When you follow the bus all the way to school...

You wonder why you just didn't take the kids to school yourself!

That was the case this morning. No sooner had my children gotten on the bus this morning than I realized my son forgot his violin. I can't really blame him. He was running late, the bus was early, his shoes were dirty, he was leaving dirt all over my just sweeped (swoped? sweepened? swopened?) mudroom floor. And rather than track the dirt from the mudroom floor through the kitchen, dining room and living room to the front door, I told him to go out the garage door instead. He did. And of course, the violin is parked next to the piano in the living room.

Once the kids are on the bus, I usually sigh hugely, because we have managed to not miss the bus again. And usually, I finish getting ready once they are gone. I didn't have time for usually today, so I quickly dried my hair, put some moisturizer on my face (up until a few years ago, it was anti-zit cream), kissed the hubby goodbye, put the violin in my Jeep and took off.

I got to the highway and saw the bus. "Oh goodie!" I thought to myself. "I'll just give my son the violin at the next stop." Problem was, there wasn't a "next stop."

The bus driver had already picked up all his passengers and he was now on his way to deliver the kids to the grade school, middle school and high school. Problem was, I didn't know which stop was first. So when we were about eight blocks away from the school, he got in the left turn lane. I needed to go right to get to the middle school, so I figured he was delivering to the grade school first, and rather than follow him all the way to the grade school, I figured it was time to give up the chase and just deliver the violin to the middle school office and my son could pick it up there.

So I did.

As I was crossing the street to get back into my vehicle, much to my surprise, my son was walking to the school's front door from the bus stop. (Obviously, I made an erroneous assumption when the bus driver turned left!) I hollered my son's name (first and last, no middle, because that would of course indicate he was in trouble) and said, "You can pick up your violin in the office!" He hollered back, "Okay! Thanks!" (No, "Thanks, Mom," which I'm assuming is because a 13-year-old isn't really interested in letting everyone know that the lady hollering to you from across the street is your mother!)

On the positive side, at least now I know the bus route, although I'm not sure what to do with this new information. And I made it to work extra-early!

So THAT'S what happens when you follow the bus all the way to school!

Dawn

The typewriter demise?

The Internet was all aflutter the other day with the report that the last typewriter manufacturer (somewhere in India) was closing down. Today, I read that the report is false; that typewriters are still being made.

Now, I don't know if they are or aren't. I haven't used a typewriter since college way back in the....ahh, never mind! But other than drumming up feelings of nostalgia, I'm not terribly broken up about the real or not real impending demise of the typewriter.

To someone who can type pretty fast but not neccessarily with great accuracy (which is me), a typewriter was nerve-wracking at best, and a downright pain at worst. I mean, I'm the one who can proof-read a story five times and still have it come out reading, "We would have no craps and no animals." instead of "We would have no crops and no animals."

To be blunt, I am extremely happy with word processing programs. I can cut and paste and rearrange my thoughts with maddening frequency. It's do-over heaven, as far as I'm concerned!

But, this is one use of a typewriter that tickles my fancy.



I'd keep one around if I could learn to "play" it like he does!

Dawn

Wordless Wednesday: Soon, very soon



Last year's tulip





Wet spring....er

The Springer gets an Easter bath....

My daughter loves it.....

 

The Springer? Judging from the "big old sad-puppy eyes stare," he would have rather stayed dirty!

But, if spring stays this wet and muddy, the Springer will be visiting the acrylic water torture chamber on a regular basis!

Much to my daughter's delight.

Dawn

Ice cream and flower seeds

Last week, my daughter's school had an ice cream social fundraiser. It wasn't really ice cream weather, but, well, ice cream social fundraisers wait for no weather!

And it really did get me in a "springy" mood. They had a silent auction, and everything was water toys, camping supplies and of course, gardening items. I bid $27 on a seed starter kit. Someone else came along and bid $29, which was a good thing, because I also bid $13 on the the stuff you see below (two garden utensils not pictured), and got the winning bid. I probably didn't need $40 worth of gloves and seeds...

...but then again, maybe I do. Because now that we've had a couple of nice days, I'm getting antsy.

But I will heed the seed packet directions as much as I can; you know, the "do not plant until after the danger of frost has passed" lingo. (This year, that could be July, so I may just push the envelope a little!)

Yesterday, my daughter asked, "Mom, is spring FINALLY here?" I said, "I think so. I hope so. I sure would like it to be!"

