ode to the burro!

After having it around for 9 great years, we sent our beloved burro on its way to live with my brother and his wife. We'll miss having it around!

The burro has followed us to Condie Meadows, Lava, Moab, Smith & Morehouse, Blacksmith Fork, Bear Lake, Green River, Skyline Trail, Brownie Lake and on and on. We have had people follow us until we stopped and ask to see inside and others offer to pay us on the spot to buy it from us! You wouldn't think this fiberglass bubble was such a hot commodity, would you!? After all, how many other camp trailers can you pick and move by hand?

One of my favorite memories is while we were camped in a Moab RV park, alongside all the million dollar land-yachts! A retired man came by when Jeremy was outside fixing something, and said, "You gotta wife in there?!" He couldn't believe it! Said he couldn't pay his wife enough to set foot in something so small! Small yes, but big enough for a couch & table turned into "double" bed, couch turned into two bunk beds, a table, stove top, frig, sink, and the best part, porta-pottie!

And, so, alas, we bid farewell to our friend Jack. Oh, BTW, sometime you should ask Jeremy about his garlic-with-a-little steak, forgotton-toothbrush, bonding-moment Burro memory with his fishing buddy!

bring on the sombreros!

LAST NIGHT....

Nolan: Mom, do you know what I want to be when I grow up?

Me: What's that?

Nolan: A Mexican!

Me: (Laughing)

Nolan: And I'm going to work at a Mexican restaurant!

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Looks I'll be set up with free chips and salsa for life!

And I guess we should work on some politically correctness...is that possible for a five-year-old?

confession

My confession for the day. I have been indulging myself in the remnants of the rainbow chip frosting. Well, I say "remnants", but there was probably one-third of the container left-over! I don't know what it is about this stuff, but it's like it's calling me from the inside of the frig! Do you think it's possible it has some sort of addictive ingredient that makes me not be able to leave it alone? One spoonful here, one spoonful an hour later - okay, two or three spoonfuls, just this once.

Do you think it's bad that I was actually bummed when Macy caught me in the act and wanted to share?

breakfast bologna

While I was still in bed this morning, thinking about dragging myself out to make breakfast, I could hear Macy rummaging around the kitchen. I found her making her own cuisine: grapes and bologna, which she had laid on the floor and was cutting into pieces with a steak knife! What a great tool for a two-year-old! Gotta love bologna for breakfast!

a reason to celebrate

Well, I did it -- aerobics this morning for the first time in more than three months! Thanks for the encouragement, Jeremy. Can you blame me for the dry spell? My female issues have been whacked out for the last two to three months! Hormonal roller coasters (read MOOD SWINGS!) and cycles starting every two to three weeks that last m - u - u - u - c - h

l - o - n - g - e - r than normal. There, I've said it. Now you'll understand this post a bit more. I've hardly had the motivation for exercise. So hooray for me!

So now is the part I'm supposed to say that I feel great now and this is the amazing turning point for a whole day worth of ultra productivity and energy to clean the entire house, organize all my closets and maybe throw in a little laundry. Yeah, right. But maybe, just maybe, I'll have enough energy in my bank for another day of exercise this month. :-) In the mean time, to celebrate, I think I'll go eat some ice cream and chocolate!

ruining my life!

After I let Nolan and Macy out of time-out today for fighting (again), Nolan came up to me, "Mom, I need to tell you something -- Everything that Macy does is ruining my future!" Seriously, I had to turn my head to disguise my laughter. Do you think he even knows what that means????

hello? hello?

Where are all of you? Here I am, sitting at my computer, looking for some mindless entertainment before I get ready for bed. Jer's at a game, and the kids are in bed. The house is quiet, and I'm checking all your blog sites, but it's not taking long, because there are very few new posts that I can find. So, either I check your blogs far too often, not allowing sufficient time for a new post, or something is desperately amiss with most all of you simultaneously, causing a rare case of blog-neglect across the globe??? So, I'm begging you, please, for some mindless entertainment. Can you hear the boredom in my head? Alas, I'm off to bed.

cats and dogs

In the past we have had some trouble with the local neighborhood cats using our sandbox as a litter box. Seems how I'm not a cat person in the first place.....gross.

Tonight Jeremy and I were talking about where we are planning to plant some dogwood shrubs in our yard. Nolan piped up, "I think we should plant the dogwoods by the sandbox, so I won't have to play in cat poop anymore!"

Apparently dogwoods chase away cats just like dogs do!

crampage

Me: blah, blah, blah (complaining about cramps and everything else period)

Jeremy, trying to make me feel better: Yeah, I know exactly what you mean, I get cramps when I eat too much!

(I'm pretty sure it was well-intentioned humorous empathy.)

If there is one thing I do not understand about being a woman...this is it. Why period? Isn't there another way?

the trip

Sorry, Corb, we went to Frisco again without you. Don't worry, we enjoyed it for you. Here are some highlights of our Take-Your-Family-To-Work Day, with Jeremy on his 24 hour layover. We met up with Jer in the SFO airport and made the most of our 24 hours!

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look closely...there's a Macy in there!

on the shuttle bus to the hotel, already exhausted.

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flying paper airplanes off the 8th floor....oh, and of course we picked up all the airplanes we could find down below....no littering on this trip. (conn, looks like this has become a tradition.)

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this cool water feature, pre-cast concrete, built in 1971.

this pic doesn't do it justice.

it makes me think about being underground in an urban city with water gushing in from the pipes. sounds amazing.

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the bay .

love this sign....seriously, I'm so there!

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the sea lions at pier 39, of course. Nolan does a great impersonnation. The out-takes:

Nolan, making the sea lion sound: Arrr Arrr Arrr

Me: Macy, what makes that sound

Macy: Nolan!

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swimming...gotta love those goggles!

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the not-so-highlights

the two guys that almost got in a fight on the BART, dropping [swear] bombs right and left, about six feet from us. Question, if someone is threatening to beat you up, do you keep yelling "Loser! Loser! Loser!" at said person??? Duh. the one time I would have preferred to be on a packed train - not practically empty. very uncomfortable.

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and the little too much "frisco" we saw while visiting the fountain mentioned above...stop there, you get the idea.

security check

This is HUGE for me. Yesterday I managed to make it all the way through security for the first time by myself with Nolan, Macy, the stroller, and all our carry-on luggage. FYI - Flying standby, we never check any bags, because we never quite know where or when we (or they) will land.




Those of you who travel with kids, will appreciate this accomplishment of mine! And, BONUS, I didn't even forget anyone! or anything!

bracketology

I have to spend a few minutes in my glory, because this has never happened to me. I started filling out an NCAA tournament bracket several years ago, just for fun. This really peaks my interest in basketball during the entire March Madness post season, at least in the game outcomes. Right now I am the leader for both my family and my work bracket challenges. My picks never align with the games like they have this year! Wahoo! I know, I know...gloating in this will probably jinx my current winning status, but I'm already convinced it probably won't last long, so I have to celebrate in the mean time!