I'd Walk to You if I Had No Other Way

I haven't written in awhile. I've just been feeling very "blah" lately. Likely because of the loss of a child recently from within my circle of friends. Trying to return to normal (whatever that is) after such a loss ain't easy, and in trying to get out of the funk, writing just hasn't been the salve it usually is for me.

Or maybe I'm just a slacker. That could be it.

Regardless, here's the catch up: Chase officially began middle school. This is his second week in and for the first time ever, he's still coming home reporting that he likes it. Maybe it's the changing of the classrooms for each subject, the lockers, the added freedom and independence he's now given, the concept of "dressing out" for PE (altho I remember that as a nightmare, myself). But whatever it is, I'm glad. He's come home each day having completed most of his homework already (nice for me) and also reports that apparently homeroom these days is a time allotted for catching up on homework you didn't complete the previous night. Gee, I remember homeroom being for that same reason although it wasn't listed that way officially. It's just what happened--frantic scribbling on papers as you kept one eye on the clock, willing it to slow the hell down. All we had in homeroom was 10 minutes--enough to count you here or not here--and then you were dashing to the first period of the day. Now, Chase gets 30 minutes or so. Lord, I could've written an entire paper in 30 minutes; what a luxury!

Chase did say something pretty cool the other day, something that makes me realize that middle school or no, he's still little and still encompasses the sweetness that I'm afraid will disappear as the middle school years progress. We were in the car listening to my ipod and the song "Hey There, Delilah" came on. Chase loves this song and loves to hear songs he knows the words to because he belts them out, largely out of tune, but it's still cute. He came to the part that says: "1,000 miles seems pretty far but they've got planes and trains and cars, I'd walk to you if I had no other way." And Chase looked at me and said: "If I was 1,000 miles away, I'd walk that far to get to you, too."

What a heart melter. What's that, you say? You'd like a new bike, skates, Rita's Italian Ice? Lets go get it for you right now! He could've asked me for the world after that sweet comment and I'd have gone to the ends of the earth to get it for him. Even if I had to walk to get there.