Octomom (Are we insane?)

I have been misguided on how to make a living. I was somehow under the impression that we were supposed to go to school, maybe go to college, get a job, work hard and get paid for it. What in the hell did I know. I guess in the real world we should get a moronic doctor to inject us with fetility drugs, have a shitload of kids and then pawn them off to some network for $250 dollars a pop. I am sorry was this a mother we were talking about or is she simply a pimp selling off her kids for a quick buck.

Nadya Suleman does not deserve children. There are so many people in the world that can’t have children who truly desire them for the sole purpose of loving them. I am a Republican. I don’t condone the welfare system that rewards people for having multiple children just to get a bigger government paycheck. I think it is wrong. I don’t condemn people who need help but it also makes me sick to see people who abuse the system to get by.

The Goslins make me nausous as I seem them exploit their kids to make a buck but Nadya has taken it to a new level. My guess is that she impregnated herself for the exclusive purpose of using her kids so she could sit on her ass and not work. She has 14 children and a network is really going to pay in the hopes that we as a public will watch her inability to mother them. Have we really sunk so low to allow this. Aren’t there laws against child abuse? Are there limits on when a I child can be forced to work? Isn’t this somehow against some moral code or law or something?

I for one will never have this on my TV. It will never be broadcast anywhere that I live, shop or work. I will debate anyone that I ever know who watches it. The Goslins were an anomoly. Who knows, maybe it started out as an interesting event and moved on from there. I can’t really stand on a footsool and call it wrong but I do disagree with the concept. Nadya is wrong. It is an abomination of how the world should work.

See, not one Catholic joke.

Concerts in the Park

Last night was interesting in a Thursday night let’s not sit in the house sort of way. We ventured out to the park down the road to see a local Salsa band, have a picnic and socialize with our neighbors and townies. Seems like more and more communities are focusing on the basics, opening up the parks in the summer and showing a movie or having some bands play. Entertainment is free and bringing a picnic is always a fun experience. The kids run around expending energy and everyone seems a little friendlier than just waving to them on the street.

The more urban our overpopulated society gets it seems the less you really know anyone in your community. We all get so focused on our group of friends that we sometimes don’t open up the opportunity of meeting new people. Maybe that is a side benefit of my divorce. Since my wife affectively lied to most of my friends convincing them I was just shy of a serial killer. I have had no choice but to spread the boundaries of who I hang out with. Ironically it is still through kids that you meat so many people who are like minded and compatible.

My two youngest daughters have been in camp this week and it was my youngest and her request for a play date that instigated our venture out on Thursday night. I was happy when the new littler girl’s parents stated they would like to meet us before allowing their child to come over and play. So many parents seem to instantly jump at the chance to have their kids pawned off for an afternoon that meeting the people who will be watching her is only an afterthought. We talked over the phone and made the date excited to be opening up to the community.

The band is really an afterthought at most of these events. It provides the backdrop for a community to interacting while setting up the base for bonding at a level that every local area needs. We met my daughter’s friend and setting up our blanket next to theirs spent about an hour and a half getting to know them. Nice people with an interesting background. He is from a Caribbean island and was acting for a while. They met in New York and moved here a few years ago. Sounds like she works for a company in the bay area that was able to relocate them. Always the best way to move in my book.

It was a nice evening and fun to see the kids let loose. Since my divorce and uprooted status I haven’t seen the kids playing as openly as this in their new surroundings. We are gone so much to the mountains and them only being here every other week doesn’t always allow for the roots to take hold. I had been hoping the camp would provide them more comfort and help solidify their well being in our new home and it seems like it is working. If you don’t participate in these events I would highly recommend it. It is a great way to support your community and also a nice venue to meet people you probably have passed on several occasions yet never met.

Can your Partner Cook? My can…….

Is this a question that everyone at some point in time asks their partner? Can you cook? The stigma of cooking only being for women has long since gone by the wayside but the general art of cooking seems to have gone with it. In the generation of quick meals on the go and cardboard wrapped ready to eat Lasagna there are not a lot of people that spend a huge amount of time in the kitchen. What about when you first start dating. Does everyone state emphatically how much they enjoy cooking? Do we all fall into the trap of being a little too generous in touting our own accolades?

