We got a camera this weekend, and it's a beauty. It's chock full of pictures--can't take anymore. I haven't really used it yet. It looks so complicated, I tell Chris it must be part time machine

Christmas vacation starts today--yay! And I have 3 days off, so that makes a 6 day vacation--Hallelujah!

At dinner last night, Zoe said the soup was hot. I said, "Yeah, that's because it's boiling." Will immediately latched onto that cuz he thought I said Boyland. So then he was ALL EXCITED about BOYLAND where there's "lots of toys and stuff." We didn't correct him, it was too priceless, and let him continue to ramble excitedly to us about what's there and how we should go there.

Thursday, 1:00, half day for kids, eating lunch with tea, kids watching Scooby. I resolved to make it through to the end of this week with a positive amount of cheerfulness and energy and pace myself and not require a mental health day on Thursday. However, I am doing my paralyzed, la la land, useless, pull into myself, recoup thing on Thursday, anyway. I don't make to do lists anymore, because when I do, I rebel against them and do hardly anything at all. That's the way I feel today. I should be cleaning, packing, erranding, painting...but I drank coffee, read, made phone calls, looked at e-mails and blogs. Oh, and got upset because I can't find my previous diary notebook. I don't know where it is. It's not where I put it. So now I feel quite insecure and annoyed and in limbo about that.

Our house is on the market. We are going to try to sell it and move into a Bill Abram built beauty, if God wills. Chris is having to take on the stress of finishing stuff that has sat there undone for years, on top of the stress of his long hours on the job and the dreariness of this time of year. We had a great time Sunday, though. We went to lunch in the afternoon, just him and me, and then to this cool old book store nearby I've been wanting to see for a long time. I had such a huge deficit in the fun category, and this was SO FUN. I got 3 books, and I am already fantasizing about the books I want to buy next.

I finished my self-portrait and gave it to Chris for his birthday a few weeks ago. But my camera disappeared at a pizza/play place I took the kids to awhile ago. Wretched, wretched loss, that was. The painting turned out good, although my expression is quite intense, and when we put it on the wall, it looked like my eyes were following you around the room with their serious expression. It was too much and is now upstairs facing the wall. Felt like one of those old movies or books where the dark paintings of dour relatives line the wall, making one feel self conscious walking by. I hope that's not how I come across and make people around me feel all the time. So, I can't take a picture and show you, at this juncture.

Two nuggets of preciousness revealed by Zach a few days ago: He can't wait for his voice to change. He's tired of "sounding like a little kid." And he said that he thought he figured out the reason we are on this earth--to help people. A man at church who does Sunday School said that, and he sees me helping people that come across my path, and it's sinking in--what a treat to hear him express this. I think I was quite self-absorbed and insecure at 12 and not thinking along those lines yet.

Wow, have I ever been neglectful of sharing news!

Zach is now being home-schooled again...scramble, scramble! Public middle school was a hideous experiment for him. I had just gotten used to enjoying more time to get things done! We're continuing with Math-U-See he hadn't finished from last year, as well as Adventures in Learning he hadn't finished. I just ordered the new Adventures in Learning today. God give me grace. Amen.

I have been working on a mural at church in the sunday school room where I teach. I didn't design it, but transferred a lot of it to the wall from some overhead projector pictures. It's kind of a spacey/Jetsons kind of thing. I am also almost done with my self-portrait in oil. I decided a few days ago, Doh!! Chris's birthday is the 22nd! I better get that done and framed and give it to him!! I'll share pics of it and mural when done. (He has actually seen it except for the background). So, yesterday, I neglected Zach and William and everything for a few hours, which is what it takes--oh how I love the guilt--and used the best of my brain and creativity to do a cool background and paint more of the shirt. I have a little left to do, but I was pleased as punch to have gotten done what I did. Zach was totally unresentful. I crammed in some school after that.

Nicest thing said to me this week, by Zoe: That I was the best Mom and the prettiest Mom there was. This was so sweet, because I usually feel tired, stressed, overwhelmed, haggard, aging, out of shape, pulled in a million different directions, guilty for not being and doing better. Thank you, God. Thank you, Zoe.

Tomorrow night I am going to have Mother-in-Law over for a pre-faux-Thanksgiving meal since we'll be at fam's Thursday. I am going to try this dry brine roasted turkey and make a very fancy pumpkin pie.

Love and peace to you.

At dinner, William was having a hard time eating his green beans. Everyone else was done, and he was still struggling. We even put parmesan cheese on them. I was being firm and telling him he had to eat them and wasn't going to get down until he did. (And they are GOOD green beans--tender, long, fancy style). Well, for some reason, he asks me for a piece of paper. He just recently got into decorating paper. So he finds the printer paper, gets a pencil, and "writes" a jagged, squiggly, long line. He shows it to me and tells me he wrote "No" on it. (Regarding the injunction to eat the beans). I reminded him that he WAS going to eat the beans. He then said, "Now it says, 'Yeah.'" Unbelievable!!

Ladies, I stumbled on this great looking blog--homeliving.blogspot.com. It's pro-homemaking and looks very wholesome and edifying. I look forward to taking the time to read it.

I'm sorry I posted this many pictures of the same thing. I thought it wasn't working when I was uploading. And then I couldn't figure out how to delete some pictures on edit. So, Kristi and Mom, if you haven't seen the movie Napoleon Dynamite, you would definitely be scratching your head. It made my day to find this costume...for Zach, yeah, that's it, Zach!! Vote for Pedro and all your wildest dreams will come true!

Zachary captured this rare photo of a male and a female Redman taking their young for a walk at the Puyallup River. When William wasn't using the scooter, I got to. It was surprisingly fun! I didn't grow up with those.

What else is new? Jessie is at a different school. Friendship thing not happening at old one. I just started the book about Andrew. I am going to keep my kleenex handy. Watched "Shall We Dance,"albeit by myself, this weekend. I dare you to watch that, ladies, and not spend hours on the internet trying to find ballroom dance lessons nearby. I actually, seriously want to.

William cracked me up yesterday when we were at this lake taking a walk. He tumbled down a dirt trail and immediately said, with his usual passion, "Stupid dirt!! I HATE YAT DIRT!!" It was SO FUNNY!! Today, he asked to be picked up, and I don't know how it started, but we had a priceless little talk about Heaven and why we're not there already and how we have to die first. He wanted to know why we couldn't be HOME yet!!! I hadn't mentioned the word home--I almost got chills!! He believes the way we'll get there is by a rocket. And Jesus will have toys, candy, and gum and will take care of us. So that's that. Now you know.

My kids made my day, and it's about time!

Several things blew my mind recently. In the USA Weekend insert in Sunday's paper, there was an article talking about Neighbors Make a Difference Day in October. Where it tells you how to join the action, it says, "If Saturday is your Sabbath, please volunteer Sunday, Oct. 29." Can you believe it!!?? I hooted with disbelief and amazement!! Someone mentioning the Sabbath in print!! And acknowledging that there are Saturday campers and Sunday campers!

