Living on the Edge

Wednesday's deep thought :-)

Thinking is the talking of the soul with itself.

--Plato

James Taylor of Humboldt County!

Mike Craghead and his wife, Dawn are friends of ours...from when we all didn't have kids :-)  I sort of remember those days.  Then we had dogs and kids...yeah in that order.  We were dog-in-laws because we adopted pups from the same litter.  Rocky and Roslyn.  Two awesome dogs!  They are both up playing together in doggy heaven now.

Mike is an amazing songwriter, singer and musician.  It's quite a talent to be all three these days.  We used to go see him play around town in different venues when we lived there.  Our oldest, Q, really liked listening to him when I was pregnant with her.  She would jump all around in my tummy when he played.  It was very funny.  She still loves music even now.  Thanks Mike for starting her out well!

We have moved on to other dogs and to other places, but it is fun to be able to see him play online now!  One of the many reasons why I love the internet.  The world stays a lot smaller this way. Staying connected and involved with friends' and family's lives is so much easier now.  Man, if the Donner Party online had a wifi connection they wouldn't have tried to cross the desert OR the Sierra Nevadas so late in the year.

So here he is performing one of his originals.  Enjoy!

A Work in Progress

It seems like forever!  It's only been 4 months since we moved out of our house.  I can't say it was 4 months since it sold because there were all sorts of hangups with the buyers' lender.  FHA = government and we know how well the wheels of government turns.  We went three weeks past closing of escrow!

 
So the garage in Washington was emptied and we moved on to Idaho...

 
We found our piece of heaven...6 acres worth....

 
So we found the land, got the construction loan...and...well....waited!  Waited for Kootenai County to issue the building permit.  It took four loooooong weeks to get the magic piece of paper so....

 
the boys could bring their big toys out to play!

 
Here's the corner of our future home.

 
Clearing the land for the house and the shop.

 
Our hole is there!

 
First of the cement is poured...Finally something to show off to friends!

 
Lots more cement for our garage and shop floors.  Sorry CC, it's too hard to leave your mark!

 
The floor....got to start somewhere.

 
The walls take shape finally!

 
The girls are hanging out in their new bedrooms!

 
The roof is raised!

 
Trusses going every which way!

 
Now it's starting to look like our home.

 
The house is wrapped...kind of like a present.  Can't wait to unwrap it!

 
Windows are in and the felt is on the roof.

 
Here comes the roof...along with the weather.  See the gray clouds in the sky?  We've had a bit of rain this fall.  Fortunately no snow yet.

 
The trim along the roof is painted..."Vogue Green".  We are so hip!

 
Now comes the inside work...insulation....lots in our bedroom with our day sleeper.

 
Electricity.  I'm such a girl...aren't they pretty colors?

 
plumbing

 
wood for the wood stove that will eventually be in the living room.

 

Showers...I think this picture might be upside down.  It's hard to tell.

 
Our future tub....I can't wait to use this after a long day working in the yard!

  

Sheet rock is up and drying.  Now it really looks like a house.

 

The garage door is up and the rock on the front of the house.  We move all the way from Humboldt County to North Idaho and guess where the rock is from?  Grants Pass, Oregon!

Doors are being painted and installed soon.

 
Texture is applied to the walls.

  

The north wall is an accent color.  It's called...yeah, don't laugh....Humble Gold. 

  

The rest of the house is the same eggshell color.

 

Lighting goes in on Monday.  We have lovely frosted 'boob' lights.  I suppose if they can call the door in the garage a "man" door, then I can call these "boob" lights!

 

Picking out lights is tough.  I think I was handicapped by a terrifying light shopping incident as a child.  My parents wanted one lamp...I think it took a week and we went to every store that carried lamps in the entire Bay Area.  And then the lamp was butt ugly! 

So selecting lights by myself...well, Q was with me, but I was by myself pretty much trying to send pictures to DD on my phone so he could help me choose while he was at work.  Now that was hard too...I had to find just the right place and hold the phone in the air to get it to pick up enough of a signal.  Not an easy thing with the metal roof in Lowe's.

 

Also have the front and back deck now too.

 

Cleaning up the site today.  The girls weren't too into it...until we got the fire going :-)  Such little pyros!  Wonder where they get it from daddy?

This week the siding is supposed to start.  Electrician comes Monday to install lights, cabinets come Tuesday and are installed Wednesday with the wood laminate and vinyl going down Thursday and Friday.  I'm not sure what else will happen...but we are keeping our toes and fingers crossed that we can be in before the end of November!

Creamy Tomato Soup Recipe by - CHOW

via www.chow.com

The weather is taking a yucky turn tonight (that's an official weather term, you know!) CHOW has the yummiest looking tomato soup recipe. Heavy cream, whole peeled tomatoes, sweet onion and some olive oil are just a few of the ingredients that make it so much better than out of the can! Cook up some grilled cheese on some yummy bread and dip away!

Day by Day, Closer and Closer....

The house is getting closer to reality every day!  Here are pictures from today.

