Major obstacle overcome

I'm in the middle of a Creative Writing independent study class. One of my assignments is to write a short story. My short story is called The Preserve. I like stories, and I think I write well enough to tell a good story. My problem is having people read what I write (except for what I write in my blog. I LOVE for people to read my blog. I don't know why I feel differently about the two kinds of writing). After months of fear, procrastination, fear, anxiety, and more fear, I finally allowed my short story to be critiqued by people who know how to nitpick the written form of communication. I let some English teachers read it. I let a recent English major college grad (who plans to go for her master in reading people's writings and telling them how to improve) read it. I let another person who has been instructed in creative writing more than I have read it. And I survived their comments with my dignity and hopes for a decent grade intact. I am now able to handle the "here's how you can improve" suggestions without falling to the floor awash in tears, feeling imperfect and crushed, because they all peppered it with "here are the story's strengths" comments.

I've learned that getting a story to workshop does NOT mean it has to be perfect! The whole purpose of workshopping is to help it along--to let fresh eyes make helpful suggestions and alert the writer to possible confusion in the eye of a reader--not to judge whether it is perfect or worthy of anyone else's attention. I've also learned that I don't HAVE to take anyone's (or everyone's) suggestions. :P

I'm sure many writers know this already, and I probably knew it too; I just didn't believe it or in myself.

Now I have to rewrite the story and write up on the workshopping experience. I can get through this! Go me!

Ten things to do after vacation

1. Give great and glorious thanks for being asked to get on a non-midnight-arrival flight instead of the one we had tickets for that got in very very late.
2. Remind myself that the grouchy flight attendant may have had previous issues and I probably caught her at her near-boiling point.
3. Unpack
4. Admire the ceiling fan that Jim put in while I was away and the flower on the table that he got for me to say "Welcome home, I missed you."
5. Curse the van for costing $$$$ for repairs and for the new irritation of a bad gas tank sensor that beeps every 10 seconds signaling an empty tank when IT ISN'T EMPTY. More $$$$. ARGH! WE CAN'T AFFORD THIS!
6. Unpack some more.
7. Watch Matt show Jim the alligator head that Grandma bought him.
8. Carve down the talons. They are fun to have if I could live my life as a full time princess with servants to scratch my itches for me and type my blog entries for me and play the organ for me and open doors for me and pick up things off the floor for me and remove stickers from apples for me and clench fists for me, etc..... but since I am only a very part-time princess, I need these things to be shorter.
9. Get back to unpacking.
10. Plan the next trip.

Jen, I had a good time. Thanks for taking our surprise well and not flipping out about unexpected guests. I hope you had good time too.

Florida gators

Jenni successfully turned 40 and I think she may have even had a good time. Her birthdy bash was last night and here she is, just about to blow out the fire hazard.

Before the party, however, we needed our nails done. This is the first time I've been to a professional nail stylist. I had my nails enhanced and augmented. Is it obvious?

Needless to say, but I'm going to say it anyway, it's hard to type with these talons. But I'll willingly suffer for my beauty.

Remember the apron I made for my mom at her request for her birthday? It's because I asked her for fabric to make Jenni an apron. And here is Jenni with her apron. Happy purple birthday to Jen!

OK, so we thought it was cool that we had seen three four-foot alligators on the local ponds five times in the last few days. Until Roger called yesterday afternoon. Roger and Lani are good friends of Jenni and Travis and live on the edge of a pond. Roger called us to tell us about this behemoth within sight of his backyard. He knew that we had a little boy who was interested in alligators. So we all hopped in the car and drove to see the sight. And what a sight we saw!

There is a second one with only his tail sticking out of the water. You can see him just above Morgan's head. Both gators just sat there the whole time we were there--about half an hour. Also notice the lack of fence between children and gator. And cameraperson and gator for that matter.This week had been so fun! Our gator needs have been amply fulfilled!

Knitamania

I haven't been computering much lately. I've either been running around or knitting. Jenni has been knitting, Mom has been knitting, and Matt has been knitting. Yes. Matt knits. Right now he's knitting a tiny orange scarf. Whatever. It's his exercise in purling. He and cousin Maddie had quite a knitting conversation last night. I don't remember all of it, but the two of them found much to discuss in the realm of knitting (although Maddie doesn't knit, she only purls).

