LOBSY BLOGSY

4H FUN for our Mackaroni

2009-08-28T19:57:00.007-06:00

Mack and his steer, practicing and getting ready for the Canyon County Fair in July.
Here's Mack at the Canyon County Fair, sprucing up his steer for showing in Quality. His first time showing a steer.
Mack at the Western Idaho Fairgrounds with his blue ribbon pig. Mack also won a 2nd place red ribbon for Showmanship, in his class. He was VERY excited to get 2nd.
At the Western Idaho Fair in August, we found a tractor on the fairgrounds that had "Mack Attack" painted on the side. Had to take a photo :-)

Camping with the Fam

2009-08-13T20:07:00.004-06:00

DH, his Dad and brother went on a 3 day camping trip this past week. They had a really good time! Lots and lots of hiking and plenty of fishing and eating good camp food. Here is a picture of their spoils.

Mac-a-roni went to town riding on a steer....

2009-07-17T19:42:00.004-06:00

The torch has been passed...and he lasted maybe one second before he hit the dirt. Oy gevalt, he hit his tuches, but at least no loch in kop. (I don't know why I just went Yiddish on you all.) Anyway, maybe we'll get lucky and he won't want to try it again. Awful cute in the cowboy getup, though.

Morning Surprise

2009-07-16T07:46:00.005-06:00

This is what I found this morning in the kitchen sink. No, it's not the spoon. I risked life and limb to drop a spoon in the sink so you could see and appreciate the size of the thing that I encountered. Watch and see.

It's length and breadth was greater than the end - what do you call that - the ladel part of the spoon? Anyway, it (the spider) was huge. The sight of the thing brought me back to fond memories at a good friend's house, trying to catch a similar sized arachnid from underneath her cabinets. Once we got it in a cup, she took it to the U of I Extension office and was told it was a "common" house spider. Trust me, there was nothing common about it. Sorry all you master gardeners, but it -- upon my Knight (aka my husband) coming to my rescue to slay the beast -- it crunched. It was super disgusting. Better that then letting it go into my garden and risk encountering it again some day.

Update in Pics #4

2009-07-14T21:09:00.006-06:00

Dad called, and we had some good news to share. The plastic has arrived!

Random photo - Craig's been growing corn for the pigs in the old cucumber patch.

Update in Pictures #3

2009-07-04T09:27:00.004-06:00

These loaded in a backward order of how I wanted them. So I'll go through one by one.
First pic is inside of greenhouse.
Second pic is view from the wash pen to the side of the barn and end of greenhouse. Craig has planted grass, but it wasn't warm enough - so he's planted more grass to fill in. We'll mow this grass and feed it to the chickens. Also helps with weeds and soil erosion.
Third pic is entrance to the future wash pen, where we'll hose down our pigs. Needs to have a bit more concrete poured to add to the existing concrete
Fourth pic is another view of the wash pen.
Fifth pic is the second part of the walkway from the driveway to the pig barn. As you walk along the alley, the greenhouse is on your left (those are the installed fans that you can see). The first thing you pass as you turn the corner into this alley is the boar pen first (you can't see it in this picture), then 2nd comes the water holding "tank" (block wall there) and then the 3 outdoor pig pens, and then finally you come to the entrance of the red barn where there are three more pens inside and 2 farrowing (birthing) pens.

Update in Pictures #2

2009-07-04T08:59:00.005-06:00

First two photos: Boar pen inside and entrance to the boar pen.
Third photo: View from the road - approaching our property. Notice the beginning of the siding on the gabled end that butts up to the warehouse (click on the photo to get a larger pic to look at).
Last two photos: View, from the roof of our house, of the entire greenhouse complex.

CKM FARMS GREENHOUSE - Update in Pics

2009-06-24T19:31:00.003-06:00

Become a Follower

2009-06-05T07:41:00.001-06:00

If you read my blog, and maybe also read our Band's blog Titus Two, would you consider becoming a follower of the Band blog? Just click on the link, Titus Two and then become a follower. That way you can be updated on all the goings-on. Natalie does a great job of updating the blog. Thanks!

New Videos Uploaded

2009-06-01T09:14:00.004-06:00

I've just uploaded 6 songs from our recent gigs...
May 9 - Dry Creek Merc
May 29 - Living Water
Some are repeat songs, some are new ones that we've never uploaded. Take a peek. :-)
See the video bar, scroll down bottom right OR go to Titus Two Live
And better yet - next time we have a gig, please come and listen! We'd love to see your smiling faces out in the "crowd" (room). We can take all the support we can get.

Prom 2009

2009-05-29T09:31:00.008-06:00

Their first Prom, both C and K went with friends. TJCS invited the whole high school this year, since the Senior class won't be added until the 09-10 school year. Rhett & I chaperoned, while the youngest went to his Auntie's house for the night. Enjoy.

Tim Hawkins - a total riot

2009-04-19T11:40:00.004-06:00

You've got to watch this. If you need a good laugh, at least. And don't we all?

He is a SCREAM. After watching this, go to You Tube to watch a bunch more of him. He's good, clean fun.

Go to Tim Hawkins to buy his DVDs there.

Silver Shining

2009-04-09T10:47:00.006-06:00

Brad (our pastor) recently preached a sermon that really touched me, inspired me, to write the lyrics to a song. I did not have a tune, but my friend Rachel helped me out with that.

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed..." portion from 2 Cor 4:7-15

I am a clay vessel with many cracks & blemishes
I can't hold water so broken into pieces am I

I am a clay vessel created for your glory
So short I fall useless from my guilt and shame

Fill me, use me, shape me
Blot out my stains reform me

One day I'll be silver shining
Reflecting your glory
Whole and clean by your mercy
Reflecting your glory
In perfect unity

Make me a clay vessel useful for your glory
Fill me, Spirit, the perfect and the blameless one

L Hoseley/R Wilhelm 2009

Raising the Flag

2009-03-16T07:53:00.004-06:00

A week ago we were asked by our neighbors, the Floyds, if we wanted to participate in raising back up the American Flag, located on the butte behind our house appropriately named Liberty Butte. (For those of you who live here or have visited us here, this is the butte that also has the "face" in it.)

Lots of neighbors, mostly farmers who farm the ground all-surrounding our home, showed up. The cable had snapped, so the pole needed to be taken down and strung with a new cable. Afterwards, the Floyds invited us to lunch at the local pizza joint and we had a very nice time there with them. I had to take a photo of the menu board at the Pizza Spot because I have never been to a restaurant where they were advertising straw bales. Funny. Only in Idaho?!

Especially of note - we took photos and had photos taken of us and our home/property in the background. A unique perspective of where we are.

Brag Blog

2009-03-14T14:09:00.004-06:00

This past week #3 child got "Citizen of the Week." We're so proud of him. He worked hard to get that honor at school.

And this past week, Thursday evening, #1 child was inducted into the National Honor Society. Big honor there.

And also this past week, we received a letter from George Mason University, informing us that #1 child was selected as a National Youth Correspondent for the Washington Journalism and Media Conference, "The Next Generation of Leaders", taking place in Fairfax, Virginia. She has been the Yearbook Editor, been on the school newspaper/taken journalism and held offices in Student Body Government all through her high school "career", so this is right up her alley. Only 220 kids are chosen nationwide, to represent their State of residence. It happens this summer, and she has quite a bit of cash to raise in order to go on this trip. She plans on contacting local television stations and newspapers, as well as local businesses. And I'm sure you'll be hearing from her, too. This opportunity is a really great one and will look fabulous on her "resume" as she applies for colleges. She will also receive 1 college credit from George Mason University by attending the conference. Yay!

I need to blog some more, but will do it later. I have photos to share from our trip up to Liberty Butte (next to our property) and photos of the NHS induction ceremony, and the recent progress we've made on the CKM Farms greenhouse. Maybe next week I'll have some time to sit down and update ya'll on what we've been doing.

2 NEW VIDEOS

2009-03-02T09:32:00.003-07:00

Our last gig at Living Water, we were able to record just 2 of the songs. This is the result of technical difficulties and being slightly unprepared....oops. "It's Amazing" is a new one, and "Walk with Me" we had already recorded at Living Water, but that's the only other one we got.

Titus Two Live on You Tube

Enjoy!

Remember Cindy?

2009-02-16T10:49:00.004-07:00

Our psychotic sow that wouldn't let us wean her piglets? Well we sold her to this really nice man, Mr. Ralls, and he called this morning. At first when he said who he was, I thought oh no, what has Cindy done!? But it was good news. About 5 days ago she had 12 piglets, and 10 have survived. One was born dead and the other was a runt and didn't make it. But 10 are alive and healthy and doing great and have doubled in size already.

He talked about when the piglets are weaned he would like to breed her back with our boar so we'll have to work that out later. I reminded him that he couldn't wean the pigs, that she'd have to do it in her own time. He said "oh yeah, I've seen that." And then told me a few stories of what that crazy hog has been up to. I think she has already charged his son in law and got him right in the chest. Then he went after his granddaughter and she had a shovel so she smacked her away. Mr. Ralls said, "it was a good thing she done had that shovel or I don't know what, see?" :-)

Mind you, according to Mr. Ralls, Cindy has gained 200 pounds since she arrived at his farm. So I think Cindy vs. a shovel, Cindy wins. So don't worry!

He is such a nice man and sounds like he's having a lot of fun with this endeavor. He grew up with hogs, 100s of them he says, so I think he's enjoying having one to coddle and fuss over. He said after his son in law went face to face with Cindy, only a few minutes later she had calmed down and he was scratching her tummy and she was laying down and loving it. Craig spends hours with his pigs, getting them used to humans and building trust. Mr. Ralls said, "you can sure tell he does."

M#3 was missing Cindy the other day so I need to go in the house and give him the news that she's doing just fine.

A nice surprise & other stuff.

2009-02-12T07:55:00.006-07:00

We've been having some internet problems lately. The connection kept cutting in and out (timing out) all day and night long. After a few weeks of troubleshooting and purchasing new equipment, the problem persisted. Yesterday I gave in, and agreed to a service call, fearing the worst (having to pay for the call b/c it was a problem on my end). A nice surprise for me, though. It was their equipment. Their server, their tower or whatever it was. So after a replacement antenna, new junction box, increased up/download speeds, and everything directed to a new tower, things seem to be humming along. Oh, and I get to take back the equipment I purchased since it wasn't necesary to replace, so that's good.

