It's funny how sometimes a mistake can lead to good things. Recently I signed up for Reunion.com and inadvertantly clicked on "invite all contacts." So, everyone in my address book got a nice little "connect with me!" request.
For those who got it and thought I'd lost my mind (I NEVER send mass mailings), I'm sorry!
But, my extra-itchy clicky finger also "connected" me to at least three people I'd hadn't heard from in forever. People I'd all but forgotten were in my address book. Not forgotten about, mind you, but people who kind of went by the wayside as we go through life.
This morning I had three wonderful "how ARE you?" emails from my long lost friends in response to my accidental click n' mail. Which was a very, very pleasant surprise.
You know how it is — things get in the way, time becomes scarce, and friendships, especially those of the long-distance variety, take effort to maintain. And I wasn't putting in that effort. I am a bad friend. Ok. Not a bad friend. I'm a good, albeit sometimes lazy, friend.
I like re-connecting. It's fun, and with some of those "old friends," it's a nice, long walk down memory lane!
Showing posts with label Coolness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Coolness. Show all posts
Monday, June 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
The field trip
There is almost nothing in this world that can make you feel old and out of shape faster than spending the day with running with a herd of first graders.
I took the day off work yesterday to spend a lot of fun-filled hours with the youngest goober. Two of those hours were spent on the school bus with a whole bunch of little curtain climbers. Oh, THAT was fun! My ears were ringing by the time we arrived at the St. Louis City Museum. School busses are just as awful as I remember them being, by the way.
In all the years we've lived in the St. Louis area I've never been to the city museum. I've been just about everywhere else, but never there. I don't know why.
Holy cow. What a day! We climbed, crawled, jumped, ran, explored, swung and bounced all day long. My knees hurt today, but that's okay. Unruly and I both nodded off on the bus ride home, along with about 90 percent of the rest of the first graders. It kind of smelled like kid sweat.
The biggest kid-friendly feature of the city museum is a four story "jungle gym" built with pieces-parts of just about anything: rebar, former construction steel, a couple of old planes, a stone castle tower, cables, an antique fire engine, old culvert pipe, steel wire, giant wooden vats that were once used to brew some kind of alcoholic beverage and on and on and on.
It was absolutely incredible. And a bit scary. I didn't climb up in the four-story high "tubing" made of rebar and wire (yes, I was a chicken), but Unruly did. She couldn't get enough of it, that little daredevil. We crawled through tunnels and slid down a three-story slide that was FAST!
By the end of the day I was starting to feel old, but sliding down slides, swinging on ropes and crawling through dark tunnels sure made me feel like a kid again.
And that's a good feeling, even if it was only for a few hours.
The best part? An entire day of just Unruly and I spending time together and letting our hair down. That was the best part.
I took the day off work yesterday to spend a lot of fun-filled hours with the youngest goober. Two of those hours were spent on the school bus with a whole bunch of little curtain climbers. Oh, THAT was fun! My ears were ringing by the time we arrived at the St. Louis City Museum. School busses are just as awful as I remember them being, by the way.
In all the years we've lived in the St. Louis area I've never been to the city museum. I've been just about everywhere else, but never there. I don't know why.
Holy cow. What a day! We climbed, crawled, jumped, ran, explored, swung and bounced all day long. My knees hurt today, but that's okay. Unruly and I both nodded off on the bus ride home, along with about 90 percent of the rest of the first graders. It kind of smelled like kid sweat.
The biggest kid-friendly feature of the city museum is a four story "jungle gym" built with pieces-parts of just about anything: rebar, former construction steel, a couple of old planes, a stone castle tower, cables, an antique fire engine, old culvert pipe, steel wire, giant wooden vats that were once used to brew some kind of alcoholic beverage and on and on and on.
It was absolutely incredible. And a bit scary. I didn't climb up in the four-story high "tubing" made of rebar and wire (yes, I was a chicken), but Unruly did. She couldn't get enough of it, that little daredevil. We crawled through tunnels and slid down a three-story slide that was FAST!
By the end of the day I was starting to feel old, but sliding down slides, swinging on ropes and crawling through dark tunnels sure made me feel like a kid again.
And that's a good feeling, even if it was only for a few hours.
The best part? An entire day of just Unruly and I spending time together and letting our hair down. That was the best part.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
From out of the blue
There is a woman I work with on a fairly regular basis...she is the executive director of a local non-profit organization that supports people infected with HIV/AIDS. I took the organization she works for on as a pet project about five years ago because no one else was doing it. I'm glad I did.
She is vivacious and well-spoken, passionate about the work she does and the people she helps and I admire her. She is an all-around amazing person and I'm closer to her than I probably should be, considering she is a source. She started out as a source, but over the past few years, she's become a friend.
Today I met with her for a story I'm researching and we ended up talking for more than two hours. We talk about social ills, problems with society and people in general. Yes, we even gossip about politicians and she has given me some very valuable tips.
She said something to me this afternoon that made my entire month.
