HaPpY BiRtHdAy JaRi!

"Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You."  

"Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!"

"If things start happening, don't worry, don't stew, just go right along and you'll start happening too."

"Oh the places you'll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And the magical things you can do with that ball will make you the winning-est winner of all."

"You're off to Great Places!

Today is your day!

Your mountain is waiting,

So... get on your way!"

WiShInG YoU a SpLeNdIfErOuS KiNd Of DaY!

 

(all quotes courtesy of Dr Seuss)

If you don't drink coffee ....

you might just want to start.

'Cuz you're in for a long one here.

I did promise to be back here on Wednesday. It is now evening and I had plans on attending Bible Class tonite. However, the wind is about to blow my house over and I really don't care to even hear it ... let alone walk in it right now. So I'm home instead.

This dear gal here brushing her teeth with her feet would happen to be my sister Becky.

She and Mom and came for the past weekend to help us celebrate our anniverary.

This is what happens when you start those conversations that just move from one thing to the next. Somehow ... and I really have no idea how ... we ended up on the subject of a person I saw at the airport in Seattle. Or was it Portland. I can't even remember. Anway, when I mentioned he had no arms or legs ... people knew of him.

Google promptly led us to his Attitude is Altitude website and then we were on to others as well. Becky shared her agility with us. Oh heavens! Go on and check the site out sometime. Share his You Tube videos with your children. It is most motivating. I haven't screwed up the gumption to give it a try quite yet. Not You Tube. The tooth brush thing.

While I worked on Friday, Jari took them to Hatcher Pass, to the Noisy Goose for lunch, the Tsunami Warning Center for a tour ... and visited. We had Landa's over Friday evening to visit which was super fun. Someday it looks as though there may be a connection between those two families .. a mighty close one at that. :)

Saturday morning we had coffee at Ryan & Ambers, saw Denali, had lunch at the Cadillac Cafe and then more coffee at Ross & Denise's. Yes. We can certainly put away the coffee. I think the above photo ended up being a Saturday evening entertainment after watching Becky's wonderful presentation of she and Wayne's recent trip to Ecuador. I think I might someday like to do that myself. Not yet. The beach first.

Sunday we were totally eclipsed by visitors, laughing, singing and eating. In this photo here, we were getting ready to watch a dvd presentation put together by Frans, Jenny and family. Complete with priceless singing. Thank you guys so much. I wish I had gotten a picture of my round window up near the ceiling. What a hoot. Covered with a striped towel. Marvelous time with marvelous people.

Then on to the rest of the week. Monday evening worthless and good for nothing. This aging thing sort of stinks. Too much in too many days and then good for downright nothing. Jari had brought the gals down to the airport, leaving at 3:15 a.m. They both made it home safe and sound ... as did he.

Last night I took Jari to the airport for a late flight. Flying south out of Anchorage also seems to involve a middle of the night ride. He was probably a tad exhausted today. A flight delayed to begin with and then delayed again in his connecting stop of Portland due to weather. He was at his destination today. I must tell you that the temp there right now appears to be about 57 degrees and the winds at 6 mph. A little envy going on over here right now.

Not anything close to balmy over here. I actually checked the earthquake center today to see if we had a whopper because the house was shaking. Not. Just the wind. Now, as I write, the temp is at 23F with a windchill of 3F and winds gusting to 54mph. I'm telling you. It is almost enough. See how bad it is? I'm now taking pictures of trees of all things. For years Becky and I would have a Christmas Day telephone visit about ideas for next year's Christmas card. Not kidding. We really did. Now I'm shopping for next years tree instead. The one the red arrow is pointing at is it. I have no clue how tall that thing is. Stands gads higher than my house does, maybe it is close to hitting 4 stories tall. I want the top of it. The problem is this wind. It just seems determined to knock that bugger right over. I've never seen it list quite as badly as it did today. Keep your fingers crossed. I want that thing in my living room next year. Not the whole thing. Just the top 15 feet or so. 

And that is about all this nut case has been up to. I did sort through a year's worth of reciepts today. I cleaned out the paper pile. I did swish 2 loads of laundry, picked up my dear daughter from the bus and made dinner. Other than that ... I've been worthless.

Rather than be totally worthless, I grabbed the camera for a bit.  Kim has a contest going on about your favorite white. (Click on the link to check it out.) 

I really don't have one favorite white. I love them all.

I have a wee bit of white around me.

In fact, it might almost be considered a problem by some.

I agree with you, Kim, white IS a color.  

