah, well, that kinda diet goes with the territory, folks. I digress...

Anyhoo, my dear friend is a very liberal woman, an Obama supporter, one SMART chica, in my humble opinion. She's also not afraid to spread the liberalism and she knows I'm one who welcomes it because, to tell ya' the truth, there are days here in the ol' Bible Belt I feel like I'm suffocating. So when I got her email a while back I saved it, knowing there would be a day, a quiet morning sometime, when I could really give it the attention it deserves. Today is the day, my friends.

Her opened email said, "I miss Jed Bartlett...watching him Wednesday nights got me through the first Bush term." And then there was a link to a NY Times Opinion article written by Aaron Sorkin, creator/writer of The West Wing, a show my mom and brother watched faithfully until the end. Joe and I watched it quite a bit, but missed some of it in later years, as it conflicted with something we were doing.

So today I clicked on the link, was magically transported to the NY Times and I read a dialogue Sorkin created between fictional president Jed Bartlett and hopefully future president Barack Obama. FANTABULOUS, folks. If you're a conservative, of course, maybe not so much to you. But if you're REALLY conservative, you probably don't come here much anyway because my opinions drive you insane. So for most of you, this will be a treat. Follow the link below and set your mind free...

NY Times Article

~Peace

Report Cards, Chihuahuas and A Driver's License

Kel came home with her first 6 weeks report card today. Syd's was curiously absent. She says it's coming home tomorrow. Should I be worried? With her, ya' never know, but I'm choosing to believe that at 7 she is not old enough to think far enough ahead to the old, "I lost it and need another copy, so I won't get it until next week" excuse that many of my friends use to use in high school, putting off the inevitable parental confrontation about lackluster academic performance. I'm choosing to believe that her report card will be coming home tomorrow.

Anyhoo, Kel outperformed herself this first term (no grade lower than a 98), in spite of the fact that she is bored to tears and now has a daily mantra when she enters the car. When I ask, "How was your day?", she says, "Fine, the usual, un-fun." Sigh... I know I keep saying MAYBE we're going to leave the co-op this year, MAYBE the time is ripe, blah, blah. MAYBE I need to close my eyes, cross my fingers and toes and JUST DO IT!

As I've said earlier, Kel's teacher is not the most creative, the most exciting, the most energetic gal I've ever met, but she's young and I had hopes that this year she might branch out of her tightly woven Christian shell and throw some music on the ol' boombox during down time and maybe even use incentives like an extra recess or a popcorn party to get the kids motivated. So I'm blindly optimistic, sue me.

Today, Kel got in the car and told me she and a couple of her friends were talking about this new movie, something about a Beverly Hills Chihuahua, where the dogs talk, etc. It looks really supremely lame to her dad and me, but she thinks it is going to be THE BOMB. So do her other friends. So, as friends will do, they were discussing how excited they were about it coming out. Kel said the teacher told them they had to stop their discussion because they "weren't allowed to talk about movies at school." What the -- ?!? I'll bet if we were discussing Fireproof, the newest Christian flick to be shoved at our kids like it's sugar on a stick, the discussion could be built on for hours, with maybe even an essay thrown in for good measure. Because movies are EVIL, people, except for ones with a big Christian-approved sticker on the poster. There has to be a place in the world where a kid can be a kid and be excited about kid things without being told it's dark and evil, right? RIGHT?

In other news, the J-Train took and passed his driver's license test on Tuesday. WOOHOO! He will be trekking to K-town this weekend from Jeff. Co. (ON THE INTERSTATE) for the first time alone. I don't want to know what time he leaves. I don't want to know what ALMOST happened on the way here. I just want him to come in the door in one piece. So consider this a warning to all you on the roads this weekend and every weekend from here on out: There are now TWO Birchfield men legally on the roads!

So that's it for this one, folks. Fall is here in the Southeast and it's gorgeous and a little chilly and PERFECT today. The kiddos are healthy, giggly and not fussing this afternoon, and the fridge is full from a morning trip to the grocery store. I know what I'm fixing for dinner and we have no softball obligations tonight. It's a good day today. I'll keep ya' posted about tomorrow! :)

~Peace

My Guitar Hero

Joe decided to work off a little frustration after the UT game today by pulling out Guitar Hero. I decided this kind of performance needed to be preserved for future blackmailing purposes. Please empty your bladders before viewing this! Also, please note the little *groupie* bouncing around on the couch throughout. HILARIOUS, people, HILARIOUS! (The camera bouncing is from me laughing, so no complaints about the cameraman's abilities!) This is a little long, so if you can't watch it all, at least watch the last 30 seconds. FABULOUS!

Happy Birthday!

