My Favorite Website

I really enjoy this website. Back when I had a desk job I used to have this up in the background and watch it all day.

Old Faithful Webcam


My only birthday wish is that someone would go stand with a sign wishing me a Happy Birthday (in October)so that I can see it on the webcam.

Time, Sweet Time

On any given day, Monday through Friday, I can expect to work 10 3/4 to 12 hours. That right there burns up about half of a 24 hour day. I would like to sleep about 7 hours. That leaves 5 hours. It takes me about an hour to get ready for work. The drive to work is about 20 minutes. Somehow it only takes me 15 minutes to get home. Must be the tailwind. So that leaves me 3 hours and 5 minutes to try to cram whatever in.

Any yardwork or outside jobs are usually put off until the weekend. Which brings me to my point. My yard isn't the worst on the block, but it certainly isn't perfect. Perhaps someday, after I am retired, I can do to my yard what I observed during my deliveries this week.

Customer number one, receiving a small Amazon.com box, was outside ridding the shrubbery in front of his house of spider-webs with a Shop-Vac. My first thought was, "Wow. He has got some time on his hands." His yard looked perfect, by the way.

Customer number two, receiving a small box of fancy coffee, was meticulously sweeping up grass clippings with a hand broom and dust pan. To which my first thought was, "Man, he's got some time on his hands!" His yard looked immaculate.

Maybe after another 25 years of workin' I can find time to vacuum my bushes and sweep the lawn.

Here Kitty Kitty

Our family took a little jaunt to the boondocks sticks backwoods outback parents house this morning.

As Ruggless, my Dad, and I were driving down off the mountain, we saw one of these:

Bobcat

That may seem like small potatoes to some, but in all my years I've never seen a big cat like that except for in the zoo. It was about 50 feet in front of us crossing the road.

All I could utter was, "Dad.Camera." Because my Dad has an awesome camera with a telephoto lens. He was quickly putting it together, but the cat was heading back up into the hills. We pulled the car over and my dad went chasing after the putty tat. That's right, he went LOOKING for a predatory cat. Needless to say, the kitty was scared of us, and once this guy with a big camera started chasing him he put it into high gear and ran away. So you'll have to do with the stock photo I found on the internet and 3 people's word for it.

Full Circle

An interesting thing happens when you move back into the house you grew up in. You find yourself repeating momentous events that you went through as a kid. Only this time you are the parent.

My kids go to the same elementary school I did. So far, none of the teachers that teach there were there when I was. Except for two of the kindergarten teachers. They have 4 kindergarten teachers there now. So there's a 1 in 4 chance, or 25%, that my kid will get the same teacher as I had. Not real good odds, I'd say.

Tuesday night my old kindergarten teacher called our house to tell me that she would be Buglet #3's teacher. I chuckled to myself and told Ruggless. He said, "Well, are you going to say anything to her?" I'm like, "Heck no! It's bad enough that Buglet has two older brothers that may or may not have given the ***** name a bad reputation. He doesn't need my kindergarten exploits hanging over his head. Besides, she would never recognize me after ___ years."

The building where the kindergartners reside is locked down. No one gets in without knowing the 3 secret passwords. In correct order. Yesterday, when we arrived for Orientation, we had to do the secret knock on the secret back door. When the teacher opened the door she said, "Who is it?" We announced ourselves with Buglet's name. She says, "I've been expecting you!" Then she turns to me and says, "Are you --------?" With my maiden name. Well, knock me over with a feather and call me Harriet! She remembered who I was. I felt compelled to apologize for any wrongdoings I had done or any temper tantrums I might have thrown. And please don't hold it against my child! She laughed and said she just remembered me being very blond and shy. And I always wore frilly dresses. So either she's lying, or she doesn't remember as well as she lets on.

This morning I lingered watching Buglet play on the playground. He seemed to seek out other kids with red apples pinned to their shirts. As if he knew that they were safe and going through the same thing he was. Then when the bell rang we rushed to the same classroom door that my Mom dropped me off at.

Colorado Blog Partay 2007

It was my first ever Meet-N-Greet with people that I had only known through the blogging world.