When I first started dating my girlfriend I smiled at the comments of her cooking prowess and nodded my head acknowledging her stated abilities. I had heard the talk before but at this point I am old enough to reserve any judgment until I actually see the real production. It has been a while now and although life flies by quickly I was excited when she actually made a list of items to buy at the store and was planning a couple of meals. If you don’t plan you can’t eat right. I have now seen her watching cooking shows on TV and on several occasions even writing down a recipe. I figured she either thought some guy on one of these shows was hot or she must enjoy the aspect of cooking.

So with the big day finally arriving she decided to cook Chicken Parmesan. Everyone likes Chicken Parmesan. I came home corralled the kids into some form of activity and even though I offered to help by the time I made it into the kitchen she had finished cutting up the zucchini. Hmmm, I really hadn’t planned to take so long but oh well. I then looked over at the oven and saw the pancakes from the morning sitting on the stove top still in their zip locked bag resting peacefully. The interesting thing was that the stovetop was on and it smelled a little odd. As I approached I saw that the plastic bag had molded to the pancakes from the heat and were now permanently melded together.

No real damage done. I just threw them away and laughed with her as I turned on the fan to fumigate the area. Things do happen. I stepped over to the trash and as I did so I saw her bent over the stovetop blowing furiously. A nice little curl of smoke wafted into the air as the paper towels she had left there burst into flames. I think she was trying to blow them out with her mouth. We managed to douse this as well and she then laughingly stated that she forgot to time the chicken. It turned out a little dry but not too bad.

As we were doing dishes we made a deal that I would keep the kids out of the area while she was cooking. The distractions of the little ones is not something that she is used to. I winked smiling thinking that was probably it and later that evening I talked to her about getting renters insurance. I hadn’t seen a need for it in the past but if she was going to be doing a lot of cooking now feel it might be a good idea.

Even if she ends up burning down a few kitchens over our lifetime I am so thankful that she jumps in and prepares a good meal. I love watching her in the kitchen even if it is a little difficult seeing her at times through all of the smoke. The best part is when she makes my lunch from the leftovers. The guys at work laugh at me when I tell them that my food tastes a little bit better just because she prepared it. There is something to be said about a little love added in with your banana and Chicken Parmesan.

I am going to go to Costco today and buy a couple of fire extinguishers just to be safe. Love is a great ingredient in the preparation of food but you don’t want too much spark in your chicken.

Blazing Heat (It does change People)

Living in the bay area there are several luxuries that we take for granted? Some of these luxuries we will probably never even realize or acknowledge consciously as a luxury. We just wake up every morning and there they are so we begin to expect them as normal God given rights. The area is beautiful, careers are plentiful (they used to be), the ocean is close by, the mountains are not far away and the weather is amazingly neutral almost the entire year. For 12 months every year the weather stays consistently in the 60′s to 80′s and outdoor activity abounds almost every weekend.

Owning a house in the mountains gives me an even greater opportunity in that I can frequently spend time at the lake in the summer and in the winter spend most weekends snowboarding. This past weekend was no exception. I drove up to the house expecting to have a fun filled weekend in the sun. The sun. OMG, the sun was out in full force. It beat down on us keeping even the nighttime temperatures in the high eighties and the daytime………….. It was hitting 110 plus degrees. I saw my mild mannered girlfriend actually transform into, well…… she reads this blog so I have to be a little careful.

My kids spent most of the weekend at each other’s throats. The bickering and fighting was non-stop. Everyone seemed on edge. We voted both days to skip the lake and instead opted for the movies one day, shopping at Wal-Mart some (air conditioning) and for the rest of the time devoting whatever energy we could muster on finding shade and keeping as cool as possible. 110 degrees, are you fricking kidding me. I don’t remember the last time I was so miserably hot. My dog, which is a black lab and rivals “Marley” for her untendered exuberance and constant energy, was subdued. I have never seen that dog laying down so much but she was lethargic and moved from her water dish to laying on the deck and nothing else.

Maybe that was Beckhams issue as he snapped attempting to hurdle the on field barriers and take on fans in an all out brawl. He had to be held back by security to keep him from jumping into the stands. Maybe it was just a little too hot and he snapped. In the past I would have condemned such activity but after this weekend I can almost understand it. Heat makes people crazy. Maybe the problem in Honduras has nothing more instigating it other than the fact it is to close to the equator and God only knows how hot it is right now. Why don’t we try shipping them a bunch of air conditioners and see if that doesn’t ease tensions? It would probably take less than a week and everything would work out with all of the coup leaders hugging the past regime.

