Break Time

As a mom we are never truly off the clock, there is always some task that needs our attention no matter what time of day or night that it may be.

But, in the next three days I get a break..................

I get to remember what it feels like to be called by my first name. I get to spend time with other frazzled women, especially my dear friend Nicole and laugh. I don't mean the "oh that was so funny and I have laundry to fold and dinner burning on the stove" laugh. I mean the make the jaw ache, gut wrentching, tear inducing laughter!!! The kind that you get when you are truly relaxed and among friends.

Wednesday I get to attend my once a year total girl time at Women's Conference. This my once a year totally spiritually charging treat to myself and they just announced that the concluding speaker will be our Prophet.

This is going to be good!!!

My Little Engineer

My Little Engineer boy.

There is nothing that a roll of blue tape - that I am constantly running out of - some kabob sticks and a free afternoon cannot make.

Lofty on his Bridge of Terror, making his way from the Fridge to the counter across the old scary bridge.

What fun to have such a curious, active, building mind.

George Carlin's Views on Aging

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions.
'How old are you?' 'I'm four and a half!' You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key
You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead. 'How old are you?' 'I'm gonna be 16!' You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life . . You become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!
But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're Just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?
You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.
But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.
You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!
You get into your 80's and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30 ; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; 'I Was JUST 92.'
Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. 'I'm 100 and a half!' May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay 'them.'
2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.
3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. 'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.' And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.
4. Enjoy the simple things.
5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.
6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.
7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.
8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.
9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.
10.Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

Too cool for school.....

Can I just say that we have such an awsome 4th grade teacher!!!

I know that they have been secretly working on a blogg but

what fun it has been.

Here it is and some fun pictures of the Drama Queen.

http://themostimportantclass.blogspot.com/

Anyone think that face looks slightly familiar, I know I have seen

that face before but where oh where..........

Landscaping

I have known "the man" for 13 years. In fact April 15th was the anniversary of when we officially got engaged and I think that it is funny that when the nation is scrambling to get taxes done, we were madly in love and planning our future together. 13 years seems so long and some days so not enough in the forever scheme of things.

We are in the midst of revamping the yard. Since we moved into our house in June of 2007 we have been focusing our time on the inside of the house, so last summer the yard became a badly neglected mess. Trimming it for the first time this year was quite the undertaking and I might have had better luck with a machete. But our focus is now on landscaping. We have built a deck, erected a shed, cordoned off the play area and now with dirt in the driveway we are anxiously making flower beds to finish the yard. Well in order to do that we needed to rent a sod-cutter, something that just the name brings fear into me. I envision a big sharp blade on a rickety machine that is able to cut not only sod but anything else that gets in the way. So "the man" embarks to Home Depot to secure a sod-cutter.

Now this could have been a situation where tempers could flare and angry words are spoken and another in a long list of projects that we have dubbed "divorce maker #428", but I am constantly amazed at how well we work together.

After giving the sod a healthy flat-top we finally figured out how to lower the blade, then the hard work of tugging, pulling, leaning, and trying not to run into anything valuable, we managed to cut the lawn. All this done without a harsh word, or a "you big dumby didn't the guy tell you how to work this." No, it was more like, "what do you think this lever does?" - I" don't know try it". Honestly I think that is how truly connected minds and souls work, little suggestions made that help two reach the same goal.

In the end we got it all done and the machine returned in record time. Not one angry word and great satisfaction that we are almost done with the landscaping. Now we just have a big sod mess and dirt all over in the driveway and every neighborhood kid over to play in the dirt pile. But come weeks end we will have a beautiful yard.

Mortality

Another fellow blogger ( http://wickeworld.blogspot.com/2008/04/reflection-on-mortality.html ) has commented on the subject of her own mortality and that she is facing 37.

This week my family has been thrust into the subject of dealing with a parents' mortality and frankly it is scaring me. I know that I am aging, the wrinkles and crows feet have set up permanent residence, but to think that there will come a day that my parents will no longer be there when I call is just too unsettling for me to deal with. What will I do as a child when my biggest supporters and confidants will no longer be there for me? Oh how I dread that day....

So I have determined to do something that will make that passing not so difficult, I am going to take the time to put my thoughts, thanks, gratitude and love to them on paper so that I will not have to talk to a cold headstone and think about or regret all the times that I had the opportunity to talk to them, in person, and I did not take it.

Conference Weekend

I think that we are the very unusual's of the neighborhood. As Conference was starting on Saturday we were deep into "projects". We have the kids out helping and the radio blaring and we are busy fixing and building. I told "the Man" that come October I want to be able to stay inside where it is warm and watch Conference not listen cause you never know till the Ensign comes out who the speaker was that gave such great counsel.

I also want to say Hooray for the plug for mothers' from the Brethren, we do a hard job and a little "Thank you" makes it all worth it. I do really good with the occasional, "I love you Mom!"