Happy Easter!

We had a really pleasant Easter weekend. The weather was actually nice for a change!
My mother in law hosted an egg hunt. She has a huge yard, so it's a fun place to go for family activities. She is rapidly losing her eyesight, but she still managed to make a large paper-maiche egg for each and every child, filled with goodies!
We had a picnic lunch on the lawn, and relaxed a bit (I caught my son & 2 daughters playing a game of basketball - I don't think this has ever happened before!), while the little girlies drove the mini-Hummer around the yard.
I got a fun group shot of my kids and grandkids all in a pile (one son is missing - he worked graveyard and was sleeping it off)
Then we drove up in the hills to roll eggs.
After Eastering, hubby and I went looking for a new dishwasher. Our old one is so bad, that when you open it up, you can't tell if it's been run or not without close inspection - not healthy I'm thinking!
So Sunday, while I was trying to prepare my Easter feast - hubby was on the floor under me, trying to install it.
But dinner was fabulous in spite of it all! (if I do say so myself!)
Church services were pretty low-key this year - almost left me wishing for a little more, but here's a little reminder of why we celebrate in the first place:

Happy & Blessed Easter greetings to all!










Three little pig-talied cousins...

It's that time again....

Time to color eggs and go roll them down the hill (this came up too fast!...I'm not ready!) At least I don't have little ones in my house who have to be visited by the Easter Bunny.
My husband's family has the tradition of going "Eastering" on the Sat. before Easter - we have a picnic, and then all the kids roll thier eggs down the hill. Sounds like a quaint innocent tradition, right?
The adults usually wait at the bottom of the hill, and toss them back up so they can keep doing it until they are completely demolished. It usually turns into something else when the kids start pelting them at whoever is at the bottom. Trust our family to take a time honored tradition and turn it into a violent free-for-all!
Sunday we celebrate by attending church services. I still have to plan my Easter dinner. I wanted to go with the traditional ham, potato salad etc., but hubby wants to barbeque. If this means he's willing to cook - I'm leaning that way too!

My sister has been e-mailing me a lot of funnies lately - I got a kick out of this one:




Happy Easter everyone!

Guess What?

...I'm published!!!!
I submitted a layout to Cantata Books last year - I didn't know for sure if they were going to use it until I got my copy in the mail today.
How exciting!...I can die now.

Blah blah blah....

I was going to complain - it's been another one of those weekends - (hubby's been sick, and I spent the weekend in the kitchen as usual) but I decided I don't even want to go there - I just want to run off to fantasy land instead and talk about the outrageous!
So for starters - I finally got a chance to see the movie "Marie Antionette" a couple of weeks ago. Wow! ...I'm not sure I liked the story that much, it was a little weird - and I hate it when they start to lead you off in one direction, and then they totally shift gears and go another way (have you seen "The Queen"? ...that one does the same thing - very annoying!) ...but anyway - whether you like the story or not, to me it was worth seeing because THE CLOTHES! - and THE SHOES!!! Oh my goodness! they were gorgeous!
I saw that they won an Academy Award for that - it was well deserved! (Loved the scenery too!)



Thankfully, you don't have to see anyone lose thier heads in the film - that is just implied at the end as you see them ride off to thier "doom." I think the whole point of the story can be summed up in one line - when the King dies and the son (Marie Antoinette's hubby) says - "God help us - we're too young to rule" (or something like that - my memory sucks!)

Speaking about frivolous - I told my daughter tonight, that I was going to start planning her wedding (this is not an announcement - she's not even dating, but I want to - ok?)
It's going to be rich fall colors for the flowers, The cake will be part chocolate, part rice krispy treats, and her gown is going to be a mideval - Lady Guinevere type gown....with beaded satin flip-flops.
She'll have a wreath of flowers with dangly ribbons down her back. We'll have a mandolin player, and strolling madrigals - and for sure a bagpiper - maybe even a court jester.
Hmmm.... maybe I should just go to the Shakespear Festival and get this out of my system!

*I finished reading "Twilight" this week, and made the mistake of reading the teaser for the sequel - when she's at her birthday party, and gets a paper cut, and all the vampires catch a whiff of it and pile up on her - so not fair! Now I have to read book 2!

Anyway, hope everyone had a Happy April Fool's Day!
(Can't believe it's April already!)
Hey Nonny Nonny....

*** Newsbreak***

Can't believe I forgot to mention - while we were on vacation, my son announced that he's going to be a daddy again!
I'll be a granny to the 3rd degree!
(3posts in one day? - a new record for me!)

Need a Smile?

My sister sent me these funny pic's the other day, and they made me laugh out loud! - just had to share...
1) Remember my theme of "One mind"?....well, this is not what I meant!"
2) Just hangin' out...
3) Hang in there baby!
4) Gives a new meaning to the term "suck face"!
5) Peeping Tom
6) Stamping out discrimination
7) Manual dishwasher









*Quote of the day: I'm reading the book "Twilight," (it's a young adult novel about a vampire) This line cracked me up today:

"It was hard to decide what to wear. I doubted there were any etiquette books detailing how to dress when your vampire sweetheart takes you home to meet his vampire family."

Ok, I'm weird - it just hit me funny!

I Love My Job....

...No, I really do! Compared to what I was doing before, I just feel like I have room to breathe, and even a life! If I get sick - I can actually take the day off! ...And I never work weekends or holidays anymore! I can't tell you how much this means to me! It's fun work too - I get to shop for other folks half the day, then box it up and ship it out the second part of the day, in a friendly uplifting environment.
On days like today though, I get very nervous. It has been really slow all this week. Don't get me wrong, it's always nice to have a relaxing day once in a while (even the music on the radio was mellow), but if there are too many days like this in a row - I won't have a job anymore - and I will have to go to some other retail establishment, (because that's all I can do - I could be a poster child for "Stay in School or this could happen to you" week)...and back to being a slave to the industry - weekends, nights holidays, etc.
That would not be good - no, not good at all...

Home again, home again, jiggety jig...

Don't you hate coming home from vacation? It's always such a culture shock! After exploring, shopping, lounging, eating out - to come home to the house that the kids have been "looking after" while we were away (not touching the diswasher or anything else for that matter) and chewing me out that I wasn't here to cook for them and they had to fend for themselves.....please! Pardon me while I prick my finger so I can work up a tear!
We did have a wonderful time though, and here are a few photos to prove it:












We spent a day hiking in the desert (I was amazed how well the little ones kept up!...and us old ones too! Ha ha!) We took a picnic lunch, and then played in the sand dunes, the gram & gramps took the little ones home while they kids went cave hunting.
The next day we went museum hopping, we went to a dinosaur quarry, and a wild animal museum (they were all stuffed)
Saturday was shop till you drop day (not as fun as it sounds - two single young girls at an outlet mall - need I say more?)
So, sadly - it's back to reality. On the upside, the book I ordered last week came while we were away, (EVERYONE at work is reading this book, and I'm the only one who hasn't read it - so, I succumed. Peer pressure is a compelling force, even to middle aged granny's)...so I've been reading that all this evening...I'm already halfway through it...can't put it down!
That's my week in a nutshell - tommorrow it's back to work!....*Sigh* :(

Shameless Plug...

