Bad Boy or Solid & Reliable

I recently heard about an article that discussed what a car says about the man who owns it and the women attracted to these men. Top five cars to attract women were (in reverse order):

Chevy Suburban
Men who drive Suburbans are the adventurous type and enjoy spending time with friends and family. According to Lorraine, these vehicles attract women that are family-oriented, down-to-earth and easy-going.

Mercedes S-Class

Men that drive Mercedes S-Class vehicles are classy, successful and stylish and, according to Lorraine, these vehicles attract sophisticated women that are in their late 30s and 40s and enjoy being taken care of.

Ford F-150
Drivers of Ford F-150 tend to be insecure, according to Lorraine, and overcompensate for this by acting tough and driving a “tough” looking vehicle. Lorraine said F-150s attract women that prefer to be protected by a man so they can feel safe.

Corvette

The Corvette is the official midlife crisis car, and the men that drive them are conservative but are trying to display their wild side through their car. Corvettes attract women that like bad boys and are probably bad girls themselves.

And the number one car. . .

Toyota Camry

The Toyota Camry is driven by men that are typically solid, reliable and committed, and these vehicles attract women that are sweet, level-headed, uncomplicated and undemanding.

My husband (Until he recently acquired a company car and sold it) drove a Honda Accord. I would venture to say it falls under the Toyota Camry category. He is definitely solid, reliable and committed. But I like what is says about me too!

He is however contemplating getting truck--but it would be the Toyota Tundra (probably still solid and reliable) And he does dream of owning a Porsche Speedster '57. What do you suppose that says about him?

What kind of car do you/your husband/significant other drive? Does the theory prove true?

Several Degrees of Insanity. . .

I take it back--I take it all back! Everything I said here I must recant. Not that I want to go back there, but what happened to a little thing called "Somewhere in the middle"?Today was our day to work in the yard and make some progress on the girls' tree house. We worked until the heat wore us down and we retreated to our nice air conditioned house. June started unseasonably cold in the fifties and today' forecast. . .97 degrees.


So we decided to go shopping. At Walmart. I have sworn time and again to never return to that particular shopping venue only to be lured back by low prices and large selection (At least in some departments).


Hannah had her own shopping list. It went something like this:


Pool

Swim suit

Popsicles

water

lawn chairs

water slide

water

waterproof band aids

and. . .

WATER


It was HOT! In fact, as we drove to Walmart the thermometer on our car reached 107 degrees. Yes, One hundred and seven degrees! It was crazy hot. Everyone at Home Depot and Walmart was buying air conditioners, fans, and several items on Hannah's list. And while Hannah did managed to get a new swim suit, she did not get the other items on her list. . .but, the girls DID get these:




After Hannah spent the week at golf camp she had sun burned, blistered ears (I always forget the ears! I am sure it is because she inherited the Erickson ears, just like her dad and his mom and her mom. . .They catch more sun than the average ear!) So Rob insisted the girls get hats that protect their ears and necks and noses. I have a feeling I will find them more often on the floor than their heads, but we spent a hilarious twenty minutes trying on every hat Walmart had to offer. And that bit of fun almost made up for the twenty minutes of torture we spent in line waiting for the slower-than-molasses-near-octogenarian checker.


Twenty minutes trapped behind a woman buying confusing things, like basil and cilantro and gift cards.


Twenty minutes blocked from escaping from behind by a hefty woman with a full cart and small children.


Twenty minutes of exposure to a host of things NO ONE needs to buy, but which are placed conveniently at eye level to a four/eight year old.


Twenty minutes of patience testing begging and ever more forceful denials.


And FINALLY. . .we escaped with our purchases, shreds of our sanity and only a couple spare ring pops.


Tomorrow maybe we will see about that tree house. . .or maybe we will just sit in the shade wearing silly hats and drinking lemonade (Or more likely, diet Dew).

The Happy Box

So, I decided I needed to post something. . .and I've got nothing. For the last couple of days I have been entertaining my friendless children. So far we have played cards, had a picnic in our yard, I pushed them on the rope swing, we made friendship bracelets (And let me just say, those were a lot harder than I remember when I cranked them out by the dozens in fourth grade!) we had girls' night with popcorn and a movie, and I have shuttled Hannah to golf camp and piano lessons. Beyond that, house cleaning and laundry. So you can see how uninteresting THAT post would be (or is).



