Catalogs

I love Spring.

The weeds are blooming and my mailbox is stuffed with a budding gardeners' wish.

Yes, it is catalog time for all those seed, rose, perennial and anything else for the yard catalogs to arrive and I love it. It reminds me of being a kid and the Sear's Christmas catalog has arrived and I finally get my turn to dream.

I have the same ritual, gathering all the catalogs', getting my warm blanket and a cup of steaming wassail and I begin to dream of constructing a garden of pure beauty and delight. I mark and tag and discover the latest rose, the hardiest geranium and in the end I am determined that this be the year of great accomplishments. But then I begin to add up my wants and needs and discover that those gardens you see in the magazine's happened over time and my meager budget only will allow some minor changes. Awh......

But I get to dream of what might be rather then what I really have, dead grass, broken sprinkler heads and blooming weeds to enjoy.

Happy Gardening everyone!

Some of the "Men" in my life....

I am so lucky to have such wonderful "Men" in my life.

I have a wonderful Dad, Husband and Son that are so much alike and yet so individual.

Today my dear Dad came and "caulked" for us. He is the Professional Caulker and "The Man" was more than happy to turn that dreary job over to him. "Sweet-boy" was so happy to have Grandpa here, when he got home from school, that he had to show Grandpa the deck that he has single handedly torn down with just a big shovel and gravity.

What wonderful "men" to have in my life.

Final Remodel update

Okay the inside is finally done!!
Carpet was placed on Friday and we have finally put everything back and surveyed the damage. Even after blue-taping my corners I have touch-up to do.
Carpet guys are never nice to painted walls.
So after much ado about something here it is......

"Sweet Boy" tearing out the carpet

The whole in the wall from the piano lid - long story, much frustration.

My beautiful piano in the hall after the wall trauma.

Living Room done - it looks so good.

"Sweet Boy's" room done.

The best part is that sign finally in the yard!!

If you want to see more, check out our MLS listing at

http://www.utahrealestate.com/776067

4th Grade

Do you ever wish that you could go back in time and repeat Elementary school?

I remember Miss Reeve, my 2nd grade teacher. She was so wonderful and had the biggest Ostrich Egg on her desk. She had been everywhere and knew everything and all us girls wanted to be just like her someday. Well "the Drama Queen" has such a teacher for 4th grade. She is so fun and I volunteer in there as much as I can cause I have so much fun.

Today the kids made origami letters to people in the class.

(this is "the drama Queens' letter to me - aww!)

I helped the kids fold them and during recess Miss H censored them. We found that a certain BOY in the class got more then enough letters and who wants to be left out. So she asked me to write letters to those that had not recieved them. What a blast that was! Thank goodness I have been in there and so I know the kids so I was able to write things about them that made it personal, not just "Hey dude, you rock!" Which I am not even sure is hip anymore. But it was fun and I am sure that some have figured out that it was me, but I don't care.

The point is that the kids are having such a great time learning, that there are days that I want to put on my backpack, grab my paper sack full of PBJ with the crust cut off and go learn again, all the things that I have forgotten; but mostly to just have a day, where I am not responsible for anything more than 4th grade - what a relief that would be.

Remodel update

Fireplaces, something that I have never had in a home before became my bane in life. What to do with my bland looking fireplaces. When we bought this house it was white on white. Not to say that I do not like white; white snow, white ice cream, white base boards but white house - NO! (those of you who know me, know that I live in a very colorful world). So the first order of business was to paint walls and bring some color into this blah house. But what to do with the fireplaces. Here is what I did.

I like the finished product and it really helps to bring the house into the current decade and not the 1970's brass & glass phase of which all our lighting fixtures and closet doors were made of. Needless to say those same doors gave the kids nightmares and were quickly disposed of the first week here.

Friday, Yipeee.......

Am I the only one that delights in Friday?
I like knowing that I will finally have "the man" around to help hold down the fort.
I like knowing that I do not have to keep saying, "5 more minutes" till my kids walk out that door heading to school.
I like knowing that for 2 days I do not have to think about their homework, typing schedules, nutritious lunches and if they have clean clothes.
I like Friday cause I know that I have to go to work - yes I like work - and that I get 10 hours to myself doing something that I love and that I really get koodo's doing, (they love me).
So,...........that is why I love Friday's!!!!

Valentines' Day

For the last 12 years, I think that "the Man" has felt that V-day is just that; a day that he always gets in trouble. Over the years he has done a fanstastic job, but some years....let's just say that I was not "romanced". So I have taken to not talking too much about the dreaded day so that he will not feel it is another day set up for men to fail, especially him. I have also learned that I just need to tell him what I want, no more beating around the bush and hoping that he gets the idea. So Monday night I tell him that I really just want a nice letter or card from him (he is really a wonderful writer) and maybe some flowers if he is feeling generous. Straight forward and honest.

