princess party

The prettiest princess in all of the land

is having a party that's sure to be grand!The Queen got to work and a plan was laid

Orange and Pink in every shade!To welcome the guests a carpet of red

"No, No, it should be pink!" she said.We're almost ready, it's just about time

The only thing left is the Tiara to shineThe guests arrive at the door and it's Cinderella!

and a few handsome princes and one sleeping fella.We ate some good food and made a lot of noise

We then ate some cake and opened some toys.
It's your birthday, Princess, you are officially TWO!

Happy birthday, Little Sister, Happy Birthday to YOU!

terrific two

Little Sister is Two! I have been reminiscing all weekend about the day she was born. It was a perfect day and we were so excited to welcome her into our family. Shortly after she was born, I wrote up a birth story so I could always remember the details and share it with her when she starts having her own babies. Here it is:

After a couple of weeks of almost constant contractions and a false alarm that left me at 4cm and 75% effaced, we decided to induce labor. I had been very hesitant to talk about induction because I didn’t want to have to use pitocin. Since my previous labor had been very quick after my water broke, my doctor decided that we would just break my water and see where we got from there without having to use pitocin.

We arrived at the hospital at 8am on Thursday, October 14th. I had an IV started right away and started a round of antibiotics because I was Group B Strep positive. At 10am, my doctor came and broke my water and stripped my membranes. Steve and I walked the hallways for about a half hour, but there was too much pressure on my back and bladder to walk very much. We went back to the room and watched the news on TV. I was disappointed that my contractions didn’t pick up right away, but I kept reminding myself that this was going to take longer since it was an induction. Around noon, true labor got underway. The contractions started picking up quite a bit and were 3 minutes apart and hurting. They got progressively stronger for the next hour and I asked for the epidural at 1pm. The anesthesiologist was in on a c-section, so I had to wait for him and while waiting for him the contractions were pretty bad---but I was still able to breathe through them. I was 6cm dilated when the epidural went in at 1:30pm. I felt great after the epidural! My OB came in at 2:20pm and checked me and I had only changed slightly—I was a “loose” 6cm still. She suggested pitocin to speed things up so that she would be there to attend the birth (she wasn’t the OB on call that evening). I agreed since I had already had the epidural and wasn’t worried about the pain anymore. She told the nurse to start pitocin and said she was going over to the other hospital to check on some other patients and would be back in 2 hours. While waiting for the pitocin to arrive from the hospital pharmacy, I felt different and felt a lot of pressure at 2:40pm. The nurse checked me and I was 8cm. Only 3 minutes later I felt much more pressure and a slight urge to push. The nurse checked again and sure enough I was 10cm I had gone from 6cm to 10cm in 25 minutes. I guess the mere threat of pitocin got my body into gear! The nurse paged my OB and she had just gotten to the other hospital, but turned around to come back. I felt a lot of pressure with each contraction and a slight urge to push, but I didn’t need to push, so we waited for my doctor.

In the meantime, I called my mom in Florida so she could be on the line while I delivered the baby. I also asked the nurse to set up a mirror so that I could watch while I pushed and see the baby come out. My doctor arrived around 3:05pm and got dressed for the delivery and we got the bed set up. I started pushing at 3:11pm and watched in the mirror as her head came out. The cord was around her neck, so the doctor pulled that around her head and suctioned her nose and mouth. It was neat to be able to watch the entire process in the mirror. I could feel a lot of pressure, but no pain. Our darling daughter was born at 3:16pm after only 5 minutes of pushing! It was so amazing to watch her birth in the mirror and to feel her come out. She looked so tiny to me. I said something about her being tiny and the nurse and doctor said “No, she’s not!” She weighed 8 pounds 2 ounces and measured 20 inches long.

We are thrilled with our birth experience! My labor and delivery was only 3 hours long and everything went perfectly with no complications at all. I had been worried about things like having an episiotomy, having to use pitocin, and not making it to the hospital in time. I didn't need the episotomy or the pitocin in the end and I am very grateful that my doctor decided to break my water. She told me that with the way things happened with the induction, I probably wouldn’t have made it to the hospital had my water broken at home since I would have already been in labor.