But, I was looking back at entries in my blurb photo book that I keep kind of like a journal/photo album, and I came across this cute entry about Siggy, so I decided to post it. For those of you who have heard the story, I will try to be more original tomorrow. . .



Monday April 7, 2008


I think occasionally it is good to remind oneself how good life really is. It is far too easy to get caught up in the laundry and house cleaning and the children's routines and squabbles and forget why we do what we do and how happy we ought to be that we get to.


The other day I was eating lunch with Signe and she turned to me and said, "I need a happy box."


I asked her what that was and she said, "A box where I put things that make me happy."


I asked her what she would put in her box. She thought a moment and said, "Barbies and pollies and a picture of my mom and dad hugging." I thought that was really sweet. It reminded me that simple things can make you happy. And that little eyes and ears are always more aware than you think. So we spent the next few minutes thinking up things that make us happy.

Here are a few things we came up with:

Squeezy Hugs
Giggles
Spring Blossoms
Sunshine
Whales
Pollies
Playing Games
Playing in the rain with an umbrella
Charly
The color purple (Signe)
The colors blue and white (me)
Clean White Sheets (me)
Ham and Cheese sandwiches (with Ranch)
Playing princess dress up
The "then I will" game with daddy
Ice cream
Visiting Manna
Fruit (Grapes, apples & banana's mostly)
Hannah
Daddy
Mommy
A clean house (Me, of course)
Family Walks
Dark chocolate & raspberries (me)
Crisp Autumn air (me)
Reading a good book
Hot Chocolate and homemade marshmallows
Homemade sugar cookies
Listening to the birds in my yard

The "then I will" game is hilarious. Sig and Rob came up with it. One person says something like:

"I will take all your underwear and tie them to a kite and fly them in the sky and people with laugh."

Then the other person will say something like: "Then I will ride your bike to the alligator pond and feed it to the alligator."

Each person must one up the other. You can't try to undo what the other person has said (that is Hannah's problem. She gets annoyed with what you are going to do and tries to argue it or "fix" it with her "then I will" statement. I can't think fast enough or with near as much creativity as Rob OR Sig, so we have been banned from playing. We usually play in the car and Hannah and I just laugh while Rob and Sig threatened near death and destruction with a smile!

Yours, Mine & Ours. . .

Have you ever had one of those moments when you look at your child and whatever they are doing and say to your spouse, "Look at what YOUR child is doing/saying." Because only (fill in spouses name here)'s child would do/say such a thing. In our house we often joke that Han is all me and Sig is all Rob (Except when they are naughty, then they are BOTH his). In looks and temperament that is pretty true across the board. But occasionally the lines get crossed. Like yesterday, for instance.


As I am making a lovely dinner for my girls, Hannah comes in and says, "Can I have a can of Oysters while we wait?"


You read that right, Oysters. I say, "Sure, call it an appetizer." So her sister comes in and promptly hops up to the bar and says, "Oh, I want some!" SERIOUSLY! Eww. So, here is proof that they are both Rob's. . . .



In case you can't make out that box clearly enough . . .



Then we ate dinner and here is proof that they are mine. . .



Yes, we had cheese toast for dinner with tomatoes on top (YUM). Rob wasn't home (he doesn't get the tomato on the cheese toast combo) and really, they love it! (Why do you think I let them have appetizers?? Actually it was my insurance plan that they got any food. My oven has this mysterious habit of burning 95% of the cheese toasts I put in there. I can't figure it out. I am sure it has nothing to do with my short term memory issues!)

Safety in Numbers . . .

Growing up the 6th child in a family of eight kids meant there was rarely time for solitude, but on the upside there was rarely any boredom either. Not only were we large in number, we had acres and acres to roam. We had enough siblings and space for an impromptu baseball game and chores were quickly finished when divided amongst us. But I never fully appreciated these aspects in my youth.


When I married I aspired to a small family. I claimed I didn't have the patience for a large family and figured I would have more time to spend with only a few children, rather than trying to spread myself thin on a large family. I discovered planning and family size actually have nothing to do with each other, but none the less, I have two lovely girls and one small, but feisty dog. Just the five of us, that is our family. . . .except when it isn't.