Can't be denied - we are all so dependant on our internet connection, aren't we? From keeping in touch with family to schoolwork online, it has become a very important element of our day to day lives.

So, I don't have an excuse to blog now, do I?

Tonight is band rehearsal for Friday's gig at Dry Creek Mercantile Pop on over tomorrow between 6-8 if you have time, we'd love to see you there. If we can twist someone's arm into taping some stuff, we'll post some new videos.

Busy day ahead. I've GOT to make some soap, do some laundry, check on Zena (due any day now?). Oh - and I've decided to go ahead and register with a temp agency, in an effort to start working somewhere, to bring in some well-needed funds. I'll go do that next Tuesday. I've temped in the past and always done well easing in and out of places of business. I'll let you know how that goes.

Boring post, sorry! Ya'll have a good day now.

Titus Two - Music to Listen to...

2009-02-06T17:30:00.001-07:00

Please visit www.myspace.com/titustwolive
to hear one original song and a negro spiritual done by yours truly and my faithful partner and sis.

I really hate spiders and other stuff.

2009-02-02T19:59:00.003-07:00

One of the hardest things about winter for me is all the creepy crawlies I have to contend with. I'm really grateful for our cats because they keep the mice at bay. But ugh the spiders. I get up in the morning and they are there in the kitchen sink. My father in law thinks they climb up from the pipes from the sewer which is funny since we have a well and septic tank. I wonder if he ever thought about them just crawling across the counter and into the sink? :-) Anyway they're easily flushed down the drain (where they came from?) but I just really grow so tired of their early morning visits.

Tax time is coming. Well it's here, really. Truly can't stand getting ready for them and doing them but love the rebate. A love hate relationship with the taxes. I told #1 child tonight that her blank 1040EZ form came and she gawked at me and said, huh? the what? I said your 1040EZ, I'll help you figure it out and do it. She said why, what's it fer Ma. Well my dear, you have to report your income to the IRS, it's the law. Blank stare. Seriously?--that's dumb, she says. I grinned.

I've been looking for a job. Unsuccessful so far. When I was YOUNG I used to go for a job and get it. Welcome to middle age. My last 17 years of teaching, diagnosing, troubleshooting, organizing, chauffering, managing --these things don't mean that much in the "real" world.

I miss my husband. Really hate that. We all need him home and how. Looking forward to his permanent return.

On the brighter side now. So, things I'm looking forward to. My husband coming home, spring -- well, summer really -- school to be out so we can sleep in, sunshine, outdoors and long summer days, and singing with my band more.

CATHEDRAL SOAP COMPLETELY RE-DONE

2008-11-05T13:39:00.005-07:00

Please go visit my website which has had a total make-over.
Cathedral Soap

Soon I will be uploading fabulous, professional photos like this one, that my friend Melody took for me!

School Pics

2008-10-28T13:30:00.005-06:00

Caitlyn - 16 - 11th grade (turns 17 in 6 weeks)

Kyle - 14 1/2 - 9th grade

Mack - 9 - 3rd grade

I'm not mailing wallets this year. So consider this your wallet photo. Ha! I'm so cheap! Not really, though. Have you seen the prices for school photos recently? Ridiculous! Anyway, enjoy.

Quite a Lot for a 9-year-old

2008-10-23T12:05:00.012-06:00

So #3 child has been through quite a lot lately. Back in September he was helping his Dad put up a fence and he put a wire into his arm (yes, it was as bad as that sounds).

1) 7 stitches, right arm. 2) Almost all healed up.

Then, on Monday, what he considered his pig (because he named her), Cindy, was sold (pregnant) to a man that wants to raise pigs for his family. This was a good alternative to selling her at the auction, where she would have just been sold as a market hog. This way she gets to keep on living (as long as she behaves!). So that was a sad day.

But it got even sadder as that night his beloved kitty, Shy Shadow (also named by him) was hit by a car and killed. Quick story about Shadow. Every morning as M would go out to the bus stop, he would call Shadow and she would answer by name. She'd come running, and M would pat his chest and she would scurry up his legs and into his arms. This cat and our son were very bonded. So, to help heal his broken heart, the next morning Rhett and I drove over to our neighbor's house and picked up a surprise new kitty for him. (Thanks, Mel !!) He was thrilled. He named her "Curious Calico" and he is calling her "Cali." He LITERALLY has not put her down since we put her in his arms. He is in love.

1) Shadow w/ her litter 2006. 2) New kitty "Cali"

My Favorite One

2008-10-13T14:25:00.003-06:00

Pretty please indulge me just one more post about homecoming.
Here's my favorite photo of Caitlyn from that night.

C Goes to Homecoming!

2008-10-12T17:45:00.013-06:00

HOMECOMING 2008!

Here are some photos of the big night. So much fun.

C went with her friend, Justin, to the Middleton High School homecoming. Friday night (the day before) Middleton won their Homecoming football game. Justin plays on the team. Running back and a defensive position, as well (I think?)

They matched beautifully! C wore a gorgeous plum silk dress with a sheer lace overlay, with old fashioned Victorian lacey patterns along the bottom, and a tulle border also along the bottom to give the skirt a little kick.

I've also put a video (it's the one with the window of the front door as the beginning) of when Justin came to pick her up. You may not be able to hear everything, but listen for M asking "what does that mean?" when I answer Justin's question of when they should be home (midnight; a pumpkin). Also, notice that when I am telling C to "be polite, etc." and giving her quick instructions for the evening, notice that she is not listening to me at all and it looks like I'm talking to Justin because he is the only one paying attention! LOL In fact, the whole time, it looks like I'm talking to Justin because he is tracking so well. (What a nice attentive young man.) And, you can't hear it, but when I ask C if she needs a coat, Justin turns really quick and says to her, "It is cold." Aw! What a sensible guy! And you can hear Rhett briefly in the background say, "all he needs now is a sow to attack him."

When he came in to get her, he asked me if his colors matched okay, and of course, everything was great. He didn't need to worry, he looked just fine and C was radiant in her beautiful dress which went so nicely with her red hair.

C's friend Brittney came and helped her get ready. Brit lives just around the corner so it was perfect. They had fun getting ready, because you know, getting read IS half of the fun! (HINT: If you click on the photos, I think you'll go to a new window with the photo much bigger.)

She's Got To Go

2008-10-10T08:53:00.003-06:00

Cindy's got to go. She is a mess. Some of her piglets dug out yesterday and she went ballistic trying to get OUT of her pen to get to the "lost" piglets. She is crazed.

I was in the office working and M came home from school (heard the bus drop him off). He runs into the warehouse a few moments later "the pigs are out, the pigs are out!" I call Craig, yes, he's on his way home already. I run out to the pig barn (I am in my PJs and slippers because I have caught that horrible cold that's going around). Fabio, the boar, wants to know what's going on, so he has slipped out of his pen too to see what all the commotion is about. I coax him easily back into his pen by a bucket of feed. I run to the other pens to feed the other animals so that they will calm down. M and I usher Cindy into an empty pen, next to her pen, and right before my eyes, she jumps over the solid wood wall that is over 4 feet high to get into her pen. Could not believe my eyes. She literally threw her 400+ pound body over the wall to get over. Have you ever seen how short pig's legs are? It was incredible.

Craig gets home and we decide, Cindy has got to go. M starts crying because he named Cindy, he feels like she is his pig. After a few tears, he understands. Cindy is unpredictable, violent, aggressive and basically out of control. Not a good sow. So, after a phone call, we decide this Saturday Cindy goes to the auction, as do all 11 of her piglets. It is getting cold and they are basically to weaner weight (30 lbs.) and since we're driving to the auction house for Cindy, we may as well take them along and get a few dollars for them before the cold kicks in and we risk them dying of exposure. We lost 4 piglets last year to extreme cold.

"Phyllis" (who was a potential sow, Kyle's failed 4H project because she didn't make weight) is going to auction, as well. Craig named her Phyllis for Phyllis Diller because she NEVER shuts up. She is a very vocal and demanding little girl (only about 200 lbs.) and Cindy was like that as a young pig. So we're guessing that she may end up being as troublesome as Cindy, so she's got to go, too.

We will be left with Zena (and her 1 week old litter of piglets) and Athena, our two tried and true calm Mama pigs, and Fabio, the boar.

Oh, and the runt from Zena's last litter (a barrow) has finally reached market weight, so he will go to the butcher next week.

Phew. I'm exhausted just reading all this activity. Animal husbandry; never a dull moment.

New Pigs on the Farm

2008-10-07T10:45:00.002-06:00

Cindy (named by M) had 14 piglets 4 weeks ago, 9/14. We found two dead in the hay and she also unfortunately rolled over on one. Survival of the fittest played out in front of our eyes. Good news is that 11 are alive and well, as you'll see in the two videos on my Video Bar. The first video is right after she had them, and the second video is when they're about 3 weeks old. We pulled her away from the piglets on Sunday, but she "climbed" back in the pen to get to them yesterday. She's quite the attached Mama. So we pulled her out again this morning (she does not like this, at all) and she almost ran me down in the process of trying to get to her piglets. Well, she did run me down really. I have the bruise on my leg to prove it! Picked me up and threw me sideways, very exciting stuff to be thrown about by a 500 pound stark-raving mad Mama. But it's got to be done, they have to be weaned. This is a business and not just for fun so this is what we have to do.

Zena had 11 piglets on Sunday, 10/5. Eleven born, eleven survived. They were all small birth weights, but they seem to be doing fine now. Zena is a much calmer mother, thankfully. This is her 2nd time around so maybe she's just seasoned, is all. Come to think about it though, she's just a calmer pig altogether. (Cindy is a bit dramatic.) I don't have a video of her and her babies, but they're not much different looking than Cindy and her piglets so I don't think I'll put a video up. You'll get the idea from the two I already posted.

Come Spring they should all be market weight. We'll sell them as weaner pigs, though, for people to raise on their own. Either through the paper, Craig's list or at auction. Gotta keep them hogs moving on through. Feed is too expensive!!