Most people don't have a very high opinion of journalists. I know this and I'm okay with it. People make no secret of of how much they HATE reporters and you'd be surprised how many people think it's perfectly okay to just call up our newsroom and bitch out the first random reporter who answers the phone. Everything wrong in their lives, and in the world, suddenly becomes MY fault because I happened to be the unfortunate soul who picked up the phone. I've been blamed for some of the most incredible things, it amazes me what people think reporters are capable of doing just because they are reporters.
So anyway, reporters are generally on the same par as attorneys...people LOVE to absolutely hate us. We are vultures, blood suckers, scum of the earth...you name it, I've probably been called it or accused of it.
Anyway, today she told me I was the first reporter she's ever met who actually has a heart (take THAT you naysaying co-workers!), and that it's obvious I really care about people. (Crap, she's going to blow my hard-assed, heartless cover!) She deals with A LOT of media, including the crazy, egotistic tv people, so it's not like I'm the only reporter she's ever had to deal with.
She said she is always impressed how I come in and engage in conversation with her about real people, real things and address real issues instead of coming in armed with a list of pat questions and refusing to stray from my list. Sometimes I go in with one idea, and walk out with even better ones because I just like to talk.
That made me feel good. Reporters don't make much money. Most of us aren't in it for the awards or fame and after your first five years and your 2,000th boring-as-hell city council meeting, you give up hope that any story you write will change the world.
It's the little things we start clinging to, the little differences and changes we help make that keep us going every day. And today, she really made me feel like I was making in a difference in the lives of some people. Yes, small differences, nothing earth-shattering, but differences nonetheless.
And that's what it's all about.
She is vivacious and well-spoken, passionate about the work she does and the people she helps and I admire her. She is an all-around amazing person and I'm closer to her than I probably should be, considering she is a source. She started out as a source, but over the past few years, she's become a friend.
Today I met with her for a story I'm researching and we ended up talking for more than two hours. We talk about social ills, problems with society and people in general. Yes, we even gossip about politicians and she has given me some very valuable tips.
She said something to me this afternoon that made my entire month.
Most people don't have a very high opinion of journalists. I know this and I'm okay with it. People make no secret of of how much they HATE reporters and you'd be surprised how many people think it's perfectly okay to just call up our newsroom and bitch out the first random reporter who answers the phone. Everything wrong in their lives, and in the world, suddenly becomes MY fault because I happened to be the unfortunate soul who picked up the phone. I've been blamed for some of the most incredible things, it amazes me what people think reporters are capable of doing just because they are reporters.
So anyway, reporters are generally on the same par as attorneys...people LOVE to absolutely hate us. We are vultures, blood suckers, scum of the earth...you name it, I've probably been called it or accused of it.
Anyway, today she told me I was the first reporter she's ever met who actually has a heart (take THAT you naysaying co-workers!), and that it's obvious I really care about people. (Crap, she's going to blow my hard-assed, heartless cover!) She deals with A LOT of media, including the crazy, egotistic tv people, so it's not like I'm the only reporter she's ever had to deal with.
She said she is always impressed how I come in and engage in conversation with her about real people, real things and address real issues instead of coming in armed with a list of pat questions and refusing to stray from my list. Sometimes I go in with one idea, and walk out with even better ones because I just like to talk.
That made me feel good. Reporters don't make much money. Most of us aren't in it for the awards or fame and after your first five years and your 2,000th boring-as-hell city council meeting, you give up hope that any story you write will change the world.
It's the little things we start clinging to, the little differences and changes we help make that keep us going every day. And today, she really made me feel like I was making in a difference in the lives of some people. Yes, small differences, nothing earth-shattering, but differences nonetheless.
And that's what it's all about.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Finally, a shiny day
I've been a little bit depressing for the past few posts, haven't I? Sorry. It's that time of year...too much darkness. Too much time indoors and not enough out. I thrive outside. I wither when I have to be inside too much. I'm withering. I'm counting down the days until the winter solstice (Dec. 22) when the days start getting longer again and we creep towards spring and glorious, healing sunshine.
But today it's sunny out (the first shiny day in the past 8 days!) and it's Friday and I have a few days off next week to burn up paid days off that I can't roll over to the new year. And this morning I discovered that every last one of my credit cards is PAID OFF! Except for the house (and the truck) I am entirely DEBT FREE! WHEEEE!! I have spent the past 6 years paying off more than $26,000 in credit card debt (with some cards sitting at 26 percent interest. Ouch.)
Life is good. And today is a good day.
But today it's sunny out (the first shiny day in the past 8 days!) and it's Friday and I have a few days off next week to burn up paid days off that I can't roll over to the new year. And this morning I discovered that every last one of my credit cards is PAID OFF! Except for the house (and the truck) I am entirely DEBT FREE! WHEEEE!! I have spent the past 6 years paying off more than $26,000 in credit card debt (with some cards sitting at 26 percent interest. Ouch.)
Life is good. And today is a good day.
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Buzzin'
I've been secretly making a whole lot of new friends on the sly. Lots and lots of new friends who have fun, interesting, thought-provoking blogs! Some of them are so interesting I can't believe I didn't know them before and I'm just excited to have found them.
