.

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Please, don't arrest my husband...

...I kind of like having him around.

Jeff decided to go fishing tonight. He officially has a bit of the fishing bug, and I think after his fish-less Friday, he wants to catch something. So, after dinner he rounded up his stuff. That, my friends, was mistake numero uno. James, of course, wanted to go. He was heart-broken when we told him it was bedtime for him and that he'd have to stay home. After I calmed him down, he went to bed and that crisis was averted. Jeff called me about an hour later, asking me to find directions for him. I asked him why he wasn't there yet and he replied, "You don't really want to know." That's always good, right? I asked him if he got a ticket. "No," he said, "I talked my way out of it." Apparently, night fishing is OK in county parks, but not state parks. The ranger gave him some big speech about how he could give him a $150 ticket, depending on whether he wanted to follow state rules or county. He told Jeff that if his supervisor had been the one to 'catch' him, he would have given him a ticket for sure. He grilled Jeff about his criminal, or non-criminal, record, and took down his info. He told Jeff that as long as he wasn't lying about his record, and it came back clean, he wouldn't get a ticket! After this fiasco, Jeff decided to head for the county park, where he could again try to go fishing. Just about 15 minutes ago (its 10:30pm), the ranger just called. I wondered what in the world was going on. He asked me if I was the proud owner of a Chevy Impala. When I answered in the affirmative, he informed me that my car was parked in a dark parking lot at the park. I told him I knew it was there, that my husband was fishing. I gave him Jeff's cell number so he could get things cleared up. Long story short, they apparently tried to signal Jeff with the siren and loud speaker but he was out of earshot. They informed him that only one small area of the lake has 24 hour fishing, not the place Jeff was at. So, after two botched attempts at fishing, Jeff the rebel fisherman is on his way home. I am just glad he's not getting arrested or anything.

Oh, and a funny side note, after the warden determined that Jeff's bag in question was not alchohol or drugs, but shrimp, he gave Jeff some unsolicited fishing advice. He told Jeff not to waste his money on shrimp anymore, to stick with chicken livers instead. Ahhh, never a dull moment. Hopefully he gets home without anymore ordeals!

***Stay tuned tomorrow to hear about the crazy old Jewish lady attacking my childen at a deli in lovely burb of Piscataway, NJ. ***

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Somewhere a fish is very happy





The first great fishing trip was full of fun, adventure, and no fish. The boys headed off before 9 yesterday to go fishing. By the time they procured a fishing license, bait, line, etc., it was almost 11 before the fishing began. James also managed to find a Cars fishing set on the bottom shelf at Wally World, on clearance no less. It came in a backpack with a pole, mini-tackle box and a pair of sunglasses. After securing their gear, they went down to the dirty Delaware, but as the tide continued to chase them back up the shore, they decided to move on to a better location. They headed over to a local lake but found that there really wasn't any kid-friendly locations available. Jeff finally packed up James and headed to Core Creek Park to see if anything was biting. They had a lot of bites, but no fish. James peered over the deck at some point to look in the water, and his sunglasses fell off into the water. It was a tragedy! The water was too deep to retrieve the glasses, so they are GONE! Jeff told James that some fish would be swimming around with his sunglasses. That seemed to make him feel a little better. It was, however, the first thing that came out of his mouth when I opened the car door to see him. His little bottom lip started to quiver and he told me 'My dasses are in da yake, Mama.' He almost started to cry. Nothing is more pathetic and adorable than a sleepy little dirt-covered boy with a quivering lip. Who couldn't even say he caught his first fish. Jeff has the fishing bug now, and we are going Sunday afternoon.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Several Things...

Jeff and James left this morning for their first ever Daddy/James fishing expedition! James was very wound up and kept saying 'Daddy, we need doe to da river and tatch fish right now!' I think they will have lots of fun. Hopefully they can find a nice spot to fish and actually catch something.

I don't know if I have mentioned this here, for the benefit of the relatives, that Katie has learned to wave, clap, turn on the light switch, and is starting to say little words every now and then. She has said 'Bye,' 'Boo,' and 'Da-Dee.' Why, oh why, do children learn to say daddy first!?