Today we went to a knitting store. Matt liked all the colors of yarn. I got some yarn to make a little shrug for Hayley (shhhhh don't tell her!). Jenni got some purple sock yarn. Mom got a magazine. Matt got to help the owner of the store wrap yarn into yarn balls and she also showed him how to twist blobs of wool into yarn using a spinner. He was fascinated with the machinations of the spinner. He also saw a replica of Captain Jayne's knitted hat . The knitting store owner was very nice, especially in her treatment of Matt. Jen got some pictures. We'll see about posting some another time.

Then we went to Chamblin Bookmine.

AWESOME.

It's a maze of bookshelves in a meandering series of connected buildings. Any first-timer in that store going in by herself WILL get lost. Possibly for several hours. Really. In most places in the store, all you can see are books. Miles and miles and miles and tons and tons and tons of books. It gets to be too much if you are just browsing. I liked going back to the children's section--you have to walk through a garage door at one point. Matt couldn't make a decision on a book, so he didn't get anything (really, I don't blame him--there was just too much to look at and he was kind of tired). We had to leave so Jen could get girls to music lessons so many places in that store went unexplored. And Hayley's request went unfulfilled as well because they had only books 1, 3, and 4 of the Avalon series. Oh well!

Concert tonight and party tomorrow!

Finally I'm at a computer today

I have just a few pictures to share. Here is Jen being all surprised that we showed up at her house unannounced.

This morning Jenni had to go to work but I know she totally didn't want to because WE were visiting. But alas, she had to work. So Mom, Matt and I "had" to take a walk to keep ourselves busy.

Matt has a list of things that he wants to see while he's out here in Florida and we were able to check off most of the things on the list.

Matt LOVED the lizards. He saw several.

Matt saw a sign that intrigued him. This is the sign and that is Matt in the distance, ignoring the advice. He REALLY wanted to see a 'gator.

We didn't see one 'gater, we saw TWO! Here is one of them. Keep in mind, this gator is not behind any fence. There is nothing but water and a bit of fire ant infested ground between it and us. Fortunately, we must not have looked too much like gator-chow at the moment.

Tonight we go out to dinner with the Smiths.

It's in the low 70s and sunny! Florida is so nice during Sprink Break!

NOW I'm on Spring Break!

In case you didn't know (and Jenni didn't), I've been planning a spring break trip to Florida to visit Jenni and Travis and their girls. It was a surprise for Jenni's birthday. I got my mom to come along too and because Matt has not had a "big trip" and all the other kids have, I brought him along as well.

Matt was fascinated by the airplane. Before we left this morning, Katie called and talked to him to try to scare him. She tried to convince him that planes crashlanded etc, but he would have none of it. He wouldn't let anything put him off this trip. Matt watched the takeoff with great enthusiasm and was very excited to see what the tops of the clouds looked like. He also liked checking out the "kitchen" on the plane as we were waiting in line to use the bathroom. Everything about flying made Matt smile.

When we got to the Smiths, I suggested we send Matt in first, and he walked in with Travis and yelled "Pizza's here!" I guess Jen was surprised because she thought he was someone else at first. But then when that sunk in, I walked in and Jen shrieked and hugged me. Then, to top it off, Mom walked in and Jen was standing there beside herself, totally surprised! I took pictures, but I'll probably post them tomorrow.

So Matt and I get a vacation in sunny Florida! I hear it's going to rain/snow all week in MN! Too bad!

Photograph

I'm taking a break from all the hubbub of spring break (where it's neither spring, nor do I get a break) to post a picture. Just an interesting picture of Hayley and a disapproving cat. Hayley had these lights up in the family room for her party.

And now, time for vague recollections from my childhood:
Drawing floor plans for boarding schools. I liked to envision and draw places to live. Sadly, I never became an architect.

Making mud pies in the back yard with Jenni. We ate mud. I don't think I liked it.

Playing elevator in the first house I lived in. There was one place in the house that was surrounded on each side by a door. One led to mom and dad's bedroom, one led to the bathroom, one led to my room which I shared with Jenni, and one led to the living room. I would place a stuffed animal or doll behind each door and then pick each toy up as the "elevator" went up and down.

Playing "watergate" with Eric from down the street when we lived on McLaughlin. It involved an empty milk jug, water, and dirt. No tapes, no presidents, and no CREEP.

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This just in:
Congratulations go out to my husband's nephew Tony, who just got married! I remember a time (SO long ago) when Tony was shorter than I. I met him when he was three years old and had a cast on his leg, which did NOT stop him from running around. And now he's all grown up and married! Best wishes to Tony and Rheannia!