How did I find them, you ask? Where the heck have I been hanging out to meet all these new peeps without telling you? Well, I've been playing around in a new social community,www.cre8buzz.com and it goes live tomorrow (Sunday), so you can check it out for yourself.
Also, take a peek at the Antman's blog on cre8buzz to get an idea of the kind of community already building over there.
When I was first invited to give the beta site a try, I thought, "hmmm...this will
probably be just like MySpace and I'll get tired of it and stop going after a day or two." But it isn't, and I haven't. Because it's so much more than a bunch of teenagers being childish and irritating, it's adults truly wanting to become a community and making that community work. I joined the women's community (and LOVE it!), but there is something for just about everyone and it's growing.
And after I joined I saw the hits on BOTH my blogs spike and stay up. So, by making friends and reading blogs at cre8buzz, I managed to get a few more people visiting me over here, reading and commenting. Which I love, not because I make money on this blog (which I don't and most likely never will) but because I love the give and take, the conversation, the community.
I'm journalistjenn, and you can find me here.
How did I find them, you ask? Where the heck have I been hanging out to meet all these new peeps without telling you? Well, I've been playing around in a new social community,www.cre8buzz.com and it goes live tomorrow (Sunday), so you can check it out for yourself.
Also, take a peek at the Antman's blog on cre8buzz to get an idea of the kind of community already building over there.
When I was first invited to give the beta site a try, I thought, "hmmm...this will
probably be just like MySpace and I'll get tired of it and stop going after a day or two." But it isn't, and I haven't. Because it's so much more than a bunch of teenagers being childish and irritating, it's adults truly wanting to become a community and making that community work. I joined the women's community (and LOVE it!), but there is something for just about everyone and it's growing.
And after I joined I saw the hits on BOTH my blogs spike and stay up. So, by making friends and reading blogs at cre8buzz, I managed to get a few more people visiting me over here, reading and commenting. Which I love, not because I make money on this blog (which I don't and most likely never will) but because I love the give and take, the conversation, the community.
I'm journalistjenn, and you can find me here.
Monday, September 17, 2007
An anaconda in the pond
It's coming. The leaves are starting to change, the nights are chilly, the owls and coyotes are out at night again, making all kinds of noises and the horses are blowing their slick summer coats and getting in their fuzzier winter wear.
I love fall. I love the changes and the smells and most of all, I LOVE the cooling of the weather. The crispness of the mornings that invigorates, the chill in the night air an excuse for a bonfire and hot spiced cider. Searching for the perfect Halloween costume for Unruly. Wild is to old to dress up any more, to hear her tell it. I long to lounge by hot, crackling fires in the fireplace and chill out on the floor with the family while feeding log after log into the flames. I yearn to reading books curled up beneath a quilt and drinking hot tea or working on that cross-stitch project I put away every spring to save for winter stitching. There is just something about fall, and impending winter, that turns on the hibernation switch.
The list of "do to's" gets longer, too: Clean up the flower beds, plant more bulbs, transplant and plant new trees, put in a few more grape vines and fruit trees, mulch the bulbs and the roses that are already in, prepare another flower bed, an herb bed and a larger veggie garden, stack firewood, clear weeds, put up more hay, run a heat lamp out to the chicken house and a de-icer to the horse tank, dig out the rain sheets for the horses and make sure they are in good repair, move the horses to the winter pasture plant pasture seed in the bare spots in the summer pastures.
But most of all, hope for rain.
The pond is about 3 feet lower than normal and we're seeing some very strange things slowly being uncovered as the level drops. For some reason, there is a huge cable/pipe running through the middle of the pond and connected to this upright steel tube that is sticking about a foot above water level. I think it's the remnants of a fountain, but, it's hard to tell. It just looks weird.When I spotted the cable/pipe yesterday, my mind immediately said "OH MY GOD! There's an anaconda in the pond! I knew the snakes were bad, but this is ridiculous!" I knew that wasn't possible, there is no anaconda in my pond. It's just a man-made thing. And I've no clue as to what it is.
P.S. No, that's not the cable/pipe, but, rather what my mind conjured up when I saw it! Yes, my brain isn't always the tamest place to live.
I love fall. I love the changes and the smells and most of all, I LOVE the cooling of the weather. The crispness of the mornings that invigorates, the chill in the night air an excuse for a bonfire and hot spiced cider. Searching for the perfect Halloween costume for Unruly. Wild is to old to dress up any more, to hear her tell it. I long to lounge by hot, crackling fires in the fireplace and chill out on the floor with the family while feeding log after log into the flames. I yearn to reading books curled up beneath a quilt and drinking hot tea or working on that cross-stitch project I put away every spring to save for winter stitching. There is just something about fall, and impending winter, that turns on the hibernation switch.
The list of "do to's" gets longer, too: Clean up the flower beds, plant more bulbs, transplant and plant new trees, put in a few more grape vines and fruit trees, mulch the bulbs and the roses that are already in, prepare another flower bed, an herb bed and a larger veggie garden, stack firewood, clear weeds, put up more hay, run a heat lamp out to the chicken house and a de-icer to the horse tank, dig out the rain sheets for the horses and make sure they are in good repair, move the horses to the winter pasture plant pasture seed in the bare spots in the summer pastures.