Cindy needs to go in with the boar, Fabio, in 6 days when she goes into heat. We have to get her bred for the Ada County Fair that goes on next August. The reality is we've got to keep these piggies busy making babies! It's okay, it's what they're bred for. And we take good care of them, don't you worry.

First Homecoming

2008-10-03T15:05:00.003-06:00

Very fun stuff - C is going to Homecoming in a week with a friend of hers, named Justin. We bought the dress and shoes yesterday and photos of all that will be coming in a future entry, I'm sure. So keep posted.

Please take a look at the video bar to see a short video of her opening up her box to be "asked." Wait for the surprise ending. It'll make you giggle.

And she'll be 17 in two months, I can hardly believe it.

Titus Two - VIDEOS

2008-09-28T10:50:00.004-06:00

If you are interested in receiving notice of when we add a video to our You Tube Channel, please consider subscribing. It's easy.

TitusTwoLive is the You Tube Channel.
www.youtube.com/user/TitusTwoLive

You can also view our videos from the Video Bar at the Titus-Two-Live blogspot. The way to get notice when we update this site, is by "following" the blog from your own blog.
http://www.titus-two-live.blogspot.com/

THANKS for your support and interest!

Another Wal Mart story for the books

2008-09-28T09:09:00.003-06:00

So I'm in Wal Mart yesterday at the checkout, and my sister E calls me. I tell her, I can't talk now, sorry, I'm at the checkout. Actually it was a little more than just being at the checkout that was making it hard to talk. It was the complete psychos around me in that infernal place. I was there with K and he wanted to buy some air soft pellets. So I put them on the conveyor. Cashier Lady reads the bar code. It beeps, asking if buyer is over 18. (I'm standing directly in front of her, K isn't even around, he has gone to the bathroom.) She presses "no" and reads the bar code again. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. She looks at me.

"You know you have to be over 18 to buy these."

What?

"Yes, I know." I'm standing there, looking very over 40 and even if I looked only over 30, or even over 20, isn't that still over 18? Um, okay???

K returns. He scans the aisle containing all the National Enquirers and People magazines. He wants to have a conversation about the People magazine cover.

"Wow. Is Clay Aiken really gay?"

"I don't know."

"But it says he is. Is he really?"

"I don't know son. I don't care really. Please."

"But is he--"

"Son!"

I go to swipe my debit card and I see the nagging question on the screen. Was your cashier friendly today? I press the screen "no," not because Cashier Lady was mean but because she was an idiot and so that's the closest I could get to registering my opinion. I take my receipt, I gather up my things and start down the long hall to freedom from insanity and to my horror a 50-something overweight man walks by with his wife in tow - normal scene, except for he is wearing a white, muscle shirt (he possesses none, muscles that is) and he is presenting a new fashion statement. How? His arm is only in one hole. The other hole is twisted up along his back. (Yes, I turned around to see him going after seeing him coming because I couldn't believe my eyes.) After checking to see if he had some infirmity to cause him to wear his shirt like this, and finding no reason, I increase my footsteps towards the door.

"Get me out of here." I mutter under my breath.

Wal Mart is just not a good environment for me.

Back in Black...well, just back.

2008-09-25T09:07:00.003-06:00

Yay! After 10 days of waiting, the PC is back, up and running. I'm back in business. All the data was able to be recovered, I have a new hard drive, and 4 times as much RAM. So things are good now. However, I did lose a lot of stuff like settings and addresses, etc. So if you haven't sent me an email in a while, please drop me a line so I can get your email address back in my contact list. Thanks!

This Friday 7-9 performance at Living Water Coffee shop in Nampa!

The End Has Come

2008-09-17T11:49:00.002-06:00

For my computer, that is. My "primary" computer. The one I've commented on, off and on, over the years that is always acting a little shaky and not always very sure of itself. Well, it finally died of a fatal disease of some sort and the new hard drive is on order. The geeky, but informative guy (and I mean computer geek in the purest sense, a somewhat socially awkward dude) the works FOR my computer guy, told me that we may not be able to save the data. I hope he is wrong. I will have to get my Number One computer guy on the case to see if this is really true.

If it is true, then my procrastination in backing-up has finally come to bite me in the proverbial backside. I half-heartedly backed up on some jump drives, but #1 child has a proficiency of losing or breaking electronic equipment, so I had to clear off one jump drive to replace the two that she already lost or destroyed.

The computer I'm typing on right now just got a new boost up to a 1 gig hard drive so it's purring like a kitten. I figured I may as well take it in, too, since I was out of commission with the other one, and get it ramped up and running better. But alas, without my other one I'm off email and getting any transcribing done until Friday, at the earliest.

Here it comes - you knew I was going to say this - we rely on our computers way too much. I get up this morning and say, what am I going to do today, I have no computer! That is so sad. I don't know, how about garden or do some laundry or make some soap! Remember? You have a life beyond computers, you idiot. See, you thought I only spoke to everyone else like that, no, I talk to myself just as harshly/harsh?

See you on email next week sometime. Have a great weekend.

Rodeo Videos

2008-09-05T11:02:00.001-06:00

I added a video bar, scroll down to the right of your screen. Enjoy all the rodeo excitement! :-)

8 Seconds...well, almost!

2008-08-13T09:25:00.003-06:00

K rode in his 3rd rodeo last night. It was the Caldwell Night Rodeo in Caldwell, Idaho. He stayed on the 3rd longest time, by the timer on my camera, 5 seconds. Only two other boys stayed on longer, and only one stayed on for the 8 seconds to receive an actual score. He may even get called back to do it again later on this week. He didn't get hurt, which was good. Well, he has a sore rear end from hitting the dirt but nothing bent or broken. So he did get a little hitch in his giddie-up. :-)

TITUS TWO

2008-08-08T07:15:00.005-06:00

Please check out our blog (Laura's & Natalie's) for our band, Titus Two.

You can
see when and where we're playing next
listen and watch a video clip
learn more about who we are

Titus Two

NEW WINDOW

2008-08-07T08:07:00.005-06:00

Very exciting news - one of the two windows we bought for the kitchen (over a year ago...argh) is now nestled in it's cozy and intended spot. I got up this morning and fixed myself a cup of coffee and a bowl of granola, opened my window and enjoyed the cool air. It was really great! Haven't been able to do that in years. It's the small things, isn't it?

Now for the second window, over the sink. It's a bit more complicated job than the first, but I think Rhett's motivated. Yay!

I wish all of you could come to my kitchen and share a cup of coffee and a cool breeze with me. Most of you will just have to be content with looking at the photo, sigh.

Canyon County Fair - Whew! we made it through!

2008-07-28T13:23:00.004-06:00

It's that time of year again. Time to brush off the cowboy boots, whiten the cotton shirt and find the show stick and brush.

It's Fair Time!

K has a swine project again, in his 3rd year of 4H. This year his pig didn't make weight, 66 pounds underweight. The pig got sick early on in the season b/c of being a bit too young at purchase (we're a bit disappointed with the breeder). She is healthy and happy, but just small for now. But, he still showed her in the feeder class and also did his turn at showmanship. No placement this year (unlike other years) but two red ribbons for his effort. She will not be sold at the market sale, because she is too small. We are thinking about keeping her as a breeder.

K also has a steer this year. His very first year in the beef project. His steer is named "Eddy." Some of you may already know that Eddy should be really named Lazarus because he came back from the dead this summer! He got very sick, and was falling over (think "cow tipping" falling over, with a great big thud) and having seizures. But, miraculously, he came back and ended up weighing 1300 pounds! Average for an Angus X, about 1200. Imagine if he hadn't gotten sick and didn't have those few weeks of weight gain, how big he would have been!?! K placed 4th in his class in showmanship, not bad for a first year. He also placed 4th in market quality, just narrowly missing 3rd place. He was in 3rd place, but the judge switched him and another kid at the very last few seconds :-( But he was so happy with his animal and his performance, it didn't seem to shake him much at all. Just a few weeks ago, he was still having quite a bit of trouble just putting a rope on Eddy, so he has made tremendous progress and we think he did GREAT.

This year M has a pig named "Wayne Gretzky." It is his first year in 4H with an animal project. His pig weighs 250 pounds! (Different breeder than K's pig.) He showed on Wednesday and Thursday of last week. He didn't place in either category (market quality or showmanship) but he is a winner in our book. He smiled at the judge and treated his pig kindly and stuck through it to the end with determination. He even took his "loss" with not one sound of disgruntlement. He was just happy to be with his piggy! He received two red ribbons for his efforts.

Wayne Gretzky the pig and Eddy the cow were sold this past Saturday at the Market Sale. Auction prices were pretty low this year. Please consider an "add-on" to their swine and beef projects. It really helps the kids out because they pay for all their expenses. The deadline for add-ons being mailed in is before September 1st. Mail to: CCMLS, 6740 Southside Blvd., Nampa, ID 83686. Indicate the 4H member's name, whether it's for swine or beef, and that it's an add-on to their project.

Thank you to everyone who contributed last year, and in previous years, with the add-on program! We all appreciate you so much!!! The names of everyone who contributed last year were posted by our kids on Wednesday, at the fairgrounds, in their animal's pens. They will be up all week during fair. Your names are also included on the website, in the newspaper, posted at the fairgrounds, and sent out in a yearly mailing.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

(C worked at the fair this year, so no animal project for her. She was President of the Dry Lake 4H club, the club that the kids are members. K was Secretary, and M was Game Coordinator.)

Dance the Night Away (so 80's)

2008-06-14T08:37:00.002-06:00

Last night my good friend Colleen's 2nd oldest daughter got married. It was a Catholic wedding in a small, country church and then there was a huge reception at the Basque Center in downtown Boise. It was SO much fun.

There was a huge Tiernan representation there and everyone had a blast dancing, lip-synching and goofing off. We saw our daughter break out in random dancing and she had a huge smile on her face all night. I slow-danced with #3 son and watched #2 son do a multitude of air-guitar solos. 80's music was pretty much the theme of the night and I was shocked how all these 15 and 16 year old girls all knew every word to every song. Journey, Boston, Lynyrd Skynyrd (sp?) and the B-52s, they knew it all. It was such a riot.