My kids were barely out of diapers when they started collecting friends. They must have inherited my need for people, because our house was always full of kids. It didn't help (or hurt--depending on how you look at) that I had a policy of feeding anyone present for a meal. At first I thought it was because I was such a cool mom that they were drawn to our house. Then I began to realize other moms just weren't that tolerant and I got them all by default.


Either way my yard and house more often that not looked like this. . .

And most of our activities and family photos where our family + one (or two, or three). But I figured it is always a good thing to know where your children are and when they are home that is easy to do.

For a short while I began to dream of a time when my girls stayed home and played with each other, and the house was quiet, and my pantry and freezer remained full, the house stayed picked up. . . .and I could leave my children with their dad and go shopping. . .peacefully. . .alone.

Then this week my wish was granted.

I spent a day shopping all alone. And do you know what I discovered? I hate it! Who do you ask "Does my butt look big in these jeans?" Who encourages you to buy this or that simply because you look so great in it? Who jokes with you about other shoppers? No one.

Plus my house has been quiet and extra kid free. The girls have played pretty well. They even occasionally pick up after themselves. But I did not consider one minor detail. Who plays a game with them when they have no friends over? Me. Who listens to their stories and songs for hours on end, I ask you?. . .me. Who gets to hear the refrain over and over and over "what can I do? I am bored." or "Can you watch this movie with me?" or "Will you help me sew something?" or "Can you push me on the swing?" or , or, or. . . . .ME!

I'm not saying I don't enjoy doing all these things--I played a mean game of Royal Toad after lunch today--but HONESTLY, there are two months of summer left. Here is what I have concluded: I need more kids.

I will be posting a sign out front that reads:

All kids welcome. Please come in. . .and entertain my girls for me!

Plus, I have a fantasy about being one of those tight knit families with lots of kids that fight like cats and dogs and love each other beyond reason like the family on Brothers and Sisters. And I could reign over them all like a queen. . .I mean, loving mother hen. In the meantime, I will continue to borrow the neighbors' kids and just smile when my kitchen looks like this:

Now I think I will go call my mom, or one of my sisters, or one of my five brothers. . . .

Top Ten Reasons I lOVE Summer

10. Living outside - Going to the beach and on hikes

9. Longer days. . .that get less done

8. Taking loads of summer time pictures

7. BBQs and homemade ice cream

6. Farmer's Markets - all those fresh fruits and veggies and flowers

5. Working in my yard

4. Sleeping with my windows open

3. Sun, Sun, SUN

2. Reading "Summer Read" books without people looking at me like, "Seriously, you're reading THAT?"

And the number ONE reason I love summer . . .

1. Girls sleeping in!

I took this picture this morning right before 9:00! I love starting my morning in a clean, quiet house.

Irony

Where is the irony in this situation? I asked the girls to go play with their dog. . .Clearly I needed to be more specific. Have you heard of Nintendogs? As my girls stare glassy eyed at their DS screens dressing their digital dogs in bows and doggy hats and playing catch with them their actual dog sits by trying to catch any morsel of attention. Next time I guess I need to say, "Go play with Charly."

Progress

The following conversation occurred last night. I called the girls to come down for dinner and as Hannah was coming down the stairs she had a funny look on her face.

"I just had the strangest feeling." she says.

I reply, "Really, why?"

"Well I just finished playing and then I cleaned up my mess and put everything away." Here she pauses and gets this little half smile on her face.

"And. . .?" I prompt.

"It felt good!" She declares in awe.

Finally! All the harping and pleading to get my child to pick up after herself have paid off! And it only took 8 years, that has to be some kind of record. And I have to say I was particularly thrilled to hear it happened today, because I just spent the better part of two days seriously cleaning out the girls' rooms and playroom. Do you suppose it will last?

Lists and Free Therapy

I know myself well enough to know that I function much better with some sort of order and routine. But I also know that I cannot be responsible for said routine. As a stay at home mom I really only have myself to answer to, and occasionally my husband. If I say, "I must finish this task by Friday." and then Friday comes around and I don't feel like it, or it just didn't work out that way, who is going to care, I ask you? No one, that's who!



I really do try. I am a fierce list maker. Every day I get up and make a list of things I want to get done. I keep a rolling list of items I need to buy on the board in my kitchen. I make lists of goals I would like to accomplish on a weekly, monthly, yearly basis. I make lists of things I want to accomplish in life that would signify that I HAVE ARRIVED (you know, at that place where can look at your life and say--what more can I do, I have DONE. IT. ALL.).



