Stone Temple Pilots ROCKED!!

First Off- Mommycore- I owe you an apology. Scott is a ROCK STAR HOTTIE!!!  His 6 pack is gone as well as his hair, but he wasn't emaciated either. How do I know this you ask?

Once again God smiled on me, and I ended up front row, up against the stage rail. I had been second, standing behind a dude half my age when I guess he decided he couldn't wait anymore. That's another benefit to staying sober. I don't drink at concerts and therefore do not need to pee!

I mentioned to DH its odd that now as I approach 40, I've been front row at the past 3 rock concerts we've been too. How have I pulled this off?

Oh... I caught another guitar pick as well!!

One more brag..... I TOUCHED SCOTT! You see he's quite the entertainer, climbing around, moving all over the stage. Well, he jumped down and walked right up to me. I placed a hand on his tattooed shoulder. It was bony as I expected, yet strangely, he felt cold to the touch. Maybe he is part lizard to be able to move that way.

Its amazing how many incredible songs STP has. They are such an under rated band. After the concert was over, I turned to DH and asked when's the next show. Sorry Ashlynn. I will be crashing your concert fun with Uncle Popcorn if STP returns.

So now I have to get back to the mom business today. I'm sleep deprived but not really hung over. We have to head into town on errands; picking up a card game we had ordered, filling up a popcorn tin for someone who may be reading this, and DS9's doctor's appointment. I also have to pick up computer parts so DH can fix mine tonight. This Dell is so slow.

Have a great Friday!

Its my computer...

I can't stick my tongue out at Charter. Its my computer that is broken. I'm on DS12's now which is even older than mine. Its a SWAP find we picked up for $20. I can't check my emails, but hey I got throught to Multiply so its not all bad!!

DH is going to take a piece out of our even older computer, which isn't running, and see if he can Frankenstein the piece into my computer so I can access the internet again. I think its amazing he can figure this out, but he doesn't think so. He's still brainwashed into the "I didn't go to school for this," mentality. He doesn't give himself credit for how much he has learned on his own, unschooling style. Where he works there is no IT staff, so he's had to fit the bill. He's really a design engineer, but he's learned so much about computer hardware hands on over the years. He thinks its no big deal he can open up the CPU and do stuff. I know this is how you learn new things. Just rip it apart and go for it!! :)

Why do people buy into the notion that you can't learn anything on your own? Why does it take a school or piece of paper to validate your knowledge base? We need to wake up. You shouldn't have to go thousands of dollars in debt with school loans to make your dreams come true. Autodidacts rise up!

DS9 lost a tooth last night! Yesterday he was terrorizing me with it. He would wiggle it and you could hear it click. It was really grossing me out. He wanted to do the string thing. (He has no fear of pain.) I told him to just keep munching on apples and carrot sticks. The tooth fairy left him a $2 bill. It quickly went into this wallet.

I'm doing more house cleaning today. My MIL is coming Thursday to stay with the boys while DH and I drive to Green Bay.

I had a 40% off coupon for the half priced book store. I stopped in and found Chasing Vermeer in hardback and two sets of journals that also came with sketch books. Now we can start writing notes back and forth with the boys, and we can have fun drawing back and forth too.

I better get moving. Its strange, I have no options to change the font or load pictures or anything. It must be this old version of Explorer on DS12's computer. Maybe I should try to upgrade software today for him. (Okay, okay, for me. How can I not check email?!)

Internet is down....

GRRR!!!!!!!! No internet all day!!!!

I'm stealing a few minutes waiting for guests to leave the pool. I promise to catch up on all your pages once our internet service at home is back up and running.

You don't realize how much you come to depend on something until its gone. I did manage to get quite a bit done at home though, even washed my kitchen floor! Guess not being able to sit my butt at the computer helps with that!

See you soon I hope!

Weekend fun

I know its only half over, but I have to report we're having a fab weekend!

Friday I stopped at SWAP and bought large 3 ring binders, 4 for a buck. I love SWAP! SWAP is  "Surplus With A Purpose" where the UW system unloads used equipment dirt cheap to keep stuff out of landfills. We found our giant chalkboard there for $10 years ago. Yesterday they also had really nice heavy duty dorm room dressers for $10 a piece. I would have bought one but I have no where to put it.

After SWAP we stopped at Mounds Pet Food Warehouse and found Yumi a grain free kibble food. Its called "Taste Of The Wild". The package and name are cheesy, but the ingredients don't contain grains, specifically corn, which I think is what made Yumi so sick. She seems to really like Taste Of The Wild. Its mostly chicken but it also has venison in it.

Our next stop was Pizza Oven. YUM!!! (See review.)

Our Friday night movie was Super Hero Movie. It wasn't that great. Its suppose to be a spoof on superhero movies.

Saturday we stopped at the "big" library, Hedberg and loaded up on yet more books I won't have time to read.
    Gifted Children At Home by Janice Baker, Kathleen Julicher & Maggie         Hogan
    Homeschooling At The Speed Of Light by Marilyn Rockett
    Psycho Kitty by Pam Johnson Bennett
    The Wright 3 by Blue Balliett (love that author's name)
    Wilderness First Aid by William Forgey MD
    Exotic Birds from A-Z by Barron's Compass Guides
    Smoothies by Louise Pickford

DH also bought for .75 cents a hardcover copy of The Ruins by Scott Smith. I tried to stay away from the sale!

Saturday afternoon we gave in to DH's craving for movie popcorn and we saw Hellboy 2. We've found a theater where you can refill your own popcorn and soda. Its DH's new favorite movie theater. I enjoyed the movie more than I thought I would. I had the villain's demise figured out way before the end, but the creative monsters made it still enjoyable.

On the way home, we indulged with Girl Scout Thin Mint Blizzards. SOOOO GOOD!!! Dairy Queen must discontinue these soon!!

Once home, we laced up our walking shoes and went out for a family walk across town to our big park and then home again, about a 4 mile round trip hike. We made it about 3 miles before the mosquitoes found us. That last mile we had to pick up our pace to try and out run the bloodsuckers.

Well, I better make some noise and wake my sleeping family. They're missing out on Sunday fun!

Pizza Oven

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Restaurants
Cuisine:	Pizza
Location:	Monona, WI

We have a new pizza hang out. Its still a 30 minute drive for us to find decent pizza but the Pizza Oven is worth it!

The thin crust is perfect! It cracks like a cracker when you bite into it. The sauce is correctly seasoned and the cheese is just right. It has become the only pizza my entire family will eat from. DS9 usually skips the za and fills up on bread sticks and fries, but he will eat Pizza Oven thin crust cheese.

The place is decorated with movie pictures and albums covers. The booths are high backed wooden, old school style, the way a pizza restaurant should be.

My only complaint - the pop is Pepsi products. I guess you can't have it all.

