Many Moods

Because of all the snow on Christmas Day Asher and fam did not come to visit until Friday night .
That's okay, we prefer safe.
The above picture shows Asher chewing on some tissue paper we had handy.
This is to prepare him for his very first solid food- rice cereal!
We thought the tissue paper and the rice cereal,
while not having the same texture, would have the same taste
...he liked them both.
Of course we get slightly sleepy after a full meal like that...

No scary movie here ( g'ma hates them), this is just a reaction to the flash.
All happy again!

Make Lemonade

I have, in the winter, a hankering for hot biscuits and stew and desiring such I sent mine oldest daughter for a "large" bag of my favorite biscuit mix to satisfy this desire. I would like it said now that we, in our family, possess cell phones, every one. And that when I say "large" and then specify, "about 10 pounds", I have a mental picture that I am meaning to send. Gaby went on the errand ( bless her), but failed to see my mental picture or use her cell phone and that's when I ended up with 50 lbs of said mix.
What to do?!
-Returning it was out of the question- too far in this weather ( as is just about anything quite frankly).
-I could make biscuits every day between now and next Christmas and make a sizable dent in the 50 lbs but the resulting weight gain for me (because I would eat most of them-I'll just say it now) would result in me having to look for new jeans and that I am unwilling to do ( jeans shopping and bathing suit shopping- two of the most depressing activities in the free world!)
-Orrrrr, I could make neighbor gifts! We have a lot of neighbors and friends and this seemed a little friendlier than handing out stale cookies-soooooo ta dah! A batch of biscuit mix and a sweet little honey bear all in a homespun bag- Merry Christmas one and all!

Treasure Worth Having

This is George. He is a fairly mild mannered miniature Schnauzer
who takes life very seriously and acts most of the time like a small Presbyterian minister of the less tolerant sort. He stares at you while you're eating that little snack as if to say, "You know that's just going to settle right on your hips...much better altogether if you just give it to me right now and avoid the mental anguish you will experience later". Very thoughtful of him I am sure, but annoying while ingesting said snack.
Well, George has been a model of restraint lately, what with all the visitors and Addie ( that backstabbing Plott hound who had the audacity to come into the house as an 8" puppy and then grow into a magnificently athletic 2 1/2 foot monster who now towers over George and disturbs his rest every waking moment) bedeviling him he has been taking most things in his little bouncy stride.
To begin our story George's strange behavior began, all of the sudden, Wednesday evening as he plops down by the Christmas tree and refuses to move. If Addie comes near he threatens first with low Germanic mutterings and then, if she came closer, with swift avenging fury. This happened time and again and all we could figure out was that, at this late hour he had taken it into his head to guard the presents. On Christmas morning it was the same thing and then we discovered it was one particular present...the one Cindy had brought for us Wednesday evening! As we opened it he hovered near and we discovered the fascination...
Florences Exquisite Chocolates! A treasure worth guarding with life and limb! And he continued to gaurd them all day until we put them up in the kitchen out of his reach. Oh, it's a dog's life...

Christmas Melody

Music...that's what Christmas means to me.
Singing with the congregation, choir, children, caroling in a brisk winter wonderland, or solo in the kitchen while baking...it's what brings Christmas alive in my hard little heart. I have a lot of albums ( and after researching for this picture I realize I am not even halfway there...who knew Jethro Tull had a Christmas album?! Tiny Tim - yeah. Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand-oh yeah) and each has an important place to get me in the Christmas spirit.
My favorite in the hymnbook is "Angels We Have Heard On High". I love The Messiah ( anytime actually). Harry Connick Jr gets me up and doing when it is time for that and Raffi is my fave for kids ( its a GREAT album!). The Chieftains really reach for my roots and I love the coziness of Nat King Cole, Diana Krall jazzes it up nicely... I could go on ad infinitum but it sufficeth me to say:

It is incontestable that music induces in us a sense of the infinite and the contemplation of the invisible. ~Victor de LaPrade

Merry Chistmas!

It's a Pity ( party)

Pity.

That's the word for it. I feel for all of you near the coast who might have to endure some black ice and temps near ...zero!