Since I've been sharing plugs for local bands this week, I may as well plug my son's band as well - LOL! (That's their logo above)
They call themselves "Charging Fredrick."

...and if you go here you can here samples of thier music:

If you look at their photo gallery, my son is the one hugging the mac & cheese box.
Yup - he's cute - but sorry, he's married!

Happy Birthday Arilie!

My grandaughter Arilie is 5 years old! We had a little family party for her tonight - Pizza and cupcakes - what could be better? She's been celebrating since last weekend (they went to visit the "far-away" grandparents and had a party there.) Then a party at school, and presents daily - she must feel so special! ....Little sister on the other hand, has had it! We gave Arilie a little pet shop board game, and she set it all up to play with me, and Millie came over and knocked the movers out of place with her toe. I said "now Millie, be nice" - she shot me a look like "I'm done being nice!" and whacked the rest of the pieces off the board! (I figured she'd be at this point today, so I got her a little gift too.)









Flash back 5 years ago, Jennie went into the hospital to give birth Feb. 28. It was about a month too soon, but she had been having some problems - enough that the doctor was pretty concerned about her health, so he decided to go ahead and start her early. My husband had left that morning for a conference in Nevada. When we called him to give him the news, he had made it as far as Wendover, and had to turn around and come back. We got to the hospital around 2pm. Her doctor knew that she would probably be having a C-section, but of course, with the first one, they have to at least try to go natural first, so we waited....and waited...and waited.
I was recovering from surgery myself, but I had to be there for the occasion. We sat in those chairs all the rest of that day, through the night - and finally just before 4am she arrived. She had a major "cone head" from sitting in the birth canal for so long, but she was still a cute little doll - only weighing 4 lbs. 14 oz. Bingo! I was a grandma!

Happy President's Day (?)

After having two full weeks of spring like weather (which melted away all the old snow) this was the scene out my front door this morning! The boy scouts woke me when they planted the flag on the front lawn at 5 am, when I looked out then, it was just starting to snow. By the time I got up to go to work (7:30) it was already almost white-out. (One of the joys of living in Southern Utah County - it's called "Lake effect" - we always get dumped on here!)
I tried to go to work, but only got around the corner, and halfway up the hill, when I got stopped (several cars in front of me were stuck) then I got stuck too. A policeman came to try to help, but he couldn't get up the hill either! It took 2 men to push me over to where the snow had been plowed - so I finally got out - I made a u-turn and went back home! If I can choose the day I die, it will not be today! (ha ha!) The whole family is home today, so we will all be snowbound together....should be interesting!
(I've taken photos about every 2 hours from the same spot - there's at least a foot out there now!)




















My daughter in law digging out her car to go for provisions - and my welcome bear - a little under the weather.

Happy Groundhog Day!

It's that time again - the time of year when we put all of our hopes for escaping the winter dulldroms onto a common garden vermin. (Did someone say that we are the intelligent species?) Will he see his shadow - or not? In my neck of the woods, it doesn't really matter - I know we're in for at least 6 more weeks of winter either way!

I have a sister who is 4-ish years younger than I am, so we were never in the same school together growing up, but years later, we had the opportunity of going to "college" together for one semester. It was a really fun memory for me.
We were both living at home and commuting, not working - not a dime to our names. Some days we'd walk around campus and pick up lost coins on the sidewalk - and if it was a good day, we would take it to the local doughnut shop, and buy a treat.
One time, we had a windfall, and we went to JB's for an actual meal! It just happened to be Groundhog Day. When we were finished eating, we scraped around for some change to leave for a tip - not finding any, we left a stick of gum for the waitress with a note wishing her a Happy Groundhog day!

Ever since then, we have exchanged Groundhog Day greetings - just a silly little reminder of those happy-go-lucky days.
I wanted to make a Groundhog day cake this year to post here - but you'd be amazed how few decorations there are out there for this holiday!....However, I found this picture on the internet at www.familyfun.go.com : How clever is this?
They just used an Almond Joy bar, and some jelly beans - wish I'd thought of that!



Happy Groundhog day, and may the bleak winter be shorter where you are!

(*I found the top photo on a site called the "Triple Tri Blog")

Blog "Friendship" Challenge

Someone posted this quote on one of the forums I frequent, and it reminded me again of the layout I did last year for an "Effer Dare."
One of the biggest regrets I've had as an adult is that I didn't keep in touch with all the great friends I've had over the years....sure wish I knew where they all were now!

"A young wife sat on a sofa on a hot humid day, drinking iced tea and
visiting with her Mother.

As they talked about life, about marriage, about the
responsibilities of life and the obligations of adulthood, the
mother clinked the ice cubes in her glass thoughtfully and turned a
clear, sober glance upon her daughter.

"Don't forget your Sisters," she advised, swirling the tea leaves
to the bottom of her glass.

"They'll be more important as you get older. No matter how much you
love your husband, no matter how much you love the children you may
have, you are still going to need Sisters. Remember to go places
with them now and then; do things with them. "Remember that 'Sisters'
means ALL the women... your girlfriends, your daughters, and all your
other women relatives too. "You'll need other women. Women always
do."

What a funny piece of advice!' the young woman thought. Haven't I
just gotten married? Haven't I just joined the couple-world? I'm now a
married woman, for goodness sake! A grownup! Surely my husband and
the family we may start will be all I need to make my life worthwhile!'

But she listened to her Mother.
She kept contact with her Sisters and made more women friends each
year. As the years tumbled by, one after another, she gradually came
to understand that her Mom really knew what she was talking about.

As time and nature work their changes and their mysteries upon a
woman, Sisters are the mainstays of her life.

After more than 50 years of living in this world, here is what I've
learned:

THIS SAYS IT ALL:
Time passes.
Life happens.
Distance separates.
Children grow up.
Jobs come and go.
Love waxes and wanes.
Men don't always do what they're supposed to do.
Hearts break.
Parents die.
Colleagues forget favors.
Careers end.
BUT.........
Sisters are there, no matter how much time and how many miles are
between you. A girl friend is never farther away than needing her
can reach. When you have to walk that lonesome valley and you have
to walk it by yourself, the women in your life will be on the
valley's rim, cheering you on, praying for you, pulling for you,
intervening on your behalf, and waiting with open arms at the
valley's end.

Sometimes, they will even break the rules and walk beside you...Or
come in and carry you out. Girlfriends, daughters, granddaughters,
daughters-in-law, sisters, sisters-in-law, Mothers, Grandmothers,
aunties, nieces, cousins, and extended family, all bless our life!

The world wouldn't be the same without women, and neither would I.

When we began this adventure called womanhood, we had no idea of the
incredible joys or sorrows that lay ahead. Nor did we know how much
we would need each other.

Every day, we need each other still."

So true - so true!

Chalk one up for the Gap...

