Mackenzie Turns 15

For 15 years, I've been continuously amazed by this wonderful creature. As a baby, she was so stubborn, she wouldn't let anyone other than me push the grocery cart or her stroller. She walked before 9 months, surprising everyone with her tiny upright body. Her fluffy, cornsilk hair turned into crazy red-brown corkscrews right before my eyes. Then one day, she she started talking, and hasn't stopped since.

Mackenzie is wise beyond her years and her maturity, at times, puts me to shame. She adapted to a new stepfather and 2 new brothers with amazing grace, and took the initiative to learn American Sign Language to better communicate with Alex. I can always count on her to step in when my patience with him runs low. Her compassion and empathy are impressive (considering how much she doesn't like babies).

After we moved back Home, Mackenzie quickly made friends and in school, she ranks 19th out of her class of over 500. When she needs homework help, she's on her own. Mackenzie's a dedicated athlete, and has to talk me into dragging my butt out of bed to take her to 5:45am practice. This spirit is probably why, as a freshman, she competes on the Varsity Swim Team.

Mackenzie makes me laugh. She is in my head and I in hers. When no one else "gets" us, we "get" each other. Sometimes we just have to look at each other to know what the other's thinking and it's all over for the people in our midst. We dissolve into giggles like two best friends at a slumber party. I can always count on her to tell me Which Shoes? or answer me truthfully when I ask, "Do these pants make my butt look big?"

Mackenzie hasn't decided what she wants to be when she grows up, but has ruled out her baby dreams of being a Mounted Police Officer. Last I heard, it was a toss-up between Sign Language Teacher in a Special Needs Classroom and News Anchor. She's got a while to decide, and I plan on just sitting back to enjoy the ride.

You all know how I believe in Serendipity. And what a happy accident that I was appointed to be her mother. I know that Mackenzie is destined to grow into a stunning and extraordinary woman, someone we can all be proud of.

Raise your glass to a memorable Past and a wondrous Future.

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!

Listening to Mac

A year ago, I bought Mackenzie the Twilight series for her for Christmas. She promptly read them all in less than a week and then accosted me with the entire series, saying I MUST read them Right Now. But I was busy. I was painting the house and starting a new job and still adjusting to the addition of 3 more boys into our Girl House. And I didn't read them.

Then out of the blue, just after Christmas this year, I picked them up and read them all in under 2 weeks. The only reason I didn't read them more quickly was that pesky job of mine and my terribly annoying habit of falling asleep the moment I get horizontal.

I LOVEDLOVEDLOVED the entire series and each time I had to put one of them down, I couldn't wait to pick it back up again and learn what was happening with Bella next. They were an easy read and sometimes silly, but the story did it's job and took me away from Child Protection and dishes and 100-pound-meltdowns, to a Make Believe world for a short time each evening.

The moral of this story? We should all listen to Mackenzie. She knows of what she speaks.

Reading List 2010

Someday, I'll start reading again. For now, I keep plugging along...

• The Alchemist's Daughter ~ Katharine McMahon
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time ~ Mark Haddon
• ??
  
• Three Junes ~ Julia Glass
• While You Were Gone ~ Sue Miller
  
• Tamar ~ Mal Peet
• Sarah's Key ~ Tatiana de Rosnay
• The Glass Castle: A Memoir ~ Jeanette Walls
  
• The Help ~ Kathryn Stocket
• A Reliable Wife ~ Robert Goolrick
  
• Fortune's Rocks ~ Anita Shreve
• Her Fearful Symmetry ~ Audrey Niffenegger
  
• The Kitchen House ~ Kathleen Grissom