So here it is Wednesday, less than 24 hours from the DREADED day and I already have recieved my wish. Not only did he think ahead and order 3 weeks ago, he didn't want me waiting to get them so had them delivered early so I could enjoy them NOW!!!! What a guy! I think that FINALLY after almost 13 years together, he has gotten V-day down.

Personality

So I was wondering what my personality is and the results are in - my true color is Yellow!

"You're yellow, the color of joy and energy — two things you definitely bring to everyone around you. It's hard for anyone to be sad or lonely in your presence; your sunny disposition and cheery outlook just won't allow it. The warmth of your personality shines through in the kindness you show friends and family (and strangers, too). Always ready with a lighthearted joke or heartfelt compliment, you know how to make people feel good about themselves, so they can't get enough of you. Yellow is a warm and inviting color for a warm and inviting person — you!"

Do I believe this, well that is the question, but take the test and see what color you are?

What are you?http://web.tickle.com/jumpto?test=colorogt&c=50652

Remodeling with a Vengence

We are in phase II of our remodeling projects.

Phase I consisted of updating the bland main level of our home with pergo flooring, tile in the bathroom, new paint throughout, lighting fixtures, new microwave, sink-disposer-faucet, and dishwasher. By the time we finished with that we needed a long break. But along comes a long holiday weekend, so "the man" and I decide that we are going to go all out and get it done - tile, paint, the works. Well,...... it is Thursday and we still have only one working toilet. I have run out of steam and my body is revolting with a lovely cold-sore on my lip. I have only 2 more rooms to paint and we will have re-painted the entire house that is finished. But, I do not care! I do not care that my bedroom has all the furniture in the middle of the room. I do not care that I have not made my bed for 5 days. I do not care that I am really beginning to look like a "broken down house wife" wearing her Pj's all day. I do not care that I have more paint on my clothes, arms, face then the wall - at times.

I am Tired!

So needless to say I hope that by the weekend that we will have the bathroom's back to functioning. It is surprising how much you get spoiled with extra bathroom's. But after all that the bathrooms are starting to be my favorite rooms in the house - they just look so good when they are finished. Here is the finished kids bathroom.

Stock Options

Do you ever wish that you had stock options in the following companies- Kleenex, Benadryl, Tylenol, Robitussin, and Shasta. For the last two weeks these companies have been keeping me alive.

I finally went into the Doctor and got diagnosed with a severe sinus infection and Bronchitis. All I can say is I am happy to finally break my Kleenex box a day habit and the Cream Soda addiction that I have been under.

I also am glad for a man that shares my conviction of throwing items in the fridge out too soon, Mr. Louis Pastour`; nothing in my fridge disappears unless it is growing something and thanks to him we have life saving Penicillin of which I am grateful for, cause now I know that I will recover from the gombu.

Bill the Cat

Does anyone remember "Bill the Cat" comic strip?

It was hilarious with a cat that looked like some of us feel in the morning.

Well this is my "Bill the Cat" week. I have the "gombu" and I swear that I will die from snot. I never knew that so much snot could be produced by one nose.

Help!!!!!

Christmas let down

Am I the only one that has the "Christmas let-down"?
By that I mean that there is so much anticipation, so much frantic searching and wrapping and cooking and merry making that when the blessed day arrives, one is so tired that one can only remember blurs of paper and faces. I have that sense of moments missed and I wonder "Did everyone have a Merry Christmas?"
I have asked my kids repeatedly if they got what they wanted? The "Sweet-boy" of course got Thomas everything so he is very happy that Santa finally arrived, but I wonder if the "Drama-Queen" was as elated with her gifts? After all the times that she had to sit upon the fat man's lap and espouse her infinite goodness and right to receive all the things that would make her life complete, was she happy that none of them arrived come Christmas Morning?
So I asked her, and in that soon-to-be-ten-year-old-wisdom she told me that if we got everything in life there would be nothing to look forward to. Wow - I was stunned! So I guess that maybe next year she will get that radio controlled dog or horse or that maybe one year she will get a real horse, but in that moment I realized that we all have our dreams and that is what we are working towards.
So in the end it was a good Christmas, filled with family and lots of love and good food and lessons' learned......even from my kids.

Sledding

Every year we go sledding the Saturday

before Christmas.

It was a great day with fresh snow,

blue skies and people that I love the most.

School Gifts

I love the cute little gifts that my kids make for school. I have precious memento's' from the "Drama Queen's" first years in school and this is the "Sweet-Boy's" first year to add to these precious reminders - but can we say something went terribly wrong at school today.

The "Sweet-Boy" has severely sensitive skin, too much heat and he hives out, too much cold and he hives out, too much water, soap, you get the picture.

I wish that I had stock in Benadryl cause we carry it and use it by the case-load.