"It" has begun and we won't see pavement until April if we're lucky!
I watched a large U-haul van go around a corner tonight and sashay in the snow like Sophia Loren in a satin dress. I know I signed up for this ( please re-read "the Egg and I"), but somehow it just doesn't make it any easier!

Alternate Universe

I feel as though I am out of synch with the rest of humanity. I put up Christmas trees in September and take them down in December- before Christmas. I am already thinking Spring and then in January it's back to Christmas when we wing to Dallas for a week of buying for next years trees. I'll let you know what the new hot color combos for trees this next year (purple and white!?)

As I Recall.... HB Sherri!

Rarely do travel trailers and giving birth mix as topics except, of course, when we recall the gentle birth of our dear ( and exceptional!) sister, Sherri! I do believe that, except for Dad, I am best qualified to give an accurate account of this momentous moment in history.
As I recall ...it was a dark and stormy night, hmmmm, or maybe a pleasantly crisp Northern California November day. I just remember it being daylight all that time...apparently Sherri didn't really like getting up as early then as she does now.
The first thing I remember is huddling with Debbie by the little louvered door that divided the back half of our trailer from the main room. We could hear scary ( for us) sounds coming through the door and we were a bit frightened by all the hustle and bustle. I am told Grandma Walley was there, but I really do not remember her in all this. I do remember we were huddling next to the tiny broom closet-slash-pantry where there was a huge bag of prunes kept in the bottom and, like as not, we munched on those a little as we waited and waited through all the scariness.
At last the ordeal was finally through and we worried little girls were allowed to enter and be comforted by our mother. We ran across the room to the tiny fold down couch that was the "guest" bed ( or, I guess, in these circ's- the "birthing couch") and threw ourselves on her and I believe it was me that scrambled across her!!!!- to lay by her in the bed. Talk about your pioneer gutsiness! Mom neither moaned or threw us back across the room ( which is what we heartily deserved!). We were later introduced to tiny little Sherri as she was lifted from the cardboard box on the table which served as her temporary crib. I don't honestly remember what my impressions of her looks were at that time ( except that she was tiny and cute and adorable...could I play with her pleeeease!?), but I am sure there was a touch of hauteur as if she slightly disdained the surrounding to which she was going to have to become accustomed to.
Happy Birthday Sherri!
We're glad you have risen to such heights!
Love ya, mucho, mucho!

Taking my Best Shot

Hunting is quite the popular activity in Idaho for various reasons. Some people regard it as a sport, some are adding to their food storage for the winter...some, like us, use it primarily to get out in the wonderful wilderness we call home and sight see. Wherever we are "hunting" we rarely see the actual game we might have a chance to "bag". They are nowhere to be seen. I f they are not in season we see whole hillsides of elk looking noble and slightly superior, or a bevy of beautiful does dozing a few feet from our vehicle, or moose feeding placidly in a lily pad bedecked lake. In fact I would have to say that even without a valid hunting license I have "shot" more game this year than said sad hunter (see picture) has plugged away at all season...here are some of my "shots" of late...

You couldn't find a wild turkey to shoot at in the wilderness if you even only had a loose bullet rattling around in your pocket...but have a camera in your hand and they will run up to the road to have their picture taken.

Cute kids, huh! These were right by and then on the road with us...Rylyn was thrilled.

A pleasant pheasant who was playing peek a boo with me by the road. His little harem blended far to well into the grass and defied my best photographic efforts.
This one reminds me of a stern Audrey Hepburn. What a graceful neck. I wish I could have included all the others but there was no room at the blog.

Family feasts

I know the family resemblance is uncanny so I couldn't resist.
We've had a couple days of family and fun, tag team dinners, and grandkids a go go ( and I do mean go go!). Tasha was even present for one of the meals since we've discovered the true allure of homemade mashed potatoes and gravy. Porks have been roasted, pasta has been baked, Gaby used her magic touch to make a memorable salad ( I don't know why it tastes better when she does it, but it does!) and apple pies ( Maria made...yum!) devoured.
I just can't wait for Thanksgiving!

Weak in Review

Some weeks are better than others , some not...just grateful to be here and living the American Dream.
Monday-Saturday- In retail if you don't move something everyday you are not doing your job! Sooooo...
Condense Halloween, move the Pilgrims ( where is that Mayflower when you need it?!), put up tree # 4 ( which is actually tree #5...we put up tree #2 this week...yikes!) and get everything up and out of the basement so we can sell, sell, sell while the gettings good. Whew!!