It seems so long ago, but it's still easy to remember how I felt. The moment she was born I immediately felt like I was seeing an old friend that I hadn't seen in a long time. I remember telling her the first time I held her "I've missed you so much!" It was kind of an odd feeling, but I know it wasn't our first time meeting. I love my little girlie!

thanks so much

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers!

Little Sister's procedures went well. She was great! She did take longer than normal to start breathing on her own afterwards and to wake up (which scared me!!!) but she did fine. The doctor said that everything looked normal and good, but he took several biopsies to test. We don't have any results yet, but should hear something by Monday. If they don't find anything wrong, they will just give her Imodium to help. I certainly don't want anything to be wrong with her, but going through all of this because she needs a little Imodium seems extreme! Time will tell...

Little Sister's big birthday party is tomorrow!!! We are excited and you'll get a full report as soon as I recover from it!

prayers for little sister, please!

Little Sister is having a birthday on Saturday! She is getting the world's worst birthday present: a colonoscopy and upper endoscopy. I'm just glad she's too young to remember.

She has been seeing a pediatric GI doctor for her chronic diarrhea problems and they haven't been able to find anything wrong with the blood and stool tests. She is having the procedures done tomorrow morning. I haven't been very stressed about it because I'm a "last minute stresser" and the last minute seems to be starting. I'm not very stressed about the tests, but I am stressed about the anesthesia. She's so little!

Next on the list for birthday celebrations....immunizations next Tuesday! The poor girl can't win.

"the spinach scare is stupid! we want spinach!"

A printed sign explaining why there wasn't any fresh spinach on shelf at the grocery store was hanging above the former spinach display spot. A person desperately missing his spinach scrawled the above statement on the sign.

What do you think? Is the spinach scare stupid? Do you want your spinach back? Would you buy it if it was back on shelf today?

wordless wednesday

ghosts & ghouls of halloween past

I love Halloween! Not the spooky-skeleton-blood-and-guts-vampires-and-monsters kind, but the fun kind! The kind where kids can dress up as whatever they want and roam the neighborhood asking for candy. I especially like the making of fun costumes and decorating with pumpkins!

The first Halloween in the Garden was rather tame. Little Boy was only four months old and I had not yet discovered the joys of costume making. He was a hand-me-down pumpkin and while he was rather cute (and round just like a pumpkin) I knew there was something missing.

The next Halloween I ventured out a little and turned Little Boy into a Little Puppy.

(See his little tail? That was my favorite part!)
Halloween #3 was only a couple weeks after Little Sister was born. I hardly remember it, but I do remember that Little Boy was a sweet Scarecrow. I didn't dress up Little Sister that first year and it didn't really matter since she spent the entire time nursing anyway. Here is Little Scarecrow with his cousins The Cat & The Princess:Halloween #4 was the first one where Little Boy had costume preferences. Not only did he have a preference about his own, but he was adamant that he knew what Little Sister wanted to be as well...
The Little Super Hero:
The Little Lady Bug:
Halloween #5 is fast approaching and two very cute costumes are in the works. Little Boy wants to be a Big Black Spider and Little Sister is going to be Minnie Mouse. They are in the process of being created...

28 Days and counting....Get a move on folks!

I DID IT!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, March 29, 2006, I wrote this here on my blog:

I have a dream to become a Child Passenger Safety Expert. I love learning about this, especially about carseats. I spend a lot of time researching and reading about them and take pride in knowing how to install and use carseats correctly. Did you know that 80-95% of carseats are used incorrectly? Even a properly installed carseat won't work if the child isn't in the seat correctly. Also, a child who is in a seat correctly won't be fully protected if the carseat isn't installed correctly. I am passionate about my children being as safe as possible. I pay attention to carseats. I pay attention to how people use them, how children are harnessed in them, and to how the carseats work.

Dream fulfilled!! I am now a Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician! Four days of training behind me and I completed my first carseat safety check yesterday. I had a blast and four kids in my city are now safer because I helped their moms secure the seat and the child properly and safely.

