I’m in a bad mood tonight. I’m not sure why. My day hasn’t been all that bad, really. I’m in a bad mood tonight, though, for no good reason. I keep getting mad at nothing, and I feel kind of depressed. I need to get out and do something fun, I think. I’m looking forward to going on a trip in a few days. We are leaving Wednesday for South Carolina. My little brother is graduating from Marine Corps Boot Camp, and we are going to see him graduate. We have Wednesday for traveling, and whatever else we want to do when we get there. Thursday is Family Day, and Friday is Graduation Day. I can’t wait to see my brother,Jason, and my friend, Robert, and I can’t wait to see the ocean. I have never seen the ocean before, and I am 21 years old. So, I will be visiting it for the first time with my children and my three youngest brothers. They have all never seen the ocean either. So, it’s pretty exciting. Saturday, we are going to spend the day there, and then come home that night. I’m really looking forward to it. Since my parents and brothers are going, too, I’ll have plenty of help with the kids, so I can really enjoy the trip, too. When you have no one to help you, trips can become more work than fun.

I’m so proud of my brother. I can’t wait to see him in uniform. My older brother, Aaron, is in the Air Force, and I cried the first time I saw him in uniform. I didn’t get to go to his graduation, because I was pregnant with Kyra and couldn’t travel all the way to Texas. So, the first time I saw him in uniform was on his wedding day. He came home long enough to get married, and he had to go back within like two days. I’m really proud of Aaron and Jason. Aaron joined the Air Force right after September 11th. He felt like his country needed him. Jason joined right out of high school, and I think it was really brave of him to join the Marines when our country is at war. I love both of my brothers so much, and I am so proud of them for their service to our country. Young men like my brothers are a credit to our country.

So, anyway, that boosted my mood a little bit.

Tennessee plays at 12:30 tomorrow. Go Vols! Or, Go Orange, as Kyra says.

I’ve had kind of a boring day today. Got up at six with Elijah, dozed on the couch until ten. Got Chris up to get ready for his doctor’s appointment. Ate a bowl of cereal, which I shared with Kyra. Took a shower. Throw in several nursing sessions, a dozen or so diaper changes, a couple loads of laundry, making a couple meals, watching some t.v., reading sporadically, and watching it rain. That’s about it.

I did start my fourth book today. It’s Cold Mountain. I’m just a little way into it, but I think it’s going to be really good. I saw the movie, and I’m hoping the book will be even better. Anytime I read the book first, when I see the movie, I’m really disappointed in it. If I see a movie first, like it, and then read the book, I am usually happy with the book. The movie doesn’t spoil the story, because I saw it first. The book, then, just adds to it. The only time I read the book first, saw the movie later, and was pleased with the movie, was when I read Of Mice and Men, and then saw the movie. The movie was just as good as the book. Probably because the book was so short, they had time to put everything in the movie. Anyway, that’s pointless.

Elijah got his first tooth yesterday, and he pulled up for the first time today. He’s getting so big so fast. It’s exciting in a way, but it makes me sad, too. He’s probably my last baby, so I kind of get sad over his getting bigger. On the other hand, though, I see how much easier Kyra is now, at two, and I am looking forward to him being less demanding of me. I’ll be glad to get a full night’s sleep, and to have my body back. I have been either pregnant or breastfeeding for the last three years.

How about this? I graduated when I was sixteen. Got married at seventeen. Got pregnant and had a baby at eighteen. Got pregnant again about three days after my twentieth birthday, and had a baby at twenty. So far, I’ve not done anything dreadfully important at twenty-one. I’m afriad I may have crammed all of the most momentous of my life’s accomplishments into five short years. I guess the only milestones I have to anticipate as a woman, now, are menopause and death. He he. Don’t you think that was funny? Strangely enough, death seems a little less intimidating than menopause. And I’m only have kidding. I kill myself! Get it? Kill myself…man…what a boring day.

Hey, what do you think about this? While most people are raising kids into their late forties and even fifties…or later….I will only be thirty-eight when Elijah is eighteen. I can do all the travelling and gallavanting about with Chris after they are grown, and I’ll still be young enough to enjoy it.

Well, I have successfully ran out of even the most mundane of topics. So long!

Kyra, Elijah, and their Uncle Seth 

Chris and the Kids 

Kyra and the Puppies 

There was a lunar eclipse tonight. I had never seen one before. It was pretty neat. Kyra thought it was cool, because she is obsessed with the moon. She likes nothing better than to stare at the night sky. Tonight, she disovered a new constellation. She was staring at a group of stars, and proclaimed it to be “Dora’s Choo Choo”. I thought it was cute. The whole time we were watching it, I had “Bad Moon Rising” going through my head.

I finished The Red Pony by John Steinbeck today. Both stories in it were good. The first story left me feeling like it was unfinished, in a way, and was kind of sad. It was very interesting and I liked the character a lot, though. The second story in the book was great, I thought. It ended in a way that really made you think. All in all, I liked the book a lot, but it wasn’t as good as the other stories I’ve read by Steinbeck.

Yesterday was such a great day, I still feel happy over it. We had to get up early to take Chris to his eye doctor’s appointment. While he was doing that, me and the kids walked across to the library. Me and Kyra had fun looking at books. She found one about cows. She really likes cows, lately. Later that afternoon, we went to the park to play for a little while. It was such a beautiful, beautiful fall day. Perfect weather! Then, we went to my mom and dad’s, and spent the rest of the day there. It was so much fun. Me, Chris, and my little brothers, Seth and Luke, played football, and Kyra chased puppies all over the place. One particular puppy was her favorite. She loves that puppy. It was just such a fun day spent with together as a family. I’m still happy from it.

I really, really, really don’t like Bill Clinton. Not one bit.

Chris’ vision is normal, and there are no problems with his optic nerve. Yay for good news!