Finally Mrs. Casey

Well, this afternoon, I finally became Mrs. Judi Casey, after 26 years of marriage. I thought I had changed my name 26 years ago, but this morning I found out that was not the case.
I went to renew my driver's license this morning, being expired for 6 months, I figured it was time. After waiting an hour in line, I was told by the clerk that the name for my ss# was my maiden name from 26 years ago- it had never been changed and that he, under no circumstance, sould issue me a new license unitl the situation was rectified.
Now, I clearly remember changing my name on that ss form and bringing in the marriage certificate 26 years ago, but apparently, the computer does not have the same memory. So, I have been living a lie all these years. Of course, the IRS was perfectly happy to take tax money from Judi Casey, who did not really exist. But now, with the new anti- terrorist laws in place, the MVA can not issue a license to anyone whose name on their license does not exactly agree with the name associated with their ss#. So off to the social security admin. office I marched and sat for yet another hour, after which I was told the the MVA was absolutely correct and I would have to produce our original marriage certificate to right this wrong. Now, I am not the most fastidious of record keepers, in fact anytime I have to find any paperwork, I end up with a bedroom full of strewn papers,old drawings, locks from first haircuts, old stamps, and various other sundry items- usually unearthing the needed paperwork after an hour or two of cursing and vowing to visit the Container Store soon. Today was no different, and the original marriage certificate was found sandwiched between Will's nursery school graduation certificate and Mike's birth certificate with imprints of the tiniest feet ever seen.
Back to the SS office, with marriage certificate in hand, I waited another hour, when the clerk finally called my number. Satisfied that the marriage certificate was original, he asked for identification- I handed him my driver's license which he promptly said he could not use because it was expired. I handed him an expired passport for yet an additional source of identification. He did not find it amusing. Finally, he accepted a health insurance card (which thankfully has NO expiration date on it) as proof that I am who I say I am. And I changed my name!!!! So, I am now officially Mrs. Judi Casey! I think I should register at Tiffany's all over again!
And I happily drove up to the MVA with proof of name change in hand, received a new license and can drive 90 miles an hour without trepidation.

No More Bleary Eyed Mornings For Me!!!

Madeline passed her driving test, is licensed and now drives herself to 4:45 am practice! I am a happy woman!

A Sad Farewell to Shadow

We sadly bid farewell to Shadow, our beloved dog of 11 years. We picked up Shadow, an unwanted product of an illicit rendezvous between a prize winning Old English Sheepdog and a neighboring Black Lab, a year before I became pregnant with Mike and Tom. She became the twins' protector and never left their sides. She spent many years running beside them, up and down the court, as they rode thier bikes for hours on end. And she was the only member of our household that ever listened to me.
She will always hold a special place in our hearts.

Madeline's Garden

We are beginning to harvest tomatoes and have had a great harvest of green beans this year from Madeline's organic garden.
We also seem to be keeping the woodchucks happy and well fed.

Hummingbird Central

We have had a steady stream of hummingbirds to watch outside the family room door this summer, thanks to 3 mandevillas that must be very sweet.

The Fondest of Memories

This weekend we lost a guiding light in our lives.

John's mother passed away on Saturday night after a long struggle to recover from a knee replacement operation.

She taught us about simple pleasures in life. She was never too busy to find an opportunity to sit and read to the children, watch a movie with them or find a topic they loved to talk about. Time stood still when she was present. She felt no compulsion to be a slave to the dailiness of life, choosing rather to invest her time in what she treasured most- her family and her love of books and music.

Mary's generosity was boundless- she would spend an entire day in the bookstore looking for just the right book to bring to a friend or family member. And it was always the perfect choice. When she came to visit, she would come with an entire car full of groceries and clothing- as if we lived in the wilderness, not the suburbs of Washington DC. And she had the insight to know just what it was that each of her children/grandchildren needed. If it was time, not money- then time was what she gave. If it was space, not advice that was required- she gave room to think. Mothering was instinctive for Mary. Her love was, and still is, unconditional.

Mary, you gave us more than you could know. Each step of the way, as we go through our lives, we will remember your love.

Mothers Day

The kids kicked me out of the kitchen and created this masterpiece for Mothers Day.




Not only was it beautiful, but delicious too!

This Great Nation of Ours

How many deaths will it take to convince our government to pass gun control laws?

I can not imagine the profound sorrow of the families affected by the Virginia Tech killings. My heart goes out to them.