You may have heard a giant cracking noise this week coming from my neighborhood.
No, it was not an earthquake, it was merely the sound of the generation gap becoming a huge chasm - growing ever wider and deeper...in fact, I am greying, wrinkling and shrinking as we speak.

Last payday, my check was a teensy bit larger than usual, so I decided to treat myself and go shopping from my wish list at amazon.com. I decided to go ahead and get that first season of "That Girl" on DVD, that has been on my list for about a year now. (Since there isn't much to look forward to on TV anymore!)

It came in the mail on Thursday, and I excitedly unwrapped it and popped the first disk in as I was cleaning the kitchen. My youngest merely rolled her eyes and put on her earphones (she was sitting at the computer, as usual, and just hates it when I interrupt her Japanese music.) My son and his wife came in and saw the box, and asked me what it was - I told them that this was my favorite show when I was in High School.

Brad said "Hey! maybe this is what they were talking about on "The Family Guy" one night - they kept saying "That Guy" and played this music. I started one of the episodes and said "is that the song?" He said "yeah - that's it!" He said "I just hate these cartoons that are written by these "old dudes," because they talk about stuff we've never heard of, and it's not even funny - we just sit there and go - huh?"
Holy cow! Am I really that old? I can't believe my kids have never even heard of this show! Of course, I don't think this one was ever "Nick-at-Nighted." It didn't help when I told them that I had never seen this show in color! (Color TV's came out when I was in Jr. High, but my family never owned one until after I graduated from High School - TV was not a big priority in my house.)
Girls like sweet little "Anne Marie" do seem to be a thing of the past (the kind with morals and stuff)...and her boyfriend "Donald" is actually a gentleman.
So I guess I really am out of date and past my prime....but I don't care - I can watch these with the kids in the room and not die of embarrassment.
So, pass me my ball of yarn and some knitting needles - I'm going to park my behind in my rocking chair right here and contentedly watch them all!
(Please someone tell me you remember this show!)

How I think it's all going to end....

Harry Potter, that is.
I can't believe I'm even posting this, my youngest is a Harry Potter fanatic, and we were discussing this today, I decided to go ahead and post my predictions before the final book comes out, so that when I'm totally wrong I can be publicly humiliated instead of just in the privacy of my own mind. (Besides, I've been on a dry-spell for topics lately!)

So, here goes:

I believe that Dumbledore will return somehow in this final episode - why? Because he gave away how much he totally trusted Snape, and because when the time came for him (Dumbledore) to be done in, he wanted Snape to be the one to do it - not Malfoy. I believe there was some sort of spell involved rather than an actual fatal "whammy." I think that he will be around in some form to coach Harry through the final duel with he-who-must-not-be-named-but-is-all-the-time-anyway-and-nothing-seems-to-come-of-it.

I'm sure there will be some sort of romance in this one, because these kids are teenagers now, and what else are they going to do?

I'm not sure who will die in this one (someone has to - it's inevitable) probably that poor sweet Hagrid - they are always picking on him!

Harry will probably have some sort of struggle between joining the "dark side" and well, not. (A "Luke, I am your father" sort of conflict) then, he will inevitably win the battle, defeat the enemy, and become the new "Defense against the Dark Arts" teacher (either that or principal of Hogwarts.)
Or; the evil dude could live and start a whole other series even darker and more intense.

Well, there you have it - am I right or am I way off the mark?....only time will tell!

Story Time...

My sister says I need to blog again, and quick! (work is slow where she is, and being familiar with long workless days at a desk, I must do my best to comply!) Having no pressing matters of importance on my plate (for once)...and being awakened from my sleep by a nagging headache, I guess it's time for a story...

Many moons ago, my husband worked for a company (7-11) as an auditor. His day to day work consisted of visiting all of the stores in the region in random order, and basically doing a complete inventory. (Can't imagine the insane boredom of doing inventory every day - but he seemed to enjoy it.) His region being the entire state of Utah, and some of the stores being hours away, this meant that he would be away from home for two full weeks out of each month. I was a young mom at the time, (I'm still a mom, but the "young" has fled...)...and being a shy person with multiple hang-ups and insecurities, this was a very difficult time for me.
I was not accustomed to being alone, and the stress of taking care of a household full of rowdy children was very wearing, plus the fact that we were pretty economically challenged at the time. There were times that the kids and I would litterally have mac & cheese for dinner three nights in a row, while the company paid for hubby's meals, so he would dine on whatever suited his fancy! He would call home each evening before he retired to check up on us. On Mondays those calls would be tender and sweet, but by the end of the week, having no sleep, uncontrollable children, and an unhealthy diet, as you might guess (dainty ladies please skip over this part...) the phone calls pretty much went - "I don't want to hear about your stupid steak dinner, and your evening in the hot tub - just get your pampered butt home - NOW! - these kids are driving me nuts!!!"
(Single mom's - I don't know how you do it!!!)

After dealing with this problem for months on end, I realized that something had to be done - I couldn't do anything to control the cash flow, (or the children) so, I just had to find a way to get some sleep so I could at least cope with life better.
One night, I was crashed on the couch, flipping through channels to take my mind off my day, when I happend across "A Prairie Home Companion" on the Disney channel. There being nothing else of interest on at this time of night, I left it there and started to watch. It was a delightful program, in the format of an old-time radio show, with stories, music, and entertaining skits. I was very pleasantly sucked in.
Anyone out there who is familiar with Garrison Keilor will be aware of that deep rich voice of his, and his sort of "monotone" sing-song manner of storytelling. I found this to be very soothing and comforting. Before long, I was completely relaxed and fell asleep (for the first time in days!) as cozy as a cat on your lap.
As you can well understand, from that time on - I was hooked! Every night I would tune in and be lulled to sleep by this gentle (and often hilarious) performance. This show litterally saved my life (and my sanity) during those years!

Since the show went off the air, I have purchased several tapes of it to have on hand (just in case.) Thankfully, hubby doesn't do that anymore, but I still enjoy hearing those stories from time to time.

One of the tapes in my collection tells the story of a man who had a lovely daughter who had just become homecoming queen. She was off preparing for her ride in the homecoming parade, and as tradition had it (for reasons that escape my memory at the moment - sorry) riding on a tank. (yes, you heard me right - a military tank!)
Meanwhile, the dad was answering a call from his parents to check on a serious problem with their plumbing. It seems their sceptic tank was full to capacity and seeping through the grass on their lawn. So he secured a backhoe, and began to dig up the yard in search of the offending sceptic tank, only to discover that what their sewage had been being stored in all those years, was not a sceptic tank at all, but an old vehicle - which was now full to capacity! So, not having any other way to take care of this problem, he loads the vehicle full of.....stuff....onto the bucket of the backhoe, and proceeds to drive it to a place where it can be disposed of (downwind).
The homecoming festivities in town have caused some of the roads to be closed, and traffic re-routed, so he finds himself wandering the streets in search of a way to get out of town - and in the process finds himself...(yup, you guessed it) on the main street, smack dab in front of the "tank" carrying his daughter, the Homecoming Queen!
As you can see, my storytelling skills are lacking - but I do have a point for mentioning this particular story...this summer, during our small town's annual celebration ("Onion Days" - I'll explain that in a later post...) This was one of the entries in the parade:






...imagine my delight and glee!!! I simply had to have a photo, because this was an actual living illustration of this story!
...I later learned that this particular "Beauty Queen" was escorted on a tank because she is currently serving in the military, and it was a show of mutual pride - but it was a "moment" for me, and one that I wanted to share.