Later into the evening the song Cotton Eye Joe came on, which was the PERFECT up-tempo song for the group of Tiernan dancers there to dance to (24 in all?). They immediately mobilized and coordinated and before we knew it the whole dance floor was filled with all 24, doing a revved-up, redneck version of one of their favorite soft shoe dances, the Step About. Then it was boys against girls and they fought for the dance floor. After the song was done, I put my hand in the air and called to the deejay: "play it again, again!" and he did, and they did it all over again. Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and when they were all done gave them a big round of applause. It was so awesome. I said to Colleen, this is why these kids do this! For the love of dance! They have the ability to be able to celebrate in such a specific way. Those kids have some mad skills!

2008-06-05T17:37:00.003-06:00

Life has been particularly challenging lately. More than usual. But I am thankful for many things.

* My husband loves me unconditionally. Actually, he more than loves me. He adores me. Why? It is a mystery that I cannot understand. He is longsuffering, strong, caring and kind.
* I have a great family. I have two sisters that I can laugh and be silly with. We say the stupidest, nonsensical stuff to each other and think it's hysterical and I love that. They don't judge me which is a fact I don't deserve. And I have a Mom who is sweet and good and right. Sweeter than sugar. Good as gold. Right as rain.
* And I have really good friends. They are few - but that is on purpose, that is by choice. They are few but, I promise you, they are Quality.

I have lots more to be thankful for than that, this is to be sure. But this is what I am thankful for today, as I navigate through life's twists and turns.

Cathedral Soap website back - up and running

2008-05-08T08:08:00.003-06:00

Cathedral Soap was down for a bit. Good news - it's up and running again! Still working on the ordering page and also some color choice adjustments.

Thanks for your support! Monthly specials! Visit regularly and buy often! :-)

Crashed

2008-04-06T17:46:00.002-06:00

My (older) computer crashed today. I was right in the middle of transcribing the last bit of my last interview for my last job (most recent job) which I was already late on finishing -- and the screen just went "blip." I just finished saying the day before, that my computer was an oldie but a goodie, that it ran slow but it had been around for a while and never let me down me yet, and then for that--the next day the thanks I get--it betrayed me.

It's off to the computer techie guy tomorrow to see if it can be salvaged. I hope he can get the stuff off the hard drive. I do have some stuff backed up...but...

Argh. Double argh.

It's been a stressful month. This topped it off, oy vey.

So, if you want to talk to me, email me at Cathedral Soap or better yet, call me. :-) I could use a few words of cheer!

Search for Piggies

2008-03-28T08:58:00.002-06:00

Well it's that time of year that our kids are in the middle of their frenetic search for 4H pigs. Why they wait until the LAST minute every year, I'll never know. Will they ever learn that if they would put their names in early, and check back often, that this would be a much more enjoyable experience for all? I don't know. You'd think the children of the 4H Swine Leader would be a bit more on top of it (poor Rhett). It is a hard thing for parents to watch their children dig a hole for themselves, and place themselves in it, no less. Argh.

We may have a possible solution, from a place in between Boise and Mountain Home. They have 2 pigs for Canyon County fair. That leaves us one short. C may have to do Ada County fair and get her pig from another grower. If only our sows would have farrowed, this would also be easier. But, that's not the way it went, so...

Wish this blog entry was a little more positive. Maybe the next one?

Gig Tonight

2008-03-21T09:55:00.003-06:00

So tonight is the "big gig." My lil sis Natalie and I are performing at Living Water book store located in Nampa on the corner of Midland and Roosevelt, tonight at 7 - 9 pm.

We've been singing our whole lives together, but this is the first time we will be doing something "alone." Alone means without our siblings, M, E, M and P. Yes, there's 6 of us but tonight it'll just be the 2 of us. We'll have our good friends Jon (on percussion) and Bill (lead guitar & background vocals). Natalie will do lead vocals and keyboard, and I'll make an attempt to also do lead vocals and rhythm guitar.

Pray that God will give us what we stand in need of! We've both been sick over the past few weeks and so we're a bit run down. But hopefully we can pull it off and have fun, too.

Get Out Your Green!

2008-03-17T04:13:00.002-06:00

Today is the day every Irish Dancer Mom looks forward to with excitement and dread! It's St. Patrick's Day and it's going to be a busy one.

C and the other girls will start out at 4:30 am at the Shamrock Coffee House and be on Live with Larry, KTVB, Channel 7 until about 9 am. C has to scoot half way through to get to school on time.

Then I'll go on with the rest of the clan to a preschool that meets at the Cathedral of the Rockies. Then on to the Boise Mayor's office at noon, a Veteran's Home in Boise at 1:30 (this is when C will join us again), an elementary school after that, a retirement home after that, and finishing off at Ha'Penny Restaurant in downtown Boise at 5:00 pm. I'll be emceeing all day and I hope I'll have a voice when it's all done.

It'll be tiring but fun and really rewarding. It's 4:00 am right now and I've got to scoot to get over to the Shamrock Coffee House.

Happy St. Patty's to you all!

Mwahaha

2008-03-11T23:28:00.004-06:00

This is Caitlyn - Not her highness, the royal mother

And yes, I hacked my mother's account.

I'd like to credit that to my 21st generation genius skills
But actually, it's just because her username and password were right in front of me and it was soo tempting...

Anywho...
I just wanted to tell you some things about this woman you all know as Laura...

First, she is the best mother in the world for someone like me to have. She puts up with my constant pigheaded arguing and know-it-all air, and treats me with love when I don't deserve it.

She laughs at my jokes when no one thinks they're funny and sometimes becomes just as hyper as I am, embarassing as that may be.

Her laugh is my favorite one in the world.

She eats Little Ceasers pizzas with me, and we eat the whole thing ourselves. We also eat ice cream on the way home from dance. (shhhh, don't tell the male units of mi familia)

She has the most beautiful hair I've ever seen and I've wanted to dye my hair to be just like hers ever since I can remember. (I was only deterrred when Anne of Green Gable's hair turned green...=]) When grey hairs come in she freaks a little, like most women... but I think that every grey hair only makes her more and more beautiful.

She is the most amazing cook. I am so blessed to have a mom who likes to fix dinner. Even though I complain about green chilies and enchiladas (eww) I love everything else she makes. It's all fabulous! In fact, she's spoiled me a bit, and I don't know if I'll be able to make it through college on top ramen after these years of borderline gourmet cooking.

She has a breathtaking voice, and I love it when she sings in the car, or the kitchen, or the living room. No offense to my Aunties, but I love my mom's voice the most.

She taught me almost everything I know. She rags on herself all the time about not being a good enough homeschool mom when in reality I don't think she knows just how truly spectacular she was at it. All those red marks on my papers and days at a time spent studying Wordly Wise really paid off, and are the reason I am maturing in my writing every day. And the way she taught history was phenomenal. I was never bored at home.

She fights for me, and I want to let her know that I see it, and I appreciate it, even though most of the time I don't act like it. My mom is on my side, even when I'm delusional and think other wise.

I love my mommy very very very much. I never want her to forget it, even is that means I hafta grafitti "Caitlyn loves Mommy" on the side of the warehouse building before I leave for college.

I love you!

A Full Service Blog

2008-02-12T14:59:00.001-07:00

So I intend on adding to my blog an impartation of my wealth of wisdom to all you blog readers. Occasionally I will give to you a morsel of magnitudinal tippage. Are you excited?

Today's tip: Get thee to Costco. Buy Mrs. May's Naturals, Premium Fruit & Nut Crunch. A flavor explosion in your mouth of cashews, almonds and walnuts in perfect harmony with cranberries, blueberries and pomegranate. Like popcorn or peanuts, you can't eat just one--but so much better for you! A fabulous alternative to when you want something salty, crunchy or sweet -- who doesn't get those cravings? And this snack satisfies all THREE! Amazing.

Tagged

2008-02-11T16:51:00.000-07:00

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages.)
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

"In fact, they actively seek to distance themselves from the movement's subculture. Not a single artist or entertainer referred to the evangelical subculture in positive terms. Derision was more likely."

Faith in the halls of Power: How Evangelicals joined the American Elite
by D. Michael Lindsay

Now before you think that I am just a sociological, intellectual type, this book is a book that I worked as a transcriptionist on, so that is why I have it close by, because I am in my office and that's where the book is, as a representation of and motivation for all my hard work day in and day out! Interestingly enough, if the tag had me quote just a few sentences prior, I would have quoted Mr. Lindsay quoting Chris Smith from his sociological research and subsequent published works. And Chris is my brother in law! Ha!

Oh, and I don't have anybody to tag. Everybody that's already been tagged is anybody that I know. Sad, huh?

How to Tame a Beast

2008-02-11T16:40:00.000-07:00

Okay so I learned something new today. In theory at least, I learned it. How to harness and tame a "wild" steer.

Apparently you throw a lasso around the bovine's neck, like you're a cowboy on the range. Then, after digging a hole and putting a pole deep into the ground, you tie the poor sucker to the post. Then you struggle for a few minutes or maybe hours, putting the unwanted harness (unwanted to the animal) on his head. This may result in the steer getting a bloody nose from banging its head against the pole or maybe you'll get the bloody nose. Once the harness is on, then you attach the lead rope. Tie the lead rope to the post and let the animal sit there. Until it's time for him to eat or drink. Then drag his sorry hairy self back to the post and tie him to it again. Sounds cruel, but this way he learns that when he jerks with all his might, he gets nowhere. Pretty soon he'll stop jerking away whenever he feels something pulling on that darn harness permanently enveloped around his large, bovine head. Voila! A tame beast.

This I learned this morning from another 4H Mom. Incredible, huh?

Check back and I'll let you know if it really works, in practice! (And who ended up with the bloody nose - ew!)

What type of fruit are you?

2008-02-04T11:47:00.000-07:00

You Are an Apple

You are strong, powerful, and even a bit stubborn at times.You have enough strength to help those around you in trouble.
You are adventurous and charming. Many people are drawn to you.You love life, and you enjoy traveling the world. You enjoy fine food, art, and culture.
People have accused you of being a snob, but that's not accurate.You do enjoy the best things in life. Unlike snobs, you truly appreciate quality... not just pretend to.

What Type of Fruit Are You?