But most of all, hope for rain.
The pond is about 3 feet lower than normal and we're seeing some very strange things slowly being uncovered as the level drops. For some reason, there is a huge cable/pipe running through the middle of the pond and connected to this upright steel tube that is sticking about a foot above water level. I think it's the remnants of a fountain, but, it's hard to tell. It just looks weird.When I spotted the cable/pipe yesterday, my mind immediately said "OH MY GOD! There's an anaconda in the pond! I knew the snakes were bad, but this is ridiculous!" I knew that wasn't possible, there is no anaconda in my pond. It's just a man-made thing. And I've no clue as to what it is. P.S. No, that's not the cable/pipe, but, rather what my mind conjured up when I saw it! Yes, my brain isn't always the tamest place to live.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Sometimes, you need a llama
There is a point in a car's life when it is better suited for another job. My little Cavalier, although it has been quite the trooper for the past 200,000 miles, is better suited for a life more like this: 
Do you know what the llamas are up there for? To haul the damn thing around when it dies and refuses to start again. My Cavalier needed a llama or two.
So, what do you do when your trusty steed is better suited for a life as a llama hauler? At what point do you say: "I am scared and paranoid to drive this car any where. I am afraid I'll be stranded somewhere bad." and determine the extent of repairs necessary are far, far more than the car is worth?
Well, you make that decision on a Friday afternoon when the darn thing keeps stalling and refusing to start while you run errands and forces you to miss a dinner get-together with some local mommy bloggers. (Sorry guys!)
Then, you grovel like you've never groveled before and make the big puppy-dog eyes and quiver the bottom lip just a bit until the Hubby says: "Okay! Okay! Let me do some searching." And he engages his magical computer powers and finds this:.jpg)
at an incredible dealer/manufacturer incentive price and says "Do you want?"
And on Saturday afternoon you put the keys of your new truck into the ignition and drive it home with the biggest freakin' grin on your face EVER. And later, you drive your big 'ole black truck into town for ice cream because guess what? Driving is FUN again!
Do you know what the llamas are up there for? To haul the damn thing around when it dies and refuses to start again. My Cavalier needed a llama or two.
So, what do you do when your trusty steed is better suited for a life as a llama hauler? At what point do you say: "I am scared and paranoid to drive this car any where. I am afraid I'll be stranded somewhere bad." and determine the extent of repairs necessary are far, far more than the car is worth?
Well, you make that decision on a Friday afternoon when the darn thing keeps stalling and refusing to start while you run errands and forces you to miss a dinner get-together with some local mommy bloggers. (Sorry guys!)
Then, you grovel like you've never groveled before and make the big puppy-dog eyes and quiver the bottom lip just a bit until the Hubby says: "Okay! Okay! Let me do some searching." And he engages his magical computer powers and finds this:
.jpg)
at an incredible dealer/manufacturer incentive price and says "Do you want?"
And on Saturday afternoon you put the keys of your new truck into the ignition and drive it home with the biggest freakin' grin on your face EVER. And later, you drive your big 'ole black truck into town for ice cream because guess what? Driving is FUN again!
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Just Rockin' along
Rebecca loves me! She thinks I'm a Rockin' Girl Blogger!
I got a cool award from an even cooler blogger, which I'm just tickled pink about. Even though she doesn't like bats and is a Blues fan, she's still cool in my book. I can forgive her for the Blues thing. Not everyone realizes the Red Wings are superior, but, that's okay.
But the bats? I don't know if I can forgive her for the bats.
See my cool new blog bling? Pretty cool stuff, eh?
Thank you, Rebecca!
I absolutely LOVE it that she enjoys reading my blog. I love writing it, and I especially love sharing my kids, and my life, with you guys. It's fun! It has become one of those things I look forward to doing every day. Now, if I could only whip up a little more self-discipline in other writing areas of my life, I'd actually have my book done by now. Or get a promotion and a raise. HA!
Now, it's time to share a little bloggy love:
I recently started reading Marriage-101 and really, really enjoy her writing style. She is open and funny and well-spoken. And I think I can forgive her for working for the dark side. Which, knowing me, is a big step!
Ahhhh, Casey. Casey makes me laugh and when she writes I think "yeah, I've done that! But I'd never ADMIT it. Not in public!" Like peeing in buckets and orgasming on the treadmill. She has been brutally honest about her complete ignorance about booze, which had to take a lot of guts. She is definitely a Rockin' Girl Blogger!
I know she will never, ever know I think she's a rockin' girl blogger because she doesn't even know I read her, but I have a big time blogger crush on Ree. You should hop on over and take a read. She's funny, down to earth and takes amazing pictures of her beautiful children working on their extraordinary cattle ranch. Oh. And she burps songs.
I got a cool award from an even cooler blogger, which I'm just tickled pink about. Even though she doesn't like bats and is a Blues fan, she's still cool in my book. I can forgive her for the Blues thing. Not everyone realizes the Red Wings are superior, but, that's okay.
But the bats? I don't know if I can forgive her for the bats.
See my cool new blog bling? Pretty cool stuff, eh?