I'm going to need chocolate today.....

We had several strong storms move through last night. We're all sleep deprived. Our neighbor had part of his dead tree fall over. Thankfully we've had no damage.

I think we're going to take it easy today. There really is tons to do around here but I'm not feeling it.

I found out yesterday for the month of July, our library will take food donations instead of money for over due fines. Cool! I've decided to hang on to my over due book a little longer and just remember to bring a jar of peanut butter with me next trip. I'm evil. I know this was intended to assist our local food pantry, but I can't help take advantage of this opportunity. I'll have a extra few days now to finish up my reading.

Last night I decided it would be easier for me to get through my shift if I treated myself to one of those new sugar free vanilla iced coffees at McDonald's. Like a moron I ordered a large. I thought this would mean a 16 ounce drink. McDonald's large is 32 ounces! I couldn't finish it and now the other half is in my fridge. It didn't taste as good this morning but I don't want to waste it. It will probably stick around in my fridge a few days, until I feel less guilty about pouring it down the drain. It's amazing how much garbage sits in my fridge waiting for me to dump it.

Well, I guess I better get moving. If I don't, I'll depress myself. Hopefully once I get my ball rolling things will slip into place today.

Maybe my blog is feeling better today

Yesterday as you can see, I had posting issues. Hopefully its feeling better today. The thought occured to me- what if my Multiply blog goes down for good? Scary thought. I have nothing backed up and I'd hate to start over. The worse part of course is losing touch with all of you!

I think this is why I enjoy Mulitply better than blogger. It seems so easy to link up friends and watch my toolbar for all your updates.

The week is flying by. The summer is flying by!!! I'm looking over our calendar, and I realize we don't have a free nothing planned weekend until August 16th! I have to resolve that I'm not going to get everything done.

Today I must, must, go to the library despite the fact it is filled with the masses. (I hate sharing my library. All you kids get back in school!) I have a book over due by 10 days plus $2.50 in fines already waiting for me. I must take care of this. I hate having fines but I try to look at them as donations.

I'm going to look for some acid free composition books. I thought it would be fun if DH and I started writing daily notes to the boys and then have the boys write back to us. We already do something like this on our kitchen chalkboard, but it would be nice to have something years later we could pick up and get sentimental over.

My water glass is empty and its time to kick DS9 off the Wii so I get my turn. Plus I'm not certain this blog post will stick today.

Catch ya later gators!

Weekend clog

I'm pooped. I need some time to recoup. Nothings going on today's agenda except hanging out with my boys and some tunes. Plan on staying barefoot and in my yoga pants until I have to go to work.

Friday's parade was fun. DS9 rode his bike and passed out candy. Our small Norman Rockwell town always has a "kid" parade before the official one. Kids decorate their bikes, dogs are dressed up and skateboarders trick it out.

The coming of the police cars and rescue vehicles signal the begin of the official parade. I knew I was in rural Wisconsin when a major part of the parade was watching farm trucks and tractors all shined up wheeling down the street.

This year the scary, crazy driving clowns and Shriners were absent- thank goodness! Every year I always think they are going to crash into someone.

Of course tons of candy is thrown out but also possibly unique to Wisconsin, cheese sticks! For DS12 its the highlight of the parade to see how many string cheese sticks he can catch.

After the parade we drove over to my MIL's for a cookout. We played washer toss, Lasso golf and Bocce. We visited with Aunt Janice and Uncle Tony from Kansas and Aunt Barb and Uncle Pete from Arizona.

Unfortunately, Great Grandma wasn't feeling well enough to join us. We brought the party to her instead. DS9 & DS12 found the plastic gloves and were making glove balloons. This quickly turned into a game of glove balloon volleyball with Uncle Pete. I was surprised we weren't busted and asked to leave! Every nursing home needs a little spunk every now and then right?

We headed down to the lake front to watch fireworks over Lake Michigan. They were awesome! Best I've ever seen! Some of them shot up from the ground in growing expanding fountains of sparks and then a blasting bloom of color would top it, like a huge bouquet, or a cosmic ice cream cone! I'm usually partial to my hometown show because we get close enough your entire vision field is filled with nighttime color, but the K-town show was very impressive.

Saturday we slept in and got a late start to the day. We headed to my brother's house (aka Maija's) to celebrate DN's 16th birthday. We spent the night and woke up early to cheer on DH as he ran his first official 5K race.

He did really well considering he was too nervous to eat or drink anything. His time was better than his treadmill time.

I felt this strange feeling when he turned to look back at us as he began the run. I wanted to go with him but couldn't. I watched families run off together and felt envy. I've never even thought about trying to be a runner. I can walk and hike but I'm way too overweight to be a runner. I confess I've been jogging with my Wii Fit but I'd never want anyone to see me doing this! I may just have a new goal. Lose enough weight I'm not embarrassed to be seen running. Maybe next year we'll jog off as a family and celebrate our own 5K victory.

After DH's run, we watched DN in one of her soccer 3 on 3 tournaments. I really like 3 on 3 soccer! The field of play and the net is much smaller but the action is fast!

We drove home the long way to avoid the holiday traffic. DH and I split a Dairy Queen small Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookie Blizzard. All I can say is I'm grateful we don't have a Dairy Queen in our town! I have to get back on track with healthy eating now that the holiday weekend is over.

Well, DS9 is done with his Wii turn. Its mine now. Then its a cool shower followed by a spinach strawberry salad with almonds. Yum!

Happy 4th Of July!

I just wanted to pop out a quick note. This weekend is going to be crazy busy with running around to parties, parades, and fireworks.

I didn't get the hotel job. "We really liked you but we went with someone with hotel experience."  I'm bummed but also reminding myself to trust God's plan. Right after the rejection phone call, I prayed and the first thought that came to me was- focus on homeschooling. I guess I had gotten so concerned about money and making ends meet I forgot where I'm needed most.

On the positive- I still have my part-time job at the pool and my boss may have a project for me where I could log in a few extra hours at home. Maybe I'm suppose to keep exploring the home business idea?

For now though, I'm going to forget about money worries and just have fun with my family this weekend. Have a safe and fun holiday weekend! I'll be back with snapshots and details. I'll expect the same from you!

Firefly friends...

I grew up chasing lightening bugs every summer. It was a rite of childhood. -A brilliant little bug who entertained and wouldn't bite as you cradled it in your palm- I may have collected a few in jars, but mostly I was a catch and release type of girl. They impressed me back then, but it wasn't until I moved to our current home that I saw how magnificent they collectively can be.

The farmer sold his land and we watched the corn fields give away to wild prairies. One night we watched in awe as the field twinkled with the light of thousands, maybe millions, of fireflies. You may think watching one bug light up is pretty impressive, but you haven't seen anything until you look out on acres and acres of them firing up.

