Do you like surprises?
not really so much.... especially when the suprise is my alarm clock informing me it is 6am and I fell asleep with the kids so chances are pretty good that the school uniform is still in the washer because it did not crawl into the dryer under its own power.
:P
Let's make a list. What are 20 things in your life that you're grateful for?
Inspired by wyndslash.vox.com.
1. My Boys; Scott, Ian and Jamie
2. My Family
3. a God who loves me, unconditionally.
5. a roof over my head
6. bills that get paid.. late some times.. but get paid
7. heat, electricity, a computer and a cel phone
8. music .... music .... music
9. all the beasties I share my life with.
10. sunrise and sunset
11. Autumn
12. chocolate
13. coffee (with cream)
14. my health, however relative that is
15. flowers, monach butterflies, buckeye trees
16. who I am
17. that my life has been without a major tradgedy
18. big orange daisies
19. Mops, other mommies, anyone who smiles and waves as I pass them in my car.
20. a car that runs... yeah its a rusty beast, but it runs.
21. everyday above ground
What's the last thing you usually do or think about before you fall asleep?
By the timeI'm in bed I really really try to stop thinking and just let go of the day and go to sleep.
White clover, red clover and alfalfa all grow wild in the ditches around here; and when the state or county mows the ditches it smells fabulous, absolutely fabulous.
Is there a friend who you owe a phonecall or email? What's stopping you?
oh.. there are a few friends... none of whom want me to call at 6am when its fresh on my mind or at 2 am when i wake up in the night remembering it....
:|
Yesterday there where at least 120 monarches in the tree outside... their #'s are increasing... I am beginning to get paranoid they wont leave for Mexico, and they will freeze to death in my yard.... and then from now on all the other butterflies will fly right past and wisper.. "no no dont stop there that was the scene of the frozen death of 2006" I'm weird .. I know it .... if you have read any of the rest of my blog you should know it too...
Yesterday was a nice warm day, and I'm not sure (the butterfies moved to a different tree) it is possible some have left, I have done enough research to know they cant fly if their body temp is below 55degrees, and its been quite chilly while they are here but we have had two or three nice warm sunny days and I was suprised on those days they did not leave.... Unless they snuck off without me seeing and the population here has been rotating since I first noticed them... I dont know the answers,, and I'm working on not letting the need to know the answers detract from the joy of having these amazing guests in my yard. I do hope thy come back next year.
What movie can you quote by heart?
Submitted by clamhead.
The Princess Bride, Beauty and the Beast(Disney), and a healthy share of Everafter.
Are you a morning person or a night owl?
a little of both... when I'm used to getting up in the morning I can be an incredible annoying morning person.. mainly because as soon as i'm awake and alert i'm gregarious.... but if i'm on a creative bent I can stay up til the wee hours sewing beading or somesuch thereby effectivley gagging that morning person and locking them in a small prison for a few days.
What's the last thing you crafted, constructed or created yourself?
most likely a photographic clay tile pendant... or a beaded phone charm... or.. a card or a name tag for Mops.. .... I'm not really sure...
You can stop at an old cemetary on a busy street close to a prison, and take pictures without worrying something will happen to them..... I know I couldnt get away with stopping with them in the car but everyday we drive past this little cemetary with this old iron fence... and today.. miracle of all.. I was alone.... I had the camera... and I thought to stop.... this one is my favorite of the few I got to take. 
What was the highlight of your summer?
Submitted by ladym.vox.com.
All the things we learned about our property. This was our first summer in thias new house on this property. and we learned what was growing where, good and bad. We learned about all the little beasties sharing our lives, Bunnies field mice, spiders, Preying Mantids, moths and butterflies. Two rogue kitties adopted us. We played out side in our yard, We had a couple of nice picnics. Just having this be our first summer here. A summer of discovery and making this place home is the highlight.
What's your favorite vacation destination?
Aanyplace I can go that isnt here and return to here safely?
Really I'm very very partial to Walt Disney World. We went every other summer when I was growing up. One of the reasons I'm partial to it is the memories from family vacations but I'm always amazed and delighted by the imagineering of the parks. and sometimes I wish I'd have had the guts to think I could have survived the right college classes and programs to become an Imagineer.
What's your favorite foreign accent?
British, Irish, Scottish... that genral area of the world.
What do you collect?
model horses and other horsey things...
and unique jewelry... at least when I worked in a gift shop I did .. and beads... to make my own jewelry :)
and a few other things.. this and that
Last night on my way back into the house after I looked for the cat, I noticed a 4-butterfly Butterfly Dance being performed in front of me. When they lighted on the tree branch, I was amazed to see the branch flutter with about 10 more sets of wings.
So rather than a quadrille it was a butterfly drill team... a fifty member drill team.
A small flock? herd? gaggle? of Monarch Butterflies are hanging out in one of my Black Walnut trees (a few in the juniper right next to it) Tonight I counted 54. While most of them where still.. this afternoon I counted 47. I don't know if they are using us as a way-station or if they are all from right close and they are gathering to fly to Mexico together... but seeing them all hanging out here in my yard is just about the coolest thing I've seen in "nature" in a long long time. Aside from the Butterfly house in Souix Falls South Dakota it is the most butterflies I have seen in one place. ever. I don't know how long they will stick around, or if they will .. today was nice and warm and I expected they would be gone... but they have been here for 24 hours at least....
What's your motto?
Breathe Deep, Seek Peace.
Breathe Deep, Fly High.
and I came across this on an email, trying to keep it in mind during my daily life.
~Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply, Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.~
If you could watch any movie on the big screen right at this moment, what would it be?
