Showing posts with label Joni. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joni. Show all posts
Saturday, June 6, 2015
Guardian Angels
Friday, May 8, 2015
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Bear Adventures
This fall right before Halloween, David was here with his family, so I decided our family needed to go to Bear World. I wasn't sure if I could get them all to go, but I didn't worry too much about it. I just thought whomever would like to go, can. And I would pay for the whole thing.
I decided to take them all on Saturday, the last weekend of their season. I happened to hear on the radio that you would get a pretty good discount if you went during their last couple of days, so I told the fam......
I knew David and Emily and their boys would want to go and I was fairly certain that Joni would want to take Ledger. Beyond that I wasn't sure if anyone would bother.
Boy was I surprised! Lisa AND Tyler came (I was kind of surprised about Tyler) Joni, and her 2 little kids, and shockingly, at the last minute, Mike and Andy decided to also go. (We really felt badly that Abby, David and Asher were not in town and therefore unable to come.)
We piled into 2 cars, both filled to the gills. As the 2 cars play a part in my little story I have to tell you who was in each car.
Car A:
David's Explorer with David driving.
Also inside: Emily (front seat) Sorren and me in the middle seat, and Nathan and Zach in the back.
Car B:
Joni's car, with Joni driving.
Also inside: Mike (front seat), Andy, Ledger, London in the middle seat, and squishily seated in the very back, Lisa and Tyler
We arrived at the gate with Car A in front. I was quite impressed with the lady who sold us the admittance tickets. I told her I was paying for both cars. She asked how many people total and the ages of each. She worked her magic and we all got in for less than a hundred. I was amazed.
She told us to go ahead and drive through the animals and that we could go as many times as we wanted until 5:00. Having never been there before I wasn't really sure what she meant, but we headed through the gate.
It was pretty awesome! It was so fun to see the white elk and buffalo, all the deer and other animals just lounging around. In our car (Car A) Sorren was so excited! We let him get out of his carseat so he could stand up next to the window and really look. He kept making really cute little growly noises. Nathan and Zach seemed to also love looking around and commenting on the animals. It would have really been a fun relaxing time, but David happened to notice, as soon as we drove through the animal gate, that he was almost out of gas!
Meanwhile back in Car B they were having their own kind of fun. I wasn't actually IN car B so I'm just related the facts as I heard them. Ledger was also let out of his carseat, I presume so that he could also have a closer look. He promptly began to climb all over the place, including the front seat. Mike was starting to get agitated because of Ledger's acrobatics. At one point in time Ledger was actually climbing around on the dash in front of Joni, the driver.
In Car A we finished driving past the tamer animals and then proceeded through another more secure gate, (which kind of reminded me of the entrance into Jurassic Park) into the bear enclosure. It was very exciting to see bears everywhere we looked. They had lots of little "caves" for them, but mostly the bears were out in the sun watching us as we drove past. I guess there were signs all over showing which way we were to drive, but at one point we saw a great big bear ambling across the next road over, so we skipped an entire loop to drive directly over to where the bear was to have a closer look. The entire time I'm thinking in the back of my head "this would not be a good place to run out of gas, but I'm sure we're okay".
Meanwhile, back in Car B Ledger also got very excited about all the bears and wanted to take a closer look. He kept trying to open the car door to do just that. Mike was pretty calm about that little development. Just kidding.
When we finished driving through the bear enclosure I was kind of surprised to see that there was a kind of amusement park with activities and a petting zoo up ahead. I had no idea that was there. I was ready to stop and check things out when we got a phone call from Car B. "We're going around again cause we didn't see everything." And I could see that they were already heading through the gate back into the animal enclosure. Without a second's hesitation David put Car A into gear and we were through the gate right behind them. It was only after we went through the gate that I remembered, we were out of gas!
The second time around was pretty similar to the first with 1 major difference.
There was a Bear World truck right in front of us, with the back full of paying customers, that kept stopping for long periods of time while all the people in the back threw out food to the bears.
This time Car A kept speculating about if we ran out of gas who would come first, Bear World employees with a gas can or hungry bears wanting a human snack.
Car B was having there own excitement. Since the bears were all being fed they were out on the road and surrounded our cars. Ledger thought this was an extremely good time to see one up close and personal and actually opened the door! Mike was very calm. Ha. Ha. Ha. His agitation rubbed off on Joni who tried to escape from the herd of bears by putting her foot on the gas pedal. She's pretty sure she might have run over a bear toe or two.
All's well that ends well, though. We made it out of the bear enclosure without running out of gas (Car A) or getting eaten by a bear (Car B).
This time we actually did stop and enjoy the fun at the petting zoo. A few of us used giant slingshots to catapult potatoes at some targets out in the field, a straw maze was run, animals were petted in the petting zoo, rides were ridden in the amusement park.
