siouxs! and i took a secretive trip home this weekend so we would have a last chance to see my (step)brother before he ships out to paris island for marine boot camp. we instructed my mom to tell no one but my aunt and uncle so that we could come in without having to make the usual rounds to see every family member in the east tennessee area. in that, it was fairly a success. we went skeet shooting for the first time (1st for me and siouxs!; michael was thoroughly experienced and quite a good shot... imagine that). we saw haven thomas judd, cutest child in the western hemisphere (there's a kid in china named tan ling who caused several people to lock their own children in the basements for the rest of their lives because they could ever measure up).

we also saw haven's birth mom. i still don't know how i feel about that encounter. she's left her husband and is trying to finalize the divorce, which is good. she seems a little more mature, and that is good. she has a good job with no opportunity to steal a deposit, and that is good. however, she might as well not have been able to see haven, and i don't know how i feel about that. on one hand, i don't want her thinking that she could ever have him back. i don't really think she is the most fit mother in the world. i just don't know what to feel right now. i love my cousin, but i can't always like her.

i don't know what else to say about all of this, so i'll just say i'm glad to be back in the stl.