Here is what I have found: (apart from the fact that it is catching--my children have started making lists, or adding things to my lists, i.e., the shopping list on the board now includes a "DS game" and "popcorn"--added by each of my girls) I rarely get everything done on my lists, but there is little I find more satisfying than crossing something off the list. It gives the allusion of structure and of accomplishing something. Because with two kids, a dog and a traveling husband (and let's not forget my afore mentioned fear of boredom and the ensuing chaos that causes) keeping an actual schedule is nigh on impossible, and nothing, NOTHING, stays done.



But who can blame me when rain ruins my plans to work in the yard, or the sun ruins my plans to work in the house, or my four year old takes my efforts to scrub the floor on hands and knees as an invitation to play pony!?



So I've settled for the partially accomplished list, the partially clean house and the mostly happy kids. And when I think I am running an entirely insane household I take comfort in reading the blogs of friends and perfect strangers and laughing because they get it. So for those of you who may or may not be reading this, (I can't really say because the lot of you are not big on the comments:) thanks for the free therapy. . . and the inspiration. Now let's see what is next on that list. . .

Love at First Sight. . .

I am a romantic. I love happy endings and gushy declarations (in the appropriate context, of course) and I believe in love at first sight. But why contain these feelings of joy to people? I know it may be wrong to adore and need (read: want excessively) things. Sometimes the gut reaction is later inexplicable, but there is something fabulous about giving in to the urge occasionally. I do try to restrain myself under these circumstances (Or my husband does it for me. . .He NEVER impulse buys) But once in a while you should really just let yourself experience the pleasure found in falling in love with a pair of shoes on sight and not questioning it too much (Particularly when the are affordable). . . .Which is why I will soon be sporting this delectable little number. . .as soon as they arrive in the mail.

They are cute, right? And they're RED! I have a weakness for red shoes. They go with practically everything!

Mini Me

Okay, so I was going through the bag of "stuff" Hannah brought home from school on Friday and I came across a story she wrote in school last January--a true story. Anyway, I love that I am populating the world with little mes. At her last parent teacher conference her teacher told me that Hannah has a fabulous imagination and it shows in her writing. Hannah apparently said, "I want to write like my mom." I thought that was sweet. And then at Signe's graduation her teacher said, "This little girl tells the best stories. I think she will grow up to be a writer." It was a proud moment. (Hannah is really me--personality, looks and all, but Signe is much more like Rob in looks and personality. . .he's much more even keel!)

Anyway, back to the story. I think she did a good job writing it so I am going to share, as it was written by her (Spelling, punctuation and all). . .

In January we're in our classroom and we were doing rocket math. I allmost passed 1+4=5 1+3=4 1+2=3 1+1=2 2+2=. . . .when we heard, "Don't go outside!" on the intercom. After that, all the girls had to go to the bathroom.

Mrs. Swindell then said on the intercom, "Close the blinds!"

Then we started to do our "I'm As" books. Then we heard, "Get under your desk." I quickly dove under my desk and thout that it was an earthquake. I was so scared that I cried a little. Then my friend Lauren fell a sleep!

"Lock the doors!" said Mrs. Swindell.

Mrs. Astle got up from her desk and locked the door. Austin woke up Lauren when Mrs. Astle was locking the door. Fifteen minutes later, Mrs. Swindell said, "You can get out from under your desk and you can go to P.E. and music!"

We ran as fast as a river to get in line. Then we walked to P.E. When we were going to P.E., Emily and Jacob were talking. I wonder what they were talking about. . .but I just kept on walking.

Finally, we got to P.E. I zoomed and got my shoes on. Then we go into the P.E. room and I led straight leg stretches. In the middle of P.E. the intercom came on again, "There was a tornado passing by!" Everybody was very surprised!

So, am I just a biased parent?! Was that not really good?! (Keep in mind, she is eight.) And by the way, that day was crazy weather--all thunderclouds and lightening and pouring rain. And the school called us to tell us a tornado had touched down in the area. . .two hours after it happened! I was all panicked thinking, "I must go get my children!" I even had the keys in my hand by the time the recorded message finished and I realized it had happened two hours before, minutes after I had dropped my preschooler off at the same school.