The frame for the greenhouse that sets up shop in the grocery store parking lot was there yesterday. They must think spring is coming too!

By golly, I think we've turned the corner!

Time for some ice cream, methinks! (And maybe another "small" purchase of seeds!)

Dawn

Dish towel pillow

This past weekend, my daughter and I had a little "girl" time while the guys were on a camping trip. Of course "girl" time includes shopping and eating ice cream, which we did.

And when I asked her, "Well, where would you like to go next?" She answered without hesitation, "Hobby Lobby." She REALLY likes that store. And she always manages to convince me that she needs another crafting project to keep her little monkey hands busy.

When we got to the pillow section, there was a pillow there that faintly resembled her rug. She said, "I really would like a pillow to match my rug, but this one isn't quite the right color."

That's when the search for the right color green pillow to match her rug began.

We hit up three more stores and found nothing. Then, finally, at Wal-Mart, as we were walking around aimlessly, I noticed a green dish towel. I said, "Is this close to the color you want?" She said it was. I explained that I could probably sew a couple of dish towels together and make a pretty good-sized cover for a pillow. She looked at me somewhat skeptically, but I assured her that I could do it.

After all, I have a sewing machine at home, and I can pretty much sew a straight line. I even once made a quilted comforter, B.C., which stands for Before Children.

So we purchased the dish towels. When we got home, I got to work. We had a few old standard-sized pillows that I hadn't gotten around to throwing out yet because....well, I don't know why. But I figured I could cut it open, rearrange the stuffing, cut it down to the dish towel size and it would make a pretty good  pillow for my color-exacting daughter's green pillow case!

After resizing the pillow, I took the dish towels and sewed up three sides, leaving one side open so I could stuff the new and improved old pillow into it. I sewed Velcro on the inside of the opening so it would stay closed once the pillow got into the case, and.....

Ta-Dah!!! Dish towel pillow in just the right shade of green to match my monkey's rug!

She was pretty happy. I might even go so far as to suggest that she now even thinks I might be on the good side of handy!

And when she doesn't like this shade of green anymore, I can always use it to dry some dishes.

Dawn

Wordless Wednesday: My snowy shadow smiles at the sun

Installing spring

A co-worker sent this joke yesterday...

INSTALLING SPRING... ■■■■■■■■□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ 44% DONE.


Install delayed...please wait. Installation failed. Please try again.

404 error. Season not found.

Season “Spring” cannot be located. The season you are looking for might have been removed, had its named changed, or is temporarily unavailable. Please try again...

Being a computer geek wannabe, I laughed and thought it was really funny!

Today? Not so much.

This is a late morning view from the office. The weather guy says we could get 4-6 more inches of the white stuff.

When I saw the snow this morning, I sighed. Then I got a little cranky.

The novelty of snow in April has worn off. I'm tired, tired, tired of it.

I know! Let's just give up on spring, reboot and try to install summer instead. Are you with me?

Now, if only we could convince Mother Nature!

Dawn

Water feature

I'm a sucker for moving water. When I was a kid, my brother and I traipsed down to the coulee during the spring melt and watched the water rushing through the culvert. Only later did I find out that we were standing on a precariously thin shelf of snow/ice and that we were "never supposed to do that again."

After every hard rain, you could find me outside, exploring the ditches and other low spots I knew water would collect. And I would secretly wish that it was like that all the time.

Even now, as the snow melts and water rushes through culverts, I get an urge to stop and gawk. Every day on my way to work, I check the level of the water running through a nearby creek. I find myself wanting to take a picture of it; something to remember it by, maybe? Now that it has slowed considerably, I feel a sense of sadness.

Despite my love for moving water, I have never chosen to live near the water. Mostly, it's a fear thing. I figured that, with my luck, if there was a chance that one house in a thousand would get flooded, it would be my house. So I never wanted to tempt fate.

But that doesn't mean that I haven't had SERIOUS wishes to have a back (or front) yard "water feature."

Our neighbors have this babbling brook and awesome pond, and I have to admit that I am envious. Yep, I'm a little green. I know they are a lot of work to build, and to maintain, but the more I think about it, the more I would like to see a nice little brook and puddle in our yard. Turns out that one of the magazines I got to make your yard beautiful had a seriously BIG section on water features. And they were all DIY projects. And every one of them loved the way they turned out, And they all say they saved thousands by doing it themselves! And....And...And! (Do I sound like a little kid trying to justify a purchase of a much-wanted toy?)