It was a very fun outing. I can't wait to do it again next year. This time I'm going to ride in Car C.
I decided to take them all on Saturday, the last weekend of their season. I happened to hear on the radio that you would get a pretty good discount if you went during their last couple of days, so I told the fam......
I knew David and Emily and their boys would want to go and I was fairly certain that Joni would want to take Ledger. Beyond that I wasn't sure if anyone would bother.
Boy was I surprised! Lisa AND Tyler came (I was kind of surprised about Tyler) Joni, and her 2 little kids, and shockingly, at the last minute, Mike and Andy decided to also go. (We really felt badly that Abby, David and Asher were not in town and therefore unable to come.)
We piled into 2 cars, both filled to the gills. As the 2 cars play a part in my little story I have to tell you who was in each car.
Car A:
David's Explorer with David driving.
Also inside: Emily (front seat) Sorren and me in the middle seat, and Nathan and Zach in the back.
Car B:
Joni's car, with Joni driving.
Also inside: Mike (front seat), Andy, Ledger, London in the middle seat, and squishily seated in the very back, Lisa and Tyler
We arrived at the gate with Car A in front. I was quite impressed with the lady who sold us the admittance tickets. I told her I was paying for both cars. She asked how many people total and the ages of each. She worked her magic and we all got in for less than a hundred. I was amazed.
She told us to go ahead and drive through the animals and that we could go as many times as we wanted until 5:00. Having never been there before I wasn't really sure what she meant, but we headed through the gate.
It was pretty awesome! It was so fun to see the white elk and buffalo, all the deer and other animals just lounging around. In our car (Car A) Sorren was so excited! We let him get out of his carseat so he could stand up next to the window and really look. He kept making really cute little growly noises. Nathan and Zach seemed to also love looking around and commenting on the animals. It would have really been a fun relaxing time, but David happened to notice, as soon as we drove through the animal gate, that he was almost out of gas!
Meanwhile back in Car B they were having their own kind of fun. I wasn't actually IN car B so I'm just related the facts as I heard them. Ledger was also let out of his carseat, I presume so that he could also have a closer look. He promptly began to climb all over the place, including the front seat. Mike was starting to get agitated because of Ledger's acrobatics. At one point in time Ledger was actually climbing around on the dash in front of Joni, the driver.
In Car A we finished driving past the tamer animals and then proceeded through another more secure gate, (which kind of reminded me of the entrance into Jurassic Park) into the bear enclosure. It was very exciting to see bears everywhere we looked. They had lots of little "caves" for them, but mostly the bears were out in the sun watching us as we drove past. I guess there were signs all over showing which way we were to drive, but at one point we saw a great big bear ambling across the next road over, so we skipped an entire loop to drive directly over to where the bear was to have a closer look. The entire time I'm thinking in the back of my head "this would not be a good place to run out of gas, but I'm sure we're okay".
Meanwhile, back in Car B Ledger also got very excited about all the bears and wanted to take a closer look. He kept trying to open the car door to do just that. Mike was pretty calm about that little development. Just kidding.
When we finished driving through the bear enclosure I was kind of surprised to see that there was a kind of amusement park with activities and a petting zoo up ahead. I had no idea that was there. I was ready to stop and check things out when we got a phone call from Car B. "We're going around again cause we didn't see everything." And I could see that they were already heading through the gate back into the animal enclosure. Without a second's hesitation David put Car A into gear and we were through the gate right behind them. It was only after we went through the gate that I remembered, we were out of gas!
The second time around was pretty similar to the first with 1 major difference.
There was a Bear World truck right in front of us, with the back full of paying customers, that kept stopping for long periods of time while all the people in the back threw out food to the bears.
This time Car A kept speculating about if we ran out of gas who would come first, Bear World employees with a gas can or hungry bears wanting a human snack.
Car B was having there own excitement. Since the bears were all being fed they were out on the road and surrounded our cars. Ledger thought this was an extremely good time to see one up close and personal and actually opened the door! Mike was very calm. Ha. Ha. Ha. His agitation rubbed off on Joni who tried to escape from the herd of bears by putting her foot on the gas pedal. She's pretty sure she might have run over a bear toe or two.
All's well that ends well, though. We made it out of the bear enclosure without running out of gas (Car A) or getting eaten by a bear (Car B).
This time we actually did stop and enjoy the fun at the petting zoo. A few of us used giant slingshots to catapult potatoes at some targets out in the field, a straw maze was run, animals were petted in the petting zoo, rides were ridden in the amusement park.
It was a very fun outing. I can't wait to do it again next year. This time I'm going to ride in Car C.
Monday, August 12, 2013
A little of this and a little of that.
People are so nice. When you have a baby they bring you food. Sometimes the food is awesome! I love it when you get a meal that looks like something your mom would make for you.
Good old comfort food.