Thank you, Rebecca! I absolutely LOVE it that she enjoys reading my blog. I love writing it, and I especially love sharing my kids, and my life, with you guys. It's fun! It has become one of those things I look forward to doing every day. Now, if I could only whip up a little more self-discipline in other writing areas of my life, I'd actually have my book done by now. Or get a promotion and a raise. HA!
Now, it's time to share a little bloggy love:
I recently started reading Marriage-101 and really, really enjoy her writing style. She is open and funny and well-spoken. And I think I can forgive her for working for the dark side. Which, knowing me, is a big step!
Ahhhh, Casey. Casey makes me laugh and when she writes I think "yeah, I've done that! But I'd never ADMIT it. Not in public!" Like peeing in buckets and orgasming on the treadmill. She has been brutally honest about her complete ignorance about booze, which had to take a lot of guts. She is definitely a Rockin' Girl Blogger!
I know she will never, ever know I think she's a rockin' girl blogger because she doesn't even know I read her, but I have a big time blogger crush on Ree. You should hop on over and take a read. She's funny, down to earth and takes amazing pictures of her beautiful children working on their extraordinary cattle ranch. Oh. And she burps songs.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
The thunder rolls
Sometimes I complain about living in the Midwest. Okay, I complain about it a lot. The flatness, the cornfields, the cows.
But there are some things I love and I wouldn't trade for anything in the world.
One of those are the absolutely amazing storms we brew in this part of the country. They can just come up without warning and create absolute havoc or just give a really good show. Mother Nature, she's amazing.
This storm was incredible and it smelled dangerous. We didn't get much rain out of it, just lots of lightning and thunder and wind. WIND! Like Kansas, but colder.
The air got still, not a single leaf even rippled and before I could say "turn on the weather channel" this storm blew up over the trees in the back pasture and pushed the day away.
Dark. Ominous. Roiling. I just KNEW there was a tornado in there somewhere.
So, of course, Hubby and I grabbed a couple of beers, pulled the lawn chairs onto the deck and watched the storm roll on in. We sat out there for almost an hour, oohing and aahing over the lightning, jumping at the thunder and watching as the clouds above us boiled and roiled, dark gray and an eerie, luminescent dark blue.
It was a much better show than anything I've seen on TV lately! Hey, so what if we're easily entertained?
But there are some things I love and I wouldn't trade for anything in the world.
One of those are the absolutely amazing storms we brew in this part of the country. They can just come up without warning and create absolute havoc or just give a really good show. Mother Nature, she's amazing.
This storm was incredible and it smelled dangerous. We didn't get much rain out of it, just lots of lightning and thunder and wind. WIND! Like Kansas, but colder.
The air got still, not a single leaf even rippled and before I could say "turn on the weather channel" this storm blew up over the trees in the back pasture and pushed the day away.
Dark. Ominous. Roiling. I just KNEW there was a tornado in there somewhere.
So, of course, Hubby and I grabbed a couple of beers, pulled the lawn chairs onto the deck and watched the storm roll on in. We sat out there for almost an hour, oohing and aahing over the lightning, jumping at the thunder and watching as the clouds above us boiled and roiled, dark gray and an eerie, luminescent dark blue.
It was a much better show than anything I've seen on TV lately! Hey, so what if we're easily entertained?
Monday, April 30, 2007
Mishmashing
It was one of those hectic, but fabulous weekends. Unruly managed to get a "green light" Friday so, as promised, we headed to the zoo Saturday morning. With temperatures hovering in the upper 70s and the sky nearly cloud-free, it was a perfect day to spend wandering around the zoo. We could have stayed home and sat on the deck to watch the bi-plane aerialists practice their air stunt act, but we didn't. That was only exciting for about half an hour. I mean, you can only watch barrel rolls and nosedives for so long before it's just not exciting any more.
At the zoo, all the animals were out enjoying the weather. And so, it seems, was the entire population of St. Louis.
Every. last. person. was at the zoo Saturday. I now remember why I prefer the zoo on chilly days. Fewer irritating, rude people. What is it with people thinking it's okay to harass animals to try to make them move or "do something?" Unruly and I were watching the chimps in their wonderful new exhibit when these three kids came up and started yelling and beating on the glass. Moms just stood there and completely ignored their brats. Of course, Unruly decided that if those kids could yell and bang, she could yell and bang at those poor chimps. Uh uh. Not my kid! I said, rather loudly while pulling her from the glass, "No! YOU are NOT going to bang on the glass! How would you like someone to bang on the window in YOUR room? It's rude and mean." Suddenly, the other mothers became aware of their children's bad, bad behavior and admonished their brats to stop.
We had a good day. Unruly got to talk at length with a zookeeper hanging out near the new cheetah cubs. Have I ever mentioned she wants to be a zookeeper/zoo vet? She does, and boy! was she EVER enthralled by this young zookeeper who was so kind to engage her in conversation and answer ALL of her questions. The zookeeper said the zoo has a Zookeeper-for-a-Day program for kids. I checked into it. Awesome program! So awesome that every single program until fall is BOOKED FULL! Grrr....