*There Debbie - that should "kill" some time for you - or at least give you an excuse for a nap!!! ...Love ya!

Happy New Year!

Here's hoping for a wonderful 2007 for all!

Grandma & gingerbread

Well, this is it - the final countdown...if we're not ready yet, we're not going to be!
The kids needed us to watch the girls for a bit today while they did some errands, so we decided we'd better get this gingerbread house that grandpa bought for them put together, or it was going to be too late.
Arilie was amazing at it! She outlined the trees with green icing, stuck all the candy everywhere (well, what she didn't eat first!) and even helped put the icicles on the roof! I finally have a "crafty" child in my family! I think she did a great job! (I was behind Arilie while the photo was taken, when I saw the expression on her face later, I was rolling on the floor - priceless!)



***Sidenote: I'm so thankful that I insisted on getting this photo, because during the night - the dog ate the house!

Speaking of being naughty....

My sister read my "Ghost of Christmas Past" article, and emailed me that she had actually just found one of the maps that we had used to plot our "walk by snoop session" for Christmas morning! Amazing that such a thing still exists!
I submit Exhibit A:

Welcome to my world...

This is what Northern Utah looks like in winter:

Not a Spy Thriller Kind of a Girl...

Hubby got discount tickets to the movies tonight, and rounded up a bunch of the family to go (oldest son & wife, and daughter.) They all chose the latest James Bond film. I opted to go because:
a.) It had the earmarks of a "date" and I get precious few of those (not even going to go there tonight!)
b.) My other option was to stay home in a house full of teenage girls and toddlers.

As we went to go out the door, each member of the group (separately, not in unison) said "mom?...you're going too?" Apparently it is no secret to anyone that this is not my kind of movie. The plot was interesting enough, but I feel there should be a rule, that if you only keep your eyes open for half of the film, you should only have to pay half price - or maybe that $20.00 bag of popcorn should be on the house. My shoulders are so tense, that it will take me days to get all the knots out of them - my dreams will not be sweet tonight - in fact, I will be happy if nothing explodes, stabs, or jumps out to smack me in the face in them!
Whatever happened to movies like "That Touch of Mink" or "How to Marry a Millionaire"? Those are dillemas I can handle!
As we left the barely warm theater, we walked into a full blown blizzard!...No nice relaxing ride home either - white knuckles all the way!
I'm going to have a hot cocoa and go to bed! (With a blankie over my head!)

Grinch of Christmas Presents, Dreams, and the Evil Vortex of Doom

Grinch of Christmas Presents

Uh, sadly, that would be me...
Yesterday I was having a conversation with a friend during my lunch break, and the topic rolled around to Christmas gifts. I started ranting about how my husband isn't very good at surprising me, and I pretty much complained about every gift he's ever given me. After I left her and went back to work, I got thinking about that, and good grief! I'm sure I sounded so awful! (Even though, after 30 years together, you'd think he would know me better!)....see? there I go again!
It must be so daunting to try to find something to please me, I'm amazed that he keeps trying! - And he's never complained about anything I've given him, even though he must get really tired of getting the same old shirt, book and movie every year (well, they're not exactly the same ones - I vary the colors etc. - but you get my drift...) I do enjoy giving gifts, but I'm not very good at recieving them - I really must work on this!


Dreams

Last night I dreamt that I was in a car with my husband. He was in the driver's seat, completely zonked! - I mean mouth hanging open, chin-to-chest drooling, sound asleep! We were drifting in reverse, all over the road headed into traffic. I could see what was happening, but was too tired myself to do anything about it. I did finally try - pushed my foot on the break, but I was just too weak to even slow it down.
Terrifying dream, but I don't need a shrink to tell me what this means, because I can totally relate to it! We have both been working our little hiney's off trying to get our house together in time for the holidays - the day is looming closer, and we are getting further and further behind on our holiday preparations, because of all the added housework - and we are headed for certain disaster! But we are both too wiped out to care!
I have no solutions or clever comments on the matter - this dream was just so vivid, and had such an impact on me - just thought I'd mention it in passing....

Evil Vortex of Doom

During the same lunchtime conversation, (see above) The subject of time came up, and how, for some reason, there seems to be less and less of it. I find this completely alarming!
I was telling my friend how years ago, I worked 2 to 3 jobs at a time, came home and did my "mommy duties" ie: meals, laundry, etc. and yet still found time to play. In fact, there was a time when I would come home from work, feed the kids, get them to bed, then go downstairs and paint (one of my other jobs) until 5 am., then go deliver my work, come home, change, and go to work again. (of course I couldn't do that many days in a row - but deadlines had to be met)...and yet (and I completely forgot to mention to her that this was the whole point of telling her that story) I still seemed to have oodles of free time to do the things that I wanted to! (ie: paint for myself, garden, etc.) How can that be???? I have not been able to figure that out! Like right now, I'm only working 4 days per week - I have a 4 day weekend all the time, and yet where is my free time? I have none - zip - nada.
It's been a subject of so much frustration to me, that I even did this scrapbook page about it for my Book of Me:


...my theory is that there is a growing time-sucking vortex moving towards the earth at ever increasing speed. We are careening towards a time when there will be - well - no time left at all! Which is sad really, because I like to play! :(

So....

My family all live close by, so my husband started the tradition of having them all come home for Sunday dinner. Our house is pretty tiny, so we have to set up a folding table in the living room to accomodate all of us.
A couple of weeks ago, I asked my son #2 to please go help set the table. When I walked in to start setting the food out, this is what I found:




...It's so hard to get good help these days!!!

Ghost of Christmas Past

...Don't worry - no more posts about my house, at least not till it's done.
I'm as tired of the subject as you are! (maybe more!) It will actually feel like a vacation to go to work tomorrow!

Instead, I'm going to return to my regularly scheduled plan for this month (the holidy thememed posts)...and travel back a few decades and reminice about some of my favorite holiday memories as a child.

My dad was not a fan of Christmas. I never really knew why, probably just the "fuss" and the expense, but for whatever reason, he just didn't want to be bothered with it! He would never allow us to put up a tree until just a few days before Christmas. So, of course, by then, the only trees that were left at the tree lot were the scraggly lopsided, sad looking ones. We had a lot of "Charlie Brown" trees over the years!
One year we had some carollers come to the house (which was very unusual because we lived way out of the way!) They stood in front of our big picture window to serenade us, and my dad got so annoyed that he got up and closed the drapes!
(He did change though, after I was married and had a family, he & mom would come over and spend Christmas Eve with us, and he really did enjoy it! - and so did we!)

