thoughts from the deep recesses

Bird at park

The birthday boy with his kids...

Yesterday Asia turned 42. He started the morning off with a tennis match. He got all Wimbledon on his partner and even dove for a ball. He's suffering the consequences now, since his 42 year old body doesn't handle being thrown across a court the same way his 30 year old body did. But he had fun. I had to work all day, but when I got home, the kids and I had a little party for him. They had all gotten him their own presents - which is fun. I love to see what they choose for him and how they decide how much of their $ they want to spend. Kyler gave him an all expenses paid afternoon - with lunch at Asia's favorite restaurant and a movie. Savannah gave him a great glass with a picture of a BBQ that says "Not burnt until I say so" and Ethan gave him a great Eddie Bauer flashlight. Last night, he had his birthday poker party. Ten guys showed up, including one of his best buddies in all the world who now lives in Utah, Bryan. Asia didn't know he was going to be the...

In 1985 I spent half the summer in California, working at a summer camp where my oldest brother was the program manager. I worked in the horsemanship program as a stable hand, which meant I toiled for hours in hot, dusty conditions, feeding horses at the crack of dawn, picking rocks out of the arena, caring for sick animals and helping to saddle and unsaddle roughly 30 horses a day. Green Oak Ranch was a camp run by the Union Gospel Mission - so the majority of campers came from inner city Los Angeles. That summer, while I worked my tail off, God was opening my heart and changing my small town perspective as well. I taught kids who'd never seen an animal larger than a dog how to ride horses. And I learned what a 'booty' was. And I saw more braids than I'd ever seen in my life. I was 16. And it was a glorious summer. If you've never worked in a camping environment, I'll tell you, it's a place where you build relationships hard and fast. After all, you're ...

Tomatoes and goldfish

Gracie and Kyler play with her favorite toy.

For fifteen years I have lived with this man and watched him live his life. He is a man of integrity. And humor. And incredible patience. He is an amazing father. A diaper changer for many years. A teacher. A playmate. A dispenser of wisdom. He is a hard worker. A dependable and honest and loyal employee. His friends seek him out. For advice. For coffee. For tennis. For a listening ear. He gives to them all. His laugh is my favorite sound in all the world. His presence brings my heart into a more settled and peaceful place than I am in alone. They rhythm of his steps beside me comforts me and his quiet words of affirmation have changed my world. He is my husband. Happy Anniversary, honey. I love you. (Can't wait to see you tomorrow.) -C.

Trying desperately to turn my brown lawn green...

The street cleaners have gone by twice this morning. Personally, I think street cleaning doesn't really work. The first truck goes by and sprays water and then the second truck follows with it's big round brushes and swirls the mud around on the street. What's the point? I've never gone outside after they've done their job and said "Wow, it's so nice to have a clean street!" Why? Because the street is never any cleaner. A classic example of our tax dollars at work. Speaking of tax dollars, in Spokane we have four seasons: Fall, Winter, Spring and Road Construction. We approved a bond several years ago to repair the city streets - and boy, do they repair the city streets . It's great when they're done, but sheesh , it's a pain to get around town every summer. I've got a class today. It's such an easy class I have absolutely no prep for it. Seriously. I got up this morning, threw some jump rings and a pair of pliers in a basket and w...

Green Bluff - 2007 Strawberry Pickin'

We busted our little hineys today, first picking four flats of strawberries, then working all afternoon to make jam and syrup. The kids set up stations - the stemming station, the mashing station and the stirring station, then they rotated with each batch. It was a great idea. The stirring station had a stool at it - so it was of course the favored spot. Except the ladeling station, which was my station. And I wasn't giving it up to anyone. I don't want any sticky jam running down the sides of my containers. For anyone who has not made jam because it seems too hard, let me tell you about a wonderful new-ish product that makes it so much easier than it used to be. I've always been partial to freezer jam, because I think it tastes fresher. And now, Sure-Jel makes a product that requires next to no work. You mix the pectin with the sugar, pour in 4 cups of mashed berries and stir for three minutes. Pour into your containers and let them set for 30 minutes. Voila! You have ja...

The kids have all been sleeping downstairs for the last couple of nights. Which means they don't really notice the morning sun. And they don't necessarily get up at the crack of dawn. This morning is one of those mornings. It's 8:00 and they haven't made a peep. Glorious . Took Asia to the airport this morning. He's in Everett this week. He'll be gone on our anniversary, which is Wednesday, but home in time for his birthday on Friday. He's having a poker party on his birthday. That'll be fun. And noisy. I'm going to make meatballs for subs and other goodies... and then make myself scarce. The kids and I will probably watch movies in the basement so the guys can do their guy thing . Going strawberry picking this morning, as soon as the kids get up. And then making jam when we get home. Gotta stop at Costco on the way home and buy the BIG bag of sugar. I'm always a little shocked at how much sugar goes into jam. Yikes. But it's SO good. There...