I've got to say, I was a little nervous. You know I love lists, so here's my list of fears as to what the other bloggers might say:

• Wow, you've really got a face for radio blogging.
• Did you Photoshop your profile pic? Because it looks nothing like you.
• You're much thinner on your blog.
• You're not that funny in real life either.
• What were your parents drinking when they named you?

Much to my delight, none of my fears were realized. Or at least no one said them out loud.

In no particular order,Carrot Jello, Elasticwaistbandlady, SoDak Angel, Tori, Suzanne, Millie, and No Cool Story all managed to get here for the barbecue on Saturday afternoon. And there were some others there also such as, Big Rich, Annie, Carronin, and Ruggless all of which I'm related to.

We bonded over onions; sliced,battered and drenched in a bucket of boiling oil; Apples to Apples and a Jim Gaffigan DVD. All in all it was a marvelous time. I'm glad to have met you gals and look forward to the next one.

Oh The Places I'll Go!

excerpt from "Oh The Places You'll Go!" by Dr. Seuss

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own.  And you know what you know.
And YOU  are the guy who'll decide where to go.

This bit of poetry has two meanings for me. On the one hand, I will be delivering my baby into the hands of the public school system this week. He's so ready for school to start. He's a big boy now. It's time for him to be a bit more independent from his Mom. Today we walked the big boys to school and then Buglet #3 and I headed over to the Kindergarten rooms for assessments. Starting Thursday he will be in school 4 days a week, all day.

It was a little hard for me to let some strange woman take him off into a classroom while I went to another classroom to fill out even more paperwork. I think the papers were just an excuse to get us to pry our death grips off our children. It's just a theory. I'm sure there will be even more tears shed (mine, not his) on Thursday when I actually LEAVE him with those women and come home alone.

However, there's another hand to that little poem. It's all about how my life is changing. For the first time in 10 years it will just be me at home during the day. What am I going to do with myself? People have been asking me that question all summer long.

I think some might find it odd that I actually like to be alone sometimes (make that most times). There's things I've just been waiting to do. So I've compiled a little list:

First things first. You may have heard that there's a new sheriff dog in town. Benny is a BIG puppy. He has boundless energy. That energy needs to be run off. And since I was the one that reversed the "take the dog back" order I figure it is my duty to make sure he is good and tired every day. Besides, I could stand to lose a pound or 30.

Along the lines of losing weight and becoming a healthier person, I have decided to take the list of Super Foods seriously. There are several lists that claim to be the essential foods you should eat every day. I've looked at many of them, deleted duplicates and come up with my own list of foods that I am going to try to eat on a daily and/or weekly basis. Then, if I want to scarf down a cheeseburger on Saturday night, I won't feel quite as guilty about it.

Going to the grocery store alone will be another simple thing enjoyed by me. I don't know if you've ever taken 3 kids and a husband to the store, but somehow your cart gets filled with all these things that were not on the list. I also seem to have to run back for things I forgot that were actually ON the list.

McDonald's playland will not be on my lineup of places to stop.

After Benny and I run our butts off I just might come back home and read my book all day long.

What will it be like to clean the house without the whirling dervishes behind me messing up everything I just cleaned? Even if it only stays that way for 3 or 4 hours.

Do you hear the craft store calling my name? I don't have to worry that little hands will break something and I won't hear, "This is booooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring."

The word "MOM!" won't be the most overused word in our house.

Paint, sew, paint, sew, paint, sew.

And last but not least.......... No one will notice if I sit at the computer all the live long day and visit blogs.

Trail of Tears

I've seen this sight several mornings this week. It's uncomfortable, let me tell you. My favorite? Lifting up the pan from the night before in order to wash it. And seeing a million little ants underneath it!

Earlier this week there was a mass murder here and I sucked up as many little ants as I could see with the vacuum. Then I went out to the garage for CHEMICALS. I was at my wits end, people.

As a result of my scientific observations, I could see that many of the ants were coming in under the sliding glass door. So I sprayed all in the cracks there. And some seem to have made their way to the sill in the kitchen window. A shot of spray there and all was well. For a day. Then I see they have started coming from the other side of the sill.