Is it just me or does anyone really care who judges the American Idol wanna-a-be stars. Simon is really the only one who counts and that is mainly because he is so damn mean (honest) and slams contestants right and left. Isn’t that part of the appeal of the show to humiliate some people publicly for our entertainment? My guess is they must keep the light shined on Simon raising the temperature in his seat so he turns into an ass. On the few occasions where he is nice the air conditioning must have been set at too high a level.

I am leaving this morning and as much as I love the mountains can’t wait to get back to the moderate temperatures of the bay area. God it is hot. It is 3:30 AM and I think I see my skin melting a little this morning.

Teenagers know everything, Just ask them.

You are never more intelligent or more worldly or more knowledgeable than when you are a teenager. Just ask anyone in their teens. They are always more than willing to inform you just how much they know. They are happy to tell you where you are mistaken, how they are more well read, how you could possibly never understand what they are going through or how to help them in any way. They really are the most well rounded age group of any bar none.

I have a teenager just in case you were wondering. My parents who live in IL gave my daughter the opportunity to stay with them for a week. It was a great idea since I have limited trust in her to stay in my house on her own and I fully expect my mother to watch her 24 hours a day. My parents might let her do things I would not normal do but at least I can rest peacefully knowing she is not making out with some boy on my couch while I am at work. Isn’t that every father’s worst nightmare. No matter what age my daughters will get to be I will never be comfortable with them making out with any boy.

The only issue was getting my daughter to IL. She is 15 plus years old so I decided to give her the chance to fly on her own. She had one connecting flight in Denver so I crossed my fingers and took her to the airport Friday afternoon. I checked her in, got both boarding passes, talked her through the process and watched her for 30 minutes as she meandered her way through the security check in point. I called her on her cell phone as she made her way to the gate and felt comfortable she was on her way. I was rushing with my girlfriend and my other two daughters as we were headed up to the mountains.

I raced home we packed up the truck and in a short 45 minutes was on our way. I called my daughter the second we got in the truck and asked her if she was in her seat comfortably waiting to take off. I was surprised when she told me (it was 5 PM) that she was still sitting at her gate reading her book. Her flight was scheduled to take off at 5 PM. I asked her if it was late and she responded in her gruff leave me alone voice that she didn’t know. After a tumultuous conversation where I finally convinced her that she was in jeopardy of missing her flight if she hadn’t already I convinced her to talk to somebody at the counter.

She spoke to a rude United attendant who was less than helpful and he scoffed at her that he would not only not talk to me over the phone but that she had missed her flight. I swear to god the service we receive on United is at an all time low. I used to love that airline and now I cringe every time I have to fly it. Once my last bit of miles run out I will only use them as a last resort. They must only hire the rudest people possible. So after missing her flight she was mortified and extremely upset not wanting to discuss the situation but insisting that I come and pick her up.

I turned the car around and after talking to my mileage representative discovered it was the last flight of the day so I had no choice but to pick her up. She went with us to the mountains and although I think she was genuinely saddened by her loss she still was struggling with the idea that had she listened to me she might have fared better. I now have her on a flight Monday morning where we will attempt the process again and hopefully she will make it this time. She is so hard headed. I am not sure if that comes from being a teenager, a woman or a mixture of both.

I hope that the second round has her in IL by Monday evening and even though she has missed half her vacation she can still have a great adventure.

Those crazy kids. Do they ever get to a point where they grow up enough to listen to anything a parent says.

Taking a Second Job

I was recently approached by somebody who had the idea of taking a second job. At first the idea seemed a little funny to me but in reality what is it that I am doing? I work as a corporate FP&A director during the day and during nights/weekends I write as much as time will allow. I enjoy it immensely and gain satisfaction from the self reflection. It reminded me of when I started this website and a friend of mine reprimanded me for not acknowledging other people’s dreams as highly as I rate my own. Somebody who loves gardening should garden. They shouldn’t sit in front of a computer on their down time.

I wonder about the reasoning for taking a second job. My writing doesn’t feel like a job to me but more like a hobby that I look forward to doing. The person who approached me talked of her occupational divergence as a means to an end. She enjoys Yoga and they had informed her if she wanted to work a few hours a week that they would be happy to exchange her time for free Yoga sessions. Joining a Yoga club is not the cheapest of endeavors. I wondered to myself if the time was worth the payment.