The developers moved in and the new houses are going up. The fireflies are still around but not in those huge numbers we saw that magical summer. It amazes me these little life forms lay dormant all winter, buried deep underground and snow, and then come summer, follow God's plan to light up and multiply.

I imagine for as long as children have roamed the summer grasses at night, fireflies have danced alongside.


http://iris.biosci.ohio-state.edu/projects/FFiles/
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/firefly.html

Ned Vare quote I love!

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

"The government does not want people to be well educated-- just enough, but no more. The 'economy' needs lots of sheep, not too many shepherds."

School Is Hell

http://school-is-hell.blogspot.com/
Ned Vare's weblog

Why must I share this world with MORONS!!

Have you heard about this story? 

I have to wonder if Joe Horn wasn't white, would he have gotten away with it?

Those men may have been commiting a crime but Mr. Horn commited one too. Murder!

I believe Mr. Horn is an insecure, racist. So is the Texas grand jury!

Now there are people praising him, saying we have the right to defend our property, blah, blah, blah...

It comes down to this- Do you value your possessions more than God's command to love one another?

Grease is the word....

Its always fun sharing with your kids your geekness. DH brought home Grease from Blockbuster. We stayed up late as a family watching and singing. Well, I was the one doing most of the singing.

I can remember being around middle school age and my best friend was Sue. She was a few years older than me and that I thought, was very cool! We spent an entire summer memorizing every lyric and taking turns singing every song from Grease into an old fashioned tape recorder. (No kids, we didn't have video cameras let alone Youtube back then.) To this day, I can't hear the music and not sing along.

The boys knew John Travolta from the movie Wild Hogs. LOL! They couldn't get over how young he looked in Grease.

I was actually surprised the boys watched the entire movie. They usually groan at musicals. They were really into it. At the bonfire scene DS9 said, "Why is Danny being such a jerk?" We had a great discussion on why Danny was trying to look cool. DS9 thought it would have been better to dump the act and get Sandy back right there.

During the dance off they questioned, "Why would you let that guy steal away Sandy? Why would you want to dance with Cha Cha?"  I'm so proud of my young men. They're going to make great husbands one day, just like their father! 

DS12 wanted to know if everyone smoked back then. I told him that in the 50's people didn't know how bad smoking was for you. I told him about how his grandparents smoked but they gave it up after learning it was so dangerous.

"Mom did your school have a carnival on the last day of school?"

No sweetie. High school wasn't really like that. Although I did drive away in your father's car, it didn't fly up in the air away from our singing and dancing friends. LOL!

Mini Golf at last!

We joined my sister's family and went mini-golfing for a belated birthday celebration for DN. I must say the adults were successful in thoroughly embarrassing the kids. It felt good to laugh and be laughed at!

I took a few snaps but its always a challenge to juggle your camera, the camera bag, your club, your ball, the score card, the pencil DH will later steal, and your son's jackets.



I thought this statue was too creepy sad for a mini-golf place. Isn't it something you'd place in your garden for babies gone to heaven?

This shot is for my mom. When she wants you to smile for pictures she'll always say, "Give me your best BS smile!" I'm not sure she understands what "BS" stands.

DH noticed the Eiffel tower was painted as a rainbow. Hmmm...as in Gay 'Paree'?




Where's the ball?






Are we fishing or playing mini-golf?









Sorry to tell you this DH, but you're never getting your ball out of the windmill.









How many times do you think this hippo's had humans picking his teeth?

The Ant War continues....

Scene 3:

After her victory in the kitchen counter battle and her areal assault over the ant home base, our heroine was feeling pretty confident she was winning the war.

She tranquilly opens the dishwasher door to begin loading her family's supper dishes.

CUE PSYCHO MUSIC

ZOOM in on the thousands of ants, turning the white insides of her dishwasher a dark shade of brown.

Our heroine grabs the bottle of Simple Green and begin spraying madly as the ants race for cover. She takes out most of the army and then launches her final attack.

Closing the dishwasher door the ants have no idea of their pending doom. Our heroine pushes the buttons and the hot sprays begin, washing the remaining ants to their death.

Teeth

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Horror

DH & I watched a very demented movie last night!! I only recommend watching it if you're in a man hating mood and want to see a man's worst nightmare come true.

The main character, "Dawn", (that was a bonus), is an abstinate teen girl waiting for marriage. What she doesn't know is she's been born with a mutation thanks to the fact her family lives near a toxic power plant. She's date raped and well, her mutation turns out to have a benefit. No one will mess with her twice.

The gore factor is huge! If you are a guy, you will be truly horrified.

I'm giving the movie 3 stars because the director took this film where others wouldn't dare! No surprise male critics have rated it low. Hmm.... wonder why?

Friday's report

I have no idea how the interview went. If nothing else comes of it, at least it made me buy these pretty shoes! (Yes there are a black pair hiding underneath as well! Payless has those great deals!)  I'm thinking of them as my ruby slippers, and hopefully I clicked my heals enough times before I went into that interview! "There's no place like working near home...there's no place like working near home..."

I had scheduled an appointment, but the manager of the new hotel was hosting two days of open call type interviews. I was somewhere around candidate 50. I know I'm more than qualified, but with so many in the playing field, I'm worried. My hair is gray and thinning. I'm overweight. I don't have a hotel management degree.

On the positive, I did point out the advantages of my age- maturity, patience, flexibility, experience, the ability to work with minimal supervision. I also threw in there I live close enough to walk to the hotel. I'm going to write a great thank you letter follow up and hope for the best. Its in God's hands.

The ants have invaded. Every summer they usually do look for water in the bathrooms, but this year they were in the kitchen!! Outside, I used up the last of the "black market" Diazon right on any ant nest I could find. (My dad still had some of the banned, good stuff.)  Inside I discovered Simple Green kills ants!!

I love Simple Green! Its a better alternative to toxic cleaners. I buy a gallon jug at the hardware store for about $10. Its mega concentrated so it lasts me over a year. I started spraying the ants just to wipe them up and discovered the ones I didn't wipe up quickly had died. So I sprayed a line of Simple Green around the perimeter of our kitchen and this morning I noticed the swarm was down to a few stragglers. I know this was just the first battle though. The war's not won yet.

I have to vow to stop reading and listening to news! It just depresses me. Stock Market plunge, oil prices surge, gas may go to $7 a gallon... This morning I found myself wondering, will we be a 3rd world country soon? Or will the government step in and before you know it, we're headed towards... I don't know...Communism?  That system of government historical has failed as well. I think the answer is we're not prepared to play on the global playground.

I realize I can't let all this garbage worry me. I have to focus on what's in front of me right now on my little plate.

