Exciting News!

I am so incredibly excited! My wonderful husband OF MY DREAMS just bought me this awesome beauty! I can't wait to get it. I want to learn how to use it really well so that I can take awesome pics! I haven't had a good camera since the days of film. My last digital camera was one of the first ones and just doesn't take good pics.


He also bought me this awesome lens to play with.


Of course...I have to have cute accessories. I think this camera bag just might be the one!

My Dream Car

Is this the best advertisement ever? This little sweetie is my dream car! I have wanted one for so long and someday...I'm going to make that dream come true.


This would be the preferable version.


This is a secondary choice. Not big on orange...but I'll take what I can get.

My Dad

My Dad has always been my hero. He has such an interesting life story. He was born the second eldest of eight boys to a truck driver father and a homemaker mother. They lived in a tiny house with no indoor plumbing for many years. Right after high school he enlisted in the army. He told us once that basic training was like the boy scouts but with more exercise. I always thought that was so funny. I wonder if recruits now would say that. I guess he was used to hard work and brothers.
When he was in the army, he was stationed in Germany. He was the crew chief on a large helicopter. His crew was responsible for maintaining the helicopters and while he saw no combat, he had many friends killed as a result of helicopter accidents. After he was discharged, he worked for a short time in a machine shop and went to college. He also married my mother. After college he went to work for the Boeing Company and worked for Boeing at Vandenburg Airforce Base near Santa Maria, California where I was born. He worked for Boeing his entire career, hiring in as a Mechanical Engineer and retiring as Vice President of the Militairy program. He met Kings and Prime Ministers, Secretaries of Defense and even has a personal congratulations from then President Bush (the first). He traveled around the world. Pretty good for a guy who grew up in a family that really never left the town they were born in.

Growing up, my Dad was a quiet, stable force in my life. He didn't talk much...but he didn't have to. He has never used his words frivolously. Sometimes that makes him hard to understand for the rest of my family who tend to talk continually. He is a thinker and a doer. He usually consider the best way to do something, figures out the plan beforehand and then implements the idea. It's interesting he chose mechanical engineering as his career path because his whole brain is wired as an engineer. He is good at compartmentalizing, whether that be a technical problem or a relationship.

When my daughter, Sweet Baby M was born, he was the first person to hold her. He was so excited about that little grand daughter and thought she was just about the best thing ever. She nicknamed him Poppa first which has become Pops. I can remember her always urging Pops for "faster"...whether that was on a bike, a swing at the park, or tubing behind his boat on Lake Carlos. When the Big D was born, he was out of town and wanted to only talk to Sweet Baby M to hear what SHE thought of her baby brother. It's so fun to see Big D grow up and share so many of his grandfather's qualities. Big D is quiet and thoughtful just like his Pops. He likes figuring things out, just like his Pops.

My whole life, I only remember my Dad taking care of our family and accomodating the needs of everyone else. He took care of my little Gran (my Mom's Mom) most of her life. He has always been the source for good advice and a stable sense of self.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy. You are the best and I love you.

Mommy

Yesterday these people both called me "Mommy" but for different reasons. I don't get called Mommy all that much anymore. Most of the time it's just Mom.
The volleyball player happened to have her cell phone stolen from her yesterday while swimming at the YMCA. That led to a panicked phone call from a friend's phone..."Mommy, I've been robbed!". It scared me clean out of my skin. Hours later the stolen wallet was recovered with everything still inside but the phone is gone. New phone purchased, crisis resolved. She feels violated but she's safe and that's all I care about. I'm glad Mommy was on call to swoop in and save her.
The big boy with the dog just said it (and in front of a friend even!) when I was walking by his bedroom. "Hey Mommy, what's up?".
I love that!
I want to be thought of as Mommy forever, even if they don't verbalize it. I have loved every step of being these two's Mommy...even more so now that they are older.

Continuing the Day......

I am so lucky to have this kid as my child! He is such a neat kid. Today he was mowing and he came to the garage door and yelled for me. When I went out he said, "Stand back Mom". I moved back and a tiny frog, no bigger than a dime, jumped from his hand. "I found it in a wet spot on the lawn while I was mowing and wanted you to see it." Isn't that the best? I love it that he knows how much I love living things and wants to share them with me. He carefully picked the TINY frog back up and set him back in his damp spot. Too cool.