Okay, so I don't think this thing knows me as well as it knows my DFR (dear friend R). I actually wouldn't enjoy traveling around the world even if I had the money. I would get tired of it quickly. I actually don't know if anybody has ever accused me of being a snob? I also don't totally enjoy the best things in life, just whatever is the simplest. I do appreciate quality. It's sort of on the mark, I guess. I even went back to take the test again to see if the answers I gave, if maybe I was wrong, but no, I wouldn't change my answers. So, there you have it. I'm an apple. (Incidentally, I am an apple in physical shape! Funny! Skinny arms and legs and round in the middle!)

Enough Snow Already

2008-02-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

So it's been snowing and bitter cold for what seems like weeks but it's probably only days. We haven't had much snow down in our little valley but we do have to drive "to town" to do anything. We ascend through the hills to the land above us and encounter the slush and ice and snow in full force. Here at home we contend with the wind and cold, cold, cold mostly.

#1 daughter, who previously loved snow and complained every winter how "Idaho is lame because it never snows here," now hates snow. "I wish the snow would go away. I just hate it. I can't drive and there are snow days so I miss school," she declares. Funny.

Eddie, the steer, is also complaining. Each time the wind blows, he moos his misery and discontent. Your loafing shed is coming, Eddie, hold on a little longer. There he'll find some respite from the snowy chill of each day.

And of course Rhett (formerly known as "DH") is not appreciating the cold, either. His demeanor possesses a palpable grumpiness.

#2 son and #3 son are oblivious. They continue in their pursuits, playing hockey and running about. It's like they're impervious to the cold. Boggles the mind. I look outside and I'm cold.

My daily job of stoking the fire doesn't appear to be going away anytime soon. I must admit, though, as tedious as it can become to keep up on the firewood issue, it is a wonderful payback to sit in front of those glowing embers.

It continues to be winter and it is cold. Spring needs to come soon. Strike that. Summer needs to come soon. Spring is just rain and fog and gloominess. I want heat and sun. I won't complain, I promise.

The Drama Queen has been Crowned, and...

2008-01-29T10:33:00.000-07:00

...and the winner is, DH! Argh!

Yesterday was the "surgery" as he calls it. Mind you it was 12 fillings, and he did sit in the chair for 3 1/4 hours, but surgery? I think not.

Today he sits and watches "Touched By an Angel" because he is still feeling woozie from his sedation dentistry drugs. The dentist said the stuff lasts no more than 24 hours. It's been 26. Time's up, buddy.

I sit and transcribe a 21 year old girl talking about her recent boyfriends and how committed she is to her Universalist Unitarian RELIGION (ha), answer the telephones, edit dance costume rental agreements, stoke the fire in the house, write a non-profit organization profile for potential donors, fold laundry, wrap lip balm and set up for soap-making (9 batches to make) and DH concerns himself with whether little Bobby is going to be adopted and will Bobby's new Mommy buy him the puppy he's always wanted and what outfit will Roma Downey be wearing and is her accent real or not?

FOR CRYING IN A BUCKET.

I'm done.

Mooooo...!

2008-01-21T10:09:00.000-07:00

Today the steer comes. #2 child is buying one for a 4H project. The pen is built, the water trough stands ready, the corner feeder bucket will soon be filled. We just hope that he won't be a mean one. His name will be Edward Augustus. "Eddie" for short. He'll be shown and sold at the Canyon County Fair this summer.

Incidentally, and not related to bovine, we had an interesting day yesterday. DH got a rusty, metal fleck in his eye Friday night. By Sunday morning, the pain was intolerable. A visit to the ER (no luck there) and then off to an Ophthalmologist's office to have the metal fleck bored out of his eye with a tiny drill (yes, yikes) and finally the ordeal was over. The Dr. was "funny." He was the doctor on call, hair sticking up in every direction. He must have been sipping his Sunday morning coffee when he got the call. Although, we were his second of the day...maybe he had no time to smooth down his out of control strands? After the procedure was done and DH was nearly tossing his cookies from the stress of the matter, Dr. Crazy Hair took great pleasure in describing how ferrous (ferric?) metal can wreak havoc on the eyeball. I thought DH was gonna hurl.

So early, early this morning, off to work DH went--but came home later this a.m. The cold air proved too much for his wounded eyeball. Understandable. But he was able to muster up the strength to jump in the truck and hitch a ride off to get the steer in waiting. :-)

Cathedral Soap

2008-01-10T17:15:00.000-07:00

Hey ya'll. I've been working on my website a little bit. Check it out at

Cathedral Soap

I was having some problems with software and passwords and blah blah blah but I got it figured out. Hopefully the website will get only better and better, because in the future I will be hiring THE PROS to make a real website. But I need to sell more soap to hire them! So check out the website and buy, buy, buy! Ha. You'll have to contact me directly to order until I get the Paypal stuff set up. Thanks for your support!

ETC: Snow...pigs...wedded bliss

2008-01-08T10:08:00.000-07:00

Today it is snowing great guns. White blizzard weather. Drove the kids to school this morning (#2 child cannot ride the bus right now; don't ask) and am nervous about picking them up this afternoon.

We might lose another pig today. Last night DH said it didn't look sick, just more docile than usual. This morning he gave it a shot of antibiotics. Having pigs through the cruel dead of winter isn't working out in my opinion. We lost a lot of chickens to the cold and wind as well. Their water froze and we just couldn't keep up with it. I think there's only about 50 left right now. They're not laying either. CKM Farms is in a slump it would seem.

This weekend, Sunday to be exact, I will be married to DH eighteen (18) years. Youngest sister graciously offered to have our kids stay at her house Saturday night so we could have some P&Q (peace and quiet). We plan to go to dinner and catch a movie. Thanks to my eldest brother for his great Christmas gift of a date night as we will apply it to the dinner bill :-) Sunday morning should be quiet as well. Youngest child suggested we "get a round table and two chairs and put a white sheet on it" and have breakfast just for two. I love the "white sheet" part.

We are blessed.

2008-01-05T12:41:00.000-07:00

Last night at small group there was discussion about the new year. Thinking about the past year and looking to the new one; we are truly blessed. We live in a world of lost and hurting souls. People who run away from God, who hate Him and reject Him and live in misery. But the christian life, a life surrendered and belonging to God, is a joy-filled life. I am looking back on 2007 and facing 2008, knowing that I am resting in God's care.

"In the shelter of my dear Jesus, all my life in him abide, finding compassion I do rest my soul."

"Wonderful, merciful savior, precious redeemer and friend, who would have thought that a Lamb could rescue the souls of men."

Am I a Scorpio? a Libra? I Dunno.

2008-01-04T16:15:00.000-07:00

I think someone who is in the know (which I am not) told me I am on the cusp of being a Scorpio or a Libra. 10/23 is a defining date, apparently, and astrologists jump back and forth as to whether it's the 22nd or 23rd or whatever. Personally I think it's all bunk so I don't care what they decide, really. I am doing this because it looks like fun and because my dear friend,

R.W. (there's your link back - took me like 10 minutes to figure out how to do it!)

asked me to do it.

OCTOBER:

Loves to chat - yes, I do, but some days I don't want to talk at all.
Loves those who loves them - yes, very much
Loves to take things at the center - I don't know what this means
Inner and physical beauty - yup, I'm pretty dang good looking
Lies but doesn't pretend - No, I do not lie. Lying makes me sick and is very hard for me to do. I cannot look the person in the eye. I do not pretend very well though sometimes I should.
Gets angry often - I'd like to think of this more as just being annoyed. :-)
Treats friends importantly - yup
Always making friends - yup
Easily hurt but recovers easily - yes, this is true, but the older I get, the less I care
Daydreamer - no, I don't think so. I'm too logical and not creative enough to be this.
Opinionated - ah, yeah.
Does not care of what others think - ah, double yeah.
Emotional - not really, no, I don't think so. It depends. My husband makes me emotional. He's probably the only one who has that power, though.
Decisive - yes and no. I can be ridiculously indecisive. And ridiculously decisive.
Strong clairvoyance - huh?
Loves to travel, the arts and literature - I have no money to travel. I do love art. I never hardly ever pick up a book and read. Reading makes me fall asleep.
Touchy and easily jealous - I am touchy. I am probably jealous, too, but I don't really like to admit that because that sounds silly.
Concerned - about what?
Loves outdoors - yes and no. I really do not like bugs. And I am not the outdoorsy type, like I mountain bike and go hiking and fish. I do like to go outside and garden.
Just and fair - yes, I am
Spendthrift - ah, yes, I am
Easily influenced - no, I am not
Easily loses confidence - no, I do not
Loves children - only if they're not being annoying

Rachel the Teacher Mom!

2007-12-08T21:46:00.000-07:00

Go to

Article on Rachel

to see and read about Rachel in a Washington Times article; homeschooling her kids.

I'm so proud of her. She's brilliant.

No Funny Business

2007-10-27T17:55:00.001-06:00

So our daughter has Mono. No, she didn't get it from kissing a boy. She shared a Chai Tea with a friend about 6 weeks ago and WHAMMO - Mono. Our trip to Vancouver to attend the Halloween Feis was canceled, sadly. She and I are disappointed. She was to dress up as (I Love) Lucy and her friend was going to wear DH's (wedding!) tux and play Ricky Ricardo. And I was to be Wayne and my friend to be Garth. Can you imagine that? Two 40-something ladies playing Wayne's World? Hysterical. But alas, ex-squeeze me and a-baking powder, it was not meant to be. Ch'ya, right.

Day 3 and she is already tiring of laying low. But some friends came by today and brought her flowers, balloons, chocolate and good cheer. That was really nice.

Life sure has twists and turns. And germs.

Pigs For Sale!

2007-10-19T09:57:00.000-06:00

Our two sows, Zena and Athena, each had a litter of piglets. Zena had 13 and Athena had 11. So we have 24 piglets for sale!

Today we are taking some of the pigs to our kids' school, to M's second grade class, for a show and tell. M's class is doing Charlotte's Web after Fall Break, so we thought it appropriate. We'll take a few normal sized piglets and one runt. It'll be neat for the kids to see a real, live Wilbur. They're cute.

Deirdre Shannon - website info

2007-04-02T07:34:00.000-06:00

I neglected in my previous post to include

Deirdre Shannon's Website

so you could go and check out her music and other stuff. She is a fabulous soloist and lovely person.

Still can't believe how great that concert was.

The Celtic Tenors & Tiernan - WOW!