And the other mind-blowers occurred at the dinner table tonight (simmered beef short rib, a Korean recipe, short grain rice, and Korean bean sprout salad--delicious. If you want me to share recipe, let me know). Zach was telling me there was this short black 6th grader who was being obnoxious and kinda making himself troublesome--punching Zach in the arm semi-seriously and what not. He asked Zach at one point if he was a Christian, and when Zach said yeah, the boy seemed to show fear and respect and said he was a Christian, too, and wouldn't mess with Zach anymore. It seems to me that some kids get obnoxious with Zach out of jealousy, honestly. But can you believe that?!! And then Jessie proceeds to tell me that LAST YEAR this mean, neglected kid who bugged her asked her if she was a Christian. She said she was, and they discussed some spiritual matters. I guess this kid didn't feel like God cared and seemed to want salvation but was dragging his feet. (Why didn't she tell me this at the time?!) Jessie, bless her heart, said that she tried to talk to him positively about God and the Bible, and even said she searched the Bible for things to say!!! My kids do not know how much they blessed me with these confessions/testimonies/tales. You never know how your kid is going to be about sharing their faith. It's very hard for me to talk about spiritual matters close and deep to my heart with ANYONE, even family, much less basic things with acquaintances. Out of the mouths of babes....an example and inspiration for Mom....and some reward for many years of effort and time and prayer put in! PTL!!

Here's a combination and a half I saw on a guy at work tonight. He was wearing white socks with black shoes and too short black pants so you could see the socks. Classic geek, right? Well, I guess maybe he was trying to offset it, cuz he had a hoop in his left ear. Incongruous, indeed!! Was that his costume for Halloween and normally he dresses "cool"?

You know it's time to change your name when.....your names are Mr. and Mrs. Boob. I am not kidding--there are some unfortunate people out there with those names. I saw it with my own eyes on yesterday!!

Tick tock tick tock...football clock's keeping me company here at 11:50 p.m. while I try to keep my eyes open in this quiet house of sleepers. I did a lot of laundry and house work today. Put up a cute fallish decoration by front door outside. Didn't spend all day on the go!! Yay!! Played a little with neighbor's adorable new pitbull puppy. Painted a mirror black--one that is supposed to go above the couch. It's been down for half a year since we painted.

Strong opinion ahead

"Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion." Proverbs 11:22
What made me think of this harsh? proverb was this beautiful, classy 40-something checker at the grocery store....she had a guy's barbed wire type tattoo on her ample(I didn't say muscular) bicep. Why?!?!?! Gold ring, pig's snout...tattoo, lady's bicep. Made me want to snort and make oinking sounds!!

How many chiropractors does it take to screw in a light bulb?

Just one, but it takes 9 visits!! Har har!!

No MP3, no cry

Chris had to return the gizmo cuz the cds he transferred seemed to not want to play. So I bought some much needed fall clothes, and he got an alarm clock that includes sea sounds and frog pond sounds! It played the radio ok, and I used it once...it was nice while it lasted. He said the knockoff we got was a ripoff compared to how you can pay a bit more and get TONS more room(megabites??) with the actual Ipod, if I'm not mistaken. Oh well. I love my clothes, I loved his gesture.

And then?

Howdy, folks!! It is 11:32 on Saturday morning. Jessie is coloring at the table, Zoe is upstairs with William playing Game Cube, and Zach is oot and aboot with his buddy. Chris had to go in to work. We will have some friends over tonight for dessert and what have you. Chris suggested pecan pies, so that's what I'll make. I'm waking up pretty slow, cuz I got home at 3:00!!

Wow, fall!! Like, overnight, it's not capri pants and flip flops weather, anymore. Just when my summer wardrobe seems adequate, I need to start buying for fall!

I've been going to the chiropractor frequently. It turns out I have a protruding disc in my lower back which is pressing the nerve. I probably mentioned that I have pain down the back of my right leg which causes me to hobble and wince and feel old. It just wasn't going away. I had an MRI, which showed it clearly. He says it could take quite a few weeks for the disc to go back in. He's into the latest effective treatments--not surgery--and is treating me with laser, adjustments, exercises, stretches, and his DEVASTATING good looks. (Did I say that out loud?) Think of that chap in the Jane Eyre movie, is it Timothy Dalton? ANYWAY!!!! I am walking the dog and icing and stretching and taking 4 Advils in the evening, and just started improving a few days ago, thank God!!

Zach has exceeded my expectations so far for going to a new public middle school after being home schooled. He had been nervous, and I had, too. I forced him to sign up for intramural track, cuz he's just absolutely built for it. He was NOT happy about it. But 3 days into track, the soreness from new exercise is going away, his team creamed the other team in the baton relay, and he was bummed there was no practice on Friday!! He said the teachers and kids are nice to him, and he's getting some good respect, thanks be to God. He is full of confidence, and I don't miss the strain we had doing home school together. Maybe there's something to this honoring your husband's wishes thing. They haven't really gotten into the books much yet. Probably I'll wring my hands in 2 months over something to do with him, but for now, yay!!

Last Saturday, Chris surprised my socks off by planning, by himself, to take me to Seattle, and even arranging babysitting with the fam!! He suggested Pike's Place Market. He is pretty familiar with the city cuz of jobs he's had up there, and he showed me some of them. We didn't have an agenda, and that turned out to be really cool, cuz you don't have expectations, you can just do what sounds good. So we went to this pizza place, Pagliachi's, where I had scalding hot sausage and onion pizza and free pop for knowing the trivia question of what the four children's names were in Narnia (Really had to strain my brain there--not). Then we wandered out, and there was a record store 2 doors down. I'd been thinking how fun it would be as a date to go to a record store with my honey and spend hours browsing. I recently bought a record player for 10.00 at Goodwill and some records, also. I thought Chris would look down his nose at this retro, low-tech interest of mine, but not so. He loves new technology, but also music, and we did go in the record store and spent quite a bit of time browsing. We got like 6 records for 15.00!! That was fun!! Then we went to Pike's Place Market, which was wonderful. There were so many enticing smells---a bakery, fresh seafood, incense, produce, flowers. Seattle has an amazing energy. I pretty much dig it. And on top of this cool date, he surprised me with an Mp3 player later that night!! (We're still trying to get it loaded, WITH titles.) Talk about brownie points gained!! As opposed to cool points lost, as the record player clerk joked to me as I tripped tremendously and embarrassingly cuz I forgot/didn't see this 12 inch step up I needed to take!!! It scared me really bad, and I was so stunningly clutzy it's really surprising I didn't land on my face. I tried to hide the fact that it didn't do too much for my disc situation, either.

How many Irish people does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Fifteen. One to hold the light bulb and 14 to drink whiskey till the room spins.

How many dull people does it take to screw in a light bulb?
One.

How many lawyers does it take to screw in a light bulb?
One, but when he's done, it's really screwed!!

How many women with PMS does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Six.
Why?
IT JUST DOES, OKAY!!!!!!!!!

How many narcissists does it take to screw in a light bulb?
One. He holds the light bulb while the world revolves around him.

How many dyslexics does it change to take a lightbulb?

Did you hear what happened to the fly on the toilet seat?
He got pissed off.

Did you hear about the man who went into a bar with a frog on his head? The bartender looked at him and said, "Say, that's pretty neat, where'd you find him?" The frog answered, " Well, he started out as this bump on my butt....."

SNIPS AND SNAILS AND PUPPY DOG TAILS

I thought it would be interesting to let you know the contents of Zach's pants pockets as I went to do the wash. He is notorious about having his pockets stuffed and not removing them before throwing them in the hamper. There was a chain leash for the dog, a knife, $6.00, a black plastic tube, and 2 plastic cockroaches. That sounds so typically boyish that you would think I made it up, but I didn't!!

In other news, the crocodile hunter, Steve Irwin is dead!!! Wah!!! Stingray sting to the heart.

I have a pinched nerve in one of my discs in lower back which has been causing me a lot of sciatic pain. I'm supposed to wear a heel lift, but how do you wear a heel lift with flip flops? I actually lost mine the first day cuz I was unsmart enough to try! Chiropractor will hopefully get me out of pain soon.

