Sig Says. . .

In an effort to remember the funny things my kids say I try to write them down. Today as Hannah and Signe were getting out of the shower I overheard this:

Hannah: Hurry up Sig. Get out stat!

Signe: Don't scat me. I am not a cat.

Hannah, rolling eyes: Whatever.

Signe: Really. I. am. not. a. cat.

At this point Hannah ignored her and they both went to get dressed. Sig's vocabulary is big, but sometimes wires get a little crossed. Either way it usually entertaining.

I'll Take a Dozen. . .

Things that come in a dozen:

Eggs

Roses

Donuts

Months in a year

Inches in a foot

Hot dogs

Hours on a clock

Years since I put gas in a car

Years in my marriage

Yep. . .12 years ago I said I do and I never looked back. So here is a list of 12 things I love to do with my love:

1. Build things -- we are forever working on some project.

2. Make up nicknames for everyone we know -- names that fit them better than their actual names

3. Cook and Bake in our new kitchen

4. Run -- although I don't particularly like running, I am glad he makes me go do it with him

5. Lay in bed at night with separate laptops or books

6. Tease our girls

7. Eat lavish desserts while watching the Biggest Loser

8. Play games at the kitchen table with the girls

9. Run all errands -- our friends think we are weird because we run all our errands together and shop together

10. Make lists of things we want to do before we die

11. Go to concerts, ballet, symphony

12. Anything and everything. It's just more fun that way.

In the words of Helen Rowland:

"It's easier to keep half a dozen lover's guessing than to keep one lover after he has stopped guessing."

I think I'll keep this one.

Just Do It!

I am a planner, and a list maker. When I decided to do something I have to take time to think about it and mull it over and work up to it and research it and practice and theorize. . .

It takes me a while to actually get to the doing it part. But you can be sure that when (and if) I get there, I will be ready. And usually I get the job done--well. At least I like to think so. The disadvantage is that I could probably have just done it earlier and done nearly as well and been done already. Not to mention all the things that don't get done because I lost interest or the opportunity passed before I got around to it.

But not Rob.

Sure when it comes to money related issues there is no one better at putting off and pondering and considering and delaying me and himself until we no longer want the thing, or it is no longer available. But when it comes to getting things done, he's your man. While I am making lists of things to do he is just doing.

So it should have come as no surprise when one month ago Rob signed up for a four mile run, before he ever started running.

For the past month he has been pushing himself, and me, and running more than is probably healthy. If he gets sick or tired or achy he just runs harder and farther to prove something. When I would lie down and cry because my knees were killing me (okay, I never actually laid down or cried, but I wasn't too good to take a break or walk a while) he would push forward and go an extra half mile that day just to show his achy self who was boss.

And while I can run three consecutive miles without dying or crying, Rob can run closer to five. And while a little competition and the knowledge that people will see his time pushes him to try harder, I need only a promise of a shopping trip or the threat of having to wear a swim suit to whip me into shape. So he signed up and I just turned up to watch him run.

After a month of training, very little of which was on hills, and waking up ill, he still ran respectably on a very hilly course, finishing in the top third. And the girls and I were there to cheer him on as he crossed the finish line.

Are you a planner or a doer?

I Feel Giddy, Oh So Giddy. . .

Writer's Workshop with Mama Kat

Prompt of choice: What do you feel giddy about?

I have to say with my obsessive personality and my rotating hobbies that at any given time I am feeling giddy about something. What I really love is when I feel giddy for no darn good reason--it just makes life feel fun. Ironically, what I feel giddy about these days is all in my head.

Some days its photography and my ongoing hunt for the perfect new lens, or my yard as it takes shape and becomes more like the picture in my head. This past week it has been my daughter's room as we have been painting and transforming it into a lovely blue and white, crisp clean and antiquey elegant haven that I may steal and sleep in myself (I will post pictures after the quest for the perfect antique iron bed is over). All summer I have been giddy in spurts about the baby shower I am planning for my sister. But what really has me excited lately is that I have been writing again. . . though clearly not over here! Apparently I can only focus on one writing form at a time.