They textured the walls today:

 

And the rocks are on the front of the house while the decks are almost complete!

 

 
Yeah, we need a little work on the landscaping...don't ya think?

My Kids are So Talented!

A few weeks ago, we went to a day of scrapbooking and card making at my friend Gigi's house.  It was a lot of fun taking the girls with me.  They are old enough now that they can work on their own projects.  Can't wait to have space in our new house for playing with paper.

But I discovered something...they are talented! And they have quite an eye for color and layout.  Where did they get that?  Not from their dad! >wink<

 
I love this one!  CC made it.  Isn't it clever?!  I may have to 'scraplift' this one!

 
And Q made this doggy layout.  Soooo cute!

Katie Bee Creative -- a fun creative blog

via katiebeecreative.com

What a fun blog. Katie has a very vibrant style! Add a bit more glitz and she'd be up there with my friend Jeni. I can't wait to have my creative space in the new house. I'm chomping to get to making things again! This weekend I'm hoping to find a little time for the Christmas projects I'm working on for the family. The girls are really excited about them. Sorry, can't share yet...don't want to give up the surprise yet :-)

Scribbit | A Blog About Motherhood in Alaska

via scribbit.blogspot.com

If you are a blog reader, here is a good one to put in your favorites or on you google reader or friend on facebook. Michelle is a mom in Alaska. She is an incredible cook, a crafty mom, and an inspiring writer. She has great contests too :-)

Today I read her blogpost: Making Tough Calls. As a mother to a middle schooler...I can totally relate and feel her pain. We had a similar situation. It wasn't as much that our daughter changed personality (any more than the normal pre-teen I know everything now attitude) but that the school she was in was not in the least bit prepared to handle the needs of middle schoolers.

There is more than targeting kids who are flunking multiple classes and hoping the rest are treading water. You need to create an atmosphere where students respect the faculty and the school's rules, not mock them or ignore them. Students who repeatedly flunk tests...wouldn't teachers catch that as a red flag? No instead they weight the homework and give extra credit assignments to make up for the test scores.

Our daughter now goes to a middle school where there are rules that are followed by all, students and staff. And consequences when they don't! My daughter is the one who told me this...she was so happy! I could see that there was a huge sense of relief in her. It was really troublesome to her to see kids getting away with breaking rules at her old school. (maybe it's being a cops kid)

I truly knew we had done the right thing, when she came home the 2nd week of school and told us that she had switched classes. I was surprised, but curious. She told me she asked to switch her science class to a different period because the kids in her 4th period were too noisy and didn't get their work done. She didn't want to get stuck with lab partners anymore that didn't do their work.

I was so proud that she felt she could stand up for herself. This is what we have been teaching her. We know she had asked to do this once in her other school, with no results. This time, in this new school, her teacher listened to her and her reasons. By the end of the day, she was switched! I was so impressed with my daughter, but also for the teacher and the school for supporting my daughter.

Maybe this isn't really a joke!

I've gotten this email before.  It makes you stop and think along with a little chuckle.  I didn't write this, just reposting the email....so, please don't be mad at me my dear attorney friends!

Think about this:

1. Cows

2. The Constitution

3.  The Ten Commandments

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Cows

Does anyone find it amazing that during the mad cow epidemic our government could track a single cow, born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall where she slept in the state of Washington?  And then tracked her calves to their stalls. But they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering around our country.  Maybe we should give each of them a cow!

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The Constitution

The leaders in D.C. keep talking about drafting a constitution for Iraq...Why don't we just give them ours?  It was written by a lot of really smart guys, it has worked for over 200 years, and we aren't using it anymore!

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The 10 Commandments

The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments posted in a courthouse or Congress is that...

You can't post "Thou Shalt Not Steal", "Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery," and "Thou Shall Not Lie," in a building full of lawyers, judges, and politicians...it creates a hostile work environment.

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The email ends with this warning:  "If you don't want to forward this for fear of offending someone...You are Part of the Problem!  It's time for America to speak up!"

Anyone that knows me, knows that I'm always up for the challenge     >giggle<  So I'm passing this along! :-)

Hire Ability Day

Hire Ability Day is a movement to inform the community about the business and employment solutions available through a diverse, untapped workforce – individuals with developmental disabilities.

While an annual luncheon is the focal point of this effort, any day that an organization seizes the opportunity to employ an individual with a developmental disability is a "Hire Ability Day."

via www.hireabilityday.org

The next Hire Ability Luncheon
Tuesday, October 13th
The Davenport Hotel
11:30 a.m.

For more information visit the website: www.hireabilityday.org

I Love the Redwoods!

Redwood trees are amazing. If you have never seen one up close, you won't know the grandness of them. They are ancient...some of them were alive at the time of Christ's birth. They are the stallwart sentinels watching and waiting silently. Doing their job without a word or a grumble. They don't care about the stock market, the price of gas or the debate over global warming. They've been there to see it all and continue on.... of course, you won't find me getting this close of a view. Steve takes it over the top...literally!

View from the Treetops