Upper Left: White sunlight seen through frosty white trees. Upper middle: An antique store find that sets off my silver creamer and sugar. R Middle: White coffee cups are a must. R Lower: A plate with a ring of hearts given to me by Frans & Jenny, topped with another white bowl. Far right: White china all ringed with silver.
Bottom left corner grouping. Top Left: 3 sets of white creamers and sugars all of different types of white glass. Top Right: White vases of red berries. Bottom Left: One of many white treasures from Aunt Martta. Bottom Right: White roses

If you haven't drained the entire pot of coffee by this point ... great job!
I am going to find me a blanket, a cup of cocoa (too late for coffee) and a book. Have a great Thursday!

When the heart is filled beyond words.

 

 

I hope Becky can send me a bunch of her pictures. My camera did some shooting over the weekend, not nearly as much as I'd like it to. So many special thanks to the many who made our Silver Anniversary such a special occasion. I have another busy day at work, a very busy evening ... I'll see you on Wednesday. 

I'm excited!!

Looking forward to a fun weekend. Actually it has already started. :)

My mom and my sister, Becky, flew into Alaska last evening. Knew that Mom was coming and kind of wondered if Becky was. Sure enough! Becky hasn't been here before so super fun to have both of them here! They'll be off and running with Jari this morning to do a bit of sight seeing as I'm working today. Then .... time is ours for the next few days!

I miss the snow.

I'm whining.

Just. A. Little. Bit.

Our world has looked like this for weeks.

45 degree temps have melted nearly everything ...

and everything left behind has been made into fields of ice.

There are ice grippers for the boots ... and ice grippers for the truck.

When left in an ungripped state, it sometimes has the tendency to slide across the yard.

Can you see why I've had this spring fever going on?

Doesn't it look like it?

Except this morning the temp is hovering at 22 with not a snowflake in sight.

Only windblown, silt covered yuck.

The ice candles are gone. I did get to burn them one evening this year!

Now we have glass votive cups sitting out on the porch ...

I have me a feeling.

I'll explain later, but am guessing that next Wednesday we'll get just dumped on.

More than my broom can handle.

I have an idea ...

for an advertising campaign for Lowe's.

It has to include the fact that you only need to spend $20 (less than lunch these days)

to spend an entire day working beside your loved one.

Just think of the possibilities!

Mission accomplished today ... after that $20 trip to Lowe's.

When we moved into our home there was a large coat closet (seems much smaller now) between the entry and the kitchen.

Coats? Why on earth would you keep coats upstairs when you have a mudroom?

Now, I know. My current coat closet is the railing above the stairs.

We had a greater need for a place to put computers. The living area here is not very big ... and we are sort of connected computer junkies.

Keeping the devices, printers and all the assorted cords in the living room was out of the picture.

We revamped that coat closet and it has gotten progressively worse looking.

It doesn't matter what I say, eating utensils always show up there.

You get the idea.

This was the before ... and I just recently cleaned it.

Computer hard drives sitting on the floor.

So many cords that you'd trip over them if you could.

I'm off today so we headed to Lowe's, spent our $20 and then came home to work.

2 computers, 2 printers, modems, cable boxes and 13 million cords out of the room.

Carpet out. Holes doctored.

Then on to paint. Don't you just love the paint tray?!

Gotta love the extras from the hospital.

Paint went on ....

cabinet went up, all cords were stowed in the cabinet and wound securely.

Both computer boxes went up on the shelf leaving nothing on the floor except for

8 chair legs.

Flooring went in. It still needs some baseboard, but the carpet is now history!

Several things that we are reserving for a later date.

One is to add a white shelf on the right side wall for books, labels, paper, etc.

Another is to replace the shelf that the printers sit on. I would love white to brighten up the room a bit. If not, that's okay too.

Hooks. Somehow, someway, hopefully kind of cute and catchy.

Something to hang headphones, webcams and other hangy kinds of things.

  

Lastly ... my favorite.

We used a piece of plywood for a "desk top" since we started using this computer nook. The kids have written and drawn all over it. It has oodles of character. Has family names, phone numbers, messages ... everything.

I hit it lightly with a sander and then lightly stained it to darken up the edges to match the part where we've all rested wrists or elbows for the past several years.

Then I put one coat of polyurethane on it. It really needs several more coats.

Not today. Maybe I'll be able to move things and do one half at a time on different nites. In all likelihood, it will stay the way it looks right now.

And that folks ... was my Tuesday.

I did take some pictures outside as I walked around picking up rakes and trash ...

in my sweatshirt.

It is just wrong, this 40 to 45F temperature we're having.

The snow is melting much too fast.

It is, however, conducive to things like spring cleaning.

I remember having the same fervor last winter.

Hurry up and clean it quick.

Soon winter will be here again ... and we can nest in comfort.