I'm going to focus on taking better care of myself today, drinking lots of water, getting back on my Wii, and taking time to play with my boys. Its Friday Fun Day/Night after all! Maybe we'll go for a swim too.

Hope you have a great Friday Fun day too and a great weekend! Peace!

Thursday 13- Thoughts racing through my head before my interview!

13 Thoughts racing through my head before my interview!

1. I have an interview in an hour, and I'm feeling more nervous than confident.

2. Desperation doesn't help.

3. My van has no air conditioning.

4. I hope I don't look sweaty.

5. I hope I don't stink!

6. My closet has no business attire left.

7. I have no clue how to dress. I asked my sons, ages 12 & 9 what I should wear to this interview. They have a better fashion sense than me?!! I'm in trouble!!

8. My arms are covered with mosquito bites. What will my interviewer think?

9. My hands are still a light shade of purple from the Mulberries.  Do you think they'll notice in the interview?

10. I just want to crawl under the covers and watch LMN movies all day.

11. Where's the chocolate?

12. Maybe I'm PMSing?

13. Timing is everything.

 I should just relax, be myself and remember I'll end up where God wants me to be. I did see more ads in the paper for my area.

Check back with you later to let you know how it went!

Seven Song Music Meme

I got this meme from Suey's Blog. Here's the idea: “List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they're not any good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying now, shaping your spring. Post these instructions in your blog along with your 7 songs. Then tag 7 other people to see what they're listening to.”

1. Change- Blind Melon As I first came to consciousness this morning, this was the song in my head. Thank you Blind Melon! Its a great way to start the day.



2. Wii Fit Advanced step - I think I've been doing too much of this. I can't get his ear worm out of my head.

3. Down In Flames- Mindy Smith The lyrics to this song mention how life's little things can get you down but sometimes life's little things also can bring you back up.

4. Happy Birthday! Its Cindy's birthday today. Pay her blog a visit and sing with me!

5. Give A Little Bit- I prefer the Goo Goo Dolls version to the Supertramp original. It seems to rock a little more.  I always play this song to pick me up. It reminds me to not dwell on my problems but to focus on how I can share my love with others.

6. Vaseline- Stone Temple Pilots  DH is trying to get tickets and take me on a road trip date night!

7. Wet Sand- Red Hot Chili Peppers  This song always gets to me. Why must we fight over religion? Why can't we all agree the bottom line is LOVE ONE ANOTHER?

Purple feet time again....

The Mulberries are starting to ripen. When you walk barefoot in the corner of our yard, it stains your feet a fun shade of purple. I picked over a pound today from the branches that get the most sun. In a few days, much more will be ready to pick.

The birds love them too. When DS12 & I were out picking today they were chirping warnings because we were in their tree. My neighbor doesn't like Mulberry trees because the birds eat and then poop purple stains on the patio furniture. I say let the birds eat them. I'd rather have to wipe down my patio furniture and be able to view wildlife in my yard.

We actually have new Mulberry trees growing next to the house because I wasn't on top of weed control. (Thank you birds!) Now they resemble bushes and DH likes them so they're staying put. I'm hoping I can prune them to keep them from getting too large.

We don't spray the tree so I know the fruit is pesticide free. Soaking the berries in water takes care of any bugs. Maybe I'll try jam this year if we get enough. I'm off to Google Mulberry recipes!

Sweet Sunday.....

Letterboxing yesterday was great. I needed a good long hike. My body couldn't help but relax because it was exhausted from hiking for almost 4 hours. It was more proof to me that exercise is a requirement in daily living. As stressed out as I was, every fiber in my body could chillax last night.

Yumi seems to be doing much better, but I've done more research that makes me believe the food the vet recommended may not be the best choice. I'm thinking of moving Yumi to a wet food, meat only diet even though she seems to prefer dry kibble. Check out this web site for cat food info. Its very eye opening.

I'm suppose to be cleaning because we've invited friends over. Instead I took a nap. I'm thinking our friends can over look a little dust.

DS12 has a better looking blog than I do. He's getting ready to hook up a web cam I didn't even know we had so he can do video responses. I'll have to have him teach me! I hoping having his own blog gives him another outlet for writing.

I have an interview this Thursday! A new small hotel is opening up in our town, and if I could find a position there, I could walk to work! The problem is, I believe the positions are all full time. My first priority is being available to help my children home school. I'm going to try and sell the manager on the idea of job sharing and see how it goes.

Well, its time to make tortillas for tonight's supper.

Babble for Friday...

I'm trying to take a deep breath and relax today. I just don't handle stress very well.

Work is becoming less fun. Oh what the heck, my boss will never read this. She's too busy. We are down two managers now so basically the pool owner is trying to oversee everything. Problem is, she has 3 other companies she is trying to run. I'm witnessing problems with staff and problems with guests, but there's only so much I am authorized to take care of. Its frustrating for me to see problems I can't solve. Everyone is getting grumpy and that doesn't make for a fun, happy work environment.

I came home and DH reported Yumi threw up. Plus there's no poop in the litter box yet. I thought she was doing better, but apparently we aren't out of the woods yet. This is weighing very heavy on my heart.

I pass a sign on my way to work each night that has inspirational messages posted. "Sunshine all the time, makes a desert."  Right now I just feel like sticking out my tongue at that sign. I want Yumi to be better, and I want a job that helps with the bills and brings me joy. Is that too much to ask for? I think not. The desert can be a beautiful place and believe me, I know how to make shade!

Today I'm baking cookies. I can't eat them. I have to bring them to a Letterbox event tomorrow. I'm really hoping it doesn't rain. I need to get out into the woods to de-stress. Its been too long.

DS12 has decided to try blogging. I guess he won't be known as anonymous DS12 much longer. I know blogging is an educational exercise. When you have to teach something to others, (sharing through writing), you have to really know and understand what "it" is you're writing about.

I did ask DS12 to practice his typing with our Garfield typing software. The pure unschooler he is, he said to me, "Why should I when I can type just fine using my method? I know Dad has to look at the keys, and I've seen you make typing errors. I'm doing fine with my own way." Yup. I need to back off! I will forever be "deschooling" myself so I can be an unschooler.

DH types with only his pointer fingers. For a computer design engineer, I can't see how this is possible, but he tells me he mostly uses the mouse. His company actually worked on a mouse you wear on your head. Someday typing itself may become obsolete.

Well, I better get moving. Hope you have a great weekend!

another granola recipe

I had been buying Copp's Organic French Vanilla Granola but at $3.29 a pound, I needed to find a way to make this at home. Here's our super easy recipe. It came out tasting really good, and the ingredient list doesn't get any simpler!


1/4 C honey
2 T oil
1 t vanilla
2 C oatmeal, (old fashioned oats)
handful of chopped almonds

-preheat oven to 250F

- Whisk together the honey, oil and vanilla. Stir in oats and almonds and spread on a cookie sheet. (Hopefully yours is in better shape than mine.)