Spring broken

So it's Spring Break for the kiddies. Already, I feel like my brain is about to explode. My blogging routine is going to be irregular this week. Normally, I post by 8 a.m., but this week I probably won't get around to it til late morning. So consider yourself informed.

I tried to exercise when I got up, but having kids milling around the house doesn't make exercising in the house easy. And I WOULD go for a walk outside, but apparently the weather didn't get the memo about Spring Break. It's raining. Sigh. The first day of vacation and it's raining too hard to play outside. It's one of those rains that could last all day. The sky is a uniform cold gray and the rain is steady and determined.

Paul is off to his first track meet today. He has been placed on the 4x800m relay team with the three fastest guys in the track program (sez Paul) so I'm thinking that he will run varsity for that event, at least for the first few meets. Then he has also been told he will run the 3200m (roughly equivalent to 2 miles). So two long runs for him. He's happy about it, though. The coaches will use the first couple of meets to determine the varsity squad so we don't know anything for sure yet. The meet is INDOORS, thank goodness so despite the craptastic weather, he will run. Good luck Paul!

I'd go to the meet, but Mom is here giving piano lessons, and afterwards, we are taking Hayley out to lunch and shopping for a dress. Hayley has all of a sudden grown up. She's about as tall as Katie--maybe taller--and she's outgrown all her church clothes. She got one dress from us and Grandma wants to give her another.

Hayley went off to Young Women at church yesterday--no more little-kid Primary for her! Sniff! After church was over, I went into the Primary room and spied Matt right away. Then I started looking around for Hayley, but after wondering where she had gotten herself to, I realized she wasn't in there at all. I am a little sad of course. They will announce her moving up in church next week and she'll get her Faith in God award then. I just can't get over how big my kids are getting! I still feel like a young mom. They all grew up just as I figured out how to be the kind of parent of young kids that I wanted to be. Now I've had to switch gears to parenting teenagers and it's a totally different style of being a mom. And I haven't quite gotten the hang of it yet.

My goals for Spring Break: cut some hair, clean, exercise every day (hopefully the weather will clear up), make chore lists for the kids, not yell as much as I am tempted to, have a good attitude, read, and remain sane.

One year away from being a teenager

My little Cheeky is now 12. Last night she had a birthday party (I'll get to that later) and as we were walking one of the girls home, Hayley noticed that she had accidentally brought a stuffed animal with her; she had brought Bun bun along.

She got Bun bun from Uncle Mike and Aunt Jen, pictured below with Hayley on her first birthday (when she got Bun bun).

She still loves Bun bun, and despite the allergy doctor telling her NOT to sleep with stuffed animals, she still does. I thought it appropriate that on her 12th birthday, we post a picture of her with Bun bun. Thanks Uncle Mike and Aunt Jen for a present that has been with Hayley for many years (mostly because he is washable)!
Here are some party highlights. This girl, R, loved the bags and the tissue paper.
Hayley blows out the candles.
And all the girls decided to eat the cake with no forks. Sigh. I had to mop the floor later. We played Werewolves of Miller's Hollow for the last hour of the party and the girls LOVED it. They begged for game after game; it's quite addicting. Our Werewolves of Miller's Hollow cards are getting quite worn. Sadly I didn't get any photos of the game, but I was busy moderating. And moderating 8 12-year-olds is no easy feat. They were squealing and yelling and lolling all over each other. Between every other word of moderation I had to shush them. Oh well, they had fun, and Hayley was glad that the other girls liked the game. I think she was a little nervous that the girls might not like her suggestion.

One more thing about the party: The girls LOVED badgering Paul. Paul was the only other Evans child at home (Jimmy was working and Matt was at a friend's house. Even Jim wasn't home--he had to deliver our pizzas for the party) and what 12-year-old girl doesn't want to shower attention on the friend's older brother? When they came upstairs for cake, they all surrounded Paul, who was sprawled out on the couch watching a DVD. He tried his best to ignore them (using sound reducing earphones for the DVD) but they wouldn't leave him alone until he acknowledged each and every one of them with a wave. He made the mistake of going downstairs while they were partying on the Wii, and he nearly ran back upstairs. He said to me, "I am NOT going down there again during the party." The squeals probably could be heard several blocks away. Poor Paul. (not)

Anyway, the party is over and I am glad. Glad that the party is over, glad that everyone had a good time, glad that Hayley enjoyed it, and glad that everyone liked Werewolves. And I'm glad I have Hayley. She's my sweet little girl.