One of my instructors is a Police Officer in my city. He has asked me to volunteer doing checks at my local Police Department. I am very excited and I am so happy that I have finally done this. As silly as it may sound, I feel like this is part of my calling in life.

Look for future blogs with carseat safety tips and features!

~Constant Gardener & Carseat Technician

the time has come...

...for this mom of a certain Little Boy to start checking pockets on laundry day.

Marbles, wood chips, rocks, coins, nails, beads, foam, and crayons have made their way into my washing machine hitchhiking in Little Boy's pockets. I'm starting a collection and refuse to empty it because it makes me smile every time I do the wash. I'm just adding to it and maybe I'll take another picture in a couple months.

I'm just grateful that dark crayon didn't make it into the dryer.

evidence i'm a terrible mother...

It is 60 degrees outside and very windy and my almost-two-year-old daughter is playing outside.





Naked. So much for modesty. Or warmth.

wouldn't it be nice?

Wouldn't it be nice if life were easy? Wouldn't it be nice if choices were easy to make? Wouldn't it be nice if every choice we made had no negative consequences? Wouldn't it be nice?

Life isn't easy, choices aren't easy to make, and every choice has it's pros and cons.

I wrote a post on May 1st all about making choices. There was a story behind the post, but one I couldn't share yet. The way I described feeling in that post is the way I have felt all summer long as we have had to make choices regarding employment and where we live. Steve was approached twice by others in his company about considering a new position within the company. The pay would be good, but we'd have to move to Arkansas. Thanks, but no thanks he told them. The third time he was approached it was by a Vice President in the company. Saying No to him didn't seem like a good thing to do, so he said he'd consider it. I was thinking about it and suddenly felt like God was saying to me "I'm trying to give you something here, but I can't force you to accept it. What more do you want me to do?" Sobbing like a baby, I told Steve we should consider it seriously. This is the right thing to do I told him. We made a trip to Arkansas, found a beautiful house, and sat back to wait for the offer. It didn't come and didn't come and didn't come. Finally, Steve's boss approached him and said that it hadn't come through because he asked them to hold it. He had another position he wanted Steve to consider. This position is the one Steve has been working towards and the one that he really wants. We put Arkansas aside and headed to Arizona. While Arizona is a great place and has it's own kind of beauty, we definitely weren't in Boise anymore, Toto.

We have only lived in Boise for 2 1/2 years, but it feels like home. Neither of us have family here and we are both far from our first homes, but we love it. We had hoped to spend a very long time here. The friends we have both made here and reconnected with here mean so much to us and I'm scared that I'll lose them. Just the idea of us moving I feel has pushed a couple of them away. I don't blame them---Why spend a lot of effort cultivating a friendship with someone who will be leaving soon? But it still hurts and I miss them. Maybe I've done some pushing away too. Maybe it won't hurt so much to leave if we aren't that close anyway.

Sometime after the New Year, we will be packing up our family and head South to in the desert among the cactus, scorpions, and rock landscaping. But for now, I'm not going thinking about it. It's not happening. Maybe in January I'll think about it again. Maybe. If I have to. But I don't to. Wouldn't it be nice if I didn't have to?

:(

It's September 16th and I had to turn on my heater this morning. This is so uncool.

happy, sad, and everything in between

Where have I been!? I can't believe it's really been pretty MIA for a week. But I have a good excuse...

Do you remember Mandy? She came to visit me! She brought her adorable baby boy, Special K, with her and made me all kinds of happy! We had a great visit that went completely too fast and ended entirely too soon. As I dropped her off at the airport this morning and hugged and kissed that sweet baby boy I became so sad. We live so far apart and I don't know when we will see each other next.

I thought that at the end of 5 days of being together she'd be sick of me and my kids and that she'd be itching to get out of here. I thought that I'd be ready to get back to normal (as I always am when company leaves). Neither proved true. While she did want to get home to see her husband, she wasn't ready to leave and I didn't want her to leave!