It's probably not the greatest idea to try out a new recipe for the first time and then announce that fact when you take the "first-time-you've-made-it" food to someone you're trying to help.
Although you put a lot of effort, resources and thought into this meal,
maybe, just maybe,
it would have been better to use the old tried and true Shepherd's Pie, or Lasagna.
Then maybe, just maybe,
the recipient of all your hard-cooking-work
wouldn't have to guess as to the edibility of the food in question.
Is that melted saran wrap?
Late Saturday afternoon I got the phone call.
"Mom, can you babysit?"
I loved that phone call.
Ledger and I had a great time. I threw a sheet over the play mat and made him a tent. He loved it and kept going in and out
in and out.
Grandpa took him for a stroller ride and I fed him dinner and put him to bed at 7:30,
per his mama's instructions.
I told Grandpa to listen for him because I was off to buy a pop.
When I got back home I was greeted by a smiling happy Ledger, playing with his Grandpa.
"He was crying." said Mike, sheepishly.
Ledger bought himself another hour.
I put him back to bed at 8:30 and he fell asleep immediately.
Andy tries really hard to ignore Ledger. His tough guy image won't allow him to show his softer side to a baby.
Ledger doesn't know this about Andy.
Ledger just LOVES Andy and
smiles at, climbs up on, watches,
and does his best to win Andy over.
From the looks of things, I think Ledger is winning.
It's been hot here. Joni has taken Ledger to the splash park a couple of times. Today Lisa and I stopped by to see the fun. Poor little guy has such tender skin that he has to wear a hat outside, but it just added to the cuteness factor.
He had a great time!
for about 5 minutes.
I fell in love again last week. He only weighs 8 pounds, but he's gripped my heart as tightly has he gripped his mama's necklace right after he was born.
Love you Asher!
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Insanity or Fun - My Big Announcement
When people discovered that my two daughters were getting married within 9 days of each other, and that I was doing all the decorating myself, I think they
#1. pitied me
and
#2. thought I was insane
I just want to go on record as saying that after we got passed a few major skirmishes
like
having both brides unknowingly pick out the same engagement ring,
or
major negotiations on who gets to get married first,
or
who gets the first bridal shower,
or
who gets to send out announcements first (and somehow they both went out the same day and people all over town thought we'd accidently sent them two),
or
who gets what photographer, and on and on and on.....
That after all that was said and done, I really had a great time helping my two daughters put together their special days.
I enjoyed
making the centerpieces
finding and redoing the backdrops
making lanterns
putting together the photo booth
and everything else I thought of that would make this a special time for the girls and their guys.
So
I may be insane, but I've opened a business called Rexburg Bridal.
My website has resources for the local Rexburg, Idaho bride-to-be. There is, and will be more, links to venues, florists, caterers, and musicians. There will also be hints and helps for helping the Do-It-Yourselfer, and planning aids.
The best thing is that I will also be renting out my inventory and services to help other brides-to-be make their special days truly memorable.
I'm excited for this new adventure. So check out my website, and pass the word along to any engaged women you know.
Let the fun begin. or continue!
Friday, March 19, 2010
Spring Joys and Horrors
Many areas of the country have been enjoying the blisses of spring for a few weeks now. On February 10th we made a trip south to Utah and saw people working in their yards, blowing leaves out of flower beds, raking up dead grass, and trimming trees. It was an amazing sight to us, because before the day was over we headed back home to the cold wintery Idaho which still had almost 2 feet of snow on the ground.
I keep tabs on the temperatures in a few places that I have a personal interest.
It's always kind of annoying to see how our temps here in Rexburg stack up.
Right now, for example, Newport Oregon is touting sunny skies and lovely 64 degrees. (and my kids wonder why I want to move there.) In New York where Andy is, it's a balmy 68 degrees. I hope he's enjoying it, 'cause here in Idaho it is now 41 degrees. It actually feels pretty darn nice. I didn't wear a coat or sweater today. Just last week the low temps were hitting single digits so this really does feel like spring.
Our snow has been slowly dissappearing over the last couple of weeks. I watched as our yard has metamorphosed from a wide expanse of white, to grass-rimmed snow fields, to patchy snow on our lawn.
I always watch the snow melting on our lawn with a kind of fascinated horror. I know what I'm about to see. As the snow recedes you can see the evidence of mice. Anyone who knows me well can tell you of my aversion, no, my crippling phobia, of mice.
We have a very large lawn, at least an acre, and there are mouse trails and mouse huts everywhere. Mice will build up a little mound of grass under the snow where they can stay safe and warm as the snow insulates them. They look like little grass huts.
They are kind of fascinating. In the same way that seeing an accident on the freeway is fascinating. You don't want to look, you know you will probably be sickened, but you just can't help yourself. I felt myself drawn to one of the larger mounds. I had a long stick and reached over and flipped some of the grass away from the top. My nerves were jittery to the point that as I flicked the grass away I felt myself shudder and leap backwards. Morbid fascination drew me close once again and I flicked away some more grass.