Got more chickens Saturday afternoon. Yeah. What is SO freakin' addicting about those fowl? Cute. Fascinating. Each has a very distinct personality. And, they eat bugs. Lots of bugs. Which is good when you live in the country. So we now have, ummm...four ducks and 12 chickens, including the grumpy old hen Fuzzy Face. She sure is a grump and she doesn't put up with the chicks' crap at all. She cackles and clucks and screams at them...very, very cranky, that old hen! But, she lays green eggs, so it's all good.
I saw a turkey, a big ole Tom turkey, walking down the side of the highway during rush hour. A major highway. Very odd. He didn't seem bothered one iota.
Sunday morning around 5 a.m. the dogs started going nuts. Barking, growling, whining. Of course I think it's a serial ax murderer standing outside waiting to chop us up into little bitty pieces. But really, when I got up to look, (Hubby doesn't get up. He'd rather die in his sleep, I think. The wimp!) I saw a doe standing in our yard grazing. The sun was barely coming up and it was hazy, so the scene was very serene and Bambi-esque. I've heard them in the woods, seen them in the pastures and spotted their foot prints in the creek and in the driveway, but never seen them so close to the house. I like them, but I guess this means I'll be planting no tulips, peonies or begonies. They are like candy to deer.
Most of Sunday was spent mowing, weeding, talking and chillin'.
Wild was gone all weekend. Oddly, the weekend was relaxing, uneventful and quite enjoyable.
I will be ordering my new John Deere lawn tractor tomorrow. Online. How funny is that? I've ordered small things online, but it strikes me as highly amusing to order a lawn tractor online! Ha! I'm easily amused, I suppose.
At the zoo, all the animals were out enjoying the weather. And so, it seems, was the entire population of St. Louis.
Every. last. person. was at the zoo Saturday. I now remember why I prefer the zoo on chilly days. Fewer irritating, rude people. What is it with people thinking it's okay to harass animals to try to make them move or "do something?" Unruly and I were watching the chimps in their wonderful new exhibit when these three kids came up and started yelling and beating on the glass. Moms just stood there and completely ignored their brats. Of course, Unruly decided that if those kids could yell and bang, she could yell and bang at those poor chimps. Uh uh. Not my kid! I said, rather loudly while pulling her from the glass, "No! YOU are NOT going to bang on the glass! How would you like someone to bang on the window in YOUR room? It's rude and mean." Suddenly, the other mothers became aware of their children's bad, bad behavior and admonished their brats to stop.
We had a good day. Unruly got to talk at length with a zookeeper hanging out near the new cheetah cubs. Have I ever mentioned she wants to be a zookeeper/zoo vet? She does, and boy! was she EVER enthralled by this young zookeeper who was so kind to engage her in conversation and answer ALL of her questions. The zookeeper said the zoo has a Zookeeper-for-a-Day program for kids. I checked into it. Awesome program! So awesome that every single program until fall is BOOKED FULL! Grrr....
Got more chickens Saturday afternoon. Yeah. What is SO freakin' addicting about those fowl? Cute. Fascinating. Each has a very distinct personality. And, they eat bugs. Lots of bugs. Which is good when you live in the country. So we now have, ummm...four ducks and 12 chickens, including the grumpy old hen Fuzzy Face. She sure is a grump and she doesn't put up with the chicks' crap at all. She cackles and clucks and screams at them...very, very cranky, that old hen! But, she lays green eggs, so it's all good.
I saw a turkey, a big ole Tom turkey, walking down the side of the highway during rush hour. A major highway. Very odd. He didn't seem bothered one iota.
Sunday morning around 5 a.m. the dogs started going nuts. Barking, growling, whining. Of course I think it's a serial ax murderer standing outside waiting to chop us up into little bitty pieces. But really, when I got up to look, (Hubby doesn't get up. He'd rather die in his sleep, I think. The wimp!) I saw a doe standing in our yard grazing. The sun was barely coming up and it was hazy, so the scene was very serene and Bambi-esque. I've heard them in the woods, seen them in the pastures and spotted their foot prints in the creek and in the driveway, but never seen them so close to the house. I like them, but I guess this means I'll be planting no tulips, peonies or begonies. They are like candy to deer.
Most of Sunday was spent mowing, weeding, talking and chillin'.
Wild was gone all weekend. Oddly, the weekend was relaxing, uneventful and quite enjoyable.
I will be ordering my new John Deere lawn tractor tomorrow. Online. How funny is that? I've ordered small things online, but it strikes me as highly amusing to order a lawn tractor online! Ha! I'm easily amused, I suppose.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Playing catch up
I am kind of sad. And a little bit bummed. For the past four years I've headed to Lexington, Kentucky for three days of pure horse bliss at the Rolex. *sigh*
This year I'm staying home and the Rolex starts tomorrow. I know, I know, I can watch it on TV and they are just horses, afterall. But they are amazing horses and this is a sport I have always wanted to be competitive in. It's not the same as watching it on TV, you can't feel the hooves hitting turf as those amazing athletes thunder by, feet away from where you are, and you can't hear them breath loudly, exhaling with each stride. And you can smell the sweat on them and hear the riders offer quiet encouragement on the course.