The UT cake
Joey's New Nav System
Today, J. turned 16 years old. SIXTEEN. Since we're an every-other-weekend kinda family, we celebrated the big day last Sunday, complete with enormous orange-and-white cookie cake and chocolate chip ice cream. We, of course, commissioned the Tennessee cookie cake prior to the A-beating the Vols took from Florida. Sadly for J., most of his gifts carried the same UT theme. We're thinking he can just put these away until basketball season, a time of year he can wear them without ridicule.

His haul from the party was pretty decent. He opened several cards filled with cash (his favorite gift), got some UT flip-flops, some UT car mats, a UT license plate -- I TOLD you it was a UT theme this year -- and a Garmin navigation system so that he can always find his way home. For those of you with a Garmin, you'll find that to be kinda funny since the Garmin sometimes doesn't always get you EXACTLY where you're supposed to be!

All in all, it was a low-key, but happy, little soiree. J. seemed content with the festivities, watching pro football and kidding around with the fam. Boys at 16 are so different than girls. Girls live for the Sweet Sixteen. Boys would rather you just write them a check and leave them alone. Girls want to have a huge party, complete with brand new BMW and 1,000 of their closest friends in attendance. Boys want to eat a burger, watch the game and hang out with the guys.

So here's the part where I'm supposed to reflect on how much J. has changed in the 12 years since I have been his Evil Stepmonster. The truth is: He's not that different today than he was all those years ago. He was cuter then, chubbier and he loved to hug. He loved baseball and football, anything he could assemble, puzzles, video games and he always went to bed on time. He made his bed every morning. He never fought me when I told him to do something. He was pretty easy-going. He's almost EXACTLY the same now. Oh, he grumbles sometimes when I ask him to do something, or he just flat out ignores it when I tell him to clean something up. He still loves baseball and football. He still loves figuring out any kind of puzzle you throw at him. He is a guru of the XBox 360 and he still goes to bed when he's tired, whether that's 9:00 or midnight. And every morning after he leaves with his dad for school his bed is made, looking like no one had even been there.

Is he perfect? No. He's a teenager. He's got his secrets. Probably ones I don't want to know anything about. But to us, he's a blessing. He's something to look forward to every Thursday and every other weekend. He's a role model for his sisters, a playmate for his dad and the first child I ever loved and cared for as a mother. He is silly and sarcastic, sometimes quiet and moody. He's funny and a jokester. He's smart and confident. He's an athlete and a fan. He is a big brother and a sweet, sweet son. He is everything we could ever want him to be. And today he turned 16.

Happy Birthday, J.!

P.S. Stay tuned until next week when I report on J.'s first trip to Knox Vegas driving solo with his newly laminated driver's license in his wallet. God help us all!

~Peace

27 Days

27 days since I've visited the blog. 27 days. I haven't even thought about it, haven't even considered talking about the activities the Birchfields have been up to. And I know what you're thinking, could it be my new Facebook addiction eating into my blog time? Possibly, but methinks it is more like my daily panic attacks over school this year.

We've been in school since August 13, just got through Labor Day, but it feels more like it should be Mother's Day. I can tell this is a year where we're going to hold on by counting the days until the next school holiday. At least as far as Kel, currently in 4th grade, is concerned.

Fourth grade, do I even remember fourth grade? Ummm, yes, Mrs. Powers was my teacher and the class begged her to let us sing Summer Lovin' from Grease for the school talent show. Seeing as how we were in an itty bitty Catholic school at the time, she declined. That's it. That's all I remember about fourth grade.

I will not go into detail about this year, except to say Kel's teacher is all about form, if nothing else. By the end of the year, Kelsey could win Olympic gold in how to place a perfect bi-fold in a piece of wide-ruled notebook paper, literally line-by-line matched seamlessly. She will also become very adept at spending an entire day without laughter or smiling. Don't hate. It's a learned skill.

Otherwise, we've been busy, busy, busy. As I said in one of my earlier entries, in the BEST NEWS EVER IN MY LIFE category, J. announced to his dad that he wanted to take next summer off from baseball to visit potential colleges and research scholarships. I was so happy that we all went out to celebrate the day we found out. We were finally letting go of all the gunk and yuck that went along with all that and moving forward. It feels like we can breathe again.

Of course, Kel-Bell is still playing. Fall league starts next week and the team is spending this weekend raising funds hosting a baseball tourney in Oak Ridge. Most of the parents in the softball are a little more laid back than the baseball parents. Maybe it's because we don't travel as much or play as competetively as we did in baseball. Or maybe because this is girls and you can't get as wrought up about it because you never know when Little Jane is gonna decide she wants to cheerlead instead.