Starting the New Year with resolutions and justifications

Just to make sure I knew what I was talking about, I found the definition of resolve. According to wherever the web brought me, this is what I managed to find.

make decision: to come to a firm decision about something, or cause somebody to do this
solve difficulty: to find a solution to a problem
settle argument: to bring a disagreement to an end

That blew my idea right out of the water.
I thought that I could just lump resolve in the same category as diet. The d word usually makes me gain weight just thinking about it. It doesn't look like the resolution can fall into the same category.

So, with the best of intentions and a heart that loves her family, I resolve to:

Clean out stuff. I can't go to the extreme of getting rid of everything. Much of that stuff is a part of me and makes me smile. The non smiling stuff will go. Every week, 25 items will hit the garbage or the donation pile. I am taking the liberty to call a magazine an item and that qualifies under the firm decision part of the description. I started yesterday. I really did. The front hall closet is organized and clean. The pantry nearly done ... and I picked up sweater boxes last night at the store to complete my organization of that room. The computer closet was right behind it. In my cleaning yesterday I found school papers from 2006. There were neatly organized in a stand up file, but they existed. I also found this and just had to share. Paul's Hardware and Milk Depot ... I know they don't have a clue, but I really do miss them.

These, most definately, don't fall in that category. I just had to share a picture with you. Mom, you wouldn't believe how many surprised looks I've gotten when I told them that you had made my nativity set. It went back to the basement yesterday. Each piece lovingly wrapped in paper. Christmas got put away yesterday. Yes, I was a busy girl. :) Santa is still hovering at ceiling height and I need a ladder to get him down ... maybe he'll just stay up there. (As I reread this, I'm envisioning him hanging on fishing line somewhere. He really isn't!)  Jean told me once that leaving a Santa up all year brings good luck. I left one up last year ... maybe this year it will be the hovering one.

Back to the resolutions. The first was for my home. The next ones are for my family. They are the hardest ones. They definately require the firm decision thing and that gets so hard to do for more than a week or two. Jari & I never manage to go out for date night anymore. We have plenty of evenings spent at home alone and don't really feel the need to be running away from the house for dates. However, the one thing we really need to do is just skip out for a cup of coffee ... without kids. That's usually what we did anyway. A cup of coffee and maybe share a cinnamon roll. We're a cheap date and we're going to start again. He doesn't know it yet. I'll just tell him when it happens. Maybe not every week, but at least every other week I will take him out for coffee and spend some uninterrupted time dreaming again.

My children. I really did much better with the babies. Having bigger people kids and getting them to do things when they should know better is really grating on my nerves. I don't yell. I don't hollar. I don't shout. I get quiet. Very quiet. I figure it isn't worth the fight and the nagging constantly. I'm wrong. I resolve to nag. Just kidding. I do resolve to make them responsible for their decisions. I do resolve to start a consistent job list. I resolve to not be a pushover. I resolve to make decisions, set deadlines and dates, put them all in writing and get signatures from all parties involved. I therefore resolve to spend the next year helping make my children responsible and caring adults.

Dear God, please help them and me. 

Finally, there is me. I resolve to play. There are so many other duties that get done. They don't need resolutions or resolve. Bills get paid, I go to work, dinner gets made (or not!), laundry spins, cars get cleaned, floors get mopped, Sunday School gets taught, music flows from fingers as scheduled. All of that stuff happens. It has to or we cease to exist in any orderly fashion and my word falls apart. I have been better in the past 6 months about disappearing to my little hideaway in the laundry room with an audio cd and just playing. I no longer feel guilty doing that. That is a big accomplishment. I have given myself permission to play and have embraced it. I don't shop. I don't lunch. I like to create. I could resolve to lose weight ... and I'd gain it. I really do need to do some heart healthy exercising. That is on the list ... not a resolution. I'm only willing to go so far. This past week, Tia & I spent an evening at the table with watercolor paints. Pure bliss! This wasn't a creation of the evening ... this was a find from a few years back that I had forgotten existed. I am sorry for those people who have no interests. My interests and hobbies overflow the riverbanks of time allowed for them. So, I resolve to take more time to play. Whether it is with a paint brush, a sewing machine, the card making stash, the digital scrapbooking software, the baking pulla. I really don't care, but will play ... and I hope at least some of it will be done with daughters who join me and learn that creative playing may be essential to peace of mind.

I also resolve to spend more time connected with old friends. I miss them and believe that someday we will be back haunting the same places again and laughing with them. As for now, I resolve to let those people know how much I value them and their friendship ... in some small way.

May your New Year be happy, healthy and prosperous. I am On Call for the rest of the day. If I don't work you'll find me spinning laundry, washing baking dishes from yesterday, shampooing carpet ... and playing. Be good to yourself!