2007-03-30T08:27:00.000-06:00

Matthew Gilsenan (left) James Nelson (center) and Daryl Simpson (right)

We are so proud of our daughter and all the Tiernan Irish Dancers! Last night was a wonderful concert. We saw the Celtic Tenors perform an amazing concert, as well as their guest soloist, Deirdre Shannon. Deirdre is the sister of one of the Celtic Tenors (above left). The accompanist/pianist David was fabulous (I don't have a picture of him). C and the Tiernan Irish dancers danced so well. We were all enthusiastically happy to be able to take part in this event. They sang Shenandoah, O Danny Boy, Caledonia, Nessun Dorma, The Prayer, among others. A big surprise of the evening was their performance of the 80's tune, I'm All Out of Love by Air Supply. They turned a sometimes sappy love song into a gorgeous sophisticated ballad that just sent chills up your spine.
C was able to get autographs from all four singers and was grinning ear to ear, as in the photos, all evening long. She danced beautifully and her parents could not be prouder. She said she wants to become a "Celtic Tenor Groupie" and is convinced we should take a road trip to Twin Falls today so she can see them perform there tonight. My DH was even totally blown away by the concert! It was just a great evening.
So, if the Celtic Tenors come to your town, my advice to you is: GO SEE THEM. Unfortunately, you won't have the extra added bonus of the Tiernan Irish Dancers there, but I promise, you will be treated to a wonderful night of beautiful singing and great entertainment.

Deirdre Shannon

Whale of a Tail Tale

2007-03-19T08:33:00.000-06:00

Thursday evening everything was going smoothly. Or so I thought. Then my dear friend Krista comes to me and says, did you hear what happened? And so she unfolds for me a near tragedy! One of the little piggies who was picked to go home with her youngest boy got sort of cornered in the pen. This little piggy backed up and somehow wedged his little piggy tail in between the metal sidewall and a 2x4. He screamed and wriggled and yup, you guessed it and I'm almost horrified to say it, popped off his tail. Well, docked it, really. Left a couple inches. All in front of Krista's youngest boy! Her son cries, the piggy wails. It's all quite unbelievable.

Then Krista tells me my youngest boy comes up to his friend, the traumatized fledgling pig owner, and says, "It'll be okay. That's just what piggies do! They cut themselves, they bleed, but they get better! Don't worry (as he pats him), this piggy will live a long, happy life. It's just what piggies do." And he's right, all is well at this point. The piggy is okay now. The wound will heal; it is healing. But I don't know about the "long life" part (see previous blog) however.

So let's talk about my husband. Okay, so he feels completely responsible for this incident since he built the pen that the poor piggy injured himself in. He picks up "the tail" from atop a barrel on Thursday night and looks at it. "The tail!" he laments. I say, "The tail?! Ack! Get rid of the tail! I can't talk to you or look at you while you're holding the tail!" He agrees and disposes of the tail.

The next morning DH wakes up, rolls over, looks at me and says with a whimper in his voice, "the tail...."

There's my whale of a tail tale. Bet you've never heard that one before...or will since!

This Little Piggy Went to Market

2007-03-15T10:34:00.000-06:00

Ever since 4-H swine activities have entered our household and lives, now I know what "this little piggy went to market" really, truly means! It means that little piggy's little lifey is over! Sad. Nursery rhymes are really cruel and scary-realistic!

So DH came home yesterday and brought 13 little piggies from Montana. Three are for us. C gets one pig for 4-H and K gets one, too. M gets to raise a gilt (female pig that hasn't had a litter) up to full-grown and then hopefully we'll get to breed her. M can't raise a 4-H pig for market yet because he's not quite old enough. Next year though and he gets to be a pig entrepreneur.

They're all so cute! They run and jump on each other and smoosh together and bite and cuddle and snort and chortle and drink and eat and sleep. It'll be sad to see the 10 go tonight to their new 4-H owner but it was fun to have them for a little while. What a crew! 13!

"...and this little piggy ran whee-whee-whee, all the way home." You bet that little piggy did! He knew if he didn't then *WHACK* it was curtains for him!

St. Patty's Days Crazies

2007-03-14T10:16:00.000-06:00

St. Patrick's Day is this Saturday. It's four-leaf-clover madness for an Irish dancer!

Caitlyn has performances tonight, tomorrow night, Friday night, Saturday morning, Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. And that's with her opting out of some of the scheduled performances because of school commitments.

I think she's looking forward to it. They have a new dance called Satainta (sp?) that totally rocks and I think she really likes performing. So today I take a deep breath and off we go to entertain the Treasure Valley as best as we know how.

Tune your telly to NBC tomorrow (The Today Show) and you'll see the Tiernan Irish Dancers sister school, Trinity Irish Dance Company-Chicago, on the show. Mark Howard, the founder of Trinity, also was the founder of Caitlyn's school, Tiernan. I don't know whether Caitlyn's Chicago Instructor will be on the show or not, but if you see a blonde girl named Ellen, that's her!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

List of Things to Do Before I Croak

2007-03-11T22:55:00.000-06:00

Hey, guess what I did today? I milked a goat. Yes, indeedy, that I did. And it was an ornary, irritated, bad-tempered old gal who had just had a kid but didn't want to let it nurse. I got my chance to mark this item off of my list of "things to do before I die" at Sheri's house today when I went to see the brand new "baby goat"--which is a cute little whipper-snapper. While there, I tell Sheri, "I want to milk the goat." So she says "sure" and off we go. It was pretty cool.

DH is in Montana working. I am sad and lonely without him!

But I got to milk a goat! That's pretty cool. 'Twas a bright spot.

Weighty Matters

2007-01-10T12:53:00.000-07:00

My scale hates me. You know, the one that you stand on? And it taunts you and tells you how heavy you are? Yeah, that one. It hates me. And the feeling is mutual, so...

Hence the Y membership. Got a good deal changing our daughter's youth membership to a family membership; no sign-on fee. So, I took the hint and signed up the Fam.

So today is the day. Today I start moving. And eating less. No, I can't say "oh, I'm exercising! I need more calories." Duh. Tried that before and that's part of why I have such a fractured relationship with my scale. I need to be in harmony with the scale. Love the scale. Eat Less! Move More!

Yes, I know this is eerily timed to the same month that everybody else and their mother is getting started on their new year's resolutions. This is not a new year's resolution, though.

This is just because my scale needs to die. Or at least give me a number that I can deal with. :-)

How Did I Get Here?

2007-01-08T07:48:00.000-07:00

So, last night I'm visiting with a new friend after church and she poses the question: "How did a city girl get out here, raising chickens?" And you know what? Without missing a beat, I answered simply "my husband." And as I started to unpack the answer I realized how amazing it is that God put my DH and I together. I tried conveying this to DH as I spoke with him on the phone later in the evening. He is in Montana (brrr) and talking to him on the phone doesn't always work well. Plus I think he was cold, and tired, too. :-) So I'll try again, here.

My husband is a dreamer, he is a visionary, a spender. I am a worker bee, a doer, a bean counter. He thrives in the risky zone, I thrive in the safe zone. Don't get me wrong, he definitely can work ("energizer bunny") and I can dream--but essentially, at our core, he is the dreamer and I am the doer. We are such an amazing match-up.

It wasn't always this way, though. He was afraid to share his ideas and I effectively squashed them when he dared to bring them up. He didn't trust my reactions (and understandably so) and I didn't trust his vision for the future. But I think over time, as with most things, he has learned that I'm a pretty good support and I have learned that his ideas really do work! It's been a journey of trust and respect that I am glad to be over all those bumpy, lumpy hard parts, thank you very much. And what's ironic is that there has been a bit of a switch or a morphing, so that I have seen him lean towards more "safe" decisions, and I am loosening up, to being a bit "risky" (okay I'm not all there).

So how did I get here? My husband. And I'm so okay with that.

Better Late Than Never

2006-12-19T13:57:00.000-07:00

So, the Christmas shows went really well. Lots of interesting people and not many bumps in the road, at all. Thanks so much everyone for praying and thinking of me. Craig built the backdrop. This was the booth at the Boise Christmas Show. I am glad that busy time is past, but orders are still coming in and the local stores are running out. Thanks again for praying!

Soapy Sales

2006-11-17T06:17:00.000-07:00

[You "mature" people will get the pun - soapy sales, not Soupy Sales. Bahahahaha.]

I know, shocking -- two blog entries in less than a week! Stranger things have happened, I suppose.

Okay, I need a flavor from you guys. This weekend is the biggest weekend of the year for Cathedral Soap (just think, when I get my website, I'll be able to put a link her!!). It's the 11th Annual Canyon County Christmas Show at the Idaho Center, and I have my very own booth this year. I have enjoyed sharing over the past two years with Krista's booth (and Rachel, too, of course). But it's time to spread my wings. The kids and I got the booth set up last night. Caitlyn was up with me putting last minute labels on soap (about 350 bars?). I still was making a batch of "Berry Smoothie" last night. I think I'll need some toothpicks today, for my eyes.

So, maybe I'll even take a picture and post it for ya'll. Exciting stuff going on at lobsyblogsy!! :-)

Pray, pray, pray! For patience, consideration, kindness, patience, personality, thoughtfulness, patience, and oh, one more thing to pray for -- patience. Most all customers, with very few exceptions, are wonderfully nice but there are those few that require just an extra measure of oomph to be patient with. Thanks for praying.

Blog ya soon!

40 Years? When did that happen? Where was I?

2006-11-13T17:39:00.000-07:00

I hear some of you say "you never update your blog." I know. I don't. But I just don't have that many interesting things to say all the time like all the rest of you! :-) But I might now, and I'm only 20 days late in doing it. Sorry.