Do you suppose it is wrong to get so excited about people who don't exist? To talk about them like they are real and I know them? To think about their concerns and issues while I shower and put on makeup? Because that is what I have been doing. Something happens during my day and I suddenly see how this scenario can work into my plot, and how just this sort of thing would drive my character. It's fun. . . its exciting. . . it gets me giddy.

Like blogging, I suddenly need to do things and see things that will inspire me. I do things that I want my characters to do so I can get perspective and then I call all the fun research. Sometimes it drives my husband crazy--he figures to write a book I just need to sit at the computer and type away. . . that makes me laugh. But he drives me to the nearby high school where my character will be attending, and he encourages me to take time to work on it. He still knows how to make me giddy.

One thing is sure, when I am giddy about something everyone gets to hear about it! I have never been good and keeping surprises. I HAVE to tell someone. So my lucky family hears about my latest obsession all the time. And my sisters will likely be able to rewrite this book from scratch by the time it is done. I love my sisters. It is a good thing I have them or friends, acquaintances and complete strangers would wonder why I never shut up about it already--well actually, they may anyway. But I prefer to obsess with my sisters and my mom because they tell me I am brilliant!

Have you been giddy lately?

Independence Day

We crammed in so much into the fourth this year I decided it needed its own slideshow.

Life At A Break Neck Pace. . .

With the break neck speed my days have assumed of late, I have been neglecting to post regularly. But over the past two weeks we have been running around like the hounds of hell have been chasing us!  Here is a little whirl wind tour from June 18 - July 6:

School is out, let's shout hurray!

Run around the park and play.

Pull the weeds and mow the yard, 

Drive to tennis, hit it hard.

Start the week with Sunday school

Then five more days -- VBS is Cool!

Plank the ceiling, paint the wall,

Install some lights and sweep the hall.

Surprise Surprise--Manna is on her way,

Squeeze in some time to play!

VBS, Shopping, Soccer camp three days,

A round of tennis, then off to catch some rays.

New sandals for all from a trendy store,

Then wind and sand and horses by the shore.

Wave Manna off to head for home

A mere two days to clean and rest alone.

Grammy, Papa, Aunties, cousins--knocking at our door!

Too much fun? Wait there still comes more!

One car heads for the lake, one for the ocean,

Don't anyone forget the suntan lotion!

Reconvene--and bake some yummy pies,

Then hit the hay and rest our weary eyes.

Rise and shine-don't forget the daily run--

Then fill the cars--Astoria here we come!

See the sights, watch the ships

Part ways on two separate trips

One car travels to see the sand,

the other to see old cars and hear the band.

Happy fourth! Lets fill the hours

with a trip to the forest to see frogs and flowers.

Home again for a craft or two--

a medallion, a name plate and a foofy shoe!

Hours in the kitchen until our feet are sore

Then we consume so much food we can't eat any more.

Steak, crab cakes, salads--let it all digest,

sit a while and have a very short rest.

Take a hike, play in the yard,

Wait for the ice cream to finally get hard.

Sparklers and fireworks light up the sky,

And put a twinkle in each girls' eye.

Up and at 'em, let's head to the zoo,

With six little animals--and some in cages too!

Ice cream, round two, blackberry--groovy,

Then lie on the couch and watch a cute movie.

Sleep, rise, run, eat,

Wave goodbye, 'til next we meet.

Clean the house, and wash the clothes,

Go to the dentist, breath through my nose.

Ship Rob off to southern shores,

and get about my daily chores. . .

It was hard, it was fun, 

unfortunately I'm still not done!

Write a roadshow, a novel, a post,

Plan a shower--I am the host.

All this and much, much more

Is what my weeks still have in store.

But one thing is always sure,

My life is never, NEVER a bore!

So if you don't hear from me much for a while it is not from lack of interesting things to post about, but rather lack of time to recount all our adventures.  None-the-less, we are having a fun filled, fast paced summer. . . like always.