My mom was an excellent seamstress, and she would usually make most of our Christmas gifts herself. From about November on, as soon as she tucked us in at night, we would fall asleep listening to the whirring sound of the sewing machine as she sewed throughout the night, making us frilly dresses and warm flannel jammies, with matching outfits for our dolls.
Ha ha! I don't know why we even beleived in Santa Clause for so long, because we knew that most of our stuff was made by her! (I must have been really dumb!)...anyway, moving on -

My sister's and I always spent weeks before Christmas making "plans" about how we were going to spy on Santa, and who was going to sneak through the living room first to see what he brought before we were allowed to actually go in and open gifts. It was a thrill and an honor (as well as a danger) to be chosen to be the first to go!
We even made charts and diagrams of where all the squeaky spots were in the floor, so we could avoid them and not get caught! We always slept in the same room Christmas Eve (to aid the conspiracy). One time, my sister was determined she was going to see Santa, and she fell asleep with her nose pressed up against the crack under the door!

Christmas Eve was always "Family Night." We would have a little "program" that mom & dad pretty much let us kids plan and carry out. We would have plays and songs, stories, and games. We really took it seriously and tried to make it something special that everyone would enjoy. Of course, somewhere through the course of it, was always included the story of the Nativity. (And our favorite treat - popcorn and fudge!) I loved this tradition, and it is one that I have carried over into my own family.

Naughty, Naughty, Naughty!
We were also chronic "snoopers" at Christmas time! We always found where mom stashed our gifts no matter where she hid them. Whenever she went to town to buy groceries, we knew that we had at least an hour before she got home, so we would go get them, and play with them until she got back! One year she got us all Tammy dolls, and we had chosen (and played with) the ones we wanted - (different hair colors.) Mom must have been more than a little suspicious Christmas morning, when we opened them and said "hey, you got mine!" and swapped them all around!

*Most memorable Christmas gift? One year, Santa left us a note on the door too look outside, and there was a beautiful new swing set! (This was amazing to us, because we NEVER got big gifts like this!)

Holiday Traditions : Decorations

This month has been a bit tricky and, well - so far isn't going too well, but rather than dwell on that (since I've been complaining so much here lately) I thought I would just write a bit about some of my favorite holiday traditions and memories.
Since the decorations just went up, I think I'll start with that...
My Husband usually does all the Christmas decorating. It's his favorite part of the season, so we all just back off and let him go! Usually every nook and cranny in the house gets decked out, and we have been known to have a tree in every room! (hopefully not this year!)
Me? I enjoy creating the decorations. Some of my favorites are my painted Santas.
I love "old time" looking Santas, so when I saw this one offered as a class several years ago - I just had to have it!
I was working at Provo Craft at the time, and the class was being taught by Juliet Martin - a very talented designer who does a lot of Victorian style work. It was a two day class, and was a little pricey, so I had to plan and save, but I was sure it would be worth it.
The first day of the class was an 8 hr. one. There was a large group, and as is typical for this kind of class, they move very quickly, and it is a real challenge to keep up. The first whole day of the class was spent just on laying in the backgrounds, and painting the face! I couldn't believe how detailed it was, and Juliet must have been a bit nervous, because she kept forgetting steps and having to back track. It was very frustrating and even more stressful!
...But by the end of the day, Santa's face was in place, and I was rather proud of it, if I may say so. The only thing that bothered me was that my Santa's face looked so fresh and young. I wanted him to look more aged so he would seem more realistic, so I went up to the teacher and asked her what I should do to get that effect. She took him from me and dipped her brush into some dark flesh colored paint and did a few strokes right at the corners of his eyes to give him a look of "crow's feet."
When she did that - my eyes got really big, and my breath caught in my chest - her strokes were so big and stood out so much! They looked very unnatural to me, and I was just apalled! I thanked her very much with my teeth a little clenched, and I quickly went around the corner and licked it off!!! (sorry if this is a bit of a gross out - but there is a joke among avid tole painters that saliva is one of their greatest tools!...and one must act quickly before the paint dries too much, or it is a major ordeal to repair mistakes - and at the end of a grueling 8hr. day, I was not willing to do it all over again!)
I went home that night, and practiced the strokes that she showed me, and replaced them later myself (sorry Juliet! - when it came to my painting, I was a perfectionist to the extreme!)...not that hers was bad - she was the designer for goodness sake! - it's just that our painting styles are so different that made it stand out.
There was less to do the second day, so it was a bit more relaxed, and actually enjoyable! We moved at a slower pace and chit-chatted amongst ourselves. Later on, Juliet mentioned something about the story "The Polar Express." She was surprised when most of us there told her that we had never read it. So she told us the story.
What she lacked the first day in teaching skills, she totally made up for with her storytelling skills - we were all enthralled, and by the time she finished, there wasn't a dry eye in the room. It was magical! I'm a collector of Christmas stories, and this one quickly went to the top of the list of stories I had to have - normally, I look for an inexpensive version, but on this one, I sprung for the boxed set, complete with cassette tape and bell!
This class ended up to be a "two-for"...I not only got a favorite decoration out of it, but an awesome experience, and a favorite story too!

*This Santa is done on 3 different layers of wood - so sorry for the fuzzy scan, it couldn't be helped*

Thank You Thank You Thank You

Psalm 100:
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord,...Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing...Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good: his mercy is everlasting: and his truth endureth to all generations.

Just wanted to pause and remind myself how much I have to be greatful for.

So, just a little note of thanks for family, home, health, enough to eat, and friends to share all these blessings with!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Reality isn't Real

Ok, I'll admit I'm not a very deep thinker, so this might seem a little dumb to some of you, but to me it was pretty mind boggling...
After my dad passed away several years ago, my sister decided to try to put together a life history for him (seeing as how he never kept a journal, and rarely told any of us anything about his life.) So she started writing to his brother's and sisters to get as much information as she could about his childhood, etc.
When she got all of thier letters back, she said that it only confused her more, because everyone told the stories thier own way and none of them matched - so she didn't know which one was the accurate version. She had to piece the story together based on what each of them had said, and just hope that it was close to actual fact.

Well, this kind of bowled me over because I started to see that reality is percieved differently based on who witnesses it, and whatever their attitude or experience is in life at the time, so there is no one concrete reality! Reality is something different to each and every person. So, there is no reality - only one's perception of reality!
I'm sorry, but this rocked my world a little bit! Just the thought that you and I could witness the exact same event and come away with a completley different story about what we saw or felt!
(I can hear you laughing at me - you already knew this didn't you?)
Anyway, so how is justice ever really carried out in a like say a court of law, because what I may think happened, and what you think happened is only our opinion of what really happened.
Or say a "reality" type tv show - how can that be reality because people may behave completely differently with a camera in thier faces, that they would at any other given time, plus, the camera crew sees it differently, so slants it according to what they perceive is happening - or the way they want you to see it happening...and then you will take it, and perceive it your own different way.....Whew! This is making my head spin!
So anyway, I decided I need to write my own life history, because if it's done based on what other people think of me - that is a thought just to scary for words!
I'm so thankful that when that final "judgement day" comes, God will be the only one judging this whole entire mess, beause He's the only one who really knows what's going on!