School starts tomorrow. Zach will be going to the local middle school rather than home schooling. Tonight will be a long one at work cuz of it being after the holiday, and then I have to get Zach to the school by 8:00 and the girls to their school at 8:50. A new chapter indeed.

Yesterday, we went to 5 mile Lake near our church with some church folks. It was a beautiful day, and the kids swam, there was volleyball, bbq, bocce, badminton, good fellowship. For a treat, I brought coke in bottles and Jones soda in bottles. Farewell, summer, you were wonderful, as always.

Saturday, sweet Saturday. One week ago we were camping, and I would have pretty much rather stayed home. My heart wasn't in it, we got a lame spot, the lights didn't work in the bathroom, there were no showers, Chris slept a LOT in the tent. He has been working like a dog at work, so he really needed it, since he doesn't make rest a priority. The one good point I can think of is that I made some nice meals. The kids had a great time. They played by the river and looked for frogs and fish. The dog was a challenge because she wanted to be let free all the time, not tied up. We have to take 2 vehicles when we go camping now, since we have a smaller Ford Explorer instead of our old, large Astrovan. The Ford seats 7, but doesn't haul much.

One recipe I made was called Grilled Squash Medley, from Quick Cooking:
1 small zucchini, carrot, and yellow summer squash, julienned
1 small onion, chopped
2 T butter
salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste
2 T grated Parmesan cheese
2 T shredded mozzarella
Place vegetables in order listed on a double layer of heavy-duty foil. Dot with butter; season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Fold foil around veggies and seal tightly. Grill, covered, over medium heat for 14-16 minutes or until veggies are tender, turning once. Sprinkle with cheeses. Serve immediately. Serves 4. I mixed the leftovers in with our pasta the next night.I served this with tilapia, which came individually wrapped and frozen at Costco, so I just threw those in the cooler, and they were thawed the second night. I dipped the fillets in butter then saltine crumbs mixed with seasoned salt. Those were good!

The other night of cooking was a seasoned turkey tenderloin served with Pesto-corn Grilled Peppers( also from Quick Cooking):
1 store container Pesto
1/2 c. finely chopped sweet red pepper
4 c. whole kernel corn
4 medium sweet red, yellow, or green peppers (I used red)
1/4 cup shreeded parmesan cheese
In skillet, saute red pepper in 2 tsp oil til tender. Add corn and pesto; heat through. Halve peppers lengthwise; remove seeds. Place, cut side down, on grill over medium heat; cover and cook for 8 minutes. Turn; fill with corn mixture. Grill 4-6 minutes longer or until tender. Sprinkle with shredded Parmesan cheese if desired.

So the food was good, the weather was good. Zoe made the mistake of trying to ride the scooter with Windy on a leash leading her. She ended up screaming on the ground with her bare foot wedged between the brake and wheel. Some other campers came running over and helped. Argh!!! Sunday, I had to follow Chris 2 hours home, dirty and tired, and arrived in a FOUL MOOD, just like last camping trip.

Yesterday was a surprisingly good day. I'm back to work, but still able to sleep in. My parents kept the kids overnight Thursday night. Chris took advantage of this by working until midnight!! My Mom and I met at Fred Meyer's to get the kids, and after that, I took them and the dog walking along this paved trail next to the Puyallup River. It was about 80 degrees, and a breezy pre-fall pretty day. The dog had a BLAST being off her leash. She got to go in the river frequently, which is shallow. She chased off all the ducks so we wouldn't be in "danger." Then she cooled off by swimming around, running and porpoising (!) and doing her funny "biting the water" routine. We were laughing pretty hard. I picked some blackberries, came home, made frozen fruit smoothies for my overheated herd, got the girls to split dish duty, and happily went to work on my, get this, painting!!! YAY!!! I actually bought a 15.00 you-assemble plain wooden easel at the craft store and some canvas and started a self-portrait in oil about 10 days ago! I had some old oil paints left over from when I was about 18 and took a class. So I got a few more paints, some brushes, and went to work. I did some major stuff wrong, but fixed it, let it dry, and made some good progress last night. It is very satisfying to be doing this. I pretty much hate water color, which is what I've mostly done, but the oils are fun. I am not done yet. For one, my eyes look huge and suprised, like I just got goosed. I'm not kidding.

Anyone watch and like Nanny McPhee? Watched that at 1:30 this morning, after work, cuz it's due tonight. It was pretty cute. Emma Thompson's performance was stellar, of course. Colin Firth didn't bother to do any acting, except for maybe 2 scenes. He looks bored and unexpressive the whole time. I'm probably going to wish I had a stick to tap on the ground when my kids are bad.

The picture with the goats is at Blueberry Park, where you can pick berries for free. The goats were brought in for a week of constructive "pruning." The lake pictures are at a lake I don't remember the name of. That was Saturday, when we helped Chris celebrate his boss's birthday at a lake cabin, Where we stupidly left our inflatable raft, which we didn't even use and probably won't see again. I am very bitter about that loss, and it's mostly my fault. Zoe left one flip flop and Chris left his sunglasses. We left when it was dark, and we were SO TIRED.

I have a kitchen FULL of dishes from having another family of 6 for dinner. It is almost midnight, everyone else is asleep, and I am NOT doing them, I'm sorry. I was short on time, so I got this beautiful blueberry and strawberry tart at Costco, but it was disappointing. They used frozen strawberries and probably blueberries, so they looked fresh, but were mushy. Lame!! The crust was quite unbuttery tasting and soggy, too. What a crock. Chris forgot about the dinner, which he set up, and I forgot to remind him. So he got home more than an hour after they got here. His cell phone was dead, and I was lucky enough to have his coworker's number, and they were actually talking. Chris felt alot worse about it than anyone else. This man we invited over was supposed to help us with our bum upstairs electrical, but Chris felt so sheepish, he wouldn't even let him. So the control panel in the kitchen was looked at, talked about, made a little safer.

We go camping for our second and last time this summer on Friday. So I'll probably share any good pictures when we get back.

Zach got to take his dirt bike to someplace besides the alley recently! Our pastor's in-laws have a house with some land that they put a dirt track on. They have go-carts, and Chris, Zach, and a few other people had some fun and got nice and dirty!

Am I done with this update now? Can I get some shut eye? And this is a tame sort of tired compared to when I am working. Back to the grindstone next week. I am not amused.

I am actually still here. My life didn't freeze even though my blog would look like that was the case. I was looking through the ads in the paper yesterday, and one department store had this shirt that made me laugh: "No one cares about your blog!!!" Ha ha! Ouch!!

Well, what's happening, you say? Our weather cooled down from "I'm meltinggggggg!!!" to "Shut that door, it's cold!" We actually had the heater on this weekend. I have done as little as possible since Friday. I reached some kind of limit with the heat, the errands, the people, the kids' friends, the summer FUN, the go go go, the shopping, the work. I woke up with my back in a lot of pain Friday, and it still isn't 100%. What a drag. What's sad is that yesterday at church, we had a time of hands on healing for those who needed it. But I didn't raise my hand high enough or long enough to get enough people around me lay their hands on me and pray for me. Wretched shyness. But this chap from youth group had his color blindness healed over the weekend at a church youth camp, so that was exciting!

