Family BLOG

Walking

One of our favorite things to do while camping is to go for a walk.  I walk with Tammy and I also walk with Kirsten.  Kirsten promised that NO MATTER WHAT she will always walk with her Daddy.  I am very happy about that promise - since walking is a great time to just talk and relax and enjoy.

It's funny though - apparently we are  conditioned to walk while camping.  At our house in Howell we walk when it's really nice out, but mostly we don't -- walking is a camping thing, and if we can find good campground walking, we decide that "it's a good campground".

Well...  we are essentially all moved out of our house and we are "camping" on the driveway as we get the house all empty and cleaned up for our closing on Wednesday.  We were joking that we have a pretty nice camp site - electric and water (no sewer) but a nice paved site and it's private with woods all around.  After dinner Kirsten said we should walk!  So we did - and we had a great walk and a great time chatting.  Apparently when we camp here in Howell we can walk -- but just living in the house here... not so much walking.  Funny.

Well - if we move back into our house on Buckalew we may still get to have a few more walks in this neighborhood - who knows.  I think it's really interesting how you get in the habit of doing certain thing a certain way.

Our new BLOG

So... several things are becoming clear to me.  In no particular order

 Tom Bergeron seems to catching up on Regis and seems to be everywhere now.  Dancing with the Stars, America's Funniest Home Videos and now I see he's going to host the National Spelling Bee!  Just an observation.

For sure I need to set up some categories in this BLOG or it will become a huge jumble of posts...  I'm thinking of a few like family, poetry (for Kirsten), how to (for when I learn something new) and "would you believe" (for the odd and oddly amazing things that just seem to happen in life).  Other categories would be good I imagine.  Lookig for suggestions, post comments if you like.

I think I may need to give some BLOG training to Tammy.  This morning she announced that she had worked on an entry for a long time and after she posted it, she wanted to edit one word.  Now... because I did not bother to learn about this tool I just made all the first users administrators - it was easy.  So... Tammy went to edit a post and had complete control.  She had the choice of clicking a little pad and pencil or a red X to do an edit.  What do you suppose she clicked?  (hint... it was the red X) and SUPRIZE! the red X does a delete.  Being trained in the Microsoft model of software torture she expected a "confirm" on any delete.  Alas, this tool seems to be UNIX oriented and assumes the administrators know what they are doing or will pay the price.  Delete meant delete.

Good news though!  Later in the morning Mark noticed that the RSS feed he subscribed to had provided him a copy of the first post, which he merrily e-mailed back to his mom to re-post.

Additional good news!  (see Tammy's other post) the rain let up just enough and we parked the truck close to the storage unit and none of the stuff got very wet at all.  One more heavy lifting run, then a few more light moves and WE-R-OUTTA-HERE!

Rain on moving day, doesn't it just figure?

     I'm looking out my window right now and the rain is coming down in buckets.  Now I appreciate spring flowers just as much as the next gal, so I know that a good rain always brings lots of gorgeous flowers and yummy spring veggies, but why'd it have to happen on the day we are moving? 

     Yes, today is the day that we have reserved the moving truck to take our remaining large possessions to storage. Paul Cornman has graciously agreed to help Dave lift the heavier items, and I am MOST appreciative!  But I fear that not only the guys will get wet, but also our bedroom set, and everything else.  Maybe it will stop long enough for them to get the stuff in and out? We shall see.

Another senior moment...

     Tuesday was the day of our "family" dentist appointment.  I find it so much easier to know who goes when if I schedule us all on the same day, so that's what I did.  So all four of us head outside, Dave goes to his truck because he needs to come home and get back to work, while the kids start getting into my car.  Lo and behold, I have forgotten my purse (again) so I run back into the house to retrieve it.  I rush back out to the car, notice that Dave has already left in his truck, then I jump into my car telling the kids to buckle up.  Next, I do all the other important things you do when you get in your car, that is open the sun roof and turn the radio on fairly loudly.  Hey, it's a beautiful day and there is just something wonderful about cruising along and singing loudly (albeit not in tune) with the wind blowing through your hair.  I was going to ask the kids if they minded the loud music and the wind, but I figured it was only a five minute ride to the dentist, so they would just have to put up with their old mom for a little bit. 