But back to the point. My kids are brilliantly talented!!

So Long School. . .Hello Sun!

It is testament to the amount of rain we receive here when people overtly rejoice once the sun shows its face again. Yesterday the gas station welcomed it's return . . .




It was just in time for summer, too. Signe graduated from preschool on Thursday with a very official ceremony, music, stand and all. . .

As each child shook the teacher's hand and received their "diploma", they got to say something. Signe sweetly said, "I love my mom and dad." My favorite part was when the last little boy stood up and said, "I love. . . Quinn." A little girl in the class. His declaration was met with a moment of silence and then laughter. To make it better, when he sat back down, next to Signe, she patted his shoulder and said, "That turned out well." AND I got it on video! Even though I don't think she was referring to his unexpected announcement the timing was great.

Friday morning dawned sunny, for a change. In fact, the weather man on the radio said it was to be our 11th cloud free day all year! Six months and a mere 11 days without gloom and rain. I'll take it! And I did capture it with my camera just for proof that Washington does have sun, occasionally . . . I swear the sky is bluer here. Maybe it just seems so because we got so used to the gray, or maybe all the green trees set it off so well. Either way it was a perfect day for Signe's preschool picnic.

Let's hope it stays and plays a while, because now that the school has seen the back of Signe, there is a load of summer fun to be had. . .and after Tuesday maybe Hannah can join us!

Happy Father's Day

We love our dads and all they have done and been for us.

As for the father of our own little family, we wouldn't know what to do without him. He is a my best friend and a wonderful father. We love him to distraction.

Haircuts and Humiliation. . .

If you have read many of my posts you have seen a picture or two of our dog, Charly. I have to admit that in the year since we adopted him I have not been his biggest fan. I was conned into purchasing him by a weepy seven year old and her smitten father. Not to mention the pressure I was getting from the neighbor girl (who wanted to buy his sister) and her smitten father. And I cannot deny that at eight weeks old, he was certainly darling. . .

But somehow promises to play and care for him and clean up his poop have long since been forgotten and I am left with a third child, essentially. Four, actually, if you count the big one. And even though I clean up after my girls constantly, I think the dog makes just as many messes with his toys . . .









And he chews everything in sight--still, even though he is now one and no longer a puppy. . .










And I feel a little bad about the fact that since I am the only one who scolds him he generally assumes that if I call him he is in trouble. Mind you, I have never beaten my dog, and I am generally very nice to him. I even take him on walks and give him treats when he is good and play games with him when the children--the same children that promised to love and care for him and clean up his poop--neglect him. But still, if I approach him suddenly, or not suddenly for that matter, he tends to lay on his back and wet himself. It's disgraceful really, and yet another thing I must clean up.

But all those things aside, I harbor no ill will toward this dog of ours. As part of our family he deserves our loyalty and love. Which is why I must say that no one, not even Charly on his worst day, deserves to be left looking like this for a week . . .
And I have to say this picture does not really capture the caught-in-lawnmower appearance of the haircut gone awry that Charly is currently sporting! This is not the first time we have cut Charly's hair ourselves--I say we but this time it was Rob. I claim no part in this! And what makes it truly awful is not how short he cut him, but he did not finish. . .and then went out of town for the week! Even Charly knows that something is not right. He keeps bending over and licking his tail and his naked little back! Rob will be home today, so hopefully next time Charly is caught on camera he will be sporting a more fashionable do, and not this stricken expression that so clearly states "How could you?"

Summer Fever . . .

. . .You know, that feeling you get at the end of the school year when the weather is warm and the sunshine is calling? As a student you can't wait to get out of the classroom and into the great outdoors. As a parent I dread the thought of kids home all day, but even that cannot overshadow the excitement of summer and less scheduled lives. When I think of summer I think of hammocks and lemonade, frivolous reading and trips to the beach, or grandma's house. . . .

The east coast is having a heatwave, the Midwest is flooding and the Southwest is so dry it is under fire advisory. Here . . .? 5o degrees and pouring on the 10th of June?! AND snow in the mountains -- LOTS of snow (Rob is currently driving in it!). Not to mention, I am having a hard time adjusting to this school district's schedule. The kids aren't out of school until next week.

