It has been eight years since two planes flew into to the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and the world as we knew it changed forever.  That morning is burned in my memory, the feelings and sights and horror are still so fresh that it feels almost like just yesterday that I stood in my living room (a different living room, in fact), staring at the television, not wanting to believe my eyes.

Our lives have changed drastically since September 11, 2001.  The way we think has changed.  Travel has changed.  Politics have changed.  People have changed.  Not all of this change has been for the better.  And not all of this change regrettable.  Some of this change just simply had to happen.

I hate that that day had to happen.  I hate a lot of what has happened to this beautiful country as a result.

I wonder how all the family who lost loved ones that day are doing now.   Does it feel like just yesterday to them too?  I bet it does.

It’s hard to know what to say here.  What IS there to say here?  I remember.  I will never forget.

I have to apologize for this week’s short list.  For some reason, I’ve had a very hard time keeping up with the blogs in my reader.  What this says about me, I’m not sure.  Probably that I am a slacker.  But why this would be news to anyone, I have no idea (dudes, it’s in my blog title).  So if I missed some awesome reads, I apologize in advance.  If you came across any great reads this week that I have left off this list, please feel free to list them in the comments.  Come to think of it, feel free to do that any week.  I would love for my YNTR lists to become collaborative, community efforts.

• Those batty old wives can suck it from Parental Discretion Advised.  Oh happy day!  Even though my childbearing years are behind me, I still get excited when I see someone go through the joys of pregnancy and finding out the gender of your little bundle is one of the best joys there is. Congrats, Bree!
• How To Take Photos With A Blurry Background from Dutch Blitz.  I wonder if these tips work as well for a point-and-shoot as they do for a DSLR?  What she says makes amazing sense, moreso than anything I’ve read before about the “blurry background” phenomenon.  I’m going to have to try her tips!
• Thanks from loraleeslooneytunes.com.  It is so good to hear from Loralee.  I was starting to worry about her when she vanished this last week.  I hope this month starts taking it easy on her soon, because it sounds like she’s having some hard times.  Go send her some virtual hugs.
• Top 10 Most Useless Baby Items from Baby Cheapskate.  While I can’t agree with the entire list (a Boppy pillow has been essential for us!), I have to agree with most of it.  The point that’s most important is that you really don’t need a lot of gadgets when you have a baby. 
  
• Seven from Ask Moxie.  Moxie gave a great 9/11 anniversary post this week.  If you haven’t already, you really should go read it.  Her “been there” perspective really hit home for me.
• Under The Blanket from Her Bad Mother.  I’m outraged for Catherine and I’m outraged for me.  Nursing mothers shouldn’t be made to feel this way.  I’m not sure how to fix it, what the answer is.  But something has to change because we can’t keep going this way, as a society.  Nursing is not “dirty”.  Shame on this airline.
• Liz Goodman Logelin Memorial 5k Walk/Run from matt, liz and madeline.  Whether you are a runner or even if you aren’t, consider taking part in this 5k on the 21^st at 1pm in your time zone.   Take some pictures, post them to flickr, and consider making a donation that will benefit a VERY good cause.

And that, as they say, is that.  I’m SO glad it is a Saturday.  I wish more days could be Saturday.  This week really kicked my hiney and I’m more than ready for a few mellow days.  Are you just as ready for the weekend as I am?

It started out not unlike every other morning.  The routine has been the same for years.  Kile gets up with his alarm between 5:30 and 6:00am (sometimes later, but not on this morning).  He would have his bathroom time and then take a long, steamy shower.  Why does he always try to boil his skin off?  Anyhow, it’s beside the point.  He gets dressed and that’s when I get out of bed, throw on my robe and slippers, etc and we go out into the living room to have breakfast, watch the Today Show and have a few minutes together before he has to leave for work.

It was such a nice morning, I remember thinking.  The sun was out, filtering through the windows.  The sky was clear.  It was a perfect day.  Not too warm, not too cool.  Perfect.  Or so I thought.

On this particular morning, Kile exited the master bedroom of our two bedroom apartment ahead of me and turned the television on.  I came out a minute later, a question on my lips (who knows what about?).  The question died as I stopped in front of the television, next to Kile who was also staring at the screen.  What was I looking at?  Was this a movie?  I struggled to orient myself as my eyes took in the scene.  A city… New York?  Buildings on fire.  No, not just any buildings.  The World Trade Center.  Both of them.  Why?  How?

Harry was not quite two years old and still asleep in the crib in his room.  I was free to sit, slack jawed before the television, and try to soak in what exactly was going on.  A plane had crashed into the towers.  Wait, TWO planes.  What the heck?  What did that mean?  Obviously it was on purpose.  But who?

Then a plane crashed into the Pentagon and that’s when things got really serious.  I’m a little muddy on the timeline of events.  It was seven years ago, after all.

Kile hung around as we watched in horror.  As the first tower came crashing down.  He didn’t believe it at first, but I saw the top of the tower fall.  We both had the same thought, “All those people…“  Eventually, Kile did leave for work.  I’m still amazed that he did.  I couldn’t have concentrated if I were him.  But maybe he needed the distraction.  Still, he told me that the whole office listened to the radio and watched TV all day long.  Not a lot of work got done.

That was pretty much the same story at home.  Harry, still so little, got very little attention all day long.  He was fed and cared for but my attention was on the television.  I couldn’t stop watching the screen, listening to the anchors as they gave us more and more information.  I soaked it in, unable to look away.  The horror was so fresh and so foreign.  What did this mean for our future?  Were we at war?  Would we ever be safe again?

I knew something was different from then on, but I didn’t know exactly what.  I couldn’t have predicted the change that happened in our country after that fateful day.  In so many ways, I’m so disappointed.  I thought we were better than this.  Stronger than this.  After the attacks, I was so proud to display a flag and put a “United We Stand” bumper sticker on our new van.  I watched Congress sing “God Bless America” on the steps of the Capital and for that moment, there were no parties.  No Republicans and no Democrats and I felt a stirring of hope.  Maybe if we could come together, then it wouldn’t be so bad after all.

It’s laughable now that I thought that.

Here it is, seven years later.  In so many ways, our great nation is more divided than it was at the beginning of that normal morning that wasn’t.  And sometimes I wonder, will we ever recover?