-Bake for 30 minutes

*Our honey had solidified over the winter, so I had to melt it in the microwave first. Everything mixed together much better that way.

Yumi update...

She has gone 24 hours without vomiting! Yeah!!

We brought her home yesterday afternoon. She had a good rest and started acting like herself. She was acting very hungry, trying to get into what food she could. We were instructed to only give her a spoonful of Nutri-Cal. Its a brown goo, like hairball medicine. Its packed with calories though. A 10 pound cat can survive on only 3 spoonfuls a day.

By morning she hadn't thrown up so we could give her real food. She ate a spoonful of Hill's Prescription Diet z/d Low Allergen dry pellets.

She also was a trooper when I had to give her a Prednisone pill. The first try she spit it out but on the second attempt, I got it far enough back on her tongue she swallowed it.

We were worried she hadn't used her litter box at all last night. We completely replaced the Feline Pine with Wheat Scoop. After breakfast we caught her getting ready to go where she shouldn't so DS12 rushed her into the Wheat scoop box where she was successful! I'm sure she's wondering where the Feline Pine went and what is this new stuff?

This is probably way too much you didn't want to know about our cat!!

We don't know why Yumi is sick, and it was difficult to chose how to treat her. We went with the steroid treatment and hopefully she won't need surgery. If she does need surgery, we're in trouble because of the steroids in her system.  So far though, I'm pleased with how she's been doing these past 24 hours.

Thanks for your prayers and thoughts for Yumi. I know I'm a wimp, but I get easily stressed when my fur child or children are sick.

Emergency Trip to the Vet this morning....

Yumi Update:

The vet never called back yesterday to give us the results of the worm test. I called this morning and was told the test was negative for worms. The doctor would call us back as soon as she was out of her appointment.

Meanwhile, I checked the litter box and cleaned it. She peed and pooped last night so things must still be moving through. Yumi can't resist a clean litter box though so she jumped right in. I watched her do her business and to my horror a goopy mess of blood followed her poop. I scooped it up and the phone rang. It was our vet. I told her what just happened and she told us to bring Yumi in immediately.

They take her back for x-rays. While waiting for the results, I'm in the lobby when a lady comes in to pick up the body of her kitty! She told me their 4 year old cat was an indoor cat but had gotten out and was hit by something. Her pelvis was shattered. The cat belonged to her 12 year old daughter. I watched the vet tech carry out the box and help the woman to her car. Then I lost it.

I sobbed like a baby in the lobby, worried about Yumi and feeling for that poor family who is burying their fur baby as I type this.

Yumi's x-rays didn't show an obstruction, but I was ready to approve surgery to save her. The vet changed her mind when she looked at Yumi's morning mess. The blood wasn't the typical streaking blood you see due to bowel obstructions.

She doesn't know what is going on, but she doesn't want to rush into surgery. We are trying medications first. They have given her a medicine to stop the vomiting and then they are trying a steroid for inflammation. If she keeps the medicine down, she can come home this afternoon.

The vet wants me to change her litter and get rid of the Feline Pine. She's worried the pine oil has toxins Yumi is allergic to. We've used the stuff for years. Why this would be happening now, I don't know, but I'll pick up some Wheat Scoop this afternoon.

I'm really praying Yumi gets through this and we can keep the cost under $500. I know some people pay whatever it takes but we can't.  My poor coworker had to put down his puppy after he ate sticks which punctured his intestines. He didn't have the money for surgery. 

I know things happen and you do the best you can for your pets. It doesn't make me a bad owner if I don't choose to spend thousands. I have human children that I need to provide for as well.

Thanks for your prayers and kind thoughts for Yumi. We'll keep you posted.

Poor Yumi

We're waiting for the vet to call. I'm trying not to worry but I am. I can't afford the multiple x-rays they want to do if the worm test comes back negative. The alternative is to give her a laxative and see if she did indeed swallow something she shouldn't have, she may be able to push it out.

I'm really wishing we had hard floors. I'm trying my best to Spot Shot the carpet, but I can tell its going to need a steam cleaning when all of this over.

Killing time Babbling on my Blog

I'm waiting my Wii Fit turn. The laundry is washing and drying, and I've got Soup blasting out from my windows. Thought I'd kill some time here if you don't mind.

Yumi is still not feeling well. I limited her to water only last night and this morning first thing I gave her hairball meds. She ate a few bits of dry food, and then proceeded to puke in DS9's bed. The bedroom doors are all now closed. Except for the vomiting she isn't acting sick. She still wants to play, jump up on the counters, escape out the door, beg for Pounce treats....I'm debating as to when I should call the vet.

I started to type up a budget. Its painful, but I know it has to be done. I find myself praying away the financial stress on a regular basis, and I know the Heavenly Father's watching me to see if I'm learning and growing from this.

We're in a supper rut. I hate cooking because its too much pressure to make an affordable, healthy meal my entire family will eat. If we could live on baked goods alone, we'd be set. Plus I'm a vegetarian at heart, living with carnivores. They ask for burgers and I know making them at home is healthier and cheaper than eating out, but the thought of raw meat in my hands makes my stomach turn over. Playing short order cook is getting old.

I think I'm going to try and put away a few paychecks and splurge on a nice hotel room when DH takes me to see Blind Melon. I had a dream I was waiting for DH to join me in a nice hotel suite, but people from work kept showing up at the door. At one point in the dream the hotel staff asked if I didn't mind sharing my room with another lady because they had overbooked the hotel. I finally screamed, "NO! I'M WAITING FOR MY HUSBAND!" I think my subconscious is saying I need time alone with him.

I'm think in a past life I was separated from those I love. This is why in this life I relish spending as much time with them as possible.

Oooohhh! St Andrew's Fall! I have to go turn it up and sing with Shannon. I love this song!

Then I'm going to go and kick DS12 off the Wii or I'll never get my turn.

See ya later gators.....

See ya soon macaroons...

Happy Father's Day!

We are blessed to have such a great man in our lives. I offered to make him breakfast in bed, but he decided he wanted sausage biscuits from Mickey Ds.

After we gave him his presents, (cologne and the 1st season of 90210 on DVD- I'm not kidding. Its what he asked for..), we helped him mow our lawn and our neighbors. Another down side to all the rain we've had. The grass is growing like crazy.

We went to see Ironman in a real movie theatre. We couldn't actually remember the last time we had seen a movie in a theatre. DH deserved real movie theatre popcorn. It was a new theatre for us and it was a real treat because they had do it yourself popcorn and soda refills on any size! You walked up to the popcorn machine and it came out fountain drink style. Endless, falling down, yellowy good popcorn! The machine also had do it yourself butter goo!