They are on to my pesticide wielding ways. There's a "Road Closed-- Use Detour" sign under the sill. I'm sure of it.

2 days--The length of time it's been since I've blogged.

30 days--The length of time it's been since I've blogged anything even remotely interesting.

4 days--The length of time until Buglet #1 and #2 go to school.

7 days-- The length of time until Buglet #3 goes to school.

Today we fought and screamed and kicked through the school supply aisle. Tomorrow I will can some peaches. Saturday there's going to be a Blogger Convention at Annie's house.

Hopefully by Monday I will have a little free time. I'm sure y'all are wondering where that contest is. In fact, Kelly even asked me about it.

I'm working on it! I promise! But for now I must go super-clean the house. My Grandma is coming over in the morning to make sure I know what I'm doing in the canning department. I don't want her to think I'm a slob or anything (wink).

The Munchies

Ruggless and I did something we haven't done in a long time. We pawned off all the kids on unsuspecting Auntie's on Saturday afternoon and we went to a movie. We saw The Bourne Ultimatum. I've been in love with Jason Bourne (not Matt Damon. Jason Bourne) from the beginning, but this latest movie ............. Meow. That's all I can say. Is it strange to have a crush on an assassin? Did I ever mention that my hubby looks like Matt Damon? It's true.

Kelly thinks it's hilarious, but I have an extreme obsession with eating noises. It drives me crazy like no other. I could listen to nails on a chalkboard before I would want to hear someone munching on their food with their mouths open. Being the old farts that we are, Rugg and I showed up 40 minutes early for the movie. So I had to sit there and listen to popcorn munchers until I thought I was going to beat my head. But after the movie started it was ok. The sound of the movie was loud enough to drown them all out. Except for the older gentleman that was coughing like he had tuberculosis or whooping cough in the row in front of us. Scary!

It was all worth it though to spend a little alone time with my BFF.

Our friend has been trying to give us this dog since May.

We kept saying "No."

After our dog, Emma, died last fall we weren't sure we wanted any more dogs. We still have Bo of course, but had pretty much decided that we wouldn't acquire any new ones.

But who can resist a face like that?

When The Queen Speaks.

I'm the only girl in this house. I make sure they eat, sleep, brush their teeth, have clean clothes and show them how to record cartoons on the DVR.

I also let them take over "the office" and make it their personal play room. Not intentionally, of course. It was more of a calculated invasion. It started with a little TV watching. Next thing you know it was an elaborate paper airplane making factory and K'Nex engineering laboratory.

When we moved here, I intended for this to be a room that everyone could use. I envisioned myself sitting at my desk while a boy read a book. Or a spot for homework. There's another computer in there (They don't like to use it because it has no sound. It makes watching YouTube videos less desirable, which was the whole point. 9-year olds with unlimited access to YouTube is a scary thing.) . There's a three-drawer plastic thing with crayons, scissors and paper in it. I never intended for it to be a permanent disaster area with no room for me to walk in--let alone sit down at my desk.

Yesterday I declared a Disaster Relief Operation. The veins in my forehead, neck and arms were popping out by the time we were done, but those boys picked up every scrap of paper. All the K'Nex were banished to the garage. I vacuumed. Then I shut the door and taped up the sign.

I figure it will last a day. Possibly two.

I Knew It!

I'm a little freaked out, because I was not expecting to get this answer. But anyone who has talked to me more than once or twice knows that I'm obsessed with Italy. I want to live there. I want to visit there. I want to shop in the piazza there.

You Belong in Rome

You're a big city soul with a small town heart Which is why you're attracted to the romance of Rome Strolling down picture perfect streets, cappuccino in hand And gorgeous Italian people - could life get any better?

What City Do You Belong In?

Pretty Much A Perfect Weekend

Friday night found us at the local Soda Fountain (OK, It was Sonic) eating some ice cream. All efforts to get the children to go to bed earlier was thrown out the window.