Wednesday was my "day off" which consisted of moving some of my stuff North, babysitting, and trying to put my eye out ( I had really wanted to show up at work Friday as a pirate but there were no lingering effects besides some deep bruising that persists...ouch and still ouch!)


Thursday night we made a "Wilma Flintstone outfit for Tasha ( very Vampy in zebra stripe minkee fabric). Friday I came home for lunch to discover that she had negated that idea and instead went as a towel....?!


Saturday I was up early and decorated a wedding cake for one of Gaby's friends and then on to work 'til late.
I can't wait for next week!

Virtually There

Wynn and I ( in the wake of tragic fuel prices) have discovered the joys of virtual travel. With Google Earth as our guide we have re traveled his mission ( to the South, Steve and Debbie), trips to Canada for us both, places I have lived ( I could see my house in upstate New York...some of you have been there too!), and recent and former hunting trips. It's actually quite fun and I wish I could take more (word) pictures as we relive those times and adventures ...all just a mere step or two away from the refrigerator!

Goin' the rounds

Does anyone but me remember Dad's old Model"T"? We had a lot of fun climbing in and out and pretending to drive (nowhere). I don't think that with building our great California house that he had any time to ever work on it and I know it didn't make the trip to Oregon when we finally moved back, but I think it did imbue in me a love for the antique and the different, especially in automobiles... which is why both my drives are over 17 years old and still moving.I wish I could say the same for some of our other "rides". I have been to more auto parts stores this week than ever before looking for just the right $4 fuse for a ( fix or repair daily) car of Tasha's. We did finally get it going forward ( who knew batteries ( the auto kind) were directional?!)
Ahhh the vicissitudes of transportation. If it's not gas prices, it's breakdowns and with a family with 6 automobiles to maintain it makes for constant challenges. Viva la go go!

All that glitters...

Yes, it was the last we day of September and we were raising our first Christmas tree ( retailers have a whole different calendar). Chocolate brown and teal blue with pheasant feathers and grapevine balls and a lot of glittery things ( surprisingly it works... in a kind of elegant lodge manner). I learned what it takes to stuff and wire a tree together and what it takes to put together an artificial tree ( fluff, fluff, fluff!). Next week it will be all white and gold on a ( "Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland...la, la, la) heavily flocked tree.
Just to let everyone know that if they see me not heavily glittered between now and the end of February they will know I've been fired.

"Excellent!" I cried. "Elementary," said he.

"You will not apply my precept," he said, shaking his head. "How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth!"
This is in response to Mom's mysterious disappearing hair pieces.
They've got to be there, right?!
I, too, am still looking for my largest casserole dish. The one large enough to take a sitz bath in (if necessary). I didn't leave it at a church function ( even I wouldn't be that dumb). I didn't use it as a cleaning basin when moving and for heaven's sake it was just a 1 bedroom apartment! I'm pretty sure I packed it with the kitchen implements and it was a favorite of mine so I didn't give it away ...so in what dimension is it in now? I firmly believe that black holes inhabit the earth in numerous quantities. They swallow any object that crosses your mind and won't disgorge them until the need for it is long past (i.e. you've bought another one, or the event is passed, or you've passed, whatever).
I believe Mom should look in the Christmas box marked Angel hair.

Move my world

You would think that a semi-intelligent individual ( such as myself) that has moved around 36 times in her adult life would shy away from any activity that even hints of cardboard, that gives that faint whiff of newsprint used in wrapping precious cargo, that involves carrying anything larger than a pencil up and down numerous stairs. You would think...
wrong, apparently. I feel as if life has molded me exactly for the job I now hold. What do I do? Shift and carry boxes up and down up to 2 flights of stairs ( and I am responsible for each and every item in said boxes). Decorate and redecorate on a nearly weekly basis. Manage the activities of a large group of associates daily. I feel like the big sister for North American Van Lines! I am amazed that I enjoy it so much seeing as I am not even finished moving my own self( sigh... I wonder if I could get the Porter's employees right on that little job?)