This time I saw what looked like about 6 little smooth oval stones. I thought, "how odd, do they use the rocks to hold heat?" Then I looked closer.
"EWWWWW! YUCK!! I shuddered and scampered away as quickly as I could. They were baby mice. They were about an inch long each, and they weren't moving. I couldn't get close to it again. But just then Joni came out and asked me what the heck I was doing. (I guess the sight of a 50-something year old woman poking with sticks and jumping around the yard was kind of noticeable.) I told her what I found, and Joni, ever the scientist, came out to invesigate. She pronounced them dead. Burns, our master-mouser cat was right behind her and caught sight of these tasty little bite-sized nuggets. Joni had to wrestle him away and then she gave the little critters a proper burial.
I hope Joni checks out the rest of the grass-hut mounds for me. I don't think my heart to take another round. And I definitely don't want any surprises during the first time I mow the lawn.
I keep tabs on the temperatures in a few places that I have a personal interest.
It's always kind of annoying to see how our temps here in Rexburg stack up.
Right now, for example, Newport Oregon is touting sunny skies and lovely 64 degrees. (and my kids wonder why I want to move there.) In New York where Andy is, it's a balmy 68 degrees. I hope he's enjoying it, 'cause here in Idaho it is now 41 degrees. It actually feels pretty darn nice. I didn't wear a coat or sweater today. Just last week the low temps were hitting single digits so this really does feel like spring.
Our snow has been slowly dissappearing over the last couple of weeks. I watched as our yard has metamorphosed from a wide expanse of white, to grass-rimmed snow fields, to patchy snow on our lawn.
I always watch the snow melting on our lawn with a kind of fascinated horror. I know what I'm about to see. As the snow recedes you can see the evidence of mice. Anyone who knows me well can tell you of my aversion, no, my crippling phobia, of mice.
We have a very large lawn, at least an acre, and there are mouse trails and mouse huts everywhere. Mice will build up a little mound of grass under the snow where they can stay safe and warm as the snow insulates them. They look like little grass huts.
They are kind of fascinating. In the same way that seeing an accident on the freeway is fascinating. You don't want to look, you know you will probably be sickened, but you just can't help yourself. I felt myself drawn to one of the larger mounds. I had a long stick and reached over and flipped some of the grass away from the top. My nerves were jittery to the point that as I flicked the grass away I felt myself shudder and leap backwards. Morbid fascination drew me close once again and I flicked away some more grass.
This time I saw what looked like about 6 little smooth oval stones. I thought, "how odd, do they use the rocks to hold heat?" Then I looked closer.
"EWWWWW! YUCK!! I shuddered and scampered away as quickly as I could. They were baby mice. They were about an inch long each, and they weren't moving. I couldn't get close to it again. But just then Joni came out and asked me what the heck I was doing. (I guess the sight of a 50-something year old woman poking with sticks and jumping around the yard was kind of noticeable.) I told her what I found, and Joni, ever the scientist, came out to invesigate. She pronounced them dead. Burns, our master-mouser cat was right behind her and caught sight of these tasty little bite-sized nuggets. Joni had to wrestle him away and then she gave the little critters a proper burial.
I hope Joni checks out the rest of the grass-hut mounds for me. I don't think my heart to take another round. And I definitely don't want any surprises during the first time I mow the lawn.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Village Shopping, Pumpkin Carving and a Pretty Puppy
While in Utah we visited Gardener's Village. It was a really fun place to go. Everywhere you looked it was Halloween in all it's fun fantasy-ness. (is that a word?) Here are a few shots from our stay:
Joni and I carved pumpkins today. I did a cat and she did something else. I think it looks like an alien, she thinks it looks like a devil. Mike thought it looked like a cow, ha ha. Whatever it is, its cute!
We had Oscar clipped a few days ago and he's been freezing ever since. Today Joni bought him a sweater. Now he is one happy puppy.
Joni and I carved pumpkins today. I did a cat and she did something else. I think it looks like an alien, she thinks it looks like a devil. Mike thought it looked like a cow, ha ha. Whatever it is, its cute!
We had Oscar clipped a few days ago and he's been freezing ever since. Today Joni bought him a sweater. Now he is one happy puppy.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
The Hike
Upon finding out that Lagoon was closed on Friday........
Joni: (texting Lisa) "what should we do? we could hike Tablerock."
Joni: (immediately upon sending text, thinking) "please say no, please say no..."
Lisa: (upon reading Joni's text, thinking) "how do I get out of this, I don't want to go, its so hard, and hot.."
Lisa: (texting Joni) "sure! Let's do it."
Joni: (reading text from Lisa, thinking) "crap!"
Joni, Abby, Andy, and Lisa and Tyler go hike Tablerock on Friday.