The other day he was taking Shadow for a walk and came running home with something in a box. It was a perfect bird's nest made out of a lot of mud and "stuff". He had found it abandoned and lying in the grass and knew I'd love it. Nothing makes my heart happier than when I think that my child was thinking about how he could share something that special with his Mom. It makes me feel that in all the wrong I'm sure I've done with my kids...I must have done a couple of right things too.

It's Already Thursday!

Jeepers...it's already Thursday! Where did this week go? Oh, I know! I spent most of the time FIXING my bad hair decisions! Ugh...8 hours wasted on that! I have got to kick it into gear and get my closet cleaned out for the garage sale that I'm alledgedly having soon! The goal was June but it may slide into July. When I'm done with that closet and the hall closet, I am going to reward myself tonight with a glass of this on the patio.

I've finished the Psalms of Ascent Beth Moore that I was doing with Tia. I found a deal on Beth's Esther DVD's by STALKING ebay but until we can start that I am enjoying this study. It's called Live Deeply: A Study in the Parables of Jesus and is written by Skip Heitzig's wife, Lenya. I'm enjoying it so far although I've only done a couple lessons. I read once that parables are considered earthly stories with heavenly meaning. Stories that the common person could relate to regarding fishing or nature or farming but that had a context for spiritual development.
Anyway....good so far.


Maggie went to a friend's birthday party last night at Sumo and she looked SO cute. I wish I had taken a picture of her. She wore some darling jean shorts with a cute little top and a really soft grey sweatery thing over the top. She looked very casual chic'. She is so tall and can really wear just about anything and look darling. With her new little bob haircut and those big blue eyes...she's a knockout.


I decided I really need to walk Shadow more so he burns up some of his energy...especially with it being 101 right now. It's too hot for him to run around all day so he needs to walk early in the morning and blow off some steam. We went on a long walk this morning through the parks and on the trails that run through old Comotara neighborhood. Whoever designed that was genius. It's such a great idea to have those hidden passages running behind the houses. You almost (if you squint and REALLY use your imagination) can feel like you are strolling through a little village of houses or somewhere quaint like Balboa Island. Of course, then you come off the trail into the street and realize your just in your same old neighborhood.
Anyway, Shadow was horrible at the beginning of the walk but by the middle he had calmed way down and was actually responding to commands. He came, sat and walked at heel very well. He really tries to please and be a good dog. He is passed out on the kitchen floor, very sweaty right now. By the end of the walk we looked like this...minus the hairy man's leg.


If you happened to see us at the BEGINNING of the walk. I think we might have looked like this. Just substitute the white dog for a black one three times the size.


Okay...I have to get on this. Jim will be so disappointed if it doesn't come to pass. I have to haul stuff out of this house like no tomorrow. Otherwise I won't be able to go to other people's garage sales and buy their things. Ha! I loved this sign...I think my signage needs to include the statement at the bottom! If you can't see it, it says..."Your Treasure Awaits".

GREAT Recipe

This is a made-up recipe but it is so good that I think I could eat it happily every day for the rest of my life. Right now the zucchini and yellow squash is so good in the store. So here's the scoop:
Take one smallish red onion and dice it finely. Saute in a bit of olive oil or if you are really living large, butter. Next dice two zucchini and one yellow squash. I like to cut them in half lengthwise and then cut them again so they are a smallish cube sized dice. Throw them in with the onion with a little more butter. Next slice the mushrooms. Use as many as you like. Cook this all until all the liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms and squash have become a bit carmelized. While this is happening, cook 1/2 lb. penne pasta. Reserve a bit of the cooking liquid from the pasta and drain.
When squash mixture is tender, add about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of cream. Yes...I said cream. Cook until heated through and slightly thickened. Salt and pepper well. Then add the pasta with any additional cooking liquid if the pasta doesn't get well coated in the creamy vegetable mixture. Top with lots of parmesan cheese and fresh basil chiffonade. Yummy! Perfect with a nice glass of white wine. Cheers!

Feeling A Little More Rational but Random

I love this book! I found it at Perfect Peace and it is a summation of my theology on parenting. It's what I would parent like in a perfect world. I like the concepts and theories on children and relationships and think it's right on the mark. I love the concept of Grace anyway. It's my favorite doctrinal truth.