So, I recently turned 40. Wow. I'm just trying to figure out how THAT happened. So, in honor of my 40 years, here are 40 things I am happy about turning 40:

1) on my birthday, nobody put in the paper "lordy, lordy, look who's turning 40." I would have hunted them down.
2) I received NO black balloons. This made me happy.
3) My darling husband gave me a gold locket, like the one that was stolen (I never blogged about the robbery, too depressing), in the very same antique book, Portrait of a Lady.
4) the evening of my birthday, at dinner, my children learned how to make a toast.
5) my friend, Rachel, sent me not one, but 2 music CDs. She loves me.
6) my friend, Nora, sent me a wonderful memory book. I am looking forward to filling it up with memories.
7) my parents called me from New Zealand. Wow.
8) my mother in law gave me a mammogram for my 40th. I am touched by her love and care for me. (I also get lunch out!)
9) my husband took the day off and spent it with little ol' me. We went shopping and ate lunch out.
10) I am happy that now that I am 40, I finally had the guts to go and take voice lessons.
11) I have turned 40 and already reached my goal of learning how to play a musical instrument (guitar). I got a piano keyboard for my birthday, so maybe I'll get to musical instrument number two?
12) now that I'm 40, I like to use the word "fabulous" all the time. Say it. It's fun. Fabulous.
13) now that I'm 40, I don't care that I have wrinkles and gray hair. Daggonit, I earned them.
14) I got lots of chocolate when I turned 40. I will eat one piece a day until it's all gone. Well, maybe two pieces a day.
15) now that I'm 40, I get to say things like, "yes, I'm going to do that. I can do whatever I want. I'm 40."
16) I like eyebrow pencils more now than I ever did before, now that I'm 40. :-)
17) now that I'm 40, I can actually stomach the fact that my oldest child is learning to drive. It seems like I'm actually old enough to have a child old enough.
18) 40 means I'm old enough to know better and too young too care. Okay that was really, really cliche'. I actually don't always know better and I truly do care.
19) 40 means that maybe finally people will stop asking me "are you going to have any more...?" (children, that is)
20) now that I'm 40, I can change my mind whenever I want, like stopping at 20, because right now I can't think of any more reasons of why I'm happy I'm 40. :-) But 20 was fun!

Quotables

2006-10-21T21:44:00.000-06:00

Youngest child:
M climbs into my lap this morning. Snuggles up.

"Mom, did it hurt?" in his sweetest little sappy voice.

"Did what hurt, sweetie?"

"When you fell from heaven." Giggles, and a little kiss on the cheek.

Middle child:
Upon leaving for his first hunting trip, with his very own rifle, and his very own deer tag, K says, as he's going out the door at 5 am,

"Mom, kiss me goodbye. Today I leave a boy and come back a man." Flashes his classic toothy grin, because he knows he's being a cornball.

Oldest child:
She was told that when she was ready to drive, and her room "condition" was improved or becoming noticeably better, to come to us and present her case and "reasons" for driving. Her awareness of the seriousness of this impending responsibility, the awareness of the financial burden, etc....

"Mom and Dad, I would like to take driver's ed. It will be very convenient for you, for me to drive, because I can take care of all those annoying errands, like picking up groceries and taking kids to practices. I would be very helpful and useful."

Painfully obvious "reasons," that almost insult our intelligence as thoughtful parents, however, these reasons work because we agree to her taking driver's ed. :-) Stinker.

I Don't Know What Bajeebers Are But I Know I Can Have Them Scared Out of Me.

2006-09-29T14:16:00.000-06:00

Last night I got the bajeebers scared out of me.

C was at the Y and needed to be picked up. Big C needed to go to Home Depot. I needed to go to the grocery store. So it made sense to leave the boys at home and do what we needed to do.

Initially. It made sense, initially.

So we picked up C and got our groceries and schlepped all through Home Depot and went on our merry way home -- then the cell phone rings. It's number three, the little one. He is crying and unintelligibly explaining that "he can't see." (Now, he just got over that massive swimmer's ear infection so I've been a little nervous about him lately.) I say, "you can't see?" He says, through sobs, "I hit my head and I can't see."

Um, hello!!??

"Please put big brother on the phone, can you put him on the phone." Pause.
"Hello?"
"What happened?"
"Ah, well he fell over and then hit his head really hard and now he can't see. How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Um, excuse me!!!" Voice is getting hysterical. "Um, hello, he fell over??"
"Well, we were jumping and he fell."
"Jumping? On the ground? He was jumping on the ground and just fell over?"
"No, well we weren't really jumping."

Okay. Hysterics - here. Patience - gone. Voice level - high.

"Okay, son, listen to me. Are you listening to me? Stop being 12. Do you hear me? Don't be 12. You are no longer a 12 year old boy. You are an adult. Speak to me like an adult. Tell me what happened with accuracy and clarity and make some sense and do it now."

Silence.

"Well, we were watching a show and we were being crazy and doing karate chops and he was doing a move and he lost his balance and he fell over and I tried to catch him but I couldn't and he just fell and hit his head really hard. How many fingers am I holding up?"

Okay, now we're getting somewhere and I know what's going on but holy cow! How hard did this child hit his head? A few more minutes on the phone with #1 son and then back on the phone with the little one.

"Are you going to be okay? Mommy loves you! We'll be home in five minutes. Does your tummy hurt? Do you feel like you're going to throw up?"
"I'll be okay. 5, 2, 4. And my tummy doesn't hurt. 9, 10, 3."
"Okay. Good. What are the numbers, what are you doing?"
"I'm telling Kyle how many fingers he's holding up."

Oy vey.

So we get home. All ends up being well, all is fine. Actually turns out that M worries that "maybe he shouldn't go to school tomorrow because if his eyes hurt and he can't see, he can't see the concept board and that would frustrate the teacher and he might get his card turned [punishment for being naughty]." Also, after being offered a slice of pizza (late dinner), he remarks "I still can't see, but I can eat my pizza, because I don't need my eyes to eat pizza, don't I Mom?" So, in the end it becomes a ploy to play hooky from school and a lesson on whether or not blind people can eat by themselves. Reassurance that he's going to be fine and off to bed.

K learns: when self sees brother fall and hit head and brother is hurt, self should call parents because parents would want to know this and not hear it from said injured brother crying on phone, long after said incident. A few tears from K, and a gentle reminder that important lessons are sometimes hard to learn, and a hug and kiss and off to bed.

I have gray hair. Lots of gray hair.

Life sucks sometimes

2006-09-21T07:58:00.000-06:00

Okay, I have a good life. My husband adores me (I don't know why tho) and I have healthy, smart, good-looking children. But life just doesn't go the way it should sometimes. Yours probably feels that way, too. I'm sure of it.

My work computer's screen blew out yesterday. So I'm set back at least 4 or 5 days, something of which I do not need right now. And I have to go through all this nonsense to get it fixed, even though I'm supposed to have this superb, convenient 3-year warranty. It's not feeling superb or convenient at this time.

Every time I go to use something that I own, I can't find it. Then 3 months later I find it in my kids' rooms, the same healthy, smart, good-looking children referenced above. These are also the same children who claimed they had no idea where the item was, at the time that I asked them.

Speaking of rooms, my children's rooms are constantly a wreck. My oldest's potential driving privileges have been suspended, sleep-overs suspended, going to the Y suspended, and yet the room still maintains a messy state. The middle child picks up when asked, but drops stuff at an equal, steady rate. The youngest feigns ignorance or tiredness or lack of ability or whatever excuse is his favorite at the time, when asked to clean up. The whole room situation just exhausts me eternally. And when informing my daughter this morning that she is not going to the Y today, because I almost killed myself in the middle of the night trying to walk upstairs to help my youngest (who has a painful ear infection), my daughter slammed the door and screamed "don't talk to me when I come home!" So, that's been fun. I enjoy being accosted at 6:48 am in that manner. She says I don't understand her and the way she feels. If she only knew that I remember being 14 all too well and I am only trying to guide her? It's hard when someone who has eyes that only see partially, but they don't know they see partially, because they think they see clearly, and you see more clearly, because you know now that you used to see only partially--and that someone screams at you that you can't see anything at all. Grr.

Speaking of my youngest with the ear infection...I am trying to let him get over it without antibiotics because he is just on antibiotics all the time, it seems. But I second-guess my decision all the time, especially when I am up at 2 am, holding his hand and rubbing his arm, just to keep him sane, because his ear hurts so bad, knowing I just gave him Motrin 2 hours ago so there's nothing I can do for him. Hot compresses help and chamomille eardrops, a little. So that sucks seeing my kid in pain and wondering if I am causing him more than he should go through because I haven't taken him to the doctor. Which is supposedly in the long run going to be for his good. But it doesn't feel very good right now.

The warehouse isn't done and there is egg stuff and soap stuff all through my house. Fortunately all the cucumber related stuff is gone, temporarily. One just can't live in so much clutter. It just sucks that it's not done. I know, I know, be patient. But it just stinks. I am experiencing more frustration then patience about it lately.

I wrote a blog once about the things I love. This is my antithesis blog. Not to sound prideful, and if I could be so bold as to say: if you were "waiting to read my next blog," sorry you had to read this one. :-)

I really don't have much to complain about, really, in the grand scheme of things. This blog is totally self-serving. But it's been therapeutic -- send me the bill.

Life just sucks sometimes.

New Kittens Come to the Farm, Take 2

2006-09-05T11:05:00.000-06:00

Or, "Laura Becomes Cat Midwife."

Last night, Shy-Shadow had six kittens. Four gray and two black. One gray kitten and both black kittens have white socks and white markings on their face and tummy. Very cute. Good thing she had so many because she looked like she swallowed a football or a cantalope!

It all started last night about 9:30 pm when Shy-Shadow started showing signs of labor. Of course, the only one in the family that noticed this and appreciated it for what it was, was me (makes sense). By 10 pm, she started having strong contractions and out popped the first kitten. There was some confusion because she thought the best place to have her kittens was in the office closet (ah...no!). So we had to sort of "lock" her in the cat carrier and let her know that she was having them where we wanted her to have them. So she had the first one in there, with much to-do and loud meowing. Then we took her and the newborn out of the carrier and placed them in the pre-arranged spot (a Pampered Chef box with an old pillow and some towels!). She decided that this would do, and stayed put, thankfully. The boys watched with amazement but then soon tired of it and trailed off to bed. Craig gave up around 11 pm, but Caitlyn hung on with me until about midnight until I shooed her off to bed. About 2 am, Shadow had the last and seventh kitten, the only white one. Sadly, though, the little one was already dead. I called Craig in to help me make sure that it was not going to make it, and we unceremoniously put it in a paper bag. It was sad.