I haven't had such a low key weekend since I don't know when. I didn't go any where, I watched a lot of TV, I didn't tackle anything, I "rested my back" a lot. I have another 2 weeks of vacation starting today. I couldn't even tackle making a camping reservation for this vacation. I'd like to snap out of this funk. Gosh!! Yesterday, Chris and Zach got to go fishing in the Sound with some people at church in their new boat. No fish, but it was fun for them. Oh, I did too tackle something this weekend. Chris brought home a cd/media holder, because we have nothing to hold our stuff. The cds and dvds (bvds, as Chris likes to say) have been piled in leaning towers of Pisa on the stereo, upstairs, by the computer, on the mantle, etc. So now everything is organized and in it's place, where the treadmill was. Now where to put the amazing I'm going to use this to lose weight I really am treadmill? It's standing there, awkwardly, at attention, in a dumb spot. I tried a few days ago to get a different picture for my profile, but I couldn't get the pasting of the photos url line to work. I don't know why. It didn't like the characters or something--too many. Where's the Geek Squad!?!?!

These are pictures from our camping trip to Taidnapam campground. Chris and I jumped from the bridge you see. I had to take my glasses off, so that made it even scarier than it already was. I think my heart is beating faster just writing about it. Pure terror in mid-air, exhilarating after catching my breath!

We had such a great, relaxing time. We went with some good friends and laughed a lot. The weather was perfect, the swimming wonderful, the dog did well. Exhaustion and grumpiness hit me like a ton of bricks when I got home, but I got a lot of sleep, which helped. We actually brought some salmon to cook for the first time. It was yummy, as is everything by a campfire! There was a playground right near the campsite for the kiddies, and a bathroom with shower! YAY! We brought an inflatable raft with oars, and that was fun to row around in. Today--laundry! Dishes! Back to work tonight!! Today, I am another year wiser and younger at heart. Merry birthday to me!

Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle--what a great place!

The dog is a well-behaved female someone left behind on purpose at Chris and Zach's camping trip. We're keeping her, and her name is Windy.

sunflowers, pumpkin, corn, blueberries, beans, tomaters, nasturtiums


Fourth of July!! I took the kiddos to the church block party for about an hour, where there was inflatables to jump on, face painting, snow cones, live music, hot dogs, watermelon eating contest, skits, etc. Then we had some friends over for a barbecue. We ate a lot and ate well--kebobs of pork, pineapple, red onion, red pepper; fresh shrimp soaked in butter then grilled on skewers; deluxe burgers, corn on the cob, salad, ginger snaps, and homemade mango ice cream! Yummy! It was cool in the evening, and we lit off fireworks, as did lots of our neighbors. They were still thoughtlessly lighting them off at 1:00 in the morning, which was very frustrating!!
Last night, since I'm on vacation, I got to take the kids to their Wednesday night activities at church. They will take August off and then start in fall again. The girls played kickball among other things. They haven't been taking part, but I was able to encourage them to get in there and play, after showing them how it was done. It was really cute seeing all these little girls play for the first time. Often, they'd kick it and have to be told to run. But it's a good environment to be learning this kind of thing for the first time, unlike the more unkindly school environment.
Zach and Chris will be doing a Royal Rangers church campout tomorrow night on Fort Lewis, of all things.

A summer morning in the life of yours truly: I got up at the beautiful, godly hour of 10:15!! Delicious!! (Of course, I get to bed after 1:00 most nights). At 10:45, with my puffy, unmade up morning hair and face and pulled on clothes and only coffee in my gullet, took kiddos to 3rd morning of swim lessons. The lessons are at the cool, revamped pool which is large, shallow, and has lots of neat water features. There is a large, curvy water slide, a winding river with water that moves you, and a sprayground feature you can climb on that has water coming out of various holes. Zach and Jessie are progressing well with their lessons. Zoe, I think I may have mentioned, will do her lessons in a few weeks with a friend. She is a little irked to have to only watch, as I half expected. William skinned his elbow really bad this morning, and, as is his VERY PERSISTENT nature, extended his crying through the pain, and the blood, and the bandaid applications, and the trip to the candy machine, and the anger at not getting the candy he wanted. I actually got two packages of whoppers for the price of one! One for Zoe, and one for him. We had to hang out in the dressing room for a time and have a LITTLE TALK. Only 10 minutes later, he was eating his whoppers and dancing happily by the pool chairs.

I thought the kids were in danger of getting burned at the outdoor pool, but it has been between 60 and 70 degrees, and mostly overcast. A little chilly for swimming, but dem's da berries.

Yesterday, got some algae killer for my fish pond/pot and looked at filters. Got Zach some vittles for his reptiles. Made Paula Deen's shrimp and grits for dinner--rich and deliciosa!! Anyone out there also a Paula Deen fan? I just discovered her new magazine, and have already made 2 recipes from it, and plan to make a third, crabcakes, soon. I have mountains of laundry, as is usually the case. I should exercise and mop. Veggies and flowers need watering. Can I get my soul around medical transcription? Should I give up? Tonight's dinner: potato cheese broccoli soup, using chicken broth to cook the veggies in.

This morning, William made up a song he sang OVER AND OVER again: "We're not going camping now. We're not going camping now." The tune, if you can believe it, sounded very much like Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire"!! So you'd sing it to the part that goes, "The taste of love is sweet...."

Father's Day at the Fam's

Bear Prayer

I read this joke in Country magazine, and thought for sure I could remember it and tell it to my family. Well, I proceeded joyfully, and absolutely forgot the main part altogether. My Mother and I are both mentally retarded when it comes to telling jokes. (Bless her heart). I did NOT inherit my Father's Irish joke or story telling ability, unfortunately. I actually had to tear the joke out so I could tell it to my family properly and share it with you.

A Minister was hiking in the woods one day when he came face-to-face with a huge grizzly bear. Knowing he couldn't outrun the beast, he dropped to his knees and prayed: "Oh Lord, have mercy on your humble servant. If I could ask only one thing, please make this bear a Christian." The minister heard a noise and looked up just as the bear dropped to its knees with a thud and folded its front paws as in prayer. Awestruck by the miracle he had just witnessed, the minister heaved a huge sigh of relief. Then the bear began to speak: "Lord, bless this meal that I am about to receive..."

Uh-oh! Hot dog!!!

CROATIAN CHICKEN WITH SOUR CREAM

1 lg fryer chicken, or 1 whole chicken, cut up
1/2 c. butter
3 T. flour
2 tsp. paprika
2 c. sour cream
1 lb. sliced mushrooms
juice of half lemon
1 T. chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste.

Wash chicken and cut into pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Melt butter over medium heat. Fry the chicken in hot butter until golden on all sides. Place in a well greased baking dish. Add flour to butter and cook approximately one minute. Add lemon juice, mushrooms, paprika, and sour cream. Season with salt and pepper. Pour this sauce over the fried chicken. Sprinkle with parsley. Cover and bake at 375 degrees for about 45 min. till chicken is very tender. Serves 6.



CHICKEN CALIENTE (KING RANCH CASSEROLE)

3 lbs chicken breasts, or 1 whole chicken, cooked, reserving
1 cup broth.
1 lg onion, chopped
1 lg. green pepper, chopped
2 T. butter
1 tsp. chili powder
dash garlic salt
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can tomatoes and green chilies, drained and crushed
1/2 lb cheddar cheese, grated
12 corn or flour tortillas, cut into strips

Bone chicken and cut into bite sizes. Saute onion and green pepper in butter. Combine chili powder, garlic salt, soups, broth, and tomatoes. Place 1/2 of chicken in a large casserole; top with 1/2 soup mixture, tortilla strips, onion and green pepper, then cheese. Repeat layers. Cook covered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes; then uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes. When I made this the first time, I used a soup can pretty much full of broth. The second time, maybe a half can. If you skimp on broth, the tortillas don't puff up as moistly; they're better moist than just dry strips.