I'm so grateful that she was able to come out here. It was so fun and exciting to see each other on a new level. We've been fun and irresponsible college kids together. Now we got to see each other as wives, mothers, and women. It was eye-opening, a bit surreal, and so wonderful!

The connection that Mandy and I have never ceases to amaze me. It's like we can read each other's thoughts. It's sappy, I know, but I have no doubt that Mandy and I knew each other at some other point in time and were meant to meet and be friends at this time.

I completely fell in love with her little 9-month-old son! Check out the cuteness of this kid:

He the most sweet and loving baby! I miss him already. I kept telling Mandy that she could just leave him with me, but for some reason she wanted to keep him around.

In other news...A few of you asked to see the paint in Little Sister's room...here you go!

I can't figure out what those two reflections are (the round one and the square one)...but I couldn't get a picture without them!

no points awarded

When I tell you what the red cup taped to the window is you're going to say "Oh, duh!" I did when Little Boy said, "Mom, it's a siren on the police car!" Looks just like one, don't ya think?

late night ramblings

Having friends who blog is usually really fun. But, it's a bit of a nuisance when something really funny happens and you think "Oh I should blog about this!" just as your friend says "I'm totally blogging this." If you dare mention blogging about it yourself, she will look at you like this:

She totally scares me, so I'm not going to blog about it. You'll have to check out her blog to hear the funny story.

Today was the first day of preschool. Sad mom? NO WAY! I am thrilled to have someone else listen to Little Boy's incessant talking and answer his five-billion questions for 6 hours a week! He was more than a little excited in his new school clothes that are too big and his new Nemo backpack. I couldn't get him to stop dancing and act normal for the picture, so this is what you get:Who the heck sizes kid's clothing anyway? Size 5T fits him perfectly, but I don't want his new clothes to fit him perfectly. If they fit perfectly now, they will fit very imperfectly in two months. I want a little big, not looking-like-an-orphan-drowning-in-my-clothes big. So the next size? Kids 4/5. Huge. Apparently kids are supposed to hit a huge growth spurt between those sizes. Little boy didn't get the memo.

I painted Little Sister's room over Labor Day weekend. It looks fabulous, but it doesn't smell very fabulous. The paint smell is overwhelming. I've had a fan on and the window open for days now and it still smells toxic when I open her door in the morning (and it's not just her diaper). I've tried Febreze and air freshener and now it just smells like citrus paint. Any tips here?

This Febreze air freshener? Lovely. Just not mixed with paint stink.

This painting tool? Incredible. We are now very good friends and may take on more new and exciting projects together.

Little Boy has been redecorating again. This is our new window treatment: You get 10 points if you can guess what it's supposed to be, specifically, the red cup taped to the window. No guessing, Emily, I already told you.

invasion of the brothers

Little Boy insists that he has brothers. If you ever wondered if children really do have imaginary friends, wonder no more, because Little Boy has three real live imaginary friends. They live in a striped monster truck in the mountains. They have red hair and red eyes. They are big kids. "You know mom, 6 year olds." Their names? Little Boy never tells me out loud, but writes them down. Sometimes their names are AWNTYNOPA and other times it's more like GHCDHOEGYAHIODTY. I think they're from a lost tribe in South America.

I normally encourage such creativity, but Little Boy's brothers are becoming a nuisance. Apparently, their mom lets them do and have whatever they want and they a bad influence on Little Boy. I don't know how my 4-year-old learned to be passive aggressive, but he uses his brothers to be just that.

Me: Don't jump on the couches, please.
Little Boy: My brothers can jump on their couches.

Me: Eat your green beans, please.
Little Boy: My brothers don't have to eat their green beans.

You get the idea.

When Little Boy started his Brother-Style-Arguing on other adults (my awesome friend Emily who was babysitting for me), well, that was just embarrassing.

Emily: Don't lean back in your chair, please.
Little Boy: My brothers can lean back their chairs.
Emily: Well, you can't because the chair could fall and you could get hurt.
Little Boy: My brothers have really cool chairs that don't fall over so they can lean back in their chairs.

