My life...just not on the road I expected (but it's still dang good).: Rachel Chaney (has Really Cool Kids)

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Before I left Texas, I wanted to make sure that I got some one-on-one time with each of Rachel's kids because they're each really special to me.

So I bought Carter an Izzy soda (He said it's the second best drink he's ever had - right after Dr. Pepper.) and asked him to show me the community garden and the nature trails that Rachel had told me about.

This kid is part encyclopedia, part comedian and his whole scalp moves when he raises his eyebrows. (We hit it off immediately because neither of us like mushrooms or the UofO Ducks.)

And he nicknamed me "Un-Duck Fan", gave my business cards prime real estate inside his wallet, asked for my autograph and told me I was wierd, but in a really good way.

And every time I asked for an extension on how many photos I could take of him, he gave it to me.

All of which makes him a really cool kid in my book.

Emmeline and I walked down to the coffee shop in the dark before school one morning and I let her order a hot chocolate and a cinnamon roll the size of her head.

She is smart and honest and deep and at 10, she seems to have a better grasp on life than I had in my 30's.

If we were the same age, I think we'd be best friends (or at least I'd follow her around school all day asking her if she'd be my best friend.)

I didn't take a whole lot of pictures of our morning together, but that has nothing to do with how lovely she is and everything to do with how great our conversation was.

She even asked me to walk her to class so I could meet her teacher.

And I picked Harrison up after school one day so we could go get icecream.

This kid has a sweet tooth like nobody's business. (After he finished his sherbert, he noticed my partially eaten bowl of cookies & cream and quickly polished off the rest of mine as well.)