Today we will celebrate with just us, with Hayley's birthday dinner--hot dogs, waffle fries, broccoli and juice. Monday we will take her out for her birthday dinner at a restaurant--Famous Dave's. When I bought Dad a gift card to Famous Dave's for Christmas, I took Hayley along and she REALLY liked how the place smelled. So now she wants to go there to taste what smelled so good.

Happy birthday Hayley!

Ten things I would have Twittered today if I were on Twitter

1. Matt is practicing piano @ 7:45 a.m w/o me telling him to. Good boy!

2. Apple crisp for breakfast is OK on weekends.

3. Went to McDs with M and Fake Child. Didn't order anything for myself! Go me!

4. I hate when the kids have to fundraise.

5. How much dust can a Swiffer duster hold?

6. Stupid vacuum!

7. Nevermind! Vacuum is now cooperative.

8. Hayley is flarping again.

9. ARGH more dust! My perfect world would contain NO DUST.

10. I'm dead. Cause of death: extreme dust inhalation

Flarp

One of my children got to choose a prize out of a prize basket yesterday and that child chose "Flarp." It is described on the can as "noise putty." I'll give you ONE GUESS as to what kind of "noise" this product makes.

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

I'll give you a hint. A whoopie cushion makes the same noise.

Sigh.

I had to drive in the van for 20 minutes with constant "flarping" going on. And constant laughter. No matter how old the kids are, gastrointestinal noises never cease to amuse.

And guess which child picked it?

...

...

...

...

Hayley. The girl. She said, "I'm gonna have so much fun with this!"

*Forehead slap*

Jimmy's eating habits

Several years ago at the dinner table after eating hotdogs (I think), Jimmy contemplated his empty plate and decided he was still hungry.

"Mom, can I have a sandwich?"

"Sure," I said, "If you make it yourself." I already fixed dinner; I wasn't going to expend any more energy preparing food, and he was certainly capable of doing it himself. I didn't pay much attention to what he was doing, but as he topped his sandwich with the second slice of bread, I asked him what was in his sandwich, because it looked a little odd, a little flat, and it dripped red and yellow.

"Ketchup and mustard."

I paused, waiting to hear what else he had put in it.

"And...?" I prompted.

"And what?"

"And what else did you put in your sandwich?"

He looked at me like I was nuts. "Ketchup and mustard. That's what's in my sandwich."

I almost gagged. He ate most of it.

Fast forward a few years and Jimmy had developed a habit of adding milk to his ice cream, which is not as gross as a condiment sandwich, but I still tried to stop him from doing it.

And now.

Last night he came home from a church activity while I was downstairs glued to the TV to see who got sent home on Idol (Alexis? Really? Huh. I woulda thought Michael). After the show was over, I ambled up the stairs to see how everyone up there was doing. Out of habit, I opened the fridge door (because you can't ask people how they are doing without something to eat) and saw a bowl of cereal sitting on the middle shelf. It was getting soggy.

"Who put the bowl of cereal in the fridge, and more importantly WHY?"

Of course it was Jimmy who answered. "I'm waiting for it to get soggy."

I almost gagged again. What? "Why in the name of Alton Brown would you want your cereal to get soggy???"

"If it's crunchy, you are too busy paying attention to the crunch. If it's soggy, you really get the TASTE of the cereal."

I will NEVER understand that boy.

Question for the philosophers

Why is it that the dustiest filthiest place in the house is to the immediate left of where you spend the most time of your waking hours?

I'm decluttering the bookshelf that our printer sits on and it is VILE. The dust bunnies are this big! The dead spider bodies are more numerous than live ones! There are THINGS of nebulous origins! WHY DO WE STILL HAVE OUR OLD SCANNER? I've dug through strata dating back to the stone age--I've uncovered VHS tapes, fercryinoutloud!

You know you're wasting time when...

...you find yourself watching your cat watch a spider.

No science project today

I never did get pictures of Hayley and Matt and their little experiment that is taking up valuable counterspace in my kitchen. I'll have to put picture-taking on my to-to list. My to-do list is getting long, mostly because I ignored it yesterday, although I did iron two shirts. The ironing pile is almost as big as the actual dirty clothes pile so I am working on it a little every day. I don't iron the big boys' shirts anymore; they are learning to do that for themselves. Hooray for teenagers and their "need" for independence! You want freedom? Then you must be responsible for yourself! Iron your own shirts. And both boys know how to run the washing machine and the dryer and are big helps with laundry. Except they don't fold as often as I want them to.