Syd is still dancing every Thursday with her girlfriends. She's doing great in second grade and is currently counting down the days until the Cheetah Girls concert in November. Her BFF asked her to go with her and they are going to the beauty school to get all dolled up before the show. She asked me today if she could dye her hair pink for the show and I said yes. Yeah, I know. But as long as she can wash it out the next day or so, who cares? I'm feeling a little rebellious lately anyway. I'm just attributing it to the fact that I just turned 39 and can see 40 closing in in the rearview mirror (Objects are closer than they appear, ya' know.).

I guess that's it, folks. The last 27 days have been a lot more hectic than that, but to tell you the honest truth, I'm too pooped to try and remember it all. I'm gonna try and post a little more in the future. We've got a few things coming up. J's going for his driver's license in 25 days, as he reminds me every day. It's like the countdown to Y2K was, the BIGGEST EVENT EVER! I'm just putting it out of my mind for now.

Anybody out there remember when he was 4 and hanging out the top of the limo at the wedding reception? He doesn't look so different now, just taller and a little more angular. He's not quite as squishy and certainly doesn't like to hug as much now. But there are days when he'll say something or ask me for a favor or just tell me how much he liked his dinner that I'll glimpse that little man again. I miss Little J. sometimes. And I know that after this next milestone I'll miss him more as he explores the freedom being the master of his own transportation affords. It's the next natural step. Then in two years he'll be gone to college. Over and out. I'm not gonna think about that now...

Okay, that's it for tonight. Hopefully I'll be back soon with some new pics and/or videos. Joe got me a Flip Ultra for my birthday (I wanted a cheap video camera to keep in my purse at all times) and Syd has decided she wants to start her own talkie blog. Prepare yourselves, people!

~Peace

John Edwards

This one is gonna be short, but I just have to say how sad it makes me to learn about John Edwards' deception, his cheating on his cancer-stricken wife and then LYING about it for so long. I have long been an admirer of Elizabeth Edwards. She is eloquent and educated and loves, loves, loves her children. She lost her teenage son years ago, but survived it, even having two more children later in life. She battled breast cancer, thinking herself healed, only to find it had spread to her bone and nothing available to cure her.

In the face of all that, she stood up beside her husband and urged him to keep campaigning for this presidency. And he did it. At the time, it ticked me off because I thought he should have graciously stepped aside and spent his time loving his wife, choosing HER over his career. But many of my friends said she told him to do it, that it wasn't callous of him, but a hard decision. Now I think I was right about him. Early on, I liked him, thought he might offer a fresh face to this country, new ideas, youthfulness. But as time went on, I changed my mind.

You know, I don't care what party you love, don't care if you're conservative or liberal, gay or straight. I don't care really whether you cheat on your wife or not as long as you take care of what needs to be taken care of while you're in office. I mean, if every man/woman in this country who cheated on their significant other lost their job, our unemployment rate would be astronomically high. I just think that when you make a mistake, you should admit it WHEN YOU'RE ACCUSED and just move on, not lie about it until the evidence is so overwhelming you have no choice but to confess.

I just feel so sad for his wife, what her heart must be feeling this week, knowing many in this country are discussing her husband's betrayal. To be close to the end of your life, only wanting to spend the last precious moments with the people you love most, making as many memories as you can with them, and then going through such a horrible thing must be devastating.

Just my opinion...

~Peace

Baseball Crazies

As some of you may already know from lurking on this blog off and on, Joe decided this was his last year of coaching baseball. He had been inching away from it for a few years, but he just decided the time had come to put more focus on Kel's softball and become just a spectator at J.'s games. So he graciously thanked all the families he had coached for so long at the end of the season and said, "Adios." And I said, "Hallelujah!"

Well, in the last week or so, J. has decided he no longer wants to play summer ball competetively. Since next summer will be his last before college, he wants to travel to different schools and get paperwork in order for scholarships and financial aid. So he told his dad this week he was only going to play during the school year and get focused on *life* this summer. Secretly, Joe and I felt a great sense of relief because the parents on Joey's team had gone a little crazy this summer and spent the majority of their time complaining rather than cheering.

So Joe, who puts on a fundraising tournament every year for J.'s team because the participation fee is so high, decided to make the tourney a fundraiser for the softball team since J. was no longer playing. He handles every aspect of the tourney from open to close from courting prospective teams, buying insurance, scheduling umpires, concession inventory, budget spreadsheets, ordering entry wristbands, trophies, just everything. It is his baby, so to speak.

Well, this morning, bright and early, he got a phone call from one of the baseball crazies (This year the #1 baseball crazy) berating him because he had *disappointed* her by not helping them raise money for a team with which he was no longer affiliated, even asking if he would SPLIT the money with the baseball team. Said crazy had already berated the head coach earlier in the week because his job situation had changed (not by any fault of his own), causing him to not be as available as he had been and that was just going to be unacceptable. She was just all so disappointed in everyone.