When the Brother-Technique fails to work, he moves on to other tactics:

Me: You need a haircut.
Little Boy: I don't want a haircut!
Me: Well, you have to have one. Your hair is getting way too long.
Little Boy: My brothers don't have to have haircuts.
Me: I don't care what your brothers don't have to do. You are my little boy and you have to have a hair cut.
Little Boy: Well I don't want to be a boy anymore. I want to be a girl.

Perhaps the Brothers are the least of my concerns.

same age. same socks. different kid.

Little Boy, April 2004

Little Sister, August 2006

the garden...unplugged

We are addicted to television. The kids are addicted to watching it and I am addicted to the peace I get while they are watching it. Little Boy was getting a more TV than the expert recommended 1-2 hours of television a day and Little Sister was getting a heck of a lot more than the expert recommended ZERO hours of television a day. The Doodlebops, Wonderpets, and Higglytown Heroes were taking over. It was getting a little out of control, the kids were not having the greatest behavior, Little Sister didn't know how to entertain herself without television or someone reading to her, and I was starting to have trouble with these little cartoonish characters taking over my children. There was only one thing to do...Turn off the tube.

But could I do it? Wait a minute...is this smart? I mean, this is a punishment for ME! I will get no peace! I will get no quiet! I debated and procrastinated until one day when I realized that Little Sister's idea of a fun day was taking up residence in front of The Wiggles with a bowl of dry Fruit Loops.

That's when I decided to be the control freak that I am and took control of the situation. I declared a NO TV WEEK.

Day one was a bit trying, but by day three they didn't even ask to turn on the TV. When strange things started happening I realized that the No TV Experiement had suceeded:

Pirates set sail in the hallway...

The Arizona desert appeared in the living room...
And wild animals inhabited a dark cave in the family room...

We did have one half hour of failure. The kids were bouncing off the walls and I needed to shower. The Wiggles came to my rescue, but one half hour of TV for a week isn't too shabby!

The TV is back on now, but in very limited quantities.

I completely recommend this experiment if the TV is a constant buzz in the background like it was at our house. It works and really, it wasn't even painful!

holy shmoly.

I love to scrapbook. A trip the scrapbook store and completing some layouts would give me a high like none other. I was ruined yesterday. Ruined. I will never be able to venture into the scrapbook store and spend $20 on a little paper and some ribbon again and feel good about it.

If you've read Emily's blog you'll know that there were some smokin' deals to be had on scrapbooking products in our neck of the woods. SMOKIN' I tell you. I spent $55. I spent a few minutes today and figured out what the retail price would be on all of these great things I purchased:

$600. Yup, I paid $55 for $600 worth of stuff. Life is good.

girl stuff

If I wasn't baby hungry before, I am now. We visited our friend's newborn twins last night. They were born at 32 weeks gestation and were in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit for about six weeks. They are home now and so sweet, beautiful, and tiny! They still only weigh about five pounds a peice. It was so neat to hold two little babies at once and smell their sweet newborn smell!

I have been working on blankets for the girls and finished them yesterday just in time to take them over. They are made from flannel using the "rag quilt" method. Pink for one and purple for the other:

I'm pretty pleased with the result and the new parents seemed happy with them too.

On a different girly topic...What do you do when Princess Little Sister wants four pink bows in her hair? You give in...anything less would just not do.

yumminess

There is something about fresh produce growing in my own backyard that makes me unbelieveably happy. However, the first part of the summer was filled with a big basket of disappointment. First my garden didn't produce because of the shade of our two cherry trees didn't allow the garden any sun. Then the cherry trees didn't stand a chance with the heat wave we had in July (the poor cherries dehydrated before they could get ripe) and all my hopes of a fresh cherry pie were dashed. But, lo and behold, the grape vine and blackberry bush have come through for me with flying colors:

I have been picking blackberries by the gallon size bag full and freezing them to make a bunch of blackberry jam. I hope it's as good as my tastebuds are expecting.

Apparently the kids are pretty unbelievably happy about the goodness growing in the backyard as well. This is the scene I found today when the kids were playing outside:

Luckily Little Boy is a much neater eater than Little Sister. Look at her little red fingers and red chin! We'll see if the amazing Borax can clean this shirt....