And now, a funny story that will make you laugh. Last night, we had Jeff's friend-with-a-swimmer-physique/coworker Ryan over for dinner. He brought his dog, a Rhodesian ridge-back. It was a pretty cool looking dog. After dinner, we all went on a walk. When we got back, we were all hanging out in the living room and the dog was running around. James was chasing him and showing him all his toys. He built a fort for Chaka and kept trying to tell him, 'Look, Chaka, I built you a fort!' Meanwhile, there was a smell. And it wasn't pleasant. Ryan suspected his dog immediately, and began apologizing. He had changed the dog's food earlier and apparently it was giving the dog gas. It came to the point where Ryan took the dog into the back yard. Unfortunately, the smell didn't go away. What I didn't mention earlier was that Ryan's dog had, how do I say this delicately, used the facilities. Ryan, the diligent dog owner, collected the deposit in a little bag. While we were sitting there, intermittently smelling the dog's gas, Jeff asked Ryan what he had done with the bag. Ryan jumped from the couch and checked his pocket, realizing that the offending smell was coming not from his dog, but from his own pocket. He had stashed the goods in his pocket till we found a trash can, and then forgot all about it. Eeeeew! Fortunately, as soon as the bag made its way outside, the smell was gone.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

The Word On The Street: POOP

And don't worry, for those of you who are sick of reading poop posts, skip to the end.

James has come up with a new form of punctuation. He ends random sentences with the word 'poop.' Yesterday, when talking to his beloved Auntie Rachel and Uncle Phil on the phone, he said "I love you POOP!" This morning, when Jeff was leaving, he said "I need nuts POOP!" (Which means knucks, by the way) I don't really know where this came from, but really, nothing that a toddler does makes a whole lot of sense. He has also continued the time-honored tradition of naming ones poop. 'Look, Mama, a shark poop and a whale poop. My poop has eyes!' I must scratch my head and wonder, Where did he come from? And then I remind myself of the probability of Jeff and I producing a normal child: slim to none.

And now for a little bit of poop-less posting! I am going to run out at any second now and become a farmer. I have always liked plants, gardening, etc. Recently, I read a book called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. This book is about a family who grew nearly all their food for one year. What they had to buy, they bought it locally from other farmers. Obviously, I am not going to be able to do that. But, growing stuff sounds like fun! I am already planning my garden for next year. I also hung out for a few days this summer with my friend Erin and she is quite the little suburban farmer. She inspired me, then sent me home to read the AVM book. I also recently heard about a concept called Community Supported Agriculture. Basically, you buy a 'share' at a farm and then get a share of its crops. I just went today to check out one today, and it was so cool. I am seriously considering doing it next year. Not only does it seem to be a good value, but it is a fun experience for the kids and the produce is organic which is that much less tasty pesticides we would potentially consume.

Enough of the random blathering. I have things to do and the world to conquer. Or at least a bunch of beans to snap.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Happy Birthday, Dad! Here are a few of my favorite things about you...

You took us on lots of fun hikes out in the backcountry. You taught us how to hunt for dinosaur bones and identify native plants and other critters.

You drove me home from the hospital in a Volkeswagon bug covered in Mt. St. Helens ash. And you didn't name me Dusty or Helen. Thanks. I appreciate it very much.

After saving my dollar-a-month allowance for a few months in order to buy a fish and a fishbowl, you sprung for the fish food so I wouldn't have to wait another month to get the fish.

You paid me to quit playing softball, saying I was good at a lot of things but not at softball. At ten or twenty bucks, that was a lot of allowance! What you really did was pay my to quit making a fool out of myself in front of my fellow classmates. Thanks.

You told stories of us from the pulpit, until the creepy old guy started bothering us and calling me 'hot foot.'

You took us on fun (real) camping trips involving tents, mud, picking mass quantities of choke cherries, roasting marshmallows, etc.

You planted a box of flowers with James, and let him watch them grow.

You used to play 'Doo-Ah-Diddy-Diddy-Dum-Diddy-Do' on your trombone, and sing the outhouse song with your guitar. You also made a big deal out of teaching me a song on the guitar. 'George Washington Bridge' and jailbreak were not exactly what I had in mind, but oh, well.

My kids love you.

You taught James how to say 'I'm shooting buzzards!'

Anything you cook is tasty and expeditious.

You used to write fun stories with us on the old black-and-green-screen dinosaur computer.