This one's just for Kelly...

So the photo of the day really became three today... one to share how I spent my day, and two because they just make me laugh out loud. Seriously. Stacy Julian taught at the store today. Inspiring, wonderful, fun. She's just amazing. And of course, we had to get our obligatory 'with Stacy' pictures. Too bad they both turned out just terrible. This first one is hilarious, I think. Look at me... I'm looking at her as though she has two heads. Or maybe I was thinking she was drunk, because she certainly looks it here. And Kathy apparently didn't get enough sleep last night. Who didn't get enough sleep here? Great picture all around, I think, except for my fully closed eyes. Everyone has beautiful smiles, my hair is nicely settled around my shoulders, we've been well placed in our surroundings. And my eyes are closed. Sheesh. Oh well. It was a good day anyway. Even without great pictures.

I wanted to share. Just a quick layout I made this morning to highlight some new Scenic Route papers we got in at the store...

This is why we love summer... reading in bed and playing battleship for as long as we want before breakfast.

No, silly people. It's not MY birthday. It's Kelly's ! Kelly and I have been friends since around 1990, I believe. We went to a bible study together. And went to Jack-in-the-Box. A lot. And snuck out in the middle of the night to hang bananas from people's trees. And we've managed to stay in touch for 17 years. Which was much harder ten years ago than it is now, thanks to blogs and email. (Since, as you know, I do not make phone calls.) Thank goodness that Kelly carried the ball for awhile back in the day and actually picked up the phone. I love her for that. Kelly lives in southern Idaho. Which is completely different from North Idaho, in a good way. People in North Idaho are, how shall we say... backward. People in southern Idaho don't wear flannel or shave their heads. Kelly has two wonderful boys. WONDERFUL boys. They have remarkable senses of humor. And gorgeous eyes. And they're polite. I'm thinking I should be working on getting Savannah betroth...

Gracie was watching Savannah eat Nilla Wafers...

I just received this email from Carmen, our contact at Children of The Nations , the organization that is bringing Tejan to the States for surgery: " Hello Everyone, Rejoicing in the LORD today as we have received an answer from the Board of Directors at Shriner's Hospital in Spokane re: Tejan. They have APPROVED his coming to the hospital for treatment at their board meeting this week. Praise the LORD! Next Steps: The chief surgeon and scheduler are meeting together to make a surgical and treatment plan. This includes writing a letter for the embassy etc. This process should be completed by next week and we should have notification of this by early July. Then we will be able to make plans for bringing Tejan etc. Thank you again for your prayers and constant patience through this process. Now we can pray for God's perfect timing. This morning I read in Proverbs 21:1 The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes. ...

Several of you asked what I would do with my $30,00 windfall. First, I'd replace our back fence. It's one of those projects we said we'd do right away when we moved in 8 years ago - and it still needs to be done. Then I'd book a cruise for the family. We'd really love to take the kids with us next time we cruise. Then I'd book another cruise for just Asia and I. The Greek Isles. I'd replace our decrepid old detached garage with a nice new one - with a loft studio up top. I'd buy a new kitchen table. Something really nice. And that's about it - I think that would eat most of it right up. If there was any left, I'd put it in savings. For a rainy day. And I know, you're all dying to know who won. I chose this one not-so-randomly. The winner is Chrissy , because she lives in Costa Rica and doesn't exactly have a scrapbook store on every corner. And because I just adore her and I want to send her some fun goodies. And because it's my blog ...

We had our friends David and Brynn over for dessert tonight. David is from Ireland and I could listen to him talk all the day long.

So, if you scroll down to the bottom of this here blog, you'll see that I'm probably just a day or two from reaching 30,000 hits. That's just freaky. And in just under 2 years. (I didn't add the counter until after I'd been blogging for several months...) So in honor of almost reaching that milestone, this weeks 'getting to know you Wednesday' question is this: What would you do if you won $30,000? I like this question, because it's not an overwhelming number, and therefore not brain-freeze inducing. It's big enough to be able to accomplish some nice little projects around the house, but not so large that you have to worry about your third cousins from the Ozarks showing up on your doorstep looking for cash so they can put veneers on their teeth. Answer my question this week and you'll be entered in a drawing for 30 special little trinkets in a lovely little goody box. (And when I say trinkets, I mean trinkets. We're talking 30 little lovelie...

The kids went to play tennis with Asia tonight. This was a spontaneous "Hey, E.!" moment. The expression on his face cracks me up...

