The Musings of a Latte Queen: Narratives of Everyday Life

This is the first full week of school. My house is silent, eerily so. Perhaps I should be joyful at this change, this rite of passage, with my six year old now a big girl, a full fledged first grader.  I'm not sure yet. Once again, my youngest child changed my status. I have been a full-time domestic engineer since May 2003 when I was one of several who were let go in that summer bloodbath, back in the early days of this economic downturn, recession, depression, or whatever it has been for all these years.  I was also two months pregnant with my not-wanting-to-be-forty-and-pregnant surprise gift from God. The last month of school was surprising and cool.  I got to see what all the other full-time mommies did.  I met the bus for my then nine year old son and hosted many after school soirees between him and his buddies.  That first summer was even cooler with the lazy days and Missouri heat resting on us like a wet blanket.  There were many, many da...

Today is my 10th wedding anniversary. Milestone. Today I also learned that Prop 8 was overturned as unconstitutional. Marriage is a civil right, according to the mayor of Los Angeles. I can not believe I have been married for ten years, my previous status as  Mrs. didn't last more than a year.  I was young, bold, and just got out of a bad situation before I was in it too long.  I did end up with kids. It is funny, I sat down one day and thought about what has kept us married for ten years.  Certainly there were circumstances and situations that would have made me throw in the towel and move on.  Marriage is not for the faint of heart, there are peaks and valleys. We certainly experienced our's. I was married before and brought children into the marriage.  He didn't bring children.  That affected us, then we immediately had the girls. The wild antics of teenage sons, financial loss from two professional jobs gone inside of two months, th...