You made sure I had the best, most cool cars to drive when I was a teenager. I mean, who wouldn't want to drive a full-size '73 Ford Van, brown and mustard colored, with no power steering? There was a reason that Rachel refused to ride in it unless she was lying flat on the floor, safely out of view. The kids at school used to scream, 'There goes the shaggin' wagon!' And then, you chose for me my beloved '89 (?) Mercury Linx station wagon in gold. Oh, was that thing ever a beauty. In all its electrical-glitched glory, its a wonder I ever found myself a husband. (For those of you who haven't heard about my first car, one of the many quirks was that the horn would honk at times when I would shift gears, or bump the turn signal the wrong way. It would never happen at the right time!) Hey, Dad, you were right. At least no one ever stole it. I tried. I left the keys in the ignition many a time and no one ever took the bait. Maybe I should have taped a $50 bill to the steering wheel!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Cheater

Today I am going to cheat and tell you that if you want to know what we did yesterday, go check out my sister's blog. She posted some really cute pictures and a great video of the kiddies. In a nutshell, us girls went to Christi's baby shower, then we came back and had a birthday fiesta, Cheyney-style. We ended it by eating about the richest chocolate cake known to man.

Happy Almost-Your-Birthday, Dad!

Friday, August 22, 2008

I Might Become a Polygamist/Bring On The Jello

I have been reading a lot about polygamy lately. It is interesting, and there are a few new books out about it. I figured since I found an interesting subject matter, I might as well read up on it. I ended up reading at least a half dozen books. Jeff thinks I am going to want to be a polygamist. Ha! I told him one husband was enough, thank you very much. :) And while I am on the subject, I must admit that I have been a visitor to a certain little website called Mormon Chic. Before you get your Jesus jammies in a bunch, allow me to explain! I was searching for instructions to make a pillowcase when I found this website. It has tons of crafty ideas, recipes and stuff, all organized very well. It also happens to have ideas for Family Home Evening and wedding gown styles to cover your temple garments. I was checking for something on there today when I saw an article entitled, 'The Versatility of Jello.' The whole article is full of recipes for various and sundry mysterious gelatinized conglomerations of ground up horse hooves, fruit, shredded carrots and marshmallows. Yummy. For a moment, I forgot that it was 2008 and I flashed back to the days of the good old fashioned church potluck, where it was time for the church ladies to shine. Everyone brings there famous dishes, including, unfortunately, dishes containing Jello. Maybe becoming a polygamist wouldn't be that bad afterall. I mean, there would be as many famous Jello creations as there would be wives. That'd be enough Jello to keep horses in business for a long time. Hey, everyone needs a little job security, right?

~Foto Fiesta Friday~

Going to see the 'chines' (machines) They are resurfacing all the roads in our neighborhood. Katie loved riding in the wagon!

Green chiles from my garden!! It was all I could do not to eat them plain.

James giving himself a 'squishy-face'

Katie loves crawling in James' tent

James loves having me in his tent. He always tells me 'Mama, I nee you tome in my tent!'

Zzzzz!

Back at the orchard again. We went with friends and picked pears this time.

Johnny and James

Buddies

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Randomness:

  • Katie has been in her cast for just about 4 weeks. That's one third of the way! Her cast change is scheduled for September 8th. She is doing so well with it. She is such a good sport. She does want to pull herself up on the furniture, which she is not allowed to do, so I have to keep an eye out for that. She can actually pull herself up!
  • James is talking up a storm. He told me this morning 'Mama, come see the bug in here! Come see! Nevermind. The bug not here anymore. He went away.'
  • Jeff has officially started Calculus II. It's going to be interesting. Translated: STRESSFUL for both of us.
  • I made roasted tomatoes with roasted garlic last night. Very good! I actually ate all but three cloves of an ENTIRE head of garlic while talking to Candi on the phone. Don't tell anyone, OK? It's not as if they could smell me or anything. But roasted garlic is so good!
  • James has been telling me lately, 'I memer dis, Mama.' (I remember this). He also uses 'yesserday' for anything involving the past. So, he'll say he say a roller 'yesserday,' or that we went to Colorado 'yesserday.'
  • Katie has learned to wave, clap and turn on the light switch. She said her first really understandable word yesterday, I think. I was playing peek-a-boo with her and she said 'Boo'
  • My mysterious pepper burn is gone!