In my own self centered way I compare it to my desires and I can’t equate the two. I love writing. I know I keep saying that but damn it I do. I don’t get paid anything. I don’t know if I will ever make any money but I also don’t really care. What are the reasons that people branch out of their comfort zone and explore other opportunities? Some people don’t have a choice. They must work a second job to make ends meet. There are countless people who will work their entire lives and will never get ahead. Others possibly like me, to explore untapped desires and fulfill a hidden dream of sorts I guess.

Some just to offset an indulgent expense they might otherwise not have savored. A simple means to work a few hours a week and pay for something that seemed too extravagant to invest in with the fruits of their main career. It got me to thinking of the hourly rate we are paid and at what point is the price becomes too high. You are expected to hold down a job and the wages you earn are a reflection of your education, history and at times luck. The 50 hours a week you are expected to labor have a price and as long as you can negotiate your rate life is good. I then wonder how people value their down time. The time that you would be relaxing or for me writing or flying a kite or having a drink or the thousands of other things that you might choose to versus having to slave away for the man.

I find that I now place a premium on these hours. They are precious and to be savored like a fine wine. If you are lucky you can taste the succulent drink daily. For me writing is a drug that I lust after as often as I can possibly inject into my daily routine. For others it might be anything that drives the inner happiness. I am not sure that I would be willing to give up this time readily for a second job unless I was forced to with no other choices at my disposal. My choice would be living with less, giving up what I had to in order to maintain my firm grip on the precious hours that were at my disposal.

I also respect the ingenuity of bartering for what you might otherwise not be able to enjoy and time is something that can be easily bartered away. As with all things there is no right or wrong answer. What might be right for me might not make sense for somebody else. Too each his own. My only thoughts are how precious time is. How fleeting life is. One day we all wake up with the inspiration of what happened. How did we get where we are. Where are the moments that we so often took for granted. I look around and feel incredibly lucky to have what I do. Three beautiful daughters and an amazing woman who happens to be everything I could ever want.

I only wish I had more time to share with them. The one thing that is truly finite.

Teenagers Growing Up

I just booked a flight for my fifteen year old daughter to visit my parents for a week over the summer. She will actually be leaving tomorrow believe it or not. God it will be so strange dropping her off at the airport and watching her go through security all on her own. I am sure she will be nervous yet excited at the same time. Two emotions that seem to fill and expand throughout the teenage years. The level of firsts as any teen explores and tests boundaries pushing to find their way in life is an amazing yet tumultuous journey to say the least.

It will be nice for her to get away from the entanglements of her mother and even myself. Grandparents have a way of spoiling kids that nobody else can quite equate. While I don’t agree with the approach my parents take to life in many areas the exposure of them to my daughter will hopefully be a positive everyone. It has been over 8 years since my daughter has seen them and as you can imagine there are a lot of changes that have occurred since she was 7. They most likely will have some getting to know each other time in the beginning as they explore evolved personalities.

It will also be nice to have some time with my two smaller daughters without the drama that my older one brings. Having three daughters ensures theatrics to the home on a daily basis. Thanks to my girlfriend I have a camp set up for the little ones next week. It sounds exciting and will be new if nothing else. With a large household it is always difficult finding that alone time with anyone so it is nice when the environment shrinks a little. Oddly the dynamics always seem to shift in unknown ways when one of our family parts is absent for any length of time.

The double edge sword remains the same as you give kids new experiences. It is hard to see them growing up yet exciting and fulfilling at the same time. Families are defined in so many ways today that the metamorphosis continues to amaze me from one year to the next. I can’t wait to see the dynamics a year from now as my relationship grows and the children evolve and life takes us down new and interesting paths. It is always toward the end of my week without the kids where I begin to miss them the most. They bring such life to our home it is always hard without them.

Ironically it is sometimes hard with them as well. Those damn little vixens can drive me insane at times but I will always love them. I will cross my fingers as I pick up my oldest tomorrow and to her surprise drive her to the airport for her week long adventure. Even though we have discussed the possibility of her going she is unaware that I have made the plans. It will be an exciting surprise as she embarks on her own to the world that lies in middle southern Middle America.

Who can imagine what adventures she will discover?

