Some Time Off

To you all who read my ramblings way more often than you probably should...I'm taking a week off. I'm going down to the town where I grew up to visit some family and old friends. I'll post when we return. Have a great week!!

The Audience is Watching

When you become a parent, you have an audience. Constantly. They are always there, listening and watching, whether you think they are or not. Learning to be on stage was something totally foreign to me. In school I didn't like it at all. I loved helping those who were on stage, but it just wasn't for me. I liked being an unknown. I was a rather shy person and with some very good friends was able to take that fear head on. Since the shyness for years was painful, learning to let my personality show was hard work for me. I have a sunshiny disposition, that I can now open up to share without the fear that plagued my school years. Getting married was a huge leap for me. I now had to share my life with someone all the time, everyday. He sees me at my worst and best and everything that falls in between. Becoming a parent threw me into the limelight even more. As scary as it is, I am the star of the show right now. Mr O and Peaches think that mom knows everything. And it is as scary as staring an alligator in the eye. I'm so scared of making a mistake that later will come back to haunt me. I know that I probably already have, but the fear is still there. Living every moment of every day in front of an audience is hard, wonderful, exhilarating, and exhausting. My love for these two children that have been placed into my arms is unmeasurable. Trying not to disappoint them is a constant curtain call. I'm human and so make mistakes. But having them watch me make those mistakes is tough. Thankfully the audience listening and watching here have so far enjoyed the show. They laugh at all the right places, hug and kiss the hurt away, and love without malice.

They are my audience. And the curtain is rising.

If I had to Carry my House on my Back

I find snails fascinating.




They are gross, slimy, eat my plants, and some are poisonous.




But they are really quite cool.




For something that resembles a slug so much, snails have a bit more to them.
They have the same icky looking skin, 4 eyes (or whatever those things are called), and leave a trail of slime behind them. But snails have a house. A built in house. A house that they carry everywhere with them. They don't seem to mind the added weight. They are also quite adept at not getting hung up on stuff that they pass underneath. On any given day, we find several snails. It is so moist here that they are just always around. Finding one in our yard is like finding a gold nugget. There is a shout and a holler. Then we move onto the watching faze. Where is is going? What will it do? Does it have a family? Trying to answer these kinds of questions is impossible, so I let Peaches and Mr O think and try to answer them for themselves. Snails really are fascinating.

Total Destruction!

What is it about destruction that just pulls children and adults alike? We got to see something that doesn't happen very often: the demolition of a house. Just around the corner. Over breakfast we heard some clunking and crashing noises and decided to investigate.

Upon opening our door, we could see the backhoe hard at work.

We walked quite close, directly across the street, and sat down to watch the entertainment for the day.

BOOM! CRASH! SMASH! The sounds every child gets excited over.

The sounds that make us adults listen hard with both ears to make sure it's not our house being demolished.

Splintering wood. Squeaking timbers as the nails were pulled from their home of 30 years. Shattering glass.

The Bbbbrrrrroommm bbbbbbbrrrrrroommm of the diesel engine.

Absolutely fascinating!

The Newest Addition

So...I have a new camara!!

I don't know all the fun stuff that I can do yet...

But It's fun to play with!

Here's a comparison shot between the old digital I was using and the new one (old on left):

This is the same flower, only one day separates these photos

3 1/2 frames per second...

Hi-def movies with sound (that I don't know how to take yet)...

And TONS of other features that I will learn to use, but haven't yet...


I LOVE it!

One of Those Days...

The day started out normal enough. David got up, got Lucy up, and they played for a while downstairs. They then trooped upstairs to make sure we were awake (we had been for a while) and proceeded on to the sewing/school room to do some "school work." Upon them becoming quite, an investigation by daddy occurred...An audible gasp followed with "that is NOT ok!" made me jump and start getting up. Mr O came crying into the room followed by daddy and a pouting Peaches. They had started by cutting paper, but got bored with that and moved on to Peaches hair. Needless to say they no longer have scissors for a very long time. Luckily they were only trimming the bottom of it when aprehended by daddy, and so no damage control was needed. But since this was the second offence, there were rather harsh punishments that followed. Mr O no longer has hair, and as he is rather vain and likes to look in the mirror, this is actually a punishment for him. Peaches had to sweep and mop the floor under the unforgiving eye of mommy (she had to redo it twice before she did it right and I let her off).

So on that rather unhappy beginning to the day, we decided to make a trip to Costco. Specifically for a new camara for me. We had shopped around a bit and really liked the Canon. Spent 5 minutes at the camara counter there and had a new camara, the T1i (Canon Rebel). It is wonderful!! It can take 3 1/2 pictures per second, does hi-def video with sound, and I can blow up the pictures to huge sizes and not lose any quality. WooHoo! With 35 mm (my true love) on the endangered list (I could only find it at Fred Meyers), a good digital is very very welcome. Yay!

I LOVE MY HUSBAND!! Just in case ya'll didn't know that.

Of Shoes and Ships and Sealing Wax, Of Cabbages and Kings

Something happened that hasn't happened for six very long years. I was able to see, talk for hours, and just hang-out with a wonderful old friend and her family. It was so nice to catch up on her life in person. Seeing a person physically is just so much more than talking on the phone or chatting via internet. I wouldn't say that our friendship was getting stale or any of that. We still talk and chat, but physically being together to gab and giggle and hug was so wonderful, there really are no words to describe. J is one of those wonderful people with whom you just feel at home and as if you have known each other for eons. I'm lucky enough to have known her for eons, but Peaches is a newer addition. Peaches adopted J (and said so) as soon as she figured out that I wasn't going to leave. J just has the magic ability that some people have, the magnetic quality, kids just love her! Peaches was spoiled (and so was I). J's parents have the ability to look beyond a person's faults (namely mine) and love the person underneath. They love unconditionally, and aren't afraid to say so. I'm lucky to be one of those whom they have "adopted." I consider them a wonderful part of my extended family. Being with them (and J) the conversation just flows, the time flies, and the hugs and love are genuine. I know that I will see them again, and we'll talk between now and then; but seeing them was needed for me.

I needed to feel the love of part of my family and gab for hours about the (mostly) inconciquential things that we gab about. I needed a day.

And it was wonderful.