It's an amazing experience. I'm sad I'm missing it this year. I know we really couldn't afford to take the trip either. With four people at about $45 a ticket, plus camping and food and other stuff, it gets a tad bit expensive. And honestly, I'd rather get a second pasture fenced than go to the Rolex.
Or maybe that's just me trying to convince myself it really is best that we skip it this year.
Saturday I spent most of the day up north a bit trail riding with a friend. She picked Chief and I up early in the morning and we headed out to a state park. The day was perfect, not too hot, not too chilly, beautiful blue skies dotted with shreds of clouds that looked like ribbons of milk swirling through a sapphire liquid.
We arrived early and hit the trail just after 9 a.m. We were on the trail for almost three hours. Fabulous. We slogged through a few mud puddles, saw a turkey with an enormous beard, saw blue and yellow and little white flowers everywhere and smelled the sweet scent of some kind of flowering pink/white tree. Chief, although a whole lot out of shape, was fantastic. I seriously need to get that old man in better shape so hauling my butt up a hill doesn't leave him panting and gasping.
Friday night Hubby and I went to a poker party at the house of one of his friends. No, not strip poker, get your minds out of the gutter! It's been a long, long time since I've played, and even longer since I've played for real money. I had a blast, yes, there was a re-learning curve for me, but everyone was exceedingly patient! I even learned a few new games, which is very cool. I walked out 50-cents ahead, yay me!
It's definitely something I'd like to do again, and maybe next time I won't be quite so exhausted. I was tired. Exceedingly tired. Friday was a bad, bad day at work. One of those rush all day long days just to try to catch up with yourself. Wait, the whole week was like that! I knew it was going to be an exhausted evening when I tried to doze off while driving home from work before the poker party. When this girl is tired, she is TIRED! Nothing in between.
This year I'm staying home and the Rolex starts tomorrow. I know, I know, I can watch it on TV and they are just horses, afterall. But they are amazing horses and this is a sport I have always wanted to be competitive in. It's not the same as watching it on TV, you can't feel the hooves hitting turf as those amazing athletes thunder by, feet away from where you are, and you can't hear them breath loudly, exhaling with each stride. And you can smell the sweat on them and hear the riders offer quiet encouragement on the course.
It's an amazing experience. I'm sad I'm missing it this year. I know we really couldn't afford to take the trip either. With four people at about $45 a ticket, plus camping and food and other stuff, it gets a tad bit expensive. And honestly, I'd rather get a second pasture fenced than go to the Rolex.
Or maybe that's just me trying to convince myself it really is best that we skip it this year.
Saturday I spent most of the day up north a bit trail riding with a friend. She picked Chief and I up early in the morning and we headed out to a state park. The day was perfect, not too hot, not too chilly, beautiful blue skies dotted with shreds of clouds that looked like ribbons of milk swirling through a sapphire liquid.
We arrived early and hit the trail just after 9 a.m. We were on the trail for almost three hours. Fabulous. We slogged through a few mud puddles, saw a turkey with an enormous beard, saw blue and yellow and little white flowers everywhere and smelled the sweet scent of some kind of flowering pink/white tree. Chief, although a whole lot out of shape, was fantastic. I seriously need to get that old man in better shape so hauling my butt up a hill doesn't leave him panting and gasping.
Friday night Hubby and I went to a poker party at the house of one of his friends. No, not strip poker, get your minds out of the gutter! It's been a long, long time since I've played, and even longer since I've played for real money. I had a blast, yes, there was a re-learning curve for me, but everyone was exceedingly patient! I even learned a few new games, which is very cool. I walked out 50-cents ahead, yay me!
It's definitely something I'd like to do again, and maybe next time I won't be quite so exhausted. I was tired. Exceedingly tired. Friday was a bad, bad day at work. One of those rush all day long days just to try to catch up with yourself. Wait, the whole week was like that! I knew it was going to be an exhausted evening when I tried to doze off while driving home from work before the poker party. When this girl is tired, she is TIRED! Nothing in between.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Tools and toys
I believe the tools you work with should reflect a bit of your personality. When I write the old-fashioned way I require a very specific kind of notebook and a particular type of pen. If those aren't right, I just can't write. When working around the farm, there are certain tools that should be personalized, especially for the task they are designed to do. It just makes the work more fun when you have a tool that can become an extension of yourself.
What better tool to reflect me than the Wild Thing? It's purple. It's lime green. It's freakin' powerful and can take down a stump while screaming with wild abandon. Hmmm...seems to fit my personality, too. What more can one ask for in a tool? I do like to grow and nurture things, but sometimes, a girl just have to let the Amazon out and do a bit of destruction. And there are PLENTY of trees and deadfall lying around in need of some serious destructive action. I think we'll have more than enough fire wood to feed the flames this winter. And enough for a bonfire every single weekend.
Can you tell I'm excited? Who woulda ever thunk I'd get excited about power tools? I'm such a tom boy.
Now, I need to go pick myself up one of these
bad boys! Yeah, sweet. Who said all of the good toys are made for boys? Ha! This one will be momma's toy, yup. No boys allowed!