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Don't Believe Everything You See On The Internet

The mysterious peppers have been identified, sort of. The peppers I thought were Italian peppers after some Google images searching....they are NOT Italian peppers. I still don't know what they are, but they are HOT. I called the person who gave them to me. (Why, oh why, didn't I do that before?) They were getting rid of them for their neighbor. She told me that they are 'supposed to be really hot.' Through much scientific research on my part, I have verified this observation. I have also discovered that there are various home remedies for pepper burn, and while they may bring temporary relief, it still comes back. I soaked my hands in rubbing alcohol, then in a baking soda paste. I am not sure it that helped or not, but the pain is mostly gone away now. My favorite recommendation they listed was to drink a few Rum and cokes and go to bed. Now I am not a big drinker, or really a drinker at all, but I think that may be the only way to make yourself forget about the pain. As a side note, and you all are going to laugh, I always thought they were called 'Roman Cokes.' Duh.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You know how they say that you should always wear rubber gloves when you are handling peppers? Well, they may be on to something. I have chopped jalepenos plenty of times before and never had a problem. I just wash my hands and go on with life. Well. Let me tell you. I had a batch of peppers from someone at church, which I believe thanks to Google research, are mild Italian peppers. I decided to make pickled peppers. I added one jalepeno to each jar. All I did was cut slits in FOUR jalepenos. I didn't cut them open, touch the seeds or anything. So, either the mild Italian peppers are really some evil fire-breathing monster in disguise or the jalepenos from my garden are especially HOT! My hands are on fire, and have been for the last three hours. Thanks again to Google, I tried a few strange remedies but they have only temporarily worked. Although the pain is easing a tiny bit now, it feels like my hands are in boiling water and I can't take them out. The moral of the story, boys and girls, is to wear gloves! Either all jalepenos are not created equal or the
"Italian" peppers are the culprit. Now, I will go back to wrapping my hands around this frozen jug of water I have in my lap. Those peppers better be good!

Monday, August 18, 2008

When cakes go wrong...

This is a funny website: Cake Wrecks. Makes you wonder what people are thinking!

Oy Vey!

Seriously?! Things are going to heck in a hand basket around here. Yesterday, we were having our neighbors over for dinner. I needed to mop my floor and get dinner ready, and clean up the 136,482 toys that have multiplied like rabbits on my floor. I had planned on getting the majority of my work done while the kids were napping. That's what I get for planning! Jeff planned on working on the installation of our washing machine. You know, clean clothes and all. We've been wearing the same underwear for two weeks now. Just kidding. But we have been going to my parents to do our laundry. (Thanks, Mom and Dad!) Of course, Jeff failed to mention that the Saw-zall would be involved. Shortly after I got both kids to bed, Jeff started it up. The noise was LOUD and vibrated down the pipes to amplify the noise even further. Guess what? The kids woke up. Surprise, surprise. Oh, well. We do really need to get that pesky washer installed. So, instead of getting my stuff done, I attempted to get my stuff done, sort of, with two cranky kids hanging around. Amazingly for me, I wasn't all that frazzeled. Until....I was putting the food on the table, our guests were here and...drumroll please....James stood up on the chair and spit right into the chicken!!!! Why? Why do they do that stuff?! I told Jeff he had to deal with James. I didn't really have the mental capacity to deal with it at the moment. After I fished the spit out of the gravy, we had a nice dinner. They may never come back, but we had a nice dinner. I think. They had seconds! Mmmm...spit gravy.

Today, as a result of the remaining no-nap hangover, James has been less than stellar. He peed his pants while laughing about it. He got my mascara, AGAIN, out of the medicine cabinet and 'applied' it. Needless to say, naptime can none too soon. Let's all hope for a nice long nap! My sanity is banking on it!

