If it's possible to truly love an inanimate object, then I love our house. My head is a-twirl with all kinds of cool flower and vegetable gardening ideas...lemme at it!
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Had a rough-ish afternoon with the charges. The three of us were sitting at the kitchen table eating strawberries and younger charge said, "When are you going on your trip to Texas, Wo-wah?" And I explained to him that it wasn't a trip, that I was going to move down there and stay...and he got very quiet...then his bottom lip started quivering...and then he came over and climbed in my lap and threw his arms around my neck and started crying. But almost immediately after this he sat up and said, "Will you send us postcards anyway?" and I said I would and that cheered him right up.
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Later, we drove to a strip-mall pizza place where we were meeting their mom. When we were getting out of the car, older charge went ballistic at my request that he take his brother's hand, then started sobbing and screaming and trying to kick me (which, despite the punch Monday night, is very unlike him)...So we got back into the car until he calmed down -- he was crying so hard he was gulping for air at one point...and when he was finally quiet, I asked him what was wrong and he said, "I am SO mad at you for moving and I am not talking to you for the rest of the time you're here." I just told him I was sorry he felt that way, that I was sad about leaving too, and that I hoped he would change his mind and talk to me at least a little bit between now and then...I want so badly to portray to both of them how happy I am and all the positive things about the move but I didn't think he was going to be particularly receptive to that tack just then...And of course ten minutes later he was talking to me...
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