Hi, my name is Lori, and I throw sea anenomes

I actually tried posting pictures of my growing garden at least twice, but it wouldn't work. Problems with the page or something--connection timing out, try again. Hmph.

A few days, William was getting cozy with me in bed. He looked at the open area under the eaves and told me he saw.......a rabbit. It was white, and it was "eating a yanwich." Ha ha!! He also sang almost perfectly Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, which was SO heartwarming! :)

School is out in 1 week!! Thank you, Jesus!!! I am so ready to not be chilly, as in, bring on the summer weather!!

I plan to start the girls on swim lessons for the first time. I sign them up the day school ends. Maybe I'll do Zach after their session is over. (Three kids with lessons at once adds up, dontcha know). Saturday, at the school down the road, I took the kiddos and 2 neighbor kids to an open swim for a little while. The rule is, I have to be in the water with them, unless they are older and proven swimmers. So, I got in the warm water (indoors) and held William the whole time, in his swim diaper (wonderful things--those). This was something I was doing FOR THE KIDS, but it ended up being totally fun. There was a poolside basketball net, some balls, a plastic sea anemome, and a plastic stuffed alligator floating around, which I took advantage of, like a fool. I was throwing them to and at my young charges. I get an unbelievable kick out of throwing flotsam and jetsom at loved ones--always have. There were a fair amount of people around, and blissfully, I didn't care. I was surprised at how much exercise I seemed to have gotten just playing! I was sorry we couldn't stay longer! But holding William the whole time did tire my arm.

I also bought a book of piano music right before the swimming. I have had this untuned piano for what--2, 3 years? Have I bought any new music since having it? Had it tuned? NO!! The music I have is hand me downs from my childhood music lessons and my parents' house--pathetic!! Apparently, I was waiting for the earthshattering suggestion/direction from my husband to go down to such and such music store, when I didn't have the kids, and GET SOME MUSIC ALREADY!!! Cuz it was so hard to think of that myself. Sheesh!! It really is surprising how much it meant to me to just have someone else give me that obvious instruction. The music store, which I had not been in before, was SO COOL. They sell instruments and accessories and tons of sheet music. Big store, lots of good energy. Picking 1 book was a challenge, but I'm happy with what I got. I probably spent 4 hours this weekend playing--unheard of!! It also has guitar chords, so Chris can dink around with it, too.

Is anyone interested in a couple of awesome chicken recipes I have/will make for the second time in a matter of weeks? If you are, let me know, and I will post the directions. One is Croatian chicken, and the other is King Ranch Casserole.

Bikers for Jesus

I am a Harley babe, now, did you know that? Chris and I took a moonlit ride last night, tight leather and all......... Yeah right!!! HAHA!! Actually, he MADE me get on that little dirt bike with him. First he had me in front, which was ridiculous, and he was going a bit too slow in the alley, and I really thought he was going to go straight into this shed. So then I got on the back and really had nowhere to rest my feet. We had no helmets, and I was wearing a skirt, and it was twilight, but my BAD BOY and I rumbled out of the alley, in front of our house, across the street, and back. I was really scared to death and had to hold on tight while resting my legs on air. I prayed that we weren't going faster than our guardian angels could fly. I couldn't have stayed on any longer, cuz my butt was RIGHT over the exhaust pipe. HOT. When I got off, I was kinda shaky, but we both had big stupid grins on our faces. Yes, it was illegal. More of a rush than this desperate housewife has had in awhile. I could get used to rush, I think.

Ta da!!

Zach took his first day (out of two) of SATs today. He thinks he did well. We'll see.

Chris bought him a dirt bike for his birthday, and that is exciting, but the kickstand was welded on, and it doesn't stay running. ARGH!

I went with Jessie on her field trip a week ago to the Washington History Museum. It was quite exhausting. And I found out yesterday that one of the other moms that went actually PASSED AWAY within the last few days!!! I don't know how yet, but isn't that SHOCKING!?? She looked not much older than me, I spent a number of hours chaperoning a field trip with her there, she had like 3 kids, and now she's gone forever!!! Yikes!!!

On a brighter note, I got some more stuff planted in the front yard today. It started out muggy and dry, and I was positively inspired to get petunias, large yellow marigolds, snapdragons, alyssum, and geraniums. I got done just as the rain started. My raised bed full of veggies is really coming along nicely. I took a picture, but it doesn't do it justice, plus it takes 6 and a half weeks to upload. My Mum stopped by for lunch today, where we ate on the front porch. The two chairs out there plus my old white "shabby chic" nightstand(with potted alyssum in yellow tin bucket and a small candle lantern as accessories) from my teen years are a recent addition, and tre cute, if I do say so myself.

Happiness is getting cool stuff for cheap at Ross and Goodwill! Yay!! I got several new outfits at Ross and this antique looking green colander and red jello/cake mold at Goodwill (.99 each!). Those 2 items are now resting on the wall above the stove looking like I paid 24.00 each at an antique store!!! Smug, glib, and smart are feelings that come to mind.

Need a new quick dinner idea? Here's what we had tonight: pasta salad with canned salmon, ranch, quartered cherry tomatoes, fresh parsley, green onions, cooked broccoli. It could have used some extra zing from, like, flavored salt, but it was quick and healthy.

"I had long realized that she [my mother] was no longer my most powerful amulet against danger........And I suppose the reality of no amulet at all against the great, killing wounds of life was simply too awful for me to deal with." --Anne Rivers Siddons,in King's Oak

Hey! I have something to say!

This was a really great day, thank God. I took the kiddos to Home Depot to get a half whiskey barrel with a barrel liner for the goldfish. We have had the big fat goldfish for 4 years now. He is in the 10 gallon tank all by himself. Well, Zach has been bringing home more and more goldfish, frogs, salamanders, and newts. They are crowding his small habitat. So, it was a matter of getting them a proper habitat or doing something different with the boring, space hogging goldfish. The neighbors didn't want him for their small outdoor algae-ridden pond, the pet store wouldn't take him....so...think, think...think, think....put the fish outside and let all the amphibians have the tank! We ended up not with a barrel, but a large plastic pot that looks like a fancy terra cotta pot. We also bought a water lily plant for it. You would really not believe how much fun and joy me[yes, I like to use bad grammar once in awhile], the kids, and Zach's animal-loving neighbor friend had with this project. Zach brought out all the amphibians and put them in the pot for a play date for quite awhile. It was so fun to see the salamanders dive and swim and come to the surface. The frogs kept wanting to escape. I put a metal mesh cover over the pot because there is so much kid activity and birds around. I put the 2 white plastic chairs next to it. And this is on the concrete slab in the shade of our shed, where there are also 3 green rectangular planters of baby lettuces. On the east side of the shed there were some plywood squares, a paneled, painted door that was rapidly antiquing in the weather, and a leftover piece of white picket fence. I moved the plywood squares elsewhere (upstairs--how beautiful they look there, too!), but put the antiqued, peeling door on its side leaning against the side of the shed where the lettuce and fish pond/pot is. The fence section is now on the other side of the shed resting in the dirt and leaning against the shed where the sunflower seedlings and nasturtiums are (in the raised bed). It looks so much cuter this way. I can't believe it never occurred to me to do something useful with that stuff just leaning against the shed looking hideous from the alley.

We had fun setting up the tank for the amphibians. It had a filter from the gold fish, which I will continue to use. It is half full, and there are flat rocks piled up for resting places. Of all things, and this isn't really that aesthetically pleasing, but it works for now, I put a cylindrical glass container full of dirt for an island and stuck a lilac branch with leaves in it. The critters seem to really love it in there with plenty of clean water to really stretch their limbs in and stuff to do! :) It was a mild day--sunny. Yesterday we got some needed rain, and the week before got amazingly warm and sunny! I would have taken some pictures of some of these things, but Chris has the camera.