We definitely have enough rocks (and probably would dig up plenty more) to make a nice rock-lined feature. But it's a big commitment. Once you start, you have to finish.

The way this spring is going, we might not even have summer.

But I will continue to plot and plan, and who knows?  A water feature just may be in my future.

Dawn

I can't believe I ate the whole thing!

Why is it that some days I have no self control? I had a monster craving for some Chinese food for lunch today, so since I was making my usual lunch-time trek to the grocery store to pick up things that I forgot to put on my list yesterday (which were carefully placed on a new list today so it wouldn't require yet another trip tomorrow), I decided I was going to grab one of those convenient boxes of frozen Chinese meals that you can microwave in five minutes.

As the time on the mircrowave counted down the last minute, I told myself, "Now, Self: Remember this is about three servings. You can eat one, maybe two. But not three."

I'm not a very good listener. I can be kind of stubborn too. I totally disregarded myself. I ate three servings; more like inhaled three servings.

With every forkful over and above the first serving, I told myself, "Okay, this is your last bite. I said that at least 10 times." And I STILL didn't listen. Toward the end, my inner voice was saying, "You're gonna be sorry."

I told her to be quiet and that I didn't care because this was really good and I deserved to enjoy as much as I wanted.

I hate it when I don't listen to my inner voice because she's usually right. (Is it really my mother's voice disguised like me or what?) When I don't listen to my inner voice, I usually end up feeling yucky. And I do. Full, gurgling belly, a touch of heartburn and man I could use a nap!

But, just so my inner voice can't guilt me into submission, I have something positive to report about my gluttony: I got a pile of my vitamins and minerals in one sitting. Looking at the nutrition facts on the back of the box, I managed to consume more than 100 percent of my Vitamin A, 45 percent of my Vitamin C, 18 percent of my iron and 12 percent of my calcium needs for the day. I also managed to consume 18 percent of my recommended fiber intake. Couple that with the high fiber bar I had for breakfast and I'm up to a whopping 53 percent. (Of course I managed to ALSO consume my entire recommended sodium intake for the day as well.)

At least the craving is gone. And maybe next time, I'll listen to my inner voice.....

Maybe.

Dawn

Wordless Wednesday: The road less traveled

Art imitates life

I told you about my mom's 75th birthday cake and how Joe the dog managed to dig into it just a little bit. Well, I didn't have pictures at the time. But, lo and behold, in my daughter's backpack this past Friday, was a drawing depicting the word "ruined."

Guess the subject matter?

I laughed and told my daughter I would have to send this drawing to Grandma for a keepsake of her 75th birthday cake!

Dawn

Duality of flight

It took me a while to find the right word to describe a picture I am posting today, but after hemming and hawing for quite some time, I settled on "duality." I'm still not sure that's the right word, but I fell like it pretty much describes the interesting juxtaposition of things that fly!

Duality is, according to MSN encarta: Something consisting of two parts: a situation or nature that has two states or parts that are complementary or opposed to each other.

Not too long ago, I was photographing one of my favorite signs of spring (the robin) perching on the overhead structure on our deck. It was then, looking through the camera lens, that I noticed the jet flying in the clear blue background. (It's that little white smudge above and to the left of the robin.)

I thought it all seemed somewhat poetic: The bird perching, the jet flying, probably full of people "perching" in their seats. And I was struck by how it wasn't until I took a more "focused" look at the robin that I caught what else was going on in the background.

It reminds me of that exchange between Shrek and Donkey in the original Shrek:

Shrek: For your information, there's a lot more to ogres than people think.
Donkey: Example?
Shrek: Example... uh... ogres are like onions!
[holds up an onion, which Donkey sniffs]
Donkey: They stink?
Shrek: Yes... No!
Donkey: Oh, they make you cry?
Shrek: No!
Donkey: Oh, you leave 'em out in the sun, they get all brown, start sproutin' little white hairs...
Shrek: [peels an onion] NO! Layers. Onions have layers. Ogres have layers. Onions have layers. You get it? We both have layers.

I was just taking a picture of the robin because I was happy they were back. And suddenly a simple picture of a robin and a jet becomes symbolic of man and nature. (And ogres and onions!)