Ironman was really enjoyable too! I would definitely recommend seeing it. I can't wait for the sequel!

We stopped after the movie to gawk at the swollen, flooded Rock River. I'm not sure if it was because they were trying to swim upstream or perhaps they were catching bugs, but the fish were jumping straight up and out. Note to self- keep the camera with you always!

We came home to "bad for you" brownies. I used real eggs, real oil and lots of fudge frosting. I'll have to make sure DH brings them to his work tomorrow or I'll pick at them all day.

My poor Yumi is throwing up today. This morning I noticed pieces of rubber band. I have no idea where she found it. Now its just yellow, chewed up food. Her food is normally brown so I'm worried. I'm keeping her off of solids for the night and just giving her water.

Did I just segway from brownies to cat puke? Sorry about that!!! EWW!!!!

I'm very tired. I was yesterday too. It could be my allergies. I didn't do my Wii Fit today, but I did lawn mowing. That should count right? DH was on the riding mower, but I used the push mower to do the trim work. Maybe I got too much sun?

I'm off to change into jammies and put my feet up. Maybe I'll try one cup of Sleepytime tea to seal the deal! Goodnight!

Burying the body......

I wanted to take a before shot of one of the garden beds we'll be working for our neighbor this summer. Afterwards I looked at this shot and thought with the tarp, it looks like we're up to no good! LOL!

Our neighbor has 4 plots this size plus the square you see the boys dumping the manure on. They worked very well together mixing 4 bags, and I got a kick out of how polite they were asking J, "May we please use your hose to wash the manure off of us?"

They planted sugar baby watermelons. We'll see if there is enough time to grow them. They probably should have been planted several weeks ago.
This afternoon I'll help transplant J's tomatoes. I really like these rectangle garden beds. They are the perfect size to crawl around. After my season of garden apprenticing, I'll have to try garden beds like this in our yard.

I'm off to the nursery to pick up petunias on sale. I have to fill the deck boxes out back with some color.

Experimental brownies, batch #1

I am my mother's daughter. I'm trying to make a guilt free brownie from scratch not a box. This didn't quite make the mark, but they're not inedible. It does have chocolate in it after all. I will say only people who like prunes would like these. Next time I'm trying non-fat yogurt.

Low Fat Experimental Brownies -batch #1

3/4 C of prune butter
1 C sugar
2 eggs
1 T vanilla
12 T of cocoa powder
1 C flour
handful of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 F

- Mix the prune butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Add cocoa powder and flour and mix until combined. Spray a 13X9 pan with non-stick spray and spread the brownie batter out evenly. Throw a handful of chocolate chips on top because my mom says everything tastes better with candy on top. Bake for 35 minutes.

Prune Butter

Prune Butter can be used as a fat substitute when baking. Its easy to make and adds nutrition to your treats!



In a food processor mix a heaping cup of prunes, aka Dried Plums, with 5-6 Tablespoons of water or fruit juice. Process into a paste which can be kept in the refrigerator up to 3 weeks.

We're safe.

Another crazy night in Wisconsin. I was at work for most of it. It was chaotic. Our weather alert radio kept going off with tornado, flash flood, and thunderstorm alarms. I'd tried to listen to where exactly the tornadoes were, but Tanner the owner's dog was barking like crazy, the phone was ringing off the hook, "are you still having lessons," and guests were trying to register for Summer semester. It was the last night of Spring semester as well so everyone had report card questions. I was too busy to be scared I'd blow away.

Thankfully I made it home. The road I travel was under water. I was one of the last vehicles to make it across before they closed the road. Unfortunately, my co-worker couldn't make it home and was planning to stay with relatives. Many roads are closed and flooded over. This morning they are advising people not to travel and our major interstates 94 & 90 are closed down.

Our Mallard's baseball game was rained out. Instead the boys were home alone during the tornado warnings. I debated whether they should ride in to work with me and have DH pick them up there, but the pool I work at has no basement. Traveling in a car isn't the safest option either. I figured the safest place is our home. It has basement area without windows.

When they heard the sirens, they acted exactly as we had practiced. They went into the basement and followed our tornado action plan. (We discovered we need a telephone list in our emergency kit.) The tornado actually was in the next town over. Thankfully we have no damage.

Today if we can get a break in the rain, we are going to get our green thumbs dirty. Our neighbor started her plants indoors, but now her health is prohibiting her from working in her garden. We have to weed the beds and then transplant her veggie plants. I'm sure the ground is moist enough this will be easy work.

I'll probably bake a few pans of brownies for Dad's day weekend. They are always better after having aged a day. We like a fudgie brownie with chocolate frosting, and they're better if the frosting can dry out a bit. I'll bake up our regular recipe, but I also want to try a new fat free version which uses prune butter. Sounds bad, but I'm not going to knock it until I try it.

Well, I better go and burn off some pre-brownie calories on my Wii Fit. There has got to be subliminal messages in that game! It always makes me feel fantastic, and I can't go a day without it!

Wishing Well - Blind Melon

The brand new video from Blind Melon "For My Friends" in-stores now! Can you see me in the crowd?!

Lake Delton is now Canyon Delton

As some of you have seen in the news, Lake Delton near Wisconsin Dells is gone. Flood waters caused the man made lake to spill over a roadway and into the Wisconsin river. The rush of water carried away pretty much the entire lake along with several people's homes. The video on the news was amazing to watch but now its time to point fingers.

I don't know anyone who lost their entire home, contents and all, but I feel for them. In the news today it is reported the village of Lake Delton did not comply with federal flood plan maps so they are not eligible for flood insurance or FEMA assistance. Click here.  It seems accepting new flood maps would have made new construction in the resort area too expensive. It always comes down to the almighty dollar doesn't it.

The governor of Wisconsin has vowed the lake will be refilled. Its a major Wisconsin tourist attraction after all. Can't lose those tourism dollars!

I like my husband's plan better. He pointed out that for awhile, the empty lake itself is a tourist draw. Come see Canyon Delton! Someone just needs to set up ATV rentals and there's lots of fun to be had in the mud! Hmm... come see Tommy Barlett's mud skiers!

Seriously, the flooding has had a huge impact here in Wisconsin. There are smaller towns cut off because roads are impassable. Today they have closed down westbound HWY 94 because the Rock River is inches away from the road surface. They have parked dump trucks filled with sand in the hopes it will help the bridge survive the rushing water underneath. Sounds crazy to have heavy machines on an unstable major bridge but the idea is the weight may keep the bridge from moving. Crazy!

Tomorrow's forecast is for more rain.

TTT

My storm damaged impatiens bloomed again! Yeah!

Ten Thoughts Tuesday

1. Despite those wispy, cottonwood/dogwood seeds, I'm opening up the windows. The heat and humidity are gone for now, and the fresh air feels good even if I have to endure filmy, itchy eyes and a runny nose.