Spring Break is next week for the kids. We have no plans, but that doesn't seem to bother anyone. Jimmy has to work a lot, which he is not happy about (see me roll my eyes). I think I'll have Paul make up fliers advertising his lawn-mowing prowess to pass around the neighborhood in hopes that he'll get a couple lawns to mow for $$. Hayley and Matt will probably do jobs around the house and play with each other outside.

Lately, during the last two days of really nice March weather, Matt and Hayley have been playing street hockey. They've made up their own rules and run around chasing a tennis ball with their aging hockey sticks. Those sticks have sat in the garage for nearly 10 years. Paul and Jimmy used them quite a bit before the disease of teenagerhood set in, in which playing outside becomes to painful so they must sit around the house complaining of boredom. Now the sticks are seeing a rebirth of use with Hayley and Matt. I could sit at the window for hours, watching the two of them play.

Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles

Background: Magic the Cat is a skittish cat. He doesn't let us pick him up, and he dashes downstairs to hide the minute Jim gets home from work. One look from Jim and Magic will cower and try to escape.

Last night Jim sat down on the couch to relax for a bit, and within minutes, he had a "friend."
We don't know what prompted this, but I had to take a picture.
Magic, we cannot figure you out. Katie, maybe this means that Magic will like you too when you come back in July for a visit.

In other news, the weather was GORGEOUS yesterday! I saw the temp at 65! Everyone was out and about and I took fake child to the park after dinner (I babysat until 9:45 p.m.). Oh, how nice it was! The temperature hasn't been this nice since October, I think.

Tune in tomorrow when I chronicle a science project that is taking up precious space on my kitchen counter.

Edited to add: Happy St. Patty's day everyone! St. Patrick's Day reminds me of my Aunt Peg, who was vehemently Irish, and this was HER holiday. Here is an Irish blessing, copied and pasted in her memory:

May love and laughter light your days,
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours,
wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world
with joy that long endures.
May all life's passing seasons
bring the best to you and yours!

Short meme because nothing worth posting happened this weekend

1) Describe your everyday dishes. Do you like them?

My everyday dishes are a mix of white corelle and grey stoneware with a blue edge. The cupboard that houses my dishes looks like a garage sale inventory. I don't know if I would go so far as to say that I LIKED my dishes; they are dishes, they serve their purpose, I have enough of them, and they aren't covered with art that gets in the way of a visually appetizing meal. I don't mind when they break because I'm not attached to them, though. If I want pretty dishes, I'll use my seashell set (but only on OCCASIONS).

2) What is the most dangerous thing you have ever done on purpose? Got married without knowing if the groom was Mr. Right. He did turn out to be Mr. Right, though. I hope I turned out to be Mrs. Right.

3) Whose reputation would you like to ruin, and how would you do it? And whose would you want to enhance? I'd like to ruin Angelina Jolie's. Those lips could stand to be popped. And I'd like to enhance the reputation of every decent teacher in our school district so that they get paid what they are worth, especially if they taught Jimmy in elementary school.

4) Show and Tell. What comes to mind first when you see this picture? Or, tell a story if it reminds you of one.

Public Domain Photo

My favorite job at the Morris Center Cafeteria dishroom (college job): cleaning silverware. Working in the dishroom was a messy job. We slopped food off plates into a trough next to a large machine, the main output of which was steam made up of food particles. We wore ugly uniforms decorated with food stains and water spots. The only refuge from the mess was the silverware station. First the silverware was taken of the food trays as the trays came through the little hole in the wall separating us peons from the paying customers. We dumped the utensils willy-nilly onto a large crate that was sent through the giant steam monster. The silverware came out clean, and for most things that got sent through the steam monster, the cleaning process was complete. But not for the silverware. That got sorted into containers by item. Forks all together, spoons all together and knives all together. And preparation utensils in another container. They were then sanitized in a large sink in a specific solution for a specific amout of time. Then the silverware was removed and loaded into carts to be taken out to the cafeteria to be used and dirtied again and again and again. The silverware station didn't involve any messiness because the silverware cleaner only got the silverware when it had run through the giant steam machine. I loved doing that job. The main benefit was not necessarily the relative cleanliness of it, but that the job was on and off. I could spend minutes chatting with cute boys while the silverware enjoyed a spa treatment in the sanitation bath. That's how I got to know John, who set me up with Jim. I chatted him up while he was scrubbing pots and pans and I was ostensibly sanitizing utensils.

