sun glittered wing, originally uploaded by in touch.

I am in a dragonfly mood today. There are so many beautiful dragonfly pictures on Flickr, it was hard to choose…

Aiming toward the mark, originally uploaded by j_jyarbrough.

And just when I thought I didn’t have a decent song to add, these songs arrived in my email…thanks to Fingertips!

“When Water Comes to Life” – Cloud Cult

“Swimming” – Shelley Short

Starr has three siblings. She has an older sister, who joined our family through Big Brothers Big Sisters, and stayed! We love her and she is never anything less than “sister” in our hearts. She also has two younger siblings that came the more natural way via her dad. Technically half-siblings, I guess, but we don’t and never did use that term around here. Just sister and brother. I have decided that for blog purposes, Starr’s little sister, who is thirteen, will be called Sissy, and her nine year old brother will be known as Rocket.

I called Starr and asked her what I should call her brother and she suggested “Lil’ Pimp” and for her sister? “Miss Teen Angst”…hmm…for now, I guess I will stick with Rocket and Sissy.

This is a little Rocket story. Rocket is funny, athletic, energetic, caring and spontaneous, as well as being a flat out cutie-pie. I know that he will be a great teenager, and a caring, loving adult, but I also know that I will miss his unique Rocketness as he ages. He is also a big time flirt, easily charming women of all ages.

Rocket and Sissy were coming to our house for an overnight with their big sister. They live a little over an hour away from us, closer to the city. Sissy had a volleyball game that afternoon, so Starr and I decided to leave early, go to the mall, look for the perfect shoes for prom and then head on down to watch the volleyball game.

In the school gym, Rocket was busy, hanging around his “girlfriend” Jamie. Jamie was 13 or 14 years old, Rocket was eight. She thought he was cute and sweet, but…ya know…eight. At some point during the game, he overheard her refer to another boy as her “boyfriend”. Seriously crushed and feeling quite frankly cheated on, Rocket’s life collapsed around him. Comforting from dad did little to soothe this broken heart.

After the game, I have loaded all three kids into my car, and we are on our way home. Rocket has finally stopped actively crying, and is just sullen and quiet. Starr, Sissy and I are trying to raise the energy level in the car, playing the music loud and singing along. (Yes, me too…but don’t tell anyone.) He had just begun to involve himself in our conversations, and seemed a bit better when he announced that he had to pee.

“Now! Pull over!”

“Well, I can’t actually do that right now, but I will find you a place to go as soon as possible.” I reply honestly, as we were on a busy freeway.

Helpfully, Sissy says, “Think of something dry.”

“All I can think about are wet things!” He whines.

Starr and I exchange looks, and I try not to laugh. The next available bathroom is not far off, and just as we approach the exit. Rocket complains, “I really really have to go to the bathroom, and the only thing I can think about are tears!”

“Tears?” Starr and I asked in unison.

“Yeah. Big WET tears.” he says so very seriously. “Like the tears running down my face. Running down my face, because Jamie squashed my heart like a tomato!!”

Oh, my…I love that kid!

All afternoon, I have had an earworm, a frustrating portion of a song stuck in my head. I keep hearing it over and over. The song is one from a Christian Music commercial and what I am hearing is “My (our?) God is an Awesome God!”, just that part, again and again. I think that even if it was a song that I absolutely loved…enough would be enough. Really. So, in hopes of reprogramming my mind a bit tonight, here are a few mp3s and a “video” to listen to:

“Sonic Boom” – Andy Partridge

“Reflecting Light” – Sam Phillips

“Phantom Limb” – The Shins

“To Go Home” – M. Ward