We had a pleasant spring dinner. I baked a turkey breast last night and used it for a turkey salad today. The recipe I used called for diced turkey, fresh lemon juice, grapes, sliced almonds, mayo, orange peel and served on a bed of lettuce. It was a really great combination of flavors. I put just a smidge of salt, pepper, and mustard in, as well. Dessert was Jessie's favorite...strawberry shortcake...appropriate cuz today is her tenth birthday. We celebrated last weekend, which was really fun. I am actually in the middle of doing a ton of dishes, cuz our dish washer is out of commission. It is really a big deal to go back to doing them by hand with a family this size. Phew!!

Chris is in Arizona golfing!!! He left with his boss and a few coworkers early yesterday morning. They are staying at a resort and coming back tomorrow. This was a bonus/incentive thing, which the employees only partially paid for. Chris pretty much never takes vacation time, even though he has it. Work has been stressful, so this is good for him. Of course, it is really hot there--101 degrees when he called last night!! Argh!

Bounty to be

William--"I DO IT!!!!!" He was actually having a mutiny about our bounty to be (vegetable planting). He wanted to help NOW, constantly. ("How about if I tear open these seeds and just sprinkle them all over? Do you need a shovel now? How 'bout if I cultivate those corn plants you just planted?)

I made an enjoyable trip to Portland Avenue Nursery and bought seeds and vegetable starts for the raised bed Chris made for me last summer! William was whiny, hungry, and demanding, but he did get to help plant pea seeds and nasturtium seeds. I bought peas, green beans, broccoli, green onion, and lettuce from seed. I planted corn starts and celery starts for the first time ever. There are 2 Brandywine tomatoes and 1 patio tomato in there. There are 3 pumpkin plants and 6 bush cucumbers. The peas and beans are both bush varieties, so I don't have to worry about supporting them. I planted the nasturtiums in the border and put giant sunflower seeds in my old empty raised bed, with nasturtiums for border. I am pretty happy about this! The new bed has had only the 3 dwarf blueberries in it for so long now! The picture looks pretty bare, but it is full of God's nums. I will do updates--it should fill out beautifully--it gets really warm and sunny there. I am sorry you have to crane your neck to see that left photo. I didn't turn it. Oops!

Yikes! It's been 2 weeks since I gave evidence of being in the land of the blog living!

Our neighbors got a new swingset and some sand, so after school, the kids swarm over there to play! Awesome!!

Only 6 weeks left of school, thank God. Parents get spring fever, too!!

Sunday, we got KFC and went to a park in Puyallup to play, but it was really chilly though sunny. And I got hurt twice! First, Zach started closing the back hatch of the minivan, but my head was in the way! Ow! I am really amazed I didn't get a cartoon sized lump. My lower back and hips were in a lot of subluxated pain this weekend (getting dehydrated contributes). Well, I was trying to be spry and jump up onto this cement block, but with my bad back and age and stiffish jeans, I just ended up sprawling on the block and scraping my shin. It was embarrassing, but I don't think anyone but Zach saw it! There was a boy with a large lizard at the park, so Zach had fun chatting with him. Zach now has an alligator lizard, a small frog, a newt, a salamander, a goldfish, and like 4 snakes in his room. He just started mowing Grampa's lawn, so now he can pay for the stinkin pet maintenance!!

Zach is going to be 12 in 3 weeks and Jessie will be 10, so I need to plan several celebrations!

I saw the movie RV on Saturday with a friend. It has Robin Williams in it. The previews made it look retarded, but it was actually quite funny, at least in the theater. It seems movies are always better at the theater!

And that's my exciting news!

What I'm listening to: Jewish music with a punch(as in BAM!!)--Matisyahu--"Youth". If you are adventurous, check out this guy on Amazon.com. Usually, you can hear samples of music there, that's why I like it. LOVE THIS CD--amazing, edifying, funky!!

Coffee Cake

I doctored up some Bisquick and made a pretty tasty coffee cake this morning. This is the family size recipe, doubled.

4 cups Bisquick
1 1/3 cups milk
1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs

about 3/4 cup jam
about 3/4 tsp almond extract

Streusal topping
2/3 cup Bisquick
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 slightly softened butter
1/3 cup sliced almonds

Heat oven to 375. Stir coffee cake ingredients until blended. Spread dough in greased 13 x 9 pan. Mix jam and almond extract. Spread on top. (Spreads easier if you microwave the jam just a bit). Stir together streusel topping; sprinkle over batter. Bake about 30 minutes, or till knife inserted in center comes out clean.

April is springtastic!!!

Saturday night, Chris and I went out to dinner to celebrate our 13th anniversary. We went to this Argentine restaurant I had read a good review about. I wanted to try something different. I was actually so disappointed by how noisy and small and crowded it was (and the review did warn me), that Chris was nervous. But once my meal came, I was transformed! I hope I never forget how amazing it tasted. It was a skirt steak that was a long strip, threaded curvily like a snake onto a metal skewer and mesquite grilled. It came with a large, juicy prawn, and a chorizo sausage(didn't like that). It was served on polenta, which was fine textured, a little spicy, smoky, cheesy? and dressed with some kind of fresh diced tomato topping/salsa. They gave us a free dessert, which was a piping hot chocolate lava cake with a scoop of possibly homemade vanilla ice cream. I was painfully full when I left, but very happy. I even had leftovers!

A bumper sticker I saw recently: Lord, please help me to be the person my cat thinks I am. Har har!!

I am so digging the spring and the fresh air and flowers and blossoms and hardly having any hay fever symptoms!

Eye roller: So many ads now, for even food, furniture, clothes, feature people with mp3 players to show how up-to-date/modern/savvy/cool/relevant/youthful they are. I am slow to jump on most bandwagons, and this annoys me (so I secretly want an Ipod, and don't have one. So what!)

Coloring Easter eggs seems more boring every year. The vinegar water colors are so pale. What if I want bright dark red? Maybe I will paint the ones I hardboiled with bright acrylic paints, hide them in the yard when the girls get home from school, and then make egg salad sandwiches with them. Not looking forward to the onslaught of sugar this weekend. I'm not even buying any sugar nums, but the kids will be getting them. And everyone will get more cavities and become hyper, and I'll eat more than I wanted to. Yeah, like I'm still lifting weights. I wish I was able to keep that up. I should be. I believe in it. It's not the easiest thing getting 6 people to a warehouse (Chris' work) once a week and trying to concentrate, stay motivated, and keep everybody safe and happy. Argh! Still doing treadmill at 12:00 when my favorite show comes on, whenever I can. Medical transcription gets neglected so much. It's also pretty hard sometimes. I believe I am so tired, I am rambling quite a bit and becoming boring. Good night, or good morning, as the case may be for you, dear reader.

Recipe for the Precious

Southern Red Velvet Cake
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 1 oz bottle red food coloring
1 tsp white distilled vinegar (my cider vinegar worked fine, I thought)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 3 (9 by 1 1/2-inch round) cake pans.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In another
large bowl, whisk together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla.
Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined and a smooth batter is
formed. Divide the cake batter evenly among the prepared cake pans. Place the pans in the
oven evenly spaced apart. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through the cooking(weird, huh?), until the cake pulls away from the side of the pans, and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Remove the cakes from the oven and run a knife around the edges to loosen them from the sides of the pans. One at a time, invert the cakes onto a plate and then re-invert them onto a cooling rack, rounded-sides up. Let cool completely. Put layers together with a layer of frosting between. Frost top and sides. Place whole pecans around top and crushed pecans on side of cake.