Joni and Andy only got about 3 hours sleep the night before.
Joni kept reminding Andy to prepare, get food ready, Etc.
Abby didn't really want to go. Didn't feel good that day, wanted to go shopping instead. She decided to buck up and go anyway.
I asked Joni to make sure Andy wears shorts and eats breakfast before they leave.
Lisa and Tyler pick them up at 7 am.
Tablerock is a very strenuous hike. My family once took my brother-in-law on it. He is an extremely experienced hiker. Currently he is in Iceland hiking. He couldn't believe how hard it was, and how unprepared he thought we were. He said most experienced hikers would consider it a two-day hike. He insisted they all eat cookies and sugar to avoid altitude sickness. Not only is it an extremely long hike, but it is, in some parts, almost straight up, or straight down depending on which way you're going.
Friday morning arrives.
Andy had 2 pops for breakfast, filled 2 ziploc bags with fish crackers, and pronounced himself ready. He did wear shorts without any prodding from Joni, and was quite offended that I thought she would have to tell him. As he said, "you must not think I have any common sense."
It took them 5 hours.
Just to get to the top.
Andy, being a bit short in the common sense department, has to beg water off of everyone. He didn't bring any. He is sweating buckets. He tries to take shortcuts and instead of doing the switchbacks goes straight up the mountain. I'm told that it's a good thing I didn't see him do it. They all thought we'd have a funeral to plan before Andy got off the mountain.
Joni, being short on sleep, experienced extreme vertigo. She had to look straight at her feet only, crept along, hugging the mountain at times and refused to move. She started to wonder how freaked out she would have to get before they called a helicopter to come and pluck her off the top. When the breeze would gust she felt like the entire valley was swelling up and down, just like the waves of the ocean.
She would most likely still be up there if Tyler hadn't given her his walking stick and helped her along.
Abby was probably one of the smartest people in the group. She went on most of the hike, but then decided she couldn't do the last most difficult part. She stayed back and rested and waited for them to ascend and descend. She felt very badly that she didn't do the whole thing. I'm thinking Abby was one of the few who actually used a little bit of intelligence that day.
The very tired, very sore, hiking group got home about 13 hours after starting.
Walking looked painful.
Toenails may come off.
Sunburns hurt.
Blisters and rashes ached.
Joni's foot had a blister so large it looked like she had a sixth toe.
They all looked like they had so much fun.
I'm really sorry I didn't go with them......NOT!
Pictures from Lisa and Tyler, probably the only 2 who really enjoyed the day.
Joni: (texting Lisa) "what should we do? we could hike Tablerock."
Joni: (immediately upon sending text, thinking) "please say no, please say no..."
Lisa: (upon reading Joni's text, thinking) "how do I get out of this, I don't want to go, its so hard, and hot.."
Lisa: (texting Joni) "sure! Let's do it."
Joni: (reading text from Lisa, thinking) "crap!"
Joni, Abby, Andy, and Lisa and Tyler go hike Tablerock on Friday.
Joni and Andy only got about 3 hours sleep the night before.
Joni kept reminding Andy to prepare, get food ready, Etc.
Abby didn't really want to go. Didn't feel good that day, wanted to go shopping instead. She decided to buck up and go anyway.
I asked Joni to make sure Andy wears shorts and eats breakfast before they leave.
Lisa and Tyler pick them up at 7 am.
Tablerock is a very strenuous hike. My family once took my brother-in-law on it. He is an extremely experienced hiker. Currently he is in Iceland hiking. He couldn't believe how hard it was, and how unprepared he thought we were. He said most experienced hikers would consider it a two-day hike. He insisted they all eat cookies and sugar to avoid altitude sickness. Not only is it an extremely long hike, but it is, in some parts, almost straight up, or straight down depending on which way you're going.
Friday morning arrives.
Andy had 2 pops for breakfast, filled 2 ziploc bags with fish crackers, and pronounced himself ready. He did wear shorts without any prodding from Joni, and was quite offended that I thought she would have to tell him. As he said, "you must not think I have any common sense."
It took them 5 hours.
Just to get to the top.
Andy, being a bit short in the common sense department, has to beg water off of everyone. He didn't bring any. He is sweating buckets. He tries to take shortcuts and instead of doing the switchbacks goes straight up the mountain. I'm told that it's a good thing I didn't see him do it. They all thought we'd have a funeral to plan before Andy got off the mountain.
Joni, being short on sleep, experienced extreme vertigo. She had to look straight at her feet only, crept along, hugging the mountain at times and refused to move. She started to wonder how freaked out she would have to get before they called a helicopter to come and pluck her off the top. When the breeze would gust she felt like the entire valley was swelling up and down, just like the waves of the ocean.
She would most likely still be up there if Tyler hadn't given her his walking stick and helped her along.