I've decided that people are just nuts. The world is going crazy and everyone is out of their minds. Can I scream to the heavens how thrilled I am that this part of our lives is over? Softball may end just as scarily down the road, but for now Kelsey is not playing ultra-competetive, travel every week, $1000-a-kid ball. And our goal is that she never will. We are trying to learn from our mistakes.

So for anyone who reads this, while we do have the one stalker crazy mom to deal with, life is good today. Closing that chapter of our lives and moving forward feels great. I mean, it will feel great until Wednesday when school starts and then I'll be back here again, moaning about all the injustices I'm experiencing at the co-op. Some things never change...

~Peace

Lightning Strikes and Terrorists

Well, the last time I blogged, I was blissfully enjoying my newly fixed air conditioning and packing for a visit to Ohio. God must have a sense of humor, my friends, because only a few hours after I finished, lightning struck -- literally. On Monday night, 7/21/08, some storms were rolling through K-town. Kelsey had a friend over for a sleepover and they, along with Sydney, were sitting in the living room playing cards. It started to rain really hard outside, so Joe B. turned over to check the radar. Sure enough, there were 4 or 5 red blobs scooting down from Kentucky towards us. The power flickered once and we could hear thunder rumbling in the distance. I was in the middle of dinner prep and was praying the power would stay on until the chicken baked.

After the power flickered, Joe decided he would mosey upstairs to turn off the computers in the office and make sure everything was turned off before the storm got close. Within 30 seconds of his ascent up the stairs, there was a BOOM and it sounded like a bomb had blown the top of the house off. I heard Joe scream, so I started calling his name. After 2 calls from me and no answer, I hollered his name again -- LOUDLY -- and he came down the stairs. He said, "I think we've been struck by lightning."

Needless to say, he was right. After much inspection, we found we had lost several thousands of dollars in electronics -- including the much beloved Wii and PS3 gaming systems -- and our air conditioner had gotten struck and was out AGAIN! Joe was in full meltdown mode. But we are now a week out and our phones are back on, Internet is hooked up. We have made trips to Target, HH Gregg, Walmart, you-name-it, to replace all of the *stuff* that got fried in the storm. Our big home computer is still on the disabled list, being re-built as we speak. Fortunately for me, the pictures that were stored on that computer were retrievable. So all is ALMOST well in the Birchfield household. Except we never did make it to Ohio to see the in-laws. Guess that will have to wait until fall...

On another note, I want to comment on something horrific that happened right here in our own backyard yesterday. A man entered a church and opened fire on a congregation during their church service, during a children's production of Annie. Two people so far have died and 7 others were hurt, some still in critical condition today. The news agencies have reported today that the man targeted this church because he "hated liberals". This church is a very open church, allowing all people -- gays, straight, whatever -- to join in their worship. They are very involved in civil rights, peace initiatives, aid for the needy and other social justice issues. They are not just a Christian church, but a church that teaches about all the different religions, stressing more the importance of SPIRITUALITY and treating all as EQUAL than a bias toward one religion or another.

This event has broken my heart. I have written a few things on here about politics, religion, etc., enough for most of you to know I am a liberal -- for lack of a better term. Liberal makes it sound like I'm an outlaw or something, and how sad in my mind that believing that treating everyone the same no matter their sexual preference or religious domination makes me a rebel. But if liberal means that I believe in the value of EVERY person and the rights of EVERY person to be treated equally, then I'm a liberal.

So this monster, this TERRORIST, did not agree with these beliefs, so he came armed to the teeth to church and shot everyone in his sight. What is happening to us that we can not even feel safe in our places of worship anymore? It isn't safe in school, at work, on the streets in our cars, in line at the post office and now it's not safe at church anymore. I don't know what to say about it all. I can't explain it to my 10 year old who wants to know why this man shot people at church.

If this man hated liberals, gays, whatever, one would assume it was because he was raised in a *Christian* conservative home. If that is the case, where does the Thou Shalt Not Kill part of the 10 commandments come into play? I don't remember getting the addendum to the document where it states "Thou Shalt Not Kill, with the exception of liberals and gays and anyone you generally don't agree with" or the part that says "Except in the name of religion." THOU SHALT NOT KILL -- ever, period. And I would add especially not in the name of religion. To kill in the name of religion, in my opinion, is the biggest insult a human being could ever make toward God, the Creator of ALL mankind, not just white, Christian, straight mankind.

For the people that experienced that horrible event yesterday, for the children that will forever be traumatized by the sounds and sights witnessed in that sanctuary, my heart aches. God help us all.

~Peace