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 lb cream cheese, softened
4 cups sifted confectioner's sugar
1 cup soft unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla

Combine cream cheese, butter, and sugar till smooth. Add vanilla, and beat at high till fluffy. Store in fridge till somewhat stiff, before using. May be stored in fridge for 3 days.

I see yellow....and red!

Jessie is reclining in front of our new and improved living room color. The cake is the humdinger I made for company last night--southern red velvet cake with a whole bottle of red food coloring and cream cheese frosting. It is ALL GONE!!! Wah!!!

My chipped jam jar can actually hold some GREAT stuff!!

MOTHER!!! YOU'RE COMMENTING!!! YAY!!! I told her that the day she started blogging, I would eat my hat and post it to my blog!

You know you MIGHT not be the most miserable person in the world if any of the following occasionally happen to you:
1. Your husband puts a new coat of paint on the orange "fire walls," paint that you picked, while you are at work, and since you love it, he loves it.
2. Your 3-year-old's ABSOLUTE DELIGHT in the unique riding area on some of the Home Depot shopping carts proves to lift your spirits unexpectedly.
3. The pharmacy's worth of Mannatech products you are taking all of a sudden kick in, and when yesterday (and the 5 days before that, and the 30 days before that, etc.), you felt depressed, old, and tired, today you feel young, vibrant, alive, energetic, and HAPPY.
4. Your husband is very patient and loving in your pre-Mannatech-effected state.
5. Your son's rabbit who was kept in the laundry room and constantly soiled it, took a walk out the cat door.... and didn't come back. And your son is not heartbroken. Nor are you!! Mu ha ha ha!
6. You sacrifice day in and day out to home school, and yet, you learn SO MUCH and are blessed to have the amazing quality time with your child, who is learning great VALUES and BIBLE, as well as cool middle ages stuff (at this juncture).
7. You ask God to help you make your money S T R E T C H, and He does.
8. You don't live in a "GREAT NEIGHBORHOOD," and you're not "RICH ENOUGH TO GIVE YOUR CHILDREN EVERYTHING THEY COULD WANT," but your daughters have a great friend next door(with a hot tub and fun-loving parental units), and your son has a great Christian friend across the street. On the other side of you, they have a trampoline, and they share! In the back of you, they have go-carts and an undeveloped area where your kids can roam around looking for "treasures."
9. Your son has a friend at church whose dad likes to bring him along to do things like fish and clam. (This weekend, Zach went clamming for razor clams for the first time. He had the best time ever. I learned how to clean these clams for the first time and make fresh clam chowder. And yes, there IS a difference when you use fresh clams!!! It tastes like the ocean instead of the can. :) )
10. Whereas not too long ago, you constantly were thinking how small and crowded and UNFINISHED your house was, you started realizing what a prize a craftsman bungalow is, and now you are into researching authentic decor and feeling PROUD of your great house.
11. You are not impressed that your midsection is growing and prospering(rather than your savings account), but you are still mobile, pain free, limber, flexible, strong, enduring, and youngish.
12. Your 9 new red primroses cheering up the front yard were only .60 each!

Does your cup runneth under?

You know you might be a pessimist if any of the following are true:
1. The proverbial "glass half full" sounds like a lot more than your cup ever holds.
2. Everybody else's glass is prettier than yours.
3. Your glass is a chipped jam jar.
4. Your glass is 1/3 full of 2 day old water.
5. You caught the cat drinking out of it.
6. It was only tap water, not even purified. It probably has lead in it.
7. Somebody should care enough to bring you something decent.
8. You could get up and get it yourself, but you're too tired because you've been pouring water for everyone else ALL day.

Well, it sure does feel springy all of a sudden, thank God!! The blossoms are out, the air is balmier, springier, pollen-filled, and my hayfever started a few days ago. Argh.

We had another very nice weekend, which went too fast. I promised the kids quite a long time ago that I would take them to see Narnia at the theater. I think it's just about done showing there, so I took the 3 olders on Saturday. It was awesome, of course!! We got back and had grilled cheese sandwiches and apples and then headed to Chris' work! This was our 3rd Saturday we went there to....lift weights!!! Wow!! Chris' boss recently bought a weight bench and punching bags and such, so we are doing some couples' lifting while the kids skate or scooter around the shop. Chris used to lift weights in high school for football and early in our marriage. I've always been interested, but only sporadic in my activity. He pushes himself and me--he's motivated and motivating!! It's fun to have this new family activity/couple activity. We don't go to all that many places as a couple or as a large, unrich family. This is free and fun and healthy! Yay!

Yesterday was very, very restful. I enjoyed my 2 hour rest/nap upstairs while Chris did the first round of dishes--yay!! We read the paper, watched TV, had chicken breasts baked with olive oil, garlic, balsamic vinegar, sage, salt and pepper, and spaghetti with spaghettic sauce. I was dying for dessert, as usual, but I had a handful of granola instead. We managed to do family devotions after dinner, which doesn't always happen.

Well, Zach is doing a grammar worksheet, and he'll be done soon. I will then read a chapter from the medieval fiction book we are reading, A Door in the Wall.

Dull moments few and far between

We had the strangest scene at dinner tonight. One minute there was relative normalcy as the kids got into their chairs, talking, joking, teasing. The next minute, wild laughter and crying at the same time! It all started innocently enough: I brought in a bib to put on William, but I must have really been taking a hike mentally. As I was chatting with the kids and not paying attention, I calmly proceeded to put the bib on Zoe! (She is 8). I was thinking, "Boy this is tight when you snap it over her hair. Hmm....Oh well!" (Like totally!!) But then I immediately stopped thinking about it and went to sit down. Then it dawned on Zoe. She HOLLERED, "I'M NOT A BABY!!!!!!!!!" and immediately started crying and storming off to her room, of all things! If anything, I would have thought she'd have said, "MOM!!!!!" and laughed and looked at me funny! She was SO UPSET!! (Is she sleep deprived right now?) Meanwhile, the rest of of us were rolling on the floor, laughing till we cried at the absurd airheadedness of my space-out mistake and her indignant, surprising response. This only made Zoe madder in the other room, and she continued to cry and yelled out, "IT'S NOT FUNNY!!!! I CAN HEAR YOU!!!" (Yeah, and she's not even a teenager yet. ) After I got control of myself, I went in there to tell her AGAIN that it was an accident, REALLY, and not meant to humiliate her to death. She tried to be stern when she came out, but failed miserably!!! Tee hee! Thankfully, she got some good laughs in, after all!

I am back from my mini-vacation in New Hampshire. I spent Friday through Monday with Jill's family. It was very restful and peaceful and beautiful to spend that many kidless, non-working days in their large home in the country! I saw Grandma Sweet on Saturday, and Jill and I got coffee and lunch and went to a cute gift shop. I really loved driving the country roads and seeing the New England countryside and houses. The blizzard was a new one for me! It delayed my flight a day. Jetblue airlines was a pain to deal with--they couldn't be reached over the phone, and wrongly charged me 90.00 to change my flight. (They reimbursed me). Then we had a long, boring, 2 hour delay at the airport because they COULDN'T FIND A FLIGHT CREW!!!!! Geez Louise!!!!!! But it was wonderful visiting Evan, Jill, and their precious kiddos. And it was so gratifying to wake up from one of my many naps--grin, grin--and Jed was genuinely thrilled that Aunt Loe-ee was up! I loved their 2 cats, too. I was able to take a long walk on Monday while Jill got groceries. We watched a few movies and some winter Olympics on the weekend. Also, I got to see Lindsay and her cute apartment. I left winter behind and came back to my daffodils blooming!!