Cogitation

10 things for me to think about

1. How I'm going to survive a hosting a birthday party next Friday. A dozen relatively quiet girls in the house. Hmmmm. And no crafts or events to plan because the birthday girl just wants to "hang out" downstairs with friends playing board games or the Wii. Just order a couple pizzas and make a cake. How EVER will I do it?
2. What to put on my list of things to do today. I've accomplished much in two days of intensive list following and I plan to follow a list again today. So what do I put on it?
3. Going on a walk. I'll think about it but probably not do it today.
4. How I narrowly escaped melting down at the possible loss of my beloved fLossie. Yes, she's two years old and out of date, but she's my friend and I would hate to have to bury her. She froze last night and my eVil iTunes program (which has been conquered by teenage boy music recently) said that fLossie was corrupted. But I googled frozen nano and, lo, many links were provided that explained that I had to hold down the menu portion of the white circle and the select button to reset. And, joy!, all was better. fLossie is fine! Praise Apple!
5. Making a hair appointment. LONG PAST DUE.
6. How I'm going to survive a 43 hour work week next week. Bleagh. But at least it's work and I'm at home. I'll have to chant "paycheck" to myself when I get faint. And, Jenni, I see you rolling your eyes at me.
7. Who needs braces first? Paul or Hayley? Should I flip a coin?
8. How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
9. Do you care?
10. Well, do you?

Popcorn for dinner

Yesterday was not for the faint of heart. From 3:30 on, I was away from home with several children in tow. I had to pick up Paul and friends from track, drive friends home, insert Paul into the house, pick up Hayley and Matt immediately and drive to children's choir, play piano at cc, drive straight to the high school for a double band concert (both Hayley's band and Paul's band played) and listen to the concert. It doesn't seem like much written down, but it's a 20 minute drive from home to children's choir and driving kids home from track takes longer than I thought it would. And the band concert was over an hour long. OK I'll stop complaining. But Thursdays are always busy and Jim works so he isn't home to help, although he did manage to get Paul from home to the band concert while he was delivering pizzas.

I didn't fix dinner. I left sandwich fixings out but by the time I was home, it was too late to think about a sandwich, so I just had some popcorn.

Matt was a trooper, even though he's been tired lately. Here he is, reading while we wait for the concert to begin:
Hayley's band, called Best of Both (BOB) band. It's the best band members from both middle schools.
And here is Paul in the horn section. Jim noticed that three of the horn players style their hair the same way.
I like my new camera. I was able to get these great zoom-in shots from more than halfway back in the auditorium, and with NO FLASH.

I'm hungry now. Popcorn is not a very filling dinner and I need a substantial breakfast to calm the hungry monster I call a stomach.

Reveal

That's the full picture of the sneak-peek from yesterday's post. The apron is for my mom, whose birthday is tomorrow. I had told her about a really cute apron pattern I saw on the web at this website and when she came over for piano lessons last Saturday, she brought a bag of fabric pieces and said, "Make me one of those aprons for my birthday." Not even a "Please" or "If you have time." I think she's the only one in the entire world who I will still let order me around. Click on the picture for an up-close view. The third fabric down has eyelashes on it! Mom likes her weird fabrics. But those weird fabrics came in handy when she made the tumbler quilts for my boys. The pieces had all kinds of pictures and thematic rows. The boys and I used to play "I Spy" with the quilts before the boys went to bed (when the boys were little. Paul and Jimmy would ignore me completely if I suggested we play I Spy with the quilts these days).

Story about aprons that Mom tells: When my mom's mom was still around and in her early middle ages in the 1940s and 50s, she and the neighbor women would have little birthday parties for each other and they gave each other homemade aprons. They lived in a small town without a lot of money, and these aprons became almost a competition. I have one of grandma's aprons.
See the incredible job she did on the bias tape egding!

And I would NEVER mess with scalloped edges. Look how flat it lies!
Anyway, regarding that website with the apron instructions: I didn't completely understand the directions, so I just made up my own. I mostly used the website for picture referral and sizes of pieces. And I think it turned out rather well. So happy birthday tomorrow to my mom and you'll get the apron when you come over on Sunday for dinner (or Saturday when we come over for piano if we aren't doing piano on Sunday).

Today's Paulism: "...on that day when it was pouring snow..."