Saturday morning I didn't wake up until 8:40 a.m. Can you believe it? Such a lazy girl. And I wasn't the last one up either. Ruggless, the resident morning person, tip-toed around and didn't wake any of us up. We did a couple of errands, watched a movie and grilled some hamburgers. Then Saturday evening we went to spend some time with Ruggless' parents.

Sunday morning as we were all sitting around in our PJ's making French Toast, the door bell rang. Who could it be? Well, a friend was standing there with his bed asking if we had a spot for him to sleep. So we invited him in and we will probably be adopting him into our already massive family. Will introduce you soon.

Then we cleared out a space in the garage so that we could put the errant refrigerator out there, instead of in a stare down with the one that works consistently. Now she sits right next to the deep freeze. Perhaps they can egg each other on.

I love lazy weekends. What did you do this weekend?

Refrigerator vs. Refrigerator

The old refrigerator was getting just cold enough in the freezer compartment to keep our perishables cold until it's replacement showed up.

Last night around 10:30 pm the stand-in made an appearance. We pushed it into the kitchen, plugged it in and said, "Whew. Let's go to bed." Leaving the old one plugged in, and the stuff still in the freezer compartment.

We woke up this morning to two cold refrigerators and a bunch of frozen stuff. I'll be darned if that Whirlpool decided that it was not going to be bested by a Frigidaire.

Boo Hoo Waaaaaa. Pity Party Part 2

Now that I've had a nap. I'm a little embarrassed about my pity party one post back. Blame it on sleep deprivation. Things always look worse when you are tired.

Here's the good news:

Buglet #2 could've knocked out his tooth or teeth completely. Thank God he didn't. The dental practice that we go to has a dentist who specializes in reconstruction. The filling looks so real you would never know that anything happened.

We have insurance. We went without insurance for a couple of years and that is a scary, scary thing. I'm just glad that they didn't get hurt back then. Thanks to our insurance, an $1800 dental bill is going to cost us about $150 bucks.

We got the tires fixed on the Mother Ship this weekend. No more worries of tires blowing.

The refrigerator that broke down was free. We found one to borrow. I can stop panicking. This will give us time to shop and find the refrigerator we really want. I hate buying stuff when it's an emergency. You usually grab the first thing you see. I'm more of a planner.

Look at it this way, I got the chance to really clean out the refrigerator and throw out all those moldy leftovers.

I guess I'm glad we got this all out of the way before school started. Hopefully my next big frustration will be elbowing my way through the school supply aisle.

Oh, the Drama

Do you ever feel like you have a "kick me" sign on your back?

Last week we found out Buglet #3 had a cracked tooth. This being the reason for his tooth pain. We scheduled a dentist appointment to have it extracted. Saturday, Buglet #2 was doing bike stunts on the neighbor's ramp and hit his front tooth on the handle bars of his bike. Chipping off over 1/2 of his tooth.

Monday I spent all the live long day at the dentist. Seriously. Early a.m. was reserved for Buglet #3 and they took impressions of Buglet #2's mouth. Then they sent us home just long enough to eat lunch and we went back to get a composite filling on Buglet #3's tooth. We left the dentist around 4:30 p.m. When I got to my Grandma's to pick up Buglet #1, he had a migraine and had thrown up.

Yesterday, I noticed that our ice cubes were melting in the freezer. Instead of the other way around. I thought maybe I had just packed too much stuff in front of the vent or something. But by afternoon the refrigerator wasn't cold either. I got all the stuff from the freezer out to our deep freeze and most everything that was worth saving from the fridge is now in coolers.

Since I'm on a quest to pay off credit cards, not run them up, I do not want to go buy a brand new refrigerator yet. I went to the local Goodwill and our Habitat for Humanity in search of a used one that might tide us over until I can pay cash for the one I really want. No such luck.

My hubby found us one to use temporarily until we figure out something. But I'm about to start bawling. I didn't sleep well last night. All I could think about was, "Where am I going to get a cheap refrigerator?" So, I think I will eat this rice pudding that is melting and then go take a nap. Maybe the Refrigerator Fairy will stop by this afternoon :-)