A Day in Jennifer's Life~

Herding Stray Cats~

What does a typical day in Jennifer's life look like?

First of all, I have recently discovered that "typical" ended some time ago. I'm not sure the exact date our quiet, harmonious, first year of marriage was forever altered, but suffice to say it was sometime after Zoe turned 18 and my son, Earnest, came to live with us.

These two events coalesced into some new amorphous energy that looked and sounded like "I'm 18 and can do whatever I want." And, "I need your car to look for work, go to work, go to school, and for everything else I need to do."  Coinciding with this new energy, or because of it, all three cars (my son Max's included) decided to break down at the same time, and repeatedly. I will not even discuss our gas consumption. Adding to the carnage are the "tribes" -- "tribes" are best described as two or more loved ones that circle the queen (Zoe) or king (Earnest) and land around the "home" campfire.

Yesterday is a perfect example of the tribes circling the campfire. Earnest's girfriend, Shenda, and her son, Beechie, came over and spent the day and night.  Zoe came home with Tati to share in the dinner celebration of Earnest getting a job - crab legs, salad, baguette, brownies and ice cream - and then promptly (and rudely I might add) left "to be with her girls." Adding, "I'll be back later with Tati and Courtney". Oh, they did come home, too late and multiplied by two, so we had 4 in addition to Zoe sleeping around the campfire.

I laid awake last night, 3am to be exact, wondering how to herd stray cats. In my perseverating, I concluded that Zoe needed to be reigned in. So, I grounded her this morning while her "tribe" lay sleeping. I think she was expecting it. Even though Earnest will be leaving this week to embark on his new life, he has warned us he'll be back often.

Truth be told, I love the "tribes" and the flow of bodies in and out of the house. Teaching Beechie how to make brownies, and butter the baguette was a joy, watching everyone tear into the crab legs was hilarious, and sharing the hot tub and a cup of coffee with Shenda and Earnest this morning delightful. This is our family -- an ever expanding and contracting "tribe" of loved ones that know they are always welcome.