Wearing Underwear Outside

What is crossing the line for attire while walking outside? How many kids in today’s schools wear pajama pants to class? Do you have a teenager? The pubescent kids, especially the girls seem to thrive in wearing the nightwear in the realm of our institution of learning. Is there no end to what is acceptable? I vote for the Catholic way and say let’s bring back uniforms. I know that I make fun of Catholics and have even recently been reprimanded for doing so needlessly but I think they have the right idea in uniformity. Kids have a desire to express themselves and for the most part I think uniqueness is what drives America but…….

Tonight my girlfriend asked me to venture outside and see if her car was locked. We don’t have a street light in front of my house so it is relatively dark. Her car was parked across the street but just the same I didn’t feel that anyone would be able to see me. I exclusively wear boxer briefs. I think boxers give you a little too much freedom and plain briefs are a little too confining. Boxer briefs seem to be the perfect compromise. I can’t believe that there is any other kind of underwear even manufactured. Women love them, except in Europe wear men seem to thrive on bikinis. Boxer briefs just seem to be the all around best solution.

So I ran outside in my boxer briefs and nothing else. No shirt, no sox, no pants, no anything, simply just my boxer briefs. Walked over to the car opened the door, it was unlocked and after securing it ventured back inside. Nothing happened if that is what you are expecting. Nobody saw me. There was no casual encounter with a gorgeous girl gawking at my rock hard body as I flexed my way to and forth from the automobile. Not that it would matter. I am so completely enthralled with my girlfriend that Emma Watson could have been outside and I would have said thank you but no. Actually I think Emma is cute but she is a little on the young side anyway.

Now if Jennifer Love Hewitt were outside I might be in trouble. Ahhhh, just kidding. I have become a changed man in the last few months. I don’t mind running outside in my underwear and I no longer pine after Jennifer Love Hewitt. She is still hot though, just not as hot as my girlfriend. So back to the question. Is it wrong to run outside quickly in your underwear? Is there a limit to the level of skin that should be shown to your neighbors? I wouldn’t venture out naked but is the minimal coverage acceptable? I wouldn’t barbecue in underwear on a Sunday afternoon but in the dark for a quick jaunt outside seems fine. Does it matter what I look like in my underwear? Should the makeup of my body have any bearing on the level of clothes that I must maintain?

These and other meaningless, pointless questions plague me. Who has the answer to these perplexing dilemmas? Is there an all knowing oracle out there that can help me? As long as it isn’t the one who calls himself the Original Moron I am fine. I can’t handle his meaningless wandering lost attempts at trying to be clever. If he can ever figure out how to articulate his thoughts in a significant delivery then I might listen to his feedback. Until then I will dream of skating on ice because hell isn’t freezing over any time soon.

For those of you wondering yes that is really me. I don’t normally post pictures of myself in my blogs because I don’t want to distract from the writing but yes that is me. That is me standing there in my underwear looking hot beyond all imagination. I am serious. I look that hot. It is me damn it. I swear. God, I hate all you people. It is me and that is final. Just trust me. I would never mislead you.

Mondays

I wonder if there was a study done would it be scientifically proven that everyone feels a little more down on Mondays than any other day of the week. Is the consensus that nobody really likes to work or is it just that our society has evolved to a place in life where everyone’s jobs are nothing more than pushing paper. How many people actually function in necessities anymore? Can you even explain to your daughter what you do? When you describe your job of sitting in front of a computer pulling together data and reports do her eyes gloss over and you find yourself wondering what in the hell it is that defines who you are?

Does your company produce anything? If it does, is it something the world could do without? If there was a worldwide disaster tomorrow is there anything your company or you in your job could do to help? I sometimes look around at all of the essentials and get lost in the deluge of needless crap. We have banks to keep our money, trade in stocks that nobody really ever sees, people buy and sell derivatives of derivatives to a point where a company like Enron can be built and thrive without even having any form of product at all. It was just air and they made millions. Is the only goal in life to make money so you can sit back and do nothing?

Is doing nothing so appealing that we actually thrive for floundering in empty space? What is it that you do? Have you ever questioned what you have given back to your fellow man? If you were to leave this earth today what would be your legacy? Would your entire existence be centered on a spreadsheet that was filled with fictitious numbers of hopes that might not ever occur to begin with? We have our children and that is always a piece of who we are but will the world be a better place for them or will it trudge further down the road of civilization to a point where interaction with our fellow man is no longer a necessity?