Friday, August 15, 2008

Franch Careers: The Brand Inspector


Cattle rustling, my friends, in not a thing of the past. Since cattle rustling still exists, albeit more hi-tech (sometimes, anyway). One article I read said that in the past 10 years, more than 9 million bucks worth of livestock has been stolen in the state of California. While some heists are inside jobs, they also noted that some people have taken to stealing calves in order to make money for a meth fix. How crazy is that!? Obviously, cattle rustling is costly problem. Enter: the Brand Inspector. Brand inspectors have probably been around as long as we have had domesticated cattle, in one way or another. The modern Brand Inspector is part of the local law enforcement. Click here to see the job requirements. The Brand Inspector inspects cattle, horses, mules and donkeys any time there is a sale, trade or when the animal is to be transported more than 75 miles. That's the rules, anyway. The Inspector makes detailed records of each animal, recording all markings, features unique to that particular animal, and the brand itself. All of this information goes on record and can be used to compare future sales, or investigate rustling. Lest you decide to run out and become a brand inspector, think again! It is not an easy job. The Colorado Department of Agriculture is looking for brand inspectors, but warns that only 4 to 5 percent of applicants pass the initial test to qualify as a candidate. This job is much more complicated that memorizing spots on a cow. What I have mentioned here is just a simple overview. Geez. I feel like I am giving a speech or something. Never you mind. I had entirely forgotten about the Brand Inspector till we were home in July and I saw him driving around. I figured it just might need to be addressed in my Franch Tales. Hope you feel enlightened!

And if you are in for some seriously disgusting, gross, horrifying reading material, check this out. Apparently tattoos, weird peircings and grommets in your ears are not enough to brand you a freak, pun intended. I just discovered while doing some quasi-research for this post that some tattoo places now offer human branding. Eeeeeew! I think I'll pass.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Food




I am up to my elbows in food. The kids and I went to the orchard today and picked 21 pounds of apples and 11 pounds of peaches. I am going to make applesauce and jam. My neighbor gave me a full grocery bag of tomatoes. With that, I am going to make salsa and sun-dried tomatoes for tomato bruchetta. When I finish all that, I have a pork loin the size of my leg that needs to be reckoned with. Our neighbor gave it to us. Dad suggested using the saw-zall to cut it into manageable sized pieces. I am interested to see how that works out. Dad has found a recipe for us to try using the ginormous pork loin, so that should be good. From the looks of it, we'll have pork loin enough to last us till the rapture, maybe longer.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Check out my buns!

He. He. He. Get your minds out of the gutter, people! I mean hamburger buns.


Yesterday I said to myself, 'Self, make thine self some hamburger buns.' Well, maybe I didn't say it quite like that, but I decided to try it out. Incidentally, I talked to Jeff yesterday. He asked what I was doing and I said, naturally, 'I'm making my own hamburger buns.' There was a brief silence, then 'Whyyyyyy?' I just thought it would be fun. I wondered how they would turn out. And I have to say, they are pretty darn good. A lot more to 'em than those fluffy white buns from the store. Hmmm...fluffy white buns. OK. I won't go there. Anyway, they turned out good. I would do it again, but I am sure someday down the road I'll be buying a pack or two of 99 cent buns.

James' Latest Shenanigan

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

I've Got Issues

I'm having a crisis. In one month, my baby boy is turning three. The day after this momentous occasion, my itty bitty baby girl is going to be one! What the heck!?! I was just on my way to the hospital, Jeff trying to get us there without speeding to much, the roads were wet and bumpy as all get out, and Mom and Rachel in the backseat patting my shoulder. Mom asking 'How are those contractions?' What kind of question is that, Mom?! :) Anyway, this was all just a few short months ago, not a year!!! On top of all this, I got to thinking that I am 1.5 years away from turning 30. Geez. That sounds old to me, even though I know its not. It's just weird to think I'll be out of my 20's. It's also when people say your metabolism checks out and the crows feet check in. I am already working on going prematurely grey, so hey! Why not! So as you can see, I am having a crisis. My kids are growing up way too fast. I am going to have a THREE YEAR OLD and my baby is turning ONE! I think this calls for a good cry, or maybe some chocolate. I better eat all I can now before my metabolism up and leaves me. Ha!