My first jar of jam will be given to the lovely ABCMomma. She graciously gave us a ton of yellow plums from her yard. The only way that could have made me happier is if they were growing in my own yard! Thanks Brooke!

ETA: As I thought about this today...I remembered two other lovely ladies who have given me some goodness out of their gardens. I haven't forgotten them, I just had fruit on the brain while blogging this last night and these ladies gave me vegetables! Okay, so they were tomatoes which are technically fruit, but I think of them as vegetables. I ate every single one of those yummy home grown tomatoes and blessed your names with each bite! Emily and Jami will most definitely be receiving jars of jam!

dear delta, there is a reason you are bankrupt...

Dear Delta,

My husband and I were passengers on August 12th, 2006 on a flight to BOI, originating in PHX with a plane change in SLC. The flight from PHX to SLC was delayed due to mechanical problems. We understand this happens from time to time and waited patiently for our plane to depart. However, we were concerned that we would miss our connection in SLC. The gate agents assured us (and the other six passengers that were headed to BOI) that we would make it in time and that "this flight is always late." The departure time was pushed back further and further until we were an hour late and it became clear that unless the plane in SLC bound for BOI was held for a few minutes we would not make it. The gate agents happily assured us that if we did not make it that accommodations would be made for us for the night as this was the last flight out of SLC to BOI until the next morning.

We arrived in Salt Lake City just ten minutes after the scheduled departure time of the flight from SLC to BOI. The plane had already left. The gate agent in Salt Lake City---perhaps the happiest man in the city---handed out hotel, shuttle, and food vouchers to the eight of us stranded in SLC. He cheerfully informed us that the airport restaurants were now closed, but we could have some vouchers anyway. I guess if we got hungry enough we could just eat the vouchers, a good source of fiber.

The other passengers took the gate agent's word for it, but we looked around and found a restaurant open. Upon opening the menu, however, we discovered that our $7 a piece food voucher wouldn't even cover an appetizer. We used three of our vouchers to cover our scant meal leaving one voucher left for breakfast.

When we headed downstairs to get our baggage, we were met by our fellow passengers who had been waiting for their own bags. It seemed that a ball was dropped somewhere along the line and our bags were not brought out. The very apologetic baggage counter worker gave us each a complimentary hygiene bag. "There is a free t-shirt inside!" she exclaimed with a smile and sent us on our way. My husband and I asked her to check once more for our bags as I had medications in my bag that were very important for me to take that evening (I understand that medication should be carried on, but this was the time of the new regulations for no liquids to be carried aboard and my medications were not in containers labeled with my name.) Luckily for us, our bags were found. Unluckily for our six fellow passengers, theirs were not.

After being packed like sardines in a shuttle van, we were driven 15 minutes away from the airport to a one-star hotel. We arrived at the hotel at 11pm. For the next 45 minutes, my husband called shuttles and cab companies searching for someone to pick us up at 5:30 the next morning. We called Delta and tried to get some help and found none. We were told to keep trying. We were lucky to finally find a cab driver available and willing to pick us up. Five hours of sleep later, we arrived back at SLC airport.

We found the airport just as vacant as we left it the evening before with only one place open for breakfast. Our one remaining food voucher wasn't enough to cover the two of us.

While we recognize that our experience could have been much worse and while we are grateful for happy and polite Delta employees, we feel Delta has room for much improvement. While looking back and thinking about our experience, I have some suggestions for you:

*Perhaps a flight that is "always late" should be rescheduled to a time that will be easier to achieve.

*Holding a flight for 15 minutes so that eight passengers can catch their connecting flight home just might be more cost effective than providing meals, transportation, and hotels for those individuals.

*When it does become necessary to strand passengers, a system should be implemented which allows their baggage to be stranded with them. The free t-shirt is a nice thing, but hardly replaces ones own luggage.

*Some assistance with finding transportation for tired and frustrated passengers would be appreciated.

As I am reminded on almost every flight I take, I have a choice when I fly, and Delta will no longer be among my top choices.