2. I'm throwing back huge mugs of ice water with fresh lemon. Helps with #1. (No pun intended but that just made me giggle.)

3. Anyone have a recipe for sweet tea? I feel like we're drinking way too much sugar using the Lipton instant.

4. I am a true Melonhead! DH's taking me to see them two nights in a row in July! I can't wait!

5. I must not forget my kazoo this time!

6. My Wii Fit is hidden from the Posse. Its bad enough I have to share it with my tribe. I don't want dirty rat feet on it.

7. I should buy a silicon cover for my Wii Board.

8. Why is it on the nights I have to work, it seems like the days go by so quickly?

9. Rebate Affiliate Marketing is a home based business scam. My search continues.

10. I have to buy Dad Day cards!!

Stormy weekend..

We're still here. We didn't blow or float away despite the crazy weekend of storms.

I had to work Saturday at the pool for Safety Day. Thankfully I scored a front desk position inside. Last year I baked in the sun at the "Rescue Trevor" station. (Remember to Reach or Throw Don't Go!) The downside to the front desk spot was listening to the weather radio go off every 10 minutes with yet another flash flood or tornado warning.

At one point the alert said a tornado had been spotted near Evansville. I tried to call home for 30 minutes and no one answered. When I finally got through, I found out DH was mowing lawns. He heard the sirens go off but the sky looked clear to him. Men!

The Banana Lady was also at Safety Day.  Another reason I was grateful the weather radio was going off! I have no desire to see the "Banana Shake" again.

We had two graduations this past weekend. One nephew graduated 5th grade and the other high school. Sitting through both on hard bleachers, to be brutally honest, I'm glad we home school.

The 5th grade ceremony we watched a slide show of baby/kid pictures for 30 minutes straight. When the babies aren't your own, this gets old really quickly.

My nephew's high school graduation was filled with several long, boring speeches I've heard before. "Best years of our lives, our bright future, blah, blah, blah.." The highlight was listening to the band play The Pirates of The Caribbean theme, the song chosen by the senior class. My sister gushed about how Evansville High School is a top school with 60% of the class on the honor roll. I just wonder what the standards are if 60% of the class can make it?

Yes, I'm cynical and totally home school biased. I can't help it. When I attend the home school conference and listen to home school graduates get up and share their experiences, its inspirational and from the heart. When I attended the public school commencements all I heard was the administration saying, "We're so great," and the few students who spoke sounded so canned.

Maybe I'm just in a mood because school is out and my phone has begun ringing off the hook. Too bad gas is so expensive or I would have run away with the boys today.

Looking for cheese...

to go with my whine! 

I have a feeling this blog post is going to be me just whining. Feel free to stop here but I have to get it off my chest.

I'm sleep deprived. This is why I'm probably feeling this way. Plus, its the first week of June and the trees are releasing little cottony wisps into the air. My head's achy, eyes itchy, throat getting sore. Its allergy time.

We had big time thunder boomers and look what it did to my new impatiens! Wahhh!!! My pretty pink petals are gone!!!!!

My sister, (don't worry she doesn't read my blog), wants to throw an end of the year hotdog party at my house tomorrow. She wants me to invite the Posse Rats just when I successful chased them away. Why my house?!!! I know the answer to this. We have a boycave, and I'm home during the day to clean it. I'd look forward to this party if I knew my boys were excited about it, but they aren't. Lately the P. Rats are turning into middle school freakazoids. 

I'll stop whining now. It gets old real fast doesn't it.

My Wii Fit glory is being trampled. I had been triumphing over my family members, but now they are catching up and breaking my top scores. Yesterday I had worked up to completing the 30 minute free run. Today DS9 decided he wanted to try it. His pace is of course, much faster than mine. He ended up with the "calorie scorcher" rating and over 7000 points! I'll never catch him. My top score on the 30 minute free run had been around 3500.  In all seriousness, Wii Fit has been wonderful for our family. We are all moving more and having a great time.

I'm on the hunt for an affordable piano. DS12 has suddenly decided he wants to learn to play. Personally, after listening to Mr. Joe Jackson, my own interest in re-learning piano was awakened. Now that I'll have a family member to share this with, I really want to find a piano. I tried to talk my mom into selling us hers, but that was a no go. She's not ready to let go of it even though I doubt she plays it very often.

I also have to find a native Japanese speaker. I've given up trying to encourage my children to learn Spanish. I thought Spanish would be a better second language to learn, since we'd have more opportunities to use it. DS12 has his heart set on Japanese though. We have a Muzzy Japanese program but regardless of what the commercials tell you, its useless. My son may be able to recognize certain Japanese words when he hears them, but it hasn't helped him learn to read it or speak it. Thankfully I only paid $10 bucks for it used.

We have a tent worm invasion in our yard. I'm not sure that's the correct name for them. (We're looking into that.) They look like caterpillars. Yesterday I was amazed to find one that I thought had drowned in the rain water collector. I watered the plants and then placed the soggy wet critter in the sun. He dried off and then started to move! Amazing! It made me reflect on the many of God's miracles. To think just months ago we were buried in several feet of snow. Its so amazing to me that under that frozen blanket insects lay dormant, waiting to reawaken. I do get geeked up about stuff like that!

I have a great idea on how to celebrate my 40th- 10 weeks away! I'm changing my name! I'm going to start using "Dawning" instead of just Dawn. I was named after my maternal grandmother, Daga, Swedish for Dawn and my mother, Inger. I've always felt jipped that my name only had one syllable. I like "Dawning" because its a blend of both my grandmother and my mother's names. Its also an action word! I like to think I'm "dawning" into the woman God wants me to be.

I'm also thinking of renting a giant inflatable bouncy house for my front yard. I'll spend the day acting like I'm 4 not 40! LOL!

Catching Pigs

Someone shared this on a home schooling list I'm on, but its not just for home schoolers.


CATCHING PIGS

There was a chemistry professor in a large college that had some
exchange students in the class. One day while the class was in the lab, the
professor noticed one young man, an exchange student, who kept rubbing his back
and stretching as if his back hurt.

The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him he
had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting communists in
his native country who were trying to overthrow his country's government and
install a new communist regime.

In the midst of his story, he looked at the professor and asked a strange
question. He asked: "Do you know how to catch wild pigs?" The professor thought
it was a joke and asked for the punch line. The young man said that it was no
joke.

"You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on
the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come everyday to eat the free corn.
When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down on one side of the
place where they are used to coming. When they get used to the fence, they begin
to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence. They get used to
that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the
fence up with a gate in the last side. The pigs, which are used to the free corn,
start to come through the gate to eat that free corn again. You then slam the
gate on them and catch the whole herd. Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their
freedom. They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon
they go back to eating the free corn. They are so used to it that they
have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their
captivity."