Things that go *Bump* in the Night...

Since we are approcahing the "spooky" Halloween holiday, what better topic?
I had the opportunity to visit Cape May with my sister a couple of years ago. We went in October, and the highligt of that trip for us was the "Ghost Tour"
(And what better time for it?)
It's a fun walking tour where they take you around to some of the "most haunted" old places in town, and tell you stories about who (or what) is huanting them.
I love a good ghost story, and our tour guide was such a hoot! We had so much fun.
...But is it all real?
I have a sister who claims that her house is haunted. Her two boys both say that they have seen thier resident ghost on several occasions. She is a lady, with long dark hair, who appears at the side of thier beds and watches them sleep. They claim they've never been afraid of her, rather that they felt she was protecting them. Other strange things have happened in the house. My sister says the "ghost" must have issues with laundry, because that seems to be where she hangs out much of the time. Sometimes they will come home from work, and find the batch of wash they put in that morning sitting on top of the washer dripping wet. Another time, they were tidying up before going to bed, and while her husband was sweeping the kitchen floor, one of the glass shades on the light fixture went sailing across the room for no aparent reason.
I can't say I've witnessed anything when I've visited there, except that, a few times I have closed the door to the guest room to go to sleep at night, and awakened to find thier pets next to me. How do they get in? The door is always still shut tight!
Is it true? I don't know. I prefer to think of "spirits" as benevalent creatures, that are here to protect, or to warn of danger. "Ghosts" whose soul (ha ha) purpose it is to just hang around and cause a ruckus doesn't make much sense to me - but then there are a lot of things in this world that I don't understand...
Ahem...it's past midnight, and I'm scaring myself - I'll be going to bed now!

Scullery Woes

...Did I ever mention I hate to cook?
It is by far my least favorite chore in the entire galaxial expanse of the universe.
I would rather change diapers, scrub toilets - what have you - than spend another minute in the kitchen.
I never aspired to do it, I've never been any good at it, and would certainly discontine it, if only my family could be convinced to stop eating!
I hate planning meals, I hate shopping for meals, I hate cleaning up after meals - and I especialy hate preparing meals.
I have recieved fewer rewards, and sustained more abuse (ie: negativity, complaints, & indifference) over this one chore than any one other thing I've been required to do in this life.
My favorite day in the whole year is Mother's Day, simply because my family KNOWS that it is my DAY OFF - and I refuse to even enter the kitchen!!! (although they usually leave the mess for me to clean up the next day!)
... I am most likely not destined for heaven, and if by some miracle I do end up there, will probably spend eternity as a mere "ministering angel" - a fate that I can totally live with...as long as they don't put me in the kitchen!!! (please let me be in the choir..please please please!)
If by chance I do find myself in the kitchen - I'll know I've gone to the other place...

There - I've said it.

Friday the 13th

I noticed on the calendar that we are due for one of these days again this month.
From now and forever more, I will always think of my youngest daughter on this day.
A few years ago, I had the privilege of teaching her class at church along with one of my good neighbors (there was a fairly large group, so they picked two of us - it was great, we took turns!)
Anyway, on the first day of this new experience, my neighbor decided it would be a good thing to just get to know the girls. She gave them a little questionnaire to fill out, and then they got to read it to all of us. One of the questions she asked was "what is your favorite holiday?"...well, when it came my daughter's turn - she said "Friday the 13th." I rolled my eyes at her and gave her one of those "mommy harrumphs" (you all know what I mean...like, why must my child always be the weird one sighs.) But Chantelle was intrigued, and wanted to know why such a day like this would be her favorite. She answered that it was because she was unlucky 364 days of the year, so on this day when your luck is supposedly reversed - it would be a good day!
Well, when we got home, I gave her a talking to - and gave her that "why can't you just be normal" speech.
...Later on toward the end of that year, when we were contemplating the end of our teaching together, Chantelle shared with me what a special and unique person she thought my daughter was, and used this experience to illustrate what a creative and free thinker she is!
Imagine my astonishment!
I have since viewed this child in a different light - and yes, she is a creative thinker - with really big ideas! Maybe some day, she'll be the next J.K. Rowling, and I can finally retire and go live with her!

*She's older now, but this photo was taken at the time I was teaching her class.

"Narcissist Day"

(Gosh I hope I spelled that right!)
My daughter has not lead a charmed life. No,(especially while she was in school,) things were usually pretty rough for her. She invented a "tool" to help her get through these days - she called it "Narcissist Day" she would proclaim one of these days anytime things got particularly hairy, and she needed to "boost' her self-esteem.
On Narcissist day, you are not allowed to say anything negative about yourself...you are only to rend the air with praises to your own beauty, wisdom, and glory.
She was really good at it too! She would absolutely have us all believing that she was an amazing and wonderful human being! (which in reality, she is!) But I think it did help her to feel better about life, and about herself (and to laugh about how silly life can be!)
I've been pretty down on myself all this weekend. In fact, during a chat that I had with a friend last night, I beat myself up pretty good. There are a lot of things I'm not feeling too great about at this point in time (most obviously, the way I look), and I decided as I lay in bed waiting for sleep to come, that maybe it was time to proclaim a Narcissist day for myself. However, when I tried the next morning, I found that the words just caught in my throat and wouldn't even come out! I can't even pretend to be "Fabulous!"
Goddesses do not waddle to and fro when they walk, or have to buy their clothing at "Buckets & Barrels," or wear 3 inch thick glasses just to see what time it is!
They do not have to beg Prince Charming for a minute of his time, or get asked to jump in the pond because their croaking is disturbing the choir.
So, sadly, Narcissist day did not happen today, nor is it likely to anytime soon!

Pumpkin Prayer

One of my nieces sent me this as an e-mail forward. I thought it was so cute, I wanted to share it here. (sorry, I don't know where it origionated, so I can't give credit.)
Quote:
"Being a Christian is like being a pumpkin. God lifts you up, takes you
in, and washes all the dirt off of you. He opens you up, touches you
deep inside and scoops out all the yucky stuff-- including the seeds of
doubt, hate, greed, etc. Then He carves you a new smiling face and
puts His light inside you to shine for all the world to see."

...sure hope He can do something with this old gourd!!!
Have a Happy day!

This day...

Providence has seen fit to bestow upon me a surprise day off today!!
What to do....what to do....the mind reels with possibilities!
...There's that painting I've been wanting to start - and the ingredients for a scrapbook layout that have been calling my name for days!
There's that library book that I need to get started on for my book club,
and - oh! a nice looonngg bubble bath would be heavenly!!!

