Is it just me, or....

Music Video:LIFE IS A HIGHWAY (by Rascal Flatts)

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...do these things happen to other people, too?

Okay. We travel to Kelso for Jake's graduation. It was an amazing event. Jake is such a great kid. Seems like just the other day, Denise was coming through the airport, 5 month old Jake in her arms, and me with a huge Kenny tummy. Then Darren went to Saudi Arabia and Denise and Jake were stateside. We spent a lot of time together. Kenny and Jake were best buddies with practically interchangable mommies. They both loved to blow kisses onto my big Zach tummy. Denise would say that Zach was going to come out spotted and bruised from all the love he got even before he was born.

Jake's a lot bigger now. But his eyes are still as blue and he can still make me laugh out loud. Especially during late night card games at the beach. I haven't been yelled at by my mother in years, but it happened more than once at the beach. I blame it on Jake. He started it.

He used to come to Walla Walla every summer to go to football camp with Dave and the boys. Dave and I used to just count the days 'til he'd get there. We couldn't wait to have Jake for a week. And he loved staying at our house, too. Once, after a long day of football, he and Zach were laying in front of the tv, eating chips & dip. Jalapeno & cheddar dip. And he smiled at me and said, "Aunt Shell, I love coming here because you always have this dip for me. My mom will never buy it." (Denise has a healthier cupboard than I do!) So after that, I usually put a can of the cheese dip in with Jake's Christmas and birthday presents as a joke. So we got him a fridge for his WSU (GO COUGS!) dorm room...and...ahem...several cans of cheese dip!




We also got to see Luke play in a baseball tournament, so I wasn't jonesing too badly. They were so cute. And Luke played some catcher, too. Way cool. They took 3rd out of 13 teams. Awesome!

And on Sunday we headed home. Sigh of relief, right? Oh...wait. I forgot to tell you. We brought our pregnant cat (Snickers, AKA Juno, AKA BabyMama) with us. I DON'T KNOW WHY I TELL YOU, I JUST DID, OKAY?????

So she goes into labor. Somewhere around The Dalles. Yeah. That's about 3 hours away from home.

And as we get to Arlington, it's apparent this is the real deal and we're going to have a kitten in the back seat of a suburban.

So Kate promptly FREAKS OUT. No, really. She did.

And Zach's saying, "Ahh, Mom, I think I should drive."

And Kenny's in the front seat. Headphones firmly in place. iPod turned up all the way. "Don't even look at me!" written all over that face.

Juno, by the way, is pretty calm. We've got a box for her, so she's sitting in there purring and rubbing on Zach.

Then the bloody show.

So, Kate FREAKS OUT. Kenny turns up his volume. I talk to Zach. It'll be okay. Just stay with her. Comfort her, tell her she's doing a good job.

"Mom, maybe I should drive."

So after a little bit, I call Nurse Neese. She suggests we pull over until the first baby is born.

Zach says, "Is it supposed to look like a superball with a stripe?"

HUH?

"Well, their heads are pretty small," I tell him.

"Not THIS small," Zach replies.

Kate FREAKS OUT. "What's wrong with its head?????"

So I take Denise's advice and pull over into some desolate truck stop outside Boardman. And I check the cat. And well, it's a TAIL.

So, I freak out. Not capital letters...yet. Denise googles it. "No, it's okay, 40% of all kittens are breech. It will be fine."

And our tiny Juno has a contraction and I take one look and I just know, that superball kitten is NEVER coming out of there. So I Freak Out. (Just a few capital letters.) Denise says, "It's okay unless it's been stuck for 10 minutes, then you'll have to pull on it." Seems like it's been a year. So the next contraction I gently pull on the tail. Nothing. Nada.

So, it's getting dark and we can't see. So I go into the minit-mart and buy a flashlight. Because the one I so cleverly, with fore-sight, put in our SUV a year ago has dead batteries and minit-marts in god-forsaken truck stops apparently don't sell batteries alone.

And I don't want to be out here in the dark with a laboring cat any more. So I decide Zach should drive.

And I FREAK OUT! All caps this time. I don't know why. He's an excellent driver. Better than me at this point, I'm certain. But I have this mini-panic attack and start doing this funny breathing thing, like I'M the one in labor. "I can't do this, Zach. I can't do this. I don't know why, I just can't."

So Zach. He pulls the car over, gets in the back seat and somehow manages to get me, Kate and the cat breathing calmly.

I drive. And pop. Out comes the kitten. A calico like her mom. Promply christened "Freeway" for the place of her debut. And BabyMama knew just what to do. Cleaned the baby up, got it breathing, and other things that shall go unmentioned due to some folks' delicate sensibilities. Go visit a farm, for Lord's sake!

Took the baby a while to latch on and nurse. Maybe because of the speeding, swerving driver. Yeah...Zach should have driven.

We made it home before the next one was born. I was up until 4:00 am. Five altogether. 1 calico, 2 black and white and 2 orange. Whew! Juno and company are doing well, 48 hours later. And Duke LOVES the babies. Koda, of course, is afraid of them.

So.....how was YOUR weekend?
And, by the way, do you need a cat? I think you do. Really. I think you do.

So, Monday morning comes shining loudly through my window. 7 am: time to get ready for FOOTBALL!!!
Yeah... 8am to 8pm. Football!
Watched some scrimmages on Tuesday. Zach had an interception and 2 td's. It was a fabulous outing and it was so fun to see them on the field again.

Baseball tonight. Zach's exhausted and sick and has a hurt left knee and a hurt right ankle. Had a HORRIBLE game. Insists on going to football in the morning. This week just might kill us all.

Keep praying for Kristi...I hear the hair has made its exit, but that means the chemo is working and Kristi feels that the tumor is noticeably smaller. YEAH!!!

Patti...how's all in NJ?