The whole process was amazing. At times, I felt a bit queasy, but nature does have to run its course and everything that happens--has a good purpose (for those of you who have witnessed this before, you know what I am referring to, I think). But it was truly a memorable experience and I finally, reluctantly, slinked away to my bed, worrying about leaving her alone...that she might have more? Fortunately, there were no more, and morning found her up and about, getting a drink of water and the boys using their flashlight (still dark outside at 6 am) to count, "one, two, three...six!"

Now, to figure out how to give away six more kittens. Pepper had three, and only one is gone, so that's a total of eight.

Guess what I'm doing this week? Taking Pepper to the shelter and getting her fixed! Shy-Shadow will soon follow...

I Thought I'd Never Have a Gun in My House - Okay, I Was Wrong

2006-08-31T07:40:00.000-06:00

My husband turned 41 yesterday. (Thanks for the nod to Craig and his birthday in your blog, Em.) So, I'm thinking 41 is kind of anti-climactic (sp?) after all the hoopla with the 40th. Dinner, limos, friends, black balloons. We had to think quick and come up with something somewhat memorable so his birthday became a hunting birthday. What is a hunting birthday? Well, gifts of a gun safe (which he maintains is actually a gift for me because he was fine with the guns just sitting in my side of the closet behind my underwear basket, um, hello? this was not okay, people), a meat-grinder (deer-burgers, anyone?) 2 packages of elbow-length plastic gloves (for reaching in and cleaning out the animal you shot, ew, gross) and a music CD. Okay the music CD was not hunting-related (can you say Deliverance?). So, all this hunting stuff reminded me of the Money family, this family in Maryland where I grew up. I was always in awe of Mr. Money. He hunted and he was like the quintessential macho hunting man. My father did not hunt so the hunter-man profile was strange to me. So here I am in my present reality that my son and my husband are hunters. Weird. But, it is a good thing, I guess. After getting used to the thought of a gun in my house which I, through gritted teeth, had told my husband upon our engagement I would never allow in my house, but now I am actually okay with it. (It helps to have them safely locked away in the safe). But beyond all that, elk and deer meat are actually quite good. They're incredibly low in fat and high in protein and so much better than cow-meat. I guess if you're going to eat red meat then this is the way to go. Incidentally, our last pig was butchered last week, too (if you're gonna eat pork, grow it yourself, and I haven't experienced it yet, but beyond the lack of antibiotics, supposedly fresh pork is the way to go). Beyond guns in the house I never thought I would actually own a pig that would get butchered. Sometimes I wonder, where am I? Okay, but enough about meat. I think I'll go have an apple.

Please Sign In Before Proceeding

2006-08-30T21:29:00.000-06:00

Okay, I admit it. It's been too long since I "blogged" (ugly word alert). So, feeling the pressure to "blog" I innocently log in, prepared to write a profound essay on the inordinate volume of snot my body makes this time of year (allergy season) and lo and behold, my heart skips a beat because I come to a screen that says "Please sign in before proceeding, username: password: " and I realize that I have no idea what my username and/or password is. What can I do? I am ready to blog, yet I cannot blog!! So I fumble through my mental list -- is it lobsy? lobsyblogsy? first name? last name? last name? first name last, last name first? Nope. Same message comes up: cannot recognize user name. What do you mean you cannot recognize my user name! I need to blog! I am ready to blog! Let me in!

Then it dawns on me. My first name and my last name, WITH NO SPACE IN BETWEEN. What was I thinking? I should know better than that! That is way too complicated for my pea brain!

So here I am. I got in. I'm exhausted, though. All blogged out now. More on gobs of mucous filling up my head later.

Buckets of Fun

2006-08-05T11:46:00.000-06:00

Caitlyn likes to drive our vehicles. The big green van or the gold Saturn, it matters not which one. She doesn't have her permit yet. So, she is content with backing up either vehicle in the driveway. Pull it forward. Turn it around. Back it up. This pleases her so much she breaks out in giggles. Today I asked her if she would wash the gold Saturn because it was looking rather lackluster, a shadow of it's shiny gold self. Sort of brown. So she obliged my request. Of course before she washed it, she had to pull it forward. To get it closer to the hose, you know. Then when she was done, she had to back it up. To get it closer to the vacuum, of course. However, in one of her pulling forwards or backing ups she ran over the wash bucket, water, soap, towel and brush still inside. After hearing "crunch," she hastily put the car in park, jumped out of the driver's side door and ran over to see what damage she had caused. (I was standing on the patio, laughing, doubled over, feeling very relieved that it was only a plastic bucket she ran over.) Her shock and horror and dismay turned to doubled over laughter, too, when she saw what she ran over and the state of the poor, crumpled bucket. She picked it up by the handle, dangling from one side, and said, "look Mom, my first thing I ever ran over!" We're so proud of her.

Going the extra mile for customer service

2006-07-25T08:17:00.000-06:00

Well, it's that time of year again. Time for picking cucumbers, washing and sorting them and delivering them. Sometimes, though, the customers come to us to pick up their cukes, which is nice and makes it much easier for me. Yesterday, a lady was coming to pick up her cukes. I waited. Nothing. Needed to take a shower, jumped in, all the while thinking she would show up while I am in my towel. But she still didn't come. Finally, I get a call. "Yes, hello? I tried to come to your house, but I ended up in Meridian, so I gave up and came home." Meridian? What? For those of you who don't know this area, Meridian and where we live could not be more completely in the opposite direction from each other. I say to her, didn't I give you directions? (I knew I did.) She says yes, but she looked up directions on Mapquest instead. Silence. I almost don't know how to answer her. I want to say, "the person who actually LIVES at the home you're trying to drive to gives you precise directions how to get there and you look up how to get there on Mapquest? Are you that stupid?" But I don't say this. I say, oh, well you should have called me, I would have gladly helped you find us. (I repeat in my head, be nice, customer service, customer service.) She says flatly, I don't have a cell phone. Well, okay, I'll give her that, she doesn't HAVE to have a cell phone. But for crying out loud, she has to follow the directions I give her! In the end, I jump in my van and on my way to Boise, I swing by her house to drop off her cucumbers. She is very appreciative as she greets me at the door. As I take her money and thank her, and turn to leave, she says "Next year, I'll get better directions." I must have made a face (honestly, I tried not to!) because she quickly corrected herself. "I mean, next year I'll FOLLOW your directions." Oy vey.

Things I Love

2006-07-18T11:50:00.000-06:00

I was washing eggs for the 197th day this year and I was looking out my window at my flower pots and it occurred to me that I don't think about the things I love enough. Like, for instance, I love flowers. I really do. I actually get a couple inches away from them and study the intricacies of a flower and just love them. No, I will never let you catch me doing it, but suffice it to say, I do stare at them. I actually stop and smell (inspect) the roses. I love waiting, too. I really do! I think I have gotten to a point in my life where half the fun of something is waiting for it to come. Mind you, some things I hate waiting for. Like for the things I really need: a paycheck, bedtime or the pizza to come out of the oven. But most of the time, I think I really love to wait. I love a job well done. I just love sitting back and seeing something I accomplished and knowing that I did a really good job. I love crying. Not sad crying, that's just the pits, I'm talking about the crying you do over the really cool moments in life. Like a good line in a movie, a movie that's really done well and you have fallen in love with the characters and they just move you to tears. Or crying because you are laughing so much. I love that! I love a well written song. (I don't want to say the things I hate, but seriously, I hate cheezy lyrics.) "You hurt me so much, I'm all out of touch, I want you back, give me some slack." I am serious, I have heard songs with awful lyrics like that and I just want to scream at them, give me a break! A well written song, this, I love.

Yes, of course, I love my family and friends and all that, you all know this to be true. So don't think I'm leaving you out. I just was sitting back and thinking about the mundane and real things of life and which ones of them I love. I don't think profound thoughts that much, so this was a moment for me. Most of the time there's nothing but air wisping around up there in that brain of mine, so thanks for bearing with me.

New Kittens Come to the Farm

2006-07-07T08:40:00.000-06:00

News Flash: Pepper had three kittens two weeks ago. Black, white and gray. Pepper "had" salt, pepper and salt & pepper :-)

On the road again and other ramblings.

2006-07-07T07:23:00.000-06:00

Today #1 child and I leave for Athena, Oregon, for the Athena Caledonian Games. Sheep toss, log toss, sheep trials, and all things Irish and Scottish will go on this weekend. It's a really fun time. C will perform with others a jig or two on the stage in the city park. We'll consume funnel cake and steak sandwiches and even join in a parade. We went last year and had a great time. C's best friend will come along with us for the ride.

I bought a new swimsuit last night. Things weren't as bad as I thought they would be. It probably helps that the suit is black and NOT tight in all the wrong places. I tried the suit on last week, but the price was too high. I went in this week and voila! what do you know? The price went down $20. Patience is a virtue and apparently can also save you some green.

We moved the rooster out of the henhouse last night. He was having his way with the 150 girls at his disposal so he just had to go. We always get the chicks on Valentine's Day and they start laying on Independence Day. And wouldn't you know it, we got an egg yesterday. Yes, the first one from this lot! Very exciting stuff. Even more exciting is that it is a medium-sized egg and not a pee-wee like the Rhode Island Reds lay in the beginning. These are our new breed, a Barred Plymouth Rock. Anyway, we put the rooster in the bunny hutch because Snowflake died last week. It's a farming operation, so you gotta do what you gotta do. Hopefully he likes his new digs. He was crowing this morning and it sort of bounced off the house and warehouse for an echo effect. I wonder if he likes the new acoustics.

Will let you know how the Athena trip went. TTFN.

Everyone's a critic

2006-07-06T13:53:00.000-06:00

So my blog was only minutes old and I changed the appearance from what it was to what it is. My 7-year-old looks at the screen and says "why does your blog look like the Declaration of Independence?" Everyone's a critic.

Once a little sister always a little sister

2006-07-06T13:16:00.000-06:00

I had to do my blog because my sister did it and so now I have to. It's like Jan and Marsha on the Brady Bunch. Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!

Seriously, though? I created the blog because I wanted to post on Em's blog and it started to take me through these steps and before I knew it I was creating a blog. (Can I just say that I don't like the word blog? It's very yucky to say, not like "parkly"--that has a pleasing sound.)

So now I can post on anyone's blog and I guess I have my own. I plan on being very self-indulgent and totally self-absorbed. :-)