But then again, there's the laundry I didn't get to last weekend because the kids were here the whole time, and there are at least 3 loads worth of dishes in the sink.
The bathroom floor needs a going over, and that pile of mail on the coffee table that needs sorting....
*Sigh* Gilead where is thy balm???

Still Crazy After All These Years!

When my son was little, he was always building "friends" for himself, out of clothes, balloons, blocks, whatever was handy. (photo on the left)
He's married now, and "grown up"(?) but one night last weekend, after he had been here to change for work, his dad went down to his room, and this is what he found.
(photo on the right)




He's still doing it!

Whoppers & Time Travel

Isn't it interesting what things trigger certain memories in us?
For instance, there is a lady where I work who always has a well stocked candy jar at her desk, so that when anyone is lagging on the job, and needs that extra little burst of energy that only a little sugar rush can give, it's always there to help us finish out the day. (I found out another reason why she does this when I had the opportunity to substitute at her desk a little bit - it gets really lonely in there, and that candy lures people in so there's always someone to talk to!)

Anyway, I digress - the other day, when I "visited" the candy jar, there were some Whoppers in it (not the usual fare) so, not caring what the fix was - just needing one, I bit into them, and was immediately transported back to junior high, when I used to "forge" notes from my parents so I could leave campus at lunch time and spend all my lunch money at the little candy store on the corner.
(So sorry to have to shock and disillusion you this way, don't worry - I was caught, punished, and turned away from my life of crime!)

- But that's not the point - the point is how this little piece of candy had the power to bring back a certain moment in time with such complete clarity! I didn't realize how long it had been since I had experienced this certain flavor!

It reminded me of one of those "portkeys" from Harry Potter - where all you have to do is touch it, and you go soaring off to another time and place...

Even now the mere smell of "dotted swiss" fabric always reminds me of Easter, and my mom spending the whole night sewing fluffy little dresses to surprise me and my sisters.

There are certain songs that come on the radio, that take me back to those good old days of high school, and "dragging main" with that first boyfriend....There are also those mournful ballads that remind me of my first big heart break!

"Time travel" is not only possible, but it happens randomly every day - you just have to stumble across the right "portal."

Sheetcakes and Eyeballs

Something that was said in church today made me think some former neighbors, then later when I got home, my daughter was researching job openings online, and I was reminded of these neighbors again, because of a job suggestion the husband had given me once...
OK, before I lose everyone completely - a little background material...Harriet and Paul were about as unlikely a couple as there ever was. She was an educated, cultured Jewish girl from New Jersey, and he was an LDS National Park Ranger from Idaho. They met when they were both working at Independence Square in Philadelphia. I could go on, but probably shouldn't since they aren't around anymore to re-butt.
Anyway, they were delightful neighbors! Paul was heavily into Boy Scouts, and somehow he found out that I had a "crafty" side, and because he had been almost completely blinded (by an accident involving fireworks), he would often call on me to help whenever he needed some creative project done.
My first experience with this was when he called me on the phone and said - I need you to make me a sheet cake. I hemmed and hawed a bit, (because I am not known for my baking!) but finally agreed. He came to the door carrying a bundle of white fabric. He told me that he needed me to draw a huge cake on it ("sheet" cake...) because someone in the Scout leadership was being honored and they were going to give it to him. So I took a marker and drew him a wedding-type layer cake the full length of that sheet - and I literally giggled the whole time I was doing it!
I did several other projects for him and his family - everything from painting the scout emblem on a trailer that they hauled their supplies in, to painting a delicate floral design on a beautiful head-board that he had made for his daughter, I did merit badge signs for him to take to the National BS Jamboree in Washington DC. It was almost always something surprising and unusual that made me smile.
Like the time he asked me to paint bricks on the chimney of a doll house he had built for his daughter for Christmas. I agreed without much thought, thinking it would be a small project that could be done in a few hours, but when he brought this doll house to my house (in a truck!) it was about 4 feet wide, and 5 feet tall! It took up nearly half of my kitchen. (luckily we had no furniture in there at the time, because we had just replaced the flooring)
Where do the eyeballs come in you ask? (silly reader, because now I'm going to tell you!) One day I ran into him just after he had been to pick up a new prosthetic eye (he lost one in the accident)...and he said "I just found the perfect job for you!
He said he had gone into the (lab? where does one go to pick up artificial eyes?)...anyway, he said there were a bunch of people sitting there painting these eyes, and I thought of you!
(Question - where does one go for training to paint prosthetic eyes? I would totally do it if I had a clue!)
The giving wasn't totally one-sided. I was given many silly Boy Scout awards for my service. (I cherish my "button" gear award!) These dear neighbors always came to visit with a fresh baked loaf of bread every Christmas, and again on the night before I checked in to the hospital for my heart surgery they were there, wishing me the best, with that bread still warm from the oven.
They since have re-located to Philadelphia. I miss doing those fun projects for them -they always made me smile! And I sure do miss these wonderful neighbors!

Opportunity missed

Last night, I ran across an article I had clipped from an old CK (yes, I'm still cleaning that room. Oh Honey, this will go on for days!) The title of the article was "Generations of Love" and talks about chronicaling children with their grandparents. As I picked it up, a feeling of...guilt?...remorse?...I'm not sure, just that feeling you get when you know you missed out on an opprtunity that will never come again.
When my mom was in the hospital, one day I was there visiting when my son and his family came in to visit also. One of the nurses came in during our visit, and after inquiring of my mom who we were, she said "Oh - 4 generations!" The thought occurred to me then that I should try to get a picture of this before it was too late (you see, mom was dying of bone cancer) but I struggled with whether that was the right thing to do or not. Mom was not a vain person, but she always took pride in how she looked, and she was not at her best here in the hospital, with little chance of things improving. There was that whole issue of "is this how she would like to be remembered?" There are cultures who believe that if you take a person's photo - you steal their soul, but can there also be times when by taking their photo, you steal their dignity?
So I continued to struggle, and she continued to decline, antd the photo never got taken.
It would have been nice to show that photo to my grandaughter, and tell her how much her great grandma loved her, and when she had struggles with her memory, and didn't recognize some people who came to visit, she still always remembered her.
Sorry, not the happiest of posts - but this is where my mind has wandered to today.

Champagne Wishes...