Abby was probably one of the smartest people in the group. She went on most of the hike, but then decided she couldn't do the last most difficult part. She stayed back and rested and waited for them to ascend and descend. She felt very badly that she didn't do the whole thing. I'm thinking Abby was one of the few who actually used a little bit of intelligence that day.
The very tired, very sore, hiking group got home about 13 hours after starting.
Walking looked painful.
Toenails may come off.
Sunburns hurt.
Blisters and rashes ached.
Joni's foot had a blister so large it looked like she had a sixth toe.
They all looked like they had so much fun.
I'm really sorry I didn't go with them......NOT!
Pictures from Lisa and Tyler, probably the only 2 who really enjoyed the day.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Snakes
There are a few snakes around here. The other day on my walk I almost stepped on one that was crossing the road. Last fall I found 2 of them in my garage. It really concerned me as I knew they were heading for a winter nest and I sure didn't want that to be in my garage, house, foundation, or anywhere close to me. I knew some people years ago that had a snake infestation in their house. I thought it was a fluke and not very common, but then I read in the local paper about 2 other houses with the same problem. Then a couple of years ago my neice and her family moved into an old farm house. They also are besot with snakes. She finds them everywhere. She could pull open a drawer to get some silverware and there would be a snake.
I really don't like snakes. They scare me everytime I see one, and it doesn't matter their size or "harmless" ness.
So you can imagine my level of anxiety when I watched as a large lime green colored snake slithered its way toward my front porch. I watched helplessly as it disappeared underneath it. As I was standing there wondering what to do I noticed the grass movement. There was another snake coming. This one was a lot smaller, and brown, but it too slid its elongated body under my front steps. I was starting to panic when I saw 2 or 3 more coming. I ran in the house to warn everyone to stay away from the front porch until we figured out what to do. One of my daughters immediately left the room. In no time flat she was back.......with the largest rattler I had ever seen. She deftly held it, and started taunting one of the other kids with it. I was scared to death and screamed at her to take it outside. She confidently kept holding the snake. I was screaming at her trying to make her see reason and take the snake out, but she continued on.
And then I woke up.
I hate dreams like that. But I'm sure glad it was one. I think there's a message there for me. I'm pretty sure I know what it is. That daughter has a monumental decision to make today. She can't listen to me. She needs to make up her own mind.
I really don't like snakes. They scare me everytime I see one, and it doesn't matter their size or "harmless" ness.
So you can imagine my level of anxiety when I watched as a large lime green colored snake slithered its way toward my front porch. I watched helplessly as it disappeared underneath it. As I was standing there wondering what to do I noticed the grass movement. There was another snake coming. This one was a lot smaller, and brown, but it too slid its elongated body under my front steps. I was starting to panic when I saw 2 or 3 more coming. I ran in the house to warn everyone to stay away from the front porch until we figured out what to do. One of my daughters immediately left the room. In no time flat she was back.......with the largest rattler I had ever seen. She deftly held it, and started taunting one of the other kids with it. I was scared to death and screamed at her to take it outside. She confidently kept holding the snake. I was screaming at her trying to make her see reason and take the snake out, but she continued on.
And then I woke up.
I hate dreams like that. But I'm sure glad it was one. I think there's a message there for me. I'm pretty sure I know what it is. That daughter has a monumental decision to make today. She can't listen to me. She needs to make up her own mind.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Sunday
Nice weekend. Calm, fun.
David brought his family on Friday so I got some good grandmothering in. Emily gave me some pictures of the kids. Very cute pictures. I'll post some later.
Things ended kind of badly, though. This afternoon Joni, Abby, Burns, and I were half asleep/half listening to conference while laying on my bed. Suddenly Oscar jumped up to join us and startled Burns who scrambled to get out of there. The casualties included 3 pretty deep cuts right across Joni's nose, 1 claw mark millimeters from her eye, and a scratch and a punture wound on my arm. Joni is very upset, and I can't say that I blame her. It's no fun to have your entire nose bandaged up and still one week left of school.
David brought his family on Friday so I got some good grandmothering in. Emily gave me some pictures of the kids. Very cute pictures. I'll post some later.
Things ended kind of badly, though. This afternoon Joni, Abby, Burns, and I were half asleep/half listening to conference while laying on my bed. Suddenly Oscar jumped up to join us and startled Burns who scrambled to get out of there. The casualties included 3 pretty deep cuts right across Joni's nose, 1 claw mark millimeters from her eye, and a scratch and a punture wound on my arm. Joni is very upset, and I can't say that I blame her. It's no fun to have your entire nose bandaged up and still one week left of school.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Being a Contender
For one of my Christmas presents Mike got me a membership to World Gym. I've always exercised. I walk, I hike, I bike. Mostly walking and biking. But when the temperature dips down into the negatives it just doesn't make me want to walk outside. It's not actually the cold that stops me so much as it is the icy roads. I don't want any car snuffing the life out of me cause they couldn't stop sliding.
