This makes even me think the fall is fun...

I don't need to say much, just a thought that I love my kids, and I love Dale and his ability to capture my kids' moments!   Oh, and it may make it a little more enjoyable to know that the music is a Vince Guaraldi song for the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special.  Happy autumn!!!

I've lost some weight...

Well, I feel like I've lost a lot of weight, but my pants don't show it. For a few weeks now we've been working on de-stuffing the basement. I was going to say de-junk, but it wasn't all necessarily junk - just stuff. We'd like to finish our basement, but I told myself and my family we couldn't start till we'd removed about half of the stuff in the basement. We're getting close.

We sorted out all the things that could be sold at a garage sale. We set it up. We had it - even in the rain. We picked up a little cash. That made me feel like I'd lost weight. It was liberating and motivating. I'm sure I walk with a quickened step.

We've given lots away. We've found charitable organizations and some individuals who really needed it. That made me feel like I'd lost weight because I gave blood. You know, you benefit, but so does the person who received it! I love that feeling.

Right now I'm in the phase of not wanting to buy another thing that isn't consumable. I'm willing to keep eating, but I'm not so fond of collecting a lot more stuff. We'll see how long it lasts. But I'm definitely motivated to head back down there, throw away a lot more, and organize what I don't throw away. It's tough exercise, but that weight loss sure feels good!!!

Sisters and Friends

So, in my last post I referred to my week of partying with friends and family. This is a shot from the nice luncheon I had with my sisters. I thought it was so telling of our personalities and our subsequent roles within the family. We met at Colleen's house with me, Colleen and her daughters Heather and Jessica, Cathy and her daughter Romney, and of course, Andy. Colleen had fixed a delicious meal - something she's entirely capable of doing, but just doesn't have time to do often. She's still the oldest sister whose role it is to make sure we're fed. Each place at the table had been adorned with not only the nice place settings Colleen made, but also a bag of treats and a Halloween candle, compliments of Cathy. She's so good about making everything look good, and she always does that little extra something to make it special. Me -- well, I brought my spider rifle to share with the gang. I guess I bring the out-of-the-box twist!

We had a nice meal and enjoyed one another's company. I'm so glad we all live close to each other so we can share these moments. I'm glad I have sisters. I'm glad I have nieces who are old enough now to just be my friends. I think they're great. Thanks for everything. I love you all very much.

The rest of the week I had lunches with varying groups of friends. I am surrounded by amazing, marvelous, accomplished, interesting, loving, kind women whose lives I try to emulate in so many ways. My friends were kind, generous, funny, and encouraging throughout the week. Whenever I hear of people who feel alone in the world, I say a prayer of gratitude for the friends who surround me. All it takes is a little interest, a little time, and a little willingness to share. They enhance my life and make me better. I thank you women. I hope in some small way, I'm enhancing your life as well. If nothing else, I'm a good resource for where to find a good spider rifle!!

Happy Birthday to Me!

I love it that I have something unique to write about for my birthday. Mine was yesterday, and it was awesome! The day began as Cheyenne wished me a happy birthday. Dale stood behind me giving her signals about how old I am. He was holding up his fingers to say "42." She shouted out, "You're 24 today, Mom!" I responded with a hearty, "Why yes, I am, Cheyenne! Thank you!"

The sights and sounds of my birthday included (please note that this list can be sung to the tune of the 12 Days of Christmas if you try): Phone calls from loved ones - Korean food for lunch - "Happy Birthday" on the saxophone - a 2 1/2 pound flourless chocolate cake - gifts from friends - and a homemade spider rifle!!!

But the highlight of the day was the spider rifle. Daniel had been quite excited about the gift he and Dale had been making for me out in the garage. They brought it in - wrapped in the traditional birthday wrapping - the afghan named "The Wobie." I unwrapped it carefully and could not have guessed the useful treasure that lay within. In the attached picture you can see me holding my very own handy, dandy, spider removal tool. Should I see a spider on the wall or even on the ceiling, I need only to raise the barrel of the spider rifle and pull the trigger. It instantly sucks the offending arachnid into a waiting cup at the bottom of the handle. I can then remove the cup and dispose of the spider humanely outside or less humanely in the toilet! How great is that?!?!? And really, how many other women got such a gift from their sons recently??? I love my creative family, and I thank them for the creative gift!

Speaking of creativity, my other birthday gifts included a set of very nice colored pencils from my good friend Lisa and a book called Creative License from Dale and Cheyenne. Somehow the universe is trying to tell me I must reach in and find the creative soul within. Maybe by this time next year, I'll be drawing my blog -----Stay Tuned!

