go with throttle up

Well, it's summer once again, and my liver will pay the price. The kiddos are in full, high-decibel swing and pool obsessed. Will is swimming like a dolphin and my other girl has upgraded herself to the deep-end...literally. Fourteen feet of high board and Evil Knievel water slides...the whole enchilada. Lots of growing, lots of squealing and lots of changes.

After a very difficult year, we Mags have decided to begin working our way back West. Yep, cement ponds and movie stars. We have the casa up and Big Daddy will hit the road at the end of the month to begin his new job. I will stay behind as a temporary single mom, hold down the fort in this sluggish market and try not to drink myself to death. It won't be the most fun I ever had but what are ya gonna do? That's what web cams and Skype are for, I guess. This relocation was sort of kismet with the way it unfolded and well...Mama is up for an adventure. It will cost me about 400 square feet and a sixty percent hike in health care premiums, but what the hell. Los Angeles, with all its faults ;-)....is really still home to me. I spent well over 20 years out there and have a darn good pal base and, hey, I actually know some loony moms like me who decided to have children past forty. So we can jaw and pinot grigio it up over our raw nerve endings and waning estrogen...whee!

The girls are pretty excited. Why wouldn't they be? The get to sink their toes in beach sand, whoop it up and not have to pay for it. They are leaving behind some incredible friends though...truly. My kids know how to pick 'em. We have been so fortunate to know you, Cowan, Harr and Vandiver Fams, and for that I am very thankful.

The past seven years have been a roller coaster. An Ozarkian loop-de-loop. I nested and had my second baby here, bought two homes, helped my pops through cancer, came very, very close to losing the hub to a necrotizing pneumonia and have buried both my parents. I've watched my guy work hard without complaint so that I might stay home with his children. I have enjoyed bright stars and big full moons that I swear were so close I could reach up and pluck them from the night sky. Fall has colored my world for almost a decade now with its gold and orange plaid and don't get me going on the red buds. Those gorgeous purple swatches against the green of the mountains. I treasure the time we spent in beautiful Bella Vista in our very beginning- our little niche in the trees, nursing my two little munchkins and wondering just what life had planned for me. Well, it threw in a dry county, a hideous case of the chickenpox back in '05 and some humidity, but there's always a little bad with the good, right?

As miserable as my allergies have been, I am so glad I packed up all those years ago and followed my heart. It isn't always easy, but you're always glad you did. I can not replace the hugs and ice-cream kisses shared between my parents and their grand babies. Our family's three little ones were their life, plain and simple. I have never seen mom and dad more happy then answering to the knock of those tiny little hands. All the birthdays and my sis' yummy deviled eggs....their dream of building a family had come true. As sad as it got in the end, I know in the deepest part of myself, that my folks had come full circle. That 66 year tie was complete and had yielded them a bigger bow then they'd ever expected...and more.

Yes, it has been supersonic alright. 2011, in particular. But there ain't no ejection seat in life, so onward we must go! We're so grateful for all the peeps who've come into our lives here on this part of the journey- some new friends, some old ones, some I never get to see but who I will always hold dear. One in particular, who I've known since the third grade. Darla, you are my friend, my soul sister, my angel and another mom to my kids, girl.

Thanks to all for the prayers, friendship and Facebook humor. It has been a gift. I see it really isn't so much the race itself but more about the pit-crew that fuel us along the way. Here's to new beginnings!

P.S.) Change is scary as hell. But it is inevitable.

Here's to independence & star-spangled banners! Happy birthday weekend to our country, our freedoms and our lives! Prayers go out to soldiers in all directions on this planet who are missing their family BBQs....