Beauty and the Beast, I wanted very much to see it on Imax when it was back out for that, but I never got to, it didnt fit in our time or budget to go see it.
aside from that.. i migth like to see Everafter on the big screen I never got to, and its one of my favorites. A few other faves i never have seen on the big screen Knight's Tale and A League of their Own are good bets. and really any thing Disney Old or new.
There have been two stingrays killed and eight others mutilated, presumably as revenge for the death of Steve Irwin.
Do people pay so little attention to what the man was really about behind that goofy wild grin and the heavily accented "Crikey!" that they fail to realize this is the very last thing he would have wanted. And his family, is probably not comforted by it in the least. Did they not read a single news story that said, "peaceful fish", "freak accident", "passionate about wildlife rescue", or "leaves a legacy". And can you really be considered a fan of the man if you do not understand him, his vision or his work? or rather are you just some putz running around using this tragic accident as a reason to torture animals... thus indicating you probably need therapy or psycho analysis before you move on to people.... its hard not to hope a stingray gets one of these morons.
Sad... much more sad that the accident that took Steve Irwin's life. And he is probably sitting next to St. Francis and shaking his head and saying "did I teach them nothing?, did they even listen to me?"
What are your personal memories of September 11th?
The day after Ian's First Birthday..... I remember I was taking Ian to the eye Doctor, and we had to rush to get ready so I didnt have the TV on or the radio, until we got in the car. I remeber teh radio station mentioned briefly the first tower had been hit, and then they went back to their same old thing musically. It wasn't until my Mom called me to tell me what the news was saying; that it looked intentional rather than accidental, that I began to realize the gravity of the situation. We met at teh doctor office and everyone was standing around watching it on the TV, we could not take our eyes off of it...
But frankly we could not do anything about it.. so after the doctor visit we ran a couple errands, but not to the mall it was closed... all malls where considered targets... I think they sent all the employees home from Caterpillar too. after we got home we wathced it for the rest of the day, I remember very vividly the talk of being prepared for triage only to realize there was no one to triage after the first few hours... those who didnt get out and away didnt make it.
Then I remember the stories that began to come out. The pres. of Cantor Fitzgerald (sp?), who took his son to his first day of school and because of that was the only one not killed from his company. The two brothers making the documentary at one of the fire houses that one had to wait to see if his brother had made it. The "let's roll" story. The heart breaking thoughts that some mother like me was looking at her baby trying to figure out how she would press on with her life now that her husband was gone....
I taped some of the coverage at the time so that one day Ian would be able to watch it if he wanted too. I don't know if anything afterward can do justice the surreal and frightening feeling of the day itsself... I truly hope this is the most aweful thing to happen to the US in my son's lifetime.
How many places have you lived in your life?
Aside from the last 2 years of college I've never lived out of the state of Illinois (and those 2 years I was in Indiana). In the state I have lived in 7 different towns, that includes college. (a year in Bloomington and 2 in Kewanee) The run down of the rest is Peoria, Washington, Woodhull, Galesburg, Cameron. Nothing exciting. And as much as I would love to visit or live for a short time somewhere else, I wouldnt sacrafice living near family to do it and frankly Illinois is home to me.....
I made my son a cake for his birthday. I was thinking about how our tastes change as we age. On wednesday I made a cake for my birthday, for cake and "frosting" it was about 10$ in baking chocolate, three total sticks of butter, six eggs and 3/4 cup of sugar. (flourless cake) I was fabulous.... I took it to a Mommy group.. where other chocolate lovers could enjoy it with me. and I still have quite a bit of it.
But my son wanted a firefighter birthday. (we do family parties, no schoolmates yet) so knowing we wouldnt be have an excess of firefighter decorations or hates and such i made a firetruck cake. All I know about decorating cakes I learned from my Mother, she had taken classes and actually made cakes to sell when I was younger, and everyyear we got to decide what to have on our cake. very little was out of the question. It was one of the great things about birthdays.
So... I thought firetruck how hard can it be?
Honestly.... the hardest part was making the red frosting.... it takes about $5 in red food coloring to get red frosting.... Oy veh.
the rest of it was fun :)
I finished everything but the oreo wheels, candy control and candy lights, and went to bed. The boys helped me finish it the next morning :)
I can take the car door apart to fix the window, but my husband was much more impressed by this.... go figure.
If you could only save one thing in a house fire (thing, not person), what would it be and why?
Submitted by donnunn.
Pictures.. either the hard drive or the negatives and photos... what i chose would probably depend on what was in a more rescue-able place
What was the last game you played?
That would be the waiting until the last minute to clean before company comes over this weekend game... and I'm playing as we speak. er... as I type....
I know that is like a "well duh" for most people.. but I dont mind cleaning the bathroom its small everything has a place and when i'm dont it looks really nice... unlike the rest of the house which never seems to get clean. And anytime I have ever worked on a horse farm i like cleaning the barn:raking the aisle making sure everything is tidy.... I dont know what the difference is..... but there is one.. I've never liked cleaning my own room.. but give me a pitchfork and i'll clean up ponypoop with out a single complaint....
I'm just weird like that.
What is your favorite children's movie?
Disney's Beauty and the Beast definately, followed by the older animated Disney's Robinhood.
follower then by Wallace and Gromit anything Wallace and Gromit, but I dont consider them strictly for kids :)
What is your favorite way to relieve stress?
I actually had to think about it.. but one of my favorites is puzzles, like minesweep or sudoku, and such... easier ones for stress relief. Harder for a challenge but not stress relief.
