Good Fortune, The Sequel

Just had to take a minute and share my joy and gratitude--

YES, my beloved blogging buddies, dreams really do come true. Fortune cookies, lots and lots of fortune cookies.

Shauna has lots of giveaways and a fab new look--click the button to go see!

Change of fortune

Every once in awhile a giveaway comes along that I feel SO passionately about that I go the extra mile to get that extra entry and post it on my blog. This is one of those.

Two words:

FORTUNE COOKIES

mmmmm--mmmm--mmmmmm--mmmmm---mmm---mmmm--mmm (read with a little sassy beat)

Believe it or not there is nowhere here in the middle of nowhere to purchase fortune cookies. Apparently its not a big ticket item for ranchers and farmers. Who'd a thunk it.

Anyhoo--Shauna over at Trying to Stay Calm (love that blog name, by the way) is having a giveaway of fabulous fortune cookie gift certificates AND. I. WANT. ONE!

Click on the picture to go to her blog--she has lots of AWESOME giveaways! (at least I hope this works--I never have gotten comfortable with all this linky business--and who the hec is MR. Linky anyways??! )

So this is my blog about it to get an extra entry. And it ends tomorrow. Amen.

What would Freud say?!

This has haunted me all day so I guess I will post it and see if that has any effect on my troubled mind.

So I know that DeNae really doesn't want to hear about my dream (so run away DeNae) but I'm sure there is someone out there who does and they will interpret this and help me move on.

Here it goes:

I dreamed that Jackie Chan and I saved the world at least 5 times...

yeah--see what I mean?

But wait..there's more...

and then I built a house in the Grand Canyon and I had to keep running from one side of the house to the other to keep it balanced and then when I stopped for a minute to tuck my much younger children in bed--half of the house just washed away.

Then my son woke me up and I found myself falling back asleep to try and fix my house.

DISTURBIA!!!!


Let me also clarify that I have not seen a Jackie Chan movie in years or even thought of him and it was at least 8 years ago that we got stranded in the Grand Canyon National Park with a dead car.

Yeah--I am really starting to rethink that little, nightly Ambien pill.


So--anybody out there channeling Freud?

Seriously.

I will send chocolate to the reason I like the best, amen and amen.

Random note--GOT MY COMPUTER BACK--HUZZAH!!! Am off to catch up and comment...

Carbon Dating my Lunch

Any guesses as to what this is?

What’s that you say?

“Fossilized worms?”

No.

“A shellacked pile of poo?”

So close, but….

No.

Give up?

It was my lunch.

After the cooking, before the ingestion.

My son was the chef.

Yep, uh-huh, that’s right—this very same boy—

H-e-e-y-y Sparky!

He decided that he wanted hot dogs for lunch and that they needed to be grilled not nuked. (Irony is such a cruel mistress)

I said, “Sure, why not? Anyone can BBQ a hot dog (right?) and while you’re at it, make one for me too”.

{Disclaimer: his father HAS taught him how to use the grill and Sparky has made us some GREAT hamburgers in the past—don’t judge me}

And then (smiling on the inside because of the obvious paternal support I had just given my son) off I went-- to do something important, like checking my email.

A little while later I strolled into the kitchen and was immediately accosted by a revolting smell, the like of which I am pretty sure I have never smelled before.

“What in the world just died and composted itself in my kitchen??!!” I yelled.

My son came running through the kitchen door, waving the tongs like a white flag.

“Um, it’s okay Mom, it’s okay, and it’s just these…

…I kinda forgot about them and they got a little burnt.”

Understating the obvious, that’s just how we roll here in the forest.

I told him that these looked like they passed burnt, flew through charred and landed right smack dab in the middle of radioactive.

“No worries, Mom”, he said. “I’ve got some more cooking on the grill!”

WHA?!

After the initial shock wore off, I wanted to bury them—to freak out some unsuspecting archaeologist in 100 years --- but the dog had other ideas and snagged them when I wasn’t looking.

So…….what did you guys have for lunch?

In which there was a pillow fight and a glass of Diet Dr. Pepper...

Just thought I would do a little post and let all 5 of you know that I am still alive, just a little busy.

My Dad is holding his own, still on oxygen but his depression has lifted and he is up and around a lot more.


Natty is still engaged and the wedding is still on for December and her Mono is getting better all the time. She still tires easily but the worst of it is hopefully behind her.

