a haiku.

Callous parade folk
Ambling through my clean front yard -
Don't puke on my grass!

Flaming Gorge Days is this weekend and the parade was this morning. We're one block down from the parade route; much closer than we were at the trailer.

Nothing like spending the morning watching drunk people enjoy a parade.

Happy weekend!
(Thanks to Cathy Zielske for the haiku inspiration!)

about today.

TODAY
June 23, 2009

Outside my window... The sun is decidedly out, finally.
I am thinking... about how much I hate Walmart and really don't want to go there today.
I am thankful for... a ton of stuff, both little and big.
From the kitchen... last night was Breakfast for Supper, eaten wherever you can find a spot to sit. I'm much more relaxed about sitting at the kitchen table during the summer.
Tonight, I'm thinking something quick before the softball game, maybe chicken caesar salad?
I am wearing... capri jeans, and surprisingly not freezing my buns off.
I am creating... a grocery list, which is not what I'd rather be creating right now.
I am going... to gather the kids and head out; let's get the horror over with so we can come home.
I am reading... the Amazon listing for Fool by Chrisopher Moore. It's a spoof of the story of King Lear and I can't wait until it makes its way to our little pathetic library, or at least into the state library system so I can request it. The last one of his books I requested made the librarian blush when I told her the title: Island of the Sequined Love Nun - a completely harmless fiction story about organ harvesting.
I am hoping... that Kev has a safe trip to Riverton for the mtgs tomorrow. I hate it when he has to leave, except that I can make a HUGE mess with my scrap stuff and don't have to pick it up until I hear the car return to the driveway. Hee hee.
I am hearing... Kopper bark at nothing in the backyard. Darn annoying dog.
Around the house... there is the faint sound of Handy Manny from the front room.
One of my favorite things... is summer. Period.
A few plans for the rest of the week... straighten the house for home group tomorrow night; scrap as much as I can and make as big a mess as I want; clean up the house again for Kev to come home; help Kev install the sprinkler system when he returns this weekend; occasionally feed/clothe/chat with the kids (just kidding about the "occasionally" part - this is probably the most likely one to happen on this list.)

Happy Tuesday!

weekend activities

So, last weekend I shot my first wedding of the season. It was a beautiful event . . . even when the skies opened up and gave us Wyoming's version of a hurricane. Seriously, I've never been in wind and rain swirling around like that in my life. It didn't deter the couple, tho, and they were willing to work with me to get the pictures they wanted. Instead of shooting at a beautiful park, we had to use the entryway of the event center during the reception . . . all rock and angled glass and fire alarm boxes on the wall. Kev shot with me and I think we got all the photos we wanted but it sure stretched my creativity.

And as if our hurricane wasn't enough excitement for the day, we hit our first deer on the way home. The wedding was in Kemmerer (no, that's not a typo, that's really how it's spelled) which is about an hour away, depending on the road construction, and my parents kept the kids for us so Kev could come - I'm always better at a wedding when he's there, if for no other reason than for someone to talk to during the down times. Anyway, as we were getting back on the highway to come home, there was this U-Haul in front of us on the on-ramp who suddenly slammed on its brakes and swerved. I remember thinking, "What's the deal with them?" just as I saw this deer streaking across the road. I screamed . . . which I'm sure was the most helpful thing I could do . . . and Kev slammed on the brakes but we still hit it. The thunk was deafening, as if we had run thru the whole herd, but when he got out to see the damage there was no more than a small indention in the bumper maybe 3 inches long. No fur, no cracks, no blood. I looked back to see if the deer made it and I could see it running up the hillside, without so much as a limp. Chances are it collapsed and died later, but I'd like to think it scampered up the hill and back to its home having learned its lesson about playing in traffic.

It took us 5 whole years to hit one. And that's not counting the 5 years I lived in MT where they treat the highway as just another part of the prairie and cross at will. But now that it's happened we don't have to worry about that "first hit" anymore. Kind of like the first scratch in the bed of a new pickup. Once it's there, you don't have to worry about who's gonna scratch it first.

whirlwind

So, this week included a whirlwind trip to SLC. We finally got Kev a Dr's appt at the University or Utah . . . we've been wanting to establish a dr who will monitor his bone disease on a regular basis and help him out when he's having a flare-up . . . so we all piled in the car after work Tues and went over. We decided to stay the night before so the kids could go swimming at a motel and spend some time shopping before the actual appt. My parents came with to watch the kids during the appt so I could go with Kev and they took them out for sundaes and a fantastic work-out at a park . . . producing the above photo of the ride home.