So there I am volunteering in class and my son comes back from doing his secret present and he is all red, no biggy, but within a minute he is covered with hives and it is spreading down his throat. So I casually tell his teacher that I am taking him and we get the Benadryl magic and head to the Pediatrician, (she is an hour drive from our new location - we made it in 35 minutes) - I wanted her to see this latest flair up. Poor little guy is all splotchy, and groggy from the Benadryl but the prognosis is good.

So after all that, I still cannot wait to see the gift.

Merry Christmas!

I want, I want, I want!

Do you ever notice that this time of year, no matter how old you are, suddenly you get a case of the "I want's". I think that with kids' it is especially annoying and reminds me why I do my shopping late in the evening and alone!

It has always been a struggle to know how much is enough. I know that we should not compare but in the case of gift giving, what really constitutes enough? I was contemplating this question one Christmas and a dear friend of mine clarified it all for me.

"When the son of God was born, the wise men brought gifts, not a multitude of gifts but 3 simple, treasured gifts for the Christ child. Are we any better than our Savior?"

Ever since then I have just given 3 treasured gifts to my children. Sure it makes it hard to know what to do, hard to stop at just 3 presents, but I also hope that in doing this, talking to my kids about the significance of the three gifts to the Christ Child that they will learn humility, gratitude, and the ultimate gift that was given when the babe was born; that Christmas is so much more then "What did you get".

Life Avoidance

Do you ever wake up on Monday and just want to roll over

and go back to sleep?

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

That is my week in a nut shell.

Right now I should be studying for my final, but I am Blogging instead.

I am also wondering when this rebellious streak will diminish? I have never really been a procrastinator but in getting more seasoned (yes the fancy way of saying really old) I am becoming more and more of a procrastinator.

Why is that?

Is it because my time is not my own, that others make demands

on me that I DO NOT WANT TO FULFILL!

(YES, I am yelling that constantly in my head)

Is it that my inner child is screaming out for playtime?

Or is it that I am just getting more and more selfish?

Then again is it just me......?

Something to think about

A Different Christmas Poem
The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light, I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight. My wife was asleep, her head on my chest, my daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white, transforming the yard to a winter delight. The sparkling lights in the tree I believe, completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep, Sscure and surrounded by love I would sleep. In perfect contentment, or so it would seem, so I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near, but I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear. Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear, and I crept to the door just to see who was near. Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night, a lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old, perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold. Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled, standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear, "Come in this moment, it's freezing out here! Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve, you should be at home <>on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift, away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts. To the window that danced with a warm fire's light then he sighed and he said "Its really all right, "I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line, that separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me, I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me. My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December," then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ', and now it is my turn and so, here I am. I've not seen my own son in more than a while, but my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag, the red, white, and blue... an American flag. I can live through the cold and the being alone, away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet, I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat. I can carry the weight of killing another, or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all, to ensure for all time that this flag will not fall." "So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright, your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least, "Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast? It seems all too little for all that you've done, for being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret, "Just tell us you love us, and never forget. To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone, to stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead, to know you remember we fought and we bled. Is payment enough, and with that we will trust, that we mattered to you as you mattered to us."
PLEASE, Would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our U.S. service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.
LCDR Jeff Giles, SC,

USN 30th Naval Construction Regiment OIC,

Logistics Cell One

Al Taqqadum , Iraq

Must be Santa, must be Santa, must be Santa-Santa Claus......

So now that I have you singing that song....here we go.

I love Christmas!

I have a picture of my kids with Santa every year. I place them lovingly on the fireplace mantle for all to enjoy. I love looking back on them and remembering those magical Christmas'. Last year "Drama Queen" did not want to sit with Santa, breaking with tradition, also breaking my heart. But that was her choice and my choice was to use my less then stellar artistic ability to place her in the photo. So I colored a body, cut out a school picture head and "walaa" she is in the picture with Santa.As I got the pictures out this year she stated/yelled that "That is the dumbest looking picture EVER!!" So, this year when we went, she was given the choice again - and as you can see, my artistic ability will be keep where it needs to be, locked away from critical eyes and we all get to enjoy seeing my kids with Santa......as they should be.

Merry Christmas!!

Let it Snow, let it snow, let it snow........

It is snowing today.

It is the first big snow of the season and we are celebrating. We got the weather report from North that this shall be a bad winter. Yahoo, we like to sled and play in the snow. So as the famous song goes, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow........

My Mid-Life Crisis

I love trucks.

I have had 2 in my life and I think that they are great vehicles.

What is there not to love, you are up high and safe, everyone that has ever hit me in my trucks went under my bumper. They can haul anything and they are so fun to go off-roading in.

I love trucks.

So with all that being said I have a loaner from the dealership while my Explorer is being mended, (new transmission, and other things). The family and I are loving it. I do not think that I ever want the Explorer back.....

Look it even fits in the garage - BARELY!!! But it fits. And "the Man" thought it wouldn't. Now I just have to convince him that it is a want not a need to keep it. I don't think that one is going to happen, we need to get him a car first. Bummer!!!