Interesting encounter

     Last Saturday, I went to the farmers market because I was craving some fresh fruit and veggies.  I know, it is madness to venture into that place on a Saturday at lunch time, but we really needed some food.  So I grabbed my shopping cart determined to be at my utmost friendliest, no matter what.  The shopping was tight with all the people there, but it was moving along OK.  I decided that since they had a deli counter there I would save myself a trip to another store and proceeded to wait line.  I was the fifth person, so I figured it wouldn't be too bad.

    Well, after five minutes of waiting I got bored so I tried to strike up a conversation with the lady in front of me.  She was obviously not in the mood for socializing because she kind of kept looking the other way.  So I figured I would talk to her little girls.  The older one looked to be about seven and was quite the conversationalist.  She likes to cook, is a big fan of turkey sandwiches, and was fascinated that you can grind your own wheat and make homemade pizza dough.  But when she asked her mom if they could grind wheat and make pizza dough, her mom said, "Don't even think about it."  I think mom was having a tough time with her other daughter who appeared to be about four and had a definite major case of the wiggles.

      So, getting the somewhat cold shoulder on that angle, I figured I would talk to the gentleman behind me.  He had just hung up his phone having explained to his wife that he was at the farmers market because she had sent him there, and yes, it might be a little while before he gets home because it was crowded.  I didn't mean to listen in, but he was right behind me, and like I said, I was getting bored.  He also had a daughter who looked to be about four years old and she was dressed up in a ballet outfit.  He said she had just finished her dance lesson.  I replied that she was very cute and was being very patient waiting in that line (I was kind of thinking of the mom with the squirmy kid standing in front of me.)   I asked how many children he had and just as he was about to answer, I looked at his shirt.  Under the caption "World's Best Dad"  there was a big picture of three adorable children (OK, I get a C- for being observant.)  So as he is saying, "three", I said something like, "oh, you have three, and they are very cute."

     Normally, most men you've struck up a conversation with in a long deli line, don't seem to have much more to say about their kids (this, of course, is a generalization.)  However, since we didn't seem to be going anywhere too quickly, he goes on to say that they are a handful, and he believes that he has lost control of them and they simply won't be obedient.  I was going to mention something like a firm but loving hand, but before I got any words out, he explained that his wife had applied and been accepted for a new TLC program called "Take Home Nanny."  This was the first day of taping (he showed me that he was wired for sound) and the nanny and the film crew were currently at his house.  The nanny got there first thing in the morning and will stay until the kids go to bed at night.  He was really hoping that this would help.  OK, so now I have an interesting conversation going and you know what happens?  Yes, it is finally  my turn.  I think I got the speed deli-slicer guy because he got my order done lickity-split.  So I said goodbye and good luck and do you know what happened?  The squirmy-girl mom says to the gentlemen, yes the third child threw me over the edge also and I would love someone to come help us.  The whole time I am in the checkout line to pay (which also took awhile), I notice those two locked in conversation.

    So I think I get it now.  The squirmy-girl mom did not want to hear about grinding wheat or making your own pizzas and bread, she needed someone to hear her out on how to deal with her children, without making life more complicated.  Maybe she's a working mom, I will never know, but I will just take this moment to thank the Lord for giving me the children I have, and allowing me the blessing of staying at home with them so we have time to "grind the wheat" or whatever new activity we come up with.

i dislike playing piano

really really really really really really really dislike HATE piano.  it's really boring.  there's nothing in it worth doing.  i'll never use it again after my mom lets me stop.  in fact i heard i can get a hypnotist to help me forget it.  i never want to play piano again, but my mom says i must.  thank you for bearring with me while i ventalate my frustration.  

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