I love this cutie! She feels like a friend although I've only seen her in person one time. No other human being (okay...maybe Ruth Bell Graham) has had more of an impact on my spiritual life than Beth Moore. I have done all her studies except Esther and Tia and I are just finishing Psalms of Ascent. Before I quit working, I purchased the DVD's on Ebay for her and I to watch. It was a stroke of genius. I could resell them and make my money back or hang on to them. Haven't decided yet what to do. I'd like to resell them and then buy the Esther series. There is nothing as good as watching Beth speak. You just don't get the same umph from just the written study. I love how she ministers to women.


Speaking of Tia...oh how I love that girl! We went to El Patio today for lunch and had our "usual". We love the nachos with beans and jalapenos and the tacos. Yummy. She is the only person I know that I could talk to for hours, days, weeks, months, decades straight and never say it all. We have been talking for a decade almost and we still talk every day for at least an hour. She is my bf and I don't really have too many of those so it's not something that I take lightly. I am sure we are like Lucy and Ethel to many people. She is my partner in crime in so many ways and I do adore her. Life would be vile and boring without her presence. It helps that we love all the same things like movies and books and Hot Tamales and Mexican food and Diet Dr. Pepper.



Don't you love these pics of Pops and Shadow and of my family (minus my precious Sweet Baby M who was working) at the Indian Center. Great pics. I can't believe until I see it on the screen how tall my Big D is! What happened to that tow headed little man in the flag overalls who never left my hip? Boo hoo! Can I say, however, that the green on green ensemble' that I have on is hideous? Yikes! In what universe was that a look? It makes my hair look green too and noone should ever wear a camera around their neck. It does not a fashion statement make. Good reminders...good to see. Won't make that hideous mistake again. Now that I see my white sunglasses in my hand, I am much more sketchy on them. They may be way too mod-squad.

I am so excited about a show on Channel 43 (Discovery?) tonight called The Hoarder. I'm hoping it will help me break my garage sale obsession and then have my own garage sale. Either that or it will just make me envious of all the good stuff The Hoarder has. It starts at 9:30 so I have exactly enough time to clean up the kitchen, throw some clothes in the dryer and settle in. Shadow is going to bed early tonight so I can watch it from the comfort of my nest upstairs without his panting presence. Oh...that makes me feel mean

look at this happy go lucky little guy. He's one of a kind and I adore his panting presence. I guess he can watch The Hoarder too.

Sometimes I hate Blogger!

Darn it...I had the BEST post all prepared and I did some sort of keystroke that lost it. UGHHHHH! That is SO frustrating. I had great pictures to post, etc. Oh I could just cry.

Sunday Morning

We have had a good visit with my family. They arrived on Thursday and we have sat around visiting and eating for days. Yesterday, Jim took us on a driving tour of Wichita. We visited the Mid America Indian Center monument with its LARGE statue of The Keeper of the Plains by Black Bear Bosin. It's really neat. The city has done a magnificent job of making it a place that people want to come and given the statue the honor it deserves. Then we drove to Juarez Bakery and picked up a few treats to eat while driving around town looking at the old houses. We stopped at a couple garage sales along the way and the fam found a few treasures to haul back to Minnesota.


We celebrated my Mom's birthday (early) last night at Il Vicino. They loved it and it was as yummy as it always is. Everything always tastes so fresh and homemade there. We also enjoyed Tiramisu for dessert. It is heavenly there! Then home and everyone kind of went into a food induced stupor.



Today (Sunday) we will open gifts and then the In-Loves are coming for dinner! I am excited. It is blazing hot so I think instead of heating up the oven we will probably do a sandwich buffet with side dishes. I just need to decide what those are going to be. I wonder if I can buy something edible somewhere instead of cooking it...I want to spend time shopping with Sweet Baby M and my Mom instead of cooking all day. Maybe we will pop in at the big Dillon's Marketplace or Piccadilly. Anyway...I am excited to have a fun night tonight with family and then we have to start our busy week all over again on Monday. I have prayer group at Tia's, Big D has guitar lessons, Sweet Baby M has volleyball conditioning and Jim has work. I have a stack of laundry again and things need to be tidied up. The fam leaves at 4:00and I have a load of writing I need to do for a new project I'm helping with.

We get to shop here today! I'm so excited!


I've actually never been to our T.J. Maxx (well maybe once) and we enjoyed it so much in Palm Bay that I am excited to go. No better shopping partner in crime than Sweet Baby M so.....hopefully we won't do too much damage. We need to remember that we have a garage sale coming up and all the things going into it already! No more junk!