Phil is working for 6 weeks straight, Kelly has girl’s camp, Tae still lives too far away, Bean has dance and soccer camp and Milan is mowing yards and going to scout camp.

My Mom has NOT been eating those specially frosted flakes so …well…just so.

There is a nasty rumor going around that I may have ingested the flakes myself but I know a buzz when I see one and I definitely haven’t seen one. Felt one, whatever.

All this pales in comparison to the stress and deep sadness I have been experiencing at the loss of my lap top. Let’s just say it involved a glass of Diet Dr. Pepper and a pillow fight. Although it still turns on, it makes random burping noises, shuts off unexpectedly and worst of all some of the keys won’t work, which brings me to the 4th of July post below. I was half way through it when IT happened. I have had to turn on the speech recognition—which is a whole other post—kind of she said, computer said kind of thing. Every time I hit one it just starts making lines and lines of one’s until I shut off the computer. And forget exclamation points or question marks. Wish I could post a video of me talking to my computer—not. So finishing the post was painful and so I am still going to post my valiant efforts, dang it. I still have the Apple but I have to fight my kids for it so we shall see. And just in case—Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Happy Independence Day everyone! I love the 4th of July—it’s one of the few holidays that causes me no angst or guilt, Happy Independence Day to me! First of all I just wanted to take a moment to say that I LOVE my country and am so grateful to the men and women who serve in the armed forces who work so hard to keep our nation free. I have deep concerns as to the direction our country is headed but I try to balance that with the knowledge that I am free to help make a change and I am appreciative of all those here in blogland that keep track of the issues and take the time to share the information with all of us.
I have decided that I am not very good at holiday photography. I’m not sure if it’s because I get caught up in the happenings and just click some quick pics or if I just stink at it in general….

{deep sigh}
Either way, as I was going through my 4th of July pictures this afternoon, I came across a lot of photos like this one:

The only reason I know it is the 4th of July, 1995 is because that is where I had it filed.

If anything, it looks like a Halloween picture—kinda looks like she’s got a little ghostie by the tail. I have no idea why I chose to hang on to this picture, none.

Even more important, will I throw it out now?

Obviously, there are deeper issues here.

Does anyone else have 4th of July pictures like this?

Anyhoo, for the sake of my journaling project, (obviously not for the picture quality) I am now going to share with you a random selection of our 4th of July memories. Please, try to curb your enthusiasm.

Some years we find a parade to watch. I use the term “we” loosely. I am an adamant NON parade person.

This is in American Fork, Utah, 1992. That’s my #2 daughter on the far left, holding the chair my #1 daughter in her father’s lap in the second row on the far right. The only reason I mention it is this would be the only time I had the presence of mind and wallet to dress my girls in coordinating 4th of July colors, so Soak. It. All. In. people.

Is it okay that I am soooo glad my husband no longer has that caterpillar on his lip?!



Sometimes we float the river with friends….

1998 with our friends and taking a lunch break. This is the Bitterroot River; it is about 5 miles from our home. Do you like our white sandy beaches?

This one was taken in 1994 on our first trip down the river. We were so completely hooked!

Sometimes, even though it is July 4th, we freeze to death.


Aahhh, the teeth-chattering, subzero temperatures of 1999!

Sometimes, it seems that in no time and all, we go from this…

1997

To this…

2007





To this……..




WHA..??!



Who ordered the puffy little Russian with no teeth?

Just ignore him, maybe he’ll just go away.

Oh dear...maybe I’ll just be back after a brief station break so I can wander down memory lane for awhile and get my ---children grows to fast--- heartache under control.

Oh wait, I can hear him, making his sister’s scream again,

reality check please!

So back to……….

To THIS….

{Hey Sparky!}

Which was a souvenir of this………..

Sure, everybody is having fun till someone gets their eye poked out...

.....or mountain burned.

Before anyone gets their panties in a bunch…
Yes, that is a forest behind Milan. Yes, that is part of the 20 acres that we live on. Yes, smart, environmentally conscious people would never knowingly strike a match within 500 feet of a tree. So, I guess we all know where that puts me, {sigh}… a b-a-a-a-a-d parent and person.

Does it count that right after this I went out and bought 5 new hoses to hook end to end and that I try to hug a tree every day?

I didn’t think so.

Please, no hate mail.

And, to end this very long story….
Most of the time we buy way too many of these…

Do lots of this….



And deal with this the morning after…

Thus ends my 4th of July post and gosh, it’s only July 12th.

Can’t wait to see what I accomplish tomorrow…..