Drum roll please....

Who won the random drawing for a random prize package worth several cents???

Karie!

Karie gets some dishcloths I knitted!

(Karie, email me your new address so I can send you your loot!)

Thank you all for playing "Pat the Princess on the back for her blogging stamina." Next milestone: 10,000th hit! Who will it be??? And will there be a prize for that? Stay tuned...

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OK, I promised a picture of Matt and his bridge, but Matt has declared that he HATES his bridge (not enough toothpicks) and he refuses to have his picture taken with it. *major irritated exhalation of breath from Matt's mother* So I can't take a picture of the bridge and its architect. I'll have to sneak a picture of the bridge by itself tomorrow morning.

And here is a sneak peak of a not-surprise for a soon-to-be birthday girl:
Anybody wanna guess what it is? And who it's for? And if I was pretty much strong-armed into making it? (no prize awarded for your guesses)

One more day

I'll do the giveaway on Wednesday.

I would have done it today, but it's already 9 AM! I didn't get enough sleep last night (stupid Daylight Savings Time!) and woke with a start at 8:20 this morning (much later than normal) after a weird dream of someone standing over me and glaring at me, and I feel like suddenly there is no time left in the day to get anything done!

Yesterday track practice started for Paul. He's really excited about it because he likes the structure and order of organized running practice. He knows most of the guys who are trying out for the 1600m and the 3200m because most of them were in Cross Country together. I'm not so excited (I'm just some excited) because it means driving to pick Paulie up every day; although I won't be picking him up all the time. Two other mothers and I have conspired to carpool, thank goodness. I'm driving this week and R's mom will drive next week and hopefully, T's mom will drive the week after.

For his next Webelos activity (and remind me to take a picture of Matt with his creation before then), Matt had to build a bridge out of toothpicks. Upon arriving home with his toothpicks last week, Matt got out some wax paper, dumped out all the toothpicks, made sure they were facing the same way, and fused them all together with A WHOLE BOTTLE OF ELMER'S ALL-PURPOSE GLUE. Being an adult, my understanding of "build a bridge out of toothpicks" would have meant that I would glue them together in some order, perhaps involving triangles, because triangles are sturdy structures. But Matt takes after Jimmy, who did the same thing for his bridge construction unit in school in sixth grade.

Pause while I find a picture of Jimmy with his bridge...and scan it...and post it...
Ah, I see that he was somewhat organized about his bridge construction, he had sort of a log cabin thing going on for about half of it. Then he just piled the rest of the toothpicks on top. Then the class held a contest to see whose bridge could hold the most weight. After three different trials (they had to keep getting more weights), Jimmy's bridge and another kid's bridge still hadn't broken. The weights topped out at 160 lbs (previous school record was 105 lbs). So Jimmy's bridge came home intact. And he spent the rest of the afternoon trying to break it. I even stood on it with Jimmy on my back and it still didn't break. I'll have to ask him how he finally managed to demolish it (because you know he wouldn't have been able to resist smashing it using whatever means necessary!).

So we'll see what Matt's mangle of a bridge does. And again, remind me to take a picture of him with it, although it's nothing special to look at. He really did just dump the toothpicks and dump the glue. It took him five minutes to put together (and three days to dry. That much glue does not dry fast).

Happy birthday to this blog yesterday

So it was my first "blogiversary" yesterday. I actually thought I started blogging March 9th, which is today, but I checked to make sure and I WAS WRONG.

A day late is better than not at all, right? RIGHT???

I figured I'd have a little celebration here with blog cake and blog decorations
and presents!Yay!

And a giveaway!

All you have to do to enter the giveaway is to leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite post, theme, or picture that I have posted on the shoebox castle wall. I'll pick a comment number at random (out of a hat. But first I have to find a hat) and I'll send the winner a prize! A prize picked from the vast array of items sitting around my house without use or function, or something I have too many of.

*************

The kids are home from school today (it's the end of the trimester and the teachers get a workshop day). What should I do with the teenagers on days off? I have come across a lot of websites dedicated to making life fun for little children (and create a huge mess for the mom to clean up), especially children of preschool age, but I haven't come across any websites that give me ideas for having fun with teenagers.

I might have to start one.

But the only idea I can come up with is:
1. Make the teenagers clean the bathroom.

And that isn't exactly an idea that fits under the category "making life fun for your teenager." It's more along the lines of "making life easier for the mom of teenagers." But I think I like this idea better than making life fun for the teenagers.