As much as we were able to accomplish a lot yesterday with our deep cleaning, it was not without a price. I spent most of the day in a battle with my beloved seventh grader. We're talking B.A.T.T.L.E. This kid knows how to push my buttons. And I let him. I was exhausted by the end of the day, which made me be 'not-so-perfect-wife' for the evening, and eventually led to an hour and half cry-fest in bed with my sweet husband - who spoke the following truths to me: I need to trust God with said seventh grader. Even if said seventh grader made tons of bad choices and all my worst fears came true - God is bigger than that and could rescue him. God LOVES my seventh grader - even when I feel like I don't have it in me. Even if I feel totally inadaquate, I AM adaquate because God has equipped me for this job. I can pray. All day long. I can pray. All day long. God chose all three of these kids just for me. Just for me. I'm forgiven. Beating myself up doesn't really acco...

In the process of deep cleaning rooms, the kids all pulled out their school bins and sorted through what to keep and what to toss - making room for all the newly-brought-home stuff from the past school year. Of course, everyone got distracted from sorting and ended up reading and reminiscing and laughing at old drawings and writings... That's one of the best things about a good 'deep clean,' I think... the distracting qualities of the piles of stuff we find when we go beneath the surface... I do the same thing when I clean, don't you?

I've been so thrilled to be void of school commitments that I sort of forgot that I have a blog. Can you believe that? True. The kids finished up on Friday. They had a big awards assembly and basically that was all they did. It was K's final assembly on Cabinet... he opened the assembly with the pledge of allegiance . And then proceeded to get called up for nearly every award known to man. High honors. Peer mediator. Cabinet. Patrol. A special award called the Jude Bautista , given by the librarian to the most inspiring reader in the school... it was a fun assembly. But it made me extremely nostalgic and sad that he's leaving Jefferson. He's had such a successful school career there. They ended the assembly with the annual six grade confetti parade. The whole class parades around the gym a few times while all the adults around the perimeter shower the kids with confetti. It's sweet. And fun. Got some great pictures of him with all of his teachers - every one of them...

So it was time... he's been growing his hair out for almost a year... with only one trim in there to take care of rough ends... Two nights ago he asked for a haircut. So we looked back through old pictures to see at which stage of growth he liked his hair the best... and we decided on last November... Here are the before pictures: And here are the afters... too bad the sun went down and I lost that lovely lighting and his hair was still wet from the shower. But you get the idea... It's a little less unruly. A little more shaped. A little less rebellious and out-of-control. I took off about 2 1/2 to 3 inches all around. I sure wish I had his curls...

Be sure you read the poem post below. It makes me laugh. We are so ready for school to be out around here... ready for not having to be anywhere at any specific time... Piano recital next Monday... the kids are playing pretty darn good... it's fun to see them develop their skills. Didn't get the Easter decor put away yesterday... yikes. I'm such a loser. But I did get five loads of laundry done and my whole studio cleaned. Yay! Been thinking a lot about change lately... feeling a little restless. Looking at house listings in the newspaper. Wondering if there's something different we should/could be doing... I sure wish Tejan would come. That should help with this longing for something more... something different... Krochet Kids has a blog . I wrote about them awhile back - you can read it here . Anyway - they're a group of college and post-college guys who have started their own non-profit - teaching women in Uganda how to crochet, and then selling their beanies he...

E. brought home this poem from school today: I can feel I can feel gass moving from the wind like me forever I can feel I can feel gass. Upon further explanation, we discovered that he left out some ' r 's and it should read: I can feel I can feel grass moving from the wind like me forever I can feel I can feel grass. I think it works either way. But I'm partial to the unedited version.

Asia left early for the airport - he's in Seattle for the day. And of course, since I woke up and can never seem to get back to sleep once I'm awake, here I am. It's okay. Lots to do today. Church was good yesterday... we had a great sermon about prayer. Nothing earth shattering and new - but a good simple reminder that prayer is what aligns our hearts with God's will... always good to be prodded in simple christian disciplines. So - summer's almost here. I'm ready. Ready to let the kids sleep in a bit. And to relax a bit in the mornings. We're a little structured here in the summer - I have to be in order to stay sane - but it's a flexible structure. And it's so lovely to enjoy our mornings together without rushing about. The simple fact that I won't have to make three lunches before 8:00 am is enough to have me shouting from the rooftops "Hallelujah for summer!" I seriously dislike making school lunches. I'm teaching a bit less ...

So I've been pretty emotional lately, watching K. finish up his final few days at our beloved elementary school. He had his last week on safety patrol a couple of weeks ago. As much as he didn't want me to, I had to go over and take pictures... he's such a cute little safety boy... He's suddenly become the in-demand boy around the neighborhood - with babysitting gigs and lawnmowing and pet sitting jobs galore... he's in that glorious phase of being responsible enough to do stuff like that but not being so busy that he can't manage to fit it into his schedule like I've seen happen to a lot of high schoolers. He's available. And he's making lots of money. His grades are up - after his last semester disaster of irresponsibility and poor choices. I can only hope he learned a lesson and we won't deal with that sort of dilema again... that may be overly optimistic. The kid is so smart. But lazy. This week there's a sixth grade reception, a yearbook...