The appt went ridiculously well, which was a nice surprise. We're so used to drs to haven't ever heard of the disease and usually end the visit with, "well, we're not sure how to proceed but if you have problems we'll see what can be done." This dr was the polar opposite of that, had actually heard of the disease before and had a pretty good understanding of how it works, and actually had a plan in mind of how to proceed. Although the disease can't be cured, she was willing to refer us to several other specialty drs (in addition to her), kind of forming a "cast of thousands" to monitor him. She requested a series of tests to be done after looking over his med history . . . no joke, it's over an inch thick, and that's just what we've collected since we've been married!! . . . to check out some things and x-rays to see what his bone condition is now as opposed to the last ones he had done in 2007. God totally cleared the way for us, too, because we were going to have to go back today to do all the tests and x-rays as that was the earliest appts available but while he was finishing up I called all the different departments and got him in for all the ones he needed at once! Funny, one of the x-rays showed that he has 2 extra vertibrae in his back! Not really a big deal medically but they sure thought it was interesting!

Anyway, the process has been started and we go back to SLC in a few weeks when the test results are ready to go over the findings and decide how to proceed. It was just so nice to work with competant people who actually show signs of being able to work with us. I'll happily spend 3 hours in the car for that!

Also of note, he goes in this Monday for the second moulding for a full set of dentures. He's been working well with the partial for some time but the anchor teeth are really loose as well as most of the ones on the bottom so they are just going to pull them all and be done with it. His dentist was really hesitant to pull the trigger and take them all but we just can't afford to keep doing partials for the next year until they are all so bad they have to come out. He's actually doing really well with all this . . . but it does suck to have to have dentures at 29. He is kind of excited at the prospect of not needing to see the dentist anymore once they are in . . . if they get a rough spot he can just take them out to the shed and smooth them down on the bench sander! (thanks for the idea, Jerrid!) :)

recent crafty-ness

So, most of my close friends here are either currently preggo or have just had a baby, as in "in the last 2 months." And while I'm resisting the strong urges to jump on that particular bandwagon right now . . . I do still have one in diapers, after all . . . I can't help wishing we were making plans for another little pea. The good thing is that all my friends have been magnanimous (there's your $10 word for today!) in happily receiving blankies from me. (I try to not make them ugly so the recipient will actually want to use them, and since I've received no complaints so far - at least not to my face - I'm pretty well convinced that the blankies are a welcomed gift.) Here's a few I finished recently:

This taggie was for Valerie's new Mr. J. I made my very first taggie blanket for his brother Ethan so I thought he needed one of his own. Also, my very favoritest of all ribbons to this day is included on this blankie but you can't see it that well. Oh, I do have a close-up of it:

I just LOVE the colors and texture of it . . . I could rub my fingers on it all day. I also made Valerie some edged receiving blankets and a amigurumi giraffe . . . that's what they call "crocheted animals/dolls" . . . apparently the patterns come from Japan . . . but I didn't get any photos of it or the elephant I made for Kendra. I'm a dink, I know. This one was for Shannon's baby girl who has yet to make her appearance. Their colors are yellow and blue with ducky stuff . . . sound familiar, family? . . . so I found this duck pattern and tried it out.

Now Gennie wants a duck for her very own. She obviously has no memory of the mountains of duck stuff I collected before she was born . . . I should get out those photos for her.

There's been more crafty-ness, but the recipient hasn't found out the baby's gender yet so I'm holding out just to make sure I don't spoil the baby shower surprise. More to come!

"dah, da-da-da, daaaah, daaaah"

So, with Pomp & Circumstance playing in the background, I present the graduation photos.

I hope I haven't played them up too much . . . there's only 5 photos because not much went on.

She was really nervous to march in with her class, until she saw Kev in the crowd and me on the sidelines:
The class performed 2 songs for us, complete with hand and body motions, and made the teachers get up and do them, too:

This song was extra special because it included chicken-wing arms and a butt-wiggle!

They each got their diploma and an actual tassle on their hats that says 2009 . . . thank you Oriental Trading Company!

And afterwards . . . literally 30 min. from start to finish . . . we were done and off to celebrate with ice cream.

Now, how do I tell her that before she starts big school she has to have the rest of her shots? Not looking forward to that convo. :)