The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening in
America . The government keeps pushing us toward Communism/Socialism and keeps
spreading the free corn out in the form of programs such as supplemental income,
tax credit for unearned income, taxcuts, tax exemptions, tobacco subsidies,
dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops (CRP), welfare, medicine, drugs,
etc. while we continually loose our freedoms, just a little at a time.

One should always remember two truths: There is no such thing as a free lunch and
you can never hire someone to provide a service for you cheaper than you can do
it yourself.

If you see that all of this wonderful government "help" is a problem confronting
the future of democracy in America , you might want to send this on to your
friends. If you think the free ride is essential to your way of life, then you
will probably delete this e-mail. But God help you when the gate slams shut!

I don't know about you, but I'm not looking for free corn. And from a home schooling standpoint, my children don't need free corn either!

Its a great day for hoops....

The morning is cool and crisp. Its overcast but not raining. DS9 always likes to exercise his body before he exercises his brain. He says it helps move the blood to his brain. I think he's so right! I'm off to follow his example!

June 3, 2008

I'm really trying to relish the fact this is the last week public school is in session and its just the 3 of us at home during the days. After this Friday, I'll begin my countdown to September, waiting for the doorbell to stop ringing.

This also means I'll have to share my library, my parks, my museums, no lines in the stores. For a home schooler, summer means everybody else is out there trying to do what you do all year long. I'm spoiled. I like having it all to myself! One of these years we should run away.

I've already started to see the back up at the dentist yesterday. DS12 got in at his appointment time, but DS9 had to wait another 30 minutes. This is not easy for his anxiety. Who wants to wait in the dentist office thinking about all those metal instruments scraping you? I did my best to distract him, but I ended up having to sit next to him while he was worked on. I was pleased both boys had no cavities! Yeah!

We stopped at a great grocery store on the way home. They have a large produce section and natural foods area. You can buy every type of granola made under the sun. I stocked up on organic sushi rice. DS12 picked out a vanilla granola and raisins. I bought more cherries at $1.99 a pound and picked up more dried cranberries.

After coming back home, I made too much supper. I forgot how filling sushi rice really is. We made onigiri, or rice balls. You wrap or mold the cooked sushi rice around fillings of your choice, fish, chicken, veg etc... Its sort of like sushi rolls without the seaweed wrapping. This time I brushed the onigiri with a dressing of fresh garlic, lemon juice, red wine vinegar and olive oil, and then grilled them. So good!!

Today I'm getting the garbage ready, cleaning out the fridge, and I feel so guilty. I'm throwing away food we should have eaten. I have to learn to make and buy only what we will eat. We also miss what we do have on hand because the fridge and pantry are too cluttered.

I'm depressing myself, thinking about all I have to do to get organized. I think I'll give myself some Wii therapy and then I'll start taking one step at a time.

Somebody's got to do it....

I guess I'm having labor relation problems. One of my workers is questioning his job responsibilities. This was his way of asking others to question it with him. As you can see, he didn't find any union sympathy.

This prompted me to type up an entire list of chores that must be done. This took me about 5 minutes, and I'm sure I've left some good ones out. I thought it was important I show my workers we're all in this together. Here's our list. We are still discussing how to divide the fun amongst ourselves.

• Litter Box
• Bird cage
• Birds' food and water
• Yumi's food and water
• Laundry baskets down to basement
• Laundry wash & dry
• Laundry fold and put away, (baskets brought up)
• Grocery shopping
• Putting away groceries
• Garbage
• Recyclables
• Sweeping floors
• Vacuuming
• Mopping floors
• Dusting
• Tidying living room
• Tidying kitchen
• Tidying boys’ bedroom
• Tidying mom and dad’s bedroom
• Tidying guest room
• Cleaning boys’ bathroom
• Cleaning mom & dad’s bathroom
• Tiding basement- Wii room
• Lawn mowing
• Raking
• Cleaning the garage
• Bringing in the mail
• Watering plants
• Cleaning back deck/weeding
• Organizing video games and controllers, systems, cords etc.
• Cooking supper
• Cooking lunch
• Cooking breakfast
• Loading dirty dishes
• Unloading clean dishes
• Windows

Right now DH and I do the bulk of this list, with DS12 & DS9 pitching in here and there. There were certain chores we had asked them to take ownership of, but how fair is it to always expect one person to scoop poop, even if that person promised he would if you allowed him to bring home that cute gray kitten? I'm not one to schedule things like this. I believe if you see something that needs to be done, you do it, but how do we keep this fair? We are a family. We all share this home. We have to share taking care of it.

So we're continuing our labor relation discussions and trying to figure out what's going to work for us.

Our Sunday

DH had to work. Waaa! Another day without him.

DS12 returned from the laser tag/sleep over party. He had a great time even though he came in dead last in both rounds of tag. He still had fun though and I'm glad he realized that was more important that his score. I'm sure he'll do better next time now that he knows what to expect. I'm thinking we will have to go try this as a family. Ultrazone


The boys and I decided to get out into the sunshine and scout out locations for Letterboxes. This Friday our homeschool group is having our end of year picnic, and we are planting several temporary boxes for our homeschool friends to find. While looking for hiding spots, we came across this cool looking mushroom.

I'm out of sun shape. Even though thanks to my SPF50 I didn't burn, I still felt drained after being in the sun all afternoon. I guess my blood is too Scandinavian. Something happens to me after being in the sun. I just want to lay down and sleep! Maybe I'm a nocturnal Scandinavian?

I told the boys I needed 20 minutes to recharge after we arrived back home. DH came home from work and DS12 told him, "Mom's meditating."

Yup. That's right. I was "meditating", not taking a nap because I'm old and out of shape after an afternoon of hiking!

While DH decided to mow the yards (ours & our neighbors), I decided to stay cool in the boycave basement. I began working on decluttering the exercise/office area. DH came home from MIL's garage sale with an elliptical machine.  Problem is, we have no room for it.

We were thinking of placing it next to our treadmill, but as you can see from this photo, its a nightmare right now. The boys' computer desk is horrific, I know.  I did manage to chip away at the corner behind the treadmill. I'll start working on the computer desk this week and hopefully I'll have a nice "After" photo to show you soon.

Sunday night, we decided to watch National Treasure 2. Blah. Its not even worth a review blog post. I was sorry we wasted our precious family time on this waste of a movie.

We made microwave Smores. Place one marshmallow onto a graham, nuke for 10 seconds, smash with Hershey chocolate and another graham cracker. They do lack the ash taste of one made over a campfire, but all that smoke isn't good for you right?

Hey! It's 10:00am! It's now officially my turn on Wii Fit this morning. I'm going to head down and kick DS12 off! Have a great Monday.