Passover '07

This year was a youthful Passover with kids outnumbering adults 4:1 (sorry Will,Dan, Melanie,Bob and Danielle- you are still kids from our perspective). But, the older kids have finally reached the point of no longer dying of embarassment when we sing "If I Had A Hammer" and were even seen singing along with their aging hippie parents.

Easter Weekend

A snowy surprise on a spring Saturday morning.
Tom took these pictures- enjoying his new self-designated role of family photographer.

Cherry Blossom Time

Took the boys downtown to see the FDR Memorial in cherry blossom season. I had forgotten what traffic is like during the peak week of flowering. But we had a great time in spite of the crowds. Their comments about FDR went something along these lines... "wow, he is like the polar opposite of george bush". so true.

Snippet From Last Night's Two Hour Dinner Conversation

Sarah is home from college for spring break and is attempting to reintegrate.

Sarah: So, what is going on with the ceilings in this house? The dining room and basement ceilings are totally torn up.

Me: Yeah, we must have done something to anger the water gods- two leaking pipes in one week.

Mike: You had better watch out for the minotaur.

All of us stop and cluelessly stare at the little kid.

Me: MIke, where did that come from?

Mike: Well, you know the legend.....

All of us, shaking our heads stupidly: Uhh, no.

Mike: Well,on the island of Crete, Popseidon's domain, the sea, surrounded it and he wanted to be honored by people on Crete. Poseidon sent a bull from the sea and ordered King Minos to sacrifice it to Poseidon. King Minos' daughter thought it was to beautiful to sacrifice and she persuaded her father not to do it. Poseidon was angered and caused the king's daughter to give birth to a minotaur.

Madeline: Now that would be the icing on the cake to complete this family.

Another Day of Outdoor Fun

Lauren, Mike, Tom, Samuel and Daniel worked hard to build a fort to protect them in their snow ball fights with the older kids on the block.
A good group effort produced excellent results.

Snow Day

Today, school was let out a few hours early for the impending ice storm.
I have very happy children!

Mike and Tom have moved on from sledding in our boring yard and have headed down to the creek to more adventurous territory. They have decided that the ultimate thrill is sledding down "Deadman's Cliffs" and ending up flying over the iced- over creek at the end.

Madeline is busy baking cupcakes for her friends for Valentine's Day.


Even the dog is happy!

Math Was Never My Strength

I have spent the last week trying to get an answer from our local school system, Montgomery County Public Schools, regarding the implementaion of their grading policy. It seems to me to be a flawed system that produces invalid grades, but math was never my strong suit and I was looking for an explanation. I could not get an answer that made sense- the only answer I heard was "it's the policy". Not particularly satisfactory.
So today I emailed my concerns to Jay Mathews, education reporter of The Washington Post. He is going to ask MCPS the same questions I have been asking- perhaps he will be able to get a more satisfactory response.
I have spent hours on the phone with this issue, and John keeps shaking his head and muttering something about chasing windmills and I keep reminding him that "foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds". Thank you Emerson.

R & R

cliftoninn1, originally uploaded by funnkds5.

John and I settled in the this cozy carriage house cottage at the Clifton Inn in Charlottesville Virginia for 3 glorious days of rest and relaxation without kids in tow. Sarah was generous enough to spend 3 days of her vacation babysitting for her younger siblings (getting them all off to school at 7 am is no small feat for a college student on vacation).John and I are eternally grateful for the 72 hours of uninterrupted time together!

A View to the Bedroom

cliftoninn2, originally uploaded by funnkds5.

Looking up from our living room to our bedroom loft. Very romantic! Especially without 5 kids running around.

Scenes from a Williamsburg Visit

Scenes from a Williamsburg Visit

Churchill High School Incident

A troubling incident occurred yesterday at a local high school in Potomac.
Potomac is like Lake Woebegone, where all children are above average, perhaps even exceptional.
But two days ago, five kids at Churchill had a rumble on the front steps, a fist fight, that injured several of the involved kids and a security guard. Apparently, these tensions have been building over the last few months and the principal had brought in the parents, the kids, police specializing in gang activity etc. to try and work things out.
The rumble was of concern, and I have no doubt that the students will be appropriately punished. However, what is of more concern to me, is the note that was sent home from the principal, classifying this incident as "black on black violence". Since when is violence color coded? What is that meant to infer? The good white folk of Potomac can still sleep easy? If this incident had occured on the steps of a DC high school, would it even have made the news? Isn't it this "we"/"they" mentality that begets this violence? Sometimes, it seems that we have made precious little progress in the whole race relations area.