I was cleaning my "crap" room tonight, (supposedly for my crafts, but every other thing that comes in the house that doesn't have a home, ends up here) and I found this picture that I saved from a brochure a couple of years ago.
This is my "Dream House". We sort of stumbled our way into it on one of our anniversary trips to St. George. We were out of things to do one day, so we decided to go look at model homes in the area. (Yes, we are boring enough to think this is fun!) The first place we stopped at, I told the - (hmmm... what do you call those people who just sit in the house and wait for people to come and look?) ...anyway, I told that person that we were getting close to retirement age, and would really like to live down here, which is completely true...I didn't tell her that we were up to our eyeballs in debt, and would be lucky if we get to retire to the KOA in Dogpatch USA...but you have to make chit chat with these people to make them think you are really interested - you know, so they don't kick you out!
So, that is how we spent the afternoon - driving around to all the new housing developments looking at model homes. As we went along, my husband jumped on the band wagon with the "chit chat," except, the way HE told it - we owned the condo we were staying in, (owned by the company he works for, and they let us use it for free, or we wouldn't even be here!)...and we were wanting to "trade up" to something bigger that the family could come and stay in. (Ah men, you gotta love them!)
This was the last house on the tour - and definitely the best! First of all - you had to go through a courtyard, oh, it was beautiful! No lawn to mow - it was all brick & stone, with a beautiful fountain in the center of the courtyard. The house had all natural stone floors, a two story curved fireplace, 2 kitchens, and there were 4 bedrooms, one in each corner of the house, so everyone could be sent to thier corners! I won't even mention the movie theater in the basement, complete with leather lounge chairs! The back of the house faced a gully (which means NO NEIGHBORS!) It had a huge window that looked out over those deep red cliffs that I love so much down there! In the back yard (no lawn here either) was a small swimming pool, and over built right into the cliff was a hot tub. It had an overhang with a waterfall, so you could sit under the falling water as you lounged, looking over your private gully, and out to those gorgeous red cliffs!
Oh - and I forgot to mention - out in the front courtyard was also a little (there was a special word for it, but I forget...cochina?) anyway, it was a whole separate apartment type room, complete with it's own kitchenette and bath.
Boy, do I want this house!
We had a blissful day thinking that someday, maybe we really will move down here, (not in THAT house, not at $1.5 mil.! but somewhere...) Then, the next day on the drive home, hubby started saying...well, you know we could never really do it - how could we leave our kids, and I want to live close to the grandkids, blah, blah, blah,. I told him "just stop right there! I know what you're saying is true, but I like this dream, and I want to keep dreaming it!!!"
So, I tore this picture out of the brochure - it's probably as close to owning it as I'll ever get.
(But don't you love it?)

In Search of Sunflowers and Other Lost Things...

One day, about a month ago, as I was grocery shopping, I wandered past the plant & flower section back behind the produce (confession; I always do this. I just love seeing what flowers are "in season" each week - their beauty and color always brightens up this drab chore for me.) Anyway, this particular day, there was the most wonderful array of Sunflowers!...These were not your everyday run-of-the-mill sunflowers. These were the ones with the deep reds and oranges, and there were also some exotic ones with that fluffy yellow "fringy" stuff in the center.
They were so gorgeous, and I dearly wanted to take them home with me, but, alas, it was also one of those "end of the paycheck, must be practical" days, so I left, sunflowerless, but vowing to return soon to purchase (dare I hope?) maybe even 2 bunches of sunflowers to delight some boring ordinary corner of my home.
...Just as you suspected, the next time I returned to the store...and every time since, (and every store since) there has not been another sunflower to be had.
This type of thing seems to be happening more and more often to me these days.
Just this week, I created a scrapbook page that needs just a short length of dark brown ric-rack in order to be finished - we are not talking about triple-plated titanium here, just a little piece of plain old ric-rack! But search as I might, I have not been able to locate any. Surely a common everyday item like this still exists?!
...But aparently not in Utah County!
Ah, the lovely things I could create, if only I didn't have to spend all my time searching...
*Sigh* :(

(No, the photo isn't my local grocery store, it's Pike's Market in Seattle, but I loved the sunflowers there too!)

Schpeils on Wheels...

Ok, so I was reading through all my posts the other day, (always in search of that ever-present typo) and I realized - if I didn't know me, and had to judge my personality solely on what's printed here - I would never guess that "this person" had a sense of humor! ...and I do! I have a delightful sense of humor! Thousands of...well, dozens - ok, well, at least one person has mentioned that to me at least once...
So it's time to lighten up a bit...
I was reading a friend's blog (a very brilliant friend!) and in one of her posts she was comparing herself to a vehicle - saying that if she were one, she would be a dumptruck (!) Well, if she were in fact a dump truck, she would be a sushine yellow one, with scrolly black detailing, plenty of shiny chrome, and a super hydrolic lift,...ok, I'd like to go on, but I really have no idea what goes into a dump-truck. What I'm saying here is that I think she's cool.
She made this comparison, making it sound as if it was a bad thing, like it would be so much better to be a racy, fire-engine red convertible...but you know - those kind of cars are the first ones the police notice when they are speeding, they often get smooshed up, because people make them go faster that it is prudent to go - and they wear out, and go out of style much more quickly...
Personally, I am thankful for dump trucks! Imagine if you will, a road construction crew, having to shovel gravel hauled by a little red convertible - modern travel would be at a stand-still! Who is it who is always there to clear off the road when mother nature dumps 4 feet of snow in 2 hrs. time? (Ooops! she mentioned she hates shoveling snow too - sorry!)...but really, who's going to do that? Huh??? Not those little convertibles! They can't even get out of the driveway!
Ok - let's look at it from another angle - if say, I were a vehicle...I would be an old '52 "Rambler," it may have looked nice once, but those days are over never to return again. It is stashed away in the back of the scrap yard where no one can see it anymore, because it is an embarrassment to others of it's kind. It's wheels are rusty, and don't move at all anymore without making that horrible grinding noise that makes everyone turn around and cringe...the best it could hope for would be to be re-furbished and displayed in an auto show, but alas, the old Rambler was never noteworthy enough to even be classified as a "classic."
So, my dear friend, there are much worse things than being a dump truck. Be glad for the day that God in his wisdom created you to be strong, useful, dependable, and to have an essential place in society, and can not be replaced by anything (or anyone) else!

9 * 11

Ok, I've been listening and reading everyone's "where I was when it happened" stories today, so maybe it's time to share mine...
I was trying to get Jenny to hurry and get ready for school. (She was in 4th grade at the time) She was sitting at the bar eating her bowl of cereal, and watching tv, I walked in as the news bulletin was playing...I remember just being stunned as I saw footage of the airplane hitting the first tower. At first, I thought I was seeing previews for a movie or something, because it was so surreal! As I watched, it became more and more eveident that this was an actual event unfolding before my very eyes! My chin dropped, as did my stomach... I was glued to the spot where I stood. I felt a kind of fear that I have never experienced before in my life! My young innocent daughter looked up - she being from a generation where "special effects" are an every-day fact of life, and she lauged. I stopped her immediately - my first thought being, how do I tell her what's happening, without scaring her to death - but this was not a laughing matter - people were dying as we watched. There is no way to even begin to describe the feelings I had as the towers started to fall...
I remember as they replayed the events over and over on the news all day, it felt like it was happening over and over...the fear and sadness was just overwhelming and oppressive.
As I drove my daughter to school, and myself to work - it just felt wrong to be going about my normal routine...at work, the atmosphere was somber - no idle laughter, or casual chit chat today. Customers were few, and also very sober.
On the day that was designated a national day of prayer and rememberance, a candle light vigil was held at the local park. I am usually not a "joiner", my family just doesn't usually do things like this, but I felt that we had to be there this time - even though it happened thousands of miles away - it was deeply personal to all of us!