The Birds and the Bees...

So, now that I have your attention, I'll tell you about my day. It was one of those days when you have a plan, but one thing leads to another, to another, etc., etc. This morning I asked my neighbor if we could borrow his truck tomorrow to take some things to a friend's house for a yard sale (that's another whole blog topic). He had plans to leave town for the night so he told me just to take the key. We can use the truck, but it had grass in it. I offered to take it to the green waste dump. So, if you're going to the green waste dump, then you need to have a full truck, right? I thought I'd pull a few of the big weeds and maybe our zucchini plants. Well, upon looking at the zucchini plants, we discovered it must have frozen last night because all the garden plants were suddenly dead. So, we might as well remove them all. That was a job! It's a sure sign of Fall and the migration of the BIRDS (see, this is about birds) when you clean out the garden. We wrestled the multitude of entangled vines and packed them in the truck. I was a sweaty, scratched-up mess, but now it was time to go to the dump. So, in the truck with no air conditioning we had the windows down. Four or five minutes before arriving at the dump, Dale felt something on his neck. He went to swat it only to find it was a bee, which in its startled state stung him on the knuckle. Being so brave, he didn't want to pull over or anything, but you could see the stinger in his knuckle. Five minutes later, we stopped the truck and I went to pull it out. It was still attached to a tiny piece of the BEE's tailend and it was still moving!!!! It's like the chicken with its head cut off. The tiny piece of bee bum was wiggling back and forth as if to stick the stinger in further or maybe get it out so it could fly away (it didn't realize the rest of its body already did!) So, I found a place to store it undisturbed to look at later. We emptied the truck and came home, but I couldn't do the next thing on the list because now I needed to get out Daniel's microscope and look at it. Is there any question where he got his nerd genes? But, I didn't want my blog friends to feel left out, so then we had to take pictures to share. These are pictures of the stinger under the microscope. Go ahead, admit that it's cool! The long straight part of it was about 1/16" long then it widened to what looks like a little bulb. I won't bore you with all the details of the rest of the day, but I will add that Dale's finger is really swollen tonight, and his evening isn't going quite as planned either. And so it goes with birds, bees, the passing of the seasons, the "never quite as planned" story of my life, etc. etc. And to top it all off, I got my new driver's license in the mail today. That takes me back to the passing of the seasons, the "never quite as planned"..............and raises a new question about how can I make this newly-designed license into the traditional 16th birthday cake. Hmm, I'll put it on my "plan" for tomorrow!!

A dream come true

When we were young, didn't we all dream about a really cool clubhouse we could call our own? I remember building a little fort (really little) when I was 7 and Cathy was about 9. We used scrap wood we found in the alley. It had a Huckleberry Hound pillowcase for a door. Well, Daniel has not only dreamed of a clubhouse, but he's made various little hideouts over the years. Recently, he and Dale decided to really build him one. They designed it on paper, bought the materials, then constructed it - a 6'x8' home for adventure. The frame is pretty solid and made of 2x4s. They wanted a lightweight covering for the outside, instead of plywood, so it could be easily moved or changed. Well, after some shopping, we decided on tarp material for the outside. The stuff that comes in rolls, 6 feet wide, just happened to be orange. Before we knew it, the boys had constructed The Great Pumpkin. With orange tarp on the outside, green tarp on the roof, and a cloud shower curtain for a door, Daniel and his friends are set for adventure! They have stocked it with chairs and a table as well as a cart to hold things like snacks, pens, paper, games, etc. There is a broom and dustpan (we'll see if they get used) and space for many hours of fun. Yesterday, Daniel was in his own little world for two hours doing his homework. He's a happy man! And, so to our neighbors, I offer no real apologies, but I do say that the Great Pumpkin really can rise for those who truly believe!

And now to segue to the next event (or shall I say Segway?)

What a way to spend a beautiful fall evening. Last week, my parents came up to see my nephew off to the MTC. While they were here, we decided to try something new. We went to the gardens at Thanksgiving Point and rented Segways to cruise around the garden. It was really fun! Mom and Lucky weren't so sure at first, but it didn't take long for them to become real pros. We rented two of them for an hour so we just switched off combinations of people and enjoyed the ride. Mom and I rode to the highest point in the garden to look around. Dale and Lucky practiced the art of getting off and getting on again a few times. Dale and I tried to see how fast we could make them go (about 12 mph is the answer). Mom and Lucky tested their uphill driving skills as they returned the machines. The gardens were beautiful and the transportation was just a very fun adventure. And I give a big round of applause to my parents for being such great sports about it. Way to go!