We also have a treadmill and a Bow-flex in our basement. I know the big joke is that most people have treadmills and they are great places to hang your clothes. The truth is we've gone through 2 treadmills and have had to have them surviced and repaired multiple times. The reason? We wear them out!!!
The treadmill we have now is not broken. The belt does tend to slide to the side after a few minutes, and it makes a squeaky noise, but it's still very usable. And the Bow-flex works great! I love it.
So why did I consent to do the gym membership. Mostly it's my husband. He just can not motivate himself to use the home machines. I can understand why. When I get home from work or school I don't really want to jump on one of them either. So I decided if we both belonged to thy gym he would be better about exercising.
When we got to the gym to sign up I saw a woman on the other side. This gal had biceps!
and triceps! and a six pack! and perfect hair! And wrinkles. Hey, wait a minute. I KNOW that lady. Sure enough, before we got out of there she and her equally buff husband (who used to be my gynocologist (can you say awkward)) sauntered over and said, "so you've decided to make a New Year's resolution, huh?" She might as well have said, "so, you out-of-shape, soft-bodied mollusks have decided to get off the couch and exercise, huh?" All I could do was agree with her. ("Yes we decided to leave the primordial ooze of our low-life existence and attempt to whip our sorry butts into shape.") She does look awfully good for her/my age. It gives me hope.
Well, yesterday Mike came up with a proposal. (I knew he would)
He wants to make a contest out of it. Every time we go to the gym and work out for at least 30 minutes we get one point. You can earn 2 points a day if there is at least 8 hours between workouts. (I insisted on this because Mike tends to go overboard and will work out for 2 or 3 hours straight to catch up after not working out at all for months.)
At the end of the month the one with the most points wins 100 dollars.
Joni really jumped on this and will probably win the money every month, but I'm sure Mike will give her a run for her money. He's VERY competitive. I'll just be consistent and when they both burn out I'll cruise on by and collect the cash. *smile*
Day 1 -
Mike 1 point
Linda 1 point
Joni 1 point
Andy .5 point
We also have a treadmill and a Bow-flex in our basement. I know the big joke is that most people have treadmills and they are great places to hang your clothes. The truth is we've gone through 2 treadmills and have had to have them surviced and repaired multiple times. The reason? We wear them out!!!
The treadmill we have now is not broken. The belt does tend to slide to the side after a few minutes, and it makes a squeaky noise, but it's still very usable. And the Bow-flex works great! I love it.
So why did I consent to do the gym membership. Mostly it's my husband. He just can not motivate himself to use the home machines. I can understand why. When I get home from work or school I don't really want to jump on one of them either. So I decided if we both belonged to thy gym he would be better about exercising.
When we got to the gym to sign up I saw a woman on the other side. This gal had biceps!
and triceps! and a six pack! and perfect hair! And wrinkles. Hey, wait a minute. I KNOW that lady. Sure enough, before we got out of there she and her equally buff husband (who used to be my gynocologist (can you say awkward)) sauntered over and said, "so you've decided to make a New Year's resolution, huh?" She might as well have said, "so, you out-of-shape, soft-bodied mollusks have decided to get off the couch and exercise, huh?" All I could do was agree with her. ("Yes we decided to leave the primordial ooze of our low-life existence and attempt to whip our sorry butts into shape.") She does look awfully good for her/my age. It gives me hope.
Well, yesterday Mike came up with a proposal. (I knew he would)
He wants to make a contest out of it. Every time we go to the gym and work out for at least 30 minutes we get one point. You can earn 2 points a day if there is at least 8 hours between workouts. (I insisted on this because Mike tends to go overboard and will work out for 2 or 3 hours straight to catch up after not working out at all for months.)
At the end of the month the one with the most points wins 100 dollars.
Joni really jumped on this and will probably win the money every month, but I'm sure Mike will give her a run for her money. He's VERY competitive. I'll just be consistent and when they both burn out I'll cruise on by and collect the cash. *smile*
Day 1 -
Mike 1 point
Linda 1 point
Joni 1 point
Andy .5 point
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Burns, not Mr.
This morning while I was at work I received a phone call from Joni. She was very upset. Burns came in and was torn up pretty badly. His eye was bulging and lacerated. His nose and lip were bleeding and he had a gash on his ear and head.
I told her to take him straight to the vet. They fixed him up pretty good. The swelling in his eye has gone done quite a bit, although he still can't close it. He doesn't really care, though, as he is in La-La-Land. His purring away on Abby's bed. He'll probably be a bit onory once the pain medicines wear off.
Oh the joys of pet ownership.
I was kind of funny when the vet called my cell phone to tell me that he was ready to go home.
" Mrs Mitchell, I took a look at Mr. Burns. No, not.... not.... oh yea it is. That's his name. What a minute, is it Burns or Mr. Burns? We have 2 of those. We're not sure which one that is. Anyway......."