I wrote about the Virginia Tech tragedy in my other blog, if you feel like heading over there for a parent's point of view. Tragic, just, tragic. I can't even imagine going through such a horrific, senseless, terrible, unfathomable thing.
What better tool to reflect me than the Wild Thing? It's purple. It's lime green. It's freakin' powerful and can take down a stump while screaming with wild abandon. Hmmm...seems to fit my personality, too. What more can one ask for in a tool? I do like to grow and nurture things, but sometimes, a girl just have to let the Amazon out and do a bit of destruction. And there are PLENTY of trees and deadfall lying around in need of some serious destructive action. I think we'll have more than enough fire wood to feed the flames this winter. And enough for a bonfire every single weekend.
Can you tell I'm excited? Who woulda ever thunk I'd get excited about power tools? I'm such a tom boy.
Now, I need to go pick myself up one of these
bad boys! Yeah, sweet. Who said all of the good toys are made for boys? Ha! This one will be momma's toy, yup. No boys allowed!
I wrote about the Virginia Tech tragedy in my other blog, if you feel like heading over there for a parent's point of view. Tragic, just, tragic. I can't even imagine going through such a horrific, senseless, terrible, unfathomable thing.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Dinner, interrupted
We don't get many "just stop by" visitors. In fact, we rarely see cars from our house at all, so spotting a pair of headlights bumping down the driveway around 7:30 p.m. last night was cause for excitement and general mayhem. The dogs aren't used to visitors so the insistent barking and yapping and running like mad animals from one end of the house to the other ensued. The parakeets were going nuts and the girls could hardly keep their butts in their seats to finish up dinner and I admit, I was extremely curious about who would make that drive all the way out to our house so late at night. (Well, late for us. Early to bed....early to rise. 10 p.m. is serious lateness for us early birds!)
Hubby, being the brave man he is, went to investigate, and as he headed towards the door, Unruly yelled after him, "Don't forget your gun, dad! It might be a stranger!" I must pause to insert here....we don't have a real gun, we have a BB gun, it kind of looks like an M-16, but it just shoots BBs. However, Unruly is convinced you can put someone's eye out with it, so it's her first choice of defense when she thinks defense is warranted. Because someone without an eye is someone you can get away from. She's a strange child.
So anyway, the guy who showed up did not need to have his eye put out by our M-16 BB gun. He was actually a very nice man, a stranger, yes, but a stranger with an agenda. OMG, I thought, we have a door-to-door salesman at our house! And the next house is a mile away! HOW FUNNY! He must be desperate.
Actually, he wasn't desperate, but he was offering us something all those city folk out there probably will never have the chance to buy. He had a gorgeous 11" X 16" aerial photograph of our property, pond, woods, house and all, framed and ready to go. You can even see Chief standing out in the pasture making a pig of himself on the round bale. Very cool.
While the photo was a bit pricey at nearly $100, it's a photo we'd never be able to take ourselves unless we are willing to rent a plane at $500 an hour and get out there with a nicer camera than I'll ever own. And who knows when they'll be up again taking more aerial shots. Apparently, the last time aerial shots were taken in our part of the state was nine years ago. With all the improvements we've been making and are planning to make, it will be nice to have a "before" and "after" aerial photo.
So, I guess the interrupted dinner and subsequent full house excitement was well worth it. I don't know if I'll be able to get a decent digital photo of the photo, but I'll see what I can do. If it comes out okay, I'll post it, if not, well, I guess I won't.
Hubby, being the brave man he is, went to investigate, and as he headed towards the door, Unruly yelled after him, "Don't forget your gun, dad! It might be a stranger!" I must pause to insert here....we don't have a real gun, we have a BB gun, it kind of looks like an M-16, but it just shoots BBs. However, Unruly is convinced you can put someone's eye out with it, so it's her first choice of defense when she thinks defense is warranted. Because someone without an eye is someone you can get away from. She's a strange child.
So anyway, the guy who showed up did not need to have his eye put out by our M-16 BB gun. He was actually a very nice man, a stranger, yes, but a stranger with an agenda. OMG, I thought, we have a door-to-door salesman at our house! And the next house is a mile away! HOW FUNNY! He must be desperate.
Actually, he wasn't desperate, but he was offering us something all those city folk out there probably will never have the chance to buy. He had a gorgeous 11" X 16" aerial photograph of our property, pond, woods, house and all, framed and ready to go. You can even see Chief standing out in the pasture making a pig of himself on the round bale. Very cool.
While the photo was a bit pricey at nearly $100, it's a photo we'd never be able to take ourselves unless we are willing to rent a plane at $500 an hour and get out there with a nicer camera than I'll ever own. And who knows when they'll be up again taking more aerial shots. Apparently, the last time aerial shots were taken in our part of the state was nine years ago. With all the improvements we've been making and are planning to make, it will be nice to have a "before" and "after" aerial photo.
So, I guess the interrupted dinner and subsequent full house excitement was well worth it. I don't know if I'll be able to get a decent digital photo of the photo, but I'll see what I can do. If it comes out okay, I'll post it, if not, well, I guess I won't.
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