Saturday, August 09, 2008

My Peeps

My parents just got back from a family reunion in the far north of Minnesota, where we are related to 7 out of 10 of the natives, give or take a few. The metropolis of Warroad is such a metropolis that the local paper, the Warroad Pioneer, posts all the latest in town gossip. My aunt writes this column, and her name is listed as Mrs. Alfred Heppner. Here are a few quotes from the Moranville News segment of the Pioneer.
"Norbert and Martha Fast celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary on July 17 with noon dinner out, and in the evening were supper guests at Herman Visser and other guests. Wenesday, Dave and Lois Gagne and daughter Becky were noon lunch guests of parents of Alfred and Dorothy Heppner. In the afternoon, Ron Heppner, Dave and Becky toured Marvins. In the evening, all were supper guests of Ron and Sue together with the Brent Hanson's and children and the Diedrich Heppners and children out for dinner. The Gagnes are from Pequot Lakes. Matt Mitton spend the first days of last week helping grandma, Cynthia Krahn, with her garden of weeden. Matt is the son of Bruce and Linda Mitton of Roosevelt. Melvin Ortmann, Dick Spenst and grandson, Zack, worked to put in a garage door for the Alfred Heppners this past week. Issac Krahn and Ben Mitton are counselors at the Native American Baptist Boys Bible Camp, north of Kenora, Ontario this week. Most of the area had a good rain on the weekend, not good for farmers putting up hay, but good for mosquitos. To chase away mosquitos when going outdoors in the summer, try rubbing a dryer sheet on your clothes to keep mosquitos away. The family of Frank and Kate Heppner have a reunion planned for the end of July and the first days of August. They have ten children, and seven plan to attend along with their families for the occasion. Kate and Frank were married in 1930 at Lostwood, North Dakota, and came to Warroad in 1934 where they had their first child, North Dakota. Willie, the only of the family at Warroad, is planning the reunion together with his youngest sister Janet Cheyney in Pennsylvania, and his wife Henie and thier two children."


Please note I did abbreviate the article. There were birthday congratulations, birth announcements and such. And don't worry, my grandparents didn't name their kid North Dakota. They went with a more conservative bet, Frank. Just thought you guys would get a kick out of some people's news. My peeps up in Minnesota just open up the paper to see who was over at Martha's for the noon meal yesterday. So next time you are depressed about reading the news, turn to the Pioneer for a peek at the Moranville News and you won't feel so bad.

Friday, August 08, 2008

Bla, bla, blaaaaa

All week I have been scratching my head. I can't think of anything to write about. I can't think of how to write it. When I actually try to think, this is what I hear in my head: bla, bla, bla, blaaaaaa. I think it may have something to do with sleep, or the lack thereof. So imagine my surprise last night when I was browsing through my camera and noticed pictures that I hadn't posted about our trip to Styer's orchard. Here I had something to blog about and forgot all about it! We went last Saturday and picked peaches and blackberries. It was lots of fun. They take you on a tractor ride out to the fields. It seems like sort of a dorky city-folk thing to do, but hey, I'm over it. It's really the only farming experience you can find around here. Amazingly, thanks to the fact that I am no longer slaving away over a hot sink washing dishes every day, I managed to slave away over a hot stove instead. I canned peach jam, blackberry jam, blueberry lime jam, and peaches. I still can't believe I actually accomplished anything this week despite the lack of gray cell activity.


Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Poop Tales and a Franch Story

Katie's cast leaves a lot to be desired for someone who freely poops and pees without a single bit of thought. There is no way to actually secure the diaper around her, and the opening for the diaper is not exactly large. I have to try and tuck a newborn diaper in there and 'hope for the best.' Let's just say, the best doesn't always happen. Remember my post about the poop incident of '08? Well, that scenario replayed itself, in the cast. Eeeewww. Almost a whole box of wipes. A half an hour. And there is still poop in the cast that can't be reached. Sorry. That's probably way too much information. That was last week. Now, there is an impending sense of doom whenever a certain scent wafts up from her hot pink cast. I can't imagine why. Poor girl. I am counting down the weeks....four and a half till she gets a new cast, and ten and a half altogether. And while we are on the subject of poop, if anyone is still listening, James has taken to describing his poop in great detail. 'Look at that, Mama! It's a teensy weensy poop!' or 'Hey, Mommy, my poop's standing up!' This morning he went, and then counts 'One people poop, two people poops, free people poops, FOUR PEOPLE POOPS!' Why? I don't know. The kid is weird. I don't have any idea where he gets that from.

And the Franch story I said was coming....