Or maybe it's just a simple picture of a robin with some funky white smudges! : )

Dawn

Growing on my mind

Up until yesterday, the roller-coaster weather we've been having had dampened my urge to grow stuff. Well, that was then.

Yesterday, the headline on the front page of the local newspaper pointed out, "For greenhouse owners, spring is a dirty business."

All I can say is, I want some of that action!

The picture of the lady planting seedlings in the greenhouse got me cranky. Call it dirty envy. I wanted to be her. I wanted to be digging in the dirt. I wanted to be nurturing little plants along, instead of slogging through the muddy backyard, picking up soggy dog poo!

Yes, I have growing on my mind. And I'm not being particularly patient about getting out there and planting flowers.

Really, I could have started plants in the basement, I suppose, with a grow light and stuff. But the basement is cold and dark and it just isn't the same.

Hmm. Maybe, I need to seriously think about putting a little greenhouse in the backyard, just so this over-reaction to a nice story about the people who grow plants for a living doesn't keep happening. Then, instead of grumbling about picking up soggy dog poo, I can put my little flower seeds into the potting soil and watch them grow!

I mean, look how happy digging in the dirt makes me! (This picture was taken about four years ago, judging by my spectacles and my son's young appearance.)

Further evidence I officially have growing on my mind: I bought yet another "beautiful garden ideas" magazine at the grocery store over lunch today.

And all it took was a photo on the front page of the newspaper!

Let the growth begin!

Dawn

Wordless Wednesday: April through the eyes of a child

A 75th to remember

At least we'll always remember my mom's 75th birthday party.

It was supposed to be a surprise. So when we got to the farm, we took the cake up to my brother's house. I set in on the freezer in the garage. That was Saturday afternoon, about 3 p.m.

Sunday morning, around 10 a.m., (the party is scheduled for 1 p.m.) my brother calls my mom and dad's house and asks for me. He says, "You busy?" I say, "No." He says, "Can you come up here?" I say, "Sure!"

So I get up there and they open the cake box that I had deposited on their freezer the day before.

I don't actually remember my initial reaction. I think I gasped, maybe, and put my hand on my mouth.

Their dog, Joe, had eaten off a portion of the bottom of the cake.

After the initial shock, I think I laughed. Shortly thereafter, I said, "Well, at least we will always remember Mom's 75th birthday!" And laughed some more.

And it's true. Mishaps and things going off with many hitches are the things we remember. I mean, why strive for perfect when imperfect can be so much fun?! We'll be talking about this for years!

And we did manage to salvage the cake. The cake originally said, "Happy 75th Birthday, Mom!" The final version just said "Happy 75th Birthday." And to be honest, when I had the cake made, I wasn't sure if it should say "Shirley" or "Mom." Joe must have thought it should have said "Shirley."

If there is anything I would change about my life, it is all the the "Shoulds, woulds and coulds." And sometimes, it's the Joes of the world that remind us what is really important: Sharing time with loved ones, laughing and enjoying life.

I mean, seriously, what better present can you give someone but a really memorable memory!

And we owe it all to a dog named Joe.

Thanks, Joe!

Dawn

Springer cleaning

The worst part about Springer Spaniels that still have their winter coats on in the spring is all the "stuff" that collects on that long, shaggy fur when they run through the muddy water in the back yard.

Now, mind you, I'm not going to crab about melting snow at this point. The more of it that melts -- of course in a timely fashion so as to not create flooding situations for others -- the happier I will be.

I'm not even going to crab about a wet, muddy Springer bounding into the house and leaving tracks all over the floor I just cleaned last night.

What I AM going to do is share a picture my daughter drew at school of one of her "chores." Technically, I don't know if you can call it a "chore" because she she loves to do it it so much.

And, actually, she doesn't do it. I do. She helps. But mostly, she stands there and says, "He looks so adorable!" when he has been thoroughly soaked down and looks up at us with those big, brown, sad Springer eyes. He is pretty good about getting into the tub. But his patience wears thin fast, and is usually ready to jump out before all the soap has been successfully removed from all that fur.

So there is shaking and attempts to jump out and a lot of laughter on my daughter's part when the dog gets a bath. (She stays much drier than I do, by the way.) I also feel compelled to point out that the picture below actually makes the process look much easier than it really is.

But of all the Spring chores there are, Springer cleaning really puts a smile on my daughter's face. And that makes it all worth it.

Dawn