What will be the next huge leap forward in technological advancement? We are seeing the demise of books replaced by electronic gadgets, the cell phones are evolving into little computing connections to the world, our TV’s are now dominate our houses, art is turning into nothing more than moving pictures on huge screens that interact with us as we move from one room to the next. Doesn’t anyone enjoy feeling the dirt sift through their hands or the warm sand on their feet as you walk on the beach? Are dogs really content being corralled into a fenced in enclosure where we segregate them into parks specifically designed for their mutual interacting enjoyment.

Could it simply be that Mondays are a little bit harder to take since they are the constant reminder of our pointless, aimless existence and how they depict the lack of originality that we deal with every day? What is it that you do? If you can’t explain it to your children then is it anything really worth explaining? They say that kids are our connection to simplicity and truth. Kids are honest and blunt in stating facts about what they see and how they feel. They haven’t yet been jaded by our cordial rules of interaction where everything needs to be placed into a tidy little wrapped package of acceptability.

If you have children sit down tonight and see if you can explain to them what it is that you do in 2o words or less. If you can’t then reflect on who you are and delve into how comfortable you feel with your input into the world. We are not all defined by our jobs but we can help define our jobs. I would challenge myself and anyone to start out this Monday with the simple goal of giving back something that might be meaningful. It might simply be saying hello to the guy sitting in the cube next to you or waving to the receptionist as you walk through the front doors of the huge concrete/glass building that was built from the profits your company made by providing nothing needful to anyone.

If we can’t change the focus of our rudderless ship I would suggest that we at least paint the damn thing some bright colors and enjoy what we can. Life is too short to be forever bound by the chains of lost identities. What is it that you do? Who are you really? If you can’t explain it to a child then you might want to spend some time working on the definition and restructuring the building blocks of necessitates that got you here in the first place.

Dinner in the City with my Teen

As everyone knows teenagers are all intelligent, experienced beyond their years and there is not much that you can tell them for which they don’t already know the answer. If you know one just ask them. Assuming you can pry them away from their cell phone or IPod. Those are permanently attached to their ears. It is with amazement and awe when they even give you a hint at being excited beyond something that deals with their friends or the latest, who is dating who. That is why it was such a fun treat to take my daughter to SF last night for dinner.

I picked her up after work, she was already ready and we drove down to Pac Heights where my girlfriend has an apartment. She lives in the city and has intimate knowledge of where we can hang out and have a great, even if expensive meal. Our reservations were not until 8:30 so we walked around for a little while and you could see my daughter’s eyes light up, darting back and forth taking in the experience. She became enamored with hair color since we had seen somebody with purple hair as we drove around looking for a parking space. It was funny to hear her comment on everyone’s style as she glanced from her phone to the outside world. While she did not express her excitement directly you could tell how enlightening it was by her inability to stop talking. She was jumping from one subject to the next in an endless flow of hyper statements.

It was wonderful to see her so worked up. When we sat down to dinner we ordered a pitcher of Sangria and when the waiter poured three glasses you could see a little glint in her eye as she looked at me then at my girlfriend and then back at me again. I was fine with her having a glass (she only had a few sips since she didn’t care for it) and it made her feel confident and part of the grown up crowd to be treated as an equal. It is amazing how fast she is growing up, becoming a young lady. Less than a year away and she will be driving and God only knows what I will do then. She is already vying for a Jeep which is her favorite car in the world and listing out all the reasons she feels that she is due the vehicle as she builds her case.

Dinner was nice and we stopped for some ice cream on the walk back to the apartment. Seemed like a perfect evening. The only negative is when my daughter was given the couch to sleep on. She is a little spoiled as she recoiled from the thought of retiring in a place so beneath her. I remember when I was growing up and slept on the floor on many occasions and it never seemed to bother me. In the end she managed fine and spent a couple of hours before bed watching TV and yes as you might guess texting on her cell.

It isn’t that often I get to spend time with only one child. Having three is great but you do lose some of that one on one experience that is needed from time to time. She commented on the drive home in the morning about how much fun she had. It was probably as much fun for me as it was for her. We will not have too many more of these times as she continues to drift further and further away into her own life experiences. I will miss her but I am also so proud to watch her flourish. She has come a long way in the past few months and she continues to grow in strength and maturity.

I do love her so much despite her being a teenager.