Sincerely,

Gardener Alicia

arizona in august

Phoenix, Arizona in August? Hardly sounds like it would be enjoyable. But add in two nights without children, a luxury resort hotel, and all expenses paid? Who cares about a little heat!

I accompanied Steve on a business trip to Arizona last week. Luckily, this trip was much more fun than the last business trip I braved. We had three days and two nights (which ended up being three nights thanks to Delta airlines and their incompetence and the third night was most definitely not at a luxury resort hotel) without children and had a fabulous time!

I must start with telling about the incredible bed we slept in. Serious, serious comfort. I'm

talking lay-down-feel-like-you-never-want-to-move-ever-again-not-ever-died-and-gone-to-heaven-and-now-sleeping-on-a-puffy-cloud. It was that good. I earned an eye-roll or two from Steve when I took the sheets off the bed in an effort to discover exactly what kind of bed offered such delightful comfort. But, there were no tags. I think it was some kind of posterpedic type foamy stuff. Heavenly.

And the bathroom? Wow. Granite, travertine tile, separate tub & shower. Gorgeous. It made the fact that Arizona tap water tastes like poo and the hotel's complimentary mouthwash tasted even worse easy to forgive.

The entertainment center housed a run-of-the-mill hotel television (that we used) and mini-bar (that we did not use) and was just beautiful. The cool vases on top? Glued down. I guess even fancy resort visitors steal things.

And the view...Magnificent. We sat out there one evening and watched a great lightening storm.

In addition to a few really neat-o pools, there is a lazy river on the resort property with inner-tubes to float it. So fun and so relaxing! Both evenings before dinner we relaxed in the pools.

The second night in the heavenly bed was rudely interrupted by very loud neighbors. At first we thought it was a bunch of teenagers in the next room, but no. It was adults who must have thought that everyone in the hotel was interested in their conversation by the way they were all yelling over each other until 1am. One lady has a very serious future in show business with her genuine Halloween witch cackle. She should really look into it.

One of the coolest things about Arizona? Several of MOFs live there! I was fortunate enough to meet up with several of them including Linsey, Jane, and a few others (one of which I would link to, but I don't know if she wants to the world to know she lives in Arizona.) Most of us dragged our husbands along kicking and screaming, but I think they ended up enjoying themselves a little bit. And Linsey? Tall. I know. Shocking. She seems to short on the internet.

We were supposed to return home on Saturday evening. We finally made it home Sunday morning. Delta will be receiving a lengthy letter from me. Perhaps you'll have the joy of reading it too. Stay tuned.

good enough to eat

I'm just a little bit selfish. I enjoy making things for other people, but I have a little bit of trouble giving them away. I get great satisfaction from creating things---from blankets to scrapbooks and other crafts. But, once I give them away I don't get to see them anymore and get that swelling of pride. It's almost enough to make me keep them for myself---but I'm only a little bit selfish, not a lot selfish. So I do give things away and then I make some more....but first, I take pictures of my creations. I have a file on my computer of pictures of some projects I've finished. Occasionally I'll take a look and enjoy the things I've made.

I also like cooking (when I'm not rushed and don't have small children whining around my knees) and I like to think I'm fairly decent at it. There are two reasons that I enjoy cooking:

1. I like serving my family and friends good food and watching them enjoy it.

2. I like the challenge and creativity required in creating dishes that look just as good as they taste.

There's a little problem with reason #2. Once reason #1 is done, the nice looking dish is no more. I've given it away for people to eat and I no longer get the satisfaction of looking at the piece of art I've just created.

I made a tasty dish recently that was as appealing to the eye as it was to my taste buds so I decided to do the same thing as I've done with other things I've created---I took a picture! Granted, I didn't come up with the recipe or plating technique--I copied the recipe from a magazine, but I still like how it turned out.

Maybe I'm just silly or vain or both. But it's fun and it's just me.

ETA: I guess it would be helpful if I say what it is! It's a Southwestern Cobb Salad: A bed of lettuce with chicken, cheese, bacon, tomatoes, avecado, black beans, and eggs. Yum!