On the way to farm, there was an eccentric old guy who lived on his own farm out toward the lake. His property was littered, like most farmers' land, with broken down old farm implements, assorted wagon wheels, and rusty junk. He had some whirly-gig stuff twirling around too. We always knew we were getting close to his place when we started to see cowboy boots nailed to the top of each fence post. He probably has twenty boots nailed up along his fence. They've been there as long as I can remember. You can get the general idea from the picture, although I took it while Jeff was driving. At one point, the old man rented out a few of his fields to Charlie, the guy who ran the farm. Jeff and I were irrigating the fields one day and he was out moseying around. He came over to shoot the breeze with us for a few minutes. We were discussing the fact that most of the land around him was as of yet undeveloped. He pointed out that he had just planted an entire row of trees along the north end of his property. The trees, he told us, were not planted as a wind break as would be expected. No. He planted those trees so that if ever the neighboring property was subdivided and built up, his trees would obstruct their view. He told us that doggone it, if they were gonna build around him, at least they would not get a nice view of the monument. When we drove by on the way out to the lake, I noticed that his trees never really took off. So far, no one has subdivided and built up that field. The boots are still hanging on the their respective fence posts, a little more weathered and faded. I'm sure someday sooner rather than later things will be built up out there, and who knows whether he'll be alive to see it happen. I bet he's hoping not.

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Sleep Rollercoaster

Oh, sleep. That elusive thing. It's amazing how much sleep affects the ol' mental outlook. Last week, I thought I was going to go insane or collapse from lack of sleep. Then, after a few good nights, I started to see light at the end of the tunnel. The last few nights haven't been great and now I am starting to feel, well, tired. Hopefully we settle into some sort of acceptable sleep situation so that I can remain sane for the next three months. You never know, I might actually come up with something clever and interesting to blog about again. Until then, here is a little James tidbit for you. This morning, he asked me to watch 'Wedgie Tales.'

Monday, August 04, 2008

Happy Dance

If y'all can just take a moment and CELEBRATE with me...........I now have a dishwasher........installed and ready to use. Praise JESUS! I have been doing a little happy dance since Jeff finished installing it last night. This is monumental, in my opinion. I have been doing dishes...gasp...by hand for the last 4+ months. I know, I know. How did people ever do it back then. I don't know. That is one modern appliance I never want to live without. Speaking of living without modern appliances, I will be living without a washing machine for a few weeks until Jeff runs out of clean clothes and/or my parents restrict us from using their washer. The washer was in the kitchen, so in order to have a dishwasher we had to take out the washer. One step at a time...that's what we have to do. Now Jeff has to plumb it in upstairs. Until then, I'm thinking of taking my little ol' washboard down to the creek with a bar of soap. Think that'll work?

Friday, August 01, 2008

Random Pictures

Having a blog, I have realized I have a lot of annoying habits, like wanting to start every post with 'So,.....' Then, I lecture myself about how that is a stupid way to start a post. I also have realized that for the life of me, I cannot spell the word 'definetly.' See, I just got flagged. How the heck to you spell that, anyway? Clearly I need help. Serious help. Anyway, that being said, here are a few random pictures from the last few crazy weeks to go with my random blog post. So....

Fortunately, Katie still fits in the Mai Tai carrier I have. It's a lifesaver!

James decided to help himself to my mascara.

Katie, pre-cast, eating blueberry pancakes. Mmmm....

Some things from my garden...we've been eating stuff out of the garden almost every night.

A few flowers from the garden...aren't they pretty?

One last random thing...I made what is quite possibly the largest batch of salsa ever made today. I think I have about six quarts, maybe more. Our neighbor is growing fifty tomato plants, so I will be up to my elbows in tomatoes for the next two months. There is a cloud of garlic, cilantro and onion fumes hanging around our house right now. Now all we need, as Jeff kindly reminded me, is some chips to go with the salsa. Sounds like a trip to the store is in order.

Two Nights of Good Sleep

I will survive, I will survive....da, da, da...and I'll hold my head up high....

Now you'll have that stuck in your head for the rest of the day. I have had two nights of sleep where Katie has only gotten up once!! That makes me feel like I might actually live another day. Its hard to believe that she has been in her cast for an entire week already. One down, eleven more to go....................

Her CAT scan results can back good.