Good morning, chums. It's Friday. And I'm officially done with all my school PTG responsiblities as of yesterday. And that feels good. Oh sure, there's still the 6th grade reception on Thursday that I'm in charge of, but that's more of a regular volunteer thing, instead of an official PTG thing... so I'm going with this liberating feeling of freedom that's coursing through my veins. The last edition of the school newspaper should be out on Wednesday - it's at the printers now, so it's out of my hands... I've loved my role at school this year - and am really looking forward to doing it again next year... but it's great to be done for now. We're sort of beginning to look at cars... mine is getting pretty high miles on it and it gets terrible gas mileage... Of course it does. It's an SUV . But I do LOVE my car. And will only replace it if we can find something that seats 7, isn't a van, but gets better gas mileage - by at least 5 mi...

Cathy K!!! As commenter #7 on "Getting to know you Wednesday," you were chosen by my sweet Savannah to be our winner this week. See, people, it pays to de-lurk! Let me know how I can get your gift certificate to you! And here are my answers to Wednesday's questions, in case anyone was wondering... Jif. Skippy is too sticky. I buy the two pack at Costco at least once a month. We eat a LOT of peanutbutter here. (And I simply cannot believe you don't have Jif in Canada, Corey. How do you function? I'll have to bring you some next time I visit...) Asia only likes creamy, so that's what I buy. But I secretly really like super chunk and I always eat it when I'm at my parent's house. Mayo. I've never really 'gotten' Miracle Whip. I love both walking and biking. But I think if I had to choose, I'd walk, for the same reason as Corey - I hate helmet head. Beach. Every time. Although there's nothing like the smell of the mountains on a warm su...

E. had his first grade program last night. He needed a white shirt, and being a mom of practical mindset, I've never bought him a solid white shirt. So after school, we headed over to Shopko (the nearest store to our house) to pick one up. As we pulled into the parking lot I said, "We should pray so we don't have to run all over town looking for a white shirt..." "Okay," said E. I began, "Jesus, help us find a white shirt in E.'s size right here at Shopko. Help it to be the kind he wants and help it to be less than twenty dollars." E. continued, "And Lord, if you're going to answer this prayer really nicely, let it be less than ten dollars." He answered our prayers. To the tune of a long sleeved white button down with a sweet clip-on tie. For $17.99. I guess maybe God was too busy to change the sale signs at Shopko yesterday just for us... The program was great. E. was a hippo. Love a school program.

Okay, presumably, you know the drill. Answer these questions, because I like to get to know my blog readers. And because you might win a $10 Amazon gift certificate. (I know, you can't buy much of anything for $10 on Amazon, but hey, I'm not made of money... and it's a gesture, people. A bribe, if you will. And I did just get the 'Ray' soundtrack for $10.97...) So answer me this... Jif or Skippy? Creamy or chunky? Mayo or Miracle Whip? Walk or bike? Mountains or beach? Hardwood or carpet? Ice cream or sorbet? Cat or dog? Europe or Hawaii? Blow dry or air dry? Happy Wednesday, friends! Comment away...

Cool and rainy today. That's good after a hot weekend. I've been thinking a lot about gas prices and cars and consumption and what I can do in my own little way to conserve. Yesterday when it was warm and sunny I was determined to not drive my car at all this week and walk wherever I needed to go. Today when it's pouring down rain, I'm not so sure. This means a couple of things. 1) I'm idealistic but weak and 2) I don't like getting wet. I had two kids shave for the first time in the last couple of weeks. K. finally got rid of that nasty little crop of dark peach-fuzzish stuff growing on his upper lip and S. shaved her legs. All of this was inspired by a couple of free razors we got in our cruise cabin bathroom. We brought them home and they were immediately claimed and used. K. also got a cell phone a couple of weekends ago. It's a long story. Probably worthy of it's own post... gotta do that. Finally got caught up on Grey's Anatomy yesterday. Watch...

I'm home. And I get to stay home. All day. Haven't been able to do that for weeks. I'm basking in it. The weekend was great. I got some 30 scrapbook pages done. And enjoyed the laughter and goofiness of my companions... it was good. I'll try to post some pages later today perhaps. Asia's in Seattle, or somewhere this week. I think even the dog is happy. Love that she sleeps in her chair next to me on lazy mornings like this. Have a lovely Monday, my friends. Celebrate the normal.