LOLkids

From Jimmy:

"Mom, would it be OK if I took a jar of peanut butter and a bottle of honey and a loaf of bread to school to keep in my locker? Then I could just make my lunch at school."

He would ask something like that. We argued over the bread getting stale in his locker, but now that I think about it, the bread wouldn't be in the locker long enough to get stale. He'd eat it in a day. And I'm not going to fund his "need" for a loaf a day.

From Matt:

I drove Matt to a birthday party just a few minutes ago. He wrapped the present himself and stuck a tag on it. I didn't see what he wrote until we got out of the car at the birthday boy's house. The tag said:

"To: Colin, From: King Squirrel"


"King Squirrel" sounds about right for Matt.

Walk

After months and months of exercising in the tiny floor space in front of the TV, trying to keep up with several Barbies with b00b jobs who bounce around way too fast for me so I end up MARCHING IN PLACE for half an hour, I got out of the house for a walk. The weather was finally warm enough so that I didn't have to worry about windburning my cheeks or wearing mittens. I still had to wear the parka, mostly for the several square acres of pockets, which held my iPod, cell phone, chapstick, mittens (JUST IN CASE), a water bottle, and several pounds of Kleenex because I have a runny nose and going outside in melty-snow weather makes it even runnier. I wish I could run as fast as my nose, then maybe I could burn enough calories to lose some weight.

My new camera came with me on my walk. Too bad the cloudy sky made everything look miserable. Late winter is the worst picture-taking time of year because the snow is dirty, the melting exposes months of garbage that has not been picked up, and the sky is usually gray. But I took a few pictures anyway while listening to Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, and assorted other long-established musical artists on my iPod.

That's all for now. I'm exercising inside today and you don't want to see pictures of that.

One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn't belong

Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?

(Thank you Sesame Street)

So what do we have here on a teenage boy's dresser? Let's see. A CD. Dreaming Out Loud by One Republic, borrowed from the library. OK, that's fine. We have a stack of books. Might be a little odd for a teenage boy's dresser, but not so much if the books are scifi/fantasy, which they are. We have Axe deodorant. Totally belongs (and gives the air surrounding a nice but very heavy aroma of machismo). A camera case. Yep, necessary to take pictures of many girls. Can't quite see it in back of the camera case, but there is an assortment of pocketknives. Not at all out of place, especially on the dresser of someone who likes sharp implements. A pitcher. Which belongs..........IN THE KITCHEN IN A CUPBOARD, NOT ON A LEDGE BEHIND THE DRESSER. I have been LOOKING for that pitcher for several days, especially at dinner time!!! Do you know how frustrating it is to look for something and NOT FIND IT FOR DAYS? I spent a lot of time on my knees digging in my cupboards for that thing!

Argh. When confronted with the crime of theft--I asked him why he had the pitcher and not just a cup--the perpetrator smiled and said, "I was thirsty." The pitcher had several cups' worth of water in it; he must have been mighty thirsty. He also said, "I kept meaning to put it back," which does not absolve him of the misdemeanor. This WILL go on his permanent record. And I'm posting guards around my dinnerware.

Some blogs do a "Wordless Wednesday" photo essay, but I can't go without yakking in print

I got a new camera. I saved my pennies (I call it embezzling from myself) and purchased a camera that will be able to handle capturing Paul running track and has better zooming capabilities. My old camera is a decent camera overall, but it didn't zoom very far (which is bad for band parents who sit far away) and it couldn't deal with action shots. There was a huge delay between pressing the "ignition" and the shutter actually opening. I really want to get some good shots of Paul running track this year and cross country next year. I gave my old camera to him, too, since he is next in line for a camera.

Of course when one gets a new camera, one must play with it. Here is a sample of the playing:

Tom Servo Kitty
Paul texts. This is one of a series of continuous shutter action. I have a great new feature on my camera that lets me take a series of pictures in quick succession.
Footprints in the snow
My favorite Minnesota transplant
Tom Servo in profile
This picture is for Jim's dad, who requested it. Little Red Rider in the Hood is doing fine in the cold. She's a little dirty, but she's quite a bouncy gal on the snowpacked roads
Jimmy listens to music while doing homework.
More footprints in the snow
Little Red has some icicles on her rear tire flap. The icicles actually connect truck to road. It's hard to see in this picture, but they do touch the road.
A catnipped-out Magic Marker. You can even see a few catnip flakes in the carpet.