And just to add insult to injury, Hannah had her end of school year family picnic today at school. . . .

Needless to say, it was moved indoors to get out of the downpour. Nothing like a picnic on a cafeteria table--in a turtleneck sweater! Even the rain did not stop the kids from running out to play on the playground after lunch, dragging me along. And really, I wouldn't have minded the rain nearly so much if it had been, say, twenty degrees warmer.

On Friday Signe has her class picnic at Lewis Park. I am praying for sun. Am I the only one whose summer fever is directly reliant upon actually seeing the sun?

The Forest Adventure

"I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright." ~Henry David Thoreau

Over the weekend we had friends visit from out of state and we decided to take them on a hike in the eighty acre forest by our house. It really is like entering another world, especially when you try to see it through the eyes of the children. Although, even as an adult there is something about the light and color and hushed atmosphere that captures me every time. It is not something that can truly be captured in a picture, but I tried and took well over 300 during our two hour walk. (I promise I won't try to post them all--but I wish I could!)

There is one area in the forest where some kids have built make-shift forts and swings. Of course this always makes my girls want to come home and build their own forts. . .we'll see if they wear Rob down by the end of the summer. But Luke, who was visiting was quite impressed. . . . .

While in such an ideal setting we took tons of candid shots and had to stop and take a few more posed shots. . .

The one of Kira (the littlest) was actually taken in the front yard before we took off.
About halfway through the hike the kids began to get a little tired. Then Signe stopped and pointed at the ground. "Look, a lizard!" I looked and saw what I thought was a plastic lizard--it was orange and looked quite fake, all stiff with one leg turned up in the air funny. I assured her it was not real and bent over to prove it when it moved! The kids were so excited and all wanted a turn holding and I took pictures. . .then they all fought over who got to hold it. So we all went on a lizard hunt, and despite my skepticism (which of course I did not voice) we found six lizards of various shades of black and orange. So, of course I took tons of pics. . . .

It feels a little like time stands still when you are in the forest. When we finally emerged we were shocked to see that we had been in there over two hours. In case I haven't posted enough pics on this post, I will post a slide show next that illustrated the hushed timelessness that the forest offers. Now that the rain is letting up I see us returning much more often.

Fear of Boredom

I have often said that I have a fear of boredom. It is my explanation for why I am always going so many different directions at once. It might actually be more accurate to say I fear non productivity. I need to have something to show for myself and my time--validation of some sort. But whatever the reason, the result is a full schedule and occasional craziness. My main problem, I fear, is that I like doing too many things.

In high school when we took those personality tests to see which career choice would be best suited to us I ended up with a list of jobs the spanned the spectrum--quite unhelpful. When I took the right brain vs. left brain test, I landed in the middle. My senior year of high school I took both Advanced Biology and Honors English. When I started college I was a business major, I then changed to computer science (which I learned was one thing I did NOT want to do) and finally ended up as an English major/history minor (Reading and writing are the two things that have remained constant). But still to this day I must do a little of everything. I call them my rotating obsessions. When Rob said I could spend part of our tax return on anything I wanted I was torn between buying a new camera lens, putting it into my landscaping, decorating a room with it, or heading straight to Banana Republic.

Despite all that randomness, I have never questioned it too deeply because I am truly happier when I am busy (and really, which one would I cut out?!). And it is a darn good thing because since moving here life has not slowed down or found the semi-rut my mother claims holds such comfort (and which I think I would love to experience). Not only did we move to a new state and endure all the changes inherent therein, what with a new job, new school, new friends, new environment etc, we have become more busy than ever.

We are currently racing through our checklist of projects on the house remodel list, the jungle I call a yard is taking shape, my third novel is slowly plotting along, my blogging is clearly filling a good portion of my time, my adeptness as a part time single parent and independent woman, due to Rob's excessive travel, are improving (I have yet to fill my car with gas, but I shop much more on my own and have taken over many "Rob" duties, such as taking out the trash, de-slugging the yard and fertilizing, not to mention all the school activities I have attended solo), I have a whole passel of new friends, and on top of all of that. . . .our church callings are keeping us both hopping.