Hammerheads

I am often astonished at the laxity of our family in doing those things that are truly important...
like electing a family mascot. Every state has state birds, trees, bushes, and probably an animal.
I think our family probably could soon match the population of a small (but key!) state(...and thus provide that all important "swing" vote Keira).
Therefore to make sure we are recognized as a force to be reckoned with, should we become a state, I think we ought to adopt the Hammerhead Shark as our mascot.
There are several reasons for this:

• One- it has the word hammer in its name and very few families as a whole recognize how integral and important a hammer is...even to the creation of a great deal of the human world! ( a pause here while we consider this)

• Two- some of us are hammerheads in fact. I, for one, became one last Friday while hanging pictures and moving a ladder where said hammer was resting...briefly. Then it rested even more briefly on my skull ( the lump is magnificent!) before proceeding south to my foot, but hammerfoot just doesn't have the same ring to it.

• Three- it blends well with our family motto ( as told to me by our Patriarch himself)"If there is water, we swim in it." Short, succinct, and not latin.
  

Feedback? Suggestions for other family "things"?

A.I.I.

Allergy induced insomnia ( or A.I.I.) is a tragic disorder that renders the sufferer not only
sleepless but breathless which results often in mental
blogging in the wee hours with no discernible results
unless said sufferer actually hauls themselves out of bed
and performs the cathartic act ( if none of this
makes sense look at the post time and make the
deductions yourself).
Presented here is the insomnia fairy.
If he would only hit me with that pillow,if only.

Coming- a Part.

Or... Don Kirkpatrick-Style Setter.

I have found of late that remembering the lessons of my youth do, indeed, help in the golden ( silver?!) years. Don K's creative take on parting his hair has inspired and relieved me of the duty of coloring mine more often than absolutely necessary. If I move my part from near center to a bit more to the left while doing the morning "do" the years just roll back and I am once again nearly grey free
...or is it I just think I am ( insert wink here).

Shy ( sigh)

Apparently Bette was too shy to appear the first time that I tried to get her on the blog ( with that picture I would be too), so now my blogs are out of sync ( the new one is now 2 blogs back!). I swear between work and here I have been wrestling technical giants all day! Does anyone with a technical bent ever just speak English?
(Oh, thanks again, Deb, for the technical help given in -surprise- English!)

Pic to right- Shy Ry Ry and a dimpled Venus.

We have met the enemy....

Evidently Miss Lake Michigan was slacking because I, among others, am still suffering! ( maybe it was her lack of proper spraying attire or maybe it was the allergy pharmacists way of ensuring job security...forever!)

Anybody got a hanky?

Getting old ain't for Sissies! B.D.

Here I am waking up with another crick in my neck and thinking it's going to be nigh impossible to get anything done...Yea! If it's not a pain it's allergies, or tummy troubles, or....I shudder to think. Apparently my body forgot to read the fine print wherein it is distinctly stated that bodily inconveniences of any sort will not be tolerated in this lifetime!
Great a literate soul and an illiterate body---did I miss the fine print?

Asher means....

Fortunate, blessed, and happy!

He was given this name last week
by his father in a wonderfully
unscripted blessing. Many were there
to wish him well.

Kahlil Gibran said...When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy. When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.

...doesn't that describe children so well?

I obviously cannot control my picture flow as yet and
so I will add comments for the pictures as they appear?

Danika admiring her new toy...

Danika, not kissing Asher,
but stealing his binky!
(pretty slick!)

Asher as a new, new, newborn (just hours old)
and smiling! He doesn't look exactly like Taylor
but every expression is Taylor's !

Asher on my birthday...
Mommy's joy,
Daddy's boy...

Ying Yang

We are a world composed of opposites
and, like magnets, we often find that opposites attract.

Notice the hiking shoes chosen by our lovely couple...
( note; female half of this lovely couple
had no idea upon embarkation the
total mileage involved in said hike...
she was thinking a few steps to a viewpoint!).

• Him- sturdy comfortable walking shoes.

• Her - lightweight sandals

with darling kitten heels.

Both enjoyed the hike
but only one needed the foot rub after
...Him!

Just a Few More Hours

Debbie is here talking me through my first blog. As she said it is a day for new beginnings...

• first blog,
  
• first temple marriage

...big firsts as you can see.