Catching Up

I can say "You shouldn't skateboard in the house" or "You are going to break something" or "Please, don't do that" or any variation of the above phrases until I am blue in the face, but Nick doesn't hear me. It isn't until he launches his skateboard through a 3.5 X 4.5 ft. window resulting in about $400 in damages that he fully appreciates what I was saying. Teenage boys make my head hurt, but more so my wallet.


Winter has finally arrived and with it my many aches and pains. The first two days were bad and I was CRABBY. Not just a little grumpy, like kick the dog angry. Today, I am doing better...or at least tolerating my winter pain. I know I will hurt and feel like crap all winter so now it is just a matter of accepting it and re-learning to ignore it.

I love how everything appears blue in that time between total darkness and day.



With winter comes shovelling. I realize I live with 3 strapping men, but they would just as soon climb over a 5-ft berm than shovel it. In the last six years I can count on two hands the number of times someone other than me has shovelled the sidewalk. For the first five years I was pissed about it, but this year I'm embracing my "inner winter" and am determined to enjoy my time in the snow. Or at least deal with it with a better attitude.

For the past two morning I would shovel and then it would snow again. Yesterday, in my day of grump, I got way pissed off at the stupid little shovel I was using and didn't finish the job. We used to have multiple snow shovels, but over the years three boys have packed them off into the woods to build forts or snowboard ramps or what have you and they have slowly disappeared.


My dear husband (not wanting to listen to me bitch any more) brought me home a shiny new shovel last night. Now I've got some real work to do....


...but not until I take care of this little pile of fabric. Wait until you see what I am making (I hope it turns out).


Now that Nick only takes two classes at the high school his schedule is different everyday. Some days he rides the bus to school and I pick him up and other days I have to drive to school and pick up. Here's the rode I travel to get to the highway.



Every day at 6:30am I drive Elijah to the bus. That is 3 miles (round trip). Then it's a 21 mile RT to take Nick to school. Then another 21 RT to pick him up. I wait a couple hours and then it's a 28 mile round trip to get Elijah home. That's a minimum of 78 miles a day. Last night Dad dropped Elijah at basketball practice and then went back to get him. That was another 56 miles. Sometimes there is another trip to town thrown in and none of this includes the "errand miles".

It is 46 miles to work and back for my husband. Plus he's constantly running parts or out to he hot springs to work so he drives a couple hundred miles a day back and forth through town.

In all our driving I sure hope this doesn't end up being us! On my second trip to town there was a small truck that rolled over in this same spot. This is a bad time of year, and drivers forget to slow down. Last night there was a little more snow so it didn't seem as slick this morning.


Those footprints belong to a fox who is looking for a way in to get the goose. Unfortunately, Little Red Hen flew over the fence and apparently became lunch as I cannot find her. Sometimes the wild life really bugs me.


Lucas and I made cupcakes the other day. This is half of them. They were all gone in one day. I have five little piggy's!


(This is for my friend Patty who knows I don't like to cook). I made coleslaw the other day for the first time and it was so good! Dad ate the whole bowl at dinner. Last night I used the rest of the cabbage for soup. It was awesome (I've never made nor eaten cabbage soup so this was an adventure). The soup had beans and potatoes and hit the spot on a blustery day. Maybe I'll get into this cooking thing after all.


And just for fun I'll throw in a photo of the girls. We put together a puzzle Emily got for her birthday. Our house isn't done and is usually a mess, but now that we are focusing less on work and more on play we all seem to be happier. Besides, the kids don't care if the remodelling gets done....they just like to spend time as a family.