Rob was called as the Executive Secretary to the Bishop, and I was called to teach Relief Society, to act as the Young Women's Personal Progress Leader, and for the past two months Rob and I have team taught Hannah's primary class (They just called a new teacher last week! Whew!) But my third calling was replaced with another -- Ward Activities Committee. Teaching Relief Society is getting easier, Personal Progress is getting more organized, but Activities Committee?. . .it's party planning, right? How can that be bad? I believe my first question was "What is my budget?" Our ward does a party every month, but I am assured the budget is good. . .we shall see. So you can see narrowing the scope is not something I do well. In fact, I have a couple other random projects in the works that I will post if ever I work it all out.

So even though I sometimes long for predictable routine and I think I might enjoy a little peace and quiet, who am I really kidding? I believe I am, in large part, where I am today because I had reached a state shockingly close to that description last year. And what did I do? I declared myself bored and took action that led to my present situation. So either I need therapy, or I should just smile and enjoy the chaos for tomorrow it might end!

The New Door is Up!

After weeks of working (and not working) on our new front door--staining and sanding and sealing and waiting for it to dry--it is finally in place. And I LOVE it! It is solid wood and we stained it nearly black to match the shutters which used to be green, like the door. And the shutters are finally all painted also, but not all up yet. We need to power wash the house and remove the hornets nests before we reinstall them (That is another story in itself--I will tell it when I get the shutters hung and take pictures). So, here is my door in all its lovely stained glory . . . .

We even decided to stain the inside instead of painting it white like we had first planned. What do you think?

Now it is just crying out for new molding and bigger baseboards. And when we get ready to do the kitchen the floor will go nearly as dark as the door. Don't you think the dark stain looks great with the gray/taupe/off white walls? Its kind of hard to see that they are a color in this picture. But the door is a major improvement. Especially when you consider it used to look like this . . . That is one more thing to check off my list. Unfortunately, my list doesn't seem to be getting shorter. Apparently I keep adding to it faster than I subtract from it. I don't mind though because by the time I get to a new item I have had plenty of time to consider how badly I want it!

I'm It . . .

I have seen all kinds of "tag" in blogworld, but this one is new to me. I received a tag with the following instructions:

Take pictures of the following 10 things in your home. But there's a catch -- no prepping, primping, or picking up. The point is to see how these things/items/people exist in real life. Take your camera and just go for it.

1. My Fridge - Not too bad. Luckily I cleaned it fairly recently.

2. A Closet - I love a neat linen closet. (Did you think I was going to show my closet?!) Someday I will have all white linens. They look so fresh and clean, don't you think?

3. Kitchen Sink - A lone breakfast bowl. Note the lilacs, they and the ferns are from my yard--I have managed to keep fresh flowers in my house continuously since Easter. They make me smile.

4. A Toilet - I cheated a little here. I did not clean, but I moved the little creamer pitcher with Signe's daisies (She picked them during Hockinson Fun Days) onto the toilet so it would be included in the picture.

5. My Favorite Shoes . . .right now. I do love these shoes and their citrus green color, but for the longest time another pair was my favorite. I love red shoes and need to find replacements for them. I still love them but they have seen better days. . .

6. My Favorite Room - My kitchen!

You're right, that is not really my kitchen. If it were it would definitely be my favorite room. With luck in a few months that will be my kitchen. Until then my favorite room is . . . my living room, because it is mostly decorated and always clean. It is the perfect spot to curl up in the afternoon with a good book or my laptop.

7. What My Kids Are Doing Right Now - Sig, eating lunch. Hannah, at school. (actually, right NOW they are both at school, but I took these pics while Signe was eating lunch, before I took her to school).

8. Laundry Pile - I did laundry yesterday so I got lucky!

9. Self Portrait - I am not particularly photogenic and probably should have come up with some clever alternative to a photo (Especially a self taken one!). But that would require too much energy for something that is supposed to be quick and simple. So here you are. . . or rather, here I am.

10. Dream Vacation - This one is easy. Staying in something that looks like this . . .

With a view something like this. . .

And a cute town nearby with shops and restaurants and cobblestone streets. . .wait, maybe that is my dream residence. Oh well, either way, doesn't it sound lovely? Second choice, a trip across old European cities and around England. . . maybe without kids.

Whew! That probably took me longer than it should have. All I can say is, it is a good thing I was not asked to photograph my closet, my garage or my kids rooms!

Now. . . .Tag, your it!: Aki, Lurlyn, Kimberly