Don't name 2 of your animals the same name. It just causes confusion.
I told her to take him straight to the vet. They fixed him up pretty good. The swelling in his eye has gone done quite a bit, although he still can't close it. He doesn't really care, though, as he is in La-La-Land. His purring away on Abby's bed. He'll probably be a bit onory once the pain medicines wear off.
Oh the joys of pet ownership.
I was kind of funny when the vet called my cell phone to tell me that he was ready to go home.
" Mrs Mitchell, I took a look at Mr. Burns. No, not.... not.... oh yea it is. That's his name. What a minute, is it Burns or Mr. Burns? We have 2 of those. We're not sure which one that is. Anyway......."
Don't name 2 of your animals the same name. It just causes confusion.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Art, Slides, Cemetery, and People Watching
My poor baby. Abby came home for the weekend and was babied properly. I made her some homemade potato soup. Very yummy, and slides down swollen throats pretty easily. She moved back into her apartment last night. This morning she called and told me she was out of pain medicine and her throat still hurt very badly. I told her to call the student health center and see if she could get some more. They wanted to see her. Bad news. She had not improved at all so they put in an IV and gave her 2 bags of saline and prednisone to bring the swelling down and hydrate her. Her mono has not been kind to her, but she still has a smile on her face. What a trooper.
Yesterday Mike took me to Jackson. I heard they were having a Fall Art Festival and I was feeling the need for a quick get-away. Joni decided to come with us. Abby wanted to stay home and rest (the best thing for her).
We had a ball. We were not in a hurry what-so-ever. Every time we saw something interesting we would stop. I took a lot of photos all day long. I was trying to complete my assignment for my photo class, but I also just took photos for fun.
At the top of the Teton Pass we stopped and went on a little hike. I hiked up the hill and took some shots of Mike and Joni below. Then I took a lot of shots for my class. You can visit my other blog if you'd like to see those. I'll be posting them tomorrow.
I did see a couple of little chipmonks through the hillside plants.
Once we got to the bottom of the pass on the Wyoming side we stopped at a river and took another little hike. Here's a couple of shots of that hike.
In Jackson we visited the park where the fair was underway. It was great.
For a long time Joni and I just sat and watched people. I had to get photos. There were so many interesting characters. Everything from cowboys to high society. I'm posting them here for your gawking pleasure.
Then we went to the Snow King Resort where Joni and Mike went up the mountain on the chair lift....
....and came down the mountain riding the Alpine slide.
Right next to the resort was the oddest cemetery that I've ever seen. The plots were terraced and fenced. There were a lot of wooden headstones and the whole thing was wild and unkempt.
After we got back to Idaho we saw a truck hauling one of our potatoes out of the field.
JUST KIDDING! Our spuds aren't really that big. That truck has been sitting beside the road with his fake tater for as long as I can remember.
We were almost home when I spotted these sunflowers. As they are my favorite flower, Mike stopped and let me go snap a bunch of photos.
It was an awesome day. I needed the break so badly. I can't believe how much better I felt today.
Yesterday Mike took me to Jackson. I heard they were having a Fall Art Festival and I was feeling the need for a quick get-away. Joni decided to come with us. Abby wanted to stay home and rest (the best thing for her).
We had a ball. We were not in a hurry what-so-ever. Every time we saw something interesting we would stop. I took a lot of photos all day long. I was trying to complete my assignment for my photo class, but I also just took photos for fun.
At the top of the Teton Pass we stopped and went on a little hike. I hiked up the hill and took some shots of Mike and Joni below. Then I took a lot of shots for my class. You can visit my other blog if you'd like to see those. I'll be posting them tomorrow.
I did see a couple of little chipmonks through the hillside plants.
Once we got to the bottom of the pass on the Wyoming side we stopped at a river and took another little hike. Here's a couple of shots of that hike.
In Jackson we visited the park where the fair was underway. It was great.
For a long time Joni and I just sat and watched people. I had to get photos. There were so many interesting characters. Everything from cowboys to high society. I'm posting them here for your gawking pleasure.
Then we went to the Snow King Resort where Joni and Mike went up the mountain on the chair lift....
....and came down the mountain riding the Alpine slide.
Right next to the resort was the oddest cemetery that I've ever seen. The plots were terraced and fenced. There were a lot of wooden headstones and the whole thing was wild and unkempt.
After we got back to Idaho we saw a truck hauling one of our potatoes out of the field.
JUST KIDDING! Our spuds aren't really that big. That truck has been sitting beside the road with his fake tater for as long as I can remember.
We were almost home when I spotted these sunflowers. As they are my favorite flower, Mike stopped and let me go snap a bunch of photos.
It was an awesome day. I needed the break so badly. I can't believe how much better I felt today.
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