Wow, we lost the Superbowl!! I didn't watch one minute of it, happily. Chris did, at someone else's house. He came home hoarse and morose, plus he slightly bumped someone's car who had wedged him in!! But he doesn't have to work today, cuz that was the deal if the Seahawks made it to the Superbowl. Good thing, cuz my car decided to not start again for the third time in half a week! Friday, I had to walk to and from school to get the girls cuz of the car. Thankfully, it wasn't raining cats and dogs! It's a 25 minute walk to the school. And we have a newer school we can SEE from our house! It's days like that I kinda wish they were at the new one.

This weekend I get to fly to New Hampshire!!! Yay! I will be visiting Grandma Sweet and staying with Jill and Evan!! Grandma wants me to clean out and organize her closet--isn't that funny? The interesting thing is that Jill and Jed will be flying out here shortly after that! Wow!

We haven't amended our orange walls yet. But I moved the treadmill into the living room. I'm filling out my clothes a little too well, and I'm just not spending the time in the boring laundry room. (That's where the treadmill was). So Friday and Saturday, I spent an hour on it, running half the time, whilst watching TV. It was so much easier with the TV on. I've really tried being stoic and listening to music or reading or listening to books on tape in the laundry room, but I get bored to tears after 15 minutes. Chris got on it, too, and put me to shame, running at a pretty fast pace. Then he went in to work to work out where they have some weights recently purchased. Zach went in to try it too, cuz he was interested. Zach especially liked this punching bag thing that is attached at floor and ceiling.

We had Zoe's birthday at Grandma's house Saturday night, and that was fun. She will actually be 8 tomorrow!

The photo below shows the scary Halloween orange, and some examples of how we might rectify it. Chris tried some pale yellow glazing, which actually looks too white (it was some old half white glaze I already had which he mixed with pale yellow). I tried some bright yellow with glaze blotted on, and then some berry/brick mixed with glaze blotted on. I think I like best the spot that has both bright yellow and red blotted over the orange. This is kind of a conondrum.

Oh, and Peter Rabbit escaped last week. :(

I'll do a quick post. Last weekend Chris and I went to see "Walk the Line," the Johnny Cash movie. We got there 45 minutes late and had to sit in the front, but it was a great movie, and we had fun.

This weekend, we needed to put a second coat of ceiling paint on in living room, and that led to a spur of the moment decision to repaint the walls. They did need repainting, and "since we were going through all the effort...." Chris was tired of the cheerful light yellow, so we agreed on a tasteful lightish medium ochre. Well, he came home with a VIBRANT, RICH, IN YOUR FACE pumpkin. He told me not to be scared, but I was. We put a coat on the walls, but I can't live with it, so we are going to have to do something different--like some faux glazing to tone it down.

Got toddlers? My sunday school kiddies got a kick out of putting little foam heart stickers on a sheet, then grabbing corners and shaking them up and down. They were very diligent about picking them up again so they could do it again, and again! Great activity for indoors in winter!

I got as far as taking my midterm exam for medical transcription this week. I got an 86%. Now there is a bunch of editing training, which I love. After this, I'll get to the real transcription practice! Yay!

The world is full of cactus, but we don't have to sit on it.
--William Foley

The Animal Planet channel was on the other day, and it was an animal rescue show. It looked like maybe Arizona. This woman called in about her neighbor's cat who had apparently somehow gotten COMPLETELY embroiled in some cactus! The poor cat was COVERED in stickers, not moving, and meowing piteously! They got it to the vet, tranquilized it, and spent the next 2 hours removing prickers! It then looked normal and had to be on pain relievers and antibiotics for 10 days. It had looked so absolutely horrible--like a cat shaped cactus plant. I guess kitty hadn't talked to William Foley.

ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY. ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY. ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY. ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CABIN FEVER, HERE! MUST GET OUT AND DO
SOMETHING BESIDES RAT RACE DUTIES! The sky has been either light grey, medium grey, whitish grey, mottled grey, watery grey, or kill-me-now-I-can't-take-it-anymore-grey. A little help, here, oh great WEATHERMAN IN THE SKY? Here's my typical scenario: Thursday is a mental health day and I have to daydream all day about good things and fun stuff to do Saturday so I don't climb the walls and start crawling around on the ceiling with foam coming out of my mouth. Saturday comes along: I was up late the night before cuz work lets out no earlier than 12:30 usually. Then I have to unwind and/or visit with Chris if he's still up. 12:00 noon Saturday and I'm still not dressed and quite groggy, and there are mountains of laundry and not exactly bouncing out the door on great adventures. Chris actually has to work today, too. It's not raining, though. The least I could do is go to Point Defiance Park with the kiddos. I'm pretty broke and that's free.

Last Saturday I did a mommy and me date with Zoe. We went to Krispy Kreme donuts, which I religiously avoid normally. We had wanted to go to Red Robin and get dessert, but of course they were packed. My donut was so amazing and only 1/3 satisfying. I could have gobbled 2 more, but I resisted. The coffee packed a wallop! Now I know who has high octane java! We then walked over to Toys R Us and bought Trivial Pursuit for kids and Yahtzee. The kids and I played Trivial Pursuit for the next few hours, and it was SO FUN!!! I had to drag Zach kicking and screaming to play, but after 1 minute, he was totally into it! He had to have a long pep talk though when he exhibited extremely poor sportsmanship cuz his YOUNGER sister beat him! The indignity!!

I want to go on a road trip and a boat trip and have some tiramisu. I need these things.

Okay, okay, Kristi, a new post is forthcoming! :)

Our computer was out of commission for a few days being de-virused. We now have more protection and a different browser. Hopefully things will go more smoothly now.

What is like unto a Saturday where the sun actually pokes its head out already and you're still in your jammies at 12:45!? Chris is leaving for a friend's house to watch the important football game. Zach spent the night at a friend's house last night, and friend's sister slept here. We're pretty much forcing Zach to shower and nap, and he's not happy about it. He had stayed up really late, of course. Wednesday, Grampa took him and a few other boys on a tour of an aircraft carrier. Zach came back in a great mood. It was great for him to have the monotony of studying broken by a GUY EXCURSION.

What am I supposed to do about this rabbit? No really--any suggestions? (I'm calling it Fluffer Nutter, and yes, the coloring actually does look like marshmallow fluff and peanut butter!) I'm kindhearted and martyrish enough to let it run around the house to exercise, but Chris can't stand it and says its unhygienic and "How many times do I have to put my foot down about this?!" Of course I clean up after the rabbit really well, but if it messes an area and Chris gets to it first, that's not cool. It's cold and wet outside, and we only have a small cage. This shouldn't be my problem it should be Zach's. But all animal issues become my issues because I am responsible and caring, and kids can't really be trusted. Supposedly you can get rabbit leashes at Petco!

Yesterday we had an injured starling stay for a few hours. I think the cat had tackled it. Zach rescued it and cleaned off a bite mark with hydrogen peroxide. We calmed it down, let it rest, gave it some seeds. The neat part was when the rabbit and the starling were sharing an apple! He perked up and was hopping around the room, so I let him go. He flew with a crooked tail to a nearby tree and watched us for a bit as if to say, "Thanks, mates!"

True story: the mother of the boy Zach was with was trying to explain about Communion to her 3-year-old, telling him it